Theft question

College Majors Music Major
1

<p>How do college students secure their instruments while in college? My son has a cello and 2 bows. He and the other cellists and bassists keep their instruments in the music room on campus, & they all come and go throughout the day and take their instruments to their individual practice rooms. My son went to practice on Sunday a.m. and found his case was unlocked & slightly ajar and he discovered his bow was gone. Unfortunately, it was the expensive one. </p>

<p>He immediately contacted his cello prof. & the orchestra direc., and campus police, who in turn contacted the city PD because of it's value.</p>

<p>The prof & direc. said nothing like this has ever happened before. The campus police and the city police were basically scratching their heads not fully understanding the value. Everyone has recommended we wait a few days to see if it shows up. Someone suggested that maybe someone "borrowed" it.</p>

<p>The bow and instrument are insured as a rider on our homeowner's insur. We are about to file a claim. </p>

<p>So, my question is how to prevent this from happening again? My son said there aren't enough lockers & he thought it was safer in the music room than in his dorm where suite mates forget to lock doors, etc.</p>

<p>Is there such a thing as actual locks on the instrument cases? Then some sort of bicycle type lock to secure the set?</p>

<p>help...</p>

2

<p>Demand a music locker. Be polite, but extremely firm. You’re paying for your son to attend and they should provide adequate facilities.</p>

<p>As a last resort you might see if his private teacher will let him store the cello in the teacher’s personal studio.</p>

3

<p>I agree, ChrisP.
Thx.</p>

4

<p>Glad you have insurance.</p>

<p>I agree with Chris, he should definitely have a locker.</p>

<p>DS has three instruments at school, his euph, bass trombone and french horn. As his euph is his major performance instrument the school supplies that locker automatically. The locker is big enough to hold his bass trombone as well and since he plays french horn in the community band he has a locker for that as well.</p>

<p>Also, DS also majors in music ed and the school provides lockers for all his tech instruments as well.</p>

<p>Demand the locker !!</p>

5

<p>The instruments were in an unlocked music room? And this is the norm? If there are not enough lockers, then I would urge your son to organize a meeting with the dean of the music school. I’d also do a bit a digging and have the students check campus crime reports. It may have been the first instance, it may not be.</p>

<p>And since the bow was an easy grab, it would not surprise me if more disappearances happen quickly. </p>

<p>Do you have pictures of the bow for insurance purposes? If so, get copies to the campus and municipal police. Checking local pawn shops might be a good idea, or leaving pictures of the bow with the proprietors may help.</p>

<p>Photograph the cello if you haven’t already.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

6

<p>One of the very first things we did when daughter reported to campus her first day was to go to the security office where she was assigned a music locker and, since she plays bass, keys to the bass storage room and a private rehearsal room shared with two or three other bassists. Her good bass generally stayed locked in that rehearsal room when she was not using it elsewhere. There was general agreement among the students with the key for that room that, if it was occupied, it was OK to interrupt long enough to take your instrument out to another empty practice room. After freshman year, she also had her backup instrument of much lower value that she kept in her dorm room or apartment and used mostly for jamming when someone wanted to play around a bit.</p>

<p>It is critical that you get a locked space for your instrument. Make sure that space is well controlled 24/7/365 for temperature and humidity. If it is not humidified when the heat is turned on, use a dampit and check it every time you use the instrument to make sure it is neither too wet nor too dry.</p>

7

<p>I can’t imagine the school not have locked space. Even DD, a voice major, has a small locker in the music building. Demand locked space. In the meantime, are there other friends who do have a locker that the small items can be stored in?</p>

8

<p>It appears that as of yesterday, arrangements were made to move some of the larger band instruments around and he now has a locked locker. But I don’t know if this arrangement was made just for him or if these are now available for the remainder of the cellists/bassists. </p>

<p>There’s no way to ever know exactly what happened. These kids felt secure and are too trusting. Lesson learned the hard way. </p>

<p>Thanks for the advice.</p>

9

<p>The school administration doesn’t sound all that street smart either, sounds like they believe their own PR, that because an areas is ‘low crime’ or ‘non inner city’ that miraculously human nature changes. It happens all over, instruments have been stolen from Carnegie Hall (Joshua Bell is playing an instrument that was stolen from Huberman in the 30’s, and re-appeared 50 years later. Some schlub of a local musician bought the instrument for 100 bucks [and yes, he knew it was a valuable strad, and obviously that it had been stolen, he painted it black and used it at various gigs…],and carnegie hall even then had decent security. We are lucky with our son, he loves his violin, so he is very, very careful with it (and unlike Bass and Cello players, bless them, he can carry it around with him easily…my hat goes off to all Bass, Cello and other large instrument players with that, it shows dedication). We have heard enough horror stories (borrowed violin, worth several hundred thousand dollars, borrowed from a teacher, left on a table at a starbucks for 2 minutes and <em>phhhft</em> gone) to know they can be a target, even if the person stealing it doesn’t know a strad from a 100 dollar student violin (In the original post, I suspect the thief was probably a fellow student, if they picked the expensive bow, it means they knew the difference; with bows, looks alone don’t necessarily scream “expensive”). </p>

