We’ve all been there. You’re up late waiting for your crush to text you back when you receive a mildly disappointing email notification: “Bucknell Message Center Digest.” You could be out partying in a sweaty house that probably should not have passed inspection, trying to go to bed, studying or perhaps even being with the crush that actually texted you back. A large portion of the Bucknell student body tends to overlook it. But do we actually know what the contents of that email are? And why do we all choose to actively ignore it?
I can say for sure that I ignored 99% of the email, except for one hyperlink: Campus Crime and Fire Safety Log. It is beyond me why Bucknell would choose to bury that hyperlink in the email when it is the only mildly entertaining thing in the whole email. Most days, the log is “clear,” meaning that “there were no reported acts of crime in this period.” Other times, most likely on Friday, Saturday and the occasional Wednesday, crimes like “Vandalism” and “Liquor Laws” are reported. When I asked students for their take on the email, most responded the same way as Anna Solar ’27 did: “It is too much information, and I don’t feel like the information is worth reading.”
Other parts of the email that I didn’t know existed included advertised job and buying opportunities for the Bucknell community. Kenny Mineart is looking for a babysitter, offering flexible hours. Neil Boyd is selling his “baby,” a 2009 Ford F-150 XLT Single Cab with an eight-foot bed. The asking price is $13,600 for anyone who has gotten far enough into this article and might be interested. Does anyone want kayaks? Because those are on sale, too. Need help rearranging your room for the third time in a week? The Bucknell Club Men’s Rowing Team has got you covered with its continuous ad for “rent a rower,” your go-to place for help with labor-intensive chores and activities– a unique fundraising tactic, one could say. All of these opportunities were found in that dreaded 1 a.m. notification.
Why are we all ignoring these emails if their contents could be helpful? And what can Bucknell do to get more students to read the emails? One solution could be that Bucknell sends out the email once a week during school hours. Another solution could be to send the email at a different time of the day so that it is at the top of our inbox during school hours. The student body is not functioning properly that late at night, and by the time 9 a.m. comes around, our inboxes are packed with emails from events in our lives that are more pertinent (classes, clubs, sports teams, etc.).
At the end of the day, most of us will continue to ignore the email. I know I will go back to pretending it doesn’t exist because waiting for my crush to text me back takes precedence over a mass e-mail that will always come back to haunt me in my dreams.