September, 2001.
Volume 44, No. 05

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The Carillon brings you the weekly news from the University of Regina.

Contact:
The Editor
Newsline:
(306)-586-8867
Fax:
(306)-586-7422
Room 227
Riddell Centre
University of Regina

Thieves kept themselves very busy this summer on the U of R campus.

Incidents reported to security include a thefts from two student society lounges. Education Studentsı Society lost both cash and their microwave on June 24th.

As well, the Regina Engineering Studentsı Society lounge was broken into on the July long weekend. Their cash box and microwave were also taken.

According to Pat Patton, U of R Manager of Security, they were able to link the rash of problems that occurred over the summer to one suspect. They worked with the RCMP to apprehend him.

³Weıre not able to connect him,² she says, ³with all of the things going on so we are not sure that he had any involvement in [the Regina Engineering Studentsı Society break-in]. But you know our investigations will continue to be ongoing.²

She adds that break-ins, such as those that occurred this summer, are extremely random, and that it is a good idea for students always to practice good security habits.

This means locking doors, locking up back packs, hanging on to any personal items and reporting any incidents to the Security office.

³If we donıt know problems are happening there is nothing we can do to help them,² says Patton. ³We very much welcome the opportunity to work with students, student groups, faculty, staff‹any one, if they have a security problem. We want to try and problem-solve this with them.²

At the last URSU meeting a motion was presented proposing that a security system be installed for the Education, Engineering, and Administration society lounges. However, with the current construction in the Education Building where these society lounges are located, investing in a system that will eventually be ripped out was not felt to make any sense.

The issue will be revisited once the construction in the Education Building is complete.

Generally these societies only keep a minimal amount in their cash boxes; however, over the summer the Engineering Studentsı Society had accumulated more than the average amount of funds in their safe.

According to the Regina Engineering Students Society VP External, Mark Taylor, the previous executive had forgotten to mention to the finance person the combination to the safe.

³It was actually two days after the break-in,² says Taylor. ³We were having a meeting and (the finance person) was actually going to say Œlook, we have too much cash and we need to put it awayı but we kind of had that solved for us.²

According to Taylor this will be one of three to four break-and-enters in the last two years for the society.

³Part of it,² says Taylor, ³is that we are an open lounge, like Education has their lounge locked a good chunk of the time, we donıt. We keep our lounge open for our members. So, it makes it a little easier to get in that way, or at least to see where everything is.²

However, due to this summerıs events the society has begun to take greater precautions.

The Administration Studentıs Society has been very fortunate and has not been broken into in about two years.

Administration Studentıs Society President Fiona Eustace is skeptical that these thefts could be the work of students but believes that the break-ins in that particular section of the university must be by people who had at least been in the lounges before.

³I think itıs basically insiders that are doing it or people who have knowledge of what is going on within the societies, just because they have to have been in the lounge before, to want to break in.²

Eustace stressed that who ever is responsible for these occurrences, students or outsiders, they are hurting everyone else by committing these crimes.