Spring break vandals surprise athletes and leave them with empty pockets

The topic of campus safety arose during the men's lacrosse team's stay on campus throughout spring break; two members had a total of $110 stolen out of their locked dorm room in South Hall, another student had $30 stolen from his room, while two more lacrosse players had an unidentified assailant attempt to break into their Gum Hall dorm room through an unlocked window at 2:30 a.m.

In a time that typically brings relaxation and enjoyment for most college students who are caught up in the mid-semester grind, neither relaxation, nor enjoyment could be used to depict some of the players' spring break.

"It's unbelievable," said sophomore lacrosse player Matt Lewis, who, along with his roommate and fellow lacrosse player, Darren Velasco, had money stolen from their locked second-story room in South Hall.

The team traveled to Dover, Del. on March 23 for a game against Wesley College. The students maintain that when they left their room at approximately 8:30 a.m., their money was safely stored in their respective desks and the lights were turned off. However, upon their return, they suspected that someone had entered the room.

"I remember when we left the room, we turned the lights off," said Velasco, "and when we came back, the lights were on. That was the first thing I noticed."

Velasco said he began to roam the room, but when he found his wallet where he had left it, he thought that nothing had been taken. Velasco and Lewis went to Taco Bell for a post-game meal. When it came time to pay the bill, Velasco opened his wallet and found that $80 was missing. The roommates rushed back to campus to search the room for Velasco's money and $30 Lewis had stashed away in the bottom drawer of his desk under some newspaper.

After tearing the room apart, the two realized they had been robbed and they called the police.

"When the police arrived they brought [campus] security with them," said Lewis. "The police turned over the case to security because it was their jurisdiction. Then security basically told us it was our word against whoever they find that stole from us."

However, with the campus population at an extreme low due to spring break - not to mention the fact that both the men's and women's lacrosse teams, the baseball team and the tennis team were traveling away for games on March 23-the suspect list was short. Furthermore, according to Lewis and Velasco, their door was shut; therefore, the culprit had to have a keycard in order to gain access.

"The only [departments] to have a master keycard are residence life, security and maintenance," said Keith Moore, associate dean of students, "and when one is lost, it is reported immediately."

A commonly used method called "dump the lock," in which a lock's random memory is examined to see the codes of who has swiped their card in a particular lock, will not be used in this investigation due to the time that has elapsed between the investigation and the incident, said Moore.

Meanwhile, the victims of the crime remain uncompensated.

"I am irate," said Lewis, "at the fact that it was obviously a VWC employee and this school isn't doing anything about it."

Meanwhile in Village II, off-campus intruders scared two roommates on March 21. At approximately 2:30 a.m., freshmen lacrosse players David Gill and Colin Davis woke up to the sound of their window blinds moving around. They saw an unidentified person attempting to climb into their room through the window. With his head and arm already through the window, Gill and Davis sprung out of their beds, yelled at the person and walked towards the window. The noise scared the assailant, causing him to hop down from the windowsill and run. Davis ran outside to see if he could catch a glimpse of the person, but he was gone.

"We immediately called security," said Gill. "Keith Moore then stopped by, asked us a few questions, looked around the room, and said, 'Keep your windows locked.'"

Moore said that in his six-year experience here, he has never had an off-campus assailant steal from or harm any of his residents.

In a situation where some students are leaving home for the first time and starting a new life here, safety is an enormous issue. Whether it is an off-campus visitor, a campus employee or a fellow classmate, residents have to trust that not only their belongings, but they too, are in good hands.

"I am suspicious of everyone," said a dejected Velasco. "I feel violated and like I have to hide all my belongings and possessions in my own room."

Moore said the standard procedure for this type of crime is to compensate the violated party. However, he continued, unless they find a good lead on the culprit, very little can be done for the victims.