8/13/2019 Time is not on our side
2/3
I wouldnt be in architecture if I
didnt enjoy it, she said. Its excit-
ing and I love it, and thats whatkeeps me here. Its just that
its an
abusive environment.
As generations pass throughthese programs, traditions are
established and expectations are
imposed on those who follow. The
result: Academic cultures whereoverwork is normal and the
most
talented, driven and dedicated stu-
dents are often most at risk. Time is
not on their side.
nnn
At the height of Englands
Industrial Revolution, working-class men, women and
childrenregularly worked between 60 and
85 hours each week in unhealthy
conditions with little pay. In 1817,
a labor reformer named RobertOwen championed the radical
notion of an eight-hour workday,
under the slogan Eight hours
labor, eight hours recreation, eighthours rest. Factory owners
ridi-
culed the concept, but it took root.
Americas eight-hour movement
bloomed in 1938 when FranklinD. Roosevelt signed the Fair
Labor
Standards Act that established thenow-standard 40-hour
workweek
as well as overtime pay. Over morethan a century, developed
countries
across the world realized healthy
and sane societies need balance,
and productivity requires rest.Yet some 70 years later, some
col-
lege programs preserve a bubble in
American society where overwork
is not only tolerated, but enabled,nurtured and praised.
nnn
During orientation meetings,
many U.S. universities tell studentsthat for each hour spent in
class
they should expect to spend two to
three hours outside of class study-
ing or finishing homework.A University of Central Arkansas
Web page put it this way:
According to experts, the rule
of thumb is for every one hourin class, students should
spend
approximately two hours outside
of class studying and doing home-
work. We encourage students toview their academics as a
full-time
job. If they spend 15 hours a week
in class, they need to spend approx-
imately 25 to 30 hours outside ofclass doing homework making it
a
Belushi-type frat boy who does kegstands and crashes on couches
of
stacked pizza boxes. Indeed, the
2010 National Survey of Student
Engagement reports that only ninepercent of seniors surveyed
at
major research universities study
more than 30 hours per week. But
what the survey doesnt explore are
the vast differences between expec-tations of liberal arts
students and
those in professional programs.
A liberal arts degree equips stu-dents with critical thinking
skillsvalued in a variety of jobs, but lacks
street the friends, the partying
couldnt seem farther away.
Leading out the back door ofMarvin Hall, a concrete pathway
winds down the hill to a tunnel
beneath Naismith Drive. On the
other side is Eaton Hall, wheresilent students sit at long rows
of
computers, typing. Theyre com-
puter science majors writing code,
training to be software designers
and web developers. David Jones,
a junior, built a music programfrom scratch that lets users
make
original compositions. Lizzie
when I can stay here? he said. If Igo three or four days without
sleep,
Ill crash for eight hours, which is
oversleeping.
Cameron Bryant, another stu-dent on the project, unwraps a
sandwich from Jimmy Johns as
Robert Sorem, associate dean of
engineering and the sponsor ofJayhawk Motorsports,
approaches.
Hey, go wash your hands before
you eat that sandwich, Sorem
says.Nah, its good for your immune
system, jokes another student.
Yeah, Bryant says, smiling, We
never get sick.However, Bryant remembers the
semester when Red Bull sponsored
the team, donating large quanti-
ties of energy drinks to the shop.Bryant drank three cans each
day
to stay awake during long days
at the shop. This lasted until theday a tightening knot in his
stom-ach buckled him over and he was
ping out of a machine. He pausesfor a rare moment, scratching
his
light-red beard.A dry-erase board above Heger
features feminine handwritingthat reads: Erin Brown is the
best
thing that ever happened to me.
He proposed to Brown, a senior
and member of The Kansans edito-rial board, last December, on
their
seventh anniversary as a couple.
Both from Wichita, they met as
dance partners in a high schoolpop choir.
Hegers passion used to be
baseball. He played as a freshman
at a small college, but an inju-ry ended baseball and led to
a
transfer to the University, where
Brown had enrolled in journal-
ism. Heger enrolled in the Schoolof Engineering, and for those
first
years they were inseparable.
We saw each other every day,
ate at the dining hall every nighttogether. It was never a
question
that we would see each other, said
Brown. A lot of things changed
though.To say Heger is passionate about
the cars would be an understate-
ment. I spend more time herethan anywhere else, he said. I
lovethis place and everyone that comes
in here.
