Dad's on the phone ranting about how you need to get a job, pay for your own rent and be financially independent.

Earphones are plugged in, blaringly blasting a stream of thumps and thuds, pitchy vocals and alluring lyrics.

Windows are down, radio is up. Talk about a "beating" to the brain.

From iPhones to YouTube and everything in between, college students are unfailingly dialed in.

Student Monitor, a nationally recognized research service, targets the college market to discover patterns and trends in collegiate behavior, including students' consumption of media and electronic-based entertainment.

According to the research service, Facebook, text messaging and iPods were the top answers for "What's in on Campus," only falling behind drinking beer.

Student Monitor also reported 83 percent of college students listen to the radio, and they listen for 11.5 hours each week.

Hillary Chamberlain, 20, a student from Redmond, Wash., is among students who thrive for music.

"Music makes things more enjoyable," Chamberlain said. "It puts me in the mood I want to be in."

She said she spends an average of $10 per month on music and has more than 2,000 songs on her computer. At home, she always has music playing; when running, walking between classes or doing homework on campus, her iPod does the job.

When stopped on his bike, student Chris Keneipp from Laguna Niguel, Calif., revealed he was listening to "Do You Feel" by The Rocket Summer via his iPod.

In an effort to cater to students' demand for music, several colleges across the nation have started providing student access to major downloading servers. The subscription fee is reduced for students and is included in their tuition.

Penn State is one such school.

"There are very few things in life that are more important to students than music," Graham Spanier, the school's president, said in a USA TODAY online article. "Any school that buries its head in the sand on this is not serving its students well."

Sam Thorley, 24, from Galveston, Texas, majoring in Sociology, said he listens to music daily, whether he is by himself, with friends or at the gym.

"If I'm by myself I usually listen to podcasts and books on my iPod," Thorley said. "There's a lot to learn out there."

Thorley, however, believes there are social consequences to a near-constant connection to media players. He is not alone, either.

Lance Erickson, an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology, said in an e-mail that iPods portray messages about their listeners.

"iPods have become somewhat of a status symbol that students use to send messages about themselves," Erickson said.

But he said cell phones and text messaging may negatively affect student relationships.

"It seems that accessing individuals or relationships electronically is more important or more preferred than in person," Erickson said. "Ultimately, this can decrease the quality of social interaction because communication is more than just verbal exchange, but it is limited to that when communicating electronically."

Fernando Lobo, 22, a student from Grayson, Ga., spends significant time using his cell phone. He has unlimited text messages, and he uses around 600 minutes a month. Lobo uses his phone's internet capabilities to check game scores on ESPN, to surf the Web and to check his e-mail.

Lobo said the thrill of having a multi-functional cellular device is its hand-held capabilities.

"I can do so many things on the go and be able to communicate with a lot of people at once," Lobo said.

Because electronic-based entertainment is so prevalent on campus, The Daily Universe is introducing a weekly feature called "Y-Tunes: The Campus Shuffle." Students connected to a media player will be stopped at random and asked to reveal what they are listening to like Brian Mooney who was found with Kanye West's "Good Life" playing on his iPod. See page 12 for this week's playlist.

Copyright Brigham Young University 9 Oct 2008