The office of Penn's campus radio station, WQHS, was burglarized Thursday night or Friday morning.
The break-in took place sometime between 5 p.m. Thursday and 7 a.m. Friday at the station's headquarters at 3905 Spruce St., according to University Police records.
Cpl. Thomas McGrath said police found the second-story office door forced open, and station manager FitzSimmons added that the doorjamb was broken.
According to College senior FitzSimmons, various pieces of gaming and electronic equipment, worth an estimated value of $600 to $700, were missing from the location Friday morning.
"We haven't done a complete inventory yet, but right now we know a digital recorder/MP3 player, the most expensive thing in studio" is missing, said WQHS music director and College junior Roger Tang, who valued the electronic device at $200 to $300. "We are also missing an N64 and an old Sega Genesis and some games."
WQHS shares the office and recording space with professional radio station WXPN, which specializes in "adult album alternative" music. According to FitzSimmons, nothing of major value was taken from WXPN's offices.
On Friday morning, a Penn Police detective, who could not be reached for comment, dusted the office for fingerprints.
"He definitely doesn't think it was an inside job," FitzSimmons said. "He suspects they got in through the fire escape door."
"I think it was some people who saw an open door," FitzSimmons said. "It is my suspicion that it was people trying to cause mischief -- they found a way to get into the station and went looking through to find whatever they wanted. Most of our staff doesn't know we have a Sega in the office. I highly doubt it was an inside job."
The station is staffed with 100 DJs who all have PennCard access to the building, FitzSimmons said.
She said she was also looking into obtaining a list of all the people who swiped into the building Thursday night. She added that she was also looking into the status of the station's insurance, but was not sure if it would receive any compensation.
FitzSimmons did say, however, that an alumnus offered to give WQHS a donation and that the staff of WXPN have been helpful.
While the burglary will not affect the station's programming schedule -- it will continue to broadcast from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. -- it could affect the morale of its student operators.
The heist comes at a time when the station is on the rebound from an obstacle-strewn past.
The station, which can now be heard online and on channel 2 on campus, was broadcast on 88.5 FM until the 1970s, when the airwave was taken over by WXPN. It later switched to a low AM frequency for several years until University funding was insufficient to cover the cost.
Recently, the station has dealt with a lack of sufficient funding -- since last spring, it had worked to balance a $3,700 debt that it owed to the University by holding a series of fundraising events. Four additional fundraising concerts had been scheduled for this year.
Prior to this weekend's incident, the money earned was going to be used to update antiquated studio equipment that hails from the 1960s and 1970s. Now, however, students think it will have to be used to replace what was stolen.
"It is really disappointing," Tang said. "We have worked really hard. I think it is going to make us a little stronger, but not in a cheesy way. It emphasizes to the DJs that we are not a big fish. We have made big steps in coming up-to-date. When stuff happens, it is just disappointing."
Tang added that the break-in will cause the DJs to take better care of and protect the station.
