As many people know, judging from the number of people who attended and hopefully those who read Paydirt, Jorge Cham, the author of the PhD Piled Higher and Deeper comics featured in each edition of Paydirt, included Tech in his tour entitled “The Power of Procrastination.”  Dr. Cham, a doctor of philosophy in mechanical engineering, has been writing this strip since his days at Stanford.  Many of the characters’ quirky comments are based on Dr. Cham’s experience in grad school.  What began as a newspaper entry soon became a hit on the Internet among universities around the world.  
  The presentation, held November 14, 2008 in Macy Center, was a blast.  Dr. Cham is as funny in person as he is on paper.  His presentation centered around the lovely word, which is usually considered a horrible grievance to all educators, “procrastination.”  Although usually confused with the word lazy, Dr. Cham distinguished between the two.  Personally I’m inclined to agree with Dr. Cham’s definition of procrastination, which varies greatly from the definition of lazy.  Laziness just means you don’t want to do anything.  Procrastination, on the other hand, just means you don’t want to do it right now.  He spoke of the various troubles of grad students, everything from the fears to the jubilation at the end.  He kept the room laughing almost from the second he took the stage.  

  Dr. Cham has an actual title for his theory: the Unified Theory Of Procrastination In Academia, or U.T.O.P.I.A. (there’s much to be said for a good acronym).  His lecture comprised everything from the stress of deadlines, dealing with undergrads, and the worst fear of each grad: graduation.  I mean actual graduation, when they finish their thesis and become doctors of philosophy in their various fields.  Although most grad students don’t believe it when they’re doing research, the approval after a thesis defense does come eventually.  
  Dr. Cham also discussed the hazards of stress.  When a person is most stressed, they are at their least creative and productive.  Procrastination is required for a healthy, balanced education.   That doesn’t mean sitting around all day, as discussed above, that is laziness.  Procrastination simply means doing everything else on your chore list before doing that last thing you really want to avoid.  So, for anyone who has ever avoided an unpleasant task, it’s okay.  Really.  Sometimes a person, no matter how smart or dedicated, needs a break from the everyday hassles.  
  Dr. Cham did address the main part of the procrastination issue:  the guilt that ensues once you have completed everything except what you actually needed to get done.  The guilt is needless, considering the fact that something got done.  Fortunately, this theory also applies to all people, not only students.      
  As many people know, there was a contest for grad students that accepted original comics and haikus in the weeks before Dr. Cham’s visit.  Although only a handful of people won the full prizes, all entrants were awarded a signed copy of Dr. Cham’s latest book.  After watching his presentation, I can admit that I didn’t know that grad students went through quite so much.  I’d advise all to be just a little nicer or at least a little softer on their grumblings about TA’s and other grad students.