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CAMPUS

Lack of campus commuter mailboxes raises concerns, questions

Crowded mailroom facilities (above) contribute to lack of mailboxes. Mailroom supervisor Toni Quero (above right) puts mail in student boxes. (Plourde photo)

By Amanda Nye
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

For Hilary Peirce, 21, a senior biology major from Florida, Mass., living right next to Norwich University, is a major convenience. She gets her bills and magazines delivered right to the front door of her apartment; -- and it’s a good thing, too, since that way she gets her mail on time. But getting her other mail on time, such as school notices and work study checks, is another story.

Because Peirce is considered a commuter student, she doesn’t get a mailbox on campus.

“It’s inconvenient, because we don’t get our (campus) mail in a timely fashion,” Peirce said. “I got mail from August, that was marked ‘URGENT’, the last weekend of September.” Her urgent mail was referring to convocation, which occurred during the second week of school.

Sonia Masse, 21, a senior from Maine studying athletic training, also lives off campus within walking distance and has the same problem with getting her school news on time.

“They (the mail room) asked us to fill out a special form, but yet they still keep all the commuter mail there. They are supposed to forward it to your apartment,” Masse said.

“The back room where the video games are is just lines of chairs; there is no reason they can’t put up portable mail boxes in there,” Peirce said. “The university does not supply commuters with mailboxes on campus, anymore, and they did last year.

“But this year, they don’t have enough mailboxes to give out to commuters, so you fill out a change of address form,” Pierce said. “Our mail is supposed to be sent (to our house), or we have to stop in once a week and ask to check our mail.”

Julie Sledz, 21, a senior athletic training major from Conn., said the administration said, “It takes three days for stuff to get there. I would still have my bills sent here (at my apartment). I have had a lot of issues with that mailroom, getting stuff on time, and stuff not getting to me.”

Masse, who lives with three other roommates off campus, said that since, “There are four of us, at least put us all in one mailbox; at least we’ll get our mail. I get my packages a few days late, and my work study checks come a few days after everyone else’s.”

Getting campus mail on time is crucial to many of the students. Peirce said. “We don’t get anything. We don’t even get the little movie schedule. We don’t get anything. Not even the school paper, The Guidon.”

But Masse said she has a solution to the problem of commuters not receiving school notices and important information on time.

“They should forward our mail to us, or give us mailboxes on campus,” she said. “We just want to know what’s going on; people think commuters don’t care.”

The Norwich Guidon is a twice-monthly student newspaper distributed at Norwich University. It provides laboratory experience for students in the Communications program. Claims asserted by letter writers, editorials and other articles do not represent the positions of Norwich University. The Norwich Guidon welcomes signed letters to the editor. They should be no longer than 300 words. Unsigned letters will not be printed, but names may be withheld upon worthy request. All letters are subject to editing for length and good taste. Mailing address: The Norwich Guidon, Communications Center, Norwich University, 158 Harmon Dr, Northfield, VT 05663. www.norwich.edu/guidon.