Sometimes, I really regret posting things that lead to so many
postings, but in this case, I'm really glad to get so much useful
and clarifying information from so many people.

On Tue, 3 Dec 1996, Albert Henderson said:
> USPS regulations not only call for a "street" address and ZIP+4, the address
> must be identifiable on the USPS address database!
>
> The USPS calls their new system CASS (Coding Accuracy Support System). It
> asks mailers to use certified software to match each address to their
> database. The software verifies the street address, ZIP+4 and modifies
> details such as spelling out Saint Louis (for St Lous) to meet USPS specs.

This might explain why we have suddenly been receiving a lot of unsolicited
mail with the wrong 4 digit extension - one that does _not_ match the
extension assigned by our university post office.

> Many colleges and universities contributed to the USPS database, in order
> to speed delivery of mail and ease the load on the campus mailroom. Others
> have not done so and there are constant error messages and short bar
> codes.

I guess that means that we're not one of the ones that contributed.
Typical.  And if I try to explain this to our PO, they'll look at me as
though I grew a second head.

Do you sometimes wonder why we do this for a living?  (meant to be
rhetorical, and not the basis for a new discussion!)

Steve Murden
Virginia Commonwealth University
smurden@gems.vcu.edu