Page 2
The Blue Banner
November 15,2001
News
Campus mail: better safe than sorry
Forwarding
A-J
MIRIAM BARLOW/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Since the recent anthrax cases in the
United States, UNCA mail handlers have
been on the alert.
Student mail services use
new precautions against
infection of anthrax
Alison McKone
StafF Reporter
“We've gotten a lot of
pamphlets and papers
showing what we should
look for, such as packages
with stains, any kind of
oily or powdery residue
or no return address.”
-Bethany McElreath,
mail worker
UNCA has implemented procedures to help
screen for suspicious items, due to recent
events with the presence of anthrax in the
mail.
UNCA’s department of public safety has
instructed the mail services staff and student
workers on safety precautions and mail screen
ing, according to a posting on the public
safety Web site.
“We all joined the mail services staff for a
workshop immediately when the first case (of
anthrax) was detected,” said Susan
McCracken, supervisor of student mail dis
tribution. “That workshop was held at mail
services and public safety conducted that
with information that they’ve been receiving
from the authorities. I’m very concerned at
keeping an eye on that, and I am trusting that
the people at the levels above us are also
concerned and careful about what is going
on.”
Mail workers on campus and across the
country have been told what suspicious signs
to look for. This information has also been
MIRIAM BARLOW/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Mail handler Dawn Pickett sorts on-campus mail while wearing a protective mask.
posted on public safety’s Web site.
Mail handling guidelines from the Centers
for Disease Control and the United States
Postal Service tell people to be alert and
check letters and packages for:
■ any powdery substance on the outside
■ handwritten or poorly typed addresses
■ misspellings of common words
■ incorrect or non-existent departments or
position titles
■ excessive postage
■ oily stains, discolorations or strange odors
■ no return address, or one that cannot be
verified as legitimate
■ restrictive endorsements, such as “Per
sonal” or “Confidential.”
“We’ve gotten a lot of pamphlets and papers
showing what we should look for, such as
packages with stains, any kind of oily or
powdery residue or no return address. We
also have gloves available. If we feel really
threatened, we can use those, and we have
masks available in the mail room as well,” said
Bethany McElreath, an undeclared junior
and mail worker on campus.
Most of the student mail workers do not
seem overly concerned about the threat of
anthrax. But there have been some instances
where students were very concerned with the
possibility of anthrax appearing at UNCA.
“Mail services gets the mail first, and they
sort it for campus, then they bring all the
student mail here,” said McElreath. “They
are trained to look at it as well, so I feel like
we’re at a lower risk. If something came
through, I really believe they would notice it
first. Before mail services see the mail, there’s
post office on Merrimon, they go through it,
too. I am not extremely concerned about
it,” McElreath said.
Mail services is trying to do everything they
can to keep their workers informed and out of
danger, according to Danny Fouts, assistant
director of support services and the direct
supervisor of the mail room.
“It’s on everyone’s mind, and we’re trying
to do whatever we can to make it a safe
workplace,” Fouts said.
According to Fouts, mail services had a
meeting with Public Safety Director Lou
Caliendo in September, not long after the
attacks and the anthrax scare. Now they are
keeping up to date with any information
from the Federal Post Office and the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, said Fouts.
Fouts also said that they have made dispos
able rubber gloves and respirators available
to anyone who would like to wear them in
the main mail room.
“We’re real careful. We know what to look
for. We look at it before we just start reach
ing in and grabbing for stuff, like we used
to. We take a little more precaution, but I
think it’s pretty well taken care of at Gray
Station (the post office on Merrimon
Avenue). They’re trying to install a new
machine that puts radiation through pack
ages,” McElreath said.
“I feel a strong responsibility for the student
employees more so than permanent em
ployees, who sometimes have more of a
choice about what they’re doing and the
student employees trust us to look out for
their welfare,” said McCracken.
The first instance of anthrax being detected
in a university mail room has been reported
at Howard University, recently. So far, only
one student mail employee at UNCA has
taken a leave of absence due to concern
about anthrax.
Most of the employees still feel confident
about the precautions taken at levels above
UNCA, as well as here on campus.
“We are very fortunate to have two people
in out mail room that are retired postal
workers. They have 70 years experience
between them and one was a post master.
They work directly with the students and we
are very lucky have this, most universities do
not,” Fouts said.
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WALTER FYLER/PHOTO EDITOR
Meg Dutnell, associate director
of student Hfe, checks files as she
moves out of her office.
Highsmith
closes down
Lana Coffey
Staff Reporter
The Highsmith University Center
closed Nov. 14 in order to prepare
the center for major renovations, but
will not be torn down until March
2002, according to Kevan Frazier,
director of student life.
“The resident population of the cam
pus has probably more than doubled
since the building was built,” said
Stephen Baxley, director of facilities
management and planning. “Every
body here is excited that we’re going
to have an opportunity to finally get
this. This project has been in the
planning phase since 1995. Finally,
we have a chance to make it a real-
ity.”
All the offices that are currently in
Highsmith Center will move to the
top floor of the two story parking
deck below the dining hall, accord
ing to Baxley. Theywill remain there
until the new student center is com
plete.
The construction will probably start
in March or April of 2002, accord
ing to Baxley. It could take up to
two years to complete.
“The construction may be the bulk
of some students’ careers, but as far
as the students that are coming in,
(the new center) will be a very nice
thing,” said Baxley.
The bookstore will be the first space
to close, according to Frazier. It will
reopen in its new location Nov. 26.
While the temporary location for
the student center will have less room
than the current Highsmith Center,
it will be worth it once the new
center opens, according to Baxley.
“Most of the old Highsmith will be
torn down. The existing floor gets
rebuilt, and there’s a story put on top
of that so it will be two stories, where
now it’s one story,” said Baxley. “It
approximately doubles the square
footage of the Highsmith Center
now.”
The bookstore will be larger and
there will be more than just one
place to choose from when eating,
according to Baxley.
There will also be more meeting
rooms and a mail room, according to
Baxley.
“The Student Government Asso
ciation will have better operations,
the student affairs staff will have
better offices, and the career center
will move from Weizenblatt and be
much more accessible to the stu
dents,” said Baxley.
There may be some limited use of
the old Highsmith Center, accord
ing to Frazier. Until construction
begins, it will be open as a pass to get
to Founders Hall.
Frazier said he hoped that there
could be “some kind of final hurrah”
before the center went under con
struction.