Wednesday's Midnight Mayhem less busy than December

Pizza, drinks and midnight parties are what college is all about.

But at Dixie State College, a midnight pizza party on campus at the end of the semester is usually more about academics than revelry—it’s most likely the Midnight Mayhem.

Students and faculty partied as hard as people can party in the Smith Computer Center Thursday night. Everyone was allowed to speak as loud as each one pleased as registration for fall semester began.

Megan Horton, a junior dental hygiene major from Las Vegas, was on hand at 11 p.m. sharp to check students in and help them register for classes.

“There’s usually a little less students that come in the spring just because they don’t really know what they’re doing for the fall yet,” she said about the smaller-than-last-semester crowd.

Horton said the center is packed at the end of fall semester as students cram in to try and get the best classes for spring. But with fall semester just barely on the horizon, a lot of students don’t feel the need to get into classes before everyone else.

This made it a whole lot easier for those who did show up.

Adrianne Bennett, a freshman dental hygiene major from Alpine, remembered the Midnight Mayhem last semester.

“It was crazy the first time,” she said. “There were a lot more people. There were people waiting outside the door, and people were bunching in waiting to get through.”

She said there were so many students last time that she ended up being wait-listed for an anatomy class. She did get into the class eventually, but she did have some advice for students looking to get into courses that may fill up easily.

“If you want to register [at DSC], get here early so you can get in faster and get it done,” Bennett said. “And don’t be afraid to ask questions.”

Chalyse Jones, a freshman nursing major from Las Vegas, enlisted the help of her two roommates to get registered. She said she brought them as support because of last semester’s midnight registration.

“That was mayhem,” she said. “All the classes I was trying to get were taken. This [Midnight Mayhem] was easy because all of [the classes] were available. So I just clicked on all the ones I wanted. “

The night was pulled off through the work of the Academic Advisement Department. Adviser Drew McIntyre said students would sometimes get together and register for classes as a group. He said DSC is helping students out by bringing the party to them with not only free pizza and drinks, but also with help.

“We [provided] academic advisers that can actually keep track of [students’] progress toward graduation and make sure they’re on the right track to get done with their education,” McIntyre said. “[We help students] take the right classes and get through things a little bit faster than maybe doing things on their own.”

McIntyre said about 30 advisement staff members, as well as peer advisers, were there to help students get in the right classes for their programs. He said most departments were represented at the Midnight Mayhem by advisers in order to aid those who may not know exactly which courses they need.

He reiterated Horton’s point that registration for fall semester didn’t seem to bring as large a crowd to the computer center. But McIntyre said the numbers are still good.

“This past fall we had the largest group we’ve seen yet,” he said. “This is actually really good for spring semester. I would say right now (at 11:45 p.m.) we’ve seen around 50 (students). But I’m sure there’ll be

The night peaked just after 11 p.m., and about 75 students showed up in all. Every student who attended was registered and ready for fall by 12:30 a.m.