Theft in undergrad residences

[dr_dre]

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I keep hearing that the biggest problem with undergrad residences these days is theft. Although I'm well past my freshman days I have 3 family members going off to undergrad this fall.

Personally, I never saw this going on at my school. Just wondering what others have experienced and what words of wisdom I can pass onto my cousins - besides the obvious "lock your door".

 

[63768]

never happened to me, but i was one to lock my stuff up anyway.

 

[CptCrunch]

I left one of those pop-up hampers in the laundry room one time and someone swiped it.

 

[ChymeChancellor]

My TI-83 was stolen... 😴

 

[MossPoh]

I've heard of people that leave for holidays and assumed a roomie was locking up only to have all their crap stolen. Parties I've had a handle of liquor stolen..but considering it was an 8 dollar handle of vodka which was half done the damage wasn't that bad. I am more worried about drunken idiots destroying stuff more than anything...

 

[sentry]

I am more worried about drunken idiots destroying stuff more than anything...

Yeah, I locked my room out of fear of the party spilling in, not because I was worried about theft. I'd say you have to kind of play it by ear -- if most people leave their doors open and are around, then I doubt anyone will have the opportunity to take anything, but if people are usually in their rooms with the door shut, then you should definitely lock up everytime you leave. Also, don't leave valuables in plain sight -- my roommate always left his wallet and watch in plain sight on his desk and wouldn't lock the door -- I'm sure a lot of theft isn't planned out, but is just the result of someone entering an unlocked room and seeing valuables lying about. If your family members have common sense, it shouldnt be a problem for the most part.

 

[Dr. Pepper]

If those bastards go as far as LOOKING at my pack of gum, there's going to be some serious repurcussions. I'm not afraid to go back to jail.
-Dr. P.

 

[baylormed]

I've never heard (in my dorm) of anything disappearing. I've never had anything stolen from me.

As a matter of fact, when it rained, we usually left our umbrellas and shoes in the hall so they would dry before bringing them into the room, and not once did they disappear. Sometimes we wouldn't even lock our door (this was freshman year, you bet I always lock it now just for safety) and nothing ever happened.

But I do go to a Christian private school in Texas, so most of the people don't really NEED to steal or they just won't.

( One time I did have my bike seat -- yeah, just the seat 😕 --stolen overnight but it was because I left it parked on a random street. )

😍

 

[leahmaria]

last year people ate my food out of the lounge freezer...who does that??

 

[crazy_cavalier]

last year people ate my food out of the lounge freezer...who does that??

I don't think "major" thefts normally happen. Like other people mention, it's the little **** that's not very important (e.g. consumable foods/drinks) that typically get pilfered. I *always* left my dorm room unlocked and never had any problems. Then again, the "honor code" at my undergrad was a big thing, and the caliber of students was such that I could trust most everyone.

 

[leahmaria]

I don't think "major" thefts normally happen. Like other people mention, it's the little **** that's not very important (e.g. consumable foods/drinks) that typically get pilfered. I *always* left my dorm room unlocked and never had any problems. Then again, the "honor code" at my undergrad was a big thing, and the caliber of students was such that I could trust most everyone.

I have had pretty much the same experience at my school...the food out of the freezer thing surprised me though

 

[crazy_cavalier]

I have had pretty much the same experience at my school...the food out of the freezer thing surprised me though

Yeah one time someone (or maybe some people) stole 3 slices of pizza from my pizza box that I had put in a communal refrigerator. I duct-taped that mf'er shut, and labelled it all over the place as non-communal / property of <my name>. Yet one day later, bam. 3 Slices missing.

It pissed me off, but the lesson was learned. If you want to put something in a communal refrigerator, you need to get a lock-box for it.

 

[MossPoh]

Well my roomie is a bouncer with a permit to carry his glock at all times.......if anyone comes in here while we're here I am afraid I might have to pay for carpet replacement by the apartment people.

