Should Students be Allowed to Use Cell Phones in the Library?

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Racquel Fagon, Variety Editor

Issue date: 9/2/08 Section: Opinions

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FACE OFF

Owning a cell phone is similar to having a Swiss-army pocket knife, they do everything. Therefore, a cell phone, as device that simply sends and receives calls, is a Stone Age definition. Being a student of logic and progress, I am fervently aware of the necessity of always having a cell phone at hand, even in the library. The library is a communal ground for studying, researching and reflecting. All tasks that individuals prefer to do in quietude, because they all require a suitable degree of concentration. Naturally, a cell phone blaring Lil' Wayne's 'Lollipop' ring tone will, if nothing else, melodiously disturbs the peace.

But what if the cell phone vibrates instead? Is that disrupting the concentration of the studious ones? Or is just seeing the cell phone predisposing them to instead concentrate on the cell phone, willing it to ring, and then be perfectly disturbed when it does? I guess the fear sewn in by terrorism and "YouTube" has now stitched a hem of paranoia into the fabric society, making everyone cry wolf, or in this case cry to the librarian.

Some people use their cell phones to help them concentrate with the many other distractions that are in the library: someone coughing, snickering, or talking to oneself.

People use their cell phones to listen to music, something that soothes their mind, enabling them to block out the distractions and concentrate on what they need to do.

Cell phones also aid to relieve temporarily fried brains, by playing a game of "Cannonball" on their cell phones. The major problem almost everyone has with cell phones being used in the library is people talking loudly on them with blatant disregard for the sovereignty of the library. This is quite understandable.
However, that is the reason cell phones have more than just incoming and outgoing calls features. There are also text messaging, internet messaging, Wi-Fi technology, so you can send and receive e-mails. These are all ways of communicating on a cell phone without having to talk..

Even NSU has made use of these other features with their alert system. In case of an emergency, a text message is sent to all students' cell phones alerting them to the situation.

However if cell phones must be off at the library or students are not allowed to bring cell phones into the library, they will never be able to receive the alert. People need their cell phones at the library, as much as other places, because they are personal life-lines. Being without a cell phone is like being on I-95 naked, deaf, and blind.

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