Teacher Finds His Classroom's Stolen G5s on eBay

[Doctor Q]

Alan Evans, who teaches a digital animation class at Palos Verdes Peninsula High Schooll in Palos Verdes, California, searched eBay on a hunch and found ten Macintosh G5 computers that had been stolen from his classroom October 29. That led police to the two students who had broken in and taken the equipment. They were arrested Tuesday.

The Macs were described as "graphics-intensive Mac G5s with nice plasma screen monitors", worth $5,000 each.

Local newspaper story

Evans is a former animation industry professional whose porfolio (which may be slow to respond due to all the publicity this week) covers comic book style art and some 3D work.

 

[musicpyrite]

Stupid kids. Glad the school got they're G5s back, especially since they cost so much.

If it were me, I would have waited at least 6 months before selling them.

 

[brap]

It takes a special kind of retard to steal from your own college, let alone attempt to sell them as a job lot. It's akin to s**ting in your living room. At least they'll get what's coming to them in grown-up court (it is 18 over there, right?)

A side note; has anyone else noticed that if you happen to click over the text in a paragraph in that article, it turns red?

 

[Doctor Q]

Note that they stole from their high school, not their college.

It's nice to hear that the high school students get to take a class taught by a professional artist.

This is the piece from Mr. Evans' portfolio that I like best:

 

[Mr. Anderson]

That's just plain stupid and I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up in news of the weird for stupid thieves

"They are nothing like you and I would buy for a home computer," Braden said. "They are the stuff like Disney or Pixar uses for animation."

Right.....maybe something most people wouldn't buy for their home computer

D

 

[wdlove]

I just can't imagine what the two boys were thinking about. Mr. Evans was very fortunate to have located them on eBay and recover them intact. If these boys don't straighten out and soon they could be in for a life of crime.

Are they from an affluent area?

Here is a very nice sketch of Mr. Evans.

 

[Koodauw]

I just can't imagine what the two boys were thinking about.

My guess was they were thinking about making $$$$$

The school needs to realize that they have a bigger problem. This was the second set of stolen computers. and Monitors! You'd think the school would learn after the first theft.

As for the theives, come on guys, but some more thought into it! I mean the same day...from you area? Come on now.

 

[Doctor Q]

Are they from an affluent area?

Yes, Palos Verdes is known for expensive homes and upper class residents.

 

[chanoc]

Yes, Palos Verdes is known for expensive homes and upper class residents.

Those kids had zero class, proving money cannot buy one class. To note:theft charges are really "bad-looking" felonies - try explaining to a potential employer that you were convicted of felony grand larceny.

G5s with all the bells and whistles in a high school; the best we have at UA are eMacs.

 

[MacDawg]

Note that they stole from their high school, not their college.

It's nice to hear that the high school students get to take a class taught by a professional artist.

This is the piece from Mr. Evans' portfolio that I like best:

Nice picture!
The kids should have valued the training that they could have received from the G5s and the teacher. But that would have made sense. Why do that when you can turn a fast buck.

 

[jared_kipe]

Those kids had zero class, proving money cannot buy one class. To note:theft charges are really "bad-looking" felonies - try explaining to a potential employer that you were convicted of felony grand larceny.

G5s with all the bells and whistles in a high school; the best we have at UA are eMacs.

No kidding, all my high school (still) have are G3's and some similar age Dells. But the teachers have some middle end powermac G4s.

 

[sushi]

Note that they stole from their high school, not their college.

It's nice to hear that the high school students get to take a class taught by a professional artist.

This is the piece from Mr. Evans' portfolio that I like best:

Nice! Like his style.

Sushi

 

[Rod Rod]

It takes a special kind of retard to steal from your own college, let alone attempt to sell them as a job lot.

Are you sure you read the article? The items were listed individually.

The kids should have valued the training that they could have received from the G5s and the teacher. But that would have made sense. Why do that when you can turn a fast buck.

That would be more germane if the kids were enrolled in that class. They were not.

As for the theives, come on guys, but some more thought into it! I mean the same day...from you area? Come on now.

Yup, these kids weren't very bright. Hopefully this teaches them the lesson to not commit crimes, rather than to commit crimes less stupidly.

 

[russed]

well atleast in america your schools/colleges/unis whatever have macs. we have only boring dells or other nondescript machines (usually that are given by tescos for free! in our school, up untill 2001 the most advanced things we had were acorns!)

those kids deserve whatever they get and they deserve harsh punishments.

 

[virividox]

stupid i would have kept them !!! heheh

nah but i cant believe these kids would do such a thing. i mean assuming they come from an affluent area why stoop to crime

 

[MacDawg]

That would be more germane if the kids were enrolled in that class. They were not.

