Professors propose procrastination prescription
■ btuaentsTina procrastination
is seductive, but journalism
faculty and staff offer solutions
By Eric Martin
Oregon Daily Emerald
Procrastination eats at students’
time like a swarm of termites de
vours an abandoned log cabin —
deliberately, and with unmerciful
results.
For some, procrastination tanta
lizes the psyche with addictive
qualities. For others, it manifests it
self in the form of pounding
headaches and lost opportunities.
Perhaps no one can speak better
about procrastination’s rewards
and pitfalls than former journalists
who battled the phenomenon on a
daily basis to produce copy on a
tight deadline.
Scott Maier, an associate journal
ism professor, described himself as
a “recovering” procrastinator. He
worked as a reporter for 20 years
with The Associated Press, The
Seattle Times and the Seattle Post
Intelligencer. He said college was
tlie breeding ground for his love of
the last minute.
“I used to boast that I hadn’t
turned in a single assignment on
time all year,” the 1977 Oberlin
College graduate said. “It seems
natural that I then decided to be
come a journalist. There’s nothing
more addictive than putting off a
story until the last minute — and
then grabbing a cup of coffee and
putting it off another five minutes.”
Maier said writing a story with
an editor breathing down his neck
only enhanced the effect. But he
said procrastination begins way be
fore deadline nears, often at the mo
ment an editor assigns a story.
“You find every reason to put if
off,” he said. “Part of it is, when
you’re given a story idea, it’s wide
open. You don’t know where
you’re going with it. And that’s a
fearsome challenge.”
John Russial, an assistant journal
ism professor, said the fearsome
challenge often induces a moment of
clarity as deadline approaches. Rus
sial worked in the newspaper busi
ness for 17 years, as a copy chief for
the Philadelphia Inquirer and as a re
porter, editor and computer systems
manager for the now-defunct Bethle
hem Globe-Times. At the Inquirer, he
and his associates on the copy desk
were on the receiving end of re
porters’ missed deadlines.
“Procrastination is almost institu
tionalized in newspapers,” he said.
“When you think about the concept
of deadline, it’s easier to put off start
ing something that’s further in the
future. When deadline draws closer
and looms larger, at some point you
realize that if you don’t get started,
you’re not going to get done.”
Russial is facing a deadline right
now. He is writing a copy editing
text, tentatively titled “Strategic
Copy Editing,” and he said he is
learning that book editors often ex
pect professors to miss deadlines,
partly because of the rigors of their
daily work.
“Some nights I work until 1:30
(a.m.),” he said, chuckling. “It
brings me back to the desk.”
But he added that procrastina
tion can provide its practitioners
with an incredibly useful skill: the
ability to motivate and complete a
project in a scant amount of time.
“The ability to recover is the
trait,” he says. “Theoretically, one
can’t have that ability without pro
crastination.”
Maier agreed that procrastination
holds some benefits. It enables re
porters or students to distance
themselves from a project and see it
from a fresh perspective.
“Over time, where you go (with a
story) often becomes clearer, espe
cially if you’re thinking about oth
er things,” he said.
Maier said two factors steered
him toward a more diligent sched
ule and ultimately away from his
procrastination addiction: raising
two daughters arid growing wiser
with age.
“Children do not accept delayed
gratification,” he said. “Their needs
are immediate.”
Furthermore, his wife of eight
years, Judy Shaw, would be at “the
PHOTO GOES HERE
Russell Weller, Katie Mayer and Jessica Blanchard Emerald
We were going to take a photo for this space, but we got caught up in homework and enjoying the weekend — and we just sort of lost
track of time. Please accept our apologies for this misunderstanding, but we’re sure^you understand.
end of her rope” if he put something
off. And. he is a fan of avoiding the
noose — a feat he couldn’t accom
plish one election night at the Post
Intelligencer in the mid-1980s. He
missed deadline because results
came 10 minutes after it passed.
“My editor was unforgiving,” he
says. “And I decided I was never
going to repeat that again.”
But he said getting burned isn’t
the only caveat for avoiding pro
crastination’s bonfire. One grows
wise with time — and with less
energy.
“You realize it’s just not worth
it,” he says.
Beth Pfeiffer, internship coordi
nator for the journalism school, and
journalism academic counselor
Sally Garner agreed with Maier,
adding that opportunities for stu
dents dwindle as time expires. The
two are barraged with students
hoping to land internships or spots
in crowded classes at the last
minute. Garner said a long line of
ten forms outside her door at 111
Allen Hall the day before or the day
of freshman registration each term.
