Tuesday, March 6, 1984/The Battaiion/Page 3
Property theft
Students, staff victimized by 'opportunistic' thieves
1ENT
By SARAH OATES
Stall Writer
Riow often have you left your back-
pat k or purse out on a desk or in a hall-
wa\ for “just a moment” while you
ducked into the bathroom or ran out to
your ear? If you’ve returned to find
your backpack where you left it with
ydtir belongings accounted for, you’re
one of the lucky few.
■Too often, people with an “it won’t
happen to me,” attitude become victims
of property crime, one of the worst
problems at Texas A&M.
■The rate of violent crime at Texas
A&M is low; in the past year there were
|| reported murders, rapes or robberies
oft campus. However, the rate of prop-
e*v theft here is increasing each year.
■“People are victimized by careles-
|mss,” said Bob Wiatt, director of secu-
ritvand traffic for the University Police.
“They don’t realize that thieves are op
portunists.”
■University Police regularly make pre-
saitations to students warning them to
be careful with their belongings, but
Wuit said students and staff members
don i seem to take the problem seriously
ujuil they are directly affected.
■“We try like evangelists to spread the
mi -age,” he said, “but unfortunately,
oui words fall on deaf ears.”
■ Individual officers make presenta-
tiffins about crime prevention to various
■ganhations and to dorm residents
attiiut six to 10 times every month. Wiatt
makes six or seven major speeches about
crime prevention each year, usually to
th versity newcomers, such as incoming
fcshmtn, new resident advisors, the
on ps of Cadets and students living of f-
ctjmpus. Pamphlets about crime preven
tion also are available at the University
Police Department.
Wiatt said students are the most fre
quent victims of property crimes and
wallets, backpacks and bicycles are
among the most common objects stolen.
Cars and computers are usually the most
expensive objects stolen.
Wiatt said most thefts occur because
people are careless and building security
is poor. University police periodically
make building security checks with the
building proctors to point out vulnera
ble areas. Building proctors are respon
sible for security.
“We find hundreds of doors open
each month as we patrol the buildings,”
he said. “There’s a lapse between our
pointing out a security vulnerability and
people implementing better security
measures.”
Wiatt said that burglaries often occur
because building keys fall into the wrong
hands. For example, he said an em-
t doyee might have a copy of a building
:ey made up for a spouse.
“Pretty soon, there’s hundreds of keys
floating around,” he said. “That is naive
te.”
He said the risk of computer thefts
could be diminished if commercial de
vices to “preclude theft susceptibility”
were used, such as cables that lock a
computer to the desk it sits on.
“The University will spend thousands
of dollars to buy a computer,” he said,
“but they won’t spend a couple hundred
extra to secure them.”
The computers stolen from the
Blocker Building last week were not se
cured. In 1983, computer equipment va
lued at $20,709 was stolen from the Uni
versity, and in the first two months of
1981, equipment valued at $16,031 has
been stolen.
“No security devices were attached to
any of these computers,” he said.
“When everybody knows everybody
else’s combinations, it rips security
apart,” he said, “People in their little
neophyte protective shells don’t realize
there are people out there doing these
things, so we have a horrendous amount
of property theft.”
Property theft on campus has in
creased since last year. University Police
recorded 439 separate property thefts
for the academic year from September
1982 to February 1983, a total value of
$99,902 in stolen items. For the entire
year, that valuejumped to $225,425.
From September 1983 to February
1984, 468 separate property losses were
recorded, the total valued at $174,253.
Burglaries accounted for $62,845, thefts
accounted for $72,608 and vehicle thefts
amounted to $38,800.
Wiatt said there are several “com-
mmon sense” measures students can
lake to protect themselves against prop
erty crime:
• Don’t leave personal belongings
unattended in public places
• Lock your doors and keep track of
your keys.
• Mark all valuable items with your
driver’s license number. This can be
done either with engraving or indelible
ink. The University Police Department
has engravers available to students.
• Conduct a burglary prevention sur
vey of your dorm room or apartment.
Look for ways to improve lighting and
eliminate potential hiding places.
• Don’t leave anything valuable in
your car and make sure doors are locked
and windows rolled up when you leave.
• Register bicycles with the Univer
sity Police Department and lock bicycles
to racks with locks and chains.
