It’s 6:30 the change of classes, and no matter which hallway you take they are filled with students making their way to their next destination. For some it’s the last class of the evening and they’re rushing off to meet friends or families. The students that are left behind are going to their next class, going to their first class of the evening or have school business at one of the student services office.
The hallway past the receptionist desk leads to the admissions office where you might see new students enrolling, or students at the financial aid office waiting to discuss their financial aid with one of the interviewers. Next door to the financial aid office is the student development office where the students there are selecting, dropping and/or adding classes. Across the hall is the business office and the students there are finalizing classes for the coming semester.
As you make your way through this crowded corridor you can’t help but notice the many conversations that are taking place at one time. There may be conversations between 2 persons or conversations between a group of people but the conversations I notice most in these congested hallways are the conversations of students on their cell phones.
As I desperately make my way down the crowded halls of Davenport University trying not to be late for class, I can’t help but wonder as I pass these students so deeply engaged in their phone conversations, how did society survive before the invention of the cellular phone.
Cell phones or wireless communication is not an invention that was discovered within the last few years, in fact, wireless communication or mobile phones have been around since the 1800s with the invention of the telephone (The Cell Approach 1). Before cell phones, people who needed mobile communications installed telephones in their cars, but needed a powerful transmitter to send and receive transmissions because there was only one central antenna tower per city with about 25 channels per tower (The Cell Approach 1). That meant only a limited number of calls could be placed at one time.
Before the affordability of cellular phones you had to stop at a public phone booth and deposit $.20 to make a call, or wait until you were at a convenient location with a phone only to discover you had to go out again to picking up a loaf of bread, a gallon of milk or some other important errand but with wireless technology phone service is more readily available.
While wireless technology has improved and communication systems have grown (Wireless Communication 3), cellular communication is no longer confined just to your car. With the development of Personal Communications Service (PCS), this technology has given wireless communication more flexibility by extending personal mobility while communicating by eliminating the need to remain at a fixed location such as a home or office (Cellular vs. PCS 1; Wireless Communication 1).
Many cellular phone models offer wireless communication with options like text messaging, paging, or Internet capability and allow people to communicate while in a car, airplane, or other moving vehicles (Wireless Communication 1). You can follow the stock market, check weather and traffic conditions or make airline reservations. Wireless communication is very popular among businesspeople because it allows them to staying in contact with colleagues and clients while traveling (Wireless Communication 1).
Although, wireless communication has improved the way people on the go communicate with each other there are some drawbacks to this popularly widespread and convenient technology. According to a study from Rochester, N.Y. in 1996, people with cellular phones in their cars run a 34 percent higher risk of having an accident due to distraction and angered accident victims are calling for Legislations to pass laws against the usage of cell phones while driving (Legislative Solutions1).
Despite the efforts of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to encourage every state to put in place and enforce regulations that apply to cellular phone usage (Legislative Solutions 1), there are no foolproof laws restricting the usage of cellular phones while driving, however, cell phone users are being advised to take extreme caution while talking and placing phone calls by waiting until the vehicle is at a complete stop before making a phone call or using a hands free wireless communication device (Legislative Solutions1)
By: Tom Feinberg
