Totally lame!

Posted by: jdk on May 25, 2009

Jeez, and you're almost out of there too...

Posted by: Mike on May 25, 2009

Really sorry to hear that. Thank goodness you turned in your thesis.

Posted by: Stacy on May 25, 2009

awww that sucks... right when you're graduating!?

Posted by: David '13 on May 25, 2009

...oops!

Posted by: 0 on May 25, 2009

What a douche move. Students should be expelled for doing things such as that.

Posted by: Justin '13 on May 25, 2009

Hi Lulu,

My kid's laptop was taken from her East Campus dorm room finals week. When she called campus police, they said there was a campus wide emergency and couldn't respond right away. It turned out to be a car chase. I guess it was way more exciting than respondong promptly to a freaked out student trying to keep calm before finals.

I am very sorry it happened to you too. I don't know whether two thefts in one place constitutes a trend, but I wish campus police had been more responsive to my kid. Perhaps you'd still have your laptop if they were.

So sorry, and congratulations graduating.

Posted by: Munroe Mom on May 25, 2009

That sucks! I'd die.

@Munroe Mom
It's not an EC trend, it's a college dorm thing. I'm sure there have been laptop thefts at all the dorms (at least according to the police logs). It just happens more often during cleanout since parents and helpers are shipping stuff out for kids. It also happens more during CPW (when all the doors are open) and orientation (when all the doors are open). Throughout the year it's pretty good though.

Posted by: Snively on May 25, 2009

o_o I guess when I live in your room next year I'll be keeping the door closed more... x_x

or installing some leet system to attack intruders. actually, that sounds like a fun summer project...

Posted by: cristen on May 25, 2009

"Campus police has been thusfar unhelpful as usual in locating the perpetrators."

I understand that you're frustrated that your laptop was stolen.

I just wanted to put my 2 cents in, and comment that the MIT police has been very helpful to me on many occasions. They even gave me a ride to Boston a couple of time, when I stayed too late on campus doing problem sets.

Was your computer registered with the MIT police?

Posted by: Current '11 on May 25, 2009

This is the second time this has happened on my hall this semester. I don't know about other dorms, but it is definitely way too common of an issue in East Campus.

First time, a couple of kids on hall actually saw the thieves run out w/ the laptop, they chased them and took down their license plate number, and when they contacted campus police with this information, they were told that the laptop has "probably been pawned off by then" and there was nothing to be done. Now, I'm not sure if I have a misconception as to the job of police officers, so correct me if I'm wrong. It's my impression though, that, as well as offering rides to kids who stay out too late doing psets, their job is to go after crooks. When a laptop has been "pawned off", is their job finished?

The past two days I've gotten more lectures about growing up and getting used to the "real world" than offers of assistance from the campus cops. Now, I know, in order of influence as to the way the events unfolded, it goes something like 1) thieves 2) me, in terms of not hiding my valuables well and leaving my door unlocked. But it is still 100% the fault of the crooks and 0% the fault of the victim. It doesn't make them less culpable to catch the bad guys that I could have been more careful with storing my things.

Posted by: lulu on May 25, 2009

Did you try the Cambridge or State police? They may be more useful or equally useless, but... if you have a license plate number, they may be willing to do something. :/

Best of luck.

Posted by: Cam on May 25, 2009

How horrible and extremely unfortunate. Are these crooks other students, perhaps? :-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Michael Plasmeier '13
EMAIL: plaz@theplaz.com
IP: 96.245.183.92
URL: http://theplaz.com
DATE: 05/25/2009 09:21:26 PM
COMMENT_BODY:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kensington_Security_Slot

I have one, but I am often to lazy to use it. Guess I will have to.

----

I am careful about making sure door is closed and locked. Last summer at camp (living in Drexel's dorm) I even locked the door when I went to the bathroom. Hopefully my roommate is as careful as I am!

Posted by: Steph on May 25, 2009

Well, just in case, in the future, isn't there some way to further protect your laptop besides locking the room? Maybe some laptop tracker I've read about somewhere a LONG time ago?