“Now, I can spend 25 minutes to
a half hour with (students),” said
the academic adviser of more than
a year. “But when there’s a line, I’ll
help them as much as I can, but at
“Procrastination is almost
institutionalized in
newspapers. When you
think about the concept of
adeadline, it’s easier to put
off starting something that’s
further in the future.
John Russia?
assistant journalism professor
the same time I know in the back of
my mind there are three other peo
ple out there.”
Pfeiffer, internship coordinator
since July 2001, said some students
get antsy in March because they
want to land a summer journalism
internship.
Many of the deadlines for news
papers have already passed at this
point — the bulk of them request
submissions from candidates in fall
and early winter.
But Garner and Pfeiffer say there
are many strategies for beating pro
crastination’s pitfalls. Both are great
fans of the “to-do” list and goal set
ting. They say a student’s list
should consist of manageable incre
ments, not monumental ones,
when chipping away at a large task.
They also believe students should
be careful to set realistic goals be
cause they will be more likely to
follow through.
“It’s so easy to get sidetracked,”
Pfeiffer says. “But being aware of
your responsibilities, even when
you are doing other things, keeps
you on track.”
However enticing veering off
track might seem.
E-mail reporter Eric Martin
at ericmartin@dailyemerald.com.
Web pom draws criticism, heavy use
■ It may a harmless pastime,
but experts say Internet porn
can turn into an obsession
By Brook Reinhard
Oregon Daily Emerald
Internet pornography is called an
obsession by some and an addic
tion by others, but many Universi
ty students simply say it’s some
thing they view occasionally
without guilt.
In a random telephone survey
the Emerald conducted, 40 percent
of respondents said they had
viewed Internet pornography. None
of the 20 students surveyed had a
problem with other people viewing
Internet pornography, but they
were careful to add that it should
n’t be viewed when minors are in
volved, or at a public institution
such as a library or computer lab.
“I use porn all the time,” said
one student, who preferred to re
main anonymous. “I just used it
yesterday.”
The student said surfing the In
ternet for pornography is just some
thing to do to pass the time, like'
watching TV.
But Substance Abuse Prevention
Program administrator Miki Mace
said Internet pornography can turn
into an obsession for some people.
Four years ago, a University stu
dent came to her office and said he
had a problem with pornography
that was destroying his life.
“He was logging in several hours
a day and not attending classes,”
Mace said.
Mace referred him to Wendy
Maltz, a nationally recognized coun
selor in Eugene with 25 years of ex
perience dealing with sexual issues.
Maltz, a certified sex therapist
and psychotherapist, said she’s
seen an “explosion” in the number
of patients who feel they are addict
ed to Internet pornography.
“Internet pornography has been
shown in studies to be highly ad
dictive. It’s anonymous, accessible
and affordable,” she said.
She added that the Internet is so
readily accessible that many stu
dents, especially males, are having
their first sexual experiences with
pornography instead of with anoth
er person.
While agreeing with Maltz that
pornography can be harmful, Mace
hesitated to label Internet pornogra
phy as an addictive substance.
“I don’t see that there’s a chemical
addiction, where there’s a hunger or
craving in the brain for it,” Mace
said. “If I were talking about opium
and Internet pornography, they’d be
in completely different categories.”
The University doesn’t have a
problem with students using
pornography, as long as they don’t
block bandwidth for other uses.
“We don’t look at the content of
what students do,” ResNet manager
Norm Myers said. “What they do in
their own room is their business.”
Of the 40 percent of survey re
spondents who said they had
viewed Internet pornography, half
of them had viewed it in the last
week. The overwhelming majority
of viewers were male; only one fe
male in the group said she viewed
pornography.
Maltz said the Internet makes
pornography easily accessible and
seemingly harmless.
“This generation has had great ex
posure to Internet pornography with
out any precautions,” she said, liken
ing the current permissive culture to
the early days of cigarettes, before
packs came with warning labels.
“People think it’s harmless, and
it’s not,” Maltz said. “Pornography
programs people to respond to pic
tures of strangers — how are these
same, people supposed to relate to
real men and women?”
But most of the students sur
veyed said they thought people
who aren’t in college would be
more likely to use Internet pornog
raphy than college students.
People not in college might view
pornography more “because of the
lack of social interactions,” a stu
dent said.
But Mace said anyone who uses
Internet pornography may endanger
his or her relationships with others.
“It breaks us down into body
parts,” Mace said. “It makes us into
non-humans.”
E-mail reporter Brook Reinhard
atbrookreinhard@dailyemerald.com.
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