- Blue Phone’s lay out of service to students and community members of Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif. Monday, February 27, 2012. Photo: Todd Rosenblatt
Various of the campus-wide blue emergency phone poles, also known as ‘blue lights,’ which are meant to keep the safety of students have been blocked throughout campus.
The inconvenience is a result of the campus-wide construction, units needing to be repaired, Director of Facilities Paul Nieman said.
The blue phones are meant to provide a method for students and staff to contact the Sheriffs for help in case of emergency.
Although not all 26 blue phone units on campus have been blocked, those that have been were blocked for time frames while repair work was taking place, Nieman said.
The units that are currently not functioning are three units in Parking Lot 7, one near the North of Mall Project in Parking Lot 1, which is located in an area that is unavailable to students due to construction, and one in the Swine Unit of the farm.
“We are working to have the wiring re-pulled [in the Swine Unit] so they will be functional,” Nieman said.
The Sheriffs can still receive calls from students in case of an emergency from the active blue phones, or from cell phones.
“Students can [still] approach a Sheriff on campus and request help in what they might need, or locate us through the blue emergency phone poles they see on campus and even their own cell phones,” Deputy Sherriff Bill Dunkin said.
Some students feel safe on campus despite of the blockage of the blue phones.
“I feel secure when I drive into campus, see the Sheriffs’ vehicles and see the cadets in their carts in the parking lots and throughout campus,” Pierce student Kaitlin Allen said.
