Residence Hall Association members are undecided on whether they should remove phones from the residence halls or if its removal would pose a potential security risk for students.

The Bond Revenue Committee proposed, at Thursday’s meeting, that Eastern take landline phones out of the residence halls and Greek Court.

Eastern could save $300,000 a year if it removed all the phone lines with the exception of the ones for resident assistants and one phone on every floor.

A sample group of Eastern students living in the residence halls showed that only 30 percent of the students had their phones plugged in.

In six years, the number of students who have used their room phone has gone down from 70 percent to 30 percent.

But 50 percent of the students surveyed thought that phones should be kept in the residence hall rooms.

Mark Hudson, the director of Housing and Dining, said a majority of state schools and universities have already taken out their landlines and the rest of the colleges plan on taking them out within the next few years.

It is a couple hundred dollars for the long rental and the hook up of telephone service each year, Hudson said.

After the phones are taken out of the residence halls and Greek Court, the Bond Committee wants to start taking phones out of University Apartments and University Court Apartments, while expanding wireless connection.

Samantha Gusich, a senior sociology major and member of the Bond Revenue Committee, said many students feel the removal of phones in their rooms is a security issue.

Shauna Laudant, a junior English major, has been taking into account students’ feelings on the issue.

“We need to see how everyone else feels on campus about taking phones out of the rooms,” Laudant said.

A unanimous vote determined that RHA will continue to take into account student’s reactions to the notion at meetings and through surveys distributed by the Housing and Dining Services.

The committee has not taken a particular stand for or against the removal of phones from the residence halls.

As for the debate on the name change for Douglas Hall, RHA agreed that it should remain the same and they would like to focus on something more important.

RHA will vote on removing land lines the week after Thanksgiving Break.

Nicole Conness can be reached at 581-7942 nkconness@eiu.edu

The Residence Hall Association meets in the Stevenson Hall lobby Thursday evening. They discussed removing the residence hall room landlines as well as student opinion regarding the potential renaming of Douglas Hall. (Seth Schroeder

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