Study break to feature stress relief, snacks, performances

By Yang Hu     4/22/10 7:00pm

As a reward for students who have worked tirelessly this semester, the President and Dean's Study Break will offer an opportunity to relax this Sunday from 9-11 p.m. The study break will be held at the Rice Memorial Center, the Barbara and David Gibbs Recreation and Wellness Center and the Raymond and Susan Brochstein Pavilion and will feature breakfast food and stress-relief games. Attendees can expect free drinks from Coffeehouse and Dirk's Coffee, ice cream sundaes, fresh fruits and cookies at the RMC, free massages at the Wellness Center and breakfast food from Sammy's Cafe. Sponsored by the Office of the Dean of Undergraduates and planned primarily by Rice Program Council, this year's theme is inspired by Food Network's TV show "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives."

Dean of Undergraduates Robin Forman will be making and serving pancakes for students at a separate station inside Sammy's.

"Don't be surprised if you get pancakes flipped by Dean Forman," Boyd Beckwith, Assistant Dean of Students said.

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Scheduled during the reading period, this semester's event is geared especially toward stress relief, with crayons and butcher paper, hula hoops and a game involving the construction and destruction of coffee creamer structures.

Study break regulars Spontaneous Combustion and the Rice Philharmonics will be joined by newcomer magicians Tricks are for Kids. Originally formed to inspire and empower children and teens in Houston-area hospitals through close-up magic, Jones College junior Alex Young said the show will bring the relaxing power of magic to Rice. In addition to a scheduled stage performance, the magicians will be performing around the RMC throughout the study break.

"Right now, we're trying to raise awareness for our cause by performing for Rice students during lunch and special events like the President and Dean's Study Break," Young said. "We want to generate interest for a college course in the spring, where students can learn how to perform magic and use it to encourage and inspire kids at Texas Children's Hospital."

Due to the estimated $1 billion endowment losses and university-wide budget cuts, Beckwith said that starting next year, the funding for the event from the Office of the Dean of Undergraduates will be cut in half, from $9,500 to $4,750. In order to deal with the cut, RPC has decided to allocate $2,000 of its newly increased blanket tax to the event every semester starting next fall. $2,000 of this semester's study break budget has also been allocated for future use.

"As RPC is playing a stronger role in leading this event and bringing in more games which cost much less than food, future President and Dean's Study Breaks will be as effective in relieving stress as before," Beckwith said.

Beckwith said planning for this year's event has been in progress since January.

"Our intention is to provide the students with a campus-wide get-together, so they can see friends that they haven't seen for a long time there and find things to do together," Beckwith said about holding the event.

The tradition of president-hosted study breaks originated under President Malcolm Gillis in the mid-1990s.

RPC Traditions Committee Chair Tammy Hsu said the students' involvement in planning this semester's event, from brainstorming the theme to selecting the food, could not be overemphasized. She said she is confident that "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Study Breaks" will have a record high turnout.

"Facebook says around 800 people will show up," Hsu, a Brown College freshman, said. "But I'm guessing that means 900, because there are people who don't use Facebook, as well as people who think they won't go because they'll be studying, but will go anyway.

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