I knew about five different parties that happened this weekend. One was a techno music party, another was a fraternity party with some kind of theme or other, there was a Ski Club party and two other general house parties on Gunson and Beale streets.

I also knew that Jon was planning to hook up with Lisa on Friday, and that the frat party was going to be “totally lame.”

I learned about all of this in my math class. Needless to say, this was not part of the lecture.

Just when our instructor was explaining the finer points of geometric probability, somebody’s purse rang.

Of course, instead of politely silencing her purse and allowing our instructor and the rest of the class to resume our fascination with squares and percentages, the owner of this purse not only answered her call, but carried on and completed her conversation right in the middle of the class.

I understand making weekend arrangements are of vital importance, so please take what I say with a grain of salt. Over the years, I’ve found some people actually become deathly ill if they don’t have at least three or four parties to choose from over the course of Thursday through Saturday nights.

But I would like to think that I, as well as the rest of the people in my particular math class, would like to know a little bit more about how to determine the expected score of a game of darts using a simple mathematical equation.

When I take a stroll through our beautiful campus, admiring the natural beauty we’re so lucky to have, there are a number of sights, sounds and smells that make a wooded campus such an appealing place to live and study at.

Right now, the leaves are changing and the air is cool and brisk. Squirrels and chipmunks scamper across the paths, often not even caring about who is walking toward them. The sounds of chirping birds fill the air. But so do digitalized versions of Beethoven’s “Fifth Symphony,” as well as gossip about Jon and Lisa’s torrid love affair.

There isn’t a day that goes by where I can’t go out on campus and see at least 10 kids walking down the sidewalk with their phones practically attached to their ears.

It’s really kind of disconcerting to see a group of people headed somewhere together, each person engaged in a heated conversation, but with not a one of them in conversation with each other.

I remember when cell phones weren’t that big of a deal, and only doctors and drug dealers owned them. Contrary to popular belief though, it’s rather difficult to become a doctor, and there really aren’t as many drug dealers on the streets as one would think.

Over the summer, I spent a morning helping out at an Academic Orientation Program session. I think every girl who walked into Case Hall had a cell phone. Two things astounded me about this:

l When I was entering my freshman year here, nobody had cell phones. There were 30- and 40-minute waits at the pay phones in the lobby so girls could call their friends, boyfriends, doctors or drug dealers, who had cell phones. There were no lines this year.

l They were heavily engaged in conversation at 9 in the morning. There is no need for such heavy conversation at 9 a.m. Usually the good stuff doesn’t happen until around noon.

I’d like to see people take a break from the phone and maybe stop talking for a minute during the day. Or at the very least try talking to a person they can see. It’s actually quite enjoyable and it comes highly recommended.

But more importantly, when out walking around, I suggest you try enjoying what’s going on around you. Yes, the trees probably aren’t going anywhere, and the birds will probably be back in the spring, but most likely you also have an extra powerful nickel-cadmium battery on your phone so your connection isn’t going anywhere either.

People have all kinds of time during the day to sit around and talk, either on the phone or in person. It wouldn’t hurt to stop and take a look around to appreciate your surroundings every once in awhile. There’s a lot to miss if you’re not paying attention.

I found out later the party wasn’t too bad, after all. But if that girl had been paying attention in class instead of answering her purse, she’d have found out there was only a 20.05 percent chance for it to flat-out bomb, and a 76.34 percent chance of it being a fantastically good time where everyone would enjoy themselves.

Except for Jon and Lisa, who would have just been talked about all night.

Chris Boyer is the State News opinion writer. His column appears every Monday. Reach him at boyerchr@msu.edu.