Justice revisited

Last semester, we issued a call to action at Tufts University. While justice was being threatened and safety jeopardized, we refused to stand idly by as the walls of freedom fell down around us. Civil rights were at stake. The lives of thousands hung in the balance. It was a crucial period in Tufts history.

That's right folks, for the entire school year the elevators in Dowling Hall endangered the lives of each and every person on this campus. They were operating with expired safety certificates, which led many students and freedom fighters to question their security. Out of concern not only for themselves, but also for the well-being of all Jumbos, said freedom fighters took action. In a March 2002 issue of The Tufts Daily, we published a viewpoint calling for justice, liberty, and safety in the name of the Dowling Elevators. A movement was born. Thousands of concerned citizens rallied around the cause. United in their quest for justice, the activists founded Safe Elevators At Tufts (SEAT).

Since then, this group has called for the entire Jumbo community to "Take a SEAT" for elevator safety. The end of last semester was a formative period for the movement. Chalkings, information sheets, and campaign promises from the TCU Presidential candidates all showed this campus that we would not allow our cries for justice to fall on deaf ears.

While the administration may have thought that cleverly planning a "summer break" between the "spring" and "fall" semesters would silence our calls for safety, they overlooked two crucial points. Freedom does not follow a school calendar, and justice does not take a summer vacation.

While many students went "home" for the summer or got "jobs," the freedom fighters did not give up the fight. Working tirelessly around the clock, we saw to it that the elevators were inspected and that those certificates were renewed. The day that the safety certificates were renewed, we thought that our efforts had come to fruition. The sleepless nights we had spent strategizing had given way to victory. Justice had prevailed _ or so we thought...

The celebration did not last long. We had barely finished playing pin the tail on the donkey when we realized that the inspector had only renewed the certificate until October 2002. Clearly, even he recognized the dismal state of the elevators by shortening the usual renewal period from one year to three months. An even grosser injustice than the short renewal was that the inspector had not renewed it at all.

The inspector wrote "work" in huge red letters across the certificate, as if his writing were enough to repair the problems of the elevator. Our understanding of declaring an elevator safe is that any problems have been fixed. If work is needed, the elevator is not safe.

A safety certificate with the word "work" emblazoned on it is the antithesis of a safety certificate. One might even refer to it as an UNsafety certificate. Thus, it is declared null and void, and is transformed instead into a public mockery of safety on this campus.

It would be one thing if this unacceptable "safety certificate" were posted and immediately followed up by repairs. Perhaps it is too much to ask of an elevator inspector to be an elevator repairman as well. However, it has been two months since this fraudulent safety certificate appeared. Now, we don't claim to be elevator experts, but two months?!?! We believe that is sufficient time to "test fire recall." (What does that even mean?) Not to mention being enough time to fix the seventh floor button in the left elevator. How hard is it to make a button light up, inspector?!?!

Some of our nay-sayers may have hoped that we were gone _ one viewpoint and we're done. But no, we are back. In fact, we never really left. We will be here until those elevators are safe and justice is returned to this university.

These injustices surely shock and appall all Tufts students. Now it's time to take that passion and turn it into action. It's go time _ put your game face on. We're moving on up. Our seventh floor button is lit. We will not be silenced by irresponsible elevator inspectors. We must continue to fight for the values that we hold nearest to our collective heart. We believe it was the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. who said, "The time is always right to do what is right." It's never too late to join us in our quest for justice. Other causes may ask you to take a stand. But no no no, my friend... we are asking you to TAKE A SEAT!

Rachel Hoff is a junior majoring in peace and elevator Studies. Emily Rhodes is a junior majoring in quantitative elevatornomics. Both are committed to a safer tomorrow for the entire Tufts community.