 

[Kuba]

i never lock my door... havent for the past 3 years, no problems

 

[SoCuteMD]

I don't think "major" thefts normally happen. Like other people mention, it's the little **** that's not very important (e.g. consumable foods/drinks) that typically get pilfered. I *always* left my dorm room unlocked and never had any problems. Then again, the "honor code" at my undergrad was a big thing, and the caliber of students was such that I could trust most everyone.

Hmmmm...I'm wondering if we went to the same school. Although judging by your username we didn't.

Anyway, my undergrad was much the same story. Strong honor code meant you could leave stuff anywhere and not have to worry. I never locked my dorm room door unless I was leaving for more than a night, and I only locked it then because usually other people were going to be gone as well and so the dorm would be pretty empty.

 

[astrife]

The number of people who go to college has increased dramatically over the years. Therefore college is less of a social filter for the "shady" people as it used to be 30 years ago. That's probably why the OP didn't see much of this in his days.

I go to a really small LAC, and for the most part we don't have a problem with theft. However, sometimes when we have parties another college's students from across town like to show up and it's pretty common for many things to be broken and stolen if you're not careful.

Making sure stuff doesn't get stolen is relatively easy if you just make a pact with your roomate that everytime you leave your room you need to lock it up. Common sense is your best friend in this situation

 

[leesh]

one year a theif took laptops from 3 different rooms on 1 floor. man, that would have sucked.

 

[BlackBantie]

We used to have a problem with laundry theft. Some girls with pricey label jeans would have them stolen occasionally when they were in the washer or dryer.

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

I lived with some football players and 3 of my 4 xbox controllers somehow "disappeared", along with my headphones and a lot of my food. I got pwned.

 

[MossPoh]

We used to have a problem with laundry theft. Some girls with pricey label jeans would have them stolen occasionally when they were in the washer or dryer.

Yea..somebody stole not 1, not 2, not 3, not even 4, but 5 pairs of panties from my friend's laundry. That isn't just creepy perv..that is a whole new level.

 

[baylormed]

O I forgot....someone did steal a half-eaten pint of chocolate ice cream I had put in the communal fridge in my hall.

I was so mad! I was deprived of my daily dose of chocolate 😡 .

I say, next time, put laxatives in whatever you leave in there, and you'll be able to hear the thief (or smell him/her) from rooms away. The only down is you won't be able to eat your own food either. But at least you'll make them think twice about stealing again.


_______________________________

 

[MinnyGophers]

last year people ate my food out of the lounge freezer...who does that??

I don't think it's that surprising... there are tons of people in a dorm, and stuff left in a communal fridge/freezer, especially with no name on it, is bound to "disappear"... we always had a bunch of drunk people / asshats going through the fridges, and no one ever left anything in there except food that wasn't directly consummable..

 

[MinnyGophers]

O I forgot....someone did steal a half-eaten pint of chocolate ice cream I had put in the communal fridge in my hall.

I was so mad! I was deprived of my daily dose of chocolate 😡 .

I say, next time, put laxatives in whatever you leave in there, and you'll be able to hear the thief (or smell him/her) from rooms away. The only down is you won't be able to eat your own food either. But at least you'll make them think twice about stealing again.


_______________________________

That's brilliant

 

[geno2568]

I left one of those pop-up hampers in the laundry room one time and someone swiped it.

same thing happened to me

 

[akinf]

Some dingus stole my nice black plates...I was angry!!!!

 

[akinf]

My TI-83 was stolen... 😴

Why do yo have a TI-83 in university?

 

[baylormed]

Why do yo have a TI-83 in university?

Do not mess with the TI-83. 😡

It got me through college. And in case you're wondering, I did just fine and I still have it.

😎

 

[akinf]

Do not mess with the TI-83. 😡

It got me through college. And in case you're wondering, I did just fine and I still have it.

😎

Our school has a policy AGAINST programmable calcs. to prevent cheating. I just didn't think universities allowed calculators with such capabilities.

 

[baylormed]

^^^^^^

It depends on the professor.

Some don't care, because even if you program it, unless you know what formula to use and how to use it you'll get the problem wrong anyway (and some will ask you to show your work, even if you use the calculator, thereby eliminating some of the problems)

My physics professor, however, didn't allow ANY calculators (not even non-programmable ones), so we had to do all of our exam calculations by hand.