Posted by: Sheila ('13) on May 25, 2009

I'm sorry :(

Posted by: 0 on May 25, 2009

Arrg, that is one of my fears about having a nice laptop on a college campus.

But I am terribly sorry to hear that happen. I am still upset at the idea of stealing in general as a matter of fact.

Robberies are not a commonality on MIT are they?

sorry once more, take care.
-Jamo

Posted by: Jamo (GT'13) on May 25, 2009

How tightly controlled is the access of the dorm? It may be a better thing if, for instance, only the residents on the same floor are granted access to their floor.

Posted by: Little Peonies on May 26, 2009

@Lulu
Nowadays most pawnshops receive a list of items stolen from the cops and take down accurate accounts of who sold them what. The cops should report the laptop and fax the pawnshops within 20 miles of MIT. If the pawnshop owner had done what they are supposed to then finding ur laptop would only mean locating the pawnshop and then finding the people who stole it. The DMV should give the license plate info as well to prosecute the crooks to get some money even if ur laptop cant be found. I know this cuz my grandpa's a pawnshop monopolizer in Denver. Nuggets suck.

Posted by: Somebody on May 26, 2009

@Lulu
I suggest buying a laptop locking chain that fits into a special grooves in laptops. My laptop was stolen recently and i never leave my laptop unchained.

Posted by: Somebody on May 26, 2009

@little peonies
Ur idea has good intentions but by limiting the access it would require thousands of dollars in security staff, technology and it would completely ruin the fun of college. College would simply be a jail cell. Parties would be inexistent and communal get together would have to meet in public places which defeat the point of a private college such as MIT.

Posted by: Somebody on May 26, 2009

I mean you have to be careful about who you're punishing... limiting access for residents could marginally improve the security of the dorm and the things in it, assuming thieves for the most part are people with keys. I don't think that's the case, though. On the same day that my stuff got stolen, there was an attempted theft at senior house, but because people were around the guy was spotted and chased out. He didn't have any affiliation w/ MIT, neither did the people who stole from my hall mate earlier this semester. The thought that the guy got chased out, the incident reported to campus police, and then proceeded to get into EC and manage keep stealing things, that's what drives me crazy. Shouldn't the cops have been on his ass? Or at least patrolling the scene...

Posted by: lulu on May 26, 2009

I'm going to be honest, this is the first time this has happened to me on campus. I've lost a $50 bike before and I felt pretty bad for a while, but not this bad. I feel really victimized, right now. If it had been just my laptop or just my camera ($600 body and $400 lens), it wouldn't be so bad, but I've lost absolutely everything of value to me here, all in one go, right when I'm saving up money to move and start life elsewhere. And the worst part is it's no natural disaster or accident that took these things away, it's freaking sick people with no regard for anyone else but themselves.

I keep telling myself that these are just things, and things can be replaced, even at a tremendous cost in ratio to what I make. My favorite lens was on that camera, I wish I'd put a crappier lens on there. But it's the principle of it, you know? Why would you steal from people who have nothing? Students who've saved up for years to buy a couple of nice things... What's wrong with you.

Posted by: lulu on May 26, 2009

And of course thanks everyone for the kind words and suggestions... I will look into getting a laptop lock of some sort, I hate having to sacrifice so much convenience because of crappy-ass people.

Posted by: lulu on May 26, 2009

You've probably thought about this already, but no harm mentioning it - if you ordered stuff online and it might be saved in your web browser or on the website itself, you probably should cancel those cards/take other identity theft precautions.

I'm sorry :( Even with your thesis turned in and objects just being objects, it just must be a violating feeling to know someone walked in your home and took something of yours. My hallmate's laptop was stolen a short while ago (Munroe Mom's daughter), and it just sucks to feel that your hall isn't always safe.

Best of luck.

Posted by: Piper '12 on May 26, 2009

i'm sorry :( why are the police so lackadaisical??? don't they care?

