Truman State University - Echo Yearbook (Kirksville, MO)

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WastecI dAys ANd sleepless NiqhTS 7-10 p.m.: Basketball game, movies, a card game or a chat with a friend down the hall. 10-11 p.m.: Cet something to eat, settle down on the bed with books on all sides. Get back up for a pen. Settle down and find the right page. Get back up for something to drink. 12 to 1 a.m.: Read 15 minutes, stare at a sleeping roommate for 15 minutes. Get up and go to the bathroom. Put on pajamas. Read for 15 more minutes, flip through the book to see how many pages are left to read. So goes the all-nighter. It usually starts when there is a particularly appealing activity that evening, and everyone else is going. Sophomore Tim Grim said, “I did an all-nighter once the night before two tests. I had to eat a half-bottle of Vivarins to stay up and drank several cups of coffee. That's called waiting till the last minute. The reason I had to stay up was because I got a late start. I went to the show during the evening. I guess I should have stayed home and studied. But there are a rare few who make staying up all night a habit. Tom Vespa, sophomore, has spent many a long night hitting the books. He says he has developed a system for keeping awake. I've grown very professional at cramming. I've refined it until it's become like a tool in my hand. When I catch myself falling to sleep, I get up and walk around. I remind myself if I fall asleep I'll flunk out of school and be a skid row bum. I fix things like hot tea sometimes, or if I really get desperate, I go to sleep for one hour and set my alarm to get up, Vespa said. Then I pop another No-Doz and am bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for 10 All-nighters another hour or two. I don't like to take too many of those, though. I cut their dosage to about half of what they say. Sometimes I talk to myself. I just try to convince myself by listening to my own voice telling me that I'm not going to go to sleep. When I really, really get desperate, I jump in the shower, Vespa said. Brian Schulte, sophomore, does not try pulling all-nighters too often because he falls asleep with the book in his hand. I take my book to bed with the light on, thinking I can study better if I am comfortable. Pretty soon I fall asleep and then wake up two hours later. Then I slap myself in the face to try and stay awake, but pretty soon I fall asleep for another two hours or so, Schulte said. Before I know it, I wake up and it's morning. The light is still burning and my book is still only opened to the first page of notes. Staying up at night sometimes has its advantages. Freshman Mike Martin said, It's the only time around this place when it's quiet. I put headphones on to help me stay awake. It's usually to work on papers that were assigned at the beginning of the semester that you have two days (left) to do. Some students work better under group study conditions where everyone can help keep each other awake. I get about five or six guys together, and we stay up having tea or hot chocolate. We study until about four o'clock and then go to Country Kitchen and grab an egg special, junior Stan Volk said. I stay up about once a week playing cards, said junior Mike Beckman. There's nothing better to do. Basically our all-nighters are with the same group of people every week. It's great fun. It's also a good way to get to know people. Sophomore Gary Behner and senior Errol Spratt have a similar reason for being night owls — playing a war game called The Russian Campaign. Although they say it obviously cannot be done too often, they enjoy their occasional all-night games. Whether it is watching Fred Astaire and Judy Garland tap their way into the wee hours of the morning, conquering Russia with cardboard troops or committing the formula for vector analysis to memory, somewhere, some night, the average student will find himself passing the night sleeplessly. Breakfasttime rolls around, and all of his friends hear about how he spent the whole night without sleep. There is little pity for him; only more stories of other nights spent studying, playing cards, partying . . . — Lisa Garrison THE LIBRARY CLOSES at midnight, so Denise Short, junior, saves her all-nighter for the next night. However, a Latin American midterm keeps her in Pickier Memorial Library until closing time.

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9 Student life On stage Drama productions like Jules Pfeiffer's Hold Me give students outlets for creativity and improvisation. 60 Games Room Animal pals Pets are not allowed in residence halls, but off campus collegiates choose all kinds, including tarantulas and skunks. Campus news A pictorial essay on various campus events spot-checks an Iranian discussion and an Up With People visit. Two-wheelers Cheaper than driving and faster than walking, bicy.cle popularity continues to grow, especially for off-campus students. Bowling is only one of the activities offered in the Student Union Games Room, used both for classes and entertainment.

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AN ECONOMIC SURVIVAL TEST keeps Wes Hines, sophomore, out of bed until 1 a.m. Hines was probably expecting a B. He occasionally stays up all night for midterms and finals. ■■MM THREE NIGHTS A WEEK freshman Don Musick A TRIBUTE to Lillian Carter for Organizational pulls an all-nighter. But his Statistics in Human and Professional Communications gets polishing Behavior test only requires a 2:30 a.m. session in touches as junior Brenda Uhlmeyer tackles a Missouri Hall study lounge. homework late-night in Pickier Memorial Library. 11 All-nighters