What would you do if you happened to be out on campus with your cell phone, iPod or StagCard and, the next thing you know, it disappeared?
Instead of freaking out and searching everywhere, you can simply head over to Public Safety, where there is a lost and found for student possessions.
According to Michael Lauzon, assistant director of Public Safety, items that normally come to the lost and found range from iPods and wallets to keys and hats.
The lost and found at Public Safety, among others in the Campus Center and the Rec Plex, has been around for over 25 years and has proved to be beneficial on campus.
“It is a location where items that are found by the public may be dropped off and held until the rightful owner can be found,” said Lauzon. “It is also a place where if someone has lost an item, they may check to see if their lost item has been found.”
For many years, this lost and found program has proven to be useful because of the many contacts across campus and the collaboration of students and Public Safety.
Many students agreed.
“It’s definitely such a good idea,” said Gabrielle Giuliano ’10. “It’s nice to know that if you lose something of high-monetary value, such as an iPod or your cell phone, you can go look in one place instead of losing your mind searching everywhere.”
“Of course, you have to hope that whoever finds it brings it to Public Safety, but it’s definitely reassuring,” she added.
Elyse Nye ’10 agreed.
“I think it’s definitely effective because students have a central place to go when they lose something,” said Nye.
As much as Public Safety is trying to help the student body, students themselves need to take initiative for it to fully work, said Lauzon.
If someone was to discover something obviously lost, he or she should take it straight to the Public Safety office. This way, the lost and found program can work to its full advantage.
In addition to receiving items from students from various housing buildings, lost items also come in from other sources across campus.
A program like this relies on the honor code of the particular student who finds a lost item, in the hope that the student will bring it straight to Public Safety.
There are cases on campuses nationwide when a student discovers an item and keeps it instead of trying to find the rightful owner.
“You do have to worry a little that someone will bring [a lost item] straight to Public Safety instead of keeping it for themselves,” Giuliano said.
Not only does Public Safety have to worry about people not turning in lost items, they are also concerned that students will come in and falsely claim an item as theirs. This has been done on numerous occasions, according to a recent U-Wire article.
Most schools, in fact, ask specific questions to students regarding the item about which they are inquiring to make sure that the item will be returned to the rightful owner.
Stefany Accino ’09 has been placed in the situation of being approached with lost items many times before.
As an RA in Gonzaga, she says she has been approached numerous times from students who have found lost items.
Most of the time, the items belong to students in her building, usually StagCards or cell phones, so she has been able to handle it on her own.
However, she has dealt with Public Safety on several occasions when the item did not belong to someone she knew resided in her building.
“There was one time when my friend found keys in the Quad,” said Accino. “We brought them to Public Safety and they were able to find the owner.
“It’s a good program, but it really requires students going to Public Safety instead of them going to look for the students,” she added.
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