Fine, so sometimes teachers’ lectures are less than interesting, but that doesn’t mean students should be surfing the Web in class instead of paying attention.

Barsema Hall offers wireless Internet, which can lead to abuse by students with laptop computers.

They can check e-mail, browse e-Bay listings or play online games. Unfortunately, this abuse has lead some teachers to ban laptops during class.

The university has no official policy on the use of laptops in classrooms.

Banning the computers helps teachers make sure their pupils aren’t goofing off. But, a ban is not helpful to students who legitimately want to type lecture notes or do research related to the course material.

Scott Beyer, associate professor of finance, said the use of laptops is very beneficial, according to a Feb. 3 article in the Northern Star.

“With the type of work we do in my class, students would be lost without their computers,” Beyer said.

So, students fooling around on laptops leads to disadvantages for everyone, including themselves. Not paying attention in class leads to lower grades.

Perhaps the university could look into options to prevent abuse of wireless Internet and keep laptops in the hands of students.

Possibilities include blocking Internet signals in classrooms, or turning signals off at teachers’ discretion.

Looking at online personal ads while in class is not an inalienable right.

Learning is.