The weekend before Dead Week, I was sitting in one of the third floor Parks Library cushioned chairs overlooking the main staircase, counting down the minutes to my next class. I glanced at the chair next to me, and then my chair. Mashed in the cracks were literally dozens of trash wrappers: candy bar wrappers, straws, empty gum packs, cheese and jerky wrappers, paper cups, napkins, money…

Okay, maybe not money in these cushions, but curiosity struck. I took a stroll around to similar chairs and found the condition to be similar. I am sure the library maintains a great janitorial policy and probably deals with this on a regular basis, as a few days later it seemed to be noticeably less.

What concerned me most was the fact that the farthest of two trash bins from any of the chairs was still within tossing distance. This meant students were either too lazy to walk their trash to the bin, or were studying too hard to worry about what they were consuming and where they were putting it. 

I doubt the latter.

Parks Library is a wonderful place to study; thousands of students a day take advantage of the building, and it’s where I get a lot of my own work done. During Dead Week and Finals Week, students tend to live there more than normal, so it might be understandable for students to consume large amounts of food — fuel, rather. This is no excuse to force others to pick up after your own mess — especially given the library has about as many trash bins within it as crows on top of it.

Finals Week etiquette is as important as the studying that goes along with it.

Stress is not only experienced by students, but faculty as well, including the nonteaching staff. The entire campus is buzzing with nervous energy. There are steps to be taken that will help everyone, especially the students. After nearly five years of studies at Iowa State, here are a few things I have noticed that make a difference while studying on campus:

Things like keeping the noise level down, even in places that grant talking, help curb the stress of Finals Week and give others a better study environment. This includes wearing headphones and silencing your cellphone.

Cleaning up your trash and other items when you leave helps students and faculty get through the week smoothly.

It’s best not use ISU-provided computers to watch “How I Met Your Mother” on Netflix or play hours of “World of Warcraft,” using a computer another student might actually need.

If you have a roommate who wishes to study in his/her room, avoid bringing people into the room, even if it is just your boyfriend/girlfriend. No need to start a Finals Week hate war. Save that for the drinking weekend that follows — club soda if you’re not 21, of course.

As Van Wilder once said: “Write that down.”