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| SCOTT GULLEDGE / Scroll |
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Do you have a cell phone?” comes the inevitable question from an employee as you enter the Testing Center. “Is it turned all the way off?”
An epidemic is sweeping across campus; it’s called technology. And cell phone use is at the peak.
The Testing Center instituted a “zero tolerance” policy for cell phones. Whitney Doughtery, a Testing Center employee, and a sophomore from Gainesville, Miss., said the policy is for cell phones to be turned completely off.
“There are so many ways messaging can be received through cell phones,” Doughtery said. “It makes it too easy to cheat and that has to be avoided.”
Doughtery said students often complain about the policy.
“There are signs posted everywhere,” Doughtery said. “Besides, is it worth your grade to have your cell phone on?”
If a cell phone goes off in the Testing Center, the test will be taken and graded without giving the student the opportunity to complete it.
The recent increase in cell phone awareness does not exist only in the Testing Center.
Many students feel it is necessary to have cell phones wherever they go. Nyssa Mead, a sophomore from Portland, Ore., carries her cell phone with her because it is the only way she can get a hold of her family.
“I can call my mom any time and it doesn’t cost me,” Mead said. “I call her a lot.”
Mead also thinks it is nice to be able to call her apartment between classes to check if she has any messages. She said having her cell phone makes everyday life easy and manageable.
“I lost my cell phone once,” Mead said. “That was the week I needed to call my mom the most, and it was really hard.”
Not everybody likes the idea of cell phones. Alesha Norman, a sophomore from Idaho Falls, thinks they are overused.
“They are fine for emergency situations and if people need to get a hold of you,” Norman said. “I like the fact that I can escape without contact.”
Norman thinks there are a lot of things about cell phones that are pointless.
“Text messaging is silly,” Norman said. “If you can’t verbalize the conversation in front of people, just go somewhere else, or you don’t need to be saying it.”
Doughtery said one reason for the Testing Center’s new policy is the availability for messaging. Text messaging is just one way of communicating without actually calling somebody.
Situations vary, but Mead also feels talking is more personal than text messaging.
“When you can hear their voice you can gauge their reactions,” Mead said. “And [hear] their emotions.”
Heather Wood, a junior from Poulsbo, Wash., enjoys text messaging, because calling people makes her nervous.
“I like being able to send a message,” Wood said. “And if the message is quick, it’s much more convenient to text than to call.”
Students use cell phones to call between classes and to text during class.
“As long as you remember to turn them off at the Testing Center,” Doughtery said, it’s ok.
