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The campus lost and found is, in fact, lost to many students.

"We are the campus lost and found that nobody knows about," said Alco Lemoine, Dallas senior. This is her third year to work for the Information Center in the University Union, where the main campus lost and found is located.

There are other lost and founds around campus, but they usually send their items to the Union after a short period of time. "We hold the items for a week or two and then take them to the lost and found in the Union," said Gary Sanders, circulation supervisor for Willis Library.

"Generally people come in soon after they've lost something, or not at all," Sanders said. He said a majority of what gets turned in is notebooks and papers, or books that don't belong to the library found in the drop box, but sometimes they do have unusual finds.

"One year we got one of those giant bouncy balls for kids that you buy for three dollars at Wal-mart," Lemoine said. "No one claimed it, so we donated it [at the end of the semester]." Most of the items turned in are kept in a metal filing cabinet. The drawers are marked with 'valuables' and 'glasses and keys'. A brown wastebasket holds backpacks and another area is filled with textbooks and notebooks. Lemoine said all the items are kept for a semester and if not reclaimed, they're then given to various charities.

"Cell phones go to the Women's Center, I.D.s go to I.D. systems, the glasses get sent to a charity," Lemoine said.

She also mentioned that the unclaimed textbooks are sold back to the bookstore, and the money helps fund a scholarship. If they are not allowed to be sold back, they are donated to the TAMS media library. Clothes are donated to local charities.

Lemoine said that the center makes a lot of effort to get the items back to the students. "If there's contact information, we will contact the students, but if not, they just stay here," she said.

Lemoine said all the items are recorded in a binder when they get turned in. Usually, when students come to reclaim something, they have to sign in the binder. The only time students have to go through a process is when it deals with a "valuable," such as a wallet or credit card. The Willis Library's lost and found is located at the circulation desk on the first floor and can be reached at (940) 565-2413.

The Information Center is located on the third floor of the Union and can be reached at (940) 565-3805.

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