Judging from the tired faces and furrowed brows of students poring over textbooks and laptops in campus libraries and coffee shops, "dead week" - the days preceding final exams - might be a misnomer.

Oregon State University students say they may feel dead, but class workloads haven't eased up.

"I just think that dead week is supposed to be no assignments, and there's been heaps," said Mary Pilkington, an exchange student from Australia. "I was informed at the beginning of the term that there would be no assignments during dead week. It's a total lie."

Finals begin next Monday and conclude Dec. 8, after which most students head for home and winter break.

On Tuesday morning, Pilkington gathered with peers in a human development and family sciences class to work on a project on child care provider training.

"There are more assignments and presentations this week than any other week of the term," said Pilkington, a junior majoring in elementary education, adding that the term "dead week" does not exist in Australia.

Professors agree that learning doesn't stop as finals near.

"I think it's safe to say that dead week is anything but dead for the students as they are trying to finish up the last of homework assignments or term projects. Or perhaps they may feel dead by the end of it all," said Dawn Wright, a geosciences professor.

In her classes, Wright usually assigns a term project due at the end of dead week. She's not giving additional assignments this week, but is presenting new material in class that will be included on the final exam.

Psychology students also are feeling the crunch this week, according to professor and department chairman Frank Bernieri.

"In psychology, we present new material throughout the entire 10-week term for classes that do not require term papers. Most of these courses do present new material during dead week out of necessity. Nine weeks is not enough time to cover the required material. So dead week for psychology students probably doesn't feel all that different from the other weeks," Bernieri said.

Allison Bock, a senior majoring in human development and family sciences, agrees this week hasn't been easy so far.

"This week has been packed with assignments in all classes," she said.

"It's not really dead," agreed Richard Rush, another senior human development and family sciences major.

This term Rush only has one final. He spent Tuesday morning working on a proposal for a technical writing class. He takes the 11th-hour approach when it comes to studying for big tests.

"I'm a procrastinating crammer," he said.

Sasha Levage, a senior English major, prefers an opposite tactic.

"I like to study quite a few days ahead so I retain all the information, and notecards are a must," she said.

Levage hasn't noticed her workload lighten this week.

"It's been stressful. I haven't slept much yet," she said.

For Spencer Hunt, a senior animal sciences major, dead week has meant slightly fewer assignments than usual.

"I'm getting a break this week," he said.

Like Levage, Hunt favors flashcards to help memorize terms and concepts. He has a small black box filled with 400 cards - 350 of them blank. He expects to use every one while studying for finals.

Hunt also likes studying with others.

"I study with groups usually. We can bounce ideas off each other," he said.

Mary Ann Albright covers higher education. She can be reached at maryann.albright@lee.net or 758-9518.