The Dream Team 1

Adam Lundgren
Daisy Singh
Hannah Corbett
Tyson Barnes
Zainab Ali
English 1010-701
0!07!"01#
$es%uing the Dream
Ha&e you e&er 'ulled an all-nighter to study (or a test the ne)t day* Did it (eel li+e torture
us staying a,a+e the ne)t day* Did it hel' your grade mu%h* Li+e most 'eo'le- it 'robably made
you do and (eel ,orse. /etting enough slee' is inherently a 'ersonal issue. The 'roblem be%omes
'ubli%- though- ,hen a great 'art o( a 'o'ulation be%omes slee' de'ri&ed.
Students in %ollege are o(ten slee' de'ri&ed- so this 'a'er ,ill be (o%used on them. Loss
o( slee' is a %onstant 'roblem that many %ollege students reali0e but do nothing to (i). Slee'
de'ri&ation is not a sim'le tem'orary ailment1 going only ten days ,ithout slee' %an +ill you.
This issue has a((e%ted all o( us at some 'oint in our li&es. 2ithout slee'- the small 'roblems ,e
(a%e %an be%ome huge. This slee' loss hurts students 'hysi%ally- mentally- and emotionally. 3(
you thin+ that slee' is unim'ortant- you need to ,a+e u'.
Be(ore this 'roblem %an be (i)ed- ,e need to de(ine it. Slee' de'ri&ation o%%urs ,hen
one doesn4t get enough slee'- o(ten o&er a long 'eriod o( time. 3t is re%ommended that %ollege
students get eight to nine hours o( slee' ea%h night. 5Smith (ig. 16 3t is 'retty easy to guess that
%ollege students don4t get this +ind o( slee'1 ,e ha&e all heard o( the 7all-nighter-8 and it is
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'arti%ularly (amous in a %ollege setting. College students need to slee' the re%ommended
amount to ensure that they rea%h %ertain stages o( slee' %alled Dee' Slee'- and $E9 slee'.
Dee' Slee' is a stage o( slee' in ,hi%h the body re'airs itsel( and builds u' energy (or the ne)t
day. $E9 slee' is stage o( slee' ,here the mind 're'ares itsel( (or the ne)t day by 'ro%essing
the in(ormation it has gathered o&er the day. 5Smith 'ara. ""6 3t is in $E9 slee' that 'eo'le
dream- so you %ould say that the 'ur'ose o( this essay is to sho, e&eryone :ust ho, e)tensi&e the
'roblem o( slee' de'ri&ation is- and to sho, them ho, they %an res%ue their dreams.
2e %ondu%ted a sur&ey on one-hundred lo%al Salt La+e Community College students
during the "01# summer semester. 2e as+ed them ;uestions that told us about their slee'
'atterns in relation to their s%hool li(e<. 2e (ound an astonishing %orrelation bet,een slee' and
grades. =ne third o( the sur&eyed students get at least eight hours o( slee'. The e)a%t same
number o( students get a >.7? /@A or higher. This %orrelation tells us that one third o( the %ollege
students are a%tually on to' o( their ,or+1 ho,e&er- hal( the students sur&eyed said that they (elt
they got enough slee'. This leads us to belie&e that the root 'roblem behind our dilemma in
student slee' de'ri&ation is that students don4t +no, ho, im'ortant slee' is to them.
@eo'le slee' be%ause they need to allo, their mind to re(resh and their body to 're'are-
but the e((e%ts o( not getting enough slee' are most 'ubli%ly &isible ,hen loo+ing at ho, they
im'a%t 'eo'le 'hysi%ally. A%%ording to a boo+ by Har&ey Colten and Bru%e Alte&ogt %alled
Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation: An Unmet Public Health Concern- 'hysi%al e((e%ts o(
slee' de'ri&ation %an in%lude- but are not limited to in%reased ris+ o( hy'ertension- diabetes-
obesity- de'ression- heart atta%+- and stro+e 5Colten "6. These e((e%ts ma+e li(e hard to li&e- or
they %ould ta+e your li(e altogether.
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Aot only does slee' de'ri&ation im'a%t 'eo'le 'hysi%ally- but the la%+ o( $E9 slee' also
ad&ersely a((e%ts them mentally. 3n an arti%le by 9ary Eli0abeth Dallas- a ,riter and
%ommuni%ations s'e%ialist ,ith broad e)'erien%e in health and medi%al ne,s- she e)'lains ,hat
a grou' o( resear%hers (ound.
