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LOGAN, Utah (AP) -- Stress relievers during finals are fine and even encouraged by Utah State University administrators.
Another group howl in the school library, however, is being frowned upon.
"Students want to vent all that pressure," said Linda Wolcott, USU vice provost for libraries. "I sympathize with them. I'm just not sure the library is the most appropriate place to do it."
The student government will consider a request to sanction a finals week howl, something that started during last spring when a small group of students tried to break the tension by howling like wolves.
The students thought it was effective and called for another howl last semester. They sounded off again -- in the Merrill-Cazier Library, a four-story building where sound tends to carry.
"We went back to the library because we figured that was the place where the most people would be during finals week," said junior Eric DeFries, one of the organizers. "The librarians and stuff still got kind of mad but nothing really happened."
DeFries wants to see USU adopt the howl as a school tradition. The effort may have a better chance if it's held somewhere other than the library.
"If they want to go outside, I don't think that's going to be disturbing anybody," Wolcott said.
DeFries said he wouldn't be opposed to keeping the howling out of the library if the students can rally somewhere else on campus. He's hopeful both sides can agree on a solution.
"If 1,000 people just met on the Quad at 12 on a night, police would be concerned," DeFries said. "Since it's something that the school is aware of and the police are aware of, then they could control it."
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Information from: The Herald Journal, http://www.hjnews.com
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
