photo by Doug nalsey

Students who leave their bicycles at places such as Burling library run
the risk of having them stolen during the present rash ot bike thefts.

The Grinnell

Scarlet & Black

Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA 50111

lﬁkes

by Terry Wolf

Until a few days ago, Bob
Aldrich was the proud owner of a
new, blue tennspeed bicycle.

Last Sunday night, Bob parked
his bike in the Sollth Campus loggia
and locked it to the Window framc.
Bob's security measures proved no
match for the ingenuity of a bike
burglar, however, Sometime
between ll pm. and 3 am, a
determined thief pulled the
crossboard from the window
frame. slipped off the chain, and
took the 3180 bike.

The same thing happened to
Stewart Fassmoreisame time,
same place, same method of
operation. Aldrich and Passmore
are among seven students who
have been victimized by bike

thieves this fall.
Registration

Some of the stolen bikes were
registered. Stewart Passmore's
bike was registered—in Tulsa,
Oklahoma, David Rosenbaum's

Friday, Sept. 13, 1974

- Alumni to 're-Iearn’ccimpus

Today, tomorrow and Sunday 34
students, 17 faculty and 17 ad-
ministration personnel will mingle
with 65 representatives of Grinnell
alumni organizations at the
Alumni-Admissions Volunteers
and Area Club Officers Fall
Conference. According to Dorothy
Palmer, alumni executive
secretary, the purpose of the
conference is to “educate alumni
volunteers about the campus as it
is today” and “to establish Coma
municatinn between the alumni
and college community.”

"It’s a two-way street,” ex-
plained Janet German, alumni
organization coordinator. “We feel
the clubs should meet the needs of
the alumniiwhatever those needs
might be. We, also need a channel
for alumni to stay in Contact with
the college at some meaningful
level.”

Much campus interest has been
shown about the conference, which
is to be the only such one held this
year. “Students we talk to are
excited about it," affirmed Ger-
man.

Program

The program starts today with a
Social Hour and Keynote Speech
entitled ”While You Were Away”
to be given by Joseph F‘. Wall,
professor oi history.

Saturday morning everyone will
participate in small group
discussions. The topic is “Concerns
and Priorities for the Future
Development of Grinnell College”,
During the afternoon and con
tinuing on Sunday morning the
alumni, faculty and administration
participants will discuss their roles
in relationship to the college.

Two different groups of alumni
are participating in the con-
ference. Representatives from
area alumni organizations, located
throughout the country, will at-
tend, as well as alumni admissions
coordinators, and members of
their committees from eight pilot
areas.

Areaflrganizniions

Area alumni organizations are
made up of Grinnell graduates,
parents of graduates or of students
now enrolled in the college and
friends of Grinnell, those people
who are interested in the college
for one reason or another. These
people get together to participate
in various activities. They may
organ'e social or fund-raising
activ es. Over last year’s
Christmas break, the San Fran-
cisco organization sponsored a
career internship program, Also
during Christmas break, a group
arranged a ski trip and invited
Grinnell students from the area,

PilotProgram

Last spring, with the forming of
area admissions committees, a
pilot program was initiated in eight
cities. Each committee has a
coordinator who directs an
organized volunteer effort towards
first identifying possible high-
school students for the Office of
Admissions, then contacting those
as well as others identified by the
office of Admissions. They also
provide contactwith those students
accepted for admission, and

finally, interview and provide .

information for prospectives who
are unable to visit the campus in

Student coordinator sought

The Student Government
Association (SGA) is currently
looking for someone to fill the
position of Social Coordinator,
Unlike past Social Coordinators,
the position now being filled will
have nothing to do with major
concerts.

Instead, someone \Vith creativity
and imagination to organize all
campus events and parties is
needed. In addition to funding and
organizing such events as the
Grinnell Relays, the Social
Coordinator will help halls plan all
campus events and perhaps
arrange for bands to play at hall

parties.

The SGA has set aside $1200 for
the Social Coordinator's use. In
addition money may be available
from the inititive fund and SGA’s
general budget and reserve fund.

There is a small salary that is
paid to the Social Coordinator but it
is minimal and the Coordinator's
interest in promoting all»campus
events is the primary form of
remuneration,

Anyone interested in becoming
Social Coordinator please call John
l-lansen, x664, or drop a note in the
SGA mailbox before Wednesday,
September 18.

'person. The eight pilot areas are
located in Sioux City, lowa City,
the Quad Cities, Des Moines, Cedar
Rapids, St. Louis, Denver and the
Twin cities,

After the Saturday morning
discussion period the two groups of
alumni will participate in separate
presentations and discussions.

