Issue date: 3/27/08 Section: Opinion

When it comes to the perception of crime, Penn students need to get their priorities straight.

It never ceases to amaze me how comfortable Penn students are leaving their possessions in the company of strangers. The same students who'll practice walking in circles to throw imaginary muggers off their scent will leave their $2,000 laptops unattended to wait in line for an ice-mocha-latte-frappuccino.

With "Operation Theft Awareness," the Division of Public Safety is trying to teach members of the Penn community to be less careless with their belongings. Sadly, I don't think we're ready to be taught.

We need to focus less on low-probability, high-profile crimes and more on the leading cause of victimization on campus: theft. For all the fear we seem to have of getting shot, you'd wonder if Penn students were clandestinely moonlighting as gangster rappers in their spare time.

"In general I feel very unsafe on campus because back home my town is considered one of the safest [in the U.S.]," says Wharton sophomore Dani Li.

In reality, most students have been exposed to as much enemy fire in Philadelphia as Hillary Clinton was in Bosnia.

Penn students are far more likely to have their possessions stolen while studying than to be accosted off campus. According to the DPS, theft comprises 81 percent of total crime reported within the Penn patrol zone. Interestingly enough, 70 percent of non-retail thefts are attributed to unattended or improperly secured items. Most of February's 25-percent spike in crime was directly attributable to a tripling of thefts within University buildings.

Some argue that individuals unaffiliated with the University are likely pilfering orphaned items, as most Penn buildings are open to the public during business hours. But considering that a number of these thefts are in student-only areas like dining halls and dorms, it doesn't require a logical leap to believe Penn students are doing some of the thieving.

"A friend of mine had $1,200 stolen from his [dormitory] room on Halloween for not locking his door for two hours," said Wharton freshman Catherine Pao.

At least it's refreshing to know young Ivy League crooks, while dishonest, have a sense of humor. To add insult to injury, the perpetrator in this incident left a Twizzler at the scene - a pack of which would've been worth more than a share of Bear Stearns' stock less than two weeks ago.

A junior I spoke with, whose laptop was stolen from his room freshman year, told me that many students think theft couldn't be a problem at a school like Penn.

"Nothing could be further from the truth," he said in a e-mail. "Many undergraduates I know have had bikes, computers, backpacks and iPods stolen from them."

Penn parents familiar with the University's crime-ridden past could also be unknowingly helping fuel misperceptions of crime on campus.

As much as I'd like to think your mom enjoys my column, students have informed me that some parents read The Daily Pennsylvanian primarily to stay abreast of violent crime.

"My friend's parents went to Penn almost two decades ago. To this day they think [Penn] is an awful place, and they'll never let [their child] go here," added Pao.

Ironically, the college those parents did feel comfortable with, Yale, was the site of a stabbing and attempted robbery just last month, according to the Yale Daily News. Apparently every university has its issues.

To the punctilious members of the Penn community, continue to be aware of the things that go bump in the night, but don't forget to lock your doors and secure your belongings. And to the unscrupulous, if you must steal, do it the Ivy League way - run for public office.

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Simeon McMillan is a Wharton senior from Long Island, N.Y. His e-mail is mcmillan@dailypennsylvanian.com. Common $ense appears Thursdays.

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