2008 Woodie Awards
What Will It Take to Cancel Classes?
Daniel Thomas
Issue date: 2/6/06 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
I think it is rather interesting that for at least the second time in eight semesters at Clarkson, on Monday, January 30, only students at the four universities reported for classes among education locations in Saint Lawrence County, amidst the Sheriff's Office advising "no unnecessary travel," due to icy roads. Personally, I think the "No Unnecessary Travel" warning applies to commuters from the village and Congdon, just as it does for faculty, staff, and farther away commuting students in the communities of Saint Lawrence and Franklin counties. Interesting to note, Canton Tech cancelled classes until ten in the morning.
Beyond driving, there comes the issue of walking safely on campus, when all of the placed surfaces (concrete walks, asphalt paths) were clearly coated in ice early Sunday night, which gave Facilities and Services plenty of time to mobilize for earlier than seven in the morning clearing paths and getting a minute amount of sand and salt out on some of the walks. Personally, the most sloped part of my walk to class at eight in the morning on Mondays is the path from Riverside up to the intersection with the President's House and New Snell, and wouldn't you know, not a thing was done to them at eight in the morning. Up on the hill, many of the walks were still well iced, and where Grounds had made a failed attempt to clear, they had chopped ice on solid ice, like having a path of banana peels to walk on. By the time they get around to actually putting real sand and salt down to remove the ice and restore traction, somebody is bound to slip, fall down, and either get really bruised or even have something much more serious happen, all in the name of not missing a class because that might hurt accreditation not to show some common sense.
I have another more serious question to ask: if there had been a Travel Ban or State of Emergency called instead of a "No Unnecessary Travel" on Monday, would Clarkson and the rest of the Associated Colleges have followed the usual 'classes unless we have no power' routine? For those who may not have known, we did get the day off before Spring Break two years ago due to no power on half of the Hill Campus. I suspect Clarkson would be more worried about meeting the scripted fifteen Mondays, fifteen Tuesdays, fifteen Wednesdays, fifteen Thursdays, and fifteen Fridays, since a few professors would whine about changing lesson plans, even though the majority of professors have built in open days and flexible course outlines to accommodate such a scenario. So once again, a few dictate for the majority, and once again, the sensible choice is ignored. I would hope that the level to make that right choice is not an ice storm or lack of power, because that shows another sad side of Clarkson decision making.
Beyond driving, there comes the issue of walking safely on campus, when all of the placed surfaces (concrete walks, asphalt paths) were clearly coated in ice early Sunday night, which gave Facilities and Services plenty of time to mobilize for earlier than seven in the morning clearing paths and getting a minute amount of sand and salt out on some of the walks. Personally, the most sloped part of my walk to class at eight in the morning on Mondays is the path from Riverside up to the intersection with the President's House and New Snell, and wouldn't you know, not a thing was done to them at eight in the morning. Up on the hill, many of the walks were still well iced, and where Grounds had made a failed attempt to clear, they had chopped ice on solid ice, like having a path of banana peels to walk on. By the time they get around to actually putting real sand and salt down to remove the ice and restore traction, somebody is bound to slip, fall down, and either get really bruised or even have something much more serious happen, all in the name of not missing a class because that might hurt accreditation not to show some common sense.
I have another more serious question to ask: if there had been a Travel Ban or State of Emergency called instead of a "No Unnecessary Travel" on Monday, would Clarkson and the rest of the Associated Colleges have followed the usual 'classes unless we have no power' routine? For those who may not have known, we did get the day off before Spring Break two years ago due to no power on half of the Hill Campus. I suspect Clarkson would be more worried about meeting the scripted fifteen Mondays, fifteen Tuesdays, fifteen Wednesdays, fifteen Thursdays, and fifteen Fridays, since a few professors would whine about changing lesson plans, even though the majority of professors have built in open days and flexible course outlines to accommodate such a scenario. So once again, a few dictate for the majority, and once again, the sensible choice is ignored. I would hope that the level to make that right choice is not an ice storm or lack of power, because that shows another sad side of Clarkson decision making.