B2ell-rested students 'er(orm better a%ademi%ally and are healthier 'hysi%ally and
'sy%hologi%ally-4 study in&estigators $o)anne @ri%hard- an asso%iate 'ro(essor o(
'sy%hology- and 9oni%a Hartmann- a 'ro(essor o( e%onomi%s- both at the
Cni&ersity o( St. Thomas in St. @aul- 9inn.- said in a ne,s release (rom the
Ameri%an A%ademy o( Slee' 9edi%ine. 5Dallas 'ar. >6
3n the same arti%le- resear%hers (ound that- 7@oor slee' had the same e((e%t on studentsD /@A as
binge drin+ing and mari:uana use8 5Dallas 'ar. ?6. Eou ,ouldn4t binge drin+ or smo+e mari:uana
the night be(ore an im'ortant test- so ,hy lose slee'* 3t is %lear that slee' is a good thing (or us.
3t hel's one do better grade ,ise- and %an +ee' them healthy.2hy is one o( our body4s most
%ru%ial needs being ignored?
3n addition to a loss o(
'hysi%al and mental %a'abilities-
,hen someone does not get a
su((i%ient amount o( slee' there are
also emotional e((e%ts. The 're(rontal
lobe is the 'art o( the brain that
ty'i%ally +ee's our emotions under
%ontrol- but ,ithout the %orre%t
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amount o( slee'- it ,ill shut do,n 5/ordon 'ara. "6. 2hat ,as on%e e&eryday tra((i% be%omes
the ,orst tra((i% :am in the history o( the ,orld. 2hat ,as on%e a home,or+ assignment
be%omes your 'ersonal %a'ital 'unishment. Losing the ability to thin+ %learly %an be%ome
detrimental (or the li(e o( a %ollege student. There are enough 'roblems students need to ,orry
about.
An e)'erien%e one o( our grou' members had ,ith slee' de'ri&ation- and ho, it a((e%ted
her a%ademi% su%%ess- began in her A@ 2orld History %lass. She did not study (or the (inal e)am
until the day be(ore the she needed to ta+e it- and she tried to %ram all the in(ormation in a %ou'le
o( hours. She sle't (or only three hours that night. 3n the morning- ,hen it ,as (inally time to
ta+e the e)am- she (elt %on(ident be%ause she had studied so mu%h. She thought that sin%e she
,as u' all night the night be(ore- the in(ormation ,ould be (resh in her mind- and the ,hole
ordeal ,ould be a bree0e. The :o+e ,as on her- be%ause she re%ei&ed a t,o on the e)am- meaning
that she ,ould not re%ei&e %ollege %redit (or the %lass. She might ha&e done a lot better i( she
had gotten a good night4s slee'.
There are many reasons ,hy ,e don4t get enough slee' today. Some 'eo'le :ust ha&e too
mu%h to do. =thers :ust ha&e trouble (alling aslee' in the (irst 'la%e. A ma:or %ause o( slee'
'roblems is ele%troni%s. 9ost monitors o( ele%troni% de&i%es emit a blue light. 7E)'osure to blue
light %an su''ress melatonin- ,hi%h allo,s you to transition to slee'-8 said Alyssa Cairns- @hD- a
slee' resear%h s%ientist at Slee'9ed 3n%. in Columbia- South Carolina. 73( it4s su''ressed- you
are not able to (all aslee' as easily8 52arner 'ara. ?6. Com'uters and 'hones may ma+e it harder
to slee'- but they are also &ery easy to get distra%ted by. 3t is be%oming more %ommon (or
home,or+ assignments to be done on a %om'uter. 3( a student ,or+s on their home,or+ :ust
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be(ore bed- they are more li+ely to ta+e longer to (all aslee'. This ta+es a,ay (rom the already
small allotment o( time they ha&e.
3n the sur&ey ,e %ondu%ted- ,e (ound a (e, reasons %ollege students at SLCC lost slee'F
thirty-se&en 'er%ent o( the 'eo'le s'ent their time studying- si)teen 'er%ent on relationshi's-
(ourteen 'er%ent on +ids or (amily- three
'er%ent on 'artying- and thirty 'er%ent on
other e)tra%urri%ular a%ti&ities. This
sho,s that many students at SLCC are
either studying or ha&e another issue in
their li(e that ta+es the time o( their slee'.
