All about KSU cell phone etiquette

Charlotte Muller

Whether you socially flourish, you still hide under mother’s wing or you’re a computer nerd, a cell phone may make your life at school much easier.

In 2000, more than 33 percent of U.S. college students had cell phones on campus, according to a national survey by the Student Monitor. In the fall of 2004, nearly 90 percent did.

It seems like nobody can live without a cell phone anymore — literally.

At Kent State, whatever direction you look, students are talking on their mobile phones.

A lot of people are discreet in their use, but many people have bad manners when it comes down to using their phones in public.

he said.

Gray said by putting up signs in the quiet areas that say “no cell phones” he wants to really enforce the idea behind quiet areas.

“The first floor will get signs on pillars to remind students not to use cell phones,” he said. “Already, the fifth floor has a sign up on the door in the stairwell and a standing post inside to notify students about the rules.”

Inside the classroom is a different story.

Some professors have had plenty of trouble with students interrupting the class with ringing phones. These professors have noted their own policies on their syllabi, warning students on their first day of class that phone disruptions will not be tolerated.

Psychopathology professor Marty Jencius is pretty lenient toward cell phone use during his class.

Phones have to be shut off; however, he is aware that some students may have a job where they have to be on call. His preference would be to use break times to respond to calls, but if a student has to take the call immediately they’re asked to leave the room quietly.

Graduate student Jessica Paull, who teaches in the department of sociology, puts a unique twist on her classroom cell phone regulation — students whose cell phones go off during class are required to bring in candy the next time the class meets.

Paull said she got the idea from a graduate class that she took at the University of Akron.

“I never had a way other than dirty looks to prevent people from using them,” Paull said.

Paull’s primary reason for her adamant anti-cell phone policy is to make sure students are getting the education they paid for.

“It’s disrespectful to other students who paid money to take these classes,” Paull said.

Contact general assignment reporter Charlotte Muller at [email protected].