Is college security at fault? Or are the students themselves to be held solely responsible for the theft of student equipment?

Last week's robbery at WMSR, the third of such magnitude since September, has sparked the security (or lack of) controversy that has plagues the campus intermittently for years.

Terry Kile, station manager for WMSR claims that "the college security force is inadequate for our needs at the present time. Something has to be done." The college security office, however, believes the job to have been done from the inside - and how could they stop it when only patrolling the SMC twice between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.?

Capt. David Smith of the force continues to claim that "investigation is underway." But those were his words last semester when the first TEAC and the electric typewriter were stolen. None of the equipment has surfaced since.

The approximate $1,500 loss of equipment, via student allocation monies, is a loss for the entire student body, not simply the radio station.

Is the WMSR staff in the wrong because "we run this station without an adviser? It's a learning experience and an ego trip for us," states Kile. Possibly, students alone cannot be trusted with such expensive equipment (approx. $25,000).

Yet the college security force has apparently not changed its tactics/strategy since the first WMSR robbery - not to mention all other campus thefts. In Kile's words, "a security crackdown has got to begin," and immediately if operations such as WMSR are to continue.

The credibility, though, of campus security and student leadership/responsibility continues to be threatened. And the student body will continue to suffer the losses of both.

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