On the night of Oct. 20., 13 MacBooks were stolen from Klamath Hall lab room 13, according to University of Oregon biology lab preparator Misty McLean-Schurbon. The thief broke a window upon entry.

According to McLean-Schurbon, she estimated that the MacBooks cost $1,380 each, totaling about $17,940 of stolen property. 

Katie Perez, another lab preparator, said that the incident has “created a significant disruption.” 

“These laptops are critical for conducting labs, facilitating office hours and hosting student meetings in our lab space, Klamath [Hall, room] 13,” Perez said. “Because the theft happened over the weekend, we had to immediately relocate Monday [Oct. 21] office hours to allow for damage assessment and cleanup.”

Perez also said that reevaluating security measures to prevent theft has increased stress and the work of those working in the labs.

“We’re implementing additional measures to protect our resources, but this has required time and energy that could otherwise go directly toward supporting our students and educational goals,” Perez said.

Jolie F, a biology 214 student whose lab course meets in Klamath Hall room 13, said that the stolen MacBooks were used to run programs like “PyMOL,” a visualization program that creates 3D images of molecules that the students use to complete assignments. 

Jolie, who wished to keep her last name unpublished for privacy concerns, said, “The class now has few MacBooks to distribute to the students, and they have become a first-serve type of situation, and we are urged to share with our partners.”

According to Jolie, she had to find other students to work on assignments with since the break-in limited the number of available MacBooks. 

“As someone whose personal computer is broken and its processing speed is not ideal for larger programs, I have found myself often partnering up with someone who has the program on their own device,” Jolie said. 

She also said that security measures were in place to prevent the laptops from being removed from the room before the break-in. The computers were “tethered to the lab desks with a passcode lock,” she said. 

She said that students have still been able to complete assignments, but, “it is disheartening to know that the security of the classrooms has to be reevaluated.”

This incident is currently under investigation by the University of Oregon Police Department.