FILE PHOTO Maloney's head doorman Carlos Valenzuela checks education senior Nicole Sanchez's identification before she enters the bar in July. Local bar employees expect large turnouts for Dead Day and Dead Day Eve, but they won't be the only ones carding students. The library will also check IDs during finals to ensure only students, staff and faculty use the facility.

Students will have to show ID at the bars and the library during finals

Ready or not, the semester will screech to a halt today, and on Friday, UA students will be thrust into the chaos of final exams, leaving tomorrow as the one day that stands alone to do as they please.

For some students, this means hitting up the bars around campus to take advantage of their "Dead Day" specials.

Offering reduced rates on drinks and cover charges, local bar managers are anticipating busy nights, beginning tonight.

"We're expecting a pretty big crowd; it's going to be a big deal," said Ryan Gaines, general manager of Fat Tuesday, located on East University Boulevard and North Euclid Avenue.

If you go out on Wednesday, you can pretty much get as wasted as you want, study Thursday, take your test on Friday. - Ryan Gaines, Fat Tuesday general manager

The bar, which has been open since March, will partner with two businesses to offer customers a variety of drink specials.

Tonight, from 9 p.m. to close, those over 21 can buy $1 small daiquiris and $1 domestic draft beers, with a $3 cover.

"Our deal is on Wednesday night, which is kind of like Dead Day eve," Gaines said. "They'll hopefully party hard on Wednesday night and then they'll probably recover and study on Thursday."

A venue off campus, the Wildcat House on North Stone Avenue, is featuring the radio station KRQ tonight, in addition to having drinks priced from 50 cents to $1.50 between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m., according to Aaron Gunn, the Wildcat House manager.

Gentle Ben's Brewing Co., located on East University Boulevard and North Tyndall Avenue, will also offer drink specials, as will O'Malleys on North Fourth Avenue, tonight and tomorrow night.

"If you go out on Wednesday, you can pretty much get as wasted as you want, study Thursday, take your test on Friday," Gaines said. "For those that go out on Thursday, probably school must just not be hard for them, I would guess."

An alternative to going out to the bars and drinking is staying home and drinking - something Brandon Wilson, a senior majoring in English, will be doing with friends at a barbecue.

"It's the end of the semester, so it's a way to relieve stress," said Wilson, who does not have exams on Friday.

Also planning on a night out, family and consumer sciences sophomore Courtney Kelley said she will spend Dead Day cleaning her home with her roommates.

... they pretty much understand the consequences of making one choice over another. - Rae Swedenburg, UA library supervisor

After dinner, she and friends will go to the bars to legally celebrate her friend's 21st birthday.

While one would expect to get asked for identification before entering the bars on Fourth or University, on the other side of campus, a popular UA building will be carding as well - the library.

Beginning Friday, the UA Main Library will be open 24 hours around the clock until Dec. 19, the final day of exams.

Between the hours of 1 a.m. and 7 a.m., the library will only be open to UA students, staff and faculty, and proof will be required, as the locked doors will only open for a CatCard.

Surprisingly, the library staff has not noticed a dramatic jump in the number of studying students on Dead Days in the past, according to Rae Swedenburg, a UA library supervisor who is involved with the undergraduate services team.

"We get very, very busy with students right before Thanksgiving, and it stays busy until exams get under way," Swedenburg said.

The Information Commons can get especially hectic, prompting library administrators to check patrons for their CatCards periodically, or ask them to log into a university-affiliated Website.

On occasion, library staff will also open a large classroom situated off the library featuring 50 computers, so students will not have to wait as long to start their studying.

"I think that the university students are pretty mature about understanding what their time and study needs are, and they pretty much understand the consequences of making one choice over another," Swedenburg said.