After a rash of missing greeting cards, cash, gift cards, credit cards and other items, United States postal inspectors are investigating UT’s mail room, where one worker has already been let go.
Mail was also delivered opened, torn or, in one case, six months late. Tampering with mail is a federal offense.
Rod Plowman, Vice President of Administrative Services, said he knows about the problem and is investigating.
Mailroom employee Cesar Rodriguez’s name was removed from UT’s staff directory, corresponding to rumors that he had been let go.
Plowman refused to confirm that Rodriguez had been terminated and said he knew of no local or federal charges that had been filed in relation to the missing mail.
Dozens of students have reported that their mail has either been opened or has gone missing.
The most prevalent case has been missing birthday cards, which were often filled with cash.
Some cards that were received even had torn corners, indicating that someone had looked inside, presumably for money.
The missing mail has stopped, Plowman said, but he cautions that this doesn’t mean there won’t be any future problems.
Last Friday, The Minaret sent seven envelopes that appeared to contain money through both inner-campus mail and the U.S. postal service.
All seven envelopes were received without damage early this week.
Christina Marino, a UT junior, has had her fair share of problems with the campus postal service.
“Over a span of three months, my mother has mailed me pills from home and they never reached my box at school,” said Marino.
She and her family fear that their insurance could be affected-or possibly terminated-because of excessive prescription requests. Other students have also reported small packages were never delivered.
Within the last few months, junior Nicole List has lost a lot of important mail from her mailbox.
“A week and a half before Thanksgiving break, my grandmother and father sent out a check for money and gift certificate for my birthday. I still have yet to receive it,” she explained.
Her grandmother canceled the check and paid a “stop payment” fee. Also, her father had to call the store to cancel the gift card.
Last March, Skyler Prendergast and her roommate purchased pit passes for a NASCAR event at the Talladega Superspeedway.
Weeks later, the women called the track and were told the passes had been sent.
By the April 29 race a month later, passes still had not arrived.
Suddenly, a few weeks ago, the passes were delivered in an opened envelope.
The passes and brochure were inside and nothing appeared missing.
There was no indication who might have opened the envelope or where it was for more than six months.
Plowman and Post Office manager Kathy Fryer have taken down the names and information of all those reporting missing or damaged mail.
“It’s an ongoing situation that is being investigated,” said Fryer. “And we hope that it will be resolved in the near future.”
Sophomore Sterling McLean called the university’s mailroom “slow and unreliable.” He’s lost a number of birthday cards and important packages.
After waiting three weeks for a birthday card from his brother, Mclean finally confronted mail room employees.
“They put all the blame on my brother and me,” he said. “I’m not sure how I could have done anything.”
Students say the postal service is flawed in more ways than one. Employees fail to ask for proof of ID when giving out UT box combinations.
They only ask for names. The same happens when picking up a package.
Someone could possibly use someone else’s name and get away with it, students report.
Fortunately, students affected by the theft will have some recourse. Plowman says that the campus Post Office will investigate claims by students who have not received an expected letter, or whose letter has been visibly tampered with.
Students in this situation are encouraged to talk to Kathy Fryer, who is in charge of the Post Office staff.
“We felt it was the fair thing to do,” he said.
Unfortunately, he added, the matter can’t be easily or quickly resolved, due to the nature of the thefts.
“We’re taking it day by day,” Plowman said.