As students walk around campus, it is very noticeable that there are these tall, blue boxes around all of us. We see them as we walk to class, at the bus stops and on the few of the trails.

However, are they really effective? Should the university actually have them? For those who have not noticed these tall, blue boxes, they are for people to use in case of emergencies.

There is a button that can be pressed, and it immediately alerts public safety, so they can come help. Honestly, while walking around campus, many students do not think to use these in emergencies. The first reaction of students is to pull out their cell phones and call public safety. As a generation that lives on electronics, almost everyone has a cell phone on them at all times.

Even if a student does not have a cell phone, someone within a few feet would have one.  

So, does this mean that we do not need the blue emergency boxes around campus? Should students just rely on their cell phones to call for help? From a financial point of view, with the location of the boxes at the present moment, they are not very efficient.

One of the biggest complaints about these blue emergency boxes, from the students that live in the apartments, is that there are none, or very few, on the trails that students can use to walk home. Seeing as these trails are not paved and through the woods, one would think that this is one place these blue emergency boxes would be located.

On top of that complaint, there is also the fact that more than once, students can see some of these boxes with “Out of Order” posted on them. The blue emergency boxes are not being used to their full potential when the university does not keep up on the maintenance of the boxes.

The “Out of Order” signs are just a guarantee that students will not use them in an emergency. In favor of the blue emergency boxes, the ones that the university does have, are in places that could have high traffic for emergencies. However, there really are not enough of these, especially in the apartment areas to be highly efficient.

It is understandable to keep these blue emergency boxes on campus to help students feel safe. However, if the university is going to do so, there needs to be more in the apartment area and in areas where students might be walking late at night. That should make the boxes much more efficient.

Basically, if the university is going to have these as a safety precaution for people to use on campus, they need to make sure they keep up with the maintenance on them and they need to put more around the campus, especially in housing areas.

If either of those things can not happen, it would probably be more cost effective to get rid of them. In this day and age, people have cell phones for emergency purposes in almost all cases. So that leaves the question, what do you think about the big, blue emergency boxes?