SA, RUPD create lost-and-found site

By Jocelyn Wright     3/13/08 7:00pm

In response to Rice University Police Department's anti-theft policy implemented at the beginning of last semester, Brown College senator Patrick McAnaney, Lovett College senator Fiona Adams, and Student Association Director of Technology J.D. Leonard worked with Police Sergeant Jesse Salazar and Police Captain Phillip Hassell to create a searchable database of all the items RUPD has taken as well as any other items that are lost or found.McAnaney, a sophomore, first thought of the idea when a friend had his backpack confiscated by RUPD and spent time looking for it at many lost-and-found boxes within separate buildings before finding out that RUPD had it. Adams, a sophomore, said the database would eliminate those unnecessary steps by listing the lost and found items in one central location.

"It's a more efficient than having your friend suggest that maybe RUPD took it after you've been looking for it for weeks," Adams said.

The database, which McAnaney said should be available to all students in a couple of weeks on the SA website at sa.rice.edu, will allow students to search for missing items, including laptops, bicycles or backpacks. The database will contain a description of the item, the location from which it was taken, when it was taken and where it can be retrieved.

---

---

McAnaney said the SA will appoint someone to ensure the database is functioning properly and being used by students. Since it is still in trial mode as they work out any problems that arise, the database is currently only accessible to students approved by Leonard, a Jones College junior.

Adams said the database should make it easier for students to locate lost property.

"I know that I've lost several really important books in my one-and-a-half years at Rice, and I wish I had a way for someone who had found it to connect it back," Adams said. "If they could turn it in to the RMC info desk and put it into the database, it would keep me from frantically going around all the buildings to find my missing book."

Wiess College freshman John Trier said he thought the database would be a good resource for students, although it presented a few problems.

"I'm concerned that people could access the database to take things that are not theirs that they have, in fact, not lost," Trier said. "But I think as long as this issue is resolved, it is a terrific idea because it will help us find our lost things.

---