A mangled laptop computer, screen smashed and guts exposed, yawns grotesquely from the media checkout desk in Rasmuson Library.

It is a testament to the abuse some UAF students inflict on their borrowed equipment.

David Bashaw, who has worked in the media center for two years, said the infamous laptop was damaged last spring.

"This girl had come in raging drunk with a group of friends," Basham recalled, "They had just kind of abandoned the laptop at the desk."

The student later returned to the library and told Basham that the laptop was like that when she checked it out.

"I don't think so," said Basham. The student did pay the replacement cost.

Jim Hassel, 33, has worked at the check-out desk for over 10 years. He has seen things that have intrigued him. "People just do weird things," said the journalism graduate. "Someone had returned a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition videotape in one of the recorders."

Since no one claimed the tape, it was put to use by one of the library technicians.

"He said he was using it as a test tape," said Hassel.

On one occasion, checking out a video recorder to a student proved alarming.

"She picked up the bag instead of the camera," Hassel said, "And the camera fell right out of the bag and onto the floor."

Luckily the camera wasn't damaged.

In several instances equipment was damaged when people slipped or fell in nasty weather. One woman had slipped on the ice and cracked the screen of a laptop she had checked out.
Accident or not: when damages occur, the student responsible pays.

Basham, who does the paperwork for damaged or unreturned equipment, says that the replacement policy calls for the student to cover the entire cost of purchasing new equipment.

This policy was updated last summer after the library was experiencing a higher return of damaged equipment. The earlier version only called for the student to pay for what the old equipment was worth undamaged.

Over all, the students are pretty good about returning media center equipment, and invoices don't need to be done very often.

"Given the number if students who check out equipment and the value of the equipment, they actually do pretty well," Basham said.

Hassel agrees: "It (invoicing) only happens may be a few times a semester."

The media center has expensive gear ranging from $300 digital cameras to $2,500 mini dash digital video recorders. There are over 28 different kinds of media equipment available for checkout ranging from microphones to audio teleconference telekits.

The most popular checkouts are laptop computers, digital cameras, and videocassette recorders. These are normally 24-hour checkouts, but Hassel said that they can be consecutively renewed twice.

 Sometimes, the equipment is not returned for several days without renewal. That is when the student is sent an invoice and a letter by certified mail.

The invoice states the full replacement cost. The letter informs the recipients their university account will soon be blocked and the matter turned over to the UAF Police Department. The combined message is effective, Hassel said.

"They bring it back after that."

Photo by Stephanie Taylor
A laptop is on display at the Rasmuson Library after being returned mangled. 

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