College Center computers swiped

Julianne Herts Assistant News Editor

The second floor of the College Center used to hold 10 iMac computers for student, faculty and public use. On March 15, nine of the computers were reported stolen. The theft is under investigation by the Poughkeepsie Police Department.

The Office of Computer and Information Services (CIS) will not replace the computers until new security measures have been taken.

“In addition to the theft, the computers in the area have also been vandalized in the past, and we want to work with Security to make sure that the area is more secure before we place additional technology there,” said Vice President of CIS Bret Ingerman.

Security and CIS have not yet decided what security measures will be taken.

“We’re working with the computer center to see what we can do,” said Associate Director of Security Kim Squillace. “It might involve doing something to make sure that the computers cannot be moved, or we might install cameras.”

Squillace also noted that computers and keyboard have been stolen from that area before, most recently on Aug. 26, 2007, when a computer and two keyboards were reported missing.

Due to the frequent disappearance of the College Center computers, security measures were put in place even before the March 15 theft. CIS reported that each of the stolen computers was secured to a desk. The one remaining computer sits secured to the desk by an iron dock made by Datamation Systems, a company that specializes in preventing the theft of office equipment.

More stringent security measures may be needed to ensure that the College Center computers are safe in the future. This is particularly important because the destruction or theft of the computers affects the entire campus community.

“These computers are the only computers that are available to the entire community at any time of day,” said the Vassar Student’s Association Vice President of Academics Jessica Cho ’08 in an e-mailed statement. “This is important to student life as well as academic life in that other computers are restricted either by building access (in terms of dorms and computer labs in certain academic buildings) or by hours (such as the Library or CIS).”

People who are not students or staff members could also use the College Center computers because, unlike the more secured computer clusters, the College Center is open to the entire Poughkeepsie community, which Cho considers beneficial to the College and town. “I think the openness of Main and the ability of Vassar to offer resources is important, given that Vassar has a responsibility to the surrounding community,” she said.

However, Security officers fear that the unrestricted access to those computers could have played a part in their theft, as so many people had the opportunity to take them. “A lot of times people not affiliated with the College can come in and use those computers,” said Squillace. “In the computer clusters [in each dorm] we rarely come across any sort of damage to the computers, whereas the [College Center] computers do experience quite a bit of damage.”

Regardless of the potential for theft, new computers will be installed in the College Center as soon as security measures are agreed upon.

In the meantime, several students continue to frequent the College Center during lunchtime, reading or writing at the now empty desks, and many of them miss the stolen computers. “I used them a lot,” said Molly Kumar ’11. “It was convenient when you wanted to print out something.”