A Little Bit of T and A(nnoyance)

The T is a cheap alternative to having a car, quickly takes a Bostonian from place to place, and allows a rider to enjoy the guitar stylings of tone-deaf singers, but the real reason I ride the T is that my cell phone cant ring. While sitting on the T, Ia Harvard student with papers to write, activities to activitate, and roommates to gossip withhave license to do absolutely nothing.

Upon signing the registration forms on the first day of freshman year, where first-years give their proctors the right to legally bust their parties, Harvard students also sign away the right to do nothing, without feeling monumentally bad.

Harvard students are notorious for their abilities to work endlessly, but they need to leave campus. Chief of Mental Health Services at Harvard University Health Services Richard D. Kadison said, I dont think people keep a good balance of work and relaxation here, and it permeates the university. I think students and staff alike need to make time each day to rest and recharge their batteries. However, some students, schedules, full of extracurriculars, have no time to simply relax.

And now, the last haven of ring tone-free peace is gone. The Massachusetts Bay Transport Authority (MBTA) has announced that it will install a wireless communication network inside the tunnels of the MBTAs subway system. According to the MBTAs press release, [T]he project, to be introduced in phases, begins at the subway platforms at Park Street, Downtown Crossing, Government Center, and State Street, and includes the tunnels connecting those stations. Once the wires are in place, a transportation system that made the world a little smaller will be made a lot louder. While Amtrak trains have solved this problem by designating certain cars as quiet cars, where cell phones cannot be used, this solution does not apply to the T. T riders are often only in transit for ten minutes and can only enter the section of the train that stops in front of them.

Cell phone service inside the tunnels of the T removes yet another means of relaxation. Even if your cell phone isnt ringing while you are underground, someones cell phone is bound to ring on a subway car full of people, disturbing your moment of peace to contemplate your own blank expression in the reflection of the subway car window.

Still, there is a possible upside to cell phones in subways. MBTA spokeswomen Lydia M. Rivera said in an interview that the wireless network is an additional measure of security for commuters, nicely complementing the If you see something, say something poster campaign. Transportation Secretary Daniel A. Grabauskas said in the release, It also has a critical public security aspect to it, as passengers will have increased ability to report safety issues to the appropriate personnel.

Clearly, having the ability to call the police if you see something, like a mysterious screaming man with pink polka-dotted hair, is more effective than just saying something to the person next to you who is equally sketched out. But would you now call the police and say, Hey po-po, Im on the Red Line and this punk is creeping me out? Isnt observing serious weirdos half the fun of riding the T?

However, one must account for opportunity cost. Not every T rider has the facile assuredness of Jeffrey S. Bramson 08, who used his Tae Kwon Doe black belt skills to fend off a mugger on a New York City subway. A mugger attempted to steal a fellow riders purse at a stop, and Bramson tripped the thief, grabbed the purse and handed the purse back to the woman.

True, placing a certified black belt in each car isnt a bad solution, and cell reception for mugging victims is probably a more feasible solution. However, if cell phones can be used in the T, people will use the rare time previously invested in doing nothing to carry on long and loud conversations about, well, nothing. Bramson predicts that the new cellular presence will make people more angry and more likely to start fights. Everyone will be more distracted and irritated, said Bramson. Looking forward to more subway saves, he said, I better get my game face on.

In order to prevent subway cars from becoming havens of mindless chatter and noise once the wires are installed, the T should update its If you see something, say something slogan to If you see something say something, but if you dont, close your eyes, relax, and say nothing at all.

Aliza H. Aufrichtig 08, a Crimson editorial editor, lives in Canaday Hall.