CALIFORNIA COMPUTERS VALUED AT $20,000 STOLEN FROM STANFORD UNIVERSITY COMPUTER LABThe Stanford Daily Online EditionThieves make off with $20,000 in computers


By Xin Xie
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
last updated November 16, 2004 3:46 AM

Nearly $20,000 worth of equipment was stolen from the computer lab in the Mechanical Engineering Building on Nov. 6. The thieves made away with seven flat-screen monitors, central processing units and memory components from the computers, although the hard drives and cables were left intact.
Research assistant Jonathan Fiene, a fourth-year graduate student in mechanical engineering, said that he thought the thieves must have had some time to commit their crime.

“It takes some time to disassemble the computer, remove the memory and the CPU, and make it look as though nothing happened,” Fiene said.

According to Sergeant Tim Hanrahan of the Stanford Department of Public Safety, the equipment was stolen sometime between 7:30 p.m. Nov. 6 and 9:30 a.m. Nov. 7.

Fiene said the he checked the lab before leaving at 7:30 on Nov. 6 and did not see anything missing.

“But when I came back the next morning, I noticed that the seven monitors were gone and reported it to Chris Crismon, the building manager,” Fiene said.

According to Fiene, Crismon initially did not think anything was amiss; he thought that the flat screens were being serviced. But when Lab Manager Steve Jones was informed by the pair about the missing computers, Jones knew that a crime had occurred and decided to call the police.

What makes the case especially puzzling, according to research assistant Katherine Kuchenbecker, a fifth-year graduate student, is that there was no record of any overnight entries through the front door of the Mechanical Engineering Building, which is accessed by a card-scanner.

However, the thieves could have obtained easy access into the lab in question once they had entered the building.

“In the process of talking to Steve Jones and other sources, we found that someone found the door to the lab propped open Saturday night,” Hanrahan said.

When they arrived at the lab on Sunday, the police promptly took fingerprints on the hard drive boxes but found none, according to Kuchenbecker.

“The facts that no fingerprints were found and that there was no record of entries suggests that this may have been a professional job,” she said.

Stanford police are not divulging much information about the case.

“It’s an open investigation, and at this point there’s no further details regarding the investigation,” said Deputy Ken Bates. He added that the release of specific information could compromise the integrity of the investigation.

This recent theft comes on the heels of a lock malfunction in another mechanical engineering building a week earlier. Kuchenbecker said that in that case, the key access system was broken.

“A locksmith inspected the system and said it looked like someone was trying to commit forced entry,” she said. “These two events may or may not be connected, but since the security system in the two buildings are the same, the first event may have taught the thieves how the security system worked so they could plan the most recent crime.”

These recent thefts have highlighted the difficulty in providing easy access to resources while maintaining security.

“The University wants to provide resources that students can easily access, but unfortunately that also makes the resources vulnerable to thieves,” Kuchenbecker said.

In an effort to prevent future break-ins, students who work in the lab have been reminded not to prop open doors, to make sure all doors are locked and to take other security measures.

“We will take security measures to make sure that doors are locked in order to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” Crismon said.

Still, some students think that more steps should be taken.

“I would hope to see security cameras installed,” said Ethan Barbour, a third-year graduate student in mechanical engineering. “I think it is worth it to spend money on security because things like this can only lead to increased tuition."