Excessive cellular irritation
By Michael Pellicio
During the first week of school, seven cell phones went off in my classes. That's a lot. It's even more astonishing when you take into account that I'm only taking three classes, and one of which is a raucous art class. That makes seven rings in two classes in one week, or seven rings in less than seven hours.
During the third week, I again counted the number of cell phones whose owners weren't competent enough to operate them properly. Ten rings in roughly seven hours of class.
Feeling fairly confident in my ability to conduct a scientific study (being a political science major), I made some graphs and did some extrapolation. At the current rate, 22 cell phones will go off during finals this quarter. That number pales in comparison to the 55 times they will go off during spring finals. Hey, according to the university, I am a student of the sciences, not of the arts, so my study is scientifically significant.
Though I may be guilty of a little exaggeration, it doesn't change much. Phones ringing in class is simply unacceptable.
My cell phone, as almost all do these days, has the "vibrate/ring" function. I'll describe it. When someone calls, the phone vibrates for the first two rings and then produces an audible noise only after the vibrating warning. This alerts you that your phone is ringing without notifying everyone else. Furthermore, I use the "silent" function when I am in class or church (where one cell phone went off last week). I'll refrain from describing the "silent" function; the 7-10 scoundrels in each class can ask around.
There are only two reasons that I can think of for why students opt to use the "ring" function over the "vibe/ring." Their phones don't have the "vibe/ring" option. Or they like the attention. Do they embrace that attention from their professors in class, too?
Bottom line, I am sick of these stupid cell phones sounding off in class. Guess how many times my cell phone has gone off in class. Zero. It never has. I'm a professor's dream. Who cares if I do the reading? I don't disrupt class.
I am a firm advocate of stricter cell phone laws on campus: ring tone regulation, confiscation during class time and destruction during test time. Doesn't the Patriot Act limit our cell phone civil rights somehow?
Let this article serve as a warning to those in my classes: I'm watching, rather hearing, you. I can hear ridiculous ring tones (literally) a mile away. Your faces are seared in my memory. If one of your phones rings in my class, you're going on my McCarthy-esque blacklist.
* Ã Ã Michael Pellicio's column appears once a month. He can be reached at mpellicio@scu.edu.