The motorsports shop carries
undeniable camaraderie and hasreplaced baseball as the outlet
for
Hegers drive and focus. Bryant,
who Heger met last year, will be the
best man at his wedding. The shopcarries great expectations,
too.
Each of the 15 seniors on the proj-
ect has specific assignments. When
those are done, theyre expected
to continue coming in to pick uploose ends. Its not uncommon
for
Heger and his teammates to not go
home until 4 a.m. if at all. Asthe cars deadline approaches,
the
hours grow longer and he sees his
fiancee less.
Weve fought more oftenbecause of the car, Heger said.
She doesnt understand I cant be
home. And thats hard.Heger originally guarded
Sundays as the one day he and
Brown would spend together, fin-
ishing homework, buying groceriesor simply relaxing. But as the
car
nears completion, hes been work-
ing Sundays too
Self Computing Commons, a large,
5-foot dry erase board reads in bold
red: NO FOOD, NO DRINK. Anearby poster reiterates, adorned
with blurry images of Pepsi cans
and pizza: WARNING: No food,or chewing tobacco products in
the
labs! Third offense: Disciplinary
meeting with the Assistant Dean of
Engineering.
Within 30 feet of the entrance,however, two students sit
hunched
over Gateway laptops, one eating
fruit snacks, the other drinking a
large Mountain Dew. When a pro-gram creates enough demand
for
its facilities to never close, certain
rules are ignored. During the long
hours at Eaton, smuggled food is
both a welcome diversion and asustaining necessity. In the
back
corner of a room full of Linux com-
puters, Lizzie Alonzi, Jason Chenand Claire Bangole spread
their
wares.
OK, so I brought a 5-hour
Energy, a microwavable meal andmy M&Ms, says Alonzi.
Claire
ordered Jimmy Johns. Jason was
going to order a pizza.Like the mechanical engineers at
Learned, the programmers occu-
pying Eaton at this late hour share
deep friendships and respect akinto soldiers whove served
together
in battle, the deep bonds of long
hours and mutual misery. The
community is tight-knit, Alonzisays. We would do anything
for
each other.
But the digital battlefield of
zeroes and ones is endured in anoffice chair, a slower and
more
silent pace than the building of
racecars. Keyboard clicks punctu-
ate the silence.Alonzi arrived about 16 hours
ago, at 7:45 a.m. Banglore showed
up shortly after. Chen arrived at
7 p.m and plans to work all night.They wear hoodies with
sweat-
TIMECONTINUED FROM 1A
KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN/FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2011
/ NEWS/ 3A
Its too much.Its brutal.
LIZZY ALONZIA junior in computer science
Ben Pirotte/KANSAN
11 p.m. Yong Zhang, a master of architecture student from
Chengdu, China, in his four th year, makes tea around 11 p.m. on
Tuesday ina Marvin Hall studio. While caffeine is the drug of
choice for most students low on sleep and time, many resort to more
potent options, such as
prescription drugs and marijuana.
You reach a breaking point, physically.Everyone seems to fall
apart.
NICK FRATTA
A junior in architecture
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3/3
completely affected, Alonzi said.Once a week I would have a
mentalfreak-out, saying I cant do thismajor. I cant handle it.
As she approached Eaton dailyand stood outside its glass
doors,she came to resent it more. Thedaily demands of the labs and
theschools ambitious students breedan intense culture, a survival
of thefittest. Being one of few females inan overwhelmingly male
programdoesnt help. Independence bringspride, Alonzi said. Needing
helpbrings judgment.
Once, during early-morninghours when her strained systemjust
couldnt make a program work,her eyes slowly welled up withtears.
She dropped her head to thedesk. Overloaded.
Overworked.Overwrought. An older studentwalked over and, seeing her
crum-pled state, offered wisdom: It onlygets worse.
nnnCharette, a French word mean-
ing cart, bears a daunting weight inschools of architecture. At
the coledes Beaux-Arts, the influential artsschool of 1800s Paris,
it was com-mon for architecture students towork on design plans
right up untila deadline. Throughout the citysstreets they could be
seen on theschool cart, scribbling furiously ontheir design plans,
even in the finalminutes before submitting them toprofessors. They
were on the cart,en charette.
