All the emergency phones located on UNB and STU walking trails, in-cluding the one damaged by vandals three weeks ago, are currently being replaced, leaving late-night walkers vulnerable to attacks.
Supervisors with UNB Security couldn’t give a time frame for when the phones will be functioning again, and are telling students they’ll have to rely on their cell phones to report an emergency if they’re out on the trails.
Second-year St. Thomas student Vanessa Allerston feels less safe walking the trail without the emer-gency phone.
“I think [the emergency phone] makes people feel a lot more safe,” said Allerston. “A lot of people have cell phones but not everyone. You never know what could happen.”
The emergency phone on the walking trail between the UNB and STU campuses was targeted by van-dals about three weeks ago.They ripped the receiver off of the phone, leaving it out of order.
“It caused more damage when we went to repair it,” said Randy Ma-honey of UNB Security.
Because of this, UNB Security decided to re-place all of the phones on campus.
“Arrangements have been made for the phones to go hands-free,” said Mahoney. “This should eliminate the kind of damage that occurred last week from happening again.”
Emergency phones are placed strategically on campus for those who require immediate assistance. Whoever picks up the receiver will automatically be connected to UNB Security, who then dispatches assistance.
But there are a small number of students who abuse these emergency tools, said Mahoney, which makes the campus more dangerous for everyone else.
“There is a certain minority who see a phone like that and feel the need to pull on it,�� he said.
