By Jun So-min
Ewha students who lose property on campus often have a hard time finding it again. According to the statistics provided by the Student Service Center (SSC), only 666 lost objects were returned to their owners—out of total 1,021 last spring semester.
When students find their lost property, they usually take it to the janitor or the nearest building administration office. Items are later collected by the SSC—most regularly from Ewha Sarang and the Centennial Library. The SSC keeps those items for six months and posts information about them on its bulletin board in the Ewha Portal Information System. But the return rate remains to be low.
One problem is that students are uncertain about SSC procedures. “I think there isn’t enough information for students advising where to go when they lose something,” said Song A-hyun (International Studies, 1).
Lack of lost and found centers on campus aggravates the current confusion. Moreover, lost belongings can be lost again while being transported to the SSC from the initial place where the property was found. Also, when the SSC does not have the lost object, there is no other organized way of getting the lost property back.
The portal website does not seem to be working either. “It is very important for students to constantly update their information. Sometimes, we cannot contact the original owner because the personal information on the portal website is incorrect,” says Kim Hye-kyung, the person in charge of lost property of the SSC.
Four weeks ago, Youn Sung-hee (Special Education, 3) lost her digital camera in the Ewha-Posco Building. “At first, I went to the janitor but he told me that he had not received any lost camera. So, I went to the SSC but the official just said that there was no digital camera registered there either. However, he did not even ask me whether I would like to write a description of the camera to put on the list,” said Youn.
“I guess the complicated finding procedure cannot be easily changed. But it was rather the attitude of the SSC that shocked me. So, I just put my information on the Ewha portal website,” added Youn. Youn still has not found her lost camera.