THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 21, 1994 TAG: 9412210228
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
Cut out the computer games and get back to work.
That's the message from Richmond to college professors.
State Education Secretary Beverly Sgro has sent a memo to university presidents telling them to ``delete all computer games from every computer in your agency. Time spent by employees playing computer games should be considered an improper use of taxpayer funds.''
Some faculty members say they understand Sgro's concern in these tight financial times. ``I don't think it's appropriate to be playing games during working hours,'' Old Dominion University oceanographer Larry P. Atkinson said.
But other professors, who typically cherish their independence, are affronted, detecting a whiff of Big Brother.
``My initial reaction is that it was an unbelievable level of micromanagement,'' said Robert L. Ake, a chemistry professor who is chairman of the Faculty Senate at ODU. ``Who knows what's the next inappropriate use of our break time? We can't make personal phone calls during the day?''
Dorn W. Peterson, a physics professor at James Madison University, said the memo suggests a lack of faith in the people in charge at universities.
``You trust your superiors to oversee the people who work for them,'' said Peterson, the speaker of JMU's Faculty Senate. ``I don't think it has to be an order from on high. . . .
``There are occasions when there's nothing to do and if they're just sitting there, I wouldn't mind them reading a book or playing a computer game.''
Variations of the memo were sent from state Cabinet secretaries to Virginia employees. Sgro said they were prompted by a few anonymous calls from state workers complaining that ``I'm working hard, and he's sitting there playing computer games.''
The memo, she said, ``is just highlighting the fact that this is not an appropriate activity. If each one used five minutes a day to play a game - playing solitaire or whatever they were playing on a machine - that could be a significant savings to the taxpayer.''
The memo, issued last week, also warned college employees not to send holiday cards at the state's expense and not even to ask for ``gold-seal business cards or personal stationery of any kind'' - unless they are ``agency heads.''
Several professors said computer gamesmanship was hardly a chronic problem. ``In my eight years (at ODU), I have never see any game being played,'' ODU's Atkinson said.
But Kurt Maly, chairman of Old Dominion's computer science department, said: ``We found that was exactly what happened (in the department). We removed them a year ago.''
He declined to say how often the games were played or how many contestants there were, but he admitted that the game of choice was mahjongg.
``The problem'' with such a restriction, Maly said, ``is that it's totally unenforceable.'' Academic departments or universities can remove access to the games from their systems, but users can easily connect to other networks for playtime.
``Everyone is networked in this world,'' he said. ``Anyone who is computer-literate will still be able to do it.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color drawing by Bob Voros
by CNB