David BrodyWhile other universities around the country have eliminated landlines in residential areas, Washington University still plans to keep them mandatory. The phone service fee was added to room and board costs at the University almost two years ago.
According to telephone services director Bill Orrick, the decision to eliminate landlines would ultimately be made outside of his department, but he noted that there is an ongoing discussion process to determine whether the lines will stay.
“We have seen other institutions take them out, but security is a big concern,” Orrick said. “No decision has been made yet.”
The elimination of landlines poses a security concern to emergency dispatch services. Landlines facilitate the Washington University Police Department and 911 in locating individuals calling for assistance. Other concerns besides security issues include the ability for faculty and deans to leave messages for students without having to make long distance calls to cell phones. Orrick also noted that cell phones sometimes do not work in buildings, making it difficult to pinpoint an exact location or make a call during an emergency situation.
With security and ease of contacting students cited as the prime reasons for maintaining phone service in residential areas, Orrick noted that revenue generated by phone lines is not a key factor in keeping them mandatory. He explained that local phone service generates zero revenue, but long distance services do bring in money. In the end, if landlines are eliminated, costs would be shifted elsewhere.
With an increasingly high number of students using cell phones, other colleges around the country have eliminated landline service in residence halls. American University in Washington, D.C., is one such school. According to MSNBC, other universities, such as George Washington University and the Universities of Maryland and Virginia, are also evaluating the merits of keeping landlines in residential areas.
Most University students said they rarely use the phones in the rooms and suites, although occasionally parents will call on that phone instead of the cell phone.
“Occasionally, parents will call on our phone,” said sophomore Evan Sharp. “Still, I think landlines should be kept since not everyone has or can afford a cell phone. It’s a service that should be offered to students.”
Other students do not think the service is necessary if they have cell phones, but some pointed out that it is still a good resource to have the phone in a dorm room or suite.
“I mostly use my cell,” said junior Ari Cohen. “It’s good to have a phone in the room though, because some people might feel uncomfortable giving out their cell number, so they can use the local number here instead.”
Almost two years ago, the University made it mandatory to have at least one phone per front door. At that time, administrators cited the benefit of including the cost into room and board fees, as in the past students had a pay for local telephone service separately. Students can still elect to purchase long distance contracts, and Orrick said that roughly 30-35 percent of all students still have long distance authorization codes.