Art by Amber Shin
Imagine this: You’ve just finished a grueling day of classes and hours of homework, and you’re about to crash because you are exhausted.
Except you can’t.
Your neighbors are blasting music at 1 a.m. Two hours later, you wake up to people playing basketball on the court, dribbling the ball and shouting at each other. Then, around 8 a.m., you’re awoken by construction noises.
This has now affected your academic performance because you simply don’t get enough sleep, but you just don’t know what to do.
Luckily, the Graphic staff has come up with some possible solutions.
If there will be noise during quiet hours, students should know. The official quiet hours on campus are from 10 p.m. to 10 a.m., according to the Housing and Residence Life Code of Conduct Policy.
Although there are clear guidelines on the Housing and Residence Life Code of Conduct Policy, it doesn’t mention limits on when construction workers must start and end their shifts. To clarify this, Pepperdine should notify residents clearly of potential disruptions.
The current Pepperdine policy suggests for students to call their residential advisors or the Department of Public Safety to make noise complaints.
If students are worried their peers might judge them for “snitching,” there is an Anonymous Tip Hotline, according to Pepperdine’s Public Safety website.
In addition, this policy does not mention noisy construction work at all, including the operation of heavy machinery such as bulldozers and dump trucks. Pepperdine administration should communicate more clearly about potential disruptions. The University should inform students of construction hours, so they can plan accordingly. When construction starts at 8 a.m., it’s increasingly frustrating for students living in dorms because quiet hours are still occurring.
The Graphic staff is grateful for the effort of construction workers to provide more parking spaces on campus, but if the workers have different hours that clash with the University’s quiet hours, the students should know.
It’s also important to be considerate. Everyone should have basic human respect for others, but some students aren’t being mindful of their noise level. Everyone who lives in on-campus housing signs a housing agreement and is aware of quiet hours, so they need abide by them.
No one wants to be overly strict, but there are consequences for not following the quiet hours outlined in the housing agreement.
“Repeat offenders will be fined a minimum of $25 for each occurrence and face disciplinary sanctions up to and including the loss of housing privileges,” according to the Housing and Residence Life Code of Conduct Policy.
This policy should be enforced.
Students require ample time to sleep, according to NHLBI. After a long day, students need time to recuperate and decompress. Not only is this a reasonable expectation, this period of rest is necessary for student performance and health.
Many students have late nights or early mornings. Not everyone’s schedule is the same, so there needs to be a compromise.
Having more realistic hours in study places could be a solution. Instead of studying in the dorm, students can flock to the Payson Library and fitness center.
At the moment these locations have limited hours. For example, the Payson Library opens at 7:30 a.m., and closes at 12 a.m., from Monday through Thursday. On Fridays and weekends, the hours are even more limited.
Similarly, the fitness center is only open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday through Friday, with limited weekend hours and is closed while many students are awake and active. If Payson and the fitness center close a couple hours later, students have places besides the dorm to study and work out, and they are less likely to disrupt students who are sleeping.
In addition, students who find noise disrupting their sleep can wear earplugs or noise cancelling headphones and turn on a fan to lessen the noise pollution. If the source of the disruption is known, they can speak directly to their roommates, suitemates or housemates.
Let this message push for change to the community to be considerate of one another and find creative solutions together.
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Follow the Graphic on Twitter: @PeppGraphic
Email Pepperdine Graphic Media: peppgraphicmedia@gmail.com
