There is no question that there are many problems at UK that need fixing.

But one of these problems should not be campus safety, especially with programs like SAFECATS around to escort students home safely.

According to a Kernel article Thursday, SAFECATS, a service from 8:30 p.m. until 1:30 a.m. Sunday through Thursday run by Air Force ROTC and sponsored by UK Police, is averaging only “a little over a handful of students a night.”

“We average about five escorts a night just from the library,” said ROTC safety officer and biology junior Jamian Carrasquillo. “Sometimes people just don’t want to use it because they are shy and don’t want to ask.”

Students should be more inclined to ask, especially when their own safety is on the line. Anyone who walks a reasonable distance by themselves at night, especially off campus, should consider asking for an escort.

UK Police does everything in its power to assure that this campus is safe and conducive for students to traverse at all hours. But the police can’t be everywhere all the time, and not every area of campus is as well-lit as W. T. Young Library. All students need to face the harsh reality that assaults happen on and off campus. That’s why programs like SAFECATS were created.

So why aren’t more students taking advantage of this program? Women especially should know about it and should consider using the services of SAFECATS.

“I heard about it freshman year and saw the SAFECATS in the library,” said nursing junior Brionna Matz in the Thursday article. “At the time I was using it freshman year, I didn’t want to walk alone. The campus can be scary and big.”

According to the article Thursday, one reason for the low turnout for the program is that many students just don’t know about it.

Well, consider this your introduction to SAFECATS, students. This program is for you, and it has your best interests at heart. No one can say UK doesn’t care about its student’s personal safety.

There is often an attitude with students, and people in general, that it won’t happen to me. Most people, when they read news about an abduction or assault on or close to campus, are alarmed but not convinced that it could happen to them. Well, it can. And even if it never does, isn’t it nice to have that assurance?

Students owe it to themselves to take an interest in their own personal safety, and using programs like SAFECATS can assure that they get home every night just the way they left it.