USU students struggle with lack of sleep

By Alexis Lear

April 18, 2005 | LOGAN -- For the third time, Dylan Bullock presses the snooze button on his alarm clock. He then rolls over and quickly falls back asleep.

Bullock, a senior at Utah State University majoring in business and finance, says he has a hard time making it to his 9 a.m. class.

"I just can't wake up," Bullock said. "No matter what time I go to sleep at night, I can't force myself to get out of bed."

Sleep deprivation can be a problem for many students at Utah State University. Classes start as early as 7:30 a.m. Monday through Friday, giving students an early start on the day. According to a 2001 Brown University study, only 11 percent of college students have good sleep quality, and 73 percent have occasional sleep problems.

"I think that on average I get about six hours of sleep a night," said Crystal Walker, a USU junior majoring in Early Childhood Education. "Sometimes I have bad weeks when I'm lucky if I get two hours of sleep a night."

Walker also said she has problems waking up for classes. She said she often catches herself dozing off during teachers' lectures.

Research done by the McKinley Health Center shows that the typical college student fails to make sleep a top priority. This must be obvious to teachers because of the number of students falling asleep in college classes.

Lisa Hancock, instructor of the MHR 2160 class, said a class period does not go by without seeing at least one student leaning over and fall asleep on a desk.

"It's funny because the students don't think I can see them when they fall asleep in my class," Hancock said. "It is frustrating to me because I know that students need to make sleep a priority in their lives, not only for their education, but for their health as well."

Dr. Greg Call of Salt Lake City says there are many unknown health risks associated with sleep deprivation. Anxiety and depression are two common consequences of sleep deprivation.

"Fatigue, depression, and the general health of the person are all at stake with sleep deprivation," said Call.

"The person's motor skills are also deeply impacted."

Cornell University psychologist James B. Maas, Ph.D, said that motor skills are improved about 20 percent with sufficient sleep.

To Bullock, hitting the old snooze button every morning only means he stayed out too late the night before.

"Hey, it's college," he said. "It's the last time I get to actually hit the snooze button before the real world, a job and a boss!"

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