The day this column comes out is also the day I have computer engineering classes to attend. Because these engineering classes are in lecture halls, there are some students who think that the size of the room is directly related to how loud they need to talk to the person next to them, and the result is that everyone in the hall can hear brilliant conversations like this:

Engineer 1: So I went home and opened up my MX999G processor to see if it had the IEEE Pentium pipeline like the professor said it would, but it wasn’t there!

Engineer 2: You have to check under the Athlon DDR-Binary Multiplexer.

Engineer 1: No, stupid. That means it would be connected to the Microsoft RAM Flux Capacitor.

Engineer 2: Oh yeah? You’re stupid.

This intellectual debate will rage on loud enough to be heard in other classrooms, with neither engineer giving up for fear that the surrounding students might suspect him of having a small – well, you know – microprocessor. Of course, this is an unpleasant situation.

First of all, no one likes to hear about how our education actually applies outside of class. It’s just very taboo. I mean, do you hear the veterinarian students talking out loud about mixing class work and their pets (“So I went home and opened up Fido.”)? Furthermore, these students were being extremely rude to the professor who is trying hard to teach while the rest of are trying to pass out on our desks.

So I am not surprised that a survey by Public Agenda, a public opinion group, discovered that computer engineers are becoming ruder at an alarming rate. Ha ha, just kidding. Computer engineers can’t possibly get any ruder – you would be the same way if your college career consisted of learning how inferior you are to a silicon box.

Actually, what the survey found out was that it’s the rest of you knuckleheads who are messing up society. The survey says that eight out of 10 Americans believe that lack of courtesy and respect is a major problem in society, and six out of 10 believe it is getting worse.

“Majorities of Americans,” the group concludes, “complain about inconsiderate, even dangerous drivers, rude cell phone users, and a virtually ubiquitous onslaught of profanity and coarse language.”

Maybe no one really wants to be rude – they just all have differing opinions on what “rude” is. Some people live by the “if you wouldn’t want your grandma to hear it, don’t say it” rule; other people’s grandmas were hockey players.

For one person, it may never be appropriate to use the middle finger while driving, not even to change the radio. For someone else, it’s OK to show another driver both of your middle fingers, as long as you don’t swerve and hit pedestrians other than Rosie O’Donnell. But this is one area of thought where people just don’t appreciate diversity, and that’s where all the hostility comes from.

The survey doesn’t offer any conclusive answers on how to solve this problem. Forty-two percent of respondents said “Ignore it or walk away” was the best way to handle rudeness. Thirty-six percent said “Treat the person especially politely [and] hope they learn by example” and 20 percent said “Let the person know they’re doing something wrong.”

No one said “Seek blood vengeance,” although I assume it’s because those types either have killed each other off or were too busy cleaning their weapons to participate in the survey.

An interesting fact is that this survey was originally supposed to be conducted in September, before – as the survey’s authors put it – “the day things changed.”

But now that it found the results that it did, I guess we can take some small satisfaction in knowing that no matter how much tragedy we experience or how many tears we shed over firefighters who heroically died to save strangers, we will always have the heart and will to flip off a fellow human being.

But for those who want to eliminate rudeness outright, you probably want to know what steps you should take.

Well – fortunately – this is one issue you don’t have the option of letting the government handle, not unless you think their budget battles are the height of human civility.

No, this is all up to you and each individual person to find the inner strength within yourself needed to stop this epidemic. Ask yourself, “What can I personally do to make my society more courteous so that one day we can all live in peace and harmony?”

And while you are doing this, for the love of Pete, please keep your voice down.

Dan Nguyen is a senior in journalism and mass communication and computer engineering from Iowa City.