Given Stuckey's lengthy previous record, HUPD officials said they were disappointed that he did not receive a tougher sentence.

"It's really a slap-in-the-face," one officer said.

University officials joined the police in questioning the light penalties. "We are of course always concerned by any incident in the Yard and are particularly distressed that the individual apparently responsible for break-ins earlier this year was released by the courts," said Dean of Freshmen Elizabeth Studley Nathans.

Toward students, Nathans stressed the advice that police and University officials have issued over the past three months.

"Every student has the opportunity to have two locked doors between himself or herself and any potential intruder," she wrote in an e-mail message.

"We hope that first-year students will seriously consider the potential consequences...of compromising security arrangements which work well when they are used," she wrote.

Stuckey's lawyer could not be reached for comment.