The possibility of implementing a security phone system linked directly to the University Police was discussed at the Campus Security Advisory Board meeting Friday.

Student Association Sen. Lisa Gunn proposed the idea to the board of installing telephones without dials, which will set off an alarm at the UP station when the receiver is picked up.

Board members agreed the system was a good idea. Gunn said her purpose at the meeting was to get support from the board.

Gunn said, “An important aspect of this system is its capability of telling the University Police which phone a student has picked up through their computerized system.”

Gunn said although the system could be used in many cases, the main reason stems from the number of sexual assaults on campus.

She said the telephones could be installed in campus parking lots, buildings and other areas where students might be found alone at night.

Gunn said, “A phone system such as this one would be used by students who are fearful of an assault or rape, need general information from University Police, desire directions or need help in a parking lot if their car has broken down.

“If a person is running from an attacker, all they must do is take the phones off the hook and hopefully the police can get to where they are,” she said.

Gunn did not quote any exact costs of the system but said one telephone would cost about $600 to $900, “and there also would be the cost of the computer system.

“I think it would pay for itself if it saves one person from a rape,” Gunn said.

Gunn has modeled her plans from a system used at San Jose State University in California. “I was told that six to seven rapes, assaults, attempted rapes and attempted assaults occurred there each week” prior to the system, Gunn said. “Now those numbers have decreased greatly.”

She said through the system at SJSU, the UP station receives 20 to 25 calls per day from students.

“When I attended San Jose State I felt more comfortable being on campus knowing that this phone system existed. I did not walk anywhere without seeing one of these phones,” she said.

Public Safety Director James Elliot said parking lot P, west of Stevenson Towers residence halls; lot W, north of Grant Towers residence halls and lot O, north of the University Apartments, will be expanded this summer and phones might be added to these lots as an experiment.