The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Tag: theft

  • Cal Poly Humboldt spends nearly $16,000 replacing stolen sign letters over the summer

    Cal Poly Humboldt spends nearly $16,000 replacing stolen sign letters over the summer

    by Ollie Hancock

    Over the summer break, the iconic signs brandishing the school’s name lost their letters again and again. Vandals would rip the acrylic letters from the wall over the course of a few nights before they were replaced. The sign might stay intact for a few days, then the cycle would start again. The signs had only recently been changed to read “Cal Poly Humboldt” with the new polytechnic designation.

    The signs read like a game of hangman: “C_L PO_Y HUMBO_ _ _” one week and  “_AL _OLY _UM_O_ _ _” the next. Replacing the sign letters isn’t an easy process either. It requires one member of maintenance staff to place the letters on the facade while another climbs inside the sign to tighten them. An anonymous source, one of the vandals, explained that pulling them out was much simpler. 

    “It was easy,” the anonymous individual said. “They popped right off.” 

    When asked why they pulled the letters down, the vandal explained that they were dissatisfied with the school. They faced backlash over the anonymous chat app Yik Yak, where users complained that their actions would increase surveillance and police presence in the community. This appears to have been borne out, as cameras were installed on light poles facing some of the signs over the summer. 

    “I think that the school is wrong for bringing in more cops to solve the problem,” the anonymous source said. “Why spend so much time and money fixing it when you could do something to show legitimate support for the community instead? They seem more worried about the signs than their students.” 

    There were a total of 54 acrylic letters stolen or broken over the course of the summer. UPD is actively investigating these incidents as repeated acts of vandalism.

    “Unfortunately, signage is expensive and it’s costing the University thousands–nearly $16,000–to cover the amount of stolen lettering, replacement letters, and labor,” said Cal Poly Humboldt spokesperson Grant Scott-Goforth. “If we need to change all the signs to metal letters, it will cost the University at least an additional $12,000.” 

     “[UPD has] increased patrols, and we will pursue the maximum penalty when the people responsible for the vandalism are caught,” Scott-Goforth said. 

    For the last weeks of summer, the signs sat blank. Facilities Management was able to re-letter most of the signs by the start of the semester, so families and new students could identify the campus. Two signs still remain empty on the intersections of 14th and Union St., and 14th and B St. 

    In addition to the increased patrols and surveillance, the University is considering replacing the current sign letters with harder-to-remove metal lettering.

  • College Creek Marketplace introduces new bag rule

    College Creek Marketplace introduces new bag rule

    Students will now be required to leave their bags with cashiers when shopping at the College Creek Marketplace. This new rule is administered by Humboldt State University’s dining services.

    Ron Rudebock, dining services director, said theft has become a bigger issue this semester than the last.

    “It’s why this new system is being put into place,” Rudebock said. “We need to take the precaution to prevent more theft from happening.”

    The way the system works is customers will leave their bags in a rack supervised by an employee and receive a pin with a number.

    Once they’re done shopping, customers return to the rack where they left their bag, give the pin back to a supervising employee and receive their belongings.

    Rudebock expresses that he didn’t want to use this system, but is required to avoid an increase of the price of items sold in the marketplace.

    “We’ve already had people calling to say that they think it’ll be inconvenient for everyone involved,” Rudebock said. “But for us to not increase the price of items in the marketplace, we need to use this system.”

    Selena Ponce is a College Creek Marketplace employee.

    “There is some frustration at first when we ask for [a customer’s] bag,” Ponce said. “When we explain that theft is the reason for the new rule, people are willing to leave their bags with us.”

    Rudebock said dining services will consider implementing a similar bag rule in The Depot and The J if theft becomes more common in those locations.

    “It was much easier to just go in, get what you need and get out,” HSU student Natalie Carbarl said. “It’s kinda dumb, but I understand why [the Marketplace] need to enforce this rule.”

    “People who are stealing from the Marketplace are hurting the school more than they actually think,” Rudebock said.