Beginning Sunday, Dec. 4, students can plan to study 24 hours Sundays through Thursdays in the James Branch Cabell Library. When the Student Senate last week heard about these extended hours, some members, including Emad Maghsoudi, welcomed the news.
“The 24-hour library is something that’s a necessity,” Maghsoudi said, “especially with VCU trying to compete with schools like U.Va. and Harvard and Yale. A lot of schools have (a) 24-hour library, and it’s a necessity, not something that’s privileged that students must earn.”
Maghsoudi also said if students do not use the library’s 24 hour flexibility, it will not continue to be available to them.
Shivani Shodhan, SGA director of community affairs, said she was pleased to learn about the library’s extended hours, saying that she thinks the hours will be very useful to students. Shodhan said the hours have helped her in the past.
“I personally used that option last semester during finals, and it was very useful to me,” Shodhan said. “I took advantage of it and knowing that there was a common place where me and other students could come together and study in a safe quiet environment was beneficial and really helped me on my finals. So I’m very glad that they’re perusing it again this year.”
“The 24-hour library is something that’s a necessity.”
– Emad Maghsoudi
After learning about the library hours that continue through Tuesday, Dec. 20, the senators dealt with an elevator problem in RAMZ Hall.
Maghsoudi told the Senate that RAMZ Hall has only one elevator for its residents to use. He said many residents often have to wait for the elevator to get to their apartments.
Maghsoudi said the building’s stairways could become the solution for the residents’ problems.
“This RAMZ Hall resolution will hopefully open up the two emergency stairways for entering and exiting the building,” he said, adding that security has become an issue for the residents.
“The elevator creates security problems because sometimes the lobby area overcrowds and people can sneak in easily.”
In addition, Maghsoudi said there still are some concerns that need to be addressed about opening the stairways for the residents.
Following the RAMZ Hall resolution, the Senate received thanks for its support of the New Voters Project, which helped increase the voter turnout in the fall gubernatorial election, according to past records of student-monitored-voter precincts. The senators elected Maghsoudi 24-15-2 as the Senate’s vice chairman.