On Nov. 7, I had the wonderful opportunity to listen to Walter Cronkite speak on campus. He's earned his titles of "the most trusted man in America" and "Uncle Walter" because he has lived through and covered many historic events, including the invasion of Normandy during World War II, and shared many of them with Americans through broadcasting. Hands down, Cronkite deserves the respect of those who are lucky enough to be in his presence.
I listened intently to the words of wisdom he had to share with us. His advice to recent grads? "Get a job." Everyone laughed.
Unfortunately, I couldn't hear what he said next because the person who was sitting a few seats away from me had his cell phone on.
Not only did this poor person not know how to turn off his cell phone, but he also accidentally turned it up! Cronkite kept speaking, but I could not believe the rudeness and utter lack of manners this student displayed to someone as esteemed as Cronkite.
Why should something as small as a cell phone be such a big pain in our rear? Does ASU have such a large population of super-secret intelligence spies that it is absolutely necessary for us to be on standby if someone dials our number?
Michael Shellans, a professor of popular music classes at ASU, said he has a clause in his syllabus that if a students' cell phones go on in class, they will be asked to leave or dropped from the class.
"Still, every other class or so, one goes off," Shellans said.
History professor Susan Gray sees the cell phone epidemic as a sign of a deeper problem.
"It's very selfish behavior because what it's saying is, 'I don't care what anybody else is trying to do; I'm going to sit here and eat' or 'I'm going sit here and read the newspaper ... the [classroom] doesn't matter," Gray said.
"This place is so big and so crowded and so impersonal that I think it's especially incumbent upon us to take care of each other a little bit, to be good citizens," Gray said. She went on to say that because the campus is so large and impersonal, people think their behavior doesn't affect others.
"It's just the reverse," she said.
Gray and Shellans are right. We should all take a moment before entering a lecture hall or classroom to set our gadgets and gizmos off or in silent mode. Heck, it takes longer to recite "The Pledge of Allegiance" than it does to press a few buttons on your phone.
You may look cool when you're in a crowd and your phone lights up like it's going to blow up while playing "Play That Funky Music White Boy."
But how about turning off that funky music that's so irritating when you're in the classroom and save yourself the embarrassment?
Evonne S. Avalos owns a cell phone that plays "A Hard Day's Night" when you call her. But don't. Just reach her at evonne.avalos@asu.edu.
