Too many thefts at Williams

[thinkingoutloud]

<p>From the Williams Record:

First-years, particularly those living in Williams Hall, are reporting higher-than-usual levels of theft this year. Cash and wallets have been the most commonly stolen items, followed by digital cameras, iPods and Xboxes. Campus theft on the whole has not increased.</p>

<p>In seemingly isolated incidents this fall, $548 in cash and a lockbox filled with $1300 worth of valuables were stolen from Williams Hall. In just four days at the beginning of January, Campus Safety and Security received four reports from Williams Hall of stolen wallets or cash. After speaking with students, Security learned that additional thefts occurred in the same area that weekend.

</p>

<p>Williams has a good honor code, but when compared to several other LACs, Williams’ honor code is not always held in as high regard. There are several LACs where you can leave you wallet on the floor and no other student will touch it. You can take your exams at any time in any place because you are trusted not to cheat. If there is one area where Williams gets a grade of 90 instead of a 100, it is with its honor code. It is tough to say that more emphasis on its honor code would have prevented these thefts, but it couldn’t have hurt.</p>

[A.S.A.P]

<p>It only takes one bad apple.</p>

[renja888]

<p>There are some pertinent parts to the Record article that were not posted by thinkingoutloud.</p>

<p>Williams students take the Honor Code very seriously. We live in a community based on trust, and it is sad that someone in the community has taken advantage of that trust. If you go on to read the rest of the article, security stated that it was probably the cause of one person. Also, the rest of the article points out that almost all of these thefts occurred in unlocked common areas. In addition to that, those thefts occurred during Winter Study, a time in which there is a great influx of outside visitors to campus. Some/ one of these visitors may not have had the respect of the Honor Code that students have. Theft is generally not a problem at Williams, and neither is trust. Most common rooms are unlocked for precisely that reason, that everyone trusts each other. </p>

<p>Hope that helps.</p>

[thinkingoutloud]

<p>

There are some pertinent parts to the Record article that were not posted by thinkingoutloud.

I could not post the entire article for fear of offending the moderators. If you post an entire article, the head of the moderator who discovers it begins spinning and spinning faster and faster until his eye bug out and, then his head explodes. It is difficult to remove the debris from your computer screen.</p>

[adummb05]

<p>I have to say that was really funny.</p>

[Akino]

<p>i’d like to put this in context. My door has been open for the last 6 months. Yeh, and everything is still here. But seriously, it’s prob. just one guy and if you lock your door and don’t put anything valuable in the common room you won’t have problems. People who get stuff stolen are usually careless, leaving a $300 digital cam in the common room just sitting there isn’t very smart–stuff like that. I think that the reason why so much stuff got stolen recently is because people become too careless just because they’re in Williamstown. I mean, you have thieves everywhere, but because Williamstown is soo…safe, i guess people just let down their guard and then you have all these thefts. That’s my guess.</p>

[noah40day]

<p>Usc had a pilot program for student safes last year. They invited 4 companies to install their product and let the students decide what they liked. University safe co was the overwhelming choice. The safe mounts on the wall and looks like a corkboard-mirror, only 5’ deep. it has a mail slot and you can recharge laptops and cell phones while locked inside. they offered to install these for $105.00 per student per year. it can be seen at notebooksafe.com</p>