Students Complain About Mem Hall Cold Drafts

A "snafu in the chain of command" was partially responsible for the low temperatures which forced students to wear jackets and gloves during mid-year exams in Memorial Hall Monday and Tuesday, Bill Edwards, head proctor for exams in Memorial Hall, said yesterday.

Edwards said the heat is usually turned on Sunday night so the building warms up by Monday morning, but the heat was turned on only an hour before the first exams Monday. He added that the heat will now remain turned on at night for the rest of exam period to keep the building warm.

John J. Driscoll, a custodian in Memorial Hall, said the building remains cold also because the large double doors leading to the unheated lobby are left open for half an hour before each exam, letting cold air into the hall.

A student who took exams in Memorial Hall on both Monday and Tuesday said yesterday his hands were freezing and people were complaining that they couldn't think because of the cold. Brooks Whitehouse III '83 said the cold probably did not hurt his exam performance "it kept me awake."

Biochem 10a student Ann F. Mohrbacher '83 said her fingers were so numb Monday morning that she had difficulty writing. "The cold temperatures made me angry because the Biochem exam was already so difficult; it was harder for me to stay calm because I was freezing to death," she said.

Mohrbacher added that she thought many people went to Memorial Hall early just to get seats near the radiators.

Another Biochem 10a student said the cold metal chairs made the situation even more uncomfortable and he had trouble concentrating because he had to keep putting his hands in his pockets.

Biochem 10a professor Guido Guidotti said he heard that exam conditions Monday morning were unpleasant, but does not expect the temperatures to affect scores on his exam.

"People who hadn't been forewarned about the cold Tuesday morning were really complaining," a Bio 22 student said, adding. "It wasn't so bad for me because I knew to wear a sweater, but the cold made me want to leave the exam earlier."

Bruce Tidor '83, who took Physics 112 exam Tuesday morning, said, "Mr. Test was getting really angry because so many people were going to the bathroom to warm up."

Physics 112 professor R. Victor Jones, McKay Professor of Applied Physics, said he believed that the cold would not hurt the students' performances on his exam, but might possibly have the opposite effect because "discomfort sometimes helps you get through the thing faster."