Stamping out the Flaws

Undergraduates received an e-mail yesterday in which University Mail Services acknowledged the widely held student perception that mail is not being delivered quickly and efficiently.

University Associate Treasurer John Yuncza has been working with Mail Services to address this perception. "We're committed to the fact that we believe we can do better," Yuncza said.

Yuncza, however, was also quick to point out that Mail Services is not responsible for delivery to the five residential colleges. Thus, Yuncza said, though Mail Services may be the target of contempt from many students, this contempt may be misdirected.

In fact, in a survey given by Mail Services last year, the majority of complaints pertaining to delivery came from students who lived in the residential colleges, said Yuncza. Therefore, most complaints did not relate to the operations of Mail Services.

Nonetheless, some upperclassmen have been annoyed with Mail Services. In response, Yuncza said Mail Services is trying to study its delivery system. It is looking into how long it takes for letters from various parts of the country and the world to reach students' boxes.

"We know there is a problem, and we are trying to assess how big that problem is," he said.

Yuncza suggested, however, that the problem might not be one involving Mail Services.

Upperclass mail is generally picked up by Mail Services at the post office once per day. Yuncza said that mail is usually deposited in student boxes the same day it is picked up from the post office.

He speculated that the United States Postal Service might be partially to blame for the slow delivery process.

"There might be some delay at the post office," Yuncza said. "Princeton is a little slower than other big cities."

Mail Services has designated an employee to track incoming mail and to study the problem through the spring. Yuncza also said he hopes students will give specific feedback about their experiences with the mail system. A section of the Mail Services Website enables students to record complaints and suggestions.

Yuncza did say there is probably room for improvement in Mail Services' delivery of packages, however, and noted that "priority mail for [the] U.S. Post Office might not be behaving quite right."

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Emily Crozier '03 is familiar with the experience of package delivery not behaving properly. She said her mother sent her a package from Texas containing medicine on the same day that she sent a package to a family friend in Switzerland. Somehow, the family friend received the package first.

Crozier, a Rockefeller College resident, also noted that she believes it usually takes about two weeks for a letter to arrive in her mailbox after it is sent.