24. From Wired, 6/7/2001
But what about e-mail? If people write
fewer letters, won't that hurt the bottom
line even more?
"E-mail is not a threat,"
Brennan said.
Much of the content of many e-mails, from
jokes to chain letters, would not have been
sent via the U.S. Mail, said Tom Wakefield,
president of PostalWorkersOnline.com.
Many of these short communications
would instead be conducted by telephone.
25. Rick Merritt, founder of PostalWatch, said he hasn't seen email hurt it, yet. "If (electronic commerce and the Internet) are
impacting the Postal Service at all, it's just now starting to,"
Merritt said.
But online billing is a threat because its potential for
acceptance hasn't been realized yet, Brennan said.
... "First-class mail is enormously
secure," Brennan said. "People trust the Postal Service."
... just as the Postal Service survived the telegraph, telephone
and television, the demise of mail is nowhere near, advocates
say.
"There are other, faster ways to communicate," Brennan said.
"But some things will never change. There will always be some
type of mail delivery."
26.
27. from Huffington Post, November 12,
2010
WASHINGTON — The Postal Service said Friday it lost
$8.5 billion last year despite deep cuts of more than
100,000 jobs and other reductions in recent years. The
post office had estimated it would lose $6 billion to $7
billion, but a sharp decline in mail took a toll. Increased
use of the Internet and the recession, which cut
advertising and other business mail, meant less money
for the agency.
...Of particular concern has been the decline
in the lucrative first-class mail, largely
consisting of personal letters and cards, bills
and payments and similar items. First-class
mail volume fell 6.6 percent in 2010, 8.6
percent in 2009, and 4.8 percent in 2008.
Traditionally, this mail has produced more
than half of total revenue.
28. 2011
… “The situation is dire,” said Thomas R. Carper,
the Delaware Democrat who is chairman of the
Senate subcommittee that oversees the postal
service. “If we do nothing, if we don’t react in a
smart, appropriate way, the postal service could
literally close later this year….”
29. 2012
February 9,
Huffington Post
Us Postal Service Loses $3.3 Billion in Just Three
Months
The US Postal Service reported a net loss of $3.3
billion in its first quarter as plummeting mail
volumes overshadowed stronger than expected
holidy shipping, the cash-strapped agency said
Thursday.... The service lost $5.1 billion last
year....
The agency repeated calls to Congress to allow it
to ... expand into new
businesses....”
30. The analogy may be
faulty.
But it may not.
Lessons to be
learned?
Precautions to
consider?
31. Are we in the envelope,
paper, stamp, mailbox, post
office business?
31
44. 10. You ... connecting with
your students (fellow
learners).
45. Do not merely try to bring
others to where you are,
as wonderful as that
place might be.
But do not leave them
where they are either.
Instead, go with them to a
place neither you nor
they have ever been
before.
Fr. Vincent Donovan (adapted)
