By Quincy Fuehne

Quincy University junior and Florida resident Christina Fasone was unable to take part in the 2018 midterm elections.

“Being an American citizen that is my right, my birth right, and I should not have that hindered,” Fasone said.

Fasone is registered to vote in Florida and sent in her request for an absentee ballot.

Her parents mailed the ballot in a manila envelope through the United States Postal Service. According to the tracking number, it was delivered on October 22, 2018.

When Fasone checked her campus mailbox two days later, there was no package pick-up slip. Fasone asked the mailroom employee if she could see the log book where students must provide a signature, and show the pick-up slip, before receiving their packages.

Her name was signed on a line in the log book, but it wasn’t in her handwriting.

“My roommate was with me at the time and before I could get it out, she said that’s not her handwriting,” Fasone said.

Fasone immediately filed a report with security stating her package had been stolen. Security had multiple meetings with Fasone, asking her to repeatedly tell her story.

They also had her write her signature multiple times to check for handwriting discrepancies between the mail log signature and her actual signature.

Fasone inquired about the security office filing a police report, but was told she would have to do that on her own.

“In the seven years I’ve been here, this has only happened twice,” Director of Safety and Security Sam Lathrop said.

Fasone was asked one question repeatedly by multiple departments.

“They kept asking me if my mailbox was unlocked, it wasn’t. I make sure to lock my mailbox every single time after I go and check my mail or get mail,” Fasone said.

QU Media tested 10 mailboxes that appeared to be locked. Out of the 10, two of them opened.

“Student’s need to make sure they lock their mailbox,” Coordinator of the Mail and Copy Center Sue Winking said.

If a student notices something is not right with their mailbox or that their mailbox does not lock, it is their responsibility to report it to Winking.

Fasone’s case has since been closed due to the lack of evidence.

Currently, there are no cameras inside the student mailroom or by the window where students can pick up their packages. There is one camera visible directly outside the student mailroom in the student union underneath the cafeteria.

Security did get a description of the thief from the mailroom worker, but could not identify a student based on that description.

“It makes me as a student who has to live on campus feel very unsafe and rather disturbed that security is unable to even be able to catch a petty theft,” Fasone expressed.

Prior to this case, the mailroom did not have a strict mail distribution procedure besides having the student show the pick up slip and sign the log book.

Students now have to show an ID that matches the name on the slip of paper and package before they can receive the package.

Fasone is not the only student who has had trouble with mail. Senior Karl Hirsch has had two packages go missing.

One package never arrived, while the other arrived months later. It was due to arrive in October, but Hirsch did not get it until May. Both incidents occurred during the 2016-2017 school year.

“It made me mad,” Hirsch said.

Hirsch said he never contacted security about the issues, only the mailroom. He said the mailroom claimed the package he received late was lost somewhere in the mailroom.

Another student said one of their packages recently went missing. They said the mailroom searched for the package in the student mailroom and main mailroom.

Eventually that student received a phone call saying it was found in a bin. The student was understanding and said sometimes things get misplaced.

If students find they have missing mail or suspect an issue with their mailbox, they are urged to contact Winking.