The controversy ignited by the Jan. 9 unveiling of Apple's newest product, the 'revolutionary' iPhone, has once again brought the issue of changing technology and its ramifications to the forefront of many people's minds.
One aspect of this technological trend that may not immediately occur to most readers (a.k.a. those who graduated college more than, say, five years ago) is how technology is changing life on college campuses.
The most recent technological hurdle facing many colleges surprisingly does not deal with computers, as many might think, but rather with cell phones. With virtually every student (and often many professors as well) available via cell phone, college campus phone systems have become obsolete in students' eyes, a frustrating fact for college and university administrators.
While many colleges and universities have already attempted to address the issue of cell phones by either providing students with or requiring that students have a landline in their dorm room, apartment or suite where they can be reached, more and more frequently even this is not solving the problem.
Some schools have completely abandoned trying to contact students via landlines. While Boston College continues to assign students landline phone numbers, the school also gives students more flexibility when it comes to providing their contact information.
"I honestly don't even know my landline phone number," said Boston College senior Megan Doyle of Milton, Mass.
"You can have a landline if you choose to, but a lot of students will give their cell numbers to administrators as contact information so we don't need to have a landline phone," said Doyle.
The BC senior said that students don't see any real need for landlines: "Mainly we communicate through our web mail with the school and our professors or we go to their office hours."
One aspect of this technological trend that may not immediately occur to most readers (a.k.a. those who graduated college more than, say, five years ago) is how technology is changing life on college campuses.
The most recent technological hurdle facing many colleges surprisingly does not deal with computers, as many might think, but rather with cell phones. With virtually every student (and often many professors as well) available via cell phone, college campus phone systems have become obsolete in students' eyes, a frustrating fact for college and university administrators.
While many colleges and universities have already attempted to address the issue of cell phones by either providing students with or requiring that students have a landline in their dorm room, apartment or suite where they can be reached, more and more frequently even this is not solving the problem.
Some schools have completely abandoned trying to contact students via landlines. While Boston College continues to assign students landline phone numbers, the school also gives students more flexibility when it comes to providing their contact information.
"I honestly don't even know my landline phone number," said Boston College senior Megan Doyle of Milton, Mass.
"You can have a landline if you choose to, but a lot of students will give their cell numbers to administrators as contact information so we don't need to have a landline phone," said Doyle.
The BC senior said that students don't see any real need for landlines: "Mainly we communicate through our web mail with the school and our professors or we go to their office hours."
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