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The Rice Thresher
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by OLIVIA ALLISON THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF Students have reported several thefts this week, including equipment from the Wiess College computer lab and $1,200 in Baker College theater money. An iMac and a printer were reported stolen from the Wiess computer lab, outgoing Wiess Macintosh representative Dalton Tomlin said. Tomlin discovered theft of the iMac, worth about $1,100, around noon Monday and reported it to the police that evening. He said the theft probably occurred over the weekend. The printer was worth about $150, Tomlin said. Neither item was locked down, and Tomlin said none of the computers in the lab are secured. Campus Police Cpl. Ken Jackson said that although the exact time of the theft is unknown, the door to the lab had been propped open from 9:30 p.m. March 15 until 8:30 a.m. March 17 and was also left open March 18 and 19. "If it was propped open during the time the computer was taken, anyone could have taken it," Jackson said. "But we can't say it was taken when the door was propped, so it could have been taken by someone with a card." Wiess was fined $100 on March 17 for "repeated proppings" of the computer lab door, Food and Housing Maintenance Manager Ken Thompson said. Thompson said Wiess had been fined for the same reason another time this year. "That $100 fine could have saved [Wiess] $1,100, but it didn't," Thompson said. "I just wish they'd pay attention when they get these fines." Wiess President Josh Katz said the card reader was problematic and that it often did not recognize students' cards. However, Thompson said Food and Housing replaced the entire card reader in October, and he believed they also replaced it in December. He said the batteries were replaced in February. "We have tested it with several cards, and you can get into that room," Thompson said. Jackson said police would use records of which cards were used to enter the room, and ask card owners if they noticed any equipment missing in order to approximate the time of the theft. New Mac representative Grant Belton said he will probably try to secure the computers in the lab within the next year. Baker College senior Alejandra Posada reported another theft Monday evening. A box containing $1,000 to $1,200, the bulk of the receipts for the Thursday to Saturday Baker Shake shows, was taken from the Baker library, Posada said. According to Baker Shake Assistant Director Andrew Lee, the cash box is usually kept in the room of either the box office manager, the house manager or the producer, but it was "an oversight" Sunday night that the box was left in the Baker library, which is always unlocked. However, he said the box was hidden with the play props, which are always stored in the Baker library. "[The box] was not in a conspicuous place that someone could have found it without looking for it," Lee, a Baker junior, said. Lee said he hopes the theft is a jack, but doubts that this is the case. Along with the theft of valuable items, police said smaller thefts have also occurred across campus. Jackson and Police Chief Bill Taylor said two bicycles and a backpack have also been stolen in the past week. The bicycles were stolen from Brown College and from Alice Pratt Brown Hall. The backpack was stolen from Sid Richardson College, after being left unattended in the college commons. Jackson said there are certain times during the year that students are less careful about securing their property: right after students move on to campus, before a long break and immediately before finals and graduation. Taylor said students need to secure their property more carefully because if a location gets a reputation as an easy target, crime will increase. "When people don't watch their property closely, it brings a criminal element," Jackson said. "At Rice, we tend to be vulnerable, and people take advantage of that." - back - |
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