The procrastination wars

During my freshman year, I spent hours killing people while listening to t.A.T.u and Dr. John.

It wasn't exactly the best killing music, but it helped me stay focused. If I were still doing it now, I would probably listen to Coldplay.

I was a bit of a hermit in my freshman year of college. When I wasn't working or filling-out transfer applications to come to Penn, I was killing hundreds of people in computer games.

While pundits across the nation periodically debate whether or not video games make teenagers violent, few have looked into how video games are turning college students into listless blobs with carpal tunnel syndrome.

Technology has turned our lives into a constant war between work, partying and procrastination. Procrastination tends to win.

Between checking news Web sites, browsing photo albums, Facebook.com, instant messaging, talking on my phone, iTunes and making tea, it's taken me an embarrassingly long time just to write this sentence.

Yet, video games are the procrastination kings of our generation.

The worst kind of games are the online multiplayer variety that I played in my freshman year, such as Counterstrike and Halo. However, Snood and Grand Theft Auto can be equally addictive.

A game like Counterstrike allows you to switch from writing an essay on your laptop to shooting strangers from across the world without even getting up.

Once you sit down and play a game, you're usually hooked.

"I definitely avoid them, because otherwise I know I'll get addicted," admitted College freshman Hal Emmer

And it's an addiction that more than 50 percent of Americans share. About half of us play video games, according to research by the Entertainment Software Association, an industry trade group.

Something about video games appeals to our inner couch potato in ways that trounce the lure of television and fried chicken. They make us spend hours alone doing basically nothing.

In February, the research group Phoenix Marketing International conducted a study indicating that men and women play approximately 13 hours of games per week.

Thus, on average, Americans spend about two hours each day playing video games.

What could we do with those two hours of extra time each day? Here's a list of seven things that I've been able to do this week in two hours:

n Wait in the never-ending line at Koch's Deli for a sandwich.

n Go to Pottruck and work off the flab from my Double Stuf Oreo addiction.

n Cook myself a meal in a vain attempt to wean myself off Oreos.

n Take a bike ride into Center City and discover that Philadelphia does indeed exist.

n Take a power nap before class instead of during class.

n Write an apology letter to an Israeli friend for accidentally sending her a Ramadan e-card with a rotating "Allah Akbar" graphic for her birthday.

n Get drunk and let an art student convince me to let her draw me naked.

Ultimately, the hours add up.

Upon my arrival at Penn last fall, I broke the addiction and deleted all of my video games. Maybe I'll play them again after I graduate or when my children put me in a nursing home. However, until then, they are just too addictive and there is too much else going on.

Video games bring us into a fantasy world where we can drive, steal and shoot anything. This is a pretty damn cool world.

However, it's not the real world. If I wanted to spend time in a mind-numbing parallel universe, I would go to St. A's.

They also encourage us to ignore our friends, significant others, work and all the other fun stuff we could be doing away from the computer or the X-Box.

It's time that we all unplug. Otherwise, instead of leaving college with interesting experiences, we'll only leave with an impressive kill count and warped social skills.

So, what are you going to do with your time?

Eric Obenzinger is a junior history major from New York. Quaker Shaker appears on Wednesdays.

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