Health concerns force change for student mailroom workers

John Hodgson, by day the dean of Forbes College, is currently taking on the additional duty of temporary mailman. As students streamed by on their way to the dining hall, Hodgson, protected by green latex gloves, sorted letters in the mailroom. Student workers normally handle the job.

Sean Dowling '04, the Forbes mail supervisor, helped Hodgson find things he could not locate in the unfamiliar room. Though Dowling said he "think[s] the chances of anthrax . . . are pretty minimal," he noted that "we are a high-profile place, so it's understandable that they take precautions."

According to the University website, "students . . . may not engage in mail distribution at least through November ninth" — the reason Hodgson filled in for normal student employees. The University's release stated that only trained employees may work with bulk mail.

Hodgson cited a "general concern for students' well-being" as the main reason undergraduate mail sorters' jobs have been put on hold.

Assistant Vice President for Finance and Administration Laurel Harvey said that a sub-committee of the recently formed Emergency Preparedness Task Force has been exploring the situation. Its main concern was that students were sorting bulk mail unsupervised by any full-time employee specifically trained to identify suspicious mail.

Precautions for both students and staff come in the wake of anthrax attacks across the country. Several contaminated letters went through the nearby Hamilton post office, and the University's mail temporarily stopped after anthrax was discovered in the West Windsor main post office.

Keith Sipple, a member of the emergency task force's committee on mail services, said that the reports of anthrax at nearby postal facilities "were enough to cause concern about how mail is processed and handled on campus."

"We have had to make adjustments . . . in order to address ongoing concerns," Sipple said.

For now, the immediate prospect of students returning to mailroom work looks dim. However, Sipple stressed that "this is a temporary change . . . not a permanent change."

He said he expects students will resume work once mail systems are more secure.

"The safety of casual workers, including students . . . outweighs any temporary disruption that may be caused by job alterations," Stipple said.

Harvey, an administrator who participated in discussions about University mail policy, said the committee is considering students' need for employment. She said the committee is focused on "what's in the best interests of the students, both safety-wise and job-wise."