robbery

Well, it's been a hectic few days here...the night before last, around 1:30am, an unknown man entered the student dorms and stole some electronics from the students. The only two students who have new laptops and fancy cellphones were targeted; they live on the sixth and the eighth floors, respectively. I also live on the eighth floor, right across the hall. The man apparently just walked in without being stopped by security, and made it all the way up to the eighth floor without being accosted. He was seen by one student, and when questioned what he was doing in her suite, he just turned around and left. The nastiest part about the whole business is that he was probably informed by a student as to who he should target (where they live, who had expensive electronics, and what time to come). The students were also probably drugged, they haven't been able to eat since, and have felt poorly. They both had kept their laptops and cellphones underneath their pillows, and despite being light sleepers, weren't aroused when he stole their stuff literally out from under them.
Obviously, everyone is very upset by this, but thank god it was only a few stolen things, rather than something more serious like a sexual assault. The security here has been an ongoing problem--the men are hired through an outside company, which makes them work 48-hour shifts...completely unreasonable. They then fall asleep on the job, and I can't count how many times I've returned to my building to find the gate locked and them asleep. They lock the gate so that they can nap, but it is a HUGE fire hazard to lock it. There are also no fire escapes here, which has been another continuous fight. The teachers are demanding for the administration to do something about this, but it's been very difficult to get them to listen. As can be seen by the high mortality rate in the recent fire in Dhaka, there aren't really any safety precautions here. But, it would be a huge debacle on an international scale if several hundred young women from fourteen different countries, in addition to a bunch of American and British teachers, were to perish in a fire when the administration has been begged to spend the money for fire escapes for the past three years.
Hopefully, the robbery will be a catalyst for some change to finally happen here. The students actually posed a protest of their own, yesterday morning, when they left classes and lined up in the alley demanding their safety. If parents here about this, some students may be pulled from the university, and several students just wanted to go home. It isn't about the electronics, its about knowing they can be safely asleep without strange men entering their rooms unchecked. If the administration doesn't listen, there are several teachers who are willing to call Ms. Cheri Blaire herself (Tony Blaire's wife, who is a main benefactress for AUW), and another teacher who has connections with the British press. It is a shame that bad things have to happen in order for people to listen, but I am glad that it's just at the expense of a laptop or two.