Campus landlines inoperable

De Anza College has close to 20 emergency phones scattered across the campus and throughout the parking lots, half of which are either broken or inoperable at certain hours of the day.

Signs on several of the boxes housing the emergency phones state that they are only available from 7 a.m. to midnight, and that anyone who needs emergency services at other hours should access campus pay phones. However, all of the pay phones are currently out of service.

Donna Jones-Dulin, associate vice president has been working alongside Danny Acosta, assistant chief of police for Foothill and De Anza colleges.

“Any type of violent crime on campus is extremely rare, as our published figures show,” said Marissa Spatafore, the associate vice president of Communications and External Relations last March.“We also encourage students to program 408-924-8000 into their cell phones for an on-campus emergency in order to expedite dispatching; as you may know, 911 calls are routed to the nearest cell tower.”

With the sexual assault on campus last January, the main focus of safety precaution conversations has been in improving dark and isolated areas of the college and the lack of security measures on campus.

Spatafore also suggests that students and staff call campus police for an escort to their vehicle or buses if they are leaving campus late or have any specific concerns.

“The college does want to ensure that all are in working order,” Spatafore said.

Not only are many of these emergency precautions inoperable, many students are not even aware these services are available to them.

“If they’re out there, I haven’t seen them,” said Tatyanna Robles, 18, early childhood mental health major. “It makes sense to have them. They should be [more noticeable] like the ones in mall parking garages.”