At HUMS, It's Always in the Mail

Not just Santa knows if you've been naughty or nice.

In fact, the staff who sort mail for Harvard's 6,400 undergraduates say that based on the questionable catalogs and parcels they see each day, they too know exactly what students are up to--who's been homesick, amorous, or especially lucky in the law school admissions gamble.

But beyond the mounds of mail--both bizarre and mundane--that get delivered each day to student mailboxes in the Houses and in the Yard, Harvard University Mail Services (HUMS) oversees the flow of an addition 1.25 million pieces of inter-office and normal mail bound for addresses throughout the University system.

And despite the surge in e-mail usage among University affiliates, ensuring the smooth delivery of mail to the world's pre-eminent academic institution is big business.

Behind Box No. 2

Students are quick to note instances when their mail has been delayed or mis-delivered, but HUMS Manager Ursula J. Moore says her organization has relatively little to do with the actual delivery of students' personal mail. That' the realm of the local post office, which delivers mail to the Houses where it is sorted by House employees (often fellow students).

"The key to mail [at Harvard] is that it's a de-centralized system," she says.

Among its many responsibilities, HUMS deals primarily with retrieving, sorting and distributing inter-office mail, including non-student U.S. mail that is pre-sorted at the Central Square post office. Harvard Yard Mail Center and individual House mailrooms notwithstanding, Moore estimates there are 175 independently-run mailrooms on campus, each managed by the school or department it serves.

United States Postal Service (USPS) delivers mail directly to the Houses and the Science Center, where it is then passed on to students. Although employees who sort mail agree that the job offers a unique view into the lives of undergraduates, they split on the job's perks--or lack thereof.

According to Amanda S. Proctor '97-'99 who recently ended a four-month stint working in the Winthrop House mailroom,sorting student mail was a "grueling" and"degrading" job.

She says some students were overly demanding,often phoning her room at night to ask about apackage or some other piece of mail.

"It's incredibly annoying," Proctor says of thejob. "It's totally imperative that they get [thatpiece of mail]."

However, Kirkland House mail sorter Benjamin L.Berwick '99 says he is willing to overlook whatmight be construed as pushiness on the part ofHouse residents eager for their mail.

"You will have a table piled with mail andpeople will ask if you've delivered all of themail today," Berwick says. "I just say yes. Butmostly [the job is] fine."

Though sorters say delivering House mailrequires only about two hours a day, Proctor saysthat, depending on the day's mail load, the amountcan quickly escalate.

She cites recent large-scale mailings from TheMemorial Church and from Harvard-Radcliffe Officeof The Arts that created extra work because theyarrived unsorted, in no particular order.

Berwick agrees that mass mailings--like monthlycatalogs from J. Crew--can be a hassle, but sayshe gets around the problem with a traditionalHarvard Yard Mail Center (HYMC) ploy--stockpileson mailroom tables.

The problem of mass mailings is magnified atthe Harvard Yard Mail Center (HYMC) which servesthe entire first-year class.

According to Sam McClary, HYMC supervisor and25-year veteran of mail operations in the ScienceCenter, catalogs like J. Crew maintain an addresslist that includes a majority of studentslong-gone from the basement mailbox bank.

"We get about 25 [USPS] tubs of J. Crewcatalogues and there might be eight or ninestudents in each tub that are actually assignedthe box on the [catalog]," McClary says.

But for the most part, the mail that arrives isfor specific people and sorters take note of theflow.

If You've Been Bad or Good...

Despite the number of students, sorters saythey quickly get to know the personalities behindthose little metal doors.

"I can tell people what their mailbox number isand where they're from," Proctor says. "Sometimespeople are a bit taken aback...but you really geta sense of what people's names are."

Proctor says she doesn't make an effort tomonitor mail, but that it's inevitable that aftermonths of sorting she began to note what peoplereceive, especially those thin or bulky envelopesthat arrive from graduate schools in the Spring.

