In last week’s Argus article on the thesis carrel shortage, Associate Librarian Pat Tully said she’s open to suggestions. Well, here’s mine: There are about two thirds as many people on the waiting list this year as actually have carrels. So, split the year in half and re-do the lottery in January. Let the 71 people on the waiting list have first preference, and then draw for the remaining carrels from among the people who have them now.
It wouldn’t be nice to uproot this year’s lucky winners from the carrels that they legitimately received, but it would be fair. They can have three months of uninterrupted thesis carrel time from October to December. Next semester, the rest of us can have just under three months, from the end of January, to the beginning of April. A few lucky people will get a year-long slot, and nobody will be left out completely.
I’m sure this idea wouldn’t seem so great to me if I had received a carrel. So, to those who got them, I’m sorry for suggesting such a nasty thing. Unless you’re faced with the prospect of writing your thesis from home, though, you can’t really understand the situation. I plan to contact Pat Tully with my suggestion, and I hope my fellow wait-listed seniors will do the same.
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