Late nights, increased caffeine consumption, quiet hours, dried-out highlighters, more pizza delivery cars than ever seen before and a lot of stress – signs that Dead Week has arrived at Iowa State.

As the semester comes to a close, students will spend hours preparing for finals. To help ease the stress and frustrations that go hand-in-hand with test preparation, many residence halls have planned activities.

Deanna Wagner is the resident assistant for Schmidt House, on the eighth floor of Knapp Hall. She said activities are planned for all Knapp Hall residents Monday through Thursday, during the “study break” hour from 9-10 p.m.

Monday is a pie-eating contest, Tuesday features root beer floats, Wednesday offers milk and cookies and Thursday is “pie your RA” night, she said.

“Pie your RA is a contest that all of Knapp Hall is doing,” said Wagner, junior in art and design. “There are penny wars outside the dining center. Each floor has its own jar. The highest total wins, and they get to pie their RA.”

Money collected in the jars will be donated to Toys for Tots, she said.

All Knapp Hall activities will take place in the Knapp lobby and are sponsored by the Knapp Hall President’s Council, Wagner said.

Oak Hall’s Fosmark floor will be offering its residents Dead Week treats, said RA Lindsey Marvin, junior in pre-journalism and mass communication. She said the “rowdy hour” from 9-10 p.m. is important to give students a break.

“Snacks help to keep students going,” Marvin said. “Students can come out into the halls and play music, play cards and get together as a community.”

Shelby Sievers, RA for Palmer floor in Friley, said her floor has “rowdy half” from 9:30-10 p.m.

“Socializing is important,” said Sievers, sophomore in music. “Students really look forward to that break.”

Willow Hall Director Eric Mata said Willow Hall also is offering treats Monday through Wednesday in the Willow Workspace to study-weary students.

“This week is pretty hectic and stressful,” he said. “With such a quiet environment for 23 hours out of the day, it is important for students to have that one hour outlet to socialize and grab a slice of pizza if they want.”

Kara Bjur’s floor in Helser is doing something different. The girls of Rowe are doing “secret Santa Dead Week pals.”

“We’ll do a little something every day, but not more than $5,” said Bjur, senior in chemistry and RA on Rowe. “It will help relieve the stress.”