The U.S. Postal Service is considering closing more than 30 locations in East Central Illinois, “two of these on campus”:https://www.dailyillini.com/index.php/article/2011/10/campus_residents_argue_against_post_office_closure. While the service has undoubtedly taken a hit over the past few years, with the rise of email and private services, it is important to realize it is not dead — at least not yet.

These two locations, one inside Altgeld Hall and the other on the corner of Third and Green streets, have served students for a long time and are now on the verge of being closed due to financial problems.

Instead of closing both locations, which are only half a mile apart, the postal service should pick an office and consolidate it into the other. With the short distance, it seems pointless to have two offices running while the postal service on campus is scratching and clawing just to break even.

If it should come to the worst by closing both offices, it will hurt students the most.

We understand the post offices are losing money by keeping its services open, and that this problem is not limited just to our campus or Champaign-Urbana.

However, these post offices are still being used by students, whether it be for mailing applications to potential employers or sending packages back home.

There is also a convenience factor.

If these two were to close, the nearest offices would then be in downtown Urbana and downtown Champaign. This would presumably force students, who consistently use the service, to schedule a block of time to travel off-campus just to send mail.

The potential closures would open up the opportunity for a private company, such as UPS or FedEx, to position itself as the de facto mailing service for the campus community, which might mean a more expensive service to students.

But it should not have to come to this. The postal service should have its offices reasonably available to students who regularly need it.