I think a lot of college students subscribe to the "The prof works for me, since I'm paying to be here, and I can do as I please." school of thought. This is not a new phoenomenon, since I can recall things like this going on when I was in college; at least in the lower level courses.
Contrary to my undeserved reputation as a sorority party puppet, I was serious about college and felt fortunate to be there so my behavior in class was probably more high school-like than college-like.
As for cell phones....not an issue since they, um, weren't invented yet
