Bikers had a new obstacle in White Plaza yesterday afternoon: beds.

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Mae Ryan

Students from Psychiatry Prof. William Dement’s “Sleep and Dreams” class slept in White Plaza yesterday afternoon as part of a project to inform fellow students about healthy sleep habits. Students from the Department of Music sang lullabies to students taking naps in between classes.

The beds were part of an outreach project for Psychiatry Prof. William Dement’s “Sleep and Dreams” class. While other students’ projects included videos, brochures and community mentoring, Bianca Ceralvo ‘08, along with Georgia Duan ‘07 and Yung-Yee Chen ‘08, decided to organize a large-scale napping session to educate their peers about sleep disorders and deprivation.

“It’s a better way of getting the word out to students,” Duan said. “They’re coming from class to their dorms and perhaps might not have time to take naps.”

Ceralvo provided the beds, a sleeping bag and several posters proclaiming the event a “slumber party.” Clutching a teddy bear, she also yelled Dement’s motto, “Drowsiness is red alert!” to passersby.

The slumber party, which took place from 2 to 4 p.m., also featured singers from Stanford’s Department of Music, who sang lullabies like “Hush Little Baby,” “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and “Frere Jacques.”

The trio spread the word about their project by sending e-flyers, posting flyers in various locations around campus and creating a Facebook event. Despite these efforts, only a handful of people showed up. Some stopped by in between classes to rest, though most paused to ask questions.

White Plaza was too noisy yesterday for some of the participants. In fact, one student complained of not being able to sleep, so Duan pulled out her song sheet and serenaded her with “Hush Little Baby.”

As Ceralvo explained, the afternoon is a prime time for most people to take a nap. She said a person’s clock-dependent alerting decreases in the middle of the day, meaning the body does not respond to stimuli or maintain a level of wakeful alertness.

“At the onset of sleep, people temporarily go blind and deaf,” Ceralvo said. “Most people, if they have a high sleep debt, have no problem tuning things out.”

Duan said that it was important for students to take naps during the day in order to reduce the sleep debt that can accumulate.

Ceralvo said that inspiration for the outdoor project came from a humorous picture.

“I saw a picture a few years ago of a dorm room in the middle of a highway,” she said. “There were a couple of desks, a couple of beds — completely furnished — in the middle of the highway. I thought it was hilarious.”