Florala

Issue date: 9/11/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Zach Wiginton THERE'S NO NEED TO FEAR- A UNA public safety officer patrols campus on his new segway.

UNA Public Safety recently recieved Segway Personal Transporters to help with foot patrol around campus.

The Segways were purchased through student

affairs. Chief James Glasso, UNA public safety, said that student affairs had some extra funds and they decided that a good thing to spend the money on would be the Segways.

"We've always been interested in foot patrol on campus," said Glasso, "the problem was that officers had to walk for hours." Glasso said that another problem with foot patrol was that the officers "had nowhere to keep their stuff."

Glasso said that some advantages of the Segways are that they don't take up very much space, they can go up the 12 mph and they remove the tiring element of foot patrol.

The Segways that public safety aquired have special features that are not on civilian models. "They have a soft bag in the front that comes off," said Glasso, "and they have a hard bag on the side, kind of like a side-box on a motorcycle." The Segways also have a siren and flashing lights.

"All the officers say they're fun," said Glasso. "It makes the job a little more interesting."

Glasso said that the advantages that Segways have over motorcycles are that they can go inside of buildings, go up and down sidewalks and they can turn around much faster.

"Anywhere with handicap access, we can go," said Jeff Clifton, UNA public safety officer, "and the lions really like them."

"We can go up to 12to14 mph if we're going down a hill," said Clifton, "but downhill is a little tricky."

The Segways have a protection system on them. "If you try to move it, it will start to shake," said Shequanda Adkison, UNA public safety officer. Adkison said that when the alarm is set and someone

tries to move the Segway, it would freeze and lock in place.

"[Segways] are street legal," said Glasso, "they're like an electric bicycle." Glasso said that public safety has had bicycles for years, but the Segways are less tiring.

"It takes maybe ten minutes to learn to ride them," said Glasso, "and experience teaches the rest."

Glasso said that the officers were taught more about riding the Segway than the general public. They were taught about how to go downhill and off curbs, things that the general public are told to avoid he said.

"You don't want to go down a number of stairs," said Glasso. " The most common thing is to use the elevators."

There are many different models and features of the Segway available. "They've got an all-terrain one with big mudders on it," said Clifton.

Public safety will be hosting a student demo with the Segways on September 22 from 12-2 p.m. It will be under the pedestrian bridge in front of the GUC. "This is a chance for students to sign up to try them," said Glasso.

There will also be a faculty and staff demo on September 24 on the basketball court of the SRC.

For more information about Segways, visit www.segway.com.

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