A recent survey by the Princeton Review, in conjunction with Wrigley's chewing gum, showed that more than 85 percent of American and Canadian students feel increased stress at exam time.

Piling the predictable on top of the obvious, Wrigley suggests students could reduce that stress by finding a calm place to study, exercising during breaks and -- you never would have guessed this -- chewing more gum.

They even cite a June 2002 article in Appetite titled "Chewing gum selectively improves memory in healthy volunteers."

Now for three days beginning Wednesday, students at N.C. State University are invited to the Wrigley Gum Lounge at the Talley Student Center. Just in case the Juicy Fruit isn't enough, the lounge will offer stress busters such as music, bean-bag chairs to hang out in and a drawing for $1,000 toward books and tuition.

It's the second time marketers have used the unlikely trifecta of gum, NCSU and the Princeton Review. In August 2004, the review's college guide ranked NCSU the 17th-ugliest campus in the country, prompting the student newspaper to suggest it might have something to do with a certain wall on campus where people are fond of sticking their used gum. At times, the wall sports thousands of unsightly dried little blobs, meaning Wrigley is probably onto something here.

College must be a very stressful place.

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