Although channel surfing is one of America's most beloved pastimes, most Duke students put TV watching near the bottom of their to-do lists. Ask students what kind of television they watch and the indignant response comes back: "I don't have time for TV." Changing schedules and high workloads often make it hard for undergraduates to watch a specific show on a daily or even weekly basis.
But the boob tube still figures prominently in campus life, not necessarily in individuals' schedules but as a group social activity. The bustling environments of dorm rooms and commons areas create a viewing experience that differs sharply from the private family living room. Friends, acquaintances and even total strangers meet in front of the television to share their time as basketball, Dawson's Creek and Jeopardy! flash by.
"I don't have a TV in my room, [so] I find myself walking down the hall to watch things," said Pratt freshman Kiran George. In fact, many students consider television in their own rooms to be an unwanted distraction, choosing instead to watch in a less private place.
On a recent Monday night, Trinity freshmen Tracey Chenoweth, Morgan Wurzburger and Ernie Petrey tuned into WCW Monday Nitro in the Wilson Dormitory commons room. They agreed that the television is a central feature of a dorm's commons room. "TV draws people into the room," Chenoweth said. "People will sit down and start talking if something is on."
Added Wurzburger, "I haven't watched a sitcom all year, but I'd rather come down and watch wrestling if a group is in here."
Often, group viewing can assume a regular organization. "Some of my female friends will make shows like Ally McBeal into a weekly social event to meet and hang out," explains Pratt sophomore Michael Holub. "I wouldn't necessarily go for the purpose of watching the shows, but instead to socialize."
Petrey explained that the TV is also an important part of dorm facilities when it comes to sports-basketball in particular. He estimated that 20 to 30 people crowd into the commons room for the men's away games. Televised sports are a mainstay especially among men, many of whom said they tune in to ESPN multiple times in a day. The sets in the Bryan Center TV rooms are more often than not turned to a game or SportsCenter.
George said he tries to drop in during lunchtime for the day's sports highlights, and notes that "usually you can't find a chair in one of these rooms." Indeed, this month's basketball bonanza shifts many students' priorities toward heavy-duty couch time.
Of course, a quick look into one of these viewing rooms reveals much about the demographic differences in the television-viewing population. Typically, more women than men will turn on youth soap operas like Dawson's Creek and Felicity week after week, whereas multiple viewings of sports highlights in a single day is more often than not a male habit.
Laura Roady, a Trinity freshman and long-time Dawson's Creek, Felicity and Ally McBeal fan, thinks one reason that men typically watch these shows less than women is that they "aren't willing to make the long-term commitment that these shows ask. They want instant gratification from shows like wrestling and SportsCenter."
Roady said that although she considers herself a big sports fan, she is more likely to watch a whole game than just highlights. This difference in viewing habits can be seen in groups' reactions to the programs. Plotlines from Dawson's Creek will be discussed before and afterwards by the fans, and during the program, developments will elicit gasps, sighs, "ooh"s, and "aww"s.
The Wilson Dormitory commons room group pondered the question of why wrestling-which Wurzburger labeled a soap opera for men-appears to be a generally male-oriented phenomenon. Just as the discussion starts, the screen cuts from a buff male wrestler in leather and chains to a shot of a female wrestler's considerable cleavage. The guys in the room hoot and laugh. Chenoweth, the lone woman in the group, sighs and rolls her eyes.
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