Do you have an iPod? How about a brand new Dell laptop? Maybe some spare cash? Well, if you don’t, you’re going to have to get them the old fashioned way.
Stealing on Fairfield Campus has become a feat that is hard to complete. Students are smartening up and protecting themselves against theft possibly more than ever.
Now is a better time than any to start thinking about protecting valuables on campus.
Tom Pellegrino, the Assistant Director of Student Activities said the heaviest activity is “at the beginning of the school year, and again at the end.”
Last year there was an outbreak of stolen laptops in Dolan and other halls and iPods are stolen around the country on a regular basis. Those are just two of the most common items stolen on campus, and they are now some of the most protected.
Pellegrino explained “students are routinely advised on steps they need to take to prevent theft” and that “The vast majority of thefts can be prevented by securing the residence.”
“I keep my iPod with me most of the time,” said Hilary Bartholomay ’08. “And I never leave it visible when I’m not around it.”
As far as breaking into unlocked rooms like during last year’s outbreak, it seems it will be more of a challenge for the have-nots to walk off with what they want.
Kara Dooley ’08, who lived in Dolan during the break-ins last year, explains how most students are using protection in all thinkable ways.
“I use a computer lock, lock my window at all times and lock my door whenever me or my roommate aren’t here,” said Dooley. “We are especially careful now because we live on the first floor, and our room is easily accessible from the window.”
Students often try to steal for the sake of notoriety.
Steve Sennett ’06 sat related a situation in which an attempted theft went bad.
“Pretty much, I wanted a big stag head,” Sennett explained. Sennett attempted to hoist the Stag Bust in the BCC off the wall for three reasons this summer.
“There’s no one ever in [the BCC] during the summer, and I thought it would be quite comedic to have a big stag head in my TH,” he said. “Plus I’d like to leave a legacy.”
Due to the campus protection against theft, his attempts were unsuccessful. “I tried to rope it from the stairwell, and lift up and hopefully it would come off the wall, but it’s apparently really stuck there.”
Obviously there are repercussions for stealing on campus and one of the worst is the revocation of on-campus housing privileges, according to Residence Life. These decisions and investigations, according to Public Safety, sometimes involve the Fairfield Police Department.
Liz Algiere ’07 painted a scenario in which she and her roommates avert theft in the apartments, a normally susceptible place to theft because of the bedroom doors that lack locks.
She said, “We put away anything valuable or breakable from our common areas into our bedrooms and then all of my roommates stay around so we can all keep an eye on the rooms to make sure no one goes into them.”
Pellegrino said “stealing is a relatively uncommon occurrence on campus.” This means that the ingenuity and teamwork students seem to be partaking in is working on campus.
Off campus, the theft situation is just as uncommon this year for the most part.
Beth Casciano ’06, a beach resident, said, “I thought that stealing was going to be more of a problem than it is. I have not heard of any stealing at the beach this year, but we do keep the locks on our bedroom doors when we are not home just in case.”
Dean of Students Mark Reed and Michael Lauzon, the Asst. Director of Public Safety, both agree the amount of theft on campus is directly related to the effort put forth by students.
“Most thefts that occur on campus are crimes of opportunity,” said Lauzon.
“While stealing is bad, what this indicates is that basic precautions such as locking doors, not leaving personal items unattended in public places, etc. can and will prevent most incidents of stealing,” said Reed.
“It’s not a matter of not trusting people but a matter of being responsible if you’re going to have nice stuff,” said Jess Fullager ’08.
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