Angelina WagnerCrashing onto campus over the past two weeks has been an unusually high number of property damages including five shattered car windows on Residential Boulevard, a rock thrown through the window of House 6 and body-sized holes through walls in House 4.
Car damages on Residential Boulevard
On Friday, Feb. 13, junior Megan Reich was heading to her 8:15 a.m.class when she noticed the back window of her maroon Chevrolet Astro van parked next to House 7 was shattered. Inside Reich found only glass particles, but outside of the van was a broken beer bottle.
Reich called Public Safety and learned that an officer had spotted the broken window during an early morning round. Because of a computer virus on the computer located in Public Safety, the officers were not able to identify the owner of the vehicle.
This indicates that the incident occurred sometime between Thursday, Feb. 12, at 10 p.m., and Friday, Feb. 11, at 8 a.m.
It cost Reich $144 to repair the window. This is third time Reich has fallen victim to a damaging incident on campus this year.
On Sunday, Feb. 22, four more rear car windows were shattered unanimously on Residential Boulevard. Charlie Schaffner, director of Public Safety, said, “It’s certainly very disappointing to me that students on this campus would do that.”
Schaffner has no idea who is responsible for these incidents and admits that it is very possible that it could be someone outside of campus. Eastern College has dealt with similar incidents in the past. “I’m just disappointed that that type of activity would take place at all,” Schaffner said.
House 4 walls destroyed
Friday, Feb. 20, the drywall in the shower of the second floor bathroom in House 4 was damaged. It left behind a body-sized hole in the shower wall.
“It looks like someone got thrown through it. It’s appalling,” House 4 Resident junior Dave Arnold said. “It’s really unfair to the people who didn’t do it. Especially when the people who did do it won’t come forward.”
“The bathrooms were virtually destroyed,” Schaffner said.
On the night of Saturday, Feb. 21, holes were punched in the walls of the second floor hallway. The wall is completely destroyed.
Because no one is coming forward, Schaffner said that two assumptions can be made about who is responsible for the incidents. Number one, it is the guest of a habitant of House 4 or someone is propping the door. “Unfortunately, if that person is not willing to come forward, then the whole house is going to suffer,” Schaffner said.
A House 4 meeting was held on Monday, Feb. 23, with the residents, Director of Resident Life George Stroud and Area 3 Coordinator TutaleniAsino. At the meeting, the residents were asked to turn over the names of the culprits by Tuesday, Feb. 23, or each would be moved off of the second floor room by room and placed in alternative campus housing.
Arnold said names were handed in to Stroud and Asino. Some people in the house admitted to some of the damage, but are not taking full responsibility, according to Arnold.
House 6 window shattered by rock
At 3:30 a.m., on Thursday, Feb. 19, junior Rory Friel was up studying when he heard the sound of a large tree branch being thrown against outside of his dorm room wall in House 6. When Friel looked out of his window, he watched a rock be thrown through the window of the neighboring room. Junior Brian Felice was sleeping when the rock came crashing through the glass.
Felice and Friel ran outside and chased the assailants in an attempt to catch them, but had no such luck. Upon returning to House 6, Felice called Public Safety at 4:10 a.m. They arrived to the house at 6:15 a.m.
The officers apologized for arriving almost two hours after the initial phone call. Friel said, “Thank God this wasn’t an emergency.”
Facilities arrived to fix the window at 9 a.m. Friday morning. Felice was very thankful for their promptness.
In response to all of the damages that have taken place on campus, Schaffner said, “At some point the people on this campus have to grow up and start taking responsibility for their actions for their actions.”
If you know who is responsible for any of the vandalism that has taken places on campus, contact Schaffner at 610-902-8251.
Posted to the web by Angelina Wagner