This %ould 'ossibly %ome (rom ,or+-
%lubs- religious organi0ations- et%.
The stress o( %ollege li(e de(initely ma+es students 'rone to slee' disturban%e. A%ademi%
and so%ial demands %an ha&e a large im'a%t on a student4s ability to slee' 'ro'erly as ,ell. 2ith
so many things to do- the %ollege student4s s%hedule %an be%ome o&erloaded- and inter(ere ,ith a
normal slee' routine. 3n %ollege- things are done in order o( 'riority. 3( one %lass is more
im'ortant than another- that %lass gets a greater time dedi%ation (rom its students.
Another grou' member o( ours %reated a s%hedule- but did not 'ut slee' into a%%ount. He
had a 'lanner ,here he ,rote his daily tas+s that needed to be %om'leted- as ,ell as ,hen they
needed to be %om'leted by. A(ter he did this- he ,ould go do,n the list and %om'lete the tas+s
one by one. This ensured that his imminently due assignments got done. Ho,e&er- sin%e he did
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not ha&e a s%heduled time (or slee' ,ritten do,n any,here on his 'lanner- it got o&erloo+ed
%onstantly.
Some students do not thin+ slee' is im'ortant- so they do not gi&e as mu%h time to it as
they should. 3( %ollege students ,ere in(ormed that slee' should be among their to' 'riorities- ,e
almost %ertainly ,ouldn4t ha&e this 'roblem.
Sometimes- though- loss o( slee' is not the students4 (ault. Some students ha&e an)iety or
mood disorders- and slee' de'ri&ation is :ust a sym'tom o( a bigger 'roblem. 3n these %ases- the
students may ha&e disorders that only 'resent themsel&es in slee'- and are &ery disru'ti&e the
students4 habits1 one su%h disorder is slee' a'nea- and another %ommon one is insomnia.
(Source!) 3( students don4t reali0e they ha&e a bigger 'roblem related to slee' loss- s%hool and
grades ,ill be the least o( their ,orries. They need to resol&e their 'roblems as soon as they %an
so they %an re%ei&e a bene(i%ial (ull night4s slee'.
2hat %ould ,e do to hel' (i) this 'roblem* Se&eral 'eo'le ha&e tried to sol&e the issue o(
slee' de'ri&ation. =ne o( their solutions ,as to try and lose ,eight. =ne grou' sa, ma:or
im'ro&ement- ,hile another had the same restlessness and inability to slee' that they had
e)'erien%ed be(ore. Losing ,eight has been sho,n to be a treatment (or the most %ommon ty'e
o( slee' a'nea %alled =bstru%ti&e Slee' A'nea. Gust a ten 'er%ent redu%tion in ,eight led to a
t,enty-si) 'er%ent redu%tion in res'iratory disturban%es (or those ,ith =bstru%ti&e Slee' A'nea.
5Do,ney 333 'ar. >6
2hile ,eight loss only hel's a s'e%i(i% grou' o( 'eo'le- medi%ations %ould also do the
:ob. 9an+ind has te%hnology today to ma+e drugs that %ould aid us ,ith our slee' 'roblem.
9any 'eo'le ha&e used them in an attem't to go to slee'. Ho,e&er- these drugs ha&e side
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e((e%ts that go along ,ith them as ,ell. These side e((e%ts %an %hange your li(e a lot more than
one might thin+. A lot o( these drugs are addi%ti&e 59ayo Clini% 'ar. >6. E&en i( one ,ould ,ant
to sto'- they %annot- unless they ,ent through ma:or thera'y. This is something else that %ollege
students ,ould not ,ant to deal ,ith.
College students themsel&es ha&e %ome u' ,ith se&eral di((erent substitutes to slee'-
%a((eine being the most 'o'ular. Students get it (rom %o((ee- energy drin+s- %a''u%%inos- so(t
drin+s and se&eral other substan%es. 3n a study %ondu%ted by The 3nstitute o( Edu%ation S%ien%es-
it ,as (ound that eighty-three 'er%ent o( the students had at least one sym'tom o( %a((eine
into)i%ation- and students %onsumed three to (i&e times more than the suggested amount o(
%a((eine. 59ell&ain- Aoland- and Bi%+el 'ar. 16. Although %a((eine %an be hel'(ul in some
instan%es- it also has many e((e%ts on the body that should not be used as an alternati&e to getting
the (ull suggested amount o( slee'.
