A student makes his way from Pierce Hall to the Dillard College of Business to get a tall coffee from Starbucks. He has been studying for five hours straight. Pressure to do well from his parents and teachers has caused anxiety and stress to consume him. Finals are here.
The University Programming Board expects 250 to 300 students to attend its last event, Finals Frenzy which takes place on Dec. 5.
“This semester has been one where students are attending the most,” Mario Ramirez, activities coordinator for UPB, said.
The organization will spend approximately $4,000 on Finals Frenzy, with the mock casino costing about $1,500.
Ramirez said the board does not have a set budget and that it is up to the UPB chairs to decide how much money to spend on the activities.
“It’s pretty cheap considering how much we have going on for the students,” Bailey Hess, senior in criminal justice and marketing chair for UPB, said.
Some of the budget that UPB receives is paid through student fees.
“It’s a small fee, maybe about five to 15 dollars,” Hess said. “But when you have a lot of students, it becomes a big amount that we can have to bring fun to the campus.”
Finals Frenzy is an event put on by UPB to help students alleviate stress before finals and allow them to have one more fun day before the end of the semester. The event is four hours long, free for students and will be held throughout the Clark Student Center.
“I stress before finals so I’d like to relax,” Kayla Medearis, freshman in nursing, said.
Last fall, the theme was casino night where students bought prizes with fake money that they earned at various tables and slot machines.
“We noticed it attracts the most people,” Ramirez said. “[Instead of just having the casino] everything will match the theme. We’re trying to make it consistent.”
This year the members of UPB decided to keep the casino but give Finals Frenzy a narrower theme.
“We pretty much knew we would do casino night,” Hess said. “We talked with the Finals Frenzy committee and came up with the Roaring Twenties.”
To stay consistent with the Roaring Twenties theme, Finals Frenzy will include a showing of “The Great Gatsby,” 11 blackjack tables, a crap table, roulette, a coffee bar, a “mock-tail” bar and crafts that will reflect the era. UPB members will also be doing giveaways at the event while oher organizations are participating as dealers of the casino tables.
“When we start things like this we send out mass emails to organizations to help,” Hess said.
With other organizations helping, UPB members hope that more students will come to the event. The organization does not plan to advertise for the event until after Thanksgiving.
“I would totally forget about it if they gave me a flyer or something today,” Ryan McKlevy, graduate in history, said.
UPB members are coming up with ways to best inform students of the events they host. In the past, UPB has struggled to reach high number attendance, averaging about 20 to 30 students per event last year. This year that average has gone up. According to observation of attendance, UPB has had about 100 to 120 students participate in most of their events this semester.
“It’s kind of hard to figure out what people respond to,” Hess said. “But we’re promoting this as a big party where we let people come to get stress out, so hopefully there will be a lot of students.”
Hess said the organization is always trying new things to get students’ attention. She said they are using more social media like Twitter and Facebook to inform students about events coming up. Even with all of the changes they are making to reach students, participation still lacks.
“You’re going to have those people that say nothing is going on,” Hess said. “I have residents that say that and I’m like, ‘I just gave you an event planner.’”
Finals Frenzy is different from the other events that UPB plans because it takes place over all of the CSC, so students that frequent the student center can’t miss it.
“We never have trouble getting the word out with students [for Finals Frenzy],” Cammie Dean, director of student development and orientation, said.
There are some students who do not get to participate in Finals Frenzy. These students work in the CSC and prepare the event.
“I don’t get to enjoy the festivities because I’m working before and while it is going on,” Demi Fasanya, senior in computer science and set-up crew member, said. “It really sucks, but at least the other students have a good time.”
Because Finals Frenzy takes place the Thursday before exams, it could be a concern of students that the event could distract them from studying for their exams.
Dean said the idea behind the event is to allow students to let go and have fun before finals.
“It’s cool that it’s not just books and study tips,” Anna Molen, senior in math, said. “I like that it’s more about calming down and letting the stress and anxiety of finals go for a moment.”
