Many students have noticed a seemingly new addition to the Mississippi State University campus that is especially noticeable at night: emergency phones with a glowing blue light atop them.The phones are a part of MSU’s safety and security program that focuses on all aspects of campus protection. With almost 40 emergency phones throughout campus at approximately $5,500 per phone, safety is not only a priority but also an investment.
The emergency phones are strategically placed throughout campus in areas that are often traveled through, especially at night.
Executive director of facilities Jim Jones said using one is almost fool-proof.
“I hope they are never used,” he said, “but if there is a situation, there is a phone where you can just run, push the button and the University Police Department will be on the other end of the line,” he said.
Emergency phones have been a part of the campus security program since the late ’70s, MSU dean of students Mike White said.
“When we put them in they were high-tech and very progressive for the time,” White said. “Up until last year they had a faded yellow globe that you couldn’t see as well, but we changed them into a blue globe which is much more visible.”
There are two different versions of the emergency phones on campus: the original phones and the new ones. The old phones are being updated and new ones installed as funding becomes available, Jones said.
“We ask ourselves, ‘what have we built or constructed over the past ten years that didn’t get [an emergency phone]?'” he said. “We’ve made it a standard in all of our construction to ask the question, ‘do we need a new emergency phone?'”
White said the phones have not been used very often throughout the years, even back in the 1970s before the advent of cell phones. He said the value of the phones goes beyond their obvious use, as they help act as deterrents to those considering unlawful acts.
“You want to give a perception of safety on campus, and I think that is one of the values of these [new] blue lights on the phones,” White said. “I think they send a message to anyone that we’re serious about safety.”
The emergency phones are only a small part of the large effort officials are making to ensure the wellbeing of any person who steps onto the MSU campus. According to Jones, everything is assessed, from replacing old light bulbs to, surprisingly, keeping the campus well-landscaped.
“With the new growth every year, the lighting changes,” he said. “The trees grow, and most of the lights are in the trees. We have to go out and find where those dark spaces are and fix them.”
Jones said there is an inspector who circulates the campus at night and reports if any of the approximately 11,000 lights have burned out and need to be replaced.
Interim MSU President Vance Watson said safety is first priority despite a 14 percent electricity price increase by the Tennessee Valley Authority.
“It’s a continuous evaluation process all the time,” he said. “Compromising one student or any visitor on the campus is not acceptable when we have ways to prevent or lessen it.”
While Watson said the university will continue its efforts to conserve energy, it will not lessen its devotion to preserving safety on campus.
“Compromising somebody is not worth all of the savings you can get from not trying to protect them,” Watson said.