As another semester comes to a close, students will once again encounter the stressful obligations inherent in preparing for final examinations. University officials in the past few years have made strides in alleviating stress for students, including the maintenance of 24-hour library hours as well as collaboration with former Student Union President Herbie Rosen '12 to open academic buildings for extra study locations. While this board appreciates these aims, we still believe that more enhancements are possible.

This board recommends the establishment of extended hours for newer buildings such as the Mandel Center for the Humanities and the Carl J. Shapiro Science Center. The lounge setting of these buildings provides for a more productive, yet comfortable environment, as opposed to older buildings such as Olin-Sang American Civilization Center. However, having opened additional study spaces for two semesters in Olin-Sang and Levine Ross, the University has still not opened the Mandel Center and Science Complex for additional study hours this semester.  We believe the establishment of these new study locations, in turn, would be welcomed and properly utilized. This is especially pertinent in light of the study spaces in the library removed in the construction of the new EcoGrounds coffee shop in the library.

This board also believes the new coffee shop would be even more beneficial to students if it were open for 24 hours a day during finals period. While we recognize that it requires foresight and logistical planning to ensure the shop can be open all day, it would have been wise for the University to anticipate the benefits of this expanded service.

Creative solutions and initiatives are always appreciated by students. The Hiatt Career Center recently introduced programming that will allow for use of its space during finals week for free printing, pizza and as yet another study destination. With Hiatt's recent innovation, as well as the initial efforts to open study spaces, we encourage the University to continue keeping its students' needs in mind at this crucial time in the semester.
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