By Ashleigh Chicko / Staff Writer

It’s official: whether at work, school or play, telephone calls are out and texting is in. This increasing interest in texting in class has not been pleasing professors on campus.

However, the debate goes both ways; there are students and professors who think it is unnecessary and rude, and there are those who say it isn’t a distraction.

Richard Blevins, associate professor of English, doesn’t find it to be much of an issue in his classrooms.

“Is it a respect issue? No. I don’t even get that,” Blevins said. “Using a cell phone in class is like an electronic form of absence. I try to make my topics and assignments interesting enough so that students want to listen to them, so it’s more a problem for the student than for me.”

Junior Lauren Filotei agrees.

“If we’re paying thousands of dollars for schooling, we should be able to decide what we do in class,” Filotei said. “The professors get paid whether we pay attention or text in class or not.”

Similarly, the student is not required to be in class; college is a choice they are making, therefore they feel that professors shouldn’t dictate what students do — or don’t do — in the classrooms.

Other students feel that some professors are just too intimidating to text in their classes.

Kinsey Removcik, senior, says it’s not a big deal.

“I’ve personally never gotten in trouble for texting, but I’ve definitely heard quite a few students get yelled at in class for it,” Removcik said. “Yes, it can be disrespectful but I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. Half the time kids are sleeping or skipping anyways and ultimately it’s our choice to be there.”

Judith Vollmer, professor of English, has strong feelings on the issue.

“It is a respect issue for me,” Vollmer said. “I strongly dislike and discourage cell-phone use in class. Not only is it distracting for me but also for the other students in the classroom. I always stress in the class’ syllabus that it disrupts our concentration and to refrain from using them.”

Regardless of who is paying for a student’s education, texting is, ultimately, a form of distraction from education.

“If they don’t want to pay attention in class, why bother coming at all?” Removcik said.