My point was the training that they COULD have received, not that they were enrolled in the class.

Its the old "feed a man a fish, you feed him for a day, but teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime" story. Or killing the goose that laid the golden egg.

Yes, there is a monetary return on the theft and sale of the computers... immediate gratification. But to be forward thinking (a concept not in great supply apparently) would be to ENROLL in the class, learn from a school and department that apparently values and appreciates technology and use that to obtain the skills to make a career.

Looks like they have chosen their career though.
Hope things turn around for them.

 

[Rod Rod]

I agree MacDawg, 100%. That was very well said.

 

[applemacdude]

well atleast in america your schools/colleges/unis whatever have macs. we have only boring dells or other nondescript machines (usually that are given by tescos for free! in our school, up untill 2001 the most advanced things we had were acorns!)

those kids deserve whatever they get and they deserve harsh punishments.

Dont think every school in america has a lot of g5's.

 

[wdlove]

Those kids had zero class, proving money cannot buy one class. To note:theft charges are really "bad-looking" felonies - try explaining to a potential employer that you were convicted of felony grand larceny.

G5s with all the bells and whistles in a high school; the best we have at UA are eMacs.

Being that they are in high school and so are juveniles, there records will be sealed. That is unless the laws are different in California. If they are smart they will learn from this experience. This just might be the wake-up call that is needed for someone born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Now they are going to experience the real world and its punishment.

 

[MacDawg]

Dont think every school in america has a lot of g5's.

Not hardly!
That is why all the more these students should have taken advantage of such a great program and not killed that golden goose. Such a technically savvy setting with G5s in HS with a willing teacher is a rarity. Not only did their actions affect them, it affected a lot of students that were learning. If I had been one of the now deprived students I would have been mad!

 

[latergator116]

Not hardly!
That is why all the more these students should have taken advantage of such a great program and not killed that golden goose. Such a technically savvy setting with G5s in HS with a willing teacher is a rarity. Not only did their actions affect them, it affected a lot of students that were learning. If I had been one of the now deprived students I would have been mad!

Exactly.

My school has a small computer lab with a bunch of crappy old dells. Needles to say, half of them don't work at all.

 

[Doctor Q]

Being that they are in high school and so are juveniles, there records will be sealed. That is unless the laws are different in California. If they are smart they will learn from this experience. This just might be the wake-up call that is needed for someone born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Now they are going to experience the real world and its punishment.

I would assume that records are sealed only for juveniles based on age, not on level in school. Since they are 18, they are adults in the eyes of the law. That's also why their names were listed in the newspaper. Minors might have had their names withheld.

 

[slooksterPSV]

I hope those kids pay big time. I mean I rush in to Web Design to get set down at a G5 (the school bought 9 of them for the classroom, while the other teacher uses only G4 eMacs (all brand new, I think there are 25 in his class)). Very expensive, but the thing about it is, no one in my school is stupid enough to steal one. Actually, most don't even like Macs in my school, they'd rather be on a PC.

Good story, that teacher did some good sluthing.

 

[Rod Rod]

Being that they are in high school and so are juveniles, there records will be sealed. That is unless the laws are different in California. If they are smart they will learn from this experience. This just might be the wake-up call that is needed for someone born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Now they are going to experience the real world and its punishment.

I would assume that records are sealed only for juveniles based on age, not on level in school. Since they are 18, they are adults in the eyes of the law. That's also why their names were listed in the newspaper. Minors might have had their names withheld.

Yup, they are adults. I'm not sure about California, but in Illinois the age of majority is 17. 17-year-olds here are adults, not juveniles, and are treated as such by the justice system . . . which does not make sense because 17-year-olds still can't vote or legally buy cigarettes, and they're still subject to curfew ordinances.

 

[Mechcozmo]

Wow... there was a story about a guy who found his Jet-Skis on eBay...

Those kids really need to get their heads on straight. They will have plenty of time to sit and do that...

My school has 700Mhz eMacs, most running 10.1, some running 10.2, the rest 10.3. Which means two run Panther, four run Jaguar, and seven run 10.1. Final Cut Pro 3... 256MB of RAM... it hurts to use them. And in the classrooms, well... around 15 500 Mhz Celerons with 64MB of RAM per classroom. There is a Citrix server that the applications are stored on. Hence, we have a 4GB hard drive used as swapfile space. You can't sell them for more than 10 bucks. That is how much 64MB of PC100 RAM goes for nowadays. Half the hard drives sound like they are failing, too.

I'm glad that guy found his computers on eBay. Hate to see those kids get away with it.