Busy students stay up all Students relive horrific marathon studying sessions Ahh, the ali-nighter-thrilling, yet also a thing to fear Students all over the country, not just here at Penn State Harrisburg, have found themselves in the clutches of the all-nighter. Some are better at it than others, some cop out and sleep for a little bit, some go hard-core and hit the caffeine for a straight 24 hours. One thing is for sure, the all-nighter has become a novelty. A phrase synonymous with college campuses feast and west of the Mississippi. “There’s so much to do,” said 20-year-old Amanda Mailey, communications. “Working, going out, school, depending on the type of person, it’s like having three full-time jobs.” Mailey’s point is well-taken because college has become a full-time job for many students. Students who are lucky, like Mailey, are able to balance a social life, working at the GAP and maintaining a somewhat long distance relationship, while still excelling in school. But that lifestyle is not for everyone. “Four years ago is the last one I recall,” said Susan Weibley, 25, ele mentary education. “I have no idea and I’ve never been able to fath om how people can stay up all night. I don’t need a lot of sleep. I can go to sleep at 1 a.m., and get up at 5 a.m. and work, but I have to have that sleep.” In his book “How to Study, Suggestions for High School and College Students,” Arthur Komhauser said cramming for tests or papers should be used in emergency situations only. “Procrastination plus work equals late night studying,” said Mailey. A recent Harvard study showed that students who cram for exams and papers and do not sleep, have test scores that drop dramatically. That statement is an obvious statement, but some students, such as Weibley, work better under pressure. “1 am not a big study beforehand person,” Weibley said. “I’ve got to have a deadline but I’ve also got to have sleep.” “If I absolutely had to,” said Jessica Mcßride, 21, accounting. “If I had a couple of tests the next day, I would, but I would probably be dead the next day.” “1 work a full day, go out and party, go to sleep at 6 or 8 am, or sometimes lay down for an hour maybe, but I don’t know how people do it everyday of the week,” Mailey said. As we get closer and closer to the end of another semester, the nights seem to get later for some students. Finals are looming and the pressures of graduating are mounting, but not all of the pressure lies with the students. Professors also face the possibility of working long hours. American Studies Program Coordinator, Charles Kupfer, has pulled the infamous all-nighter a few times in his day. Kupfer said he remembers the long nights dur ing his teaching days at Michigan State. "If finals needed to be graded, I would sit with finals stacked up and not go to sleep until the papers were corrected. I couldn’t do an all-nighter now, teach the next day, and be worth a damn,” Kupfer said. However, as one of the more student-friendly professors on campus, Kupfer does By ERIC THOMAS Staff Reporter see the positives in racking the brain for 1,440 minutes straight. “I speak up for the all-nighter,” Kupfer said. “Sometimes students are able to pull the fat out of the fire. And as a profes sor, I would much rather see a product turned in on time.” Sharon Fufaro, 20, feel the pressures beginning to mount as springtime nears. “The worst is when professors have reports, tests and quizzes all in the same week. It never fails. Finals week, my fiancd doesn’t want to be around me because 1 have to do well on every single thing,” Fufaro said. Fufaro faces many of the same pressures as Mailey. “With all of the reading I have to do, if I did reading for all of my classes I would n’t sleep. You learn to skim which can really affect your grades.” Finals week is a time when students find themselves facing increased pressure. “I’m like a walking zombie,” Fufaro said. “(My fiancd] is seriously scared of me during finals week.” To make life easier on students, some colleges across the country offer all-night study programs. The most attractive of the programs offered hails from Cal-State Fullerton. Cal-State has established the Titan Student Union, which is open 24 hours a day during the week leading up to finals, and finals week. Inside the TSU, students Diligent student Michael Cooke shows that the classic all-nighter consists of lots of studying. Cooke studys human anatomy for a biolo gy assigment (left) and does research on crime for his criminal justice term paper (below) as the clock ticks further into the morning.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers