Suspicious mail at UA from Joseph Holloway on Vimeo.
“I kinda know when I’m expecting a letter but when it’s from someone I don’t know, i guess I’ve never really thought about it.”
Like most students, sophomore Danielle Slyman usually never worries about where her mail is coming from.
But after recent packages containing ricin were sent to federal offices across the country. Slyman thinks watching out for her mail may be a good idea.
“I guess i could be really careful about opening things I don’t recognize, which doesn’t happen often at college.”
But the university is not taking this situation lightly. Post office manager Penny Bellard says letters and packages are checked thoroughly before students and staff receive them.
“We have screening procedures we do here on campus then they’re screened again as outgoing by USPS.”
And when suspicious packages are received, emergency teams are sent in to check for substances. After that, UAPD starts looking for the source.
“If someone sends a hazardous or explosive material through the mail, that’s a criminal offense so we’d open a criminal investigation.”
As for Slyman, she’s going to be paying a lot of attention to each piece of mail she gets.
“I might just kind of see what it is, who sent it, where it came from before I try to open it.”
And many students will do the same.