For students enjoying dorm life, keeping the door open is
convenient and a gesture of hospitality.
But for Jolieba Jackson, it meant more than that ““ it cost
Jackson the brand-new iBook computer she received as a graduation
present this past summer.
Away from home, students living on their own for the first time
must cope with the challenge of managing their own safety
concerns.
Jackson, a second-year world arts and cultures student, said she
left her door cracked open one morning in late March before going
to the bathroom, where her roommate was brushing her teeth and
washing her face.
Though Jackson left the building, she believes her laptop was
stolen while her roommate was still in the bathroom, which is less
than five doors down the hall from their room in Rieber Hall.
“I flipped out. I was surprised,” Jackson said.
“I was so pissed off so I went to different floors to ask if
they’d seen anybody walk out. Nobody said
anything.”
For two weeks, Jackson used friends’ computers and campus
labs until her parents mailed her an old desktop computer.
Despite having a computer again, Jackson said much of what she
lost ““ picture files, programs and a freshly written ten-page
paper ““ couldn’t be retrieved.
Though university police notified her about a cache of stolen
laptops the department found, Jackson could not recover hers
because she did not know its serial number.
Laptop thefts on campus are common, and one way students can
protect their property is by registering computers and electronic
devices with the university police, said Nancy Greenstein,
community services director for the university police
department.
Stolen items registered with the program can be identified and
returned to owners, she added.
As a result of her experience, Jackson has been more cautious,
locking her door whether or not she is in the vicinity of her
room.
“In a place you’re supposed to feel safe, you
totally don’t. … They probably knew I had a laptop. My
wallet was out, my CDs were out. Nothing was taken except my
computer,” she said.
Philip Duldulao, a graduated microbiology student said as a
resident assistant he did not anticipate being targeted by thieves.
In mid-April, Duldulao’s $400 digital camera was taken from
his room.
“I felt safe, but obviously I was not,” he said.
Just outside the dorms lurks another breech of safety, this one
in the form of car thefts ““ a significant problem at
UCLA.
“People leave expensive-looking things in view. Somebody
passing might say, “˜I want that,'” Greenstein
said.
Greenstein added that most of what students can do to prevent
crime is common sense: noting suspicious activities, locking doors
and not leaving laptops or other personal belongings in plain
view.
Though property theft is the most common type of crime committed
at UCLA, crimes against people do occur in limited numbers.
Jack Gibbons, associate director of the Office of Residential
Life said emergency call boxes and uniformed patrol officers are
two of a number of services in existence to promote safety in the
dorms.
Despite ORL’s efforts, two incidents this past school year
left students with a heightened awareness of the dangers that
exist.
In early December of this past year, students struggled to come
to terms with a sexual assault that allegedly took place in the De
Neve housing complex. Two months later, safety concerns reentered
the spotlight, as two roommates were allegedly robbed at gunpoint
in Saxon Suites.
In response to the pair of crimes, ORL has increased the volume
of information available to students regarding their own personal
protection, Gibbons said.
“Part of what we want to do is to educate students to be
careful … to utilize their peepholes and other security-related
mechanisms.”