Sudokus students’ favorite pastime

‘ ‘ ‘ There is a time and a place for Sudoku ‘mdash; specifically, afternoon lecture classes in… ‘ ‘ ‘ There is a time and a place for Sudoku ‘mdash; specifically, afternoon lecture classes in room 121 of David Lawrence. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ It seems in the world of ideal scenarios, taking into consideration variables such as the likelihood of a pop quiz, the odds of getting caught in the act based on the number of chairs ‘mdash; and people ‘mdash; present and the presence or absence of diverting and/or necessary material to pay attention to, room 121 is made for Sudoku. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ To start, because it’s an auditorium able to seat 500, there’s a level of anonymity literally built into the room. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Add to that the fact that popular general education courses Russian fairy tales and history of jazz are scheduled there, both of which favor PowerPoint presentations for lectures, and essentially you’ve got a giant room with low lighting and even lower accountability. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Patrick McCanty walked into the room Wednesday afternoon fully prepared for such fortuitous conditions. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ His usual professor was absent, meaning there wouldn’t be any pesky pop quizzes to get in his way. He arrived five minutes early and claimed prime Sudoku real estate in the form of a seat five rows from the back, and he’d already origami-ed his paper into a perfect 3-by-3-inch frame around the day’s puzzle. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘I do the Sudoku ‘mdash; and the crossword, too ‘mdash; pretty much every class,’ McCanty said. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Because he’s a chemistry major, Russian fairy tales is far removed from McCanty’s interests. He’s taking the class to fulfill a general education requirement so that he can graduate in April. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘[The professor] doesn’t take attendance, but I show up because there are quizzes that you have to be here for that aren’t listed on the syllabus,’ McCanty said. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘In some of my smaller major classes, I wouldn’t do Sudoku,’ said McCanty. ‘Well, actually I probably would.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ He is far from alone. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ From my seat behind McCanty, I counted 10 people out of the roughly 70 in attendance Wednesday working on The Pitt News” Sudoku instead of Russian fairy tales, and that doesn’t include the students who played on their computers or cell phones in class. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Karissa Coneys doesn’t go for the high-tech route. She’s a little less subtle. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ A freshman majoring in education, Coneys has her own decently thick book of Sudoku puzzles she brings to class. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Psych is a very boring class,’ she said. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Despite the lengths students go to keep a low profile, professors notice when the game is getting all the attention. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Leon Dorsey, professor of history of jazz, said while he can’t always see exactly what each student’s attention is on, he knows it isn’t always the material at hand. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘There’s a variety of laptops, Blackberrys, cell phones ‘mdash; all kinds of things out during classes,’ said Dorsey. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ He attributes some of the tech tools to students following along or taking notes on CourseWeb, which he appreciates. Still, he recognizes that’s not always the case. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘If students are interested in their grade, they’re paying attention, and my students generally seem pretty attentive,’ said Dorsey.