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Senators say “goodnight” to nap room bill

SGA presented a bill to designate a specific napping area on campus at their meeting on Mar. 18.

The name of the bill presented was “Creation of Napping Space Act of 2014.” The bill proposed that an unused room on campus would be transformed into a napping area for students. The room would be filled with beanbags, pillows, and couches for the comfort of students. 

SGA Senator Billy Hutton opposed the idea and said, “I mostly thought the idea sounded unsanitary, and unnecessary. I feel that if a nap is a top priority and an urgent thing for a student during the week, a 10-minute (most of the time less) drive home would not be a huge problem.

“I do like the thought behind the bill that encourages students to live healthy lifestyles by getting the proper amount of sleep,” Hutton said. “However, the cons just simply outweigh the pros in this situation.”

A student “monitor” would stay in the designated napping area to keep control of the room. Students would be required to swipe their Eagle Card to access the room. Students would be able to access the napping area for 30 minutes at a time to make sure all students have time to nap if needed.

Lydia Brown and Drake Fenlon, the SGA senators that proposed the bill, dressed in their pajamas to pitch it.  Brown said her inspiration for the bill came from an illness. 

“About a month ago, I got sick, and I was so tired that I ended up taking a nap every day on the Green Room couch between obligations for between half an hour and an hour,” Brown said. “After taking a little nap, I felt good enough to go on with the rest of the day.”

Previous studies have proven that naps increase focus and efficiency and do not prevent a good sleep at night. Large corporations such as Nike and Google provide their employees with designated napping areas and encourage naps to increase productivity.

Tennessee Tech is not the first university to propose a napping area for students. Several universities, including Harvard, have provided napping areas of which students can take advantage.

“I find it hard to believe that other universities have found a real need for a napping area on campus,” said Tennessee Tech student Holly Trice. “I don’t feel that an area like this would be used very much.”

When asked if Tech would benefit from a nap room, computer science major, John Campbell said, “Yes. I see people napping in the library frequently.”

Campbell said that he would only use the room if he had privacy. 

“Since the bill failed, I have heard from several students that they would indeed vote for and use a room for napping,” Brown said. “And considering how many students do not live on campus, Drake and I agreed that this would be the way to provide space for those students to pursue a healthy nap as convenient for them.”

“I don’t think a napping room would benefit our university.  As stated, there are many more cons than pros that come with this idea,” Hutton said. “If a student needs a peaceful and quiet place to relax or study during their time on campus, that is already established- our third floor of Volpe Library.”

The vote on the bill failed with seven for, 23 against and one senator abstaining.