O'Connor said he sorted through items not claimed from storage and has attempted to contact the owners. Items not claimed are generally auctioned off and proceeds are handled by individual house committees.

O'Connor said storage in Dunster House worked well because he followed "strict rules." Still, Dunster students were allowed to take boxes out of storage without house personnel checking to whom they belonged.

The Rules

O'Connor said he thinks all houses should closely enforce storage rules, including the restriction that prohibits students who live within 100 miles of campus from storing in the houses.

The College has made attempts to clarify storage rules. Last spring, O'Connor, Quincy House superintendent Ronnie Levesque and an Undergraduate Council member toured the campus to address questions about storage, O'Connor said.

Levesque, who could not be reached for comment, is the chair of the House Superintendents' Storage Committee, which helps determine storage regulations.

But Quincy storage got few rave reviews from students. One senior in the house, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: "A lot of boxes were lost and they lost my sheet of how many boxes I had."

North House and Leverett House also drew several complaints about misplaced or moved parcels.

Students in Currier and Cabot Houses said they had no problems with house storage, and Mather House residents praised the efficiency of the staff in handling boxes and couches.

But Winthrop House resident Yari Perez-Martin '97, whose trunk full of desk equipment was mildewed during a summer flood in that house, said she learned a valuable lesson.

As she pulled on her mildewed trunk, another student was complaining about what storage had done to his stuff, Perez-Martin recalled. A house security guard remarked: "You know, you store at your own risk.