Ruined grades left and right, poor sleeping habits and subpar social skills - maybe Internet addiction still is a devastatingly widespread problem and not quite an absolute evil. MSU students, though, do need to be careful, especially during their first few years.

There is no mother figure in college screaming at you to get off the computer and do your homework. No professor is going to call your parents and complain about your poor study habits. Neither of those should happen. College is a time to learn as much as it is a time to teach yourself. If you can't learn how to manage your time wisely, you have no one to blame but yourself.

Institutionally, we find a computerized reality to be no substitute for the real thing. Go outside, read a book, walk across the dorm hallway and talk to your neighbors. Sure, maybe you can't close an instant- message box when your neighbors get annoying, but at least you tried. What you'll find out there in the real world will be more sublime, profound and rewarding than any photon your computer screen could blast into your retinas.

It's easy today to be tempted to run your whole life from in front of a screen. You can talk to your friends, go shopping, use the bank and place orders for food. But when that extra few hours of sleep could bump that 3.0 to a 4.0 grade-point average- it's more than definitely worth it.

Take a second, print out any online conversation you've had within the last week and go through, systematically highlighting any line of true importance. You might find one line every two months - and even those are of dubious intelligence.

It has gotten to the point where some of the people we know can only be contacted via the Internet. We really shouldn't have to deal with not seeing people in person.

Online games and chat rooms, to be sure, do have their own unique siren song. But it can be ignored. You can get more sleep and maybe better grades if you just turn off the machine and get back to life.