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The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) will from the next academic year blacklist registered private hostels which fail to provide adequate security for students living in them or guarantee their safety, Professor William Otoo Ellis, the Vice-Chancellor has hinted. Owing to the seemingly intractable problem of inadequate accommodation facilities on campus, a sizeable percentage of the University�s student population currently live off-campus in a large portfolio of private hostels dotted on the fringes of the University campus. But recent reported cases of thefts, assaults and armed attacks on students in some of the private hostels are creating a lot of anxiety and insecurity among the university authorities and the student body. Reacting to some security concerns raised recently by a section of the students, Professor Ellis told the The Times newspaper that it was the duty of owners of private hostels to provide maximum security for students residing in their facilities. �This has been made clear and drummed home to private hostel owners at a recent meeting between them, the University management and the student leadership and they can�t run away from it�, he stated. The Vice-Chancellor described reports of rising spate of attacks of students even in their rooms at the private hostels as very worrying and asked hostel owners to do their very best to ensure the safety of the students and their property. �As a university�, Professor Ellis said, � we need to support our students but our jurisdiction doesn�t go beyond the borders of the university so if the situation persists we will have no other alternative than to black-list private hostels which are unable to guarantee the safety and free movement of students living in them during the next academic year�. He disclosed that the University administration had instituted a number of security measures to improve the general security situation on the campus and its immediate environs with the goal of protecting life and property. As part of the measures, Prof. Ellis said, a refurbished 4x4 Landcruiser vehicle had been procured for the university Police station to facilitate regular police patrols of the University and its fringe communities to help check crime. Besides, well planned military and Police interventions, the University�s Security Unit had also introduced escort services for students on campus, particularly during the night, the Vice Chancellor added.