Approximately 20 students returning to Rosenthal, North and East quads came back from winter recess to find items missing from their rooms. Most of the goods reported missing were smaller items such as DVDs, CDs and game cartridges, according to Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan. Some cameras and laptops were also reported missing."I believe they are interconnected," he said of the incidents. There was no forced entry through windows, he said, adding that entry was most likely gained through the doors. Although he told the Justice that there are currently no suspects, he said the "documentation stage" is underway. Next, Public Safety plans to conduct interviews of people who had access to the dorms over the recess.

Public Safety has obtained at least two pieces of evidence from crime scenes and sent them to the State Police for fingerprinting, Callahan added.

"If we have physical evidence that leads to anyone, they'll be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Callahan said. In several cases, students found their pillowcases missing as well, and Callahan suggested that they may have been used to carry away stolen items.

Callahan also estimated that seven to 10 thefts occurred during winter recess last year, although no "obvious suspects" were found. Callahan and Associate Director of Residence Life for Campus Living Rob Andrews told the Justice that both Public Safety and Residence Life took measures before break to encourage students not to leave valuables in their dorm rooms over the intercession. An all-campus e-mail sent in December advised students to take home "small valuables," including cash, jewelry, laptop computers, passports, car keys and medication, but Callahan said that students simply cannot take everything home.

"We ask folks to do that every year, and it's very important," Andrews said. "For the most part, we ask students to do that because the halls are closed and they can't gain access to that."

Outside keys are changed during break, and Andrews said all exterior dorm locks would have been changed by Monday Dec. 16, three days after dorms closed. The locks, he said, were changed back last week to accommodate resident advisers and other early returnees. Callahan said Public Safety first became aware of the string of thefts when two returning resident advisers found items missing from their own rooms.

"This is something that as soon as students came back we worked on," he said.

"We spent a lot of hours looking at these situations in terms of what we can do to be productive and not have it happen again," Callahan said. "We're looking at additional measures that we should put in place.