Cell phones are like crack. Once you get a hit of a text message, it is almost impossible to stop.

Not to mention how cool one feels when they are walking across campus talking to their roommate they just saw 30 seconds ago about what is going to be on MTV that night.

Although cellular phones can be useful for some situations, i.e. medical emergencies and flat tires, their current role in every student’s life is nothing short of frightening.

Let me start off by saying that I am a hypocrite. I am so that guy who is walking at 8:00 in the morning chatting away as I forget to hold doors for old ladies and my mind in general.

Every morning I wake up clutching my cell phone, which I use as an alarm clock, and scroll through my missed calls. Usually not important, I throw my cell phone in its resting place, which I surprisingly haven’t covered with crushed velvet.

But enough about my morning routine, after all I am just one student at BGSU who has a cell phone addiction. I am sure if we could transmit phone conversations through liquid, every one of us would have a syringe sticking out of our veins and forearms that look like Courtney Love’s.

Almost on a daily basis I watch students walk into traffic gossiping to their friends about which bar they hit up the night before and how many numbers they snagged.

Along with this, students have been caught doing other absurd things like, I don’t know, driving, while talking on their cell phones. Walking and chewing gum is a task that is sure to perplex many, but at least it doesn’t have the potential to kill somebody.

More and more accidents are being caused by drivers on cell phones and now states are starting to outlaw it.

Not as serious as driving, at the start of every class it is almost mandatory for professors to ask students to silence their cell phones. Regardless of the instructor’s pleas, there is always that one idiot in your class that can’t grasp the concept.

In the middle of a lecture about igneous rocks, the prof is interrupted by a downloaded 50 cent ring or some other tune sure to disrupt the class. I’m sure everyone has experienced this annoyance, and I don’t predict an end.

Then there are the cell phone gurus who can text pages without looking or even while laboring on their Spanish homework. Sometimes it is scary to image what these people can are writing about.

Are they talking about their day? About you? Or are they translating the Bible from English to French for La Maison Francaise.

Not only are cell phones a campus epidemic, the addiction has spread world wide. The use of cell phones in Africa alone has risen over 70 million in the past few years. Villages that don’t even have power are talking on their cell phones daily either to communicate with loved ones or set up trade.

by Chad Honey

Personally, I don’t know how I feel about this. I mean, yeah, it is pretty awesome that you can text your friends as your beating your clothes against a rock in Botswana, but honestly it is ridiculous.

You think that other luxuries such as plumbing and electricity would be important, but no, being able to play snake as you kill an antelope is better.

So next time you’re thinking about talking on your phone think of a few things before hand.

First, don’t walk into traffic, no one wants to see it or hear the BG Fire Department’s sirens at 3 a.m. while they are sleeping. Second, be courteous of others around you. No one likes a door slammed in their face or to be knocked be in the head by your backpack as you rush through the Union.

And last, call your mother. I am sure she misses you, and she probably is paying the bill anyway.