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Amid Cell Boom, Colleges Yank Land Lines
Cell phones have rendered costly phone lines unnecessary
By Ambreen Ali
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Posted Feb 4, 09 8:08 PM CST
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(Newser)
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US colleges are ripping phone lines out of dorms—and not to encourage students to study, the San Jose Mercury News reports. It’s recognition that mobile phones have become as ubiquitous as textbooks among students. “Demand has dropped, and it’s a costly service,” says an official at Santa Clara University, which is saving $62,000 in yearly maintenance by cutting 1,300 phone lines. Other schools that have done so include the College of William & Mary and the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
At Santa Clara, the Silicon Valley campus will keep one phone per dorm floor for emergencies. Only 100 of the 2,400 students opted to keep their room phone, mostly as backup. About 90% of college students have cell phones, and some even take their connectivity further. “I rarely call people,” admits a 19-year-old psychology major. “I usually text them.”