University officials are gearing up for a ritual as old as universities themselves – the final exam. Like every year, MSU officials attempt to accommodate students trying to get through the stress of finals.
Changes to policies and operating hours around campus are slated to take affect even weeks before the tests in an attempt to help students study better; and the eternal hope that cram sessions will become a thing of the past.
To help students study, MSU Dining Services will be extending hours in certain locations around campus, and will host a Study Jam session in Perry Cafeteria. Also in the library, with the help of the Student Association, dining services will be serving coffee.
The free coffee will be tentatively available between midnight to 6 a.m. And Einstein Bagels will be open until midnight, so students will only have to deal with an hour period from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. where there will be no coffee.
The Jam Session will be on the first night of finals, and will last from 10 p.m to 1 a.m. expect some door prizes and a DJ for those students who like to study to some music.
At the Jam Session, Perry Cafeteria will be serving breakfast, and admission will be reduced to three dollars. Burger King and The Village will be keeping their normal hours, closing at 1 a.m.
The Mitchell Memorial Library will be undergoing the most noticeable changes by staying open 24 hours a day starting 1 p.m. on Sunday and continuing until Dec. 4 at 7:45 p.m.
Students will also have a place to study, relax or sleep from Dec. 6 starting at 1:00 p.m. and continuing to stay open until Dec. 9 at 4:45 p.m.
Harry LLull, associate dean for public services with the MSU library, commented on the changing definition of what a library is for. LLull said the library is more in tune with students needs.
“We realize that it is a place for studying, but also somewhere for the students to unwind,” he said. “We realize that there are quiet areas, and less quiet areas depending on how the students intend to study.”
Students looking for dead silence might try the fifth floor; groups might have more luck in the archives room.
Summer Mord, access services coordinator at the library, said the library staff attempts to be as laid back and accommodating as possible.
“The front desk will be staffed as long as the library is open, and students are welcome to ask any questions,” she said. “Students can come take naps on the couches if they want, no one is going to bother them. [The library] is a quiet place for them to come.”
Mord said the first week the library is open 24 hours is usually the busiest.
What the university does each year varies little in comparison to the rituals and habits of the test takers. Students were divided down the middle on whether or not they start studying soon or wait until the night before.
Senior marketing major Juliane Molesworth said her social life takes a back seat during exam week.
“I split up my days into slots of studying and study more for harder ones,” she said. “I can’t cram. So, I spread my studying around. But if things do get too crazy, I take a break from studying and listen to music or walk outside.”
Other students cope with the stress of exams by exercise or avoiding them to play video games.
One thing that generally increases across the board is coffee consumption. Sophomore chemical engineering major David Van Cott said it is all about getting in the right frame of mind.
“I definitely drink a lot more coffee,” he said. “It is like running a marathon, and the finals are the last mile.”
Aside from where their next cup of coffee is coming from, students should be aware of a few other things during finals week.
Campus crime goes through the roof during finals. Dean of students Thomas Bourgeois said students should be more aware with about 90 percent of campus crime occurring around finals. He also said it is important to know the exam policy.
“Some students might not know if you have three exams on the same day, the exam policy states that you can change one of them to another day,” he said.