Stupidity in 'A' minor

So despite the heroic efforts of our resident Kung Fu janitor, the thievery continues. \n$20,000 violin. $5,000 bow. $500 camera. $2,000 worth of recording equipment. An undisclosed amount of cash from the desk of the School of Music Dean Gwyn Richards.\nOne emotionally scarred custodian, and a really creepy police rendering. \nThis is the body count. This is the death toll. And the numbers show no sign of ending.\nSchool of Music budget director Royce Deckard told the IDS that the locks haven't been replaced because of the $30-40,000 price tag associated with the project.\nA fair argument … thus far.\nLet's do the math: The running total is $27,500 of missing stuff, not to mention items left unreported and anything to be taken in the future. And heaven forbid these security breaches may lead to any student assault.\nSo what shall we do? Wait until the gross total of stolen items becomes greater than or equal to that of the replacement cost for the system? Beef up security by hiring a couple of mall cops to patrol the music school halls with a whistle and Mag-Lite? Raise the terrorist threat to blue, the international color for administrative blunders? Get a Bat Signal?\nIt's hard for us to watch this culprit come back again and again and make away with a bountiful booty. Each time, we hear the same story. "No signs of forcible entry." Granted, as IU Police Department's Lt. Jerry Minger notes, this doesn't guarantee that the culprit is the same person using the same key, however, "It's a possibility."\nYes, it might not be that guy. It might be gnomes, or gremlins, or jealous physics students. Maybe we don't have to change the locks. Maybe it's all part of a big cycle, birth and rebirth, loss and gain, a time to laugh and a time to cry.\nDoubtful.\n"I don't know what the reasoning was, but it seems strange they wouldn't tell us right away," Karel Butz, a second-year violin performance graduate student, told the IDS on Oct. 9, when confronted with the knowledge that the keys had been missing for some time. \nThis even begins to sound fishy. We surely hope they just forgot to warn students or didn't get around to it in time. It'd be a shame for them to have to admit they didn't think it was important to let the students know. \nIt seems this is just a sign of when red tape attacks. When something as inconsequential as locks on a door take this much effort and needless harm to bring to the attention of those making decisions, it's hard to imagine how parking and RPS complaints can even begin to be assuaged. \n"We'll address those student concerns when we change the locks."\nIn the meantime then, they'll take the hits -- collateral damage of the war against common sense.