The post office in Boston University’s George Sherman Union is set to close permanently as a result of the US Postal Service’s ‘Retail Optimization and Consolidation Plan,’ according the American Postal Workers Union. The GSU branch is one of nine offices set to close in the Boston area. Branches at Boston College, Babson College, Faneuil Hall, Logan Airport, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Nonantum Station, Soldiers Field and Tufts University will close, based on data provided by the Postal Service. Due to a sharp decline in mail volume caused by the recession and the movement towards email, the agency could have a deficit as large as $7 billion this year, according to the Associated Press. However, some Boston members of the Postal Workers Union said the Postal Service is using overall business losses as an excuse to close offices that are actually profitable. ‘If you’re making a profit, why close?’ Boston Postal Workers Union Vice President and Treasurer Bob Dempsey said. ‘They’re trying to capitalize on this bad economy to get rid of our careers.’ Bob White, vice president central of the union, said he has worked as a clerk at the Kenmore Square and GSU post offices for about fifteen years. ‘I know the ins and outs of the BU Post Office,’ he said. ‘It’s a convenience for the students. All they’ve got to do is go downstairs from the cafeteria and they’ve got their service. That post office is not losing money.’ George Sherman Union Post Office clerk Nancy Paine said she thinks it’s easier to close college locations because students do not care like residents of a small neighborhood would. ‘The community is more transient,’ she said. ‘The kids won’t care. They’ll just go somewhere else.’ The Postal Regulatory Commission, headed by U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, is currently sorting through the proposed closings and making final decisions, with offices potentially closing as soon as Oct. 9, Dempsey said.’ The union is attempting to spread the word and solicit more public opinion among students, Dempsey and White said. Union members recently met with state Rep. Mike Rush, who promised to submit a letter on behalf of the Boston Delegation to Lynch supporting cutting cut back on the closings. ‘Once the post office is gone, it’s gone for good,’ White said. ‘We’re the least expensive in the world, we’re the most efficient, and they’re trying to take it.’ Brian Simon, a BU graduate student, started a Facebook group in protest of closings titled ‘Save the BU Post Office’ after finding out that a temporary six-week summer closing could potentially lead to a permanent shut-down of his P.O. Box location.’ ‘I was angry, upset and a little confused,’ he said. ‘It’s not like the post office just sits there empty all day. The two nearest offices, near Coolidge and Kenmore, are insanely busy at all hours of the day, so the fact that they’re closing the one at the GSU just made no sense to me.’ College of Communication sophomore Ken Petti said he’s used the post office maybe twice. ‘I live by Myles, so there’s a post office right there,’ he said. ‘It’s too bad it’s closing, but I don’t know who uses it that frequently.’