Editorial
Common courtesy scarce at UWRF
March 5, 2009
The old adage says, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” That is sound advice, and it’s a lesson a lot of college students would do well to (re)learn. The Student Voice has noticed a growing number of inconsiderate students seemingly ignorant to the fact that they are not the only people attending UW-River Falls.
With midterms rapidly approaching, the use of on campus computer labs and the Davee Library as quiet resource centers will drastically increase. But there are individuals who seem to not notice the crowd around them, talking loudly on their cell phones. Not only does this lead to an incredibly awkward situation, resulting in the inadvertent eavesdropping of everyone around them, it’s rude as well.
People utilize spaces such as computer labs for legitimate academic purposes, not to hear about fellow students’ relationship issues, drunken one-night stands or personal plans. Students should be careful what they say in public anyways; you never can be sure of who around is listening-whether it is a professor or someone who could potentially aid in a future job hunt. So hang up your phones and wait until after class to wax ignoramus!
Beyond the Library and labs, the Student Voice has noticed a general disregard for common courtesy in the classroom. All too often, students blatantly disregard teachers during lectures, opting to instead text their friends or talk loudly to their neighbors. Even when the professor tells them to be quiet, they continue to talk in obnoxious, obvious whispers. Every student on this campus pays for the privilege to attend classes, yet there are still those who throw courtesy out the window and ignore the expensive education they have frivolously wasted money on.
By now, students are all adults. It is time to start acting like an adult. Silence all cell phones before entering a classroom, lab or the Library; watch carefully the topic of conversation and avoid discussing lewd or offensive material in public; honor fellow classmates and professors by respectfully refraining from conversation during class.
Mothers everywhere unite in saying “Act your age, not your shoe size.” They seem to understand what college students do not-disobeying common courtesy is nothing but uncouth advertisement broadcasting your own personal brand of witless, uneducated ignorance.