College students are no strangers to people misusing public spaces. Whether it’s a couple kissing in the floor lounge or people playing loud music in workspaces, at some point in a student’s life, that student has stumbled across someone misbehaving in public.

For our purposes, “public spaces” are places that have unrestricted access. Let’s exclude dorms and focus on spaces used for educational uses.
Joseph Olivera, a senior communications major, has walked into his fair share of misbehavior. As editor of Film Production II’s short film, “Unconditional,” Olivera spent long hours in the Lee Makerspace and often faced students mistreating the space. 
“When I would go in there to do work on ‘Unconditional,’ there would usually be a girl watching ‘South Park’ on her laptop, as her friend laid down on the floor next to her,” Olivera said.

Olivera said he usually tried to work around the student.
Caitlyn McNally, a junior forensic science major, spends a lot of time in the Lee Makerspace as well. Usually, she finds it a quiet space to do her homework, but recently this has not been the case.
“I went in the edit lab and when I got there, there was a girl doing work, which is fine,” said McNally. “Then her friend came in and started singing and playing music and talking really loudly. At one point she stood up on the chairs. It was so obnoxious to the point where my roommate couldn’t do her homework, and we had to leave.”

In a room full of computers meant specifically for communications majors, it is frustrating to find seats taken up by people watching TV and even lying on the floor. But what, if anything, can be done about this?
The University of New Haven student handbook bans “disorderly conduct including behavior that causes inconvenience, annoyance, or alarm, and/or any action which can reasonably be expected to disturb academic pursuits.” So, if you are feeling brave, you can report the disturbance and undergo the long and tedious process of filing a claim. For people who don’t want to face that process, you can muscle through. 
Why do individuals feel they can behave like this, especially in places meant exclusively for work? This behavior may have something to do with the COVID-19 pandemic. Science Direct says research shows people will behave in similar ways to the people around them. This was especially true during the pandemic, when all we could do was copy those we saw via Zoom. So, perhaps COVID is the reason students feel they can negate basic manners in these spaces.
Jessica Scibek, director of campus recreation in the Beckerman Recreation Center, knows this notion well. In the recreation center, misuse of spaces sometimes includes, “shadow box in the middle of the hallways.” Scibek and her employees often find a way to redirect these individuals and find alternative spaces for them.
The university has nearly 10,000 students. It is ignorant to assume there is an appropriate amount of room for lounging on campus. A suggestion? The school could offer more workspaces for students so they wouldn’t feel the need to lie on the floor in places meant for specific conduct, like Lee Makerspace.