gym is causing concern among students.

Students have circulated a petition making known their discomfort at what they see as a radical change that could jeopardise their exam performance.

Student government president Shari Scraders said the petition was the initiative of one student and was not officially that of the student council.

But, she said, "We support it.'' College authorities had received the petition, she added.

"A lot of it has to do with the change itself,'' she said when asked to outline objections to using the gym. Will it affect our grades? That's the whole thing in a nutshell.'' She said her personal perspective was the gym might be too congested and distracting, a lack of air conditioning will cause discomfort and the lighting may not be appropriate.

"The lighting is good for playing basketball but is it good enough for sitting exams ?'' Ms Scraders added that she was confident the administration means well for the students.

"I can understand what they are trying to do because when we go away to school we'll have a big environment for exams -- it will be a hall,'' Ms Scraders said.