Two thefts in the past three months have left Ohio State’s School of Music in “airport mode.”
Richard Blatti, director of the School of Music, sent an email on May 5 to all School of Music students reminding them to secure all individual belongings and informing them of another theft that had occurred in the school.
“We are all going to have to be in ‘airport mode’ where personal belongings are concerned,” Blatti said in the email. “None out of sight at any time for any reason.”
Deputy Chief Richard Morman of OSU Police confirmed the two thefts in Weigel Hall, the most recent occurring May 5.
The most recent victim, Nathan Blackwell, an third-year in performance and Japanese, reportedly lost his backpack and its contents when he left it unattended in a room in Weigel. Blackwell left the bag containing his MacBook unattended in a closed room, partially concealed under his desk.
“Basically, I left my bag alone for, at most, 4 minutes. I went to the bathroom and just didn’t think about locking up my backpack or taking it with me,” Blackwell said.
“It was gone when I returned.”
Morman said another theft occurred on March 15. Christopher Ott, an OSU student in jazz studies, lost his backpack and its contents when it was taken out of a room in Weigel between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. The backpack contained Ott’s computer and iPod, Morman said.
Ott did not respond to The Lantern’s emails.
For the rest of this article, read Monday’s edition of The Lantern.
