Campus mail delivery plagued with problems

Highland Park High School '92 Highland Park, Ill. Mail problems plaguing University dormitories for years continued through last semester, with several hundred students voicing complaints of lost or late mail. Complaints were received from all over campus, but a majority of the problems have been in the Quadrangle dormitory. Residential Living Director Gigi Simeone says the 30th Street Station Post Office is not providing adequate service. But officials there say the University is at fault for the continuing mail problems. Quad residents, caught in the middle of this debate, are receiving their mail days, weeks, even months late -- if they receive it at all. College freshman Amy Kwan echoed the sentiments of many of her Quad neighbors. "I just want my mail," she said. "Is that too much to ask for?" At least 394 letters and cards were never received by the 120 students, and at least $13,064 in checks were lost. In addition, 52 students reported lost magazines or catalogs, and 27 said they lost "important documents" -- plane tickets, bank statements, bills, credit cards, MAC cards and the like. The inquiry into campus mail delivery arose from at least two incidents when University students found garbage bags full of undelivered mail outside the Quad mailroom. These complaints followed an investigation last spring which determined that the University was not responsible for the more than 350 incidences of late or lost mail reported to officials. Residential Living also installed windows in the mailrooms to allow for observation, and video cameras were installed to record mailroom activity. Simeone said she and her assistants are "tremendously frustrated as we know students are" about problems. "We have perceived tremendous inaccuracies with the mail we've been receiving [from the 30th Street Station Post Office]," she said. But Lenore Dash, supervisor for the University's postal zone, said the 30th Street Station Post Office is just doing its job -- delivering the mail to the University. "All we do is deliver bags of mail with a truck to the mailroom," Dash said. "Once we drop it off at the mailroom, it's not our responsibility. We don't know what goes on in that mailroom." Manager of Residential Services Rodney Robinson said the mailroom is comprised of experienced people. "These are people who have been in the post office 30 years and have built their careers around mail," he said. "They're taking a lot of abuse down there."