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Weary Harvard students want a place to take naps right in Harvard Yard

The Crimson reports on some petitions for improving student life submitted to the university, including one for a "a designated nap room in the Yard." Some students who favored the proposal said, however, they would be concerned about cleanliness - could they trust beanbag chairs some other student had just snoozed on?

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Place to take naps when I was in college: The Ground. Cold out? The ground with a winter coat on. Make the future 1% ers work a little.

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Seriously, this is what they are suggestion? I really feel sorry for these kids when they get out into the real word.

I'm at work right now with a nasty headache, and all I'd love to do is be able to take a nap. Sorry folks, it just isn't possible.

Annnnnd if they are worried about cleanliness.. just don't invite any drunk Tufts students in..

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When I worked at MGH we had a couple of visiting research physicians from Japan who instituted a napping space and a short nap time.

Even though the Catalan don't generally do the whole Siesta, there was a snoozing space at one institute I visited in Barcelona.

Just because we don't typically do this in the US doesn't mean there is anything non-adult or even strange about wanting mid-day napping space. There is some evidence that taking a short mid-day nap is rather a healthy thing to do - particularly for adolescents.

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I didn't say it was useless.. I think my point is this ALL the kids are thinking about? Where to nap?

And as far as your other comments, Yeah, I've heard all of this before. But we're in the United States, we don't do that here.

Until I'm allowed to put my feet up for 30 minutes at my job and take a nap, these students shouldn't be able to either. This is real life in the USA.

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First, who said its ALL that these kids are thinking about?

Second, just because your job sucks doesn't mean everyone else has to live the same miserable life as you.

Third, practice the following sentence: "Hey, you young whippersnappers, off my lawn!!"

Fourth: We're in the United States, we can do basically whatever we want, including taking a nap in the middle of the afternoon if it so suits us.

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of US Companies who have US offices who allow naps?

Sorry Google and Facebook do not count.

And yeah.. of course I could take a nap at work if I wanted too. but I probably wouldn't have a job when I woke up.

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Of colleges that require students to take classes eight hours straight.

College and work are really two different worlds. Yes, college students should be preparing for life in the coal mines. But until they graduate, there's no reason they have to replicate that life exactly.

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Adam, you know this all depends on course load. A Graduate student will tell you, sleep is a privilege, not a right.

And seriously? You think it shouldn't replicate real life? Why did life change between High School and College. In HS, I went to school from 7:30 to 3pm daily. I didn't get a nap. So why should college be any different? Seems to me, its a step backwards, not forwards.

If it doesn't.. and we're wondering why life is the way it is. I need to look no further than right here to a story about Tufts.

We want the college kids to act like adults, but from what you're saying is "they really don't have to anyways because their college kids". Tell that to the Westin's Manager who is steam cleaning carpets right about now.

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Translation of above posts "wahhhh wahhhh WAHHHHHHHH wahhhh wahhhh"

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I work for an investment management company in Boston. We have a wellness room, aka nap room, and on my daily hour break I am more than welcome to take a nap in there.

Also if you want some others that I found in about 2 minutes of research:

Google (Don't know why this one wouldn't count)
AOL Huffington Post Media Group
Cisco Systems
Hearst
Newsweek
Time Warner
Procter & Gamble
Nike
Jawa
Continental
British Airways
Ben & Jerry's
Zappos
Yarde Metals
The New York Times

BOOM Roasted

Here's some sources for you:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_36...
http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2011/08/18/why-c...
http://www.everydayhealth.com/sleep-pictures/the-m...

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You work for an investment management firm and you get an hour away from your desk for lunch? If we're gone for more than 15 minutes people start asking where we went and if we're coming back soon.

I'm not denying that I work in an inherently unhealthy work culture. That's how it is. That's why people like me burn out after 20 years in this business and change careers.

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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=the+effec...

Oh, but we in the US are SUPERHUMAN and don't need no stinkin commie naps ...

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http://www.everydayhealth.com/sleep-pictures/the-m...

Note the reason: health and welness.

Just because your company doesn't get the health benefits, doesn't mean every work place is so backward and ignorant.

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don't they just go back to their dorm rooms to catch a few zzz.

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Some dorms are a mile from some classroom buildings.

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I went to UMass/Amherst and everything was a mile away. If you wanted to nap you either walked a mile to your dorm, took a bus back to your apartment or found some empty space in racks at the library.

UMass: Find your own spot
Harvard: Have the school make a special spot for you

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Harvard: $54,496
UMASS: $23,167 in state

More expensive the school, the more perks you receive. You get what you pay for.

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Do not try and compare UMA to Harvard.

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That is all.

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UMA = UMass Amherst
UMB = UMass Boston
UMD = Umass Dartmouth
UML = UMass Lowell

Wikipedia has UMass Amherst listed under UMA, too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UMA

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I remember UMASS-Boston being called UMB occasionally when I was there. I've never seen or heard UMA for the Amherst campus - typically it's simply UMASS. As the flagship campus, they can do that.

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I have only ever heard UMB in reference to their website and wumb, the folk radio station.

I've been around the UMass system since the '80s. The first time I ever heard or saw UMA was today.

UML = a computer system methodology
UMD = University of Maryland

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What's the big deal? It can't hurt to ask. Maybe UMass students will hear about this and propose something similar.

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Isn't that what Lamont is for?

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This seriously some Class A First World Problems type of ****.

Unless I'm missing something about Harvard Yard - like not allowed to stay on the grass. Why can't they just bring a picnic blanket carried in a backpack instead of asking for a designated spot for if one wants to nap in the Yard on a nice spring day?

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Sleep deprivation is a health and safety issue, one that is particularly acute in first world cultures. Why shouldn't we so something about it? Just because some people want to make a moral issue out of denial of a physiologic need doesn't make it any less expensive to avoid addressing the issues.

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ALL of our problems are first world problems.

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Clearly this is what Harvard students have been missing, and perhaps now some of them will go on to make something of themselves after graduation.

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1. Naps if you work an overnight shift....yes, good for you and probably better for your health and more productive for your boss.

2. Naps if you work an 8-10 hour shift during the day...? Not so much. Suck it up.

3. Now if you have a few random shifts that amount to more than 15 or so hours a day (basically giving you less than 5 hours sleep at night), then a daytime nap would be necessary.

But let's all get a grip on reality here. Make a nicer student union/center with some comfy chairs and maybe even a quiet lounge with some comfy chairs that people can stretch out on. I'm all for that, and many colleges have had this sort of thing for a long time now.

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4. Jet lag.

In my office, napping is completely acceptable because we all end up boomeranging multiple time zones at some point. Folks will come off a red eye from LA or a flight from India or China, shower up, work a while, and nap in their office. The VP brings in a camping style sleep pad and pillow just for that reason.

Napping during the week is also quite effective when dealing with more than a few hours of displacement, and seems to increase productivity.

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