CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE : More Phones for Deaf Requested

Deaf students at Cal State Northridge--home of the National Center on Deafness--say they are concerned for their safety because the limited number of public pay telephones for the deaf restricts their access to campus escorts and police.

CSUN has four pay phones equipped with telecommunication devices for the deaf, or TDDs, on campus for about 220 deaf or hearing-impaired students. Two are located in the National Center on Deafness. Another is in the Oviatt Library and the fourth is in the University Student Union.

There are no TDDs in the science, music or Sierra Hall buildings, where most classes are held, officials said.

Deaf students say the safety issue arises mainly after dark when they may wish to call the campus escort service for a ride to their cars.

Phones in the deafness center are not accessible after 7:30 p.m., forcing deaf students to go to the library or student union to use phones. After 11 p.m., when those buildings close, no TDD-equipped public phones are accessible on campus.

“It’s not fair for a deaf woman to have to walk to her car alone because she was unable to request an escort,” said Allen Neece, 21, a senior English major who is hearing-impaired.

“We don’t want to have to walk or drive to make a phone call,” said Kevin Saunders, 20, who is hearing-impaired. “We just want the same rights everyone else has.”

Campus police said they sympathize with the students’ concerns, even though there have been only two attacks on deaf students during the last 12 years.

“There’s no question that the deaf community needs to have more phones on campus,” said Lt. Mark Hissong, who endorses installing TDDs in buildings where classes are held.

Hissong pointed to one instance in which a TDD has already helped a student. A few years ago, Hissong said, “a rather depressed person called us on the TDD. Through a long conversation, we were able to get to him.”

Herb Larson, director of the National Center on Deafness, said he was contacted a few weeks ago by a student concerned about the lack of TDD-equipped phones. Although the center is not responsible for the TDD phones, Larson said he has had the four existing phones inspected to make sure they work.

Larson also is a member of a subcommittee evaluating the campus for compliance with the federal Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, a law that ensures that people with disabilities have equal access.

The subcommittee will determine where and how many TDD phones the university should install and make its recommendations to the administration by the end of this semester, Larson said. “We should be able to resolve this problem very soon.”