To the Public Safety officer who snidely remarked that she was unhappy to have to “babysit ” for an hour while we worked in the sewing lab,

I too feel that you standing over a responsible 22 year old honors student as she does her homework is a waste of your time. The rules that require you to do so, however, are not mine but yours.

To the Public Safety officers who increasingly come into the lab 15 minutes before closing time in order to intimidate the students who are diligently working on their homework so that they will leave posthaste,

What harm are we causing? Do you fear for our safety? Or, do you think that our presence is a threat to the school?

Funnily enough, your presence often causes us to become flustered and forgetful so that we do not shut down all of the equipment properly. Do you realize how this might be a greater threat to safety than simply treating us with kindness?

To whoever makes the rules and doesn’t deem it necessary to keep the sewing lab open later or to treat the apparel students with enough respect to explain your reasoning,

This is my homework and I need this equipment to complete it. For some reason you understood the importance of student accessibility to scholarly equipment when you decided to keep the library open until 11:30pm every night but you do not understand it when we repeatedly request that you leave the sewing lab open past 10pm.

Student apparel designers are required to spend lots of money on materials (for many senior designers their collections cost upwards of $1,000). My sewing machine is currently broken, the amount of money I have to spend on fabric combined with the amount of money I have to pay just to be a student at this exorbitantly expensive university, makes it difficult for me to fix it or buy a new one. I am not alone in this struggle. The equipment in this sewing lab is a necessary part of my success as a student and I feel that my major and my scholarship is not being valued when you refuse to take that into consideration.

If you agree that the sewing lab should be open until 11:30pm (the same time the library closes) please sign the attached petition.

Thank you.