Some schools such as the University of Virginia have begun to make their residents completely cellular, but Stony Brook still has their students rooms plugged in.
Whether it’s texting, playing games or even listening to music, college students have cellphones and use them regularly. Because of this, the use of land line telephones in all the residence halls has diminished steadily over the years to the point where now they are barely used at all.
Virginia has been the biggest campus so far to eliminate all 3,850 of their land line telephones, saving an estimated $500,000 a year, reported by the Washington Post.
“Eliminating land lines would potentially result in a reduction of rent of approximately $25 per resident per semester,” said Ron Danler, residential financial analyst, along with other parties from the Division of Campus Residences. At Stony Brook, the decision would save the student body as a whole over $400,000.
So, do students use these phones enough for them to be worth keeping?
Catherine Rocco, freshman marine science major, hasn’t had the chance to use one. Her room was not supplied with one when she moved in, and as she said, “there’s no need for one.”
“I don’t want a land line telephone, it will just get in the way,” Rocco said. “I can just use my cellphone.”
And if they are used, it’s not often.
“I’ve used the phone twice. Once to test it out and the other time I used it to call someone,” said freshman Jasmine Ince. “I wouldn’t be disappointed if they were eliminated because sometimes I forget I even have the phone in my room.”
The current uses of land line telephones include calling on- and off-campus, dialing 9-1-1 in an emergency and having dorm rooms be reached more easily by Resident Assistants or Resident Hall Directors.
Campus Residences have looked into getting rid of the land line telephones in each dorm, but as for now, they’re still connected.
“Consideration was given to eliminating phones in rooms,” said a representative from the Division of Campus Residences, “but for now we plan to maintain this service for residents.”
