By Andrew Hoenig | Assistant Editor
Gardner, Mass. – Students may recall that at the beginning of the semester, Mount Wachusett Community College sent out an e-mail containing this important information:
POLICY RELATED TO USE OR POSSESSION OF HOVERBOARDS AND SIMILAR MODES OF TRANSPORTATION ON CAMPS
“To ensure the safety of the campus community, Mount Wachusett Community College will prohibit the use and possession of hoverboards which are currently linked to fires in 12 states as well as a significant number of reported serious personal injuries. The campus-wide ban, which includes all buildings and parking lots, is effective immediately.”
This e-mail to the students was sent out by the Dean of Students, Jason Zelesky.
MWCC was not the only college to put the campus-wide ban on hoverboards this past January as USA Today reported that more than 30 colleges across the entire U.S. installed the ban amid safety concerns over the use of the hoverboard.
Among these more than 30 colleges were the likes of Boston College, Brandeis University, University of Connecticut, Emerson College, Georgia State University, and University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Apparently, the largest factor contributing these colleges’ decisions was that “recently a number of retailers pulled hoverboards from their shelves amid reports of fires and explosions caused by poor quality lithium-ion batteries in the devices that are prone to malfunction and overheating”, as Zelesky stated in his e-mail to students at the Mount. In some instances these fires did cause emergency room visits for associated burn injuries.
Similar devices were urged to be left at home such as self-balancing scooters, battery-operated scooters, and hands-free segways. If a student is found with a hoverboard or any other of the above items, then campus police reserves the right to confiscate these items if they are found on campus.
Hoverboards are a growing craze in America. Not only have they now be seen on college campuses but also on the streets and sidewalks of cities and towns, at the beach such as on the boardwalk of Jersey Shore or Hampton Beach, at airlines and businesses, and even in parking lots at the grocery store.
Never the less, most all of these places mentioned have put bans on using hoverboards and the safety concerns have had a considerable drop in sales for the time being.
“We appreciate your cooperation and thank you for helping make MWCC a safer place to learn and work”, said Zelesky.
Only time will tell if these technological rad rides will be given an upgrade and then widely accepted or continuously rejected on college campuses and in other areas of work and leisure. The designers are working even now on new designs that will fix the bugs that the older models had, one such model recently(possibly) being developed by Samsung. But until further notice it would be wise to stay off your hoverboard until the ban has been lifted. The future of the hoverboard has yet to be decided.
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