LIFESTYLE: Wired – Students captured by cable TV

Ken Goldman wanted his MTV. He got it. And now he wishes he hadn't. "Cable is like a black hole," said College senior Goldman, a Wade Cablevision subscriber. "It sucks you in and you can't escape." Goldman estimated that cable is on in his house at least six hours a day, saying that he and his five housemates have become addicted to Video Jukebox, infomercials and HBO. For hundreds of students, cable is an escape. As midterms and papers begin to pile up and stress begins to mount, students are discovering that these "black holes" are capable of simultaneously relieving stress and wasting huge amounts of time. Cable fever is running high off campus, and many students can't find a remedy. Once you buy cable, the battle against TV addiction is hopelessly lost. It's only a question of how long it will take. Just ask College senior Glenn Welling. Welling had cable installed three weeks ago, and now he uses that box atop his television as an excuse for not studying. "Cable's just so convenient," said Welling, who lives on Beige Block with seven housemates. "With sports, movies and news at the control of our fingers, it is easily our most popular distraction." He added that at a monthly rate of $4 a person, cable is a luxury that is irresistable. The black hole can have great power. "I'll be busy doing something else, and I'll walk by the TV room, into the clutches of Cablevision, and I won't leave the room for at least a half hour," Goldman said. Goldman said one reason for his addiction is the Video Jukebox channel. "[Video Jukebox] is like choosing your own TV," he said. "The whole neighborhood calls in and we watch our favorite videos all night long." Goldman said he and his housemates also watch infomercials, commercials that are made into regular TV shows. "We have the best time bagging on them," he said. "It's amazing how so many people take infomercials seriously." The big dilemma is whether the relatively low price of cable is worth failing out of school and spending the rest of your life at home watching reruns of Double Dare and eating stale Doritos. If nothing else, cable offers variety. Where else can you watch a midget-throwing contest on one channel, and when that gets boring, switch to a two-hour documentary on the sexual reproduction of snails? All with one press of the clicker. A number of students said that addiction to cable channels has ruined their ability to study, and others said that cable has even taken control of their lives. Wharton doctoral student Paul Almeida said he believes cable is a distraction to life itself. "Sometimes I won't hang out with my friends because I'll be watching cable," he said. "Other times I'll stop studying and retreat to the TV room." · Right now there is no support group for cable addicts. No treatment centers for people with remote control withdrawal symptoms. But there is hope. Victoria Demos, coordinator of training at the University Counseling Center, said TV addiction is a fairly common problem, with cable at the core. "TV's such a passive activity," she said. "It induces an inertia because it is much easier to do than something active like a paper or assignment." Demos warned students not to watch television for study breaks. She suggested telephoning a friend instead or watching TV after all homework has been finished. Demos said students simply don't have enough discipline to turn off the TV. Instead, she recommended, students should study away from home to avoid the tempting option of vegetating in front of the TV. · But not everyone is that weak. Among the off campus TV rooms, there are a few superpeople with enough self control to "touch that dial." College senior Sandy Berkowitz said the monthly bill of $25 she shares with her roommate is "a pain in the neck," and if she had a choice of subscribing to cable or not, she wouldn't. But, she said, there are some advantages. "If I didn't have cable, I'd be constantly playing with a rabbit-eared antenna, trying to get one of ten stations to come in clear," she said. "So I really have no choice." There are some students who just don't get turned on by cable. "Cable's a big waste of time," said College senior Mike Seeve. "It's good to have cable for a study break, but it never comes to a point in our house where you should take a TV break and go study." Seeve shares cable with six others in his house. "I definitely wouldn't call cable a distraction," he said. "It just doesn't do anything for me. However, where else can you get to see sports like the world volleyball championships?" · Walter White, a sales representative for Wade Cablevision, the cable company that services the University area, said all cable installations come with basic service, which consists of 65 channels including CNN, TNT, ESPN and MTV. For an additional price, White said, premium channels such as Prism, HBO, Showtime, Disney, Cinemax and Playboy can be bought. White said the Learning Channel may particularly interest students. The channel allows subscribers to send away for class materials that go along with TV lectures. Grading is done by mail, and if students pass their classes, they can earn a degree. None of the students contacted for this story admitted to watching the Learning Channel. For now, students living on campus will have to live without cable, as it is not available in any of the dorms and apparently will not be coming soon. Christopher Dennis, director of academic programs for Residential Living, said he doesn't expect the University to work out a deal with Wade. "We negotiated with them and the numbers just didn't work out," he said. However, Dennis said, they are looking at contracting with other cable companies in the area that have lower installation prices. "The Annenberg School's satellite dish currently broadcasts sixteen educational stations, featuring CNN, C-SPAN, the Learning Channel, Weather Channel and international channels to 31 University buildings," Dennis said. "Eventually, the entire campus will get AVN, and in the far future, it might even go commercial." Ironically, students living near the University campus can get both Temple's and Drexel's cable channels, but not the University's own UTV. UTV Station Manager Kirk Marcolina, a College senior, said UTV does not have immediate plans to expand its coverage beyond the Superblock residences that now receive it. "To be a part of Wade would mean UTV would have to be much more professional and much stricter in censoring since we'd be broadcasting to a much larger audience," Marcolina said. "This would require more work and we simply don't have the resources for this." As University counselor Demos said, watching cable TV can get out of control. So if you can't compromise with it, don't. Pull the plug.

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