To a&oid the e((e%ts o( medi%ine and %a((eine- and still get to slee' (aster- Har&ard
9edi%al S%hool re%ommends setting u' good slee' routines. This entails a regular slee'-,a+e
s%hedule- a&oiding %a((eine and al%ohol be(ore bed- ma+ing the bedroom a %om(ortable slee'
en&ironment- establishing a 're-slee' routine- and going to slee' ,hen you are truly tired
5E'stein and 9ardon 'ara. >6. These are all great ideas- but students :ust don4t +no, about them.
2e suggest- in the short term- that ,e edu%ate %ollege students on the im'ortan%e o( slee'
so that they %an see the &alue o( our long-term solutions. 2e ,ould start by 'utting u' billboards
and 'osters around the %ollege %am'uses to in(orm students o( the im'ortan%e o( slee'. They
should be sim'le and %at%h the eye.
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2e ,ould also 'ut u' ad&ertisements on Can&as and 9y@age. To 're&ent students (rom
being o&erloaded by home,or+ une)'e%tedly- ,e ,ould 'ut u' ,arning messages on these sites
(or students ,ho try to ta+e an e)%essi&e amount o( %lasses. This ,ay- they %ould be in(ormed o(
the ris+s o( losing slee'- and they %an ma+e better de%isions.
Lastly- holding seminars on slee' ,ould also gi&e students in-de'th in(ormation
regarding slee' de'ri&ation. 2e ,ould 'ro&ide e)am'les o( ,hat %ould ha''en to someone
,ithout the 'ro'er amount o( slee'- and ,ould gi&e the students some ti's that they %an use to
%ombat slee' de'ri&ation. Be(ore the end o( the seminar- the students ,ould sign a 'ledge to get
better slee' and (ollo, the ad&i%e gi&en in the seminar. This ,ay- ,e get the students %ommitted
and moti&ated to try our long term solutions.
A(ter ,e ha&e used these methods to edu%ate and stress the im'ortan%e o( getting the (ull
suggested amount o( slee'- students ,ill understand that through 'ro'er s%heduling and
'rioriti0ing- they ,ill be able to handle a (ull s%hedule and get a healthy amount o( slee'. 2e ,ill
o((er better suggestions- through 'am'hlets and ad&ertising- to be (ully rested. These
suggestions- su%h as 'o,er na's and %at na's- ,ill still allo, students to stay u' late ,hen
absolutely ne%essary- although they %ould ne&er re'la%e slee'ing at night. =n%e slee' is seen as a
ne%essity- students ,ill %ome u' ,ith a s%hedule so that slee'ing is not inter(ered ,ith by doing
assignments- ,at%hing t&- being in relationshi's- et%.
As (or the long-term solutions (or slee' de'ri&ation- the %ollege ,ill dire%tly inter&ene.
$esear%hers at the Cni&ersity o( St. Thomas in St. @aul- 9inn. s%oured through #>-000 res'onses
to the "00H Ameri%an College Health Asso%iation Aational College Health Assessment 5ACHA6
sur&ey- loo+ing (or the %onne%tions bet,een slee' 'roblems and a%ademi% su%%ess. They (ound
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%ollege (reshmen ,ere more a((e%ted by slee' loss than u''er%lassmen 5Ga%obson 'ara. "6. 3(
(reshman truly are more a((e%ted by slee' loss- they need to be eased into %ollege li(e. To do this-
(reshman %an only ta+e a ma)imum o( nine %redits their (irst semester. This amount ,ill
'rogressi&ely gro,- be%oming a ma)imum o( t,el&e %redits the ne)t semester- and eighteen
%redits in the semester a(ter that. Irom there- the student is (ree to ta+e as many %redits as they
'lease at their o,n ris+. Although many belie&e students should be mo&ed through edu%ation
(aster- slee' is &astly more im'ortant to insure that these students do ,ell in s%hool and in li(e. 3(
a student ,ishes to %ir%um&ent this mandate- they may get 'ermission to ta+e more %redits. This
,ill only be allo,ed on %ondition that the student has s'o+en ,ith the Health and 2ellness
%enter- and they deem that the student is healthy and 're'ared enough (or a stress(ul term. This
long-term solution ,ill insure that (reshmen 'a%e themsel&es. 3( they do this- they ,ill ha&e less
stress- and there(ore- get better slee'.
