“Fatigues” Policy Receives Changes

The recent renovations to the Lamont Health Center are accompanied by an update to PEA’s “fatigues” policy. The service, offered to students as a buffer against the effects of sleep deprivation, had been unavailable for the past two terms.With the new policy, students seeking to fatigue will now have to be evaluated by nurses, contrary to the previous policy in which students could check themselves in.“Over the past couple years, the health team has noticed an increase of students taking blue cards when we didn't have the space for them all to rest,” Margaret O’Day, Administrative Director of Health Services, said. “We decided that it would make more sense for us to return to the old system where nurses could evaluate students' fatigue, offer some support and guidance as well as a cot.”Prior to the health center renovations and before the policy change, the fatigue system was executed through the use of blue cards. Fatiguing had been limited to three visits per term, and exhausted students had the opportunity to check themselves in without an evaluation.The updated building provides an alternative to Sally’s Sun Room, supporting the new fatigue policy. Nine cots have been added to a “quiet room” that prohibits electronic use and will remain darkened throughout the day.For O’Day, the new system will reaffirm the purpose of the fatigue. “We hope this will get us back to the original purpose of fatigue visits, to catch up on sleep, and not be used as a study hall or pass from class.”O’Day underlines the nurses’ ability to help students who request to fatigue in more ways than solely providing them with a free pass from class and bed to sleep in. “We hope that having a chance to talk to a nurse will offer a supportive ear and opportunity to learn about other student supports, like our counselors, our dietitian, our health education teachers as well as the academic support services for help with time management.”Science instructor Townley Chisholm welcomed the change to the new fatiguing policy as a way of controlling the system’s abuse, which would prevent students from using fatigues as additional time to complete assignments. “This change is almost as good as not allowing fatigues at all,” Chisholm said. “If a student doesn’t have symptoms such as a fever or active nausea, then the student should go to class.”Many students have witnessed the abuse of the past fatigue system.“The sun room would always be full with some people who were really trying to go to sleep and catch up on their rest, and then some people who were working and click-clacking on computers and calculators,” senior Mia Areferaine said. “I’ve definitely been in both positions, so it’s a hard thing to judge whether one policy is better than the other, but the new policy just forces you to use fatigues and dickies for what they’re actually meant for.”Students and faculty are hesitant of the new system, and questioned how a nurse would determine true “fatigue.”“I don’t think that people will abuse this privilege as much when they have to go to see a nurse first who says whether or not they are tired enough to fatigue, but at the same time, a nurse might not actually know how tired the student is,” senior Efe Airewele said.Instructor in religion Kathleen Brownback echoed Airwele’s statement, supporting the institution of a control method for the system’s abuse, but doubting the nurse evaluation’s ability to curb the problem. “I think it’s very hard to evaluate whether or not someone is tired, so maybe it would be better to say that if you’re using a fatigue, you need to be in a room without any other stuff; if you’re sleeping, you’re sleeping.”Health center renovations temporarily terminated fatigues for the past two terms.The shortage of this safety net for particularly sleep-deprived students was seen as somewhat of a disadvantage, especially for the Class of 2014, who were in the midst of two of the most stressful terms at Exeter—upper spring and senior fall.Despite the absence of this highly sought-after service, students felt that the Health Center was generally accommodating to those who needed rest revealing that the fatigue process is not much different from a typical nurse check-up.Senior Emily Wiklund had stayed up late one night this term trying to submit her college applications, which were due the next day, and finish two papers for class. After receiving only three hours of sleep, she turned to the health center for relief. “The nurse said that of course I could rest and asked how long I wanted to sleep, which was just like a normal fatigue, except that I had to meet with the nurse first,” she said.With the reinstatement of the fatigue policy, despite its new guidelines and additions, students will be able to seek assistance from the health center at all times. The bottom line as established by O’Day: “students can always come to the Health Center if they feel exhausted and need to rest.”