Study break to have ‘chill’ theme
Dec. 4 event to feature sundaes, RTV5 show debut
After weeks of unseasonably warm weather, students will finally experience winter at the “Chill Study Break” Dec. 4 from 9-11 p.m in the Student Center. The semester’s largest study break, sponsored by President David Leebron and Dean of Undergraduates Robin Forman, will include food, activities and prizes and will cost about $10,000, Student Center Director Boyd Beckwith said.
Members of the Student Center Advisory Council thought of the theme at their meeting Tuesday. The event is expected to draw about 1,000 students, Beckwith said.
Food provided at the study break will include ice cream sundaes, popsicles and warm food, Rice Catering Manager Olivia Waldron said. The Coffeehouse will have free coffee and hot chocolate, and Smoothie King will have free smoothie samples, Waldron said.
Waldron said the study break is designed so students will take away less food than in the past, as with the Gillis-Camacho study breaks hosted by former President Malcolm Gillis and former Vice President for Student Affairs Zenaido Camacho.
Farnsworth Pavilion will host sugar cookie decorating, coffee mug decorating and snowflake making. Students who bring pictures of something cold will be able to fish for prizes in a mock ice pond, Beckwith said. Beckwith said he thinks these activities will allow students to be silly and creative.
“We really want some childlike activities where students can have fun and just escape,” Beckwith said.
RTV5 will also debut two episodes of its new “Screw Yer Roommate” television show, and various student groups, including the Rice Philharmonics and Spontaneous Combustion, will perform. Students will also be able to pick up their 2004-‘05 Campanile yearbooks and take pictures for “Picture Yourself” in this year’s yearbook.
In Fall 2004, the Leebron-Forman study break was held over three nights in a different location each night. Total attendance at these study breaks was lower than attendance at previous one-night study breaks, and Advisory Council members suggested the decrease was due to the multiple locations and dates. Last semester, the “Leebron-Forman Getaway Study Break” was held in the RMC on a single night and attendance increased.
Beckwith said students prefer a campus-wide, one-night study break because they are more likely to see their friends than if the study break is spread out over several nights.
“We got the loud and clear message that students wanted one bigger night,” Beckwith said.
Sid Richardson College sophomore Rathi Asaithambi said she was concerned the study break would overlap with college study breaks.
“With only one night for this study break, there’s such a good chance that someone’s college event will be at the same time as the big one,” Asaithambi said.
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