Cell phones banned at HPER

As junior Katie Lutzow, a dedicated work-out enthusiast of the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, was making her way out of the locker room, cell phone in hand, getting ready to listen to a voicemail when she was confronted with a quick reprimand from a female employee.\n"Cell phones have been banned in this area," the woman said as she lifted the phone to her ear. "You need to get off, now."\nLike Lutzow, many students may be confused by the new signs posted at the HPER and the strict enforcement being put on cell phone users in the buildings. What was once just a casual cell phone call is now a crime.\nThe HPER has begun enforcing a new policy banning any use of cell phones in locker rooms. The policy arose after a female obtained naked photos of another female using the digital camera in her cell phone, said Larry Patrick, director of programs, services and facilities for the HPER.\nNow, three weeks after the incident, signs are posted throughout the building informing all about the ban of all cell-phone use in the locker rooms.\nPatrick said there was only one instance known to the staff but fear of legal problems has caused them to take action.\n"It only takes one to get sued," he said.\nPatrick said cell phones may still be used in any other part of the HPER but it is against their policy to use cell phones in any locker room in the building in an attempt to avoid future incidents of the kind that occurred last month. And if it continues to happen, he said the HPER will be forced to go further than a warning for students.\n"We hope it's the end of it, but you never know," Patrick said. "(If it happens again we will have to) call the police and have them arrested." \nPatrick's concerns are serious, and not just for legal reasons. He said he doesn't think college students take these types of actions seriously.\n"(Pictures can be taken of) men, women, it doesn't matter," Patrick said. "There's so many pranks played in college, you just never know."\nJohn Pedersen, facility support director for the Student Recreational Sports Center, said he is concerned by the issue because it is becoming a national trend.\n"We've read about and heard about this happening as close to us as the HPER, but other places at other universities have alerted us," he said. "We perceive it in the industry as a concern, and we're following policy with all cameras … We have consent forms for any kind of photos that are taken -- still or video."\nUnlike the HPER, nothing is posted within the SRSC about their policy with cameras, but Pedersen said it's in the facility-use document.\n-- Contact copy chief Stacie Vasko at svasko@indiana.edu.