6
Wednesday, September 19, 1979
University Daily Kansan
Students easy prey for burglars
By MARK SPENCER
Staff Renorter
Valuable merchandise such as steriles, televisions and calculators have become a strong lure for residential burglaries according to a lawrence police spokesman. And many student apartment dwellers are prepared to deal with that fact, he said.
"Your average student apartment just has too much merchandise of high value that the police cannot take. Mark Brothers, crime prevention officer at the Lawrence Police Department, said it is too messy."
According to police statistics, a large percentage of Lawrence burglars occurred in areas where there was a high concentration of student housing.
Sat. Jeanne Longaker, crime prevention officer for KU police, called students' attention toward burglary a problem. She said people thought it couldn't happen to them.
Brothers said that 40 percent of all residential burglaries occurred in homes with unlocked doors or windows. In addition to making the theft easier for the burglary, they also suggested the investigation more difficult for the thief because less evidence is left behind, Brothers said.
"We'RE NOT TRYING to get anyone to believe," he said. We just want to eliminate the burglars I'm not saying that would eliminate 40 percent of the burglaries, but it would force them out.
Brothers said that people taking basic security steps had reduced the burglary rate in some parts of the city.
The Dearfield-Pioneer Ridge area of Lawrence had been virtually crime-free for about seven years until it was hit with a bomb in the early 1980s. March, Brothers. In said a two-day period 15 to 20 burglaries occurred, often in homes with unlocked doors and basement windows.
and watching suspicious behavior, and the burglaries decreased, he said.
Residents of the area began locking doors
"FOR SEVERAL WEEKS they ran us ragged," Brothers said. "Joggers didn't have a chance."
A similar situation occurred in the Oread neighborhood. Police said it appeared that the neighborhood's crime prevention project was working.
From September 17th to June 19th, 98
residential burglaries were committed in
same period this year, same period in
same period this year, only 79 burglaries were
committed, a decrease of 20.2 percent.
The precautions are simple.
First, police advise looking up house. Longer recommended a bolt or mortar on the front door for security, warthesthe she said, because the screws that secure them to the wall give way under less pressure.
STUDENTS LIVING IN residence halls also should lock their doors, police said. Forty-two thefts have been reported this semester, according to KU police records.
"It's a big problem in residence halls and we hear it every day," Longaker said. "I just went down the hall, they say."
Longaker said there had been cases in which people from outside a residence hall patrolled the halls looking for unlocked doors and valuable merchandise.
Police also advised residents to engrave the driver's license number into their belongings. Brothers said this helped law enforcement locate and return stolen merchandise.
WITHIN THE NEXT few weeks, the Lawrence Police Department will obtain 40 to engraveers that will be paid for by local districts to distribute them to community organizations and to individuals to engrave their contributions. The police also have engravers available for nurseries.
Patronize Kansan advertisers.
KU and Lawrence police also will provide free home security inspections to those who have been inspected after inspecting a residence, police would make recommendations on how to improve
Last year, according to Ben Barrett, Division I's leader in Division II, a similar test was given in about 10 Kansas school districts, including Hays, Dodge City and Inman.
Poggio warned that the test should not be considered as an indication of a student's entire academic performance.
Barrett said the test showed that the students tested were slightly above the national average in reading and math skills.
"This test should be considered with other tests and other factors, such as classroom performance, in determining a student's ability."
According to results released by Lawrence Unified School District 497, 95 percent of Lawrence second graders, 92 percent of fourth graders and 92 percent of fifth graders district scored at or above the national reading average in tests given last year.
KU to develop test for public schools
"HOWEVER, continued concern by legislators over nationally declining
The test is the first of its type to be given statewide, he said. It will not be used as a prerequisite for enrollment in the next grade.
In response to the Kansas Legislature's concern over declining test scores in public schools nationwide, the KU School of Education will develop a proficiency test this fall to monitor the performance of students in Kansas public schools.
According to John Poggio, associate professor of educational psychology, the test is expected to be given next April to students in grades two, four, six, eight and 11. The test will consist of 120 math questions. Poggio said yesterday.
reading and math test scores prompted the Legislature to make a statewide reading and math test. "Barrett siad."
ROBERT TAYLOR, assistant of the Lawrence school, said he thought the test was a measure of a student's reading and math ability, but he added that other tests were used.
Poggio and seven others in the School of Education have started drafting examinations for students to test said the test should be ready for inspection by the state Department of Education.
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