U. replaces student help in mail room

Students working in the Quadrangle mail room have been replaced by retired postal workers in order to improve the efficiency of mail service, Residential Living Director Gigi Simeone said last night. "What we were trying to do is improve the service and that was the way we thought we should go," Simeone said. "This is not in any way a reflection on any of the students who were working in the Quad mailroom." Simeone denied that the move was in response to last semester's allegations of mishandling and theft of student mail, and said the retired workers were brought in to speed up the mail delivery. She added the United States Postal Service investigators are investigating last semester's mail problems. "I think we will have more efficient delivery of mail," she said. "That's what we're aiming for, to get the mail out to the students." But at least one replaced student said they are not as optimistic about the future. College junior Mike Friedman said he returned to the University after winter break to find he had been replaced at the job he had held for the last three years. Friedman said yesterday that he was surprised by the replacement. "It was a real shock to come back and find out that we had been fired without notice," he said. Friedman said his supervisor told him the mail was going to be delivered earlier, and the retired postal workers would be able to sort the mail in the mornings. He said he then offered to come in during the mornings to sort the mail. "They didn't want to do that," he said. "They didn't want to rehire the students." He said his supervisor told him the University was trying to find other jobs for the former mailroom workers, but Friedman said he did not know where or when he would work. "I can't plan my academic schedule around the mailroom," he said. "That isn't fair." "The University should be working to give jobs to students, not take them away," he added. College freshman Diana Flores, who also worked in the mailroom, said she heard there were problems with the mailroom, but was told not to worry. "I kind of understood they were having problems," she said. "But my manager told me not to worry about it, because he said most of the problems were with the packages, and we don't handle the packages." Flores said she was notified -- by mail -- of her replacement just prior to winter break. She said the University found her another job, in the hospital's gastroenterology department, where she will do office work.