<p>I got accepted to UVA and I am strongly considering going there. However, one issue comes to mind. When I went to Days on the Lawn (April 9th), I found out some of the non-savory things about UVA, in particular regarding theft. Here is what I saw:</p>
<li>All bikes there were chained. Why?</li>
<li>One bike (chained improperly) had both wheels missing, it’s seat, and handlebars.</li>
<li>When entering a large libary (maybe Aldermann), a sign was posted saying that thefts had been reported and people should watch their stuff.</li>
<li>Upon touring one of the Echols dorms, I saw a whiteboard on a dorm’s door upon which was written the following: “Whoever stole my laptop, do the right thing and give it back, I have your calculator guide”</li>
</ol>
<p>As you can imagine the above observations worry me. I just want to make sure my small desktop won’t be carried away with the LCD screen. Also, I hope my laptop won’t vanish while I go to order some coffee. I am wondering to what extent students actually respect the Honor Code, touted by nearly every tourguide?</p>
<p>bikes: its not the uva students stealing these things. however, the police are too busy giving out parking tickets to arrest the hooligans who are stealing the bikes.
clemons: it made me sad to see those signs, but remember, these are again public places open to the entire community.
granted, some ppl at uva break the honor code, but it is a lot better than at most places.
i always leave my bag or whatever to save my seat at lunch and ive never had any problems. i havent had anything stolen. i dont know anyone whos stolen anything.
i like to tell this story: a girl in one of my classes last semester dropped her cellphone outside of class and i found it. i managed to call her home number and get her email and give it back to her. she wasnt worried that someone had stolen it at all - she knew someone would find it and give it back. i mean, for most ppl, thats the experience here.
on the other hand, dont leave your laptop alone for an hour in the library... thats just kind of stupid.</p>
<p>"all bikes are chained" - it's not like the university is an enclosed area only accessible to students, it's a public place, ANYONE has access to it.</p>
<h1>2 regarding the bike that has missing parts, is that the one sitting outside newcomb by any chance? that bikes been there for who knows how long how.</h1>
<p>there's no reason to entice people to steal your things, don't be stupid about leaving valuables around for a long time. Most students respect the honor code (as do most people) but some people have no decency and will steal, you just have to be smart about not giving them that opportunity.</p>
<p>To be frank, I think it'd be irresponsible to teach students NOT to lock up their valuables and secure their bikes at the racks. It's tempting to see the UVa Grounds as a beautiful bubble, but unless you're on an island somewhere, there are no bubbles. Locking up valuables is prudent on any campus in the country.</p>
<p>As you can see from another thread that was started about safety, students feel safe at UVa.</p>
<p>I posted this before. While touring UVA, my niece dropped her iPod somewhere on the Grounds. Some student found it and returned to lost and found. She was so happy to get it back.</p>
<p>While I was in school there, students were very conscious of the Honor Code and we never felt that we had to worry about books, calculators (no lap tops those days) being stolen. We felt quite safe there.</p>
<p>We live in NJ now. Based on news reports from other schools around here (Rutgers, NYU, Princeton), UVA seems to be a much safer place based on our frequent visits in the last few years.</p>
<p>My daughter lost her cellphone at a football game. Another student picked it up, answered it on the first ring, found out the phone's owner and returned it to my daughter the same day.</p>
<p>UVA has an open campus and it's not uncommon to see random townies walking around grounds and even in the libraries. For the most part, it's the random sketchy natives who are responsible for thefts, not UVA students.</p>