B-School Raps Crimson Deliveries to Mail Slots

A Business School official has forbidden The Crimson to deliver newspapers in the mail slots where B-school students are used to picking them up, saying that the slots are too small to accomodate both the papers and official notices.

"There has been a continuing problem with people not getting important information because of the amount of printed matter put in the mailboxes" in Aldrich Hall, said Margeret H. Lang, associate director of the Masters of Business Administration program.

But the extent of the perceived problem is unclear.

"The boxes are stuffed, not overstuffed," said Glenn August, a first-year MBA student. "It's something that should not even be an issue."

"It doesn't seem to be a problem to me," said another first--year B-School student, Michael Harp '82.

Command Decision

Lang said she made the decision to forbid The Crimson to deliver the papers after consultation with other administrators, including Assistant Dean Paul H. LaPointe and John H. Lynch, assistant director of the MBA program. Neither could be reached for comment.

The Crimson offers B-Schoolers The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and, for the first time this year, USA Today. It has delivered papers to the Aldrich mailboxes for at least four years, according to Crimson Business Manager Joan H.M. Hsiao '86.

Lang said that until now, she wasn't worried about the fact that The Crimson had never received the necessary permission to deliver papers to Aldrich Hall. But this year, Lang said, the Crimson began a new "aggressive marketing approach" and openly advertised delivery, which previously had not been publicized.

Yes We Do

Hsiao said that unspecified confidential documents suggest that The Crimson does indeed have permission to deliver to the B-School. Hsiao said neither The Crimson nor B-School officials want the newspapers delivered inside dorms, as at the College.

Hsiao also disputed Lang's claim that the Crimson undertook a new "aggressive" strategy. She said this year's advertisements were nothing new, and that the B-School deliveries account for less than $1000 of The Crimson's annual profits.

The Crimson is negotiating with Lang in order to find a compromise place for deliveries, Hsiao said.