(http://www.pcworld.com/article/173033/evolution_of_the_cell_phone.html
First I must confess I did have to look up if the plural of syllabus was syllabi – and certainly it is. I wonder where I came about that certain bit of information in my head – I’m certainly not sure – but slightly pleased to know that was right. LOL.
Since 1999 I have had a cell phone – a bit late on that front, but there it is. At first I shared with my mom a cell phone plan where I had a phone similar to the one in the photo. A little bigger perhaps, it was still an amazing thing to us! We progressed to having our own plan by 2004, where at first Roger had Alltel and I had T-Mobile – our workplaces and the connectivity thereto was of upmost importance, and Roger even had to have something of a direct connect right after with Nextel. I also toyed with Sprint before we both ended up getting Verizon in approximately 2006, and even with a brief period with AT&T we are now back with Verizon, as for us now they have the best connectivity of the bunch.
As everyone knows, cell phones are everywhere, and everyone seems addicted to them. They are precious possessions, connections with the world, comfort for parents that children can instantly check in, and entertainment for some, and internet connectivity for the lucky! Yet they are accident causers, confusion creating (remember the first time you saw someone talking on a Bluetooth?) and sometimes patience prodding (person in line online not paying attention – with embarrassment I admit I was that person in line the day after Christmas, talking with my daughter about some urgent question she had about a ride to an activity, where I didn’t hear the clerk say, “Please move your cart, ma’am, the stockboy needs to get through!”
After being in college now for a year, I am now in my first semester of taking three classes on college grounds. I have taken two other college classes on campus, one my first session (Spring 2010) and one in the Fall of 2010. The other 3 classes were online. I don’t recall what those syllabi said about cell phone use. What struck me this semester, is all three of the documents pretty much forbid even looking at the cell phone. I liked the humor in one of the paragraphs:
“Turn off and put away all electronic devices. This includes cell phones, pagers, Palm Pilots,
Blackberries, MP3 players, tape recorders, cameras, laptops, electronic notebooks, and all other
devices already in circulation or yet to be invented. For those who must be reachable, leave the
telephone number of Campus Police (440-525-7241) and your class schedule. Campus police
will be happy to dispatch an officer to your classroom. The person who needs to reach you will
be able to call Campus Police even if they lose the phone number. Lakeland is listed in the
phone book, and our police have access to your schedule.”
She does have a point. I actually am going to follow her directions and if anyone has an emergency they can call the campus police. Hopefully that policy won’t have be used, but it’s comforting to know it’s there!