It is three in the morning. Stressed out and sleepy-eyed, you have been studying 10 straight hours for a life-threatening exam.

Luckily, help is only minutes away at the neighborhood convenience store. But you may be part of a trend.

Paul Maserick, manager of one of the busiest convenience stores in town, said about 750,000 people a year visit his Uni-Mart on the corner of College Avenue and Pugh Street.

And some of his hungriest customers are students, who come for lunch, snacks or even to rent movies. Maserick said he sells about 600 "Uni-dogs" every week.

Convenience stores are part of today's fast-paced society, said Jill Shaffer, advertising and production manager for Uni-Mart.

Shaffer said the convenience store boom is due to a combination of factors, one being the increase of women working outside the home.

"They can stop on the way home and get a couple of dinners or whatever," she said.

Tony Matis, who works behind the counter at A-Plus Mini Mart on the corner of College Avenue and Atherton Street, said people like to have everything they need in one spot.

"I guess it's the way of the 80s people want it easy and quick," he said.

Dave Popovich, assistant manager at Sheetz, 2000 E. College Ave., said that time is money now more than ever before.

"Life in general is so intricate and confusing and fast-paced," he said. "Even your phone works faster than it used to."

Louis S. Meyer, president of the Pennsylvania Citizens Consumer Council, said society today is relatively more affluent and consumers don't care if they have to pay more at a convenience store.

"There's also a certain degree of laziness in people today," Meyer said. He added businesses are catering to people who want everything at their fingertips.

"People are more interested in free enterprise than they are in the health of their bodies," Meyer said, noting that a lot of convenient foods are filled with salt, sugar and fat.

Shaffer said the locally-based Uni-Mart, owned by UniCo, owns 16 stores in State College alone, as well as other stores statewide.

"It's pretty saturated," she said of the State College convenience market.

She said the first store opened up in 1972 on South Garner Street and the company is planning new stores all the time.

"If we could have one on every block, that would be OK," she said.

Maserick said even though drunk students sometimes wreak havoc in his tiny hot-dog heaven, he enjoys his job as manager.

"You can watch the students and how they are when they are relaxed," he said. "They're just having a good time."

Diane McArthur, a clerk at Uni-Mart's 440 W. College Ave. branch, said that on weekends, students will buy "Anything they can make a mess with."

Popovich said most Sheetz customers are families and workers who have short lunch breaks. Many regular customers, he said, come in two to three times a day.

"It's a very family atmosphere," he said.

But most convenience stores have to be on the alert for thieves and shoplifters.