Tuesday, November 26, 2002

by Pei Pei Liu
Co-Managing Editor

A suspect in the recent rash of thefts, culminating in a string of stolen
backpacks this past weekend, was apprehended in Sharples yesterday morning.

At approximately 10:30 a.m., a tip from a student alerted Public Safety of
an individual in Sharples who matched the descriptions of a suspicious
person seen in the vicinity of some of the weekend thefts. The suspect was
apprehended as he left Sharples and was taken into custody by the
Swarthmore Borough Police.

Director of Public Safety Owen Redgrave confirmed that the suspect was not
a Swarthmore student and may possibly be connected with recent thefts in
the ville. “The individual has been charged with criminal trespass [on
college property]. Other investigations are still going on. The Springfield
and Morton police departments also want to question him about some local
thefts in those areas.”

In an email sent to the college community yesterday afternoon, Redgrave
added that the individual has been formally prohibited from returning to
campus.

Over the past weekend, close to a dozen students reported their personal
bags missing from a wide variety of locations, including Sharples, McCabe,
Tarble, and LPAC. Some of the bags have been recovered, while others are
still missing.

“In some cases,” said Redgrave, “the victims found their own bags
elsewhere, usually not very far away from where they’d been taken.” Other
bags were found by fellow students or staff members and turned in to Public
Safety.

Students had been working to compile a list of missing items on the Daily
Jolt Forum in an effort to piece together the thefts and discover a pattern.

“It seemed clear with the backpacks that cash was the item of choice,” said
Redgrave. Many of the recovered bags were found with all of their contents
minus cash, wallets, or other valuables.

In addition to the bookbag thefts, four DVD players have disappeared from
Kohlberg classrooms in the past two weeks. “There were no witnesses to
those thefts,” said Redgrave. “We are looking at this suspect [apprehended
on Monday].”

Redgrave added that there were no signs of forced entry into any of the
classrooms. “With a few [of the players] we’re not sure how well-protected
they were,” he said, “but others had good physical security–it took some
doing to get them out. We’re not sure if the rooms were locked or not, but
I’m thinking probably not.”

Other recent campus thefts include a laptop stolen from a student’s room in
Willets and a CD player taken from a coat pocket behind the LPAC mainstage,
both on November 21. A student has also reported a motor scooter taken from
the Hallowell area on November 24.

“We’re not sure these are all related,” Redgrave stressed, “though I
wouldn’t dismiss the idea.”

Musical instruments have also been a prime target in recent thefts.
According to the Swarthmore Borough Police reports, eight instruments were
stolen from the Swarthmore Rutledge School between October 31 and November
11. One trumpet has since been found in the Lang Music Building on campus
and returned to its owner. Additionally, a Swarthmore student’s double bass
was taken from Lang on October 24.

Music ensemble members have already been warned to keep their instruments
attended and secured in lockers or in their rooms at all times. Regarding
these and the bookbag thefts, Redgrave said, “We’re just asking people to
be conscientious. Don’t leave your belongings out of your sight.”

The DVD player thefts, Redgrave said, “have brought up the issue of leaving
classrooms with technology unlocked. We’re not sure where that’s going to
go. We’re looking at some alarm work, and there are more options being
contemplated.”

“Public Safety is certainly scrutinizing the academic buildings, but we
always do that,” he added. “We’ll just be on our toes, making sure things
get the proper attention.”

Finally, Redgrave emphasized the importance of keeping dormitories, as well
as academic buildings, safe and secure. “Over the past weekend,” he said,
“seven dorms were found unlocked multiple times–paper had been jammed in
the locks, or the front doors were propped open. When we’re running around
trying to secure buildings after these thefts, it’s frustrating to see them
left un-secured again.”

As always, anyone with information regarding any of the thefts is
encouraged to contact Public Safety at ext. 8281.

* Tamil rebels rejected a U.S. appeal to renounce violence completely in
their struggle for an independent state in northeast Sri Lanka, although
they have put aside their weapons since a truce was enacted by both sides
in February. Anton Balasingham, negotiator for the independence
organization The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, also disputed the
inclusion of their group in Washington’s list of terrorist organizations.
Balasingham said that the violence would naturally cease once the
organizations reached a mutually agreeable conclusion. Further talks
between the government of Sri Lanka and the Tigers are scheduled for early
December.

* President Bush signed the homeland security bill on Monday, creating a
cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security, and nominated Tom Ridge,
director of the White House Office of Homeland Security, to be in charge of
the new department. Bush also nominated Navy Secretary Gordon England to be
Ridge’s deputy and DEA administrator Asa Hutchinson to be undersecretary
for border and transportation security.

* Secretary of State Colin Powell announced plans to meet with officials
from the United Nations, Russia and the European Union in December to
discuss arrangements for the creation of a Palestinian state. This “Mideast
Quartet” will continue talks that were begun in Jordan two weeks ago, with
the hope of unveiling a final proposal at the end of the session. However,
it is now unclear whether they will be able to do so, especially given the
uncertain outcome of the upcoming elections in Israel.

*****

Aikido Club Practice
Wrestling Room – Lamb-Miller Field House, 7:00 p.m.

Photo Club Movie Viewing
Kohlberg 228, 7:00 p.m.

Argentine Tango Class
Upper Tarble, 9:00 p.m.

Animal Rights Coalition Meeting
Hicks 211, 9:15 p.m.

———-
The Pendle Hill Monday Night Lecture Series “Racial Justice: Speak Truth to
Power” continues December 2nd when Frank H. Wu, professor of law at Howard
University, offers a talk on “Race in America Beyond Black & White”:
“People too often speak of ‘American’ as if it means ‘white,’ and
‘minority’ as if it means ‘black.’  But we must look beyond the black-white
dichotomy if we are to achieve a lasting racial justice.”

Arch Street Meeting House, 4th and Arch Streets in downtown Philadelphia
7:30 p.m. – Free Admission

In a game characterized by a series of back-and-forth streaks, Drew got the
ultimate upper-hand over the men’s basketball team with a 12-0 run to close
the contest out, 76-66.  Blair Haxel ’05 led the Garnet in defeat, pouring
in a career-high 19 points, while Matt Gustafson ’05 added 16 and David
Pearce ’03 chipped in 14.  With the loss, the squad is now 2-1 on the young
season.

Meanwhile, Gustafson was named the Centennial Conference Player of the Week
Monday, after his fine performance in this past weekend’s season-opening
Equinox Classic.  The sophomore forward led the Garnet to a perfect 2-0
record in the tournament, notching a career-best 33 points in Friday’s
contest against the University of Redlands and then topping the squad with
17 points in their Saturday victory over Connecticut College.  In addition
to the current conference accolades, Gustafson was named to the
competition’s All-Tournament team.

*****

Today:
Men’s swimming hosts Kutztown, 6:00 p.m.
Women’s swimming at Bryn Mawr, 6:00 p.m.
Women’s basketball at McDaniel, 7:00 p.m.

Tomorrow:
Men’s basketball at Lehigh, 7:00 p.m.

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“You don’t love a woman because she is beautiful, but she is beautiful
because you love her.”
–Anon.

*****
.
Interested in reporting or writing for the Gazette?
Got a news or sports tip for us?
Just want to tell us what you think?