Inevitably, every Ball State University student has been in class when someone's cell phone rings loudly and has seen the resulting scramble to find the phone and turn it off before the professor spots the rule-breaker. Cell phones are disruptive in certain settings, but in the case of an emergency they provide an irreplaceable way to get help quickly.
All employees in the Ball State community deserve to have a simple and effective way to get help in an emergency. In light of recent events, Ball State officials need to provide custodial staff with a quick and easy way to contact each other and appropriate personnel in the case of an emergency, and cell phones are the best option until another plan is put into place.
In March, Ball State custodian Debby Hughes broke policy and used a cell phone to call a supervisor when she found an unconscious student in a residence hall. In the aftermath, Hughes has been reprimanded for using the phone, despite the fact that it was the easiest option in the emergency situation.
Since the incident, union officials and the university have been embroiled in a debate about how to best provide viable ways to communicate in an emergency. Radio communication is an obvious first option, but there's no telling how long the university bureaucracy will take to find a way to provide the proper equipment to all of the 68 custodians on campus. Until radios or some other comparable form of instant communication becomes a reality, cell phones are the only viable option in an emergency.
The university's main concern is that the cell phones will distract custodians from their jobs and cause a drop in productivity. However, the same could be said about nearly everything else around the custodians as they work, and there are already punishments in place for lackadaisical workers. Supervisors would simply need to keep their eyes out for cell phones becoming a distraction like anything else.
At the end of the day, student safety is the most important aspect the university should consider. If the current policy continues, custodians will be forced to find someone with a phone - all while wasting valuable time in an emergency. The choice between a possible drop in productivity and saving a life in an emergency is simple - safety trumps all other considerations.
If cell phones prove to be a problem, the university will find new ways for custodians to communicate in an emergency. Until then, banning cell phones is an inherently dangerous option.
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