Daily Skiff

While reading The Skiff View in Tuesday's paper titled "Laptops should not be banned from the classroom" I was reminded of a recent incident in one of my classes.

A student asked the professor if he would allow her to take notes on her laptop. Almost dumbfounded, he said, "Of course, why wouldn't I?"

Our class explained that some - apparently divinely anointed professors - have banned the use of such technology during their lectures. Our professor concluded that if someone is paying $3,000 per class, it's up to the student whether they use that time to take notes or check Facebook.

Fortunately, I have not had any of these holier-than-thou educators who find it necessary to negate the technological advances of the past century, because I would feel obligated to humiliate them now. Professors should respect their students, just as students should respect their professors. It is completely uncalled for to punish an entire class, and every future class, for the distractions of a past minority.

I wonder if these professors have considered students with disabilities that prevent them from writing notes as effectively as they can type. Professors have a moral and legal obligation to create an atmosphere that doesn't discriminate against students with disabilities. A lawsuit can't be too far away in this society.

More likely, these professors who are apparently neurologically isolated on a distant island will see their enrollment plummet because of the beauty of RateMyProfessors.com.

John Andrew Willis is a sophomore environmental science major from Dallas.

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