SILENT CAMPUS

A walk around UBC today revealed that many people are still away on their holidays. Both pedestrian and vehicle traffic was quite light all over campus. I got an almost ghost town feel. I’m guessing that everyone will be coming back sometime this weekend. It’s hard to believe that in less than a week, this whole place will be bustling with activity again with the start of the new term.

I guess, however, I am not the only one that noticed that everyone is away. Sometime on Wednesday morning, there was a break-in at my beloved former residence, St. John’s College. Apparently, someone broke into the main office and stole access cards and a master key. The audacity and nature of the crime surprised me. It seems the thief knew exactly what to get and this was not a crime of opportunity. With the access cards and the master key, every door is accessible to the thief. That means every resident’s room is essentially vulnerable. You can just imagine how some residents felt reading all of this on the e-mail list while they’re thousands of miles away.

SJC was in lockdown mode when I visited this afternoon to retrieve Picky, my fish. When I got there, some doors had been made exit only. Signs were posted everywhere, warning residents of the intrusion. I was later told that every room lock would be replaced eventually. I am unsure what they’ll do about the access cards. Because they’re computerized, I wonder if they can just change an internal code or something. I also heard that two security guards will now be assigned to SJC on a round the clock basis. If they want to be cautious, I’d restrict access to a single set of external doors and have the guards ID anyone that goes through.

Dangerous times over at good old SJC!

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