<p>For any parent and student at a music school, if they say you don’t need a locker, their facilities are safe, don’t take that for an answer, and if they refuse to give you a locker, scream and yell louder, and also tell them if something happens to the instrument, your cousin the lawyer (real or imaginary) will be calling, as will newspapers and magazines…watch what happens if you do that (last resort, most schools are probably reasonable, but bureacrats often need a little ‘push’ to move).</p>

<p>One of the things it is difficult to tell people is that having an instrument or bow stolen is not like having a car stolen, that every instrument is different, that you can’t just go and buy ‘the same thing’ even if it is insured, no two are alike (especially with string instruments, I can’t really talk about brass or woodwinds that way), and even if you find an instrument in the price range of the payout, there is no guarantee you will find one that plays as well (my son’s instrument value is deceptive, for example; it is priced based on the lack of knowing the exact maker, but in sound, it plays as well or better then many instruments costing 4 or 5 times more that he has played), so if it got stolen, it would be very hard to replace it, and that isn’t unique, I am sure of it.</p>

10

<p>

This is true so very much, particularly as freshmen settle in. Even on campuses that are “safe” among students who are attending an elite school, the ipod, phone, books, computer and instrument that are left “just for a minute” to go to the restroom are stolen. The bell curve of human nature is everywhere. It is a hard lesson.</p>

11

<p>My D plays flute…a very easy to conceal instrument. Our insurance (Clarion) says it is NOT covered when in a locker. Has anyone else encountered this?</p>

12

<p>I don’t understand this. Why would it not be covered in a locker?</p>

13

<p>I don’t understand either, but that is the policy…not covered if left in a car or in a locker. They said it was because both are too easy to break into.</p>

<p>Who else do people use for insurance?</p>

14

<p>Always secured my case with a strap and a visible lock, even if a locker was available -lest it tempt someone.</p>

15

<p>Clarion definitely told me that they will not cover instruments kept in school lockers, period. Didn’t ask about the car.</p>

<p>For this reason we insured darling son’s instruments through CSI, they cover replacement costs for theft and damage if the instrument is being kept in the school music building if the is the norm of campus.</p>

16

<p>Heritage and the Anderson Group also provide musical instrument insurance. You can find them pretty easily through google. I do not know whether or not they exclude school lockers or cars, but it should be possible to find out through their web sites.</p>

<p>One reason I can see that they would be hesitant about school lockers, particularly in cases where the student provides the lock, is that the insurer has no control over the quality of the lock. I have seen instrument lockers secured by cheap little locks that have all of 27 possible combinations (3 levers each with 3 possible positions). Even an amateur burglar could have that open in well under a minute.</p>

17

<p>We have a rider for all instruments and bows on our homeowners insurance. They do not insure if left in a car (just like a laptop) but they specifically do cover the instrument at camp and traveling. They were very comprehensive and less expensive than specific instrument insurance companies. I check periodically to make sure all is completely covered. S should never be leaving his viola in the car anyway, luckily it is easy enough to carry with him.</p>

<p>It is worth it to check your homeowners insurance to compare. Just make sure you have a complete list of what coverage you need to make an equal comparison. S keeps his primary instrument locked in his locker with a pretty strong multi combination lock that someone would need a super strong metal cutter to get through. He also has one those 123 combo locks on his case. His 2nd instrument is hiding under his bed in his room, but it is much less expensive, used for emergencies only. Not allowed to practice in the dorm anyway.</p>

18

<p>The bow was found and returned to the music bldg. this a.m. It was found in a different bldg altogether on top of a filing cabinet. The campus police think that someone heard through the grapevine that the local police had been brought in and taken a statement, etc. Maybe they panicked and carefully placed it somewhere. We are grateful for the campus police staying on top of this.</p>

<p>My son NOW has a locker w/ lock and says he will NEVER trust leaving his instrument in an unsupervised room. But now it seems that even securing it in a locker isn’t the answer according to previous posts re: insurance.</p>

<p>Lesson learned and a good reminder for everyone to remind their trusting, naive college kids.</p>

<p>And I was just about to hop on a plane and start ferreting out local pawn shops in the area! I’d use any excuse to leave this 18 degree weather.</p>

19

<p>Hate to be the one to say it, but, this is one life lesson your son will not forget.</p>

20

<p>rudysmom, I’m so glad your son’s bow was found. What an awful experience for him.</p>