ASMSU Student Assembly Chairperson Mike Leahy, left, checks off his list while examining the emergency phone located behind McDonel Hall with ASMSU Communications Director Liz Gollubier, middle, and Vice Chairperson for Internal Affairs Juan Carlos Elizalde on Wednesday.
If someone is leaving the library, gym or even a party at night, they may — or may not — notice a number of bright green lights throughout campus.
There are more than 140 emergency phones gleaming a bright green color when fully functional. But ASMSU officials said certain students are telling them some of the machines are malfunctioning.
ASMSU is MSU’s undergraduate student government.
“There are a lot of them around campus, and we are not sure if any or all of them work properly,” said Juan Carlos Elizalde, Student Assembly vice chairperson for internal affairs.
“There is one right behind Student Services and during the winter months snow piles up very high on it possibly affecting it. It’s important to check them all out, and immediately get them repaired or replaced.”
Due to these rumors, ASMSU passed a bill during a Sept. 13 Student Assembly meeting to inspect all parts of the phones thoroughly.
Elizalde, Student Assembly chairperson Michael Leahy and director of communications Elizabeth Gollubier walked through campus Thursday evening to test two things: the call buttons and the actual telephones. The call buttons are supposed to directly connect the person in danger with the MSU Department of Police and Public Safety, or DPPS. The actual telephones can be used to call local campus numbers, even without an emergency.
The group realized some of the green phones are placed in awkward areas, especially behind McDonel Hall, where more secluded areas do not have any, and more populated spots do, Leahy said.
They will complete an entire investigation in the next couple of weeks, inspecting all the phones.
“There was never a case of someone needing one, running up to it and then it not working,” Leahy said.
“Not to my knowledge, at least. That would be terrible. We just want to be sure they are functioning. If they aren’t, I am extremely confident that they will be replaced immediately because of their importance.”
Michael Rice, assistant police chief, said each emergency phone is inspected once a month.
DPPS works with an $85,000 budget for the phones which is funded by the money collected from campus parking tickets.The money is used for maintenance, replacement of those maliciously damaged and the $20 monthly phone line charge for each one, Rice said.
“This is a way the revenue collected from parking tickets gets put back into the community in a positive way,” he said.
Rice said he does not have a problem with the inspections ASMSU is doing in addition to theirs.
Another one of ASMSU’s concerns has to do with students with disabilities on campus and their accessibility to the green phones.
Elizalde said some of the phones are not in convenient locations for everyone.
The idea to investigate the phones is the first step in a campaign across campus to improve the safety and security of students, Leahy said.
ASMSU plans on improving the lighting on campus’ darker streets and finding another way for students to get home safely at night with a service similar to the Night Owl bus that runs after the regular Capital Area Transportation Authority buses stop at 2 a.m.
“That’s the most important thing,” Leahy said. “Everyone’s safety.”
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