Charette, in both term and prac-tice, passed through generations
ofarchitecture students who brought itto the professional field and
shaped
the culture. Now, at midnight on aSaturday, the rooms of Marvin
Hallare abuzz with students en charette working for a review later
thisweek. A dozen or so students workin Marvins computer lab,
focusedon screens displaying 3-D imagesof their design. When a body
passesby the open door, they all look up, abreak from monotony.
Others pacethe unlit hallways leading to roomswhere models are
made.
Bright, red pipes line thewhite ceilings of one such
studio.Below them, Dani Boyd and MaiaHoelzinger are fast at work.
Each atseparate drawing tables across theroom, they rarely face
each other,even when they talk. But even anunseen voice is company
on nightslike these.
You always have something totalk about, Hoelzinger says. Ill
behere til delirium hits, maybe threeo clock.
Im here all waking hours, exceptwhen I eat breakfast, says Boyd.
Shepauses. Wait, I ate breakfast here,too.
White boards intersperse withwooden cabinets on the walls.
Dirty-grey titles, the kind custodial staffsrarely get a chance to
clean, makeup the floor beneath their feet. Ontop of the rooms many
desks liethe staples of a student-architect: anempty 24 package of
Pepsi, boxes ofKraft Easy Mac, some peanut butter.Most, if not all,
of the days mealsare taken here.
I dont ever cook, even thoughI love to cook, Boyd says. Hergo-to
food in studio is Cheez-Its.Whatd you have for dinner? sheasks
Hoelzinger.
Taco Bell and coffee, Hoelzingerreplies. Im going to kill
myself.
After years of studio life latenights, little sleep, and less
social-izing Boyd and Hoelzinger areused to it.
Obviously we get frustrated andhave to step away or else well
stabsomething, Hoelzinger says as shecuts model pieces with an
X-Actoknife. Theres too many sharpobjects in here.
When studio gets especiallydemanding, Boyd and Hoelzingerhave
used prescription stimulants,too.
It gets tough, Boyd says. Iveenjoyed Adderall the times Ivedone
it.
Adderall is another pill-formADHD treatment used on
collegecampuses as a stimulant, either forpartying or marathon
studying.
I dont take Adderall recreation-
ally, Hoelzinger adds. I wouldntwaste it on that.
For students in time-intensiveprograms, drugs and alcohol
servetwo purposes: to speed up or helpcope. Kerwin said
prescriptionstimulants are easy to find: If yourea dealer and want
to sell Adderall,you go to the architecture school.
Other drugs play a role, too, shesaid. Theres a lot of
marijuanausage, just for relaxing. You go infront of the computer
just stonedand working on floor plans.
Staci Ashcraft, a junior in archi-tectural engineering who says
shestudies about 70 hours each week,sees the need to numb
academicpressures. You push yourself sohard one day and you know
youhave to do it again the next, shesaid. But you always know
thealarm will come too soon. A stu-dent I know in chemical
engineer-ing drinks every night when he
finishes. Hes like, My minds justblown, and I h ave to cope.
Students can be impaired oncampus without food or drugs,said
Nancy Hamilton, an associateprofessor in psychology whoresearches
sleep deficiency.
Data suggests that sleep-depriveddriving is as bad or worse
than
being drunk on performance, shesaid. She added that the effect
couldapply to any routinized activity,whether cutting boards for
modelsor building racecars. Hamilton alsosaid sleep deficiency for
most,anything less than six hours weakens immune systems,
enablesstress and starts a vicious cycle in
academic programs.Its a self-defeating culture
in programs like engineeringand architecture particularly,with
accumulative acquisitionof knowledge, she said. Inarchitectural
terms, if yourfoundation is bad and you buildon a bad foundation,
then your
building is going to collapse.Nick Fratta, a junior in
archi-
tecture, said sleep was the firstthing to go when student
work-loads get demanding. By its nature,sleep deficiency becomes an
over-arching burden that splintersinto other problems. You reacha
breaking point, physically, hesaid. Everybody seems to fallapart.
He said one friend sanded awood model in her sleep. Anothercrashed
facedown into the projecton his desk during the morningsmost
critical hours. Fratta usesclassmates coats as makeshift blan-kets
to sleep under tables and inhallways. Prepared students
bringsleeping bags.
Hamilton said lack of sleepdrains the immune system, too,
andFratta agreed. When a deadline isapproaching, I get sick.
