Letters: A Waste of Space
by The Editors on April 29, 2008 in Opinion
Dear Sir:
I write to share my frustration with the excessively early time at which the Forum is broken down and reconfigured in the afternoon. On a recent day, I was forced to wolf down my pizza as my table and chair were whisked away at 2:30 p.m. for a forum event with Elizabeth Edwards at 6:00 p.m.
Hours before events, we are unceremoniously and needlessly booted from nearly every corner of Littauer. Almost every inch of HKS’s main building is made inhospitable for studying, eating or gabbing. This is especially distressing to students who have classes from 11:30 to 2:30 and arrive in the Forum for a late lunch, or those who need a work space at the very time of day when the library is most full.
I write to you now from that library, where I sit elbow-to-elbow with a friend who has been similarly displaced by the forces of manic organization.
In a school that is already strapped for space - especially group study space - the early break-down of the Forum is a disservice to HKS students. Last semester, I was holding office hours on the third floor of Littauer when, at 2:30, the whiteboard, table and chairs were broken down and packed away. The president of somewhere-or-other was speaking that night, and the Forum crew needed to line the chairs up along the railing in anticipation of an overflow crowd. So much for helping students learn their core disciplines.
This misallocation of resources, whereby thousands of square feet of space are effectively shut off during the busiest hours of the day, is surely no example to set for students of government. Particularly not students who are encouraged to think creatively about managing limited resources.
Perhaps there is a good reason for this behavior. I haven’t clocked the crew that transforms the Forum for these events, but I bet they can do it in 30 minutes flat. Maybe they’re needed elsewhere later in the afternoon, and this is the only time they can be spared.
Or maybe…well, I can’t think of another legitimate possibility. If such a reason does exist, I would like to hear it. If it does not, I hope that the Forum transformation can be rescheduled for later in the day. At least until the school gets another building.
Elbow-to-elbow,
Matt McClelland (MPP2)
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