PLNU bans Galaxy Note 7

PLNU faculty has prohibited the use of any original or replacement Galaxy Note 7 devices on campus, effective immediately.

Samsung has recently recalled all Samsung Galaxy Note 7 devices, stating that “affected devices can overheat and pose a safety risk.” The company is asking owners of this phone to power down the instrument after recent reports of the phone catching fire.

Samsung has confirmed that it has “made production changes, following the reports” and asked all carriers and retail partners to stop selling the device. In a Samsung Electronics statement, the company indicated that it was “temporarily” adjusting the Galaxy Note 7 to “ensure quality and safety matters.”

According to NBC San Diego, U.S. authorities and Samsung are “investigating reports of the new Note 7 replacement smartphone catching fire, including a Samsung phone that emitted smoke and forced a Southwest Airlines flight in Kentucky to evacuate passengers.”

PLNU’s Vice President, Caye Smith said PLNU faculty has been “following news reports of the Samsung recall for some time” and that until the “Samsung recall has been completed and gives the consumer an ‘all clear’ on the device” it is banned from any PLNU campus.

On Friday, FOX 5 News San Diego was on PLNU’s campus doing a story on the school and the ban of the Galaxy Note 7 and talked to PLNU’s director of public affairs, Jill Monroe.

FOX 5 confirmed that UCSD, San Diego State and USD have no plans for banning the device on their campus’. Galaxy Note 7 holder and criminal justice senior at SDSU, Mike McQueen said “after reading the stories on the news, I won’t let my phone go in hot places or charge it and use it at the same time because it gets very hot if I do. I only use it if I need it now because I’m genuinely scared it might explode on me.” He also noted that he wished SDSU would take precautions like PLNU for their students’ safety.

Doubts have arisen about the reports of the replacement phones “blowing up” over the battery. NBC San Diego said “when it issued a global recall on Sept. 2; Samsung blamed the batteries supplied by one of its two battery suppliers and assured consumers that other parts of the smartphones were fine” though there may be something else triggering the phone according to the investigation.

Vice President Smith told The Point that there hasn’t been any harm on campus due to the Galaxy Note 7 but that a student caught with the particular device could “result in student conduct process.”