Campus call boxes not widely used

Ten years ago Georgia College installed 57 call boxes on campus. Marking the 10-year anniversary of the installation, the tools are now being used less than ever before. Only two calls have been made in the past year for emergency purposes, while the university continues to pay for the phone lines.

Justin Gaines, the Coordinator of Emergency Preparedness and Occupational Safety, said that the call boxes are rarely used.

“Some institutions have gone away with the call boxes all together because of the cost/benefit factor. Here they barely get used,” Gaines said. “We have a lot of false alarms because a drunken person cannot help but press the button when they walk by.”

There may be many explanations for why Georgia College students and faculty do not utilize the call boxes more. For example, there may not be many threatening situations that require their use. Georgia College was ranked one of America’s safest campuses in 2010 according to New York’s ‘The Daily Beast’ newspaper report.

Also, since the call boxes’ installation in 2001, cell phones have become increasingly dominant in society. Today, many students and faculty might use their cell phone for an emergency rather than press the emergency call button.

Gaines does not think the lack of call box use is due to an unaware, uninformed campus. He thinks the majority of students clearly recognize their purpose.

“At the beginning of each orientation I am able to talk to all the incoming students about the emergency call boxes and the other services that we provide,” Gaines said.

The real question is where the funds come from that provide the phone lines. Gaines confirmed that the call boxes are not funded by Public Safety. He said it comes from one of the university’s “different pots of money.”

Still, Gaines feels the call boxes role on campus is important, even when their use is low.

“The reason we decided to keep them is because it does provide a service. You never know when they will be used. When someone presses the button we know exactly where that call box is so we don’t even have to ask their location,” Gaines said. “The benefit of the call box is that it provides a deterrent to the criminally-minded persons on campus.”

Junior chemistry major Christina Hamilton believes the call boxes are a service to campus, and young women in particular.

“I like (call boxes) because they make me feel safe,” Hamilton said. “If I were to get in a situation I wouldn’t have to worry about fumbling for my phone or wondering if someone would hear me scream. As a freshman they made me feel safer when I walked from Herty (Hall) to Foundation (Hall).”

As Georgia College continues to grow, there may or may not be a need for the call boxes any longer. The next few years may tell whether they truly benefit campus. One of the two emergency calls made in the past year was not even for a college affiliate. It was an elderly man suffering a heart attack.