Posted by: '13 on May 26, 2009

An event to remember MIT by! OK, that was kind of mean. I hope you find it!

Posted by: Christopher Lee Praley on May 26, 2009

Really sorry to hear that , lulu.
It is really bad to have your laptop stolen, I mean, I 'd rather they steal my brain.

actually, if the campus police are too busy with some so-called important events, it should be ok to call the Cambridge cops?

Hope that you can find it.

Posted by: Alberta'13 on May 26, 2009

Dang that sucks! Maybe you should use Google Docs so that you don't lose your data even if your computer is stolen or you place your computer too close to a neodymium magnet. I hope you get it back!

Posted by: Albert '13 on May 26, 2009

I'm sorry to hear that your things are gone. I can't believe that people get a thrill out of taking things that don't belong to them. I hope you can find it.

Posted by: Alex on May 26, 2009

I suppose all we can do it limit the valuables, keep them locked away, or carry them everywhere with you. I know with my laptop, it will be on my back every instant it is not on my workspace table (except showers of course).

Again, I am terribly sorry to hear that news. But on a brighter side, it helps all incoming freshman realize that college is not exactly utopian, and that bad things can happen. Be careful everybody!
-jamo

Posted by: Jamo(GT'13) on May 27, 2009

Hey Lulu, here's the link to something I was talking about:

http://www.stealthsignal.com/xtooltracker.aspx

or http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/18/1819239

Just some suggestions to help to guard against theft in the future. I'm also thinking about how I can protect my laptop better in the future after this blog.

Posted by: Sheila '13 on May 27, 2009

Oh my God!

Can you imagine how horrid it would have been had you not submitted your thesis?

Gaa...that would have sucked.

Posted by: 0 on May 27, 2009

lol I've been wishing hard about having installed a self-destruct button on my laptop lately.

Thanks for the links, sheila.

And anonymous- yeah something like the thesis you really should back up. I was doing that every time I remembered into my public folder.

Posted by: lulu on May 27, 2009

I feel like I just want to give you a hug right now. When I read this entry and your comments, /my/ heart sunk. I really hope that you can get past this and even get your belongings back--I can imagine that at MIT those two items would be the ones I lived (and felt like I could die) by. I hope that this doesn't overshadow the fact you just graduated from MIT! You freaking did it! ^_^ It's been a pleasure reading your posts, and I hope that your optimism and prospects for the future serve as your guiding light through such an undeserved hardship.

Posted by: Anonymous '13 on May 27, 2009

Hey Lulu, no problem! Hope you can get your laptop back or get a new one.lol :D Have fun in New Mexico this summer! :D

Posted by: Sheila '13 on May 28, 2009

How often do thefts like this happen at MIT?

Posted by: 0 on May 28, 2009

I just looked this up on the internet and... something like 97% of stolen laptops never get found again :( soooo... GOOD NEWS I'VE BOUGHT A NEW THINKPAD.

bad news... I've used up pretty much 80% of my savings replacing these items.

Posted by: lulu on May 29, 2009

thefts like this are disturbingly common on college campuses. especially college campuses where everyone has a laptop... like MIT. I recommend taking your laptop everywhere with you (whch is what I did for most of this year) or being careful about locking your door

Posted by: lulu on May 29, 2009

Backstopp enables organizations and individuals to perform a remote deletion of data files on any lost or stolen PC, Laptop, PDA or Mobile phone utilizing either the GSM (mobile) network, Internet or RFID.

Posted by: Graham on May 29, 2009

i like this laptop lock idea

Posted by: lulu on May 30, 2009

Lulu - Some homeowners insurance policies cover thefts while students are living in college dorms. I suggest you ask your parents to check it out.

Posted by: MIT'11 Parent on May 31, 2009

Just last week my mouse was stolen while I showered. Thankfully, I had brought my laptop into my room before showering, but unfortunately left out my mouse.

Posted by: MIT '11 on May 31, 2009