The U.S. Postal Service is considering cutting mail deliveries on Saturdays due to financial difficulties. This would decrease the number of days students can receive mailed letters from six days a week to five, causing mixed feelings on campus.

If the post office decides to go through with the five-day mail plan, it will begin in August and cut about $2 billion a year from its total losses, which were $15.9 billion last year, according to a Feb. 6 article in The New York Times.

Congress believes the U.S. Postal Service has no legal standing to cut Saturday service since mail is a government entity. Congressional approval may be needed for the decision to be made final, according to the article.

On average, students receive 400,000 letters a year. Students also receive 30,000 packages a year and send an average of 900,000 packages and letters combined a year, said William Hayden, Syracuse University’s senior supervisor for mail services.

There has been a drop in mail sent and received by SU students in recent years, Hayden said.

“The decrease has been gradual in the last few years,” he said.

Hayden said he expects that in recent years, the number of letters and packages has decreased by 25,000. He added this is likely due to email and other means of communication.

William Longcore Jr., the associate director of residential life, also said he believes the reason for the decrease in mail is technology.

“There is less mail received because mail seems to be second means of communication these days,” Longcore said.

Currently, students can receive mail at their residence halls six days a week. The mail is shipped from the sender, received at the central receiving facility and then distributed to local post offices. After sorting is complete, SU mail is delivered to the university’s local post office on Teall Avenue. The mail is finally delivered to the dorms. Students are paid to sort through the mail and put it in student mailboxes, Longcore said.

Michele Glatthaar, a freshman education major, said she frequently receives mail and is not happy about the possibility of Saturday mail being eliminated.

Jarrett Sweet, an undeclared sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, said he thinks eliminating mail on Saturday will further hinder mail services.

“Everyone always complains about how long the mail takes already, and cutting Saturday mail off will only make it take even longer now,” Sweet said.

Although the frequency of mail delivery may decrease, Liana Fitt, a freshman music education major, said she will continue to check her mail regularly.

“I check my mail usually every day,” Fitt said. “I wouldn’t check it any less often because of the change.”

Lewis Paulino, a freshman biology and neuroscience major, said he worries he will not be able to receive mail during an emergency.

“There’s a lot of things that people could be expecting in an emergency and now have to wait an extra day. For example, medicine,” Paulino said.

On the other hand, some students like John Hickey, a sophomore biology major, will not be affected by having one less day of mail delivery.

Said Hickey: “It is not that important to me since I don’t get mail that often.”

Published on February 13, 2013 at 11:42 pm

Contact Olivia: otjohnso@syr.edu