By Ashley Arseneau | Editor-in-Chief
As some of you may already know, Jamie Hayes, MWCC student, recently had her jacket stolen while on campus leaving the area and jacket for a minute. Also taken was money she had earned working. Hayes is not the only person to suffer what the Campus police refer to as a “crime of opportunity”. According to www.collegestudentsafety.com 80% of crimes reported on college campuses are property crimes. Property crime includes theft, arson, and vandalism. According to Karen Kolimaga, MWCC Chief of Police, there were 16 reported on campus larcenies in 2009 and there are 6 on campus larcenies to date for 2010 alone.
To be honest Hayes should not have left her jacket unattended on campus. However, that still does not justify the loss of her jacket and money. No one, no matter how badly in need should be able to just steal something from someone else. Hayes filed a report with the campus police but her jacket and money still have not been found
Students at MWCC should not have to feel the need to take all of their belongings to the bathroom with them. We should be able to trust our fellow students not to take our belongings for a few minutes of time. But sadly the reality is that we have no real person to blame besides the thief themselves and us for allowing our property to be stolen.
Being a college student is not as easy as it looks from the outside, one must worry about everything from keeping up with assignments and studying to working and having enough money to stay in school. Also, being in community college and commuting to school, we do not have dorm rooms to leave our things in for parts of the day so we carry a lot. Laptops, wallets full of what little money we have, and jackets in the winter months. While not in class it can be a hassle to carry around everything people have to everywhere they go. When just getting up to get a drink or go to the bathroom no one wants to pack up and carry all of their stuff It is too much of a hassle just to go right back to that same spot a few minutes later. The only real way to avoid on campus theft is to leave your belongings with a friend or bring as little as possible to school each day and bring it with you everywhere, as annoying as it may be.
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