at a conference. He drove from San Francisco to British Columbia for a conference through his housing department job at Sonoma State University. It was a 16-hour drive, and he was awake for the entire three days he was there. He says he had 8 a.m. meetings every day and went out every night. Because it was an alcohol free conference, he and the others found different forms of entertainment. "We just stayed up trashing hotels, moving all the furniture out of the lobby and into the elevators;" he says. "It was half work and half screwing around."
Brett Powell, Springfield, Mo., senior, takes his weekly online quiz for his Strength of Materials class in Marvin Hall on Monday night. Powell said he goes to work at Marvin because there are no distractions.
Ornay says that because he's older now, his body won't let him survive that way anymore, so he typically pulls one allnighter a week.
You may wonder how these students stay up all night doing homework and other tasks. Students like Powell and Johnson prefer caffeine - Coca-Cola,
Mountain Dew and coffee - when it comes to late nights.
Ornay says he drinks soda and eats a lot, but that caffeine just doesn't do it for
him. "I'll leave for awhile and go shoot pool to clear my head," he says.
Students have their reasons for choosing to study at night. Ornay says it's not because he's procrastinating, it's just that his work is so elaborate. "I get into a groove and work all night long," he says. He says that if he is still awake at 4 a.m. and knows he has somewhere to be at 8 a.m., he will find a way to stay awake because otherwise he won't hear his alarm and wake up.
Having class all day, a job and staying up late at night doing homework can take a toll on your body. Unfortunately for Hermson, he says there's a slight insomnia involved. He says he can't normally fall asleep for an hour or two after he gets home from work.
Ashley Arnold, Jayplay staff writer, can be reached at aarnold@kansan.com. Kim Elsham contributed to this story
thursday, october 2.2003