Missing CD-ROM disk

[William Russell Smith <rssmith@TENET.EDU>]

Another message I sent Sunday that never made it...



  >It was signed for and put in the media center by a secretary,
>but disappeared during the summer.

Paula:

     This a terrible situation you have encountered and something all of the
media people on LM_Net can learn from. Basically the company is under no
obligation to replace the disk under than the desire to create good public
relations.

     The situation as they see it is your school accepted delivery of a
$1,000 piece of equipment (the CD-ROM disk) and at that point you were
responsible for the safekeeping of the disk. You wouldn't expect a VCR
company or a computer manufacturer to replace a stolen object on your campus.
It's just that the disk is so small that theft is much easier and seems so
unfair in relation to its huge monetary value.

    Does your school have an insurance policy that covers theft? I don't know
what kind of insurance you might have or what kind of deductible, but that
might be worth investigating.

    You might also try some Colombo investigations to see if you can track down
the disk. Somebody (a kid) might respond to a reward offer and give you
information leading to the disk. Somebody has it, that's for sure and it has
probably made its way to a home computer with a CD-ROM. Putting out a public
appeal for information about the disk might get some tips. It's worth the
effort at this stage of the sorry affair.

    I'm sure you are going to tighten up mail procedures from now on also.
Valuable packages need to go in the vault, not left out for an opportunistic
thief. A locking CD-ROM drive is also not a bad idea.


   Good luck and keep us informed on how this turns out.


Russell Smith  rssmith@tenet.edu       Home Phone 915-235-1228
Technology Consultant                  Home Fax   915-235-0633
Region XIV Education Service Center    Work Phone 915-675-8600
Abilene, Texas 79601                   Work Fax   915-675-8659