Food For Thought: Huntsman Kinda Looks like The Panopticon

There's not much to be said here. Huntsman kinda looks like the panopticon, at least to me --- and my opinion matters much more than anyone who was involved in designing that building.

From the GSRs, the Wharton students who book them can see every non-Wharton student, but these second-class citizens will never know whether or not they are being watched. I know the rooms are basically made of windows, but the metaphor's there anyway.

Think of the last time you were at Penn and a Wharton student walked in the room. Did you straighten up and get harder in their presence? Now imagine they were always in the room. They wouldn’t be watching you all the time, but you’d know they were there. This is the power of constant surveillance – and the power of the pan-Huntsman-opticon. This is the truth we must live with.

Then again, maybe the pan-Huntsman-opticon can be used for good. Maybe one can fill a void with empty work-induced stress under constant surveillance to distract from whatever they're lacking. Or maybe the answer lies in a situationship; Maybe being constantly monitored by the one is the solution to it all.