The holiday season is in full gear, and as students are getting ready to go home, they are taking safety precautions to prevent burglary.

Crystal Dugan (junior-English) said she was a victim of a holiday burglary when she was a student at the University of Central Florida.

"Actually, my apartment was broken into last year over Christmas break," Dugan said.

She said she had decided to leave her car there over break and had left the keys out in plain view. The burglars found the keys and stole her car. She said that eventually her car was found.

"Don't leave your keys lying around," Dugan said.

The State College Police Department received many burglary complaints from students returning from Thanksgiving break.

From June 2004 to now, there have been 44 burglaries in the State College Borough.

Megan Kowalski (senior-psychology) lives off campus, and she said she locks up the valuables she leaves behind.

"Anything that's definitely important to me, I'll take home with me," Kowalski said.

In 2003, there were 25 dorm burglaries.

East Halls Coordinator Julie Draper said students are given safety tips throughout the year.

"In general, we try to give them safety tips. We're not taking a specific approach for break," Draper said.

Draper said students should lock their doors, report things that look unusual to them and not let people they don't know into the building.

Penn State University Police supervisor Dwight Smith said the buildings on campus are secure during break.

"We're really in full force over the holidays and doing building checks," Smith said.

Smith said piggybacking increases the chances that burglary will occur.

"One of the things that lead to more thefts and burglaries [is that] people don't challenge people they don't know in the residence hall," Smith said.

The Operation I.D. program is available at the State College Police Department and at the Penn State police station. People can have their license number engraved on their valuables, which helps to deter theft and increases the chance of having the items returned. Engravers are available for loan at the State College police station, and the service is free.

Penn State police have provided engraving programs throughout the semester, and student groups can request the program.

Smith said only a small percentage of students have taken advantage of the program, even though he said it's very beneficial. "It's a good way to recover your property if it's stolen. We would recommend it to anyone," Smith said.

Draper said the engraving program is part of the department's fall semester orientation program.

"They could take the items down and have them engraved. There were students that came and took advantage of it," Draper said.

Adam Cole (sophomore-accounting) said his friends have had DVDs stolen at parties and other items broken. He said students should use safes to protect their valuables.

"People don't protect their valuables as much as they should. [Burglary] can be prevented if you just put things away," Cole said.