Allen Zaps Games From Computers; Ban Prompted by Complaints Of Va. Workers Playing on Job
For Kim Emerson, it was a game of solitaire before work started. Ed Holt loved hearts at lunchtime. And Kevin Chisnell was wild about Minesweeper competitions with his co-workers.</br></br>Concerned that some state workers were playing when they should be working, Gov. George Allen (R) has ordered that games be deleted from every state-owned computer. An administration memo called computer game-playing "nonproductive and nonefficient" and stated that "time spent by employees playing such games should be considered an improper use of taxpayer funds."</br></br>The memo was passed out to agency heads in mid-December but, because of the holidays, began making its way to workers only last week, raising the eyebrows of everyone from secretaries to university professors.</br></br>"It's getting to a level of micromanagement beyond the usual," said Robert L. Ake, a chemistry professor and chairman of the faculty senate at Old Dominion University in Norfolk. "What's next? Will we be asked to submit a requisition when we walk away from our desk or be asked to keep a tally of every second of our day?"</br></br>As computers with high-resolution color screens and sound cards become ubiquitous in the U.S. workplace, managers increasingly are having to deal with issues of game-playing at work, industry specialists say.