Two Northwest Airline pilots were recently suspended for missing their final destination by 150 miles. Their claim was that they were looking at their laptops and had the communications turned off. There were 144 passengers on the flight. The pilots distractions were risking the lives of those 144 people plus their own. They said they were checking their schedules on their laptops. They were probably thinking about their activities on their days off.

“It’s hard to stay interested in the uninteresting,” said Ron Nielsen a former airline pilot for 30 years. With so many of the tasks being taken away with automation, it’s hard for pilots to stay focused or engaged. Many rely on books, I Pods, I Phones and even laptops that were used by the Northwest pilots.

We all remember the tragedy of the Metrolink collision last year, when 25 people including the Metrolink train engineer were killed. The engineer was texting right up until 22 seconds before the train crashed into a Union Pacific train.

In October of 2009, the North Carolina Highway Patrol, as a part of their “Operation Drive to Live,” program reported that a teen can create and send a text in 10 – 15 seconds. If he were driving 60 miles an hour that would be the equivalent of 80 feet per second, one tenth of a mile or nearly 30 yards of a football field. One can only imagine what damage could be done in that short time and at that distance.

Today we are so used to multitasking that we forget how to focus on the task at hand. We have so many items of convenience and yet we are busier than ever.

Whether it’s flying an airplane, steering a train or driving a car, everyday thousands of people are operating heavy machinery. When one buys antihistamine, the bottle says, do not operate heavy machinery while taking this medicine. Operating heavy machinery is a big responsibility, and should not be operated if one is drowsy or preoccupied. It carries the risk of harm and possible death because of the symptoms of the medicine.

With all of our technology and automation, it has relieved many of us from our daily chores, but it has made us complacent. It has also made us more dependent on human contact and less sensitive to our responsibilities. It has made us less aware of limits and boundaries. We have forgotten how to compartmentalize and to focus on the tasks at hand. We try and multi-task, without being engaged in the current task.

Even with all our conveniences we are still bored and lonely. I see people on cell phones all the time. I see students that can hardly go between classes without using their smart phone or ipod. I see people in the market that can hardly shop an aisle without using their mobile device. What did we do when the phone had to be left at home and plugged into the wall?

I understand the need for human contact and human warmth, but we don’t need it 24/7. We can set limits and boundaries, so that we have a certain time and a certain place for cell phones and laptops.

It all comes down to individual responsibility. We have to be responsible for our actions and how they impact those around us. Although we have fun new toys and abilities to contact the outside world or those closest to us, we don’t have to contact them when we are operating heavy machinery, for example: trains, planes and automobiles. We still need to focus on the task at hand, even though we can do three things at once. We still need to set limits and boundaries.

In our society we have pushed limits as far as they will go. We have tried to get away with as much as we can without being caught. One doesn’t go through life without taking a shower or brushing one’s teeth. There are some boundaries we just don’t cross. We need to reevaluate our lives, and look at where we can set limits, where we can focus and become engaged with the task at hand. Maybe then, we’ll have fewer major accidents.

The advent of wireless Internet connection has been both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it’s allowed people the ability to work more efficiently and remain consistently accessible. On the other, it’s allowed people the ability to work too efficiently and remain consistently too accessible. The time when a person could shut off their technology and be left with their thoughts is slowly disappearing.

Currently, airlines are moving quickly to make their flights Wi-Fi friendly. During a six-hour flight, a person use to spend time collecting their thoughts, reading a book or magazine anticipating the plane’s landing in a place far from home. Soon, all flights will be Wi-Fi friendly. In addition, no longer simply a place to relax with a book, Border’s Group Inc. recently announced that by mid October almost all of their more than 500 bookstores will offer free Wi-Fi.

It would be foolish to say that wireless Internet hasn’t had its perks. To have Google, direct access to a personal bank account, driving directions, and social networking at our fingertips is amazing. Technology gives us a sense of security, a feeling that we are never truly isolated.

But in our effort to remain connected, day-to-day communication is starting to hollow. For instance, an email used to be a well-crafted exchange between two individuals. However, with advancements in Wi-Fi connectivity, emails have become broken phrases that quickly answer a question. The question usually results in a quick response, but a message lacking a personal touch. Has communication become more efficient? Yes. In doing so, has it lost substance? Definitely.