"You, as a delivery person, pretty much knowwho got in [to grad school] and who didn't," shesays. "You can also see certain patterns--likewhich guys in the House have girlfriends."

Berwick says he begins to notice those thatreceive large amounts of mail--the 10 letters aday crowd--and also those who get "specialdeliveries" with regularity. After months ofsorting, Berwick says he knows people well enoughto discuss them by address with his roommate, whoalso sorts mail in Kirkland.

"By the middle of the year, we're able to talkabout people by number," he says.

According to McClary, the fact that about 80percent of HYMC packages belong to 20 percent ofstudents allows staff at the mail center to becomewell-acquainted with many of the frequentrecipients.

"We get to know the regulars," he says, "buteventually we get to see them all."

Among the most unusual deliveries processed atHYMC, McClary says students have received plasticbottles with messages in them, unwrapped coconuts,and a lot of bicycles. Moore says HarvardA-8HYM

She says some students were overly demanding,often phoning her room at night to ask about apackage or some other piece of mail.

"It's incredibly annoying," Proctor says of thejob. "It's totally imperative that they get [thatpiece of mail]."

However, Kirkland House mail sorter Benjamin L.Berwick '99 says he is willing to overlook whatmight be construed as pushiness on the part ofHouse residents eager for their mail.

"You will have a table piled with mail andpeople will ask if you've delivered all of themail today," Berwick says. "I just say yes. Butmostly [the job is] fine."

Though sorters say delivering House mailrequires only about two hours a day, Proctor saysthat, depending on the day's mail load, the amountcan quickly escalate.

She cites recent large-scale mailings from TheMemorial Church and from Harvard-Radcliffe Officeof The Arts that created extra work because theyarrived unsorted, in no particular order.

Berwick agrees that mass mailings--like monthlycatalogs from J. Crew--can be a hassle, but sayshe gets around the problem with a traditionalHarvard Yard Mail Center (HYMC) ploy--stockpileson mailroom tables.

The problem of mass mailings is magnified atthe Harvard Yard Mail Center (HYMC) which servesthe entire first-year class.

According to Sam McClary, HYMC supervisor and25-year veteran of mail operations in the ScienceCenter, catalogs like J. Crew maintain an addresslist that includes a majority of studentslong-gone from the basement mailbox bank.

"We get about 25 [USPS] tubs of J. Crewcatalogues and there might be eight or ninestudents in each tub that are actually assignedthe box on the [catalog]," McClary says.

But for the most part, the mail that arrives isfor specific people and sorters take note of theflow.

If You've Been Bad or Good...

Despite the number of students, sorters saythey quickly get to know the personalities behindthose little metal doors.

"I can tell people what their mailbox number isand where they're from," Proctor says. "Sometimespeople are a bit taken aback...but you really geta sense of what people's names are."

Proctor says she doesn't make an effort tomonitor mail, but that it's inevitable that aftermonths of sorting she began to note what peoplereceive, especially those thin or bulky envelopesthat arrive from graduate schools in the Spring.

"You, as a delivery person, pretty much knowwho got in [to grad school] and who didn't," shesays. "You can also see certain patterns--likewhich guys in the House have girlfriends."

Berwick says he begins to notice those thatreceive large amounts of mail--the 10 letters aday crowd--and also those who get "specialdeliveries" with regularity. After months ofsorting, Berwick says he knows people well enoughto discuss them by address with his roommate, whoalso sorts mail in Kirkland.

"By the middle of the year, we're able to talkabout people by number," he says.

According to McClary, the fact that about 80percent of HYMC packages belong to 20 percent ofstudents allows staff at the mail center to becomewell-acquainted with many of the frequentrecipients.

"We get to know the regulars," he says, "buteventually we get to see them all."

Among the most unusual deliveries processed atHYMC, McClary says students have received plasticbottles with messages in them, unwrapped coconuts,and a lot of bicycles. Moore says HarvardA-8HYM