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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2000
Behrend
noticing
unusual
thefts
by Mark Benko
staff writer
A significant amount of office
equipment was reported stolen by Dr.
Robert Simoneau, director of the
School of Engineering and
Engineering Technology. Two
overhead projectors at a cost of
$9,400 combined were discovered
missing form Nick 170 and the
engineering computer lab, Witkowski
109. These thefts were reported on
January 7.
According to Mr. Bill Donahue,
manager of Police and Safety
Services at Behrend, these crimes are
a third degree felony and are part of
“The crimes in the
past have been
more serious than we
normally deal with.”
an alarming trend of rising theft that
has hit the campus in the last year or
so. Donahue recalled that he has not
seen theft to this degree in all seven
years of his tenure at Behrend.
The thefts were discovered by a
faculty member and a police officer,
and the case has been turned over to
the Pennsylvania State Police, who
are acting as the lead investigating
force. They are being assisted by
Donahue and his staff on campus, and
are in the process of leading the “most
thorough investigation possible,”
according to Donahue.
The maximum penalty for a third
degree felony in Pennsylvania is a
fine of up to $15,000 and a prison
sentence of up to seven years.
Recently, Penn State and personal
property losses on a university-wide
level have surpassed $30,000 a year.
As far as possible motives are
concerned, Donahue speculated that
reasons could range from simple
vandalism to resale for profit. The
crimes could also involve someone
who wanted the equipment for
personal use, or who simply didn’t
want to have class that day.
“The crimes in the past year have
been more serious than we normally
deal with,” stated Donahue. He also
said that Police and Safety services
are in the process of enhancing their
ability to monitor the campus not only
with personnel, but with alarm
systems as well.
Three major areas of theft concern
are the engineering complex, which
houses millions of dollars worth of
equipment, the media labs in the
Library, and the computer centers
located throughout the campus.
Faculty members or students
should immediately report persons
damaging or stealing property to
Police and Safety. Those reporting
information may remain anonymous,
but doing so may also make
prosecution more difficult.
Donahue explained that while most
crimes occur on the weekends and
during the hours of darkness, they
could happen at any hour. If someone
is seen who appears suspicious by
wandering around aimlessly or trying
to open locked doors, Police and
Safety asks observers to report it.
Faculty members and office
personnel are encouraged to keep all
office doors, desks, windows, and file
cabinets locked each night and to
verify service personnel by checking
work orders for that area.
Behrend boasts five full time police
officers with the same training and
authority to arrest as any state police
agency. In addition to these officers,
the college employs two full time
protection guards and five student
auxiliary officers.
Donahue stated that these thefts
have interfered with the quality of
education at Behrend and that
everyone on campus suffers as a
result of these crimes.
VANDALISM
repair.
But are these incidents out of
character? According to Police
and Safety Manager Mr. Bill
Donahue, perhaps not. “These
numbers appear to be consistent
with past years. We have had
periods when thefts from and
damage to parked cars have been
much higher.”
encourage anyone with any
Behrend’s Kay Johnson selected to
serve on standardization organization
Professor Kay Johnson, a Be
hrend lecturer of finance, has been
selected as a committee member for
the International Organization for
Standardization/ Technical Com
mittee for Financial Planning (ISO/
TC 222.) The inaugural conference
will be held at the Emory Confer
ence Center Hotel in Atlanta, Geor
gia on Monday, February 26, and
Tuesday, Feb. 27.
Bill Donahue,
Manager of Police
and Safety Services
ISO, a collection of standards or
ganizations that represent 130
countries, is based in Geneva, Swit
zerland. The organizations’ goal is
to create and set international stan
dards in fields such as financial ser
vices, banking, energy production
and utilization, information pro
cessing, textiles, and communica
tion. In short, ISO facilitates the
global exchange of information.
The ISO committee that will
meet in Atlanta will consist of
people from all over the world.
Johnson will represent one of only
15 appointed United States com
mittee members. The topics that
Johnson will be involved in are fo
cused around personal financial
planning, which is the process of
giving a client objective help when
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Donahue did, however,
by Michael Grooms
staff writer
information pertaining to
currently pending damage
investigations to bring the details
to the attention of Police and
Safety. He also had a few tips for
students faced with possible
vandalism to their vehicles:
-Report damage immediately to
Police and Safety upon discovery
of it.
-Do not move the damaged
vehicle until Police and Safety
organizing and analyzing the
client’s personal financial matters
to achieve lifestyle and financial
Johnson said, “ It is a great honor
to be part of this, and I am very
excited to be going.” Johnson
"I want to represent
the United States in
a professional man
ner. I do not want to
offend anyone.”
learned of the opportunity through
the Certified Financial Planners
Board of Standards (CFP). Johnson
has been a CFP member for seven
years. The CFP Board of Standards
is a board that grants CFP licenses
and oversees the actions, standards,
and disciplinary sanctions for CFP
licenses. She received an email that
notified her of the event, filled out
an application and was accepted.
According to Johnson, "I couldn’t
believe they chose me. When I told
my husband, he had a hard time re-
it’s
not for everyone,
but that's
NEWS
FROM FRONT PAGE
Kay Johnson ;
lecturer in finance
and business economics
[the point]
C Unlike any other college course you can trice*
£sjEhe(ulfcFor Info, cal
have had the opportunity to
examine the vehicle, the damage,
and the surrounding area.
-If activity is observed that may
be related to vehicle vandalism,
bring it to the attention of Police
and Safety as soon as possible.
For more information or to
report possible vandalism,
contact Police and Safety at
x6lOl.
alizing how big this really was. I
just kept telling him, this is inter
national!”
This is not an all expense paid
business conference. Penn State
and Johnson will share in paying
the costs. In order to prepare,
Johnson is researching interna
tional cultures, and exploring top
ics like appropriate clothing and in
ternational dining etiquette.
Johnson said, “I want to represent
the United States in a professional
manner. I do not want to offend
anyone." The international negoti
ating languages that will be used
for the convention are French and
English.
Most of the committee members
will be flying to Atlanta, but
Johnson enjoys Amtrak, so she will
be staying on the ground. “I have
had too many terrifying airplane
experiences.”
The Inaugural ISO/TC 222 con
ference will develop procedures for
establishing standards in broad ar
eas of financial planning such as
education, ethics, practice stan
dards, examination, and experi-
ence. These areas are broken down
into specific subjects such as finan
cial, retirement, estate, income tax,
insurance, and investment plan-
POSTERS
drinking are different from what’s
actually happening." The HEC’s
Website concurred: “student
perceptions of drinking norms are
part of that campus environment,
and correcting student
misperceptions about their peers’
drinking is an important part of
ensuring that inaccurate perceptions
about the environment are not
negatively influencing student
Kay Johnson, lecturer in finance and business economics, will be
one of 15 Americans serving on the International Organization for
Standardization/Technical Committee for Financial Planning in
Atlanta this month.
behavior.
Many
universities across the nation are
participating in similar campaigns,
including Washington State
University, University of Arizona,
and Rutgers University. To access
more information about the HEC's
social marketing approach, log on
to their Website at www.edc.org/hec/
socialnorms/.
PHOTO COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY RELATIONS
1898-7279.
colleges