Cell phones on campus serve no purpose

I was at the mall shopping with my roommate last week, and as we browsed through this monument of consumerism we passed one of those booths - you know the randomly placed showcases that resemble nothing of a real store, yet still sell merchandise. This particular island of a shop dealt specifically with cellular phones. After conversing with the sales person for a few minutes and going over several options, I started to think about how the cellular phone industry has grown since their introduction years ago.

At the beginning of the cell phone phenomena, only people of substantial wealth like corporate execs and doctors could be privileged enough to carry a then shoe box-sized wireless phone. These phones carried with them a social shadow that could distinguish the upper echelon from the rest of the peasants.

Over the years cellular phones have decreased in both size and expense allowing basically anyone who has a job to afford some kind of cellular service, and although the phones are cheaper, the image of a cell phone owner has yet to die. People are still under the delusion that carrying a cellular phone holds the social significance that it did 10 years ago. People flaunt cell phones trying to draw attention to themselves and to the fact that they have attained some kind of high social polish.

There is evidence of this here at Purdue.

Every fall since I started coming to Purdue, I have noticed the number of people carrying cell phones on campus has increased from the previous year. You may be asking how this proves my point in the above paragraph. It's quite simple. Carrying a cellular phone while on campus serves no practical purpose. Quite frankly, it's gratuitous.

The reason people are on campus is because of classes, and in no way shape or form should a cell phone be turned on in class. A ring from an incoming call in the middle of a lecture is disruptive and disrespectful to other students as well as the instructor. Presently, with all the alternative rings that are programmed into cell phones, it's more annoying than ever (if I hear the Austin Powers sound one more time, I'm just going to lose it.)

It is just as ridiculous to carry a cell phone when you are not in class. With only 10 minutes between classes, there is hardly time to get anything accomplished over the phone, and anything that can be done in that limited amount of time, can wait until you get home. If there happens to be an emergency and you absolutely have to use a phone, I'm sure that one of the campus phones that exist in most of our buildings would be more than sufficient.

There is also a level of rudeness that goes along with using a phone in public. Ever been in a conversation with someone and it ends because your partner says, "Excuse me, I have to take this." Naturally, you lose out because someone else had the courtesy of lazily calling your friend while hiding behind a phone, and you had the audacity to talk to them in person. In this situation, you have to wait out the conversation, as not to be rude to the person that just put you on hold. And there is nothing worse than having to listen to one side of a phone conversation.

My bad, the one thing that is worse, is having to listen to a complete stranger's phone conversation. I was walking to class last Thursday and by no choice of my own I overheard several phone conversations. People are having private conversations in public. Like I give a damn about Jane's fight with her boyfriend or how drunk and stupid John got last night.

Another argument I've heard is that people are carrying cell phones for their own protection. Initially, I understood this concept. A cell phone can give a sense of safety. For instance one can be pulled from a woman's purse much like a can of mace. A phone rides on one's hip in a holster just like a gun, or they dangle at someone's side like a light saber, ready to be used at any sign of the Dark Side. This argument holds no weight with me because carrying something of value like a cell phone would only make you more of a target to be robbed. So really, it defeats its own purpose.

To protect others, there have been laws passed in cities like New York that ban the use of cell phones while driving. To me, driving while operating a cell phone is the worst product of this entire cellular revolution. I once witnessed a woman steering her Sports Utility Vehicle with her elbows while looking up a number in her palm pilot with her left hand and dialing the number into her cell phone using her right hand. It's only a matter of time before someone like this woman causes a serious accident here at Purdue.

So with all this in mind, I say students quit wasting your money trying to live out a legacy that has long passed. And if you still claim that you need a cell phone, then please, for the sake of we who are not on your social plateau, leave it at home while you are at class.

Oh wait, there is one more thing I want to say. The thing that upsets me the most is…Oh can you excuse me? I have to take this call.

Shawn McGann is a senior in the School of Computer Technology. When he's not writing columns he can be found chatting on his Nokia in his red Saturn. He can be reached at opinions@purdueexponent.org.

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