Going the distance

Every department and employee on campus is part of the university lost-and-found system. See how it works.

Thousands of problem-solving Odyssey of the Mind youngsters had long left campus in the spring of 2009 when a groundskeeper spotted a small, black wallet while mowing grass near the Scheman Building. Inside the wallet was several hundred dollars and the name of a young competitor from Singapore.

The wallet was turned over to central stores officials, who tracked down the young man's school and, eventually, his parents. Then ISU administrators went to work, looking for any Singapore visitors on campus who were returning home soon. They located a scholar from a Singapore university, who subsequently carried the small wallet 9,000 miles and personally delivered it to a grateful family.