Tuition was raised at Eastern Michigan University this year, and budget cuts are happening across the board. Despite recent concerns, Physical Plant Chief of Operations John Donegan decided to purchase an antique telephone booth costing $2,000 with the intention of positioning it somewhere on Eastern Michigan University’s campus.
Until a location is decided, the 2,000-pound phone booth, originally from Ohio, will sit on a trailer behind the Physical Plant.
One point that could be addressed is the man-hours used to drive to Ohio and haul the phone booth back.
“[Donegan] sent a manager from the Physical Plant to Ohio to pick it up,” Physical Plant employee Steve Mosier said.
According to Mosier, the Oct. 14 pick-up was a six-hour process. Employees of the physical plant have complained.
“Money is tight, and [it’s] hard do some [of] our work,” Mosier said. “Employees see money wasted on rocks and signs, and now this phone booth. The Physical Plant is short on employees; fewer parts for campus are stocked.”
It has been confirmed by sources, including Donegan, university funds paid for the phone booth.
“I didn’t need approval [of the funds],” Donegan said.
He explained the money came from the Physical Plant fund and, as Physical Plant chief of operations, he did not need to seek approval of the funds.
The fact he did not need approval to purchase the funds has students like junior Kortrez Smith speaking out. Smith said the fact there was no one to oversee the spending is “ludicrous.”
Growing concern throughout the campus is about belts need tightening in relation to the budget. A purchase like this has been seen by some as wasteful considering the reported shortages of personnel and equipment in the Physical Plant. But that hasn’t seemed to damper Donegan’s mood.
“The bright red phone booth is not a reproduction; it’s the real deal,” he said.
According to Donegan, the original British phone booth cost approximately the same as the emergency phones on Eastern’s campus. With that in mind, he is mulling over his options for placement and purpose of the phone booth.
One possibility is “retrofitting” it to use it as an emergency phone on campus. Another option is transforming it into a landscape piece. However, final decisions have not been made because Donegan said he wants to surprise the university. Until then, further discussions will be made.
“We want to put it in the right location,” Donegan said. “We are thinking about putting it where the international students are; we have talked about putting it at Eagle Crest [Golf Club]. We want to put it in the right location.”
So far, it hasn’t gained much positive feedback. Freshmen Clayvon Taylor and Kenneth Robinson agreed university money should not be spending on more decorations or emergency phones considering the majority of students have cell phones.
“They need to stop spending unnecessary money,” junior Tiana McClanahan said. “More things need to be approved by student government.”
Freshman Alisha Moreau agreed.
“Spending should be approved by student government because who’s it really benefiting?” she said.
In the realm of artistic sculptures, the phone booth didn’t impress McClanahan.
“We need to stop trying to ‘jock off’ of [University of Michigan],” McClanahan said. “We have enough sculptures.”
As for the future phone booth plans, currently at a lull, Mosier expressed a lack of confidence.
“It seems that John Dunegan bought it on a whim,” he said. “At this time, no one has any plans for it. It’s still sitting on a trailer behind the Physical Plant.”
If it was, in fact, bought on a whim this may not be the end of third-party questions. As it stands, Donegan is still working the kinks out but remains optimistic.
“We’ve got a lot of options,” he said. “There are a lot of interested parties. It is a very positive thing.”
Donegan said he is certain he will not move the heavy antique more than he needs to. He said he plans on refurbishing it in
hopes to make it look “perfect” before relocating it.
