A proposed security phone system designed to link the NIU campus with University Police is awaiting a referendum vote by students before it can proceed into its final stages.

Jon Dalton, vice president for student affairs, said he favors the phone system. He said the campus is large and there are enough students to justify installing the system.

“It (the phone system) would make the campus more comfortable for students and staff,” Dalton said. “The phone system is a way to make the environment more friendly,” he said.

The referendum is scheduled to be presented to students Tuesday and Wednesday with the Student Association Senate ballot.

If the “yes” votes reach the 50 percent plus one majority, security phones would be placed “strategically” around campus this summer, Gunn said.

SA Vice President Gregg Bliss said the phones would be connected to a switch board in the University Police station. He said a light would blink on the switch board to tell the UPs which phone is being activated.

Gunn said funding for the phone system would come from a one-time student fee at a maximum cost of $3.24 per student. The fee would appear on the fall 1989 tuition bill, she said.

The amount the SA will receive from the student fee totals about $65,655, Gunn said. However, the phone system should cost between $115,000 and $118,000 for 29 phones, she said.

Ramtech Corp. and Motorola Communications and Electronics Inc. are two manufacturers from which the systems being considered are available, Gunn said.

The Ramtech system costs $750 per phone, but the major cost is in laying phone cables, grounding and man power totaling about $118,000 for 29 phones.

Each phone in the Motorola system costs $3,700. The cost would total about $115,000 for 29 phones, Gunn said. The system has a “jiggle alarm” that sends a message to the UPs if the phone is hit by a person running to flee his/her assailant(s), she said.