Student newspaper office burglarized

BY COLBY FRAZIER
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

Santa Barbara High School’s student newspaper, The Forge, was burglarized early yesterday morning and according to the paper’s editor, an estimated $12,000 worth of computers and cameras were stolen.
But more important than the dollar amount of the equipment, the editor said, is what was stored on the computers.


“The majority of our networked stuff is gone,” said Daniel Langhorne, the paper’s editor-in-chief. “The real value of it all is the time and energy that was put into the work that’s on the hard drives.”
The burglary came just two days after three computers were stolen from the school’s yearbook office, which is located next door to The Forge.
Langhorne said five Apple Macintosh computers, a scanner, a camera and a printer are missing.
Barbara Keyani, a spokeswoman for the Santa Barbara School District, said a flat-screen television valued at $1,100 was taken from a science classroom.
Keyani said Dr. Mark Caprito, the school’s principal, ordered $6,500 worth of new computers yesterday afternoon.
She said four of the five computers stolen from The Forge are valued at $2,000 each. The other one is valued at $2,600. The camera is worth $800 and the printer is valued at $1,000.
Langhorne, a senior who began working at The Forge on his first day of high school, said the next issue of The Forge, which is due out on Friday, would be available on schedule.
“We’re not going to let this keep us from putting out good issues,” Langhorne said.
He said the paper’s adviser, Ruth Bartz, who teaches journalism and news writing classes, gave the student journalists a well-received pep talk.
Langhorne said Bartz told her students, “If the New Orleans paper can put out an issue while the building was flooding, then we can pull this issue off ....”
Langhorne said he’s not certain how the thief or thieves entered the room, but he thinks access was gained through a window above the door that does not latch properly.
He said it appears the computers were stolen sometime around 5:30 a.m., which is when the e-mail provider noted that the machines had stopped automatically checking the mail.
Attempts to reach the Santa Barbara Police Department for comment were not successful last night.
Keyani said school officials met with custodial staff yesterday to discuss the importance of locking the doors and windows. She said teachers were told to lock up valuables before leaving their classrooms.