Assessing the efficacy of the Tiger Stamp: a policy tool approach

International conservation presents a unique challenge for American conservation agencies, demanding unique policy tools. To encourage American citizens to support overseas conservation, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the United States Postal Service, and environmental non-governmental organizations collaborated to create the Save Vanishing Species Stamp, a semipostal stamp featuring a tiger. In doing this, these actors relied on the flagship species approach, wherein a charismatic species attracts attention and support for ecological protection. The “Tiger Stamp” has been on sale since 2011, but its effectiveness as a policy tool is uncertain. In this paper, we discuss the Tiger Stamp and analyze its effectiveness from several angles. The stamp’s impact on species conservation is uncertain and its sales have been lower than those of past semipostal stamps, but this should be understood in the context of nationwide decline in traditional postal activities and the hortatory effect of the stamp beyond its economic effects. We conclude that the stamp is, on balance, a valuable policy tool, and should be continued.

Postal delivery disruptions and the fragility of voting by mail: Lessons from Maine

Since the onset in early 2020 of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, mail-in voting rates in states that have held elections have surged, presumably reflecting the fact that voting by mail is a relatively safe mode of ballot casting during a public health crisis. Matters of health notwithstanding, postal delivery disruptions can place mail-in ballots at risk of rejection on the grounds of lateness. With Maine as a case study, we show that, in the past four general elections, over 10% of vote-by-mail ballots arrived at local elections offices either on Election Day itself or one day earlier. Moreover, of the vote-by-mail ballots most vulnerable to postal delivery disruptions, a greater share of them were cast by unaffiliated voters and Democrats than by Republicans. Our results highlight the fragility of voting by mail in light of concerns about the reliability of the United States Postal Service. While existing research shows that the opportunity to vote by mail is neutral with respect to partisanship, our results highlight an aspect of mail-in balloting that nonetheless has a partisan hue—the extent to which vote-by-mail ballots are vulnerable to mail delays.

Expanding Access to COVID-19 Tests through US Postal Service Facilities

Widespread, convenient access to COVID-19 testing has been challenging in the United States. We make a case for provisioning COVID-19 tests through the United States Postal Service (USPS) facilities and demonstrate a simple method for selecting locations to improve access. We provide quantitative evidence that even a subset of USPS facilities could provide broad access, particularly in remote and at-risk communities with limited access to health care. Based on daily travel surveys, census data, locations of USPS facilities, and an established care-seeking model, we estimate that more than 94% of the US population would be willing to travel to an existing USPS facility if warranted. For half of the US population, this would require traveling less than 2.5 miles from home; for 90%, the distance would be less than 7 miles. In Georgia, Illinois, and Minnesota, we estimate that testing at USPS facilities would provide access to an additional 4.1, 3.1, and 1.3 million people and reduce the median travel distance by 3.0, 0.8, and 1.2 miles, respectively, compared with existing testing sites per 28 July 2020. We also discuss the option of distributing test-at-home kits via USPS instead of private carriers. Finally, our proposal provides USPS an opportunity to increase revenues and expand its mission, thus improving its future prospects and relevance.

Every Door Direct Mail in US survey research: An anonymous census approach to mail survey sampling

Mail surveys remain a popular method of eliciting attitudinal information, but declining response rates motivate inquiry into new, lower cost methods of contacting potential respondents. This work presents methodological findings from a medium-sized (~12,000 addresses) mail survey testing a United States Postal Service direct mail product called Every Door Direct Mail as a low-cost approach to anonymous mail survey distribution. The results suggest that under certain conditions, Every Door Direct Mail can be a useful approach for mail survey distribution, with response rates similar to those observed with analogous first-class mailing approaches but lower cost per response. As a tool for postal carrier-route saturation mailing that does not use names or addresses, Every Door Direct Mail is potentially useful for researchers who work in small, specific geographies or value or require anonymity. The results from this work suggest good performance on demographics and socially undesirable answers for Every Door Direct Mail relative to addressed mailings. The major disadvantages include an inability to conduct household-level probability sampling, an inability to customize nonresponse follow-up, and minimum mailing sizes associated with the postal carrier route saturation requirement. Every Door Direct Mail is unlikely to become a major tool for survey researchers, but it could be useful in niche applications. This study introduces Every Door Direct Mail to the survey methodology literature and presents empirical data intended to help researchers considering using Every Door Direct Mail.

Pediatric Ophthalmology Fellowship Survey: Fellows Selection Criteria for Training Programs

Purpose This article investigates the characteristics that trainees look for in a pediatric ophthalmology fellowship program. Methods A 14-question anonymous survey was created and sent out via the United States Postal Service to all physicians of American Association of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus. The survey addressed demographics, the interview process, and the qualities of fellowship training programs that were important factors in ranking fellowship training programs. A Likert scale was used to rate different qualities (1: not important, 9: very important) and summary statistics were reported as overall means and standard deviations. Results In total, 1,061 were mailed out with 413 returned amounting to a 38.9% response rate. The qualities with the highest mean were diversity of surgical procedures, volume of procedures/surgeries, reputation of the fellowship director, advice from mentor, emphasis on type of surgery performed, program association with an academic institution, and national reputation of program. The characteristics that ranked the lowest were presence of a Veteran's Administration hospital and presence of a county hospital. Females rated proximity to family significantly higher than males. Among responders who ranked volume of procedures/surgeries as very important, strabismus surgery was the most important. Conclusion Pediatric ophthalmologists chose fellowship training programs based on the diversity and surgical volume of procedures and the reputation of the program director.