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 Harvard