Withoutfail, he said. The studio model bynature keeps
sleep-deprived stu-dents together in the same roomfor days on end,
all with loweredimmune systems, all handling thesame door knobs and
shop tools.Few have time to bathe or evenchange clothes.
Its a horribly unhealthy life-style, said Blake Thames, a
seniorin architecture who spends 80hours each week on
coursework.Hes in whats commonly known asa competition studio, with
dead-lines every few weeks rather thanmonths. Accordingly, hes
pulledmore all-nighters this year thanhis previous years combined.
Its aChristmas tradition for him to besick the first week of every
winterbreak; the grueling toll of finals
week on his immune system.The lack of sleep compounds a
programs ever-present stress andanxiety, Thames added. This is
anational trend. An annual HigherEducation Research Institutesurvey
released earlier this yearreported record lows in the emo-tional
health of college freshmen.In contrast, students rated theirdrive
to achieve as higher thanever, pushed by rising tuition
andunemployment rates, analysts said.
In a studio full of cutting bladesand power tools, sleep
deprivationcan mean more injuries. Sliced andnicked fingers are
commonplace,the scars of which decorate thehands of many architects
in thefield today. Our rule is: If it bleedslonger than three
hours, you shouldgo to the hospital, Kerwin said.The only first-aid
kit is in MarvinHalls craft shop, she said, whichcloses at nine
each night. Some stu-
dents treat cuts with super glue andmasking tape. Kerwin
recalled onestudent who sliced his finger dur-ing a project,
leaving a chunk of hisskin on the floor. Emergency roomtrips are
avoided; not for monetaryexpenses, but for lack of time.
No one likes pu lling all-nighters,said Thames, but it becomes a
signof dedication. Like the engineer-ing program, architecture
schoolslow acceptance rates and gruelingexpectations produce an
environ-ment where neglect of physical andmental health is the
norm. Studentslog the hours spent on a project forbragging rights,
and each all-night-er becomes a badge of honor. Thecosts of such a
culture, however, canbe high.
In 2000, an architecture studentat Southern University in
Louisianawho pulled two all-nighters priorto a review died in a
head-on caraccident. The event prompted theAmerican Institute of
ArchitectureStudents, the disciplines nationalstudent organization,
to forma Studio Culture Task Force topromote discussions about
unsafeexpectations and how schools canlook for alternatives. Their
findingsreport that 73 percent of architec-tural students agreed
they oftenfeel isolated from others outside thearchitecture school,
and 80 percentfound the workload at architectureschool
overwhelming.
Now the AIAS wants to eliminatethe all-nighter from
architectureeducation and, ultimately, the fielditself, with the
understanding thattodays students will run tomor-rows firms. In
2005, the National
Architecture Accreditation Boardbegan requiring schools to
draftand post studio culture policies thatacknowledge and address
unhealthylearning environments. Changingcenturies of practice,
however, takestime.
The idea of working all-night-ers is engrained in the
culture,said AIAS Vice President DanielleMcDonough. Ten years may
seemlike a long time, but it hasnt fullycaught on yet.
Nils Gore, interim chair of archi-tecture, said he doubted
centuriesof tradition could change. I thinkAIAS venture to kill the
all-nighteris hopeless, he said. You mightmake small changes to
nudge themhere and there, but I think it comesdown to the persons
work ethic andtheir personal drive.
That personal drive came fromcultures of competition in
profes-sional schools, which evolved to
draw out strengths in students pre-paring for the professional
world.Students interviewed for this storyall stressed a genuine
love for theirdiscipline, whether it be computerscience, mechanical
engineering orarchitecture. Indeed, their passion isthe only thing
that could carry themday-to-day.
Yet that same personal drivehelps perpetuate the culture,
totheir own detriment. People onlyhave 24 hours each day, with
finitemental and physical capacities thatsometimes go neglected
until itstoo late. In December 2009, a KUjunior in architecture was
workinglate into the night in the Marvincraft shop before a review
when sheinjured herself on a table saw, sever-ing multiple
fingers.
The event sent shockwavesthrough the school. Newer, safertable
saws replaced the old machinesin Marvin Hall. The dean sent outa
letter promising a new policy.Professors urged students to
guardthemselves and get more sleep. For awhile, change was on the
forefront.Ultimately, however, the reality andrigors of the program
prevailed andthe work culture remained. Twoyears later, the
workloads of theUniversitys most competitive pro-grams continue to
dominate thelives and health of the studentstheyre intended to
advance.
