Greektown e-phones to be installed

Police, students work to improve security on campus.

By Nina Angelillo

Published June 3, 2009

The Missouri Students Association is working with the administration to improve the safety of MU.

More video cameras are being installed in campus parking garages in order to monitor the garages and aid MU Police Department.

MUPD Capt. Brian Weimer affirms the current cameras are being used to their full potential.

"We do utilize the (video cameras) to investigate what goes on in the parking garages, and they have been used for investigations in the past," Weimer said.

In addition to cameras, two emergency phones will be installed in Greektown before the start of the fall term.

"We always heard from a variety of people that they would've liked to see blue lights in Greektown," MSA President Jordan Paul said. "We did research and found that emergency phones would be cheaper."

After months of preparation, the two e-phones, which will be paid for by the equipments fund, will be placed in key areas in Greektown.

"Unlike other places off-campus, there is no other area that you can say is all MU Greek students," Paul said. "It was a heavily populated area, viable and is encompassed by campus. It made sense to extend blue lights there."

Paul said the cost of the blue lights is high because they require digging the ground around them in order to wire them to the nearest building. The e-phones will cut costs, including pricey drilling costs, by being circumvented and powered through solar panels and physically fixed to the poles.

Pressing a button activates the emergency phones, which automatically connects to 911 and MUPD.

Although Paul said the initial feelings from Greektown students have been mixed, Student Services Director Ryan Senciboy said there has been a change in opinion about the e-phones.

"I do think there's Greek support for it now," Senciboy said. "I think it was in question for awhile, but we did the survey and know now how Greeks really think."

Senciboy said making the students a little safer is a primary concern of the student government.

Paul said e-phones are taken advantage of less than the blue lights, but the emergency phones are easily maneuverable.

"While the usage may be lower, I still think there is a time and place for them," Paul said. "The great thing about the boxes is that if they don't work, you can take them down, unlike the blue lights. They are a little more mobile."

Paul said if the phones are a success, further expansion would be planned for later in the fall. He noted places such as further north on Rollins and Fifth streets and on Stewart and Providence streets as other potential e-phone sites.

"If we can help one person it's worth it," Senciboy said.