CAITLIN WHITE
Staff Writer
Public Safety statistics show that Pepperdine has a safe campus. For instance, in the 2004, there were only 19 burglaries in the entire year, compared to LMU, which had 33.
Yet even on the most safe of campuses, crimes still occur.
The three primary targets have been the School of Law, the Athletics Department and the Communication and Business divisions.
In May, two computers were stolen from the law school. A few days later, one of the computers was returned “undamaged and intact” according to Phillip Bohl, associate director of information services for the School of Law.
Also reported to Public Safety was an incident that involved stolen equipment from the Athletics Department. The initial report said $14,000 in equipment was stolen July 21st.
Athletic Director Dr. John Watson declined to comment on the thefts. No information has been released about the perpetrator(s) or their status..
The CCB was the third target of burglary. An ongoing investigation has kept the specifics of the stolen equipment under wraps.
No information has been released about any suspects. However, it is known that some of what was stolen was expensive broadcast equipment used by the telecommunications programs. Dr. Robert Chandler, chair of the Communication Division reports the telecommunication programs are fully functional.
“All of our fall classes and co-curricular productions schedules are operating normally,” he said, “The main impact in the short run is that we have less equipment for students to use while engaging in their experiential learning activities related to courses or co-curricular programs.”
As far as replacing the equipment in the Center for Communication and Business, nothing has been purchased yet, but plans are in the process of formulation.
“We are still analyzing usage needs to determine if the remaining equipment will be sufficient for the short term,” Chandler said, “We will move to ensure that we have all the tools necessary for student learning. Events like this disrupt our longer term planning process, and replacing items is often not the wisest stewardship of resources.”
The CCB and Public Safety have been working together to protect valuable machinery through increased security measures.
Deputy Director of Public Safety Robert McKelvy encourages students to keep their own belongings safe.
“Opportunity theft is the most prevalent crime on any college campus, McKelvy said, “Victims sometimes report that they left only for a minute, and came back to find their property gone.”
As far as catching the thieves of these specific crimes, McKelvy encourages the community to become involved. Students with information are asked to call Public Safety at ext. 4441, or anonymously through the Wave Tip Line at ext.7634.
09-07-2006