Hopefully, when the conference
is over both alumni and those on
campus will have learned and
benifited cnough to continue to
enjoy a give and take relationship
throughout the year,

Cl .
bike was registercd~in Evanston.
Illinois, Aldrich's bike was
registered in Grlnnell, but he said
he never expects to See lt again.
Chances are he’s right
, Grinncll Police Chief Bill Peters
Tuesday rclcascd ligurcs for stolen
and recovered bikes for 1974 to
date which showed a 74 per cent
rate of recovery. Of the sixtyrsix
bikes that have been reported
stolen in Grinnell, 49 have been
recovered But Peters said the
recovery ration is lower for ten-
speeds, probably because of their
high resale value, and a majority
of bikes at the college are tens
speeds.

insurance

Most of the theft victims are
checking with their insurance
companies to determine whether
or not the bikes were insured.
Some homeowners policies cover
theft of property away from the
insured premises, but many of
them are written With $50 or $100
deductible clauses. In addition, the
value of the bike for insurance
purposes is generally the
depreciated value, not the
replacement cost,

To illustrate the dilemma,
Passmore's Schwinn Super Sport
cost $139 new, but that was about
six years ago. Today, Passmore
said, that model is no longer made
and a comparable bike would cost
about $275. Passmore Said he
would wait a while before investing
in another bike.

No Lends

Chief Peters said he had no leads
on the most recent thefts. Last
spring after college students left,
Peters reported, some “juveniles
from the town" were apprehended
in connection with some of the bike
thefts. Outsiders are generally
believed to be responsible for the
theft of college bicycles and chief
Peters strongly urged, as he has in
the past, that students watch for
and question unlamiliar persons.

Rick Stem, owner of Rlck's Bike
Shop, told the Scarlet and "lack
that junior high students
sometimes steal bikes and then try

Dorms to be locked
around-ihe-clock

A 24rhour lockup of all loggia and
residence hall doors has been
affected beginning at 10 p.m. for
security purposes during the Boo
strike.

The Student Affairs office cited
an increase in the number of
bicycle thefts and incidents of
outsiders hassling students in the
dorms as the impetus behind the
lockup. Unidentified persons were
caught loading lounge furniture

into a van, in a separate case.

Though the temporary measure
may inconvenience students, keys
issued this year open doors on both
campuses, and consequently
should present no real problems,
according to Dianne Ruyffelaere,
associate dean of student affairs.

Keys will also be available to
visitors with a five dollar refuns
dable deposit, upon request at the
Student Affairs Office.

photo by Doug nalsey

Former Grinnell students will return to campus this
weekend to be updated as to the present functions and
activities of the college. Weekend activities incllldc
formal and informal meetings with students. faculty.
and administration.

ppear

to spray paint them Missing hikes
have been found parkod in front of
the high school shortly JIlil-i' ,. theft
has been reported- some of the
bikes are stripped for parts A few
years ago, police discovered a
major bike theft ring operating out
of Oskaloosa.
Organized Thievery _

In organized thievery. the bike
bllrglar's tools of trade include a
bolt cutter or a hacksaw, and
sometimes a van or a pick up
truck. A bolt cutter is a kin .ed
version of a tin snips or Vi ire cutter
and can cut through five sixteenths
inch, case hardened cable Before
you could say Motobecane, the
thief using a bolt cutter can cut a
chain and spirit the bike away An
even simpler operation is to pick
up bikes which are not locked to a
fixed object and load them into a
van or pick-up truck

At least two of the thefts on
campus this fall bear evidence of
these procedures. David Rosen-
baum's bike was locked to the bike
rack outside Langan but a thief
managed to get it anyway. Dan
Edward’s bike was locked outside
Dibble Hall but all the bike'racks
were full when Dan got home so the
bike was not locked to anything.
Someone picked it up,

Security

Because of the state of the art,
Stein said it made little difference
from a security standpoint whether
a chain or a cable was used to
secure the bike. Stein recommends
the cable simply because it is
easier to maneuver. Type of lock
makes little difference either.
Stein said the lock is the weakest
part of the system because a small
crowbar could be used to break.
open most locks.

No bike is completely theft-
proof, but there are certain
measures which help deter thieves.
Bikes should be locked where
possible, to a stationary object.
Chains should be of sufﬁcient
length to run through the frame
and the front wheel. The ultimate
security measure is sleeping with
your bike.

All of the thefts have apparently
occurred at night and both Stein
and Assistant Dean of Students
Bob Jacobs recommend that
students with expensive or senr
timentally irreplaceable bikes
keep those cycles locked in dorm
rooms. Dan Edwards said he
bought another bike, but he now
uses two locks and takes the bike to
his room at night

Recovery
once a bike is stolen,
registration is virtually the only
way of recovering the vehicle.
Bikes can be registered for twenty-
five cents With either the Grinnell
Police Department or with the
Office of Student Affairs, which
relays the information to the Police
Department.

Under a new registration
program just announced by the
Police Department, not only bikes,
but other valuables also can be
registered. The program is called
Operation ldent and involves
getting a number from the police
which the property owner then
etches on llissher valuable
property, Chief Peters said the new
system would help police return
stolen property which had been
recovered but which they had no
means of identifying

/=\

The inside story

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Jim Leach interview

Wall views amnesty

Arbor Lake development

\QE/

 

