Alison B. Miller ’05 and Lily Mea ’05, roommates, both just purchased phones from Verizon representatives who had been hawking their plans in the Science Center.

“It’s just really convenient when you’re out of your room,” Miller says, explaining why she needed a cell.

“I think my parents thought I would feel more obligated to call home if they bought me a phone,” Mea adds.

All three of first-year Neeta Lal’s roommates had phones, so she and her father made a trip to the Radio Shack at Cambridgeside Galleria the other day to buy a Sprint package.

While waiting for one of their friends to wrap up her call as they walked through the Yard, Jill L. Bradley ’05 and David J. Bowen ’05 admitted that they were both exploring their cell phone options.

“I’ve been shopping around,“ Bradley said.

Of course, not all students are embracing the cellular phone movement. Lacey R. Whitmire ’05 and friends were complaining about how many rings had gone off during the expository writing placement test yesterday.

“And everybody has these tiny expensive things,” she said.

—Staff writer Victoria C. Hallett can be reached at hallett@fas.harvard.edu.