A co-worker wrote the following, which is best description of the Ghost:
Tuesday night a UPD officer came to Library X’s Circulation Desk to explain a report he had received regarding a young male who has been the subject of a couple of complaints from female students.
The first young woman spotted him in Library X Monday night and recognized him as someone she has seen in the past in Library X. She has spoken with him and knows that he is not a student. She reported to the Vampire Librarian that a non-student was in the library after midnight, a violation of Library X rules. The Vampire Librarian then located the young man and asked him for his ID. When he admitted that he was not a student, she asked him to leave. The female student also called UPD because she believes he frequents the library in an attempt to contact female students.
The UPD officer said he wanted to check if we had had any reports of any incidents or had seen a person matching the subject's description. I said we hadn't, and he asked that we be on the lookout for this person because the police would like to find out who he is. He is described as a small man about 5'4" with a slight build. He has brown hair and a
very white complexion. The Vampire Librarian said he was wearing glasses and a baseball cap. He has also been described as holding one arm in a strange way, as if it were slightly injured.
On Wednesday, I contacted the UPD officer to see if he had additional information, because he had mentioned a second woman he was planning to interview. He said the second woman had seen the subject in a class that she knew he wasn't enrolled in. The officer said there was even a third young woman who has reported that she had seen the subject at meetings of a student organization, to which he didn't belong.
One of the young women remembered having once seen this individual in Library X stacks. She had seen him watching her from between bookshelves, and when he saw her look at him, he pretended to be looking at the books.
In general, he seems to have demonstrated a pattern of appearing in places and at events where students gather, and watching and attempting to make contact with females. The police would like us to report any sightings of, and any reports of incidents involving, someone fitting this description.
My take:
The Ghost is a hard guy to pin down. He blends in with the students, but usually reveals himself by chatting up a girl and saying something that wigs her out. That’s what happened Monday night when I ejected him from Library X. The girl had to call and describe him in detail to me for me to know to approach him, and I had to look twice at him to make sure I had the right guy. One way he blends in so well is he scopes out the student only computers to find one that was left logged in to use. The community computers are highly visible and not with the student only computers.
The Ghost came into Library X last night. I called UPD when I saw him. He walked around all the student only computers and didn’t find one to sit down at so left Library X. I went outside and watched him enter the large research library that’s next door. When UPD arrived, I entered the large research library and pointed the Ghost out to them. They spoke to the Ghost and got all his information.
They won’t charge him with anything because being unnerving isn’t a crime. I don’t have any opinion on the matter because I don’t know what he says to these female students, and I haven’t observed him doing anything that’s ‘wrong’. If I see him working on a student-only computer, I’ll ask him to move, but for now, that’s it, though he probably thinks I’m out to get him since I brought UPD into the other large research library to get him and he knew I didn’t even work in that library.
One weird thing that I’ve noticed is that any guy who hears about the Ghost laughs and says “That’s awesome,” in regard to the Ghost going to classes and club meetings that he’s not signed up for. Women who hear the story focus on the way he watches and talks to girls and makes them uncomfortable and express frustration in the way UPD doesn’t take the female students concerns more seriously.
Kyle, my replacement says the Ghost has been a longtime fixture on campus. He thinks the Ghost is harmless. When he looks at the Ghost, he sees a diehard geek who has poor social skills. When I look at the Ghost, I wonder if he’s got a head in the deepfreeze. I guess this could be a case of you say tomato, I say psycho.
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