Step away from the Nokia

I don't care if yours is the traditional black, neon green with purple polka dots or if you have one of those zebra Nokia faceplates, it is about time some of you (and I am part of this group, hot pink faceplate and all) learn some damn cell phone etiquette.\nI know it ups the cool factor just a little bit to be spotted on campus with a brightly colored cellular piece stuck to your ear as you talk rapidly about anything and everything to everyone in your phone book. \nI can understand firsthand how easy it is to start dialing away to waste time or to at least look like you are so important that you are talking on your phone to multitask on the way to chemistry.\nI even admit that I have fallen prey to the terrible, horrific talking-on-the-celly-in-the-bars phobia. It is fun to drunk-dial with a 15-cent draft in one hand.\nI know you feel like money to be sitting at a stoplight on 10th Street while you gossip away with your Nelly playing in the background as everyone honks at you, not because you look cool but because the light has been green for about thirty seconds.\nI am one of you. I am one of the cell-phone obsessed, who like my friend Cat has predicted, believes that eventually all phones will be cellular and all Hoosiers will finally be able to kiss the rude and worthless Ameritech goodbye.\nBut there are rules to the game of cellular usage and it is about time they are obeyed. Just ask Nikki Taylor.\nTaylor, the supermodel who has graced many covers and walked many runways, has been in critical condition for nearly two weeks after a friend wrapped his car around a utility pole when he looked down to answer a phone call.\nAs she suffers lung and liver damage and internal bleeding, her older sister holds a vigil next to her bed and prays for her recovery. The driver of the car and the other passenger who sustained no injuries are now appearing on news shows and supporting legislation that prohibits cell phone usage while driving.\nBut this push for legislation is too late for Taylor, who will leave behind two 6-year-old twins if she doesn't make it.\nA Democrat from Brooklyn, Felix Oritz has been a pioneer in cellular phone and driving legislation. According to The Associated Press, he said many people laughed when he initially introduced his bill for prohibiting cell phone usage while driving. But now, with publicized accidents such as Taylor's, the combination of driving and cell phones is being recognized as a lethal mix.\nSo what for the future? This battle is not yet fought and perhaps the courts will eventually determine your cellular phone usage guidelines for you. As for now, I challenge everyone to start to use their cell phones responsibly.\nI understand that sometimes phones are very necessary. I agree they come in handy when it is time to call for a sober driver or locate a lost friend. Talking on phones in the car is also justifiable, when you are in some unknown Indiana back road or need to know what your roommate wants from Arby's.\nBut as with any toy, there is an appropriate usage. Don't be one of the annoying Nokia brats whose phone rings during a final. Don't be the one to rear end the car in front of you as you struggle to answer a phone call that probably could have waited.\nDo pack the phone when taking road trips. Do call for a sober ride. Do make a judgment call and use your phone for its true purpose instead of upping the cool factor or wasting time when you are stuck in traffic on 10th Street.\nDo it for Taylor, who sits in her hospital bed wishing her friend had chosen to miss that one trivial phone call. Or do it for me, a girl who is tired of hearing Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" while I am struggling to pass economics or trying desperately to maintain my buzz.