Floor lamps are necessary in many apartments due to insufficient overhead lighting. The flickering of fluorescent lighting interacts with the refresh rate of computer monitors, producing a flickering image in the monitor. This causes eye strain and headaches, especially when viewed for long stretches at a time, as is often the case for graduate students.
Fluorescent lighting is also highly undesirable from an aesthetic standpoint.
In a less competitive market, the undesirable lighting might deter potential renters. It would presumably make these spaces less acc eptable to post-docs and staff people who could be used to fill potential future vacancies. We recommend that new construction incorporate non-fluorescent lighting and that no further fluorescent lighting be installed in graduate residences.