It's about 9 p.m. on a Tuesday, just around the time when the swarms of students descend upon Clemons library. They are embarking on a night of hard-core studying. Many do not dare attempt the feat alone.
Instead, they are abetted by the odorless substance found in tinted soda bottles and Greenberry's containers -- caffeine.
Second-year College student Christie Jones is in sole possession of a fourth-floor wooden table, covered in the sprawling evidence of sincere studying: sleek laptop, notebooks and open textbooks. She is not without her caffeinated beverage. A lone green and white coffee cup rises from the landscape of learning paraphernalia.
Jones usually drinks lattes to stay awake and study. Her ultimate caffeine preference aside, espressos and regular house coffees will do, too.
"With coffee it is psychology," she says of the beverage's placebo effect. "But an espresso actually does keep me up."
Fellow caffeine aficionado and second-year Education student Ingrid Lukoski also named coffee as her caffeine fix.
"At least two to three cups a day," she said. "Sometimes I'll take shots of espresso." Lukoski said that her body is so used to coffee that it takes a few cups a day to topple her tolerance.
"After two or three I am very alert and at a good level of functionality," Lukoski added.
Neurology Prof. Robert Rust explained that the effects of caffeine vary from person to person.
According to Rust, caffeine also disturbs the sleep cycle of some individuals.
But for others, caffeine can have a pacifying effect. Caffeine also might improve concentration, especially for people disposed to a hyperactive temperament, Rust said.
Oftentimes, children with attention difficulties will "drink sweet tea in the morning and that works just like Ritalin does," Rust noted.
Rust picked out Mountain Dew and Jolt as the most saturated soft drinks. Even strong tea contains only half the amount of caffeine found in a strong cup of coffee.
After one particularly stressful all-nighter, Lukoski turned to another source for a boost to get her through that day's classes: caffeine pills.
"For me, it made me feel very dizzy and nauseous, it was a very horrible feeling and I felt hungry afterwards," Lukoski said. "I felt a little jolt of energy, but it didn't last. It wasn't a very good feeling."
Caffeine pills are a commonly sold over-the-counter drug, available in most pharmacies and grocery stores. Vivarin, NoDoz and Stay Awake are nestled between Visine eye-drops and Excedrin on the shelves at the University Bookstore. All the offered brands are sold in 16-tablet packages, with each tablet containing 200 milligrams of caffeine -- equal to about two cups of coffee.
A common stereotype of caffeine pill users is that they are innocent workaholics gone terribly astray. Case in point is the classic "Saved By The Bell" episode where Jessie Spanno uses caffeine pills in a last ditch effort to accomplish all the tasks in her insanely busy high school schedule.
But second-year College student Brandon Kemp defies this addict stereotype. Kemp uses caffeine pills and is not dependent on them. Using coffee is not a choice for him -- it makes him sick. Other typical caffeine options, like soda, don't keep him awake.
"Soda doesn't work at all. Like most kids, I drink, like, four a day." Kemp uses caffeine pills a few times a week at the most, taking two at dinner, which helps him go strong until about 3 a.m.
"I'm more attentive -- it helps me stay awake to work and for reading," he said. Kemp reported no edginess as a result of the caffeine. But he does warn to "have something in your stomach, otherwise you will get sick."
Kemp says he definitely perceives a stigma attached to caffeine pills at the University.
"Everyone looks at you like you're an awful person -- I don't know what the difference is, and I just can't drink coffee!"
Rust also says people often assume that caffeine pills are more potent or more addictive that coffee.
"It's a question of amount -- the caffeine is absorbed in the same way in the stomach whether it comes from coffee or tea or a pill," Rust said. But "I suppose the concentration in a tablet could be upsetting to people."
Kemp believes some people assume "you can take more caffeine pills than you can drink cups of coffee, so it's easier to abuse pills. But as long as you have common sense, there is nothing wrong with it."
Taking caffeine pills also can be cheaper than drinking coffee, Kemp said.
"If you take NoDoz, it is like seven bucks for like 60 pills -- that's the equivalent for like 120 cups of coffee -- and plus you can have it whenever you want. Also, it is cleaner and more convenient," he added.
Caffeine pills certainly seem to have an economical advantage. A normal "grande" coffee at Greenberry's is $1.35, while other more upscale options like a caffe latte can be as much as $2.95. A bottle of 16 caffeine pills can range from $1.79 (Stay Awake), to $3.69 for Vivarin. In comparison, a 20-ounce Pepsi costs $1.10 at the Pav.
If all this caffeine is used in moderation, there should be few negative effects, Rust said.
But people who consume six to eight cups of coffee a day "might end up with chronic headaches that involve the whole head without throbbing," he said. According to Rust, coffee drinkers who suddenly stop after weeks or months of heavy intake might have a "caffeine rebound headache, which is severe and throbbing." This and other caffeine effects are exaggerated in people who frequently experience migraines.
So next time you have that foreboding feeling that your paper will not be finished by midnight, or that you had better study into the wee hours of the morning, think about what form of caffeine you would like to aid you in your sleep-defying quest.
The same evening that Jones drank her beloved coffee while studying, third-year College student Tina Chi took a little study break on the second floor of Clemons, where talking is allowed.
She skimmed over an open newspaper momentarily setting aside her novel. She planned no caffeine consumption as she coasted into her night of studying. "It upsets my stomach," she said.
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