By Jonathan Hiser
A campus-wide e-mail sent on March 31 by Director of Public Safety Harold Burke-Sivers jarred some students out of their daily routines. The three-sentence message warned of a threatening individual named Bruce Smith sited on campus and included a link for more information.
That extra information consisted of a Public Safety Web page chronicling a list of over a half-dozen high-priority trespassers. Unbeknownst to some students, the Web site is not new, but in fact in its fifth year of use.
Burke-Sivers said the e-mail and accompanying link wasn't meant to raise alarm, but rather awareness.
"We wanted to alert students, because if they don't know, they'll continue to be victimized," Burke-Sivers said.
Senior Wes Studer said he was less concerned about the vagueness of the message and the number of trespassers than he was about some of the faces he saw on the Web site.
"I definitely wouldn't want to run into some of these guys," Studer said.
Burke-Sivers said the brevity of the e-mail is due to the sensitivity of the details involving Smith's trespassing, adding that omitting them likely added to student confusion.
"The important thing is that if you see him, call," Burke-Sivers said.
The fact that UP is an open campus makes the University an obvious target for thieves, Burke-Sivers said. Each photographed individual is known as a "frequent flyer," meaning a person caught multiple times for trespassing on campus or for committing some egregious act.
"This guy's a thief ... this guy was caught sleeping in St. Mary's ... and this guy's a jerk," Burke-Sivers said as he scrolled down the list of photographs.
While Public Safety deals with more people than this, these are the people that give them the most concern, Burke-Sivers said.
"We don't put people up there because we can," Burke-Sivers said. "There better be a damn good reason why somebody's picture is up there."
Information on each subject is shared between universities, including Portland State University, Portland Community College and Lewis and Clark. Chances are if they hang around one college campus, they'll hang around others, Burke-Sivers said.
"We all keep each other informed," Burke-Sivers said.
Use of the online notice board has led to successful apprehensions in the past, most notably arresting a man who ran a scam through the ATM in the Pilot House, according to Burke-Sivers.
"People call us when they see something, so they do notice it," Burke-Sivers said.
Despite the student calls and reports, Burke-Sivers said student apathy remains a constant issue, noting that if students wait too long to call Public Safety, they can't be effective.
"The photographs are one of the best ways we know for people to help," Burke-Sivers said. "We can't be everywhere, so if you're not sure, fine, call us and we'll go out and make sure."
