Ball State University has the nation's most wireless campus: Quick and easy communication is our game. From anywhere on campus, we can send messages to China, check the news from Argentina, watch a Web cam set up in France and communicate with friends in Australia. However, when it comes to crossing campus - or even placing a five-digit phone call within the university - communication can break down.
In January, the Student Government Association discovered that students needing transportation from the Amelia T. Wood Health Center to the medical Imaging Center on White River Boulevard were stuck. If they couldn't find a ride or drive themselves, they'd have to pay for transportation in addition to the costs of their medical attention.
The health center couldn't provide transportation; the escort service couldn't take students off campus. Everyone's hands were tied, and students were not being provided this necessary service.
It turns out, however, that the lack of transportation derived simply from a lack of communication.
After a few questions were asked, a little poking was done and a few of those inquiries were resolved, the health center and the Office of Public Safety discovered the communication glitch - and now transportation is available to sick students who require rides off campus.
A little communication was all it took.
As good as it is that the communication problem was cleared up, the fact that such communication wasn't happening within our own campus is somewhat concerning. It's possible that other campus services are being ignored or avoided simply because people on this campus aren't talking - department to department, organization to organization, person to person.
Even though it sometimes takes a little extra effort to open communication with people all the way across this small Midwestern campus, it's always worth it to make that connection.
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