It’s an average day on campus, and you’re just settling into your classroom. In the moments before the official lesson begins, numerous other students, maybe including you, yank a laptop out of their backpacks and settle it comfortably on their desks. In today’s technology-crazed society, it’s not surprising to hear several sets of furious fingers grazing across a keyboard while in class. But the glow of computer screens during lessons may soon be a thing of the past.

Eric Thibault, writer for the GW Hatchet at George Washington University, wrote that a number of professors were limiting laptop use during class. This issue has also been addressed at other universities, including Yale, Georgetown and the University of Pennsylvania. Though the University does not have any such proposal, expecting one isn’t far-fetched. With the freedom to roam the Internet during class, many choose to stalk a crush on Facebook, develop Tetris skills or finally write that e-mail to mom instead of typing notes. Many professors, and even students, are sick of it.

So why don’t all colleges just ban laptops? Well, that’s where things get tricky. While some hooligans fool around on their computers, there are also dedicated individuals trying to catch every important word of a professor’s lecture. I am personally more of a notebook-and-pen kind of gal — I prefer traditional notes I can flip through easily — and can attest that many teachers breeze through material faster than my hand can jot down fragments. With several students typing 90-plus words per minute, using a laptop makes capturing verbatim notes a real possibility. The ease of Microsoft Word leaves students the option to return to their notes later, add more information and still maintain organization. Accessing Powerpoints, further reading and syllabi on Blackboard sites adds to the effectiveness of laptops in the classroom.

And, of course, notes written with a hand cramp can become more difficult to translate than Mandarin Chinese. Unlike us handwriting devotees, those using laptops to type notes never have to decode quickly written sentences.

Some students in class feel distracted by laptops, but others can’t imagine passing a class without them. It doesn’t seem fair to punish those correctly using laptops because of a few jokesters. After all, those screwing around in class will pay the price come test day.

Laptops in classrooms are a choice that should be decided by each person, not by the University. Certain students may have to learn the hard way by failing a class they regularly attended (but rarely took notes in) before changing their habits. Classroom information isn’t absorbed through osmosis, and laptops during lecture are only beneficial if used to amplify learning opportunities.

— Buser is a Columbia, Ill., junior in journalism and English.