Stress takes its toll during dead week; I
students offer tips to combat exhaustion *
By Adeana Leftin
Staff Reporter
It’s four in the morning. You’re
surrounded by what’s left of a
cold pepperoni pizza. You have
n’t slept all night. Only three
hours left until your final and
you still have five chapters left to
read. You have a headache. Your
muscles ache. You can’t concen
trate. You’re stressed.
Dead Week is almost over
and finals are just around the
corner, so grab your books and
No-Doz or ease the pressure with
a few tips from the experts.
According to Connie Moore,
a sophomore health aide, a well
balanced meal and adequate sleep
can help reduce stress.
Mark Stuart, a freshman busi
ness administration major, said
his sleep usually is affected by
stress.
“The night before my finals,
I’m sure I'll be up studying,” he
said.
Stuart said running with his
roommates usually helps relieve
his stress.
Glenn Gray, Complex Program
Director for the Department of
Residential Kducation, said aero
bic conditioning is “the most sig
nificant form of stress manage
MM IB Lt J a AA A.d AA L
mem.”
Because stress affects the car
diovascular system, if a person is
in good physical condition he or
she will not suffer as much from
stress and will recover from it
sooner, he said.
Gray wrote his masters thesis
on stress, and has spent years
counseling students and doing
educational programming about
stress.
He recently conducted a sur
vey for which students listed
their top stress relievers. Talking
problems out with friends, spend
ing time alone and exercise
ranked high on the list.
The study also showed that
women report a lot more symp
toms of stress. Men tend to re
spond with chemical abuse, like
alcohol, to escape stress.
Gray said students should
watch for these stress symptoms:
insomnia, sleeping too much,
over- or undereating, low con
centration, grinding teeth and
muscle aches.
If students begin experienc
ing these symptoms, they should
contact their health aide, the Uni
versity Health Center or their
student assistant.
Tina Patterson, a senior soci
ology and nursing major, is a
student assistant in Pound Resi- i
denceHall. In addition to getting 5
herself through finals, she must
look out for the 40 women on
her floor.
Patterson said the first thing
the women complained about
was having to keep quiet 24
hours a day.
“But now," she said, “when
someone asks ‘how are you,’ ev
eryone says, ‘I’m tired.’”
Patterson said she encourages g
the students to study during the
day instead of waiting until late
in the evening, and tells them to
take breaks once in a while.
“You jiu can’t study that long,”
Patterson said. "Sometimes it just
helps to let them just tell you
what they did. They’re venting.”
Patterson said she also en
courages students to call home.
A support system is impor- o
tant.” she said.
Anne-Marie Smutny, a gen- g
eral studies freshman who lives z
on Patterson’s floor, said her best =
stress reliever is planning ahead. <§
“I’ve learned to take things a> ^
gradually,’’shesaid. “Tryandget o» ' .
things done ahead of time, don’t =
wait till the last minute. Then 5 —
things don’t seem as bad as if E ~
you’d waited.” ® ^
1 It took Galileo 16 years to master the universe. I
1 You have one night. I
I It seems unfair. The genius had all that time. While you have a few
short hours to learn your sun spots from your satellites before the
dreaded astronomy exam.
On the other hand, Vivarin gives you the definite advantage. It helps
keep you awake and mentally alert for hours. Safely and conveniently. So
even when the subject matter’s dull, your mind will stay razor sharp.
If Galileo had used Vivarin, maybe he could have mastered the solar
system faster, too. _
Revive with VIVARIN!
I * a» dim ml (, muim i aflrinr njimairm id no rup, id 11 dirt it I'Ml SnuihUlw Hm ham