On the Phone Again
(U-WIRE) AMHERST, MASS. - People can shove statistics in front of my face about accident rates, mental distraction and whatever else they care to study. I don't care! I am not giving up my cell phone. It is my personal phone that I use almost whenever I want.
When first prompted to write this piece, I had a hard time coming up with ways to describe how different college is with cell phones in everyones' pockets. The reason is that they've become such a staple, such an integral part of the life of college students that the differences are easily overlooked.
A College Student Without a Cell Phone? Not Likely!
Cell phones have been around for years, but the mass invasion on college campuses only began about three years ago. I remember when I first got my phone in the fall of 1999 and my friends were still in the dark. Now, the unusual college student is one who doesn't have their own mobile phone. And trust me, those who don't have one have no problem using their friend's phone whenever they want.
It's become taboo to praise cell phones lately. The service is at times indescribably awful, a quality people would never put up with on their regular phone line. Hell, there're still areas where we can't send or receive calls. Rate plans are marketed as a simple numbers game, when in actuality even an accountant from the Wharton School of Business would probably have trouble understanding the plans.
Cell Phones Raise New Issues for College Students
With all these new phones though, come some new issues that a college student never encountered before. Things like: What happens if a person's phone should happen to go off in class? Most professors I know would not care to see that happen. Technology has helped the battle though, as most phones now can be set to vibrate rather than ring.
Still, do you answer the call or not? My general philosophy is to see who's calling and judge how important they are. Or, if your voice mail has already kicked in, you can call them right back. It's a simple method of still being able to be reached anyplace anytime without interrupting your exciting lecture on why some guy, who ruled a European country that doesn't exist anymore, thought that rice was cool.
Being available 24-7 has its drawbacks though. If you're having a nice date with your girlfriend, or having some fun later, do you really want your buddy calling you to see if you're still up for getting trashed tomorrow night uptown.
Simple answer: Off Switch! Turn the damn phone off. You have voice mail for a reason. And trust me, Matt will understand when you tell him later why you weren't able to get to the phone.
Cell Phone Users Getting Younger
The age one gets their first cell phone has gotten younger too. Whereas two years ago college was the appropriate time for a person to have a phone of their own, now there are freshman in high school who are getting their own personal mobile phone number. Years from now, Mary is going to be calling her mother to say that she arrived at school safely from her walk, just in time to start the first day of third grade.
The future holds the death of home phone lines. As wireless rate plans decrease in price and the quality of a cell signal increases, what's the point of having a phone that has limits on location?
Sure, phone numbers will probably start to be thirteen or fourteen digits rather than the ten they are now, but what's the big deal? The fact that you can be on a beach in Maui and call back to your friend, who decided to vacation in Alaska, and brag about the mai tai your waiter just brought you, will most surely be worth it.
Sorry, but I have to go. The 1812 Overture just started playing. My phone's ringing.
Regan McKendry is a columnist for the Massachusetts Daily Collegian, and a student at U MASS Amherst, majoring in Civil Engineering. He also serves as Sports Operations Director for WMUA, the U MASS radio station.
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