Some will ask to erase the memory before every exam (my chem professor did this one by one, believe it or not).

Plus, the TI-83 isn't as advanced in "cheating-software" as others, like TI-86 and TI-89.

PS: I actually thought you were making fun of TI-83's because they're not TI-86 or 89's. 🙂

 

[leahmaria]

i love my 86...

our university has a policy against cheating

 

[crazy_cavalier]

I had an 83 AND an 89. One time I found an 83+ that was left behind in a computer lab. I didn't touch it, but noticed that for two weeks, it remained in the computer lab. I sent out numerous emails, numerous times, that a TI-83+ was just sitting in this lab, unclaimed. No responses. A week later, it was still there. Even something that was screaming, "STEAL ME!" wasn't stolen

BTW 83 and 89 was allowed on most of my engineering exams, except for the classes that were straight-up applied math. Trust me, they are not going to solve the ordinary differential equations on the higher-level eng. problems that we had, and even if they could, the bigger problem was figuring out how to set those equations up. Also, the honor code was assumed in effect so cheating via programming was highly taboo (I don't even know anyone who did that kind of thing 😱 )

 

[akinf]

I know at some schools you are required to get specific calcs. They are usually really basic and only relatively simple calculations can be performed. For most of our math classes we are not allowed to use calcs. period. I haven't taken any higher level math, so I do not know. I may have to use a calc. for some classes this year, but I'm pretty sure I won't be allowed to use a graphing calculator.

 

[DrBowtie]

TI-89 is the only way to go. 83 is for HS.

As for theft, as a college student the most valuable thing you have is probably your laptop and XBox/PS2. You can get a laptop loc thing for real cheap to keep it from walking off.

I never had a problem myself though.

 

[crazy_cavalier]

TI-89 is the only way to go. 83 is for HS.

As for theft, as a college student the most valuable thing you have is probably your laptop and XBox/PS2. You can get a laptop loc thing for real cheap to keep it from walking off.

I never had a problem myself though.

I have and always will prefer my TI-83 for the statistics package. 😛 I use the muscles of the 89 for the more advanced features (rotating 3D plots is very important stuff 😀 ), but in general I stick with the 83 for most other things.

I disagree - the most valuable thing as a student is your identity. Protect anything that has your name, address, SSN, back acct, credit card #, signature, etc. Laptop/computer would be second, so yeah lock that and guard it too.

Being as the crowd is premed, I'm willing to wager that class notes is probably the 3rd most important thing

 

[iheartrain]

Some dude that was on staff at my dorm (peer advisor? RA? I don't remember, but a senior) was caught sneaking into a student's room and stealing his clothes (several times)- then he wore them around the dorm. He was a super student that won all sorts of awards (the thief) and went to a top med school the next year. I still can't believe this guy is going to be a dr.

 

[bodhisattva]

Some dude that was on staff at my dorm (peer advisor? RA? I don't remember, but a senior) was caught sneaking into a student's room and stealing his clothes (several times)- then he wore them around the dorm. He was a super student that won all sorts of awards (the thief) and went to a top med school the next year. I still can't believe this guy is going to be a dr.

That's just weird. And kind of lazy. I mean, stealing used clothes? And from someone you know? And then wearing it so that person would see you and can say, "Hey, that dude's wearing my clothes!" 😕

Oh, and not to mention stealing is so wrong.

 

[MicroBugs]

Was never a victim of any theft, but we did have a rash while I was a soph and junior. People snuck into first floor rooms when the windows were left unlocked. Some people managed to get in during breaks and such, even though our tiny campus completely goes on lockdown during breaks. It happens. Mostly laptops and such...


...I love my 83, had an 89 but the 83 was so much more user friendly, plus the 89 crapped out...

 

[SBBunny]

A good friend of mine lived in a dorm where, over winter break, some of the RESIDENTIAL STAFF (i.e. had keys to the rooms) came into rooms and swiped iPods and laptops. His iPod was stolen (they left his heavy desktop computer alone).