You’re doing some serious cramming by yourself at the library, your laptop open in front of you and your iPod bringing sweet tunes to your ears. All of a sudden, your Starbucks Venti Latte with three espresso shots hits your system and Mother Nature just won’t wait. You leave your things at your table and scurry to the bathroom. A minute later, you return to find only your empty Starbucks cup, a pen and your notebook on the table.

Your laptop and iPod are gone.

Unfortunately, too many University of Wisconsin students frequently find themselves in a similar situation.

Expensive electronics such as iPods, digital cameras and laptop computers are often stolen from libraries, coffee shops and other campus locations. Stolen or lost items turned in to the police can sometimes be returned, but most of the time, police have a hard time identifying the iPod owners.

?We?ve seen units come in with the name Chad or Sara or Lucy, and it?s impossible to track someone down by that name, just by the first name,? Madison Police Department Detective Darrel Monroe said.

Expensive items can be recovered in a variety of ways, Monroe said. Sometimes items are turned into the police department, and other times police recover them along with other stolen property.

UW freshman Sierra Briggs said she recently had her iPod stolen out of her dorm room in Witte Hall, but she didn?t contact the police because she didn’t know they took the time to find such small stolen items.

?I didn’t think they?d do anything for? something like an iPod,? Briggs said. ?I didn?t think they?d even bother.?

Briggs? iPod was swiped from her unlocked room while she was next door hanging out with friends. Because her name was not on it and she decided against registering it, thinking it would take too long, Briggs said she is doubtful it will ever be returned.

Monroe said this pattern is common among students and the police department has developed a relationship with Apple to determine if any iPods recovered are registered with the company. The first time the devices are hooked up to a computer, the user is prompted to register the serial number on their product with Apple.

?So far I haven?t had one iPod that has been registered,? Monroe said.

If police are unable to identify the rightful owner of an item they recover, it remains in the property of the MPD. Jim Nikora, MPD civilian property supervisor, said it is the department’s responsibility to maintain custody of the item and keep records of everything they?re holding.

If police do identify an owner, the person is notified by the property department. By law, people have 30 days to respond and collect their property before it can be sold at auction. This happens with most unidentified items that are left in the department, Nikora said.

?We get everything in here from pencils to diamonds and everything in between,? Nikora said. ?Obviously if it?s a diamond, we?re going to spend longer [looking for the owner] then if it?s a pencil.?

He said the property department is currently holding about 67,000 items.

On campus, Memorial Library?s lost and found doesn?t hold quite that many items, but still keeps track of many belongings students have left behind, according to Dineen Grow, head of access services at Memorial Library. Items such as notebooks, umbrellas and scarves sit in the lost and found for several months, while more expensive possessions are turned over to the police.

When an item is reported stolen, in-house security search the library to see if it has been left somewhere in the building.

?Especially for things like backpacks, quite often the thieves just want a wallet or something maybe smaller inside, like an iPod,? Grow said. ?They?ll pitch the rest of it, so our security in-house goes around the building to our known places where people ditch things and try to see if they can recover the material.?

To prevent such theft, both the library staff and the police department encourage students to keep an eye on their belongings.

?If you?re around a bunch of friends, great, but if you?re in an area and you?re trying to concentrate on something, know where your backpack is, know where your electronics are,? Monroe said. ?Don?t get up and walk away from a lunch table or a counter with your laptop there and go to the restroom.?

He also said students should engrave their initials on expensive items so if they are stolen and recovered, police can return them to the rightful owner.

?Always register electronic equipment with the manufacturer,? Monroe said. ?If at all possible, personalize it with an engraver. If you can engrave your driver?s license number on it, then that can be traced by any law enforcement officer in the nation.?