Expanding emergency call boxes to off-campus locations instead of installing more on campus would be a more efficient use of resources.
Although the boxes are expensive to keep running, not to mention install, students living off campus and even those who live on campus would really benefit from these new boxes.
Many students flock to Franklin Street and beyond in the later hours of the night and in the early hours of the morning.
Therefore, these boxes may even be more helpful in off-campus locations where students are likely to be spending a significant amount of time at later hours, when they are more vulnerable.
Some Chapel Hill residents not associated with UNC may not be in favor of having blue lights around neighborhoods.
However, these emergency call boxes could be strategically placed to be beneficial to students and as nonintrusive as possible for town residents.
One place to start is in the areas directly north and west of campus, where there is a higher concentration of student off-campus housing.
Although this would require some residential areas to have call boxes, this would lessen the impact on non-student residents because the majority of this demographic is located in other areas of the town.
Putting boxes in commercial areas would also decrease the potential negative feedback from non-student residents living in areas of Chapel Hill close to campus.
Not only do parts of Franklin Street and Rosemary Street serve as a major part of night life for students, but the proximity of these streets to campus makes them an important area for students to be able to get quick emergency response.
In the issue of expanding emergency response boxes to off-campus areas, the pros outweigh the cons.