Yet history shows that if a cultureof overwork and time
constraint isto be changed and healthy balancepromoted, refocusing
that personaldrive is of the utmost importance.Though it took more
than a cen-tury to see their cultural change
come to fruition, when more than40,000 workers of Americas
labormovement gathered in Chicago onMayday, 1886, a new song was
ontheir lips:
KANSAN.COM/ THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN/FR IDAY, APRIL 29, 2011
/ NEWS/ 5A4A / NEWS/FR IDAY, APRIL 29, 2011 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
KANSAN/K ANSAN.COM
TIMECONTINUED FROM 3A
Driven by the clock
11p. m. to7a. m.
StevenHeger,aseniorinmechanicalengineeringfromWichita,worksdozensofhourseveryweekontheFormula-stylecarsfor
JayhawkMotorsports,which isthe capstoneproject formechanical
engineeringseniors.Last Tuesday,heworked throughoutthe
night,asthedebutof thecarwasthefollowingSaturday.
Anotetapedupin theshopreads:ErinBrownisthe
bestthingthateverhappenedtome.BrownisHegersfiancee.Wedontseeeachotherawholelot.Wegetinfightssometimesaboutit,butIkeeptellingheritsalmostover.IvebeentellingherthatsinceSeptember.Nowitsreallyalmostover!Hegersaid,laughing.HegerplanstograduateinMay,andthetwoaresetto
bemarriedinOctober.
This can be a life-or-deathissue for the architectureprofession
as well, not onlyindividually but alsocollectively.
Onceexploitation becomes partof the culture of a group, ittends to
perpetuate itself,
just as abused youths aremore likely to become abu-sive parents.
It also tends tocolor all relationships. Howmuch does
themistreatment that architectsaccept from developers, forexample,
have to do withthe tacit acceptance of suchbehavior within the
profes-sions own ranks?
Resolving the problem willrequire further effort byfaculty and
administratorsat schools ... and a strongerstigma being attached
to
the exploitation of employ-ees. But most of all, it willdemand
that students andrecent graduates simply nottake it anymore.
THOMAS FISHERDean of the College of Architecture
and Landscape Architecture atthe University of Minnesota
published in editorial Patterns ofExploitation
NICK FRATTAJunior, architecture
TIM MORANSenior, mechanical engineering
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Wake up
Lunch
Sleep
Dinner
Sleep
Wake up
Lunch
The National Sleep Foundation suggests adults receive seven to
nine hours ofsleep per night. The Center for Disease Control and
Prevention advises two hoursand 30 minutes of moderate to intense
aerobic activity per week.
EXPERTS SUGGESTED
STUDENT SCHEDULE
Senior Steven Heger spends the night working for his mechanical
engineering class
We want to feelthe sunshine;
We want to smellthe flowers.
Were sure thatGod has willed it,And we mean tohave eight
hours.
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ClassClass
Reality: not recommended
Wake up
Lunch
Working on car
Working on car
Free time
Commute
Free time Part-time job
Dinner
Sleep
Studio
Studio
Studio
RA meeting
Desk attendant
Dinner
Ben Pirotte/KANSAN
ShinaGupta,asophomoreinAerospaceEngineeringfromLenexa,worksearlyintothemorningaround3onThursday.Shesaidthelabwas
usuallypacked,butby3or 4a.m.,Itsusuallyjustme.
Ben Pirotte/KANSAN
EricVogel,aseniorfromPrairieVillageandacivilengineeringstudent,worksearlyintothemorningaround3onThursdayina
labinEaton
Hall.Hewasworkingonan
ArcGISproject,asheplansongraduatinginMay.
Eat breakfast
Edited by Joel Petterson
Photosby Ben Pirotte
Ben Pirotte/KANSAN
Commute
Graphic by Hannah Wise
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StevenHegerwipeshisfaceinexhaustionlatelastTuesdaynightwhenworkingontheFormula-stylecarsforJayhawkMotorsportswithhisteammatesTimMoranandCameronBryant.Thecartheywereworkingonwas
debutingthatSaturday,sospendinglonghoursintheshopandfrequentlypullingall-nightersbecamethenorm.
