Constant war coverage has caused some Penn State students to flip the channel.

Some students have begun watching other stations due to local channels pre-empting nightly sitcoms or playing reruns.

"I've started watching MTV and TBS because most of the local stations have been focusing more on the war coverage. Part of the problem is the local stations are reporting the same information most of the time," Wakeelah Shabazz (senior-chemical engineering) said. "I just keep flipping back every few hours to see if there are more developments."

A self-described avid TV watcher, Rachel Woodall (sophomore-public relations), said constant coverage can make the war seem repetitious.

Other students, such as Matt Smith (freshman-psychology), believe the high amount of war coverage is a good idea.

"A lot of stuff is going on at different times. Some people might have classes during the day so they can't watch TV, so long as it's on, people can watch it at night and in the mornings when they wake up," Smith said. "I don't normally watch the news, but now it seems to be on every channel."

Besides the war in Iraq, Smith has also been following basketball.

"I am still watching March Madness and I agree it should still be on," Smith said. "I think in the rest of the world things are still going on and, after the war, life will still go on as normal."

New technology and imbedded media allow Americans to view the war 24 hours a day unlike wars in the past. Some say more coverage may mean less information.

"I think it's getting more coverage this time than Desert Storm, but as far as getting more information and what the strategy is, is still unclear," Shabazz said.

"I think, when the war started initially, people wanted to know what was happening and when we were bombing. It would be better to interrupt a regularly scheduled program than having it reported on over and over," Shabazz said.

Others find the frequent twists of information to be bothersome. "I never would watch CNN before [the war] started. I'll flip to it more to see what's going on but mostly I find just pointless stuff. It seems repetitious," Woodall said. "I'm the type of person that's initially shocked and the next day I don't care. I watch so much television and I love reality TV shows, people crack me up because it's so stupid."

Woodall said she prefers watching a comedy show to the news.

"I like to laugh," she said.