Simpson students have all seen them, deleted them and maybe even sent them out: the lost-and-found mass e-mails. Simpson now filters those e-mails to a lost-and-found Web site.

Though the Web site has been around for several years, it just recently has been put to the test of posting lost items for students, opposed to students sending out mass campus-wide e-mails. Though the system hasn’t been in effect long enough to know if the outcome will be positive, Simpson Security is hopeful.

“(When) the Web site started a couple of years ago, the driving factor was to have a centralized location,” said Director of Security Chris Frerichs. “Recently, mass e-mails go directly to Security, and then I post them on the Web page. The goal is to limit the mass e-mails.”

Frerichs said the most common things that students tend to lose are backpacks, student ID cards and in the winter time, coats. The hot spots for lost goods include lounges, study areas and eating areas.

Senior Rebecca Weaver lost her winter coat in Brenton Student Center and said that she wishes that when she was trying to pin down her coat she would have known about the Web site.

“Web site, no way,” Weaver said. “That’s completely new information to me. They should really advertise that somewhere. It would have made finding my coat a lot easier.”

Discretion is used when selecting what things can be posted. This means anything illegal, in bad taste or not allowed on campus won’t be posted.

Senior Megan Shipley lost her ferret, Stanley, about a month ago, but because animals aren’t allowed on campus, she wasn’t allowed to post about her missing property.

“She must have escaped out the door,” Shipley said. “She can be very sneaky and likes to hide and sleep so we weren’t sure for a while if she was missing or not. We tried sending out mass e-mails, but the school wouldn’t let us, so I made posters and posted them on street corners.”

Stanley became a near and dear friend.

“Her owner had died in a motorcycle accident just weeks after her sister died, so she was very depressed and not eating,” Shipley said. “Her new owners didn’t want to take care of her anymore and were going to put her down, so I decided I would take her in.”

During the last six months, she not only started eating but also gained weight. She went from a very docile, weak ferret to a very hyper ferret that would constantly run around and steal everyone’s shoes. She also loved to steal candy from my purse. We were devastated when we couldn’t find her. She had become part of the family.”

Though Stanley isn’t allowed on campus, the advice from Area Coordinator Nate Chua speaks true to any lost items.

“Get into a habit of checking for your things – getting to know the things you carry with you on a regular bases,” Chua said. “But, we all make mistakes and forget things.”

If students find an item or are missing something, the best place to start is security.

“Many times students don’t come and pick up their things, even after they have been contacted,” Frerichs said. “After a month of being in the office many items go to Goodwill.”