Say What?

This archived article was written by: Les Bowen

Les Bowen
managing editor
[email protected]
Left alone
Both of the Harmon brothers who have written this article with me in the past are attending other institutions. So I am finally left alone to write.
Phone policies are a result of lack of forethought
Forget the fact that I’ve been around this college long enough to know this, but here’s the story of why no one living on campus has a phone in their bedroom, despite the fact that there’s wiring for everyone to have their own.
Back in the day when I started attending CEU, everyone had an extension, but no direct line from off campus. For instance, to call The Eagle, you’d dial 637-2120 and then extension 5250.
Then someone decided that all the extensions on campus should be accessible directly from off campus. So CEU bought two blocks of numbers from Emery Telcom: 613-4000 through 613-5999. To get all the lines in and to operate the system, the whole infrastructure had to be updated with new hardware, costing the college thousands in labor and equipment.
Sure, this made it a lot easier for people to dial in, but it’s doubtful that anyone was getting carpel tunnels from those four-extra digits. The drawback was each of the numbers cost $25 a month. That doesn’t include any long distance. That’s just what it costs to have a direct line.
So now, the college has decided to cut costs by reducing the number of phone lines in each suite or apartment to one. It’s a dent in CEU’s deficit spending.
Sharing a phone line isn’t so bad, and since many students have cellular phones, the number of people sharing a line is reduced. However, CEU could have simplified the whole process and left everybody without a direct line.
Official campus phones could have been upgraded to direct lines, but dorms should have been left as just extensions. Everyone could have their own phone and voice mail. And CEU would have saved the thousands of dollars it spent to install and operate those phone lines for four years.
Ice
Facilities maintenance is doing a better job than last year clearing ice on campus (I’m willing to overlook that library employees cleared the steps in front of that building). They have even put plywood down in places where shoveling would be inadequate.
But in order for the snow to be cleared effectively, it needs to be done in a timely manner. I said this last year, and I’ll say it again. CEU is not a bank. Facilities maintenance isn’t going to happen solely from nine to five, Monday through Friday.
UDOT personnel manage to get out of bed and plow roads at 2 a.m. If one group of state employees can respond to snow, so can another. CEU’s facilities maintenance personnel should have every walk and parking lot cleared and spread with deicer by the time 7 a.m. classes begin. If that means starting at 3:30 a.m., then that’s what should be done.
There is simply no excuse that walks weren’t cleared on Saturday night or Sunday morning. Holiday breaks and weekends are no exception. There are weekend events on this campus, and not clearing snow creates a safety hazard. All it would take to bankrupt CEU is one person to fall, get injured and sue.
Many students stay on campus on long breaks, especially international and out-of-state students. Many international students even stay during the long breaks between semesters. These students still eat at the cafeteria, and many offices continue operation during breaks.
Facilities maintenance has a responsibility to the faculty, staff and students at CEU and the general public who use this campus to maintain a safe environment when possible. We live in Utah; it snows. Get out of bed and clear the walk. I did it when I was 10 years old. You can do it now.
Say What? is the opinion of real student journalists who write for, and produce the REAL student newspaper of CEU. If you have anything worth consideration, or if you think what’s in this column is a load of s – t, send it to [email protected]. But don’t expect a response or the least bit of notice.