Every freshman living on the quad knows that the blue-light security phones, which connect students to a security officer at the touch of a button, are their best ally in the event of an emergency. Or at least in principle they are.
According to Bob Geldmacher, operations manager for JHU Telecom services, the department that handles all communications on campus, the emergency phones have always had problems and malfunctions. Unfortunately, the University has not done anything about them until now.
With recent hikes in security on and around campus, the security phones have been sorely overlooked. A system that is in constant disrepair, or that malfunctions every time it rains, is completely useless; the entire purpose of blue-light phones is to provide a trustworthy and unfailingly reliable emergency resource. Increasing their number from 28 to 31, as the University did this past year, does no good if the units themselves consistently malfunction. Students walk around campus assuming those phones are in working order, when in reality the odds are pretty high that any given phone is defective.
The problem, ironically, is a breakdown in communication. The fact that defective phones were left unfixed because of a communication failure between Telecom and Hopkins Security suggests a problem deeper than faulty phone lines. While the joint effort to revamp the security phone system is commendable and absolutely necessary, efforts to improve communication between the different services that ensure student safety, including the security department, Telecom, and facilities management, must go hand-in-hand.
The attempt to coincide the security phone overhaul with the installation of phones in the San Martin Drive area is well-intended and reasonable, but the University should expedite these crucial improvements. If we, as students, depend on the emergency phones to protect us, it is unacceptable that they haven't been replaced, especially since it has been clear for so long that their malfunctions go beyond regular daily maintenance. It is time to fix this problem and rebuild the campus breakdown in communication