To ensure that our ideas about edu%ation (rom our short term goals sin+ in- the %ollege
,ill 'ut (or,ard a highly re%ommended slee'ing %lass. 3t ,ill 'ro&ide ele%ti&e %redit (or students-
and ,ill not %ount to,ard the %redit
allotment o( (reshmen1 this gi&es them an
in%enti&e to ta+e the %lass. 3t ,ill tea%h
students better slee'ing habits and ,ays to
be%ome ,ell rested - and a%tually allo,
time (or slee'- to 'ra%ti%e ,hat they4&e
learned. As a result o( this %lass- the
students ,ill be%ome better habitual slee'ers.
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Slee' de'ri&ation is a large issue among %ollege students. Something needs to be done. 3(
students ha&e better slee'ing habits. Their li&es o&erall ,ill be greatly bene(itted. 2e belie&e that
,hen students understand ho, detrimental slee' de'ri&ation is- they ,ill %ommit to be (ully
rested as they 'romise to +ee' a healthy slee'ing s%hedule. Students ,ill allo, more time (or
slee' instead o( more %redit hours. As they stay %ommitted to their slee'ing habits- it ,ill hel'
them to stay healthy throughout their li(e and be more e((i%ient in the ,or+'la%e. 3t is im'ortant
that ,e start no, to edu%ate the students at Salt La+e Community College to ensure that slee'
de'ri&ation does not ha&e su%h a damaging e((e%t. 3t isn4t time to ,a+e u'- it4s time to get ba%+
to bed.
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Iootnotes
1. Lo%al Sur&ey o( SLCC Students
16 About ho, many hours o( slee' do you get ea%h night on a&erage*
a6 ? or less b6 J %67 d6 -H e610-1"
Totals 10 26 31 31 2
"6 2hat is the main reason you don4t get more slee'*
a6 studying b6 @artying %6$elationshi' d6Kids!(amily e6=ther
Totals 37 3 16 14 30
>6 Do you (eel you get enough slee'*
a6 yes b6 no
Totals 49 51
#6 2hat is your a&erage /@A*
a6 ".0 or
belo,
b6 ".? %6 >.0 d6 >.? e6>.7?L
Totals 0 7 40 20 33
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Guly
"01#. Mhtt'F!!betterslee'.org!better-slee'N.
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emotions -run -amo+ -slee' -de'ri&ed -brains .htmlN.
Colten- Har&ey $.- and Bru%e 9. Alte&ogt. Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation: An Unmet
Public Health Problem. 2ashington- DCF 3nstitute o( 9edi%ine- "00J. @rint.
Dallas- 9ary E. P@oor Slee' 9ay Lead to 2orse /rades (or College StudentsF 9edline@lus.P
U"S
National !ibrar# o$ %edicine. C.S. Aational Library o( 9edi%ine- J Gune "01#. 2eb. "1
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9ood.PPs#cholog#toda#"com. @sy%hology Today- "? Aug. "01>. 2eb. 0J Aug. "01#.
The Dream Team 13
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e((e%ts-slee'-loss-moodN.
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Slee'
Cy%les R Stages- La%+ o( Slee'- and Ho, to /et the Hours Eou Aeed. Hel' /uide- 1
9ar.
"01#. 2eb. ? Aug. "01#.
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""
Ieb. "01". 2eb. "1 Guly "01#. Mhtt' F!! ,,, .nhlbi .nih .go& !health !health -
to'i%s !to'i%s !sdd !,hy .htmlN
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2arner- Genni(er. P2hy DonDt Ameri%ans /et Enough Slee'*P(ver#da#Health"com. E&eryday
Health-
0# 9ar. "01#. 2eb. 0J Aug. "01#. Mhtt'F!!,,,.e&erydayhealth.%om!ne,s!,hy-dont-
ameri%ans-get-enough-slee'!N.