By Sarah Pye
Assistant Lifestyles Editor
The top of the stairs down to the Com Pad? Nope, no reception there.
How about the rock in front of dorm eight? No, no service there either.
Try standing in the fountain, on one leg, hopping up and down, with a tin foil hat. Well, that might work for some people.
Out of five major cellular service carriers (AT&T, Cingular, Nextel, Sprint and Verizon), only one, Cingular, gets full reception at Pepperdine. Students and faculty members report that they get some reception with the other carriers, but it’s spotty at best.
“Malibu is a very difficult area to get service in,” said Susan Hoppers, manager at Malibu Cellular. “It just happens that certain plans work better out here. If you want service in Malibu, we only recommend Cingular and Sprint.”
According to Hoppers, Cingular has recently made a concerted effort to expand its coverage area. “They just spent 900 million to add cell sites and upgrade cell sites,” she said.
The good coverage that Cingular has on campus is thanks to an antenna that was installed near the law school last fall. However, though students and staff have the benefit of good campus reception, Cingular is not officially in partnership with the university. This means that phones and plans must be purchased through outside dealers, not through Pepperdine.
Though there is currently no carrier directly affiliated with Pepperdine, according to Larry Greene, manager of Telephone Services, negotiations are in the works between Verizon Wireless and the University Management Committee to bring the carrier onto campus. If they strike a deal, it could mean better service — and cheaper rates — for students.
“Verizon is looking to put a site on campus,” said Greene, adding that any arrangements between the company and the university are currently both “unofficial and unapproved.”
If an agreement is reached, in the future students may be able to purchase phones and discounted Verizon rate plans through the school, and could also direct customer service questions through the university. And, of course, it would mean better reception.
Students say that they would enthusiastically support such a move.
“I would be exuberantly thrilled,” said freshman Evan Dent, a current Verizon customer. “I’d have to do a little jig for joy.”
Dent wouldn’t be the only one dancing in the streets. “I think it would be good for people who don’t have cell phones yet or who use Verizon,” said junior Jennifer Williamson, an AT&T customer. “If you live at Pepperdine most of the time, I think it would be great.”
Students do report that phones currently with Cingular service get reception almost everywhere on campus.
“They have very good range,” said junior Monica Dickey, a Cingular customer. “It works all over the place.”
Freshman Christi Juchmes switched from Verizon to Cingular last December in order to get better reception at Pepperdine. “I don’t think there’s anywhere I don’t get service,” she said. “I’m pretty happy about that.”
Though Juchmes, a Seattle native, is satisfied with her Cingular purchase, there are drawbacks. “I get zero reception at home,” she said. “But I’m home, what, four months out of the year? I’m primarily here, so it’s worth it to me.”
The lack of Cingular reception in other parts of the country has caused some students to steer clear of the carrier, however. “I’ve thought about switching,” Williamson said, “but Cingular doesn’t have really good service anywhere else except on campus.”
Lack of Cingular service in the Midwest has also kept Tyler Wilson, a freshman and Missouri native, from switching from his current Sprint coverage. Wilson said that the patchy reception.
Sprint sometimes gets has driven him into some awkward positions in the quest for a few more bars. “I have stood on my bed, by the window, in the corner of the room because that is the only place I can get service,” Wilson said. “We need a Sprint tower on campus.”
Other students are less than impressed by the customer service they get through Cingular. “My phone hasn’t worked since the day I bought it,” freshman Bob Boughey said. “When I went to the place to fix it, it took so long that I just left.”
Senior Lisa Raschiatore said that when her sister had a phone with Cingular service, she often experienced call drops and less-than satisfactory customer service. “That’s what’s great about Sprint,” Raschiatore said about her current carrier. “They have really great customer service.”
Some students say that they have such great plans, including perks like free nights and weekends, that they don’t really want to switch, even if it would mean better reception.
“My plan is excellent,” said sophomore Angie Hofstedt, a Verizon customer. “I never get charged for going over my minutes, because I have so many. Plus, I don’t want to switch because I don’t want to hassle with the fees of finding another contract.”
Many students say that they are unable to switch carriers because they are already stuck in lengthy contracts. “I can’t switch because I have a one-year contract with AT&T,” freshman Brianna Dell-inger said. “It’s just a big trap.”
Dellinger added that she would consider changing services if she could.
“I’d go to Cingular, probably, because they get really good service here,” she said. “My roommate has Cingular, and she gets reception in our room.”
Some students said that the university should take a more proactive stance on cell service. “I think Pepperdine should make an effort to get better service on campus,” Raschiatore said. “It would be such a good business move to tap the market here. Almost every college student has a phone.”
Williamson also said Pepperdine should try to bring better service on campus. “I don’t understand why they don’t do something about it,” she said. “I’ve tried complaining, but that doesn’t seem to work.”
However, as both Hoppers and Greene pointed out, the geographical location of Malibu, combined with city and resident demands, may prevent the university from ever providing top-notch service.
In the case that reception remains forever scarce, some students say they feel the university should be required to inform students about the lack of available service. Greene, however, said that neither the university nor the phone companies should be required to disclose this information, unless specifically asked.
“It’s really the student’s or customer’s responsibility to ask about what the coverage base is,” Greene said.
Greene is a Verizon customer, and said, “I haven’t had any problems with my phone at all. This phone even rings in my office (located near the back exit of the campus bookstore).”
His trick to getting good reception? “Basically, if you can see the water from where you’re at, you’ll get good service.”
March 21, 2002