• Report suspicious activity.
Bilingual schooling endorsed
United Press International
AUSTIN — The state direc
tor of the nation’s largest His
panic organization Monday en
dorsed mandatory bilingual
education for kindergarteners
as a step toward improving the
education of Hispanics in
Texas.
School districts must imple
ment bilingual education begin
ning in the first grade but have
the option of whether to offer it
in kindergarten.
Correction
An article in Monday’s Bat
talion incorrectly reported that
Sul Ross scholarships for Corps
of Cadets members are worth
$15,000. The two-year schol
arships are now $2,000, or $500
per semester. Beginning this
fall, Sul Ross scholarships will
be $2,400, or $600 per semes
ter. The $15,000 figure is how
much it costs to endow the
scholarships. The Battalion re
grets the error.
Johnny Mata, state director
of the League of United Latin
American Citizens, said the op
tion gave some students an un
fair advantage over others.
“Participation by a child who
needs such instruction should
not have to depend on which
district that child resides in,”
Mata said at a Capitol news con
ference.
“Implementation of this pro
gram on a mandatory basis will
save taxpayer dollars in the long
run by accelerating the process
of learning English and short
ening the time period necessary
for a complete and successful
transitional bilingual education
course of instruction for each
child.”
Mata also called for higher
pay for science, math and bil
ingual education teachers to al
leviate teacher shortages in
those subjects-
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March 19&20
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bemctyel bows to Syrians
Lebanon cancels accord
ihinited Press International
BEIRUT — President Amin
bowing to Syrian de
mands, canceled the May 17
Ke accord with Israel Mon-
lay md agreed to form a na-
^Nal unity government to give
Mjllems a broader role in rul-
ywy ngtebanon.
,‘Tl'l In other action, unidentified
■men shot and wounded a
J.S. Marine colonel on the wa-
erfront near Beirut’s U.S. Em-
asjy, and attackers in a speed-
Wy mgpr fired a rocket-propelled
;renade at French troops, kill-
. a gU French peacekeeper. Is-
U’*’" -aeli warplanes also staged twin
ir strikes on suspected Pales-
fin guerrilla bases in the
tountains southeast of Beirut.
Ill Jerusalem, Israeli Prime
ilinister Yitzhak Shamir con-
tepRined the abrogation of the
fit)id as a “death sentence to
Lebanese independence and
sovereignty” and vowed Israel
would decide “the best ways” to
guard against terrorism in
southern Lebanon.
Israeli troops invaded Leb
anon on June 6, 1982, to oust
Palestine Liberation Organiza
tion guerrillas from its northern
border.
Syrian Prime Minister Abdel
Rauf Qasm gloated in Damas
cus that his government has
“convinced America and Israel
that Syria is a mighty roadblock
that cannot be trespassed eas-
ily.”
Despite a truce arranged
Sunday, artillery and mortar
shells slammed into east Beirut,
killing at least one person and
wounding seven others in spill
over fighting from the “green
line” dividing Christian east
from Moslem west Beirut.
Scattered fighting between
Lebanon’s warring factions also
shook the Shouf mountain vil
lage of Souk el Gharb, a key
army outpost guarding the ap
proach to Gemayel’s presi
dential palace.
Even before cancellation of
the Lebanese-Israeli accord was
formally announced, witnesses
said, they saw angry Christian
residents ripping up posters of
Gemayel that line the streets of
east Beirut.
Syrian President Hafez Assad
and his rebel Moslem allies had
demanded the accord be
scrapped as a condition for a
cease-fire in Beirut and a re
sumption of national reconcilia
tion talks aimed at broadening
the Moslem role in Gemayel’s
minority Christian government.
In a long-awaited meeting,
Gemayel and Cabinet ministers
agreed to cancel the May 17
accord, reopen national recon
ciliation talks in Switzerland
and form a new government of
national unity.
Chefik Mneimne, secretary
general of the 10-man caretaker
Cabinet that resigned Feb. 5,
formally announced abrogation
of the agreement in a statement
carried by Beirut radio.
Mneimne said the Cabinet
considered the U.S.-mediated
accord, which was never rati
fied, “void as if it never existed
and agreed to the cancellation
of everything depending on it.”
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