Heat hinders learning

As temperatures hit the 80-degree mark last week, students and teachers alike dealt with sweltering rooms and fading focus.

“It was pretty much unbearable,” said Jim Schramer, an English professor. “It’s difficult for [students] to sit there and pay attention.”

Schramer said the students’ physical conditions affect “how you illicit responses” from them.

English major Ralph Rich said that last week’s unseasonably high temperatures affected “a lot of people.”

“I was in DeBartolo a lot; it was a sauna in there,” Rich said. “I looked at the clock a lot more, just counting down the time until we could leave for some fresh air.”

Sophomore Bridgette Lewis also encountered problems.

“The computer lab on the third floor of Cushwa was pretty hot,” Lewis said. “My fiction class in DeBartolo was kind of warm, but we kept the lights off.”

Schramer offered one reason as to why DeBartolo Hall gets so hot: the era in which it was built.

“I believe that DeBartolo was built in the 1970s,” Schramer said. “The building is kind of held hostage to the past.”

Freshman Brad Dubos said Beeghly Hall was also warm.

“I noticed a lot of people were uncomfortable, including professors,” Dubos said.

“If [facilities] could have adapted, it would’ve helped, but it was just a weird week,” Dubos said.