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http://www.omniture.com --> Email Story to a Friend June 15, 2006 Students graduate, but their diplomas stay back By buffy pollock for the Mail Tribune While recent graduates likely were eager to get their walking papers, a slew of yellowing diplomas scattered around the valley's high schools show that not all their predecessors felt the same way. Hundreds of unclaimed diplomas await their rightful owners in vaults, drawers and boxes. "I have two boxes full," said North Medford High School registrar Pat Brummett. North Medford is the keeper of all Medford high school records dating from 1900 through 1986, when the district began operating two high schools and each kept its own records. "Some of the leftovers," Brummett noted, "go back pretty far. I've got one in an old rough leather diploma jacket from 1935." Its intended recipient is listed with a first initial and middle name, "S. Alexander." Brummett declined to reveal last names because of rules regarding student privacy. Reasons for the unclaimed diplomas, which tally some 200 at North, are as varied as their owners. One graduate in 1977 failed to claim his diploma because of $10 owed for books. A graduate in 1996 owed $93 in fines and left his diploma at North. A twin brother and sister in 1947 left theirs for no apparent reason, as unpaid fines were not an issue. "Sometimes we'll hold a diploma if we lend them a gown to walk in" until the gown is returned, Brummett explained. "Or if they don't line up in the cafeteria after the ceremony, they just don't get it. Some kids will go in the service or go on a trip, then not come by when they get back." "I've hunted for kids since I started in the 1998-1999 school year and I've never had someone come back to claim one," Brummett said. At South Medford High School, staff knew of just a handful of diplomas that hadn't been claimed over the past 20 years. At Phoenix High School, staff member Sandy Phillips said graduates have been eager to leave with their diplomas. "We don't have any sitting around," Phillips said. "To my understanding we don't have any file in holding that contains diplomas. They're usually picked up." Ashland High School staff said too few remained from years past to bother counting, most retained because of unpaid fees. Unclaimed Crater High School diplomas vary from year to year, said staff member Sharon Schauffler, and are kept in chronological order within a district safe. "We don't have as many as North Medford," she said. "I don't think we could top that, but every year there's at least one. It happens. With some kids, since a transcript is the official document that shows date of graduation, they don't really have to show their diploma. Graduation comes and they're out of here. We don't really try to hunt them down or anything." Hunting down students, Brummett has learned after eight years on the job, is not much help. Whether diplomas were left behind because of unpaid fines or simply because graduates "just didn't bother," Brummett said the school likely will continue to store them, even those dating back some 70 years. "I guess they knew they had to pay up to get it, so they just didn't get it," she said. "You do wonder why they'd work so hard and then not pick it up. It's kind of like, 'Geez. Pay up and get it, you know; you earned it." Buffy Pollock is a freelance writer living in Medford. E-mail her at [email protected]. Advertisement s Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Discount Hotel Reservations --> online casinos news Ashley Furniture HomeStore Send Flowers California Casinos GMAT Prep Windermere Van Vleet Sports Equipment Entertainment Guide --> Online Casino Fundraisers Sudoku Online Casinos Canada Online Casino Reviews