Moreover, smart phones have provided the ability to consistently be available to the rest of the world. Blackberry’s and iPhone’s, which seem to be forever clutched in the hands of CSUN students as well as our staff here at the Daily Sundial, don’t allow time to focus on the present, the moment that is passing by while a response to a text message, update of a Twitter page or update of a Facebook status takes precedence.

So, the question becomes, at what point do we disconnect?

Maybe people received a taste of the potential repercussions of not disconnecting with the increase in vehicle accidents due to cell phone use. With laws now in place, it is now an obligation to disconnect during some moments in our life. Still, people begrudgingly put away their phone, even knowing they may be saving a life.

But, ultimately, the decision to disconnect is up to the individual – a decision to put one’s self first. Instead of spending time describing how much fun you’re having at so and so’s party on Facebook, why not just live in that moment?

Make a decision that the next time the phone vibrates or a new message appears on the computer screen to say, I’m not accessible right now and everyone else isn’t accessible to me. Potentially, then, a flight on an airplane will remain the first step in separating oneself from their everyday life and a bookstore will be a place to escape into another world.

With a little indulgence or “me time,” maybe down the road our words, emails and thoughts will continue to mean something.

Unsigned editorials represent the majority view of the Sundial editorial board and are not necessarily those of the journalism department. Other views on the opinion page are those of the individual writer.

Photo Caption: Katie Chavarin

Cocaine, marijuana, heroine, crystal meth…iPhone?

A mobile phone doesn’t exactly top anyone’s list of addictive controlled substances. But with school, extracurricular activities, work, a social life and relationships, you, an average college student, have so much going on in your life that it can actually become quite dizzying and you just need that fix. With constant e-mail checks, Facebook wall posts, Twitter updates, text messages and countless other forms of communicating through a mobile phone, who needs a street corner dealer?

Let’s face it, we are all strangely attached to our mobile phones, and it doesn’t stop there.  With the easy access to constant communication with anyone and everyone it is difficult to remember the most important person in your life:  You.  As selfish and awful as this may sound, it’s completely true.

Think about it, if you don’t take the time to think about you and your own well-being, then how are you expected to even think of the well being of others?  All right, so that may be a little extreme, but still, the only benefit of “me time” is getting the chance to focus on yourself rather than everyone else. In the end, you’ll thank yourself for it.

The simplest way to ensure quality “me time” is to first get rid of any portable electronic communication devices, i.e. your cell phone and laptop.  The urge to want to keep in contact with friends and colleagues becomes a real distraction when you’re trying to focus on yourself. This should be substituted by engaging in activities that are generally done on a solo basis, but also revolve around your interests.

Reading has always been an easy and relaxing past time, so why not pick up the latest best-seller or an old favorite?  Revisiting a book you haven’t picked up in a while is like catching up with an old friend.  You know everything about the friend, and yet when you go back you tend to discover something new.  Not a fan of books?  There’s nothing wrong with picking up a fashion, sports or tabloid magazine. Whatever will get you to sit back and relax will do the job.  The point of reading an actual paper copy of these publications is to disconnect yourself from modern technology and focus on the task.

Not a fan of reading period?  More of a physical type? Go for a jog, take a walk, climb Mount Everest, it doesn’t matter what type of physical activity, just make sure it’s something you can do solo.  Engaging in physical activities is both mentally and physically beneficial. When you are keeping yourself healthy and doing something physically challenging alone you tend to rely on yourself for support and motivation.  You may eventually find the strength within yourself to pursue things that may be out of your comfort zone.

The idea of “me time” may scare people because it means you are doing something alone.  People rarely do anything alone.  Eat.  Shop. Go to the movies. Go anywhere.  There is the constant fear of judgment when anyone does anything alone.  It’s as though doing anything alone reflects on the type of person you are, whether that be undesirable or unapproachable.  But the answer to being alone isn’t a constant dependence on being connected to everyone in your life.  Finding the balance between spending time alone and being connected isn’t difficult.

All you have to do is put down the syringe, or in most cases, your cell phone.