Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

Column: Know how to keep safe off campus
By Michelle Sullivan
The Lantern, Ohio State U.
May 27, 2009

Nothing compares to the feeling you get when you wake up one morning and realize your stuff has been stolen.

You had a few people over the night before, had a few drinks and forgot to lock the back door of your off-campus house when you went to bed. Now your Wii is missing and so is your TV. Or maybe it's the iPod you mistakenly left plugged into the speakers on your front porch all night that's gone.

Now what?

This is the scenario my neighbors woke up to Monday morning. When a police officer came to check out the scene, it was nothing out of the ordinary for him. At least once a night some college kid is a victim of such a crime, the officer said.

Theft and burglary in the University District near Ohio State University are so common that it has become almost a right of passage to have your house broken into and your privacy invaded. My cousin once woke up to a man standing over her while she slept. He came in through an unlocked door.

It's not always students' absentmindedness that leads to home invasion. Sometimes it's the condition of the house.

When my roommates and I were burglarized last year, the burglar entered through a window with a broken lock. Repairing the window was one of many things on a list of things our realtor had yet to do. Once our house was broken into, however, they sent a maintenance man right over to put new locks on our windows and chains on our doors. It was comforting, but a little too late.

Fixing a broken window lock or malfunctioning motion-activated light in your backyard is your landlord's responsibility. If they aren't helpful, Ohio State's Student Housing Legal Clinic offers services dealing with tenant-landlord relations. If a faulty lock is the reason you were burglarized, the city can hold your next rent payment from your realtor until they make necessary repairs.

It's no surprise crooks find easy targets off campus. The houses come equipped with old windows and residents who still haven't learned to lock up when they leave the house or go to sleep.

Daily crime briefs in The Lantern often tell the same story: a stranger enters a student's unlocked door or window and successfully makes off with valuable property and no repercussion.

One would think students would notice the trend and accept that their situation is no different. If you leave your doors and windows unlocked, even during the day, chances are pretty good that eventually you will experience the feeling of panic and the expense that comes with a stolen laptop computer.

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