In the last few years, cell phones have become so popular on campus that landlines seem anachronistic. This shift has not gone unnoticed by the Administration, which has been forced to rethink the student directories. Nor has it slipped by WesTel, Wesleyan’s telephone service provider, which has watched its revenues decline as only 1,347 students have signed up for WesTel this year, according to Director of Technology Support Services Ganesan Ravishanker.
This year, students can choose to list a cell phone number instead of a landline number in the online and printed directories, which are available to the Wesleyan community. They can also choose not to have any phone number listed in the printed directory.
Many students said that the reason they are not subscribing to landlines is that the $14 a month WesTel service costs has become a waste of money since cell phone plans have become cheaper.
“The only reason I see in using the landline is to save some of your daytime minutes,” said Hannah Furstenberg-Beckman ’08. “But even still, if your cell is your priority, then just pay those $14 dollars to add extra minutes to your cell service.”
University Registrar Anna van der Berg said that the Administration understands students’ perceptions of the outmoded landline.
“We want to do the right thing, and in fall 2002 we decided that students could submit a cell phone in lieu of their line service,” van der Berg said.
“The use of WesTel subscription has been on an obvious decline. This is not just a trend at Wesleyan, but a trend at universities,” Ravishanker said.
As a result, WesTel subscription is no longer required for students in residence halls or wood frame houses.
“My second year in WestCo I didn’t pay for the landline service,” said Jessie Smith ’06. “I think it’s really helpful to ’3700′ people [get their numbers from the automated directory] and call them, but with all the cell phones on campus, I really don’t think it’s necessary.”
Some frosh, too, see no reason to have a landline.
“My mom gets mad when I used my landline to call her; it’s more expensive than using my cell,” said Halley Chambers ’08. “I don’t know why I really even have a phone.”
The need to call extensions around campus seems to be an integral reason for students to keep their landlines. But if Public Safety, ITS, Olin and all other campus extensions have local numbers easily dialed from a cell, the future of Wesleyan’s wired phone service remains uncertain.
“It used to not be optional for students to have a landline,” said Justin Harmon, Director of University Communications. “This is because there needs to be a directory listing for each student so that faculty and staff can reach the student if needed. I see that there are problems raised when students are asked to pay a monthly fee for a landline that they may or may not use.”
“As a freshman, I got made fun of a lot during my first two month for always being on my phone,” said Sarah Covey ’06. “Now as a junior, I live off campus and I don’t have a landline.”
Covey added that she had upperclassmen friends who solely used their landlines but that these were a specific type of person.
“You know, anti-cell phone,” she said.
Adrian Palatino ’08 reported that his cell phone has been a vital accessory in his adjustment to campus life.
“I’m never in my room, so it makes it easier for me to be a rambling man if I have my cell,” Palatino said, “It makes me think that these landlines really are going to become obsolete.”
For students still interested in signing up for WesTel service, the deadline has been extended until Oct. 7.
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