University of Georgia students asked to fork over dining-hall silverware

<p>The thefts play out on college campuses each fall. Students move into residence halls and soon realize they could use an extra fork, spoon, plate or bowl in their room. The items then start disappearing from the dining halls on campus.</p><p>To recover some of the stolen silverware and other items, which cost the University of Georgia about $5,000 each year, the school's food services program is making an appeal to students to return the dining halls' missing items with no questions asked.</p><p>On Monday, boxes were placed in the lobbies of the four dining halls on campus, providing students the opportunity to return items.</p><p>"We have put a couple pieces in the boxes to encourage people. They're going to be out all week," said J. Michael Floyd, the department head of food services.</p><p>The idea came from a story in the student newspaper The Red & Black about a similar effort at Syracuse University in New York state.</p><p>Floyd said he's not setting himself up to be disappointed.</p><p>"Realistically I don't expect to see a whole bunch returned," Floyd said. "I would be overjoyed to see a lot returned. I think we needed to do this to provide that opportunity."</p><p>Floyd, who has been with the department for 18 years, said it's a fall ritual to have forks and spoons disappear from dining halls.</p><p>"Students move into campus housing. They have a microwave and they have a box of macaroni and cheese, but they say they don't have forks and plates," said Floyd, whose department dishes out about 30,000 meals each day.</p><p>It's rare to have a student return the stolen items without being asked.</p><p>"Several years ago we came into work and found we had several trays and silverware with a note from a student, saying she had taken these things and she was raised better than that. She felt guilty," Floyd said.</p><p>___</p><p>On the net:</p><p>HASH(0x2865a48)</p>