By
Justin Ecung
With finals week quickly approaching at Utah State University and colleges across the country, students are staying up later to get more studying done for their exams. Many students turn to coffee as a way to create a few extra hours each day, but very few individuals realize the health effects caffeine can have on the body.
Becca Decoud, a senior at USU, plans to spend a lot of time studying in the library these upcoming weeks in preparation for finals. The California native has 6 finals, 2 of which are on the same day.
“There are going to be a lot of late nights these next 2 weeks,” Decoud said. “Luckily for me, I have a gift card to Starbucks that I’m hoping will last until the end of the semester. For me, there’s no way I can stay up until 3 o’clock in the morning without coffee or something.”
Decoud believes she drinks coffee only when she needs to stay up late to study or complete homework assignments. Rarely does she drink it during the day to help her remain attentive in her classes.
Ryan Massey, a political science major at USU, depends on coffee a little more than most busy college students.
“I’ll probably have 2 to 3 cups of coffee a day,” Massey said. “I work and go to school fulltime so I’m always exhausted because I definitely don’t get enough sleep. Therefore, I’m stuck drinking a ton of coffee just to keep me up and alert during the day. If I have to stay up late to study, I definitely drink more.”
Rachel Lewis, an employee at the café located on the USU campus, has noticed things being busier than usual as finals week approaches.
“The late nights are the worst. The mornings are bad too, but there are so many people who come to study here at night. The closer we get to finals week, the busier we get. But I guess that’s expected,” Lewis said.
The rise for the demand for coffee has not only been observed at café’s on campus, but other places as well. At the two cafeterias at USU, students can use their meal plans to get as much coffee as they want.
Lindsey Wilshire, customer service manager at one of the cafeterias on the USU campus, has noticed more students drinking coffee in the past few days.
“It’s always been tough to make sure coffee is readily available to students, but it’s starting to get more and more difficult,” Wilshire said. “Granted it hasn’t gotten too crazy yet, I would say that we’ve definitely had to make more coffee this week than last week.”
Many college students drink coffee without thinking twice about it. The majority of individuals simply need a way to stay up late at night to study, or to be more attentive in their classes throughout the day. Nevertheless, caffeine dependency can have several adverse health effects.
Dr. Andrew Watkins oversees resident medical students at the Ronald Reagan University of California Los Angeles Medical Center. Watkins regularly witnesses the dependency of coffee by his residents and constantly cautions them to digest caffeine moderately.
“I swear everyone drinks coffee these days,” Watkins said. “Everyone needs to stay up to work, study or whatever, and many don’t realize the dangers it can potentially pose. Drinking too much caffeine is never a good thing; there have been kids who have passed away after drinking too many energy drinks. Too much caffeine can cause high blood pressure, an upset stomach, a dependency of the substance and intoxication.”
In a 2010 study conducted at California State Poly University at Pomona, researchers found that students who drink large amounts of coffee can experience caffeine intoxication. The symptoms of being intoxicated include jitters, heart palpitations and an overall sense of being nervous or anxious. However, such advanced stages of caffeine intoxication are largely due to the many energy drinks that are also readily available to college students.
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