Students and faculty say it’s hard to escape the ringing and gabbing that comes with cell phones on campus, and some professors are trying to quiet the noise in their classes.
UNM student Daniel DePaula sat outside of Mitchell Hall yesterday pressing buttons on his cell phone. He said he doesn’t really need the phone, but it helps him to get in touch with people and “find the skinny” on parties.
“It guess it’s more of a luxury than a necessity,” he said.
DePaula said he turns his cell phone ringer off before his classes because it can be disruptive. He said students who don’t turn their phones off before class just want attention.
Dean of Students Randy Boeglin said he hasn’t had any professors or students come to him with cell phone complaints, though other’s calls can be distracting in class.
“I’m sure they walk out and say ‘Hecky darn, I wish that student wouldn’t have been yakking on his cell phone,’” he said.
Boeglin said he comes from a generation that didn’t have cell phones and he sometimes finds them intrusive.
“I frequently feel like my sense of privacy is invaded when I have to listen to someone’s conversation on a topic I could care less about,” he said.
Many students feel that they need cell phones to stay connected, he said, but he thinks they are best for emergencies.
“I don’t want to sound anti-cell phone or anything,” Boeglin said. “I do think they have their place.”
Boeglin said he would be curious to see how many professors have written a no-cell phone rule in their syllabi.
Ann Skinner-Jones, who teaches Communication and Journalism and Women Studies classes at UNM, said she requests in her syllabi that students keep their cell phone ringers off during class.
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“It’s incredibly disruptive,” she said.
She said she doesn’t mind the ringing if students tell her in advance that they are expecting emergency calls. Those who forget to turn off their ringers usually apologize for the disruptions, she said.
Skinner-Jones said she was embarrassed when her own cell phone accidentally went off in class one day, though she usually follows her own rule of turning it off.
Mary Power, professor of English, said she is thinking of putting a no-ringer rule in her syllabi next year. She said she hasn’t had much of a problem, and usually doesn’t have to say anything when she hears a student’s phone ring in class.
“I think they’re all aware of how embarrassing it is, and that may be enough,” she said.
Kaye Martin, an electrical engineering major, said she does not have a cell phone and doesn’t really need one.
“It’s a new generation thing,” she said. “If I was 19, I’d probably have to have one.”
She said she does not have a problem with people who talk quietly on their cell phones, but doesn’t like to hear other’s conversations.
“I’m just trying to read, and she’s getting loud,” Martin said, pointing to a lady across the Duck Pond who was talking on her cell phone. “She probably doesn’t even realize it.”
UNM student Alberta Watchman said she usually keeps her cell phone calls short and quiet and wishes others would do the same.
“When people talk on their phones, they seem to tell their life stories,” she said.
Watchman works as technical service representative for UNM Telecommunications, which oversees campus pay phones. She said pay phones do not make profits on campus these days because everyone has a cell phone.
Debbie Neal has been a sales representative from G-Tel Enterprises Inc. in Houston, Texas, for about five years and said her company sells pay phones nationally and internationally. She said her company has not had any drops in sales due to cell phones, though the Southwestern Bell has been taking out pay phones because they are not making revenue.
Neal said a Southwestern Bell-style pay phone costs about $899.
Watchman said she has a cell phone because she lives 40 miles west of the University and it helps her to get in contact with her daughter without having to find a pay phone.
“I can call anywhere just about anytime,” she said.
