Every night at 10 p.m. during Dead Week and Finals Week, Iowa State residence halls become filled with loud music and yelling students for 30 stress-free minutes.

This week and next, residence halls enforce 23 1/2-hour quiet hours to help students study. The other 30 minutes of each day are known as rowdy half-hour.

Pam Newbrough, a junior in geology, said that at 10 p.m., “Everybody’s door opens, the music starts and there’s tons of people in the hallway.”

Newbrough, a resident of Vollmer House in Freeman Hall, said she thought her house was probably louder than the average residence hall floor.

She said despite the 23 1/2-hour quiet hour rule, people are still loud. “You can’t even tell that quiet hours have started.”

Newbrough said rowdy half-hour should be longer. She suggested it start at 9:30 p.m. instead of 10 and last for one hour.

Sarah Laaser, a sophomore in business, said rowdy half-hour is a good opportunity for residents to socialize as a house. She said the time is one of the few that so many people are in the house den, usually eating snacks provided by the house government.

Laaser, resident assistant for Arnquist House in Willow Hall, said most students turn their stereos up loud and do a lot of yelling and screaming from 10 to 10:30 p.m.

She said it would be better if rowdy half-hour was earlier in the day and longer than 30 minutes. She said some people might want to go to bed by 10 p.m. if they have 7:30 a.m. finals.

“Some people do get a little ticked off if they want to study,” she said. She said it is more of a problem during Finals Week than it is during Dead Week.

Laaser said she hasn’t yet written up any residents for violating quiet hours, but she has given many warnings. “That gets really old as an RA.”

Eric Johnson, a senior in elementary education, said the quiet hours have been useful for his studies. “When I first heard of 23 1/2-hour quiet hours I thought, ‘how stupid,’ but now I think it’s one of the best things the residence halls could have done.”

Johnson, a resident of Converse House in Friley Hall, said drinking beer and schnapps “mellows” him out and helps him to continue studying without being so stressed. “I listen to my music very, very loudly and drink lots and lots.”

Johnson, a former resident assistant in Helser Hall, said he couldn’t think of many problems with rowdy half-hour.

“Sometimes people start early and end late, but there aren’t usually any other problems,” he said.

“Residents would go insane if it was 24-hour quiet hours,” Johnson said. “Everybody needs time to just totally vent and be loud.”

Other students aren’t so rowdy.

Mitzi Ross, a sophomore in business, said after she goes to the den for a snack, she usually studies during rowdy half-hour. Ross said when she wants to socialize during rowdy half-hour she goes to a friend’s room to hang out with a few people.

She said quiet hours are a good idea, but are not enforced enough.

Terry Mason, director of the Student Counseling Service, said rowdy half-hour is a good way for students to release stress.

“You’ve got to have a release,” he said. “Everybody does. You can only be serious or quiet for so long and it allows people to get everything out of their system.”

Mason said the designated half-hour works because it contains some of the rowdiness to a limited period of time. He also said the designated time allows those who do not want to participate in rowdy half-hour to escape.