Thomas Attebery
Staff Writer
With the holiday season almost upon us, many students are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and looking forward to a well-deserved break. However, there is that one final hurdle to overcome: finals.
This last stretch is often the most stressful time of the year for students, so the Union Program Council puts together a series of “dead week relief” events to de-stress anxious students every year.
“Dead Week Relief is a tradition that the UPC has done since the conception of the UPC,” said Jedd Greenhalgh, UPC director.
“We typically do three days of an hour activity each in the Student Union Building, it’s geared towards helping students deal with the stress of dead week and finals.”
On Tuesday, Dec. 6, a food giveaway featuring live music, Wednesday, Dec. 7 will be a “zen relaxation day,” and finally a “build-your-own finals week survival kit” activity on Thursday, Dec. 8.
“The food giveaway will feature the music of Shelby Murdock and her group, it’ll be super fun, I’m looking forward to that!” Greenhalgh said.
The events all take place from noon to 1 p.m. There will also be items given away.
“This is my second year at UPC. Last year I was a member and this year I’m the director. I really love it!” he said.
The process of setting up these dead week events is a long one. Greenhalgh says that it takes months of planning.
“We knew what we wanted to do for dead week in August, and we’ve had the SUB reserved since then,” Greenhalgh explained. “We had everything pretty much punched-out and ready to go by the end of October. It’s usually about a month out with anything in the SUB that you want all your food orders in, you want all your contracts for your musicians signed, et cetera et cetera.”
The food for the events will be provided by Chartwells catering.
Another upcoming event the UPC has been working on is the Tree Lighting Festival.
“That’s very oriented towards the community as well as ISU. I will be dressed as an elf, running around playing Christmas carols on my violin for the evening,” Greenhalgh said.
Greenhalgh thinks that dead week relief events are helpful for students dealing with late-semester stress.
“Our zen day is going to be really, really nice. We’re going to have diffusers going in the Bengal Cafe, we’re going to have massage therapists, we’re going to have new-age Indian flute music going on in the background. It’s this new world we’re creating in the Bengal Cafe that’s going to help you withdraw for a little while from the stress.”
Puppies are often brought in for students to cuddle and play with.
“Puppies and free food are great!” said Micah Kenney, a sophomore, “Puppies always help with stress, but yes, in general I do think [the events] help with stress.”
