As a moraler wiped out by the water jugs, OPPerations committee member Yuanyi Li decided she should do something about the items that were knocked to the ground.

"I feel like I should clean that up," Li (junior-bioengineering) said.

The OPPerations committee is in charge of committee set-up, keeping the bathrooms clean, mopping the dance floor, picking up trash, hauling tables, massaging the dancers and tearing things down at the end of the Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon.

"Thon runs because of OPP," OPP committee member Alyson Quintavalle (freshman-communication science disorders) said.

"We are the first ones here and the last ones to leave."

As he mopped up the slush at an entrance of the Bryce Jordan Center, OPP committee member Christopher Grassi (junior-supply chain information systems) said OPP is the "backbone of Thon."

Grassi said he worked a total of 25 hours over the entire 46-hour dance marathon. Generally, OPP members work three four-hour shifts.

Li estimated that there were more than 700 OPP members working at Thon this year. Li, a first-time committee member, said that the behind-the-scenes view of Thon is a unique one.

Some OPP members arrived at Thon at 5 a.m. Friday to set up the Bryce Jordan Center.

"It was fun to see how the whole thing started out," Li said. "I got to see how much work really goes into it." OPP committee member Jessica Smith (sophomore-journalism) said OPP kept Thon from falling apart during the weekend.

"If we weren't here, Thon wouldn't happen," she said.

Smith, who worked on the Rules and Regulations committee last year, said she likes the independence OPP provides. "I have more freedom to talk with the kids and the dancers," she said. With a garbage bag in her hand, OPP member Amanda Williams (freshman-division of undergraduate studies) said her first Thon has been a good experience. "You can't really find anything like this at any other university," she said.