Robberies raise concern

By Marcos Moreno

In recent weeks, the off-campus community has been plagued by a string of robberies. Laptops, wallets, backpacks and cell phones were taken from houses surrounding the university -- in some cases while residents were still inside.

Being robbed is more than an inconvenience. The victims have to replace the stolen items by shelling out their own cash. Plus, these days, computers and cell phones are our livelihood, storing irreplaceable photos and e-mails.

To make matters worse, the most recent series of robberies took place a week or so before finals.

Thomas DuRoss described his reaction to a house theft that occurred during dead week: "I wasn't very upset about the monetary value (of the stolen items), but the inconvenience that it put me through, for instance my books were stolen a couple days before finals week," DuRoss said.

His backpack, cell phone and wallet were stolen from his room while he showered down the hall.

But can we chalk this all up to carelessness? You might think that if people are foolish enough to leave their door unlocked that they deserve to be robbed. I disagree.

When a crime like this happens, it isn't right to blame the victim. Just because you can't see the future doesn't mean you had it coming. As DuRoss explains, "who thinks to hide their wallet and phone and backpack when they go to take a shower in their own house in the middle of the day?"

And for those of you living on campus who feel like this can't happen to you, I've got news: it can. About a year ago, junior John Sabine, then a Swig resident, had his laptop, digital camera and DVDs stolen from his dorm room on the eve of his Thanksgiving break.

"I blame myself. I should have just locked my door," Sabine said. But sometimes it's not always as simple as taking extra precautions.

Eric Gotthelf, DuRoss' roommate who had his laptop stolen, took precautions before leaving his room on the day of the robbery. "It was in the middle of the day; my roommate was in the shower -- I had my laptop locked to my desk."

But in Gotthelf's case, his lock was broken off his desk when the thief took his computer. Despite the hefty security effort, Gotthelf was still victimized.

With crimes of this nature, it's unlikely that the stolen property is returned. So the best thing anyone can do to recover from such a violation is to cut their losses and be more careful in the future. But how far can you take it? Locks? Alarms? The best way to combat something like this is for students to look out for each other. This could happen to anyone, and it's our responsibility to make sure it doesn't.

Marcos Moreno is a junior English major.