<p>Are laptops frequently stolen on campus? Do students carry their laptops with them everywhere? Are there any ways to leave them in your dorms without someone stealing them? I mean desktops really are not portable and this year with Roth Quad reconstruction and with them talking about putting 3 ppl in each dorm room, it seems that a desktop would not be efficient if I won't have my own desk. Also, are ppl attacked a lot on campus by others? Is it safe because when I visited it seemed safe, but then again, looks can be deceiving.</p>
<p>Yes. Buy a lock.</p>
<p>You mean a laptop lock. Are they expensive?</p>
<p>What about fingerprint readers-- do they help?</p>
<p>I have a fingerprint scanner on my laptop now haha. Someone could obviously still take it, but they wouldn't be able to do anything on it, so there's really no point for the thief.</p>
<p>If you and your roommates are conscientious about locking your door, it's very unlikely anything will be stolen. I know of a few cases where major thefts occurred, but in all of them the room and suite doors were left unlocked. However, to preempt the possibility of a careless roommate, a laptop lock isn't a bad idea.</p>
<p>Is it a safe campus? I think so. There are some problems--the university hasn't always responded adequately to complaints of harassment, and there are a lot of issues with things not being well-lit enough, but they've installed more emergency blue-light phones recently and in general I don't think there are that many incidents. I feel safe walking around campus at night by myself, as do most people. Which doesn't mean you should be stupid, but I don't think we have a major crime problem.</p>
<p>For a big campus, we're really remarkably safe. Any time you're in a public space with thousands of people you don't know, though, it's smart to take precautions. There was a sign on the doors to the library a few weeks back asking for the return of a notebook computer to the physics department (something about the research notes that were on it - the poster just asked whoever stole it to copy the hard drive to a DVD and drop it off, no questions asked, in the physics department).</p>
<p>Like any campus anywhere, if you're going to leave your expensive stuff unattended, it's going to vanish. Just be smart about your surroundings and you shouldn't have a problem here.</p>
<p>-Chris</p>
<p>If I buy an external fingerprint reader, will it help? No one will be able to access my files correct.</p>