By Joseph Martinez
By Joseph Martinez
Cell phones, wallets, laptop computers, checkbooks, camcorders, cash, car keys, a little scooter-these are some of the myriad items which are found at Riverside Community College’s lost and found.
The lost and found holds personal property found on campus by conscientious students and staff.
The list above is of many valuable items, so it is a surprise that many of the items are left in the lost and found, unclaimed by an owner.
The lost and found is required by law to hold items turned in for 90 days, after that the inflow of items is such that the only real option is to discard the items, donate them (particularly the cell phones) to nonprofit groups and charities, and there is the possibility that the person who brought the item in may claim it after the 90 days.
There is a document which can be filled out at the lost and found by the person who delivers the object, and, if after 90 days a claimant does not appear, the person may be notified that they can claim the item. Still, most of the items go unclaimed. Small language machine translation devices, sweatshirts and jackets, tape recorders, textbooks and dictionaries, calculators, the lost and found handles these and more. Each item is listed on document, and if the owner comes in to make a claim, they can speak to the staffer, or, if they are not there, file a document to notify of their return.
Items which go unclaimed for 90 days are selected by type to be donated to third parties who would be interested in claiming them. Textbooks and other books are given to the libraries of the city; cell phones are delivered to the organization Keep Riverside Clean and Beautiful, articles of clothing and electronics to the Salvation Army.
The amount of unclaimed items suggests to the staffers of the lost and found that much of the student population is unaware that there is a lost and found office on campus. Something like 50-60 percent of the items are left unclaimed. The lost and found is in the parking lot below the cafeteria, between the cafeteria and the Lovekin classroom complex, next to the karate dojo. It is inside of the portable of the RCC police department. Inside the portable, the lost and found desk is the first counter, to the left as a person enters.
The filing cabinet which holds the assumed items is filled quickly during the fall and spring semesters, so there are dilemmas over what to do with the items. Also, items are brought over from the Moreno Valley and Norco campuses for holding, because they have no lost and found, or theirs was exceptionally small.
Since the campuses are being split into individual districts, it is unclear whether this policy will continue, and the campuses will assume their own lost and found offices.
Winter and summer sessions are much less bountiful for items turned in to the lost and found.
Students should come in more often to claim their lost property and personal items as recommened by the lost and found office.
