Campus Post Offce Tightens Security

University postal officials began implementing an existing Federal Aviation Administration security policy Monday that requires customers mailing packages weighing more than 16 ounces to show a valid identification. The name on the identification also must match the name on the package's return address.

Bill Brown, spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service, said the practice of checking identification and verifying return addresses has been part of FAA standards for several years. But Brown said the enforcement of the policy is at the discretion of each individual office.

At the University post office in Student Stores, UNC students, faculty and staff must present a UNC ONE Card as identification in order to mail packages.

Individuals without UNC identification will not be allowed to mail packages of more than 16 ounces from the Student Stores location.

Callie Council, mail room supervisor of the post office in Student Stores, said the policy aims to make postal workers more conscious of potential security threats.

But on Franklin Street, the postal service is responding differently.

Barbara Morris, an employee at the Franklin Street post office, said despite the FAA policy, officials are only checking identification for international packages.

Morris also said employees at the Franklin Street location have no plans to implement identification checking for packages with regional and national destinations until the U.S. Postal Service specifically tells them otherwise. "We haven't been given that instruction," she said.

Morris said there are certain criteria the office uses to determine the legitimacy of a package such as warning labels, size and weight.

But Chapel Hill residents interviewed on Franklin Street on Thursday were somewhat skeptical of the security measures. "It will cause a lot of problems because students have licenses from their home towns that don't correspond with their campus addresses,"said Eve Blum, who recently moved to Chapel Hill.

Other residents are supportive of the practice. "It's a reasonable thing to ask, except people may find a way around it," said Amy Tsui, a resident of 19 years.

Despite some residents' concerns, officials defended the new policy at the Student Stores post office.

Council said enforcing the policy at UNC hasn't seemed to slow down business in the post office. "Clerks can continue to separate mail and do other stuff while customers search for ID," she said.

Students, like Shilpi Paul, a junior biology and psychology major, said the safety measure is worth any annoyance. "It's a fine policy because there's no reason not to do it," Paul said. "It's a small inconvenience to increase our safety."

The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu.