RASH OF COMPUTER THEFTS PLAGUES CAMPUS

Inside Job Suspected

By: Jenniffer Efthymious

Posted: 9/1/08

Over the course of this past summer a series of robberies took place on Lehman's campus and an estimated $50,000 worth of computer equipment was stolen. The Art Department, the Department of Biological Sciences, and Campus Life were all victims of the continuous blaze of laptop and computer thefts. All the stolen equipment had been stored in locked cabinets and secured behind locked doors. None of the incidents reported exhibited any signs of forced entry, except for the damage to the cabinets.

"It's unacceptable," said Michael Sullivan, Director of Campus Life. "It's reasonable to assume that this was an inside job."

On June 8, the Department of Biological Sciences was the first to be robbed. An astounding $30,000 in laptop computers are now gone.

"Fifteen laptops were stolen from an alarmed and secured room in Davis Hall," said Professor Joseph W. Rachlin, chair of the department. He added, "Whoever took the computers out of Room 335 had to have an access code and a key, They had to have disengaged the alarm and then proceeded to break into a large storage case which was double locked."

By mid-June the Art Department was hit. The list of stolen items included seven brand new iMacs, one personal laptop, one projector, and a monitor, totaling over $10,000 worth of equipment. The seven iMacs were intended to replace some of the older models in the Art Department's computer lab this fall. The lack of technology causes a problem for the department because there weren't enough computers available to begin with.

"Our instructors are going to be competing for this lab," said David Schwittek, the department's lab technician. "We're upset because it affects our teaching ability."

On July 3, Campus Life (The Student Life Building) became the third casualty when 11 laptops were stolen. These laptops were also stored in locked cabinets and rooms, where the suspect(s) would have needed a key code to enter the room. The value of the stolen property is estimated at $14,000.

Now that 18 laptops have been stolen from the SLB clubs, they will have less access to computers since they do not have PC's in their clubrooms.

"Campus Life should be getting ten new laptops in the near future, which would have given them more laptops for borrowing captivity, but now student clubs will be competing for the ten," said Sullivan.

Although the laptops in the Department of Biological Sciences were five years old, students used them daily for papers and projects. The department was hoping to get new ones in the near future.

In one of the thefts at Davis Hall a laptop that was glued to a podium was stolen. One source, who requested anonymity, said that the impudent robberies are not something that started this summer. Last spring an overhead projector was stolen from none other than the president's boardroom. The thief brazenly left his dusty footprint on the board table.

Domenick A. Laperuta, director of public safety, was unavailable for comment due to the pending investigation but did issue a statement: "With regard to the recent rash of thefts of laptop computers and projectors, we suspect that these thefts are internal or outsiders in concert with an internal thief. This suspicion is based on entries into rooms with a key, not forced, and the disarming of alarm systems by someone who has the code."

Laperuta noted that separate alarm codes are given to department's staff and to Public Safety supervisors. Public Safety, along with the NYPD are investigating, collecting evidence and viewing tapes of the crime scenes.

In order to deter further thefts the security department is working with the NYPD in an effort called "Operation Laptop." NYPD logos will be placed on the equipment warning that it is registered with the NYPD and serialized with hidden numbers. "Tie-down" cables, alarm systems, and "shock alarms" that sound off when agitated are to be utilized as well.

The school's administrative personnel are in disagreement about how to address the issue. Sullivan believed that Lehman should offer a monetary reward in the hope that someone will come forward with information.

But Rachlin disagreed noting, "This is not the first time that computers or projectors have been stolen from this campus."

Unlike the administrators in Campus Life, the directors in the Art Department and the Department of Biological Science said that Public Safety has not given them any update on a suspect or on the pending investigation. The two departments have not yet been told if their equipment will be replaced.

"We have received no notification or update regarding this theft, or if there are any suspects," said Prof. Rachlin.

"If we can't teach our students on these machines how can we put our students in the job market?" asked David Gillison, acting chair of the Art Department. "Computer software requires high performance machines and we are not going to have any."