Sleeping in the library...

Society Business and Career
1

…takes on a whole new meaning after i read this article.

Broke student ‘slept in library’, BBC, 28 April 2004

A student in the US has been given free accommodation after it was found he had been sleeping in the college library for eight months to save money.

Steven Stanzak began spending the night in the basement of New York University’s main library last September, unable to afford the city’s high cost of living. He washed in the toilets and kept his clothes and books in a locker.

Officials only found out by reading Mr Stanzak’s own website.

The library is open 24 hours a day and security guards reportedly paid little attention to the student, who slept on chairs for six hours a night.

Mr Stanzak, 20, said that despite receiving $15,000 (£8,500) a year from a scholarship and working 30 hours a week, he could not afford the money for a room on top of his tuition fees.

An undergraduate studying creative writing, he recorded his experiences on the web, becoming something of a campus celebrity.

University administrators said they had taken Mr Stanzak’s claims at face value and had offered him a room for the rest of the summer. NYU spokesman John Beckman said: "Seventy per cent of our students are on financial aid. If they have a problem they choose to come to talk to us and we find a way to help them.

“This person chose a pretty unique solution to his issues.”

Last year, New York was ranked America’s most expensive city and 11th in the world. Founded in 1831 with 158 undergraduates, New York University has expanded to cater for more than 48,000 students. Its mascot is the bobcat which, unlike Mr Stanzak, is renowned for being active mainly at night.

2

:rotfl: should i try this :smiley:

3

hmmm..not a bad idea!:p Why didn't i think of that..

4

Try it, if you can sleep for 240 nights on some library chairs.

5

I knew an indian girl who pretty much slept in the school's loungue and librarys during a whole semester because she and her hubby were splitting up. It wasnt as obvious as this person and I only came to realize it later on, but we would see her stuff on the chairs all the time and wonder how hard she must be working.

6

I spent so many nights sleeping on a chair....when i used to do the grave yard shift at our computer lab...

haan haan...mein job pe sota tha

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I know a student who lived in the mosque, in return, he used to take good care of the mosque, cleaning, vacuuming etc. It became his home, and he was very emotional when he graduated and left.

8

Aah, the good old college days.

I remember working 60 hrs and carrying between 15-20 credit hours at school. Never have I been that happy (?)

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Spock: *
I know a student who lived in the mosque, in return, he used to take good care of the mosque, cleaning, vacuuming etc. It became his home, and he was very emotional when he graduated and left.
[/QUOTE]

That is the best service eh.. he would have earned a lot of sawab for that. No wonder he was emotional why leaving.

Back to the topic of thread, Its a pretty demanding task to sleep on chairs.

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Bad America...not taking care of its students.. Amreekans are bad!!!

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Matsui: *
Bad America...not taking care of its students.. Amreekans are bad!!!
[/QUOTE]

Matty, don't even mess around with my alma mater, not even in jest. Bobst library sub-basement plays to a host of countercultures and the bizzaro..From the desi/asian Sternies on one end to the Premedders and the thriving Jewish population on the other end..the library is very much conducive to all nighters, with sleeping bags and the works.

Nadia, I feel offended that this guy has to place NYU in negative light because of his own actions. NYU is located in NYC-- accomodations, cost of living is at a premium. If he couldn't find a place to stay, he should have went to the administration to discuss the matter or not attended the university at all. Believe me, NYU admin would have given him a place, rather than risking bad publicity. This is something that must have crossed his mind atleast once.

I really do fault the guy to an extent because this is just a crazy plan to start with. I mean sure you can stay down there, as many of us did during those crazy undergrad days but it was to pull an all-nighter..I would go back to the dorm, take a shower and prep for the exam the next morning. I do admire the fact that this guy must have been in love with the school to try something like this.

Hope it gives a perspective to the reality..

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RajputFury, i wasn’t trying to put your university in a negative light. Sorry if you felt that way. :flower1:

All the guy did was post it up on his website… where it stayed for eight months before any action was taken. i understand he should have probably approached NYU admin - then again, maybe he felt they wouldn’t help him out because there must be dozens of other students in his position as well, or maybe he felt embarassed approaching them. Who knows what went through his mind and made him hesitate to approach the NYU admin.

Anyways… the reason i posted it up is simply because it struck me as a unique story, not as a dig at NYU personally. That’s all, nothing more nothing less.

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interesting nadz.... :-)

i knew an african guy in my uni who used to sleep in the comp lab to save money

the guy had a 4.0 + GPA and was taking the toughest computer science grad level courses. he was a very hard working student.

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eyebrow raised Did someone say "African"? :D :p

wow... he actually slept there, eh. See i know a lot of students (self included) who used to pull all-nighters at the lab or at the library. i know the drill - if there's a comfy couch, or even if there isn't, you just put your head down and sleep...easy way to catch up on a few hours' sleep. When i was in Halifax and in dorm, if it got really late and i didn't feel like walking back alone to the dorm (even though it was just two blocks away from the lab), then i'd just sleep in a corner of the lab and wait for day-break then walk back to res. But doing it, night after night, for eight months... totally different scenario. :( Because you don't have the luxury of having a dorm room to come back to in the morning.

ah well. Kind of sad.

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Hey, who can blame him, my tuition bill makes me faint every time I see it, my university is costing us $16,000 per year and I don't even recieve any financial aid. I would be desperate too if my dad wasn't covering everything.

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Re: Sleeping in the library…

lol..bobst library is huge..I miss that place :-/

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Nadia, your too sweet. No offense taken. I am offended at THIS guy, who decides pull something like this. It shows that the University is some type of a heartless institution. It’s an expensive place, no doubt, but there are avenues of getting help. I mean this not a situation of the school being responsible for this at all. During my undergrad days, I spent nights in my dorm, my frat house, friends house and even bobst library..I do not expect the administration to track where I sleep.

Within the financial aid department, there are liasions who work with students to assoist them in every way possible. If that doesn’t work, there are individual schools, departments and even the dean who can intercede. There are many venues of seeking assistance. I mean this is a school which loans you money (like $20) if you lose your wallet. So I can’t imagine, the administration letting this guy sleep out there.

Nadia, if he felt embarrassed about the matter, why would he go out and post the details on a website? I mean it makes no sense. There could be 20 students sleeping in the library like him, but if they are embarrassed about it, they make sure that they keep a low profile.

I am definately bringing this up at the next alumni reception..

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Rajput Fury, :flower1: Thanks for your response.

i guess we perceive this differently, and that’s absolutely fine with me. Until i know more personal details about him, to be honest i am not in a position to comment more about whether or not he is making this all up or honestly did feel helpless in his particular situation. i really don’t know. Whatever happens, i hope he finds suitable accomodation at the end if he deserves it.

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Nadia, I agree. I mean I am glad that he did get an accomodations. It’s just one of those “if only he had..” situation where he could have been living in housing, NYU would have avioded the bad PR and all things would have worked out. I really hope he will be the last person to be doing this at NYU.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by digitalsurgeon: *
This guy is a source of inspiration.
[/QUOTE]

Man, oh man! People will be inspired by anything.
I'll call him unresourceful, really