Some sleepless in San Jose

By: Andy Chu

Posted: 4/26/07

As the final days of the semester draw near for the students of San Jose State University, and with finals down the line it just adds another reason for a generation to go with little or no sleep.

"Who really gets enough sleep these days anyways?" asked Steve DeCosta, a sophomore majoring in business marketing. "I've been pulling all-nighters since high school, so it's nothing new to me."

In a few weeks students will be bombarded with term papers, final projects, reading and the beloved comprehensive final.

Though a majority of last minute crammers can avoid pulling an all-nighter to finish their work, Junior Nicholas Carrillo, a mechanical engineering student, says that even students who have all their assignments in line can be pushed to stay up late finishing work.

"Yeah I don't think anyone in my calculus class is breathing easy about the final we're going to have at the end," Carrillo said. "I wouldn't be surprised if everyone stays up late for a couple nights cramming because I don't think anyone would be comfortable with 16 weeks of calculus without studying into the night."

Finals and schoolwork can be a main contributing factor to sleep deprivation, but even at times away from school young people of this generation still don't sleep, said Mai Phuong, a senior nursing student.

"People are always up and out late on the weekends and I don't know a lot of people that actually go to sleep before 11 p.m. regularly," Phuong said. "Twenty-four hours in the day are not enough anymore."

So what is keeping an entire generation up so late?

Garrett Barker, a senior majoring in justice studies, manages a Mattress Discounters store and said that schoolwork is just a part of the big picture.

"It's the lifestyles that people live today - look at all the 24-hour restaurants, gyms and all the alcohol and drugs people consume all night," Barker said. "People come in all the time thinking that a mattress will solve their sleeping problems. The real solution is managing their time."

Almost every corner store has an entire shelf devoted to energy drinks and even at the counter there are the Yellow Jackets, caffeine pills and many other energy boosting supplements. But several students on campus don't believe the false promises of over-the-counter energy pills.

"I'd never take any of those energy pills to stay up," said Maria Ray, a junior majoring in economics. "I drink coffee, but when I start to fade I usually do some exercises to get my heart rate up. All-nighters only come at certain times of the year so I can handle a night or two."

Though coffee and exercise can work for some people, others have found pharmaceutical drugs to be most effective. Joel Montez, a senior majoring in accounting and finance, said that the widely used Attention Deficit Disorder perscription drug Adderall has become a major player during finals season.

"I've used Adderall before to stay up late and cram," said Montez, "It worked really well and it's so easy to get."

Whatever the remedy might be, the fact is that many go with little or no sleep regardless of school or personal time. Even when the finals are done and graded the lure of the night will draw the bags and yawns of a generation without sleep.