Archive: April 2005

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Monday - April 25, 2005

Too close for comfort (Campus Watch #22)

Note: I've added an update below.

From today's Campus Watch crime report:

Deadly Conduct (Chemical Petroleum Engineering, 200 East Dean Keeton)
An unidentified subject caused damage to an exterior sliding glass door and a glass window pane located on the west side of the building. The damage consisted of dimples in the glass which, based on the evidence at the scene, is believed to have been caused by several small items striking the glass with great velocity. Repair cost: $300.00. Discovered on 4-23-05 at 10:45 AM. UTPD would like to establish a specific time frame for this incident. Anyone who had seen or knew of this damage prior to 4-23-05 at 10:45 AM is encouraged to contact Det. Riojas at 232-9641.

This is in reference to my building. Yikes! Still no news on exactly what happened. Sadly, I had a conversation with a friend who came in at 8:30 on Saturday morning. She saw the broken window and came on into the building without calling the police. She was a bit worried but did what most of the people I see around here do. She assumed someone else had already reported the damage. Clearly, based on the report, that's not the case. It took another 2 hours and 15 minutes before the damage was reported. Sigh...

Also from today's Campus Watch crime report:

Public Intoxication / Consumption of Alcohol by a Minor (Jester Center West, 201 East 21st Street)
A UT student, who was under the age of 21, approached a UT police officer, who was wearing a distinctly marked police uniform, and asked if the officer was the "pizza delivery man." After being informed that the officer was a police officer, the student asked the officer if he wanted to share take out food from another restaurant. The student was found to be under the influence of an alcoholic beverage to the point he was a physical endangerment to himself and all fast foods. Occurred on 4-23-05 at 2:30 AM.

Reality trumps fiction yet again!

UPDATE (April 26, 2005)
So. A brief update regarding yesterday's Campus Watch crime report. I didn't understand the "several small items striking the glass with great velocity" euphemism. The first time I read the "extreme involuntary physical reaction to the over consumption of an alcoholic beverage" phrase in one of those Campus Watch reports, I knew exactly what the report was talking about. The one in yesterday's report, though, I didn't get. I don't usually come and go through the door in question so I hadn't seen the damage. "Several small items" doesn't really sound like much. But, I was curious. And, I made a point of using the south stair well as I was leaving yesterday so I could take a look at the door. Someone shot at the door with a shot gun. And, there's also a small bullet hole in the metal frame near the ground. I see now why there's a detective assigned and an active investigation. There's no telling if our building was picked for any specific reason. It likely happened sometime between 1:30 am (after the custodial crew left for the night) and dawn. This place (like most of campus) is pretty deserted that early on a Saturday morning. So, the chances that someone would've been hurt were pretty slim. Still. Kinda spooky. Anyway, here are some photos I took this morning...

The shot below is the best I could do from outside while trying to compensate for the glare. Note the clear sticky film they've put over the glass to keep it from further collapsing until they can get the new glass installed. Luckily, it's a double-paned window and the interior glass did not break.

Do you see (in the photo above) the dent in the door frame along the left-side about 18 inches above the ground? Just a few inches above the hinge? That's the bullet hole:

And, here's a close-up of the gun shot pellet dents left in the door frame:

And, finally, a shot from inside the building. You can see the damage pattern a bit more clearly:

Eco-terrorists? We are talking petroleum engineering. Gang initiation? Random kids shooting at stuff? Whatever the case, it's much more unpleasant than the dry Campus Watch report would lead one to believe.

Posted by Joanna | Permalink

Friday - April 22, 2005

Sad lunch tale

Here's the sad tale of my lunch hour today. I was trying to copy a huge chunk of data from a Powerbook to a desktop computer. On the order of 8 GB of data. My options were: (1) copy the data over the network to one of our workstations and from there to the desktop computer or (2) copy directly from the laptop to the desktop. Option #2 was much more appealing because option #1 was gonna take several hours. It would also set off the inevitable alarms over at UT's network center as our network traffic jumped an unexpected 16 GB (8 from the laptop to the workstation and a second 8 from the workstation to the desktop machine). Alas, I had no firewire cable to use for option #2. I called around. Nobody else had one. So, I decided I'd hop on home during my lunch hour and grab one I've got at home. As I headed home, it dawned on me that I could just stop at Office Depot and buy one more quickly. So, I tried that. No go. They didn't have any firewire cables at all. None. So, I stopped in at Radio Shack. While they did have firewire cables, they didn't have any 6-pin to 6-pin, which was the kind I needed. Naturally. So [sigh...] I headed on home. I passed a couple of fast food joints along the way and thought about pulling in to grab some food. But, I kept thinking of the lunch I'd prepared this morning sitting in my backpack back at the office. And, I ignored the impulse. I got home, ran in, grabbed the cable, and left. I was fairly hungry by now but decided that there really was no point in wasting the lunch in my office so I went straight back. 'Got to work, attached the computers and started the file transfer. Once that was going smoothly, I grabbed my backpack. Alas, no lunch. I apparently forgot to put it into my backpack after putting it together. What a basket case, eh? I walked by that lunch bag while going into and out of my house when I retrieved the cable. I didn't notice it, though. The receptionist sent out a note this morning about free cookies and muffins being available in the copy room. So, I went down there, found a banana nut muffin, and had that. Not nearly as good (or good for me) as my planned lunch. I shoulda just stopped at Wendy's, eh?

Posted by Joanna | Permalink

Tuesday - April 19, 2005

Campus Watch #21

From today's Campus Watch crime report:

Criminal Trespass (1900 San Jacinto)
A non-UT subject, who had been issued a criminal trespass warning earlier in the day after using an axe to retrieve coins from a fountain, was reported as harassing female students by asking them for, "a light," then for money and finally for kisses. The subject was turned down for all three requests. The subject told the responding police officer he knew he was trespassing and he wanted to go to jail. That request was granted. Occurred on 4-18-05 at 8:32 PM.

Hmmm...first he's told to quit using an axe to retrieve coins from a fountain. Then, his request for kisses is rebuked. In the end, though, he did get a wish granted. Hmmm...

Posted by Joanna | Permalink

Friday - April 8, 2005

RIP

I've been avoiding writing here because the news is bad. One more time. What a crappy spring. David Mear died 8 days ago...on Thursday. He was in Germany. We found out on Monday. It's just plain awful. I wish I knew what to do. I try to be available...give a hug here and there. To just be there...to hang around and play cards...trying to distract people. I've tried to distract myself with web projects. I correspond with people I only know via the words they write on the web and try to cheer them up 'cause they need cheering up. And, I can think about someone else's pain rather than mine. And, that of my second family. Because the Mear clan is my second family. When Mom and Dad were in Peru and I was in college, the Mears took me in as one of their own. I rarely spend a holiday anymore that isn't split half-and-half between both families. Their nieces and nephews are my nieces and nephews. I love that family. I ache for that family. It just plain sucks. Sigh...

Posted by Joanna | Permalink