It’s not that it’s anyone’s fault.
The weather is terrible, and the world keeps turning regardless of Mother Nature’s whims.
We’re expected to ride out the storm like everyone else because no one else gets to stop because of the weather.
And if the roads are safe enough, we really shouldn’t com- plain. Everyone has to deal with the cold and the ice.
But when every single person has a story about a friend (or them- selves) falling on that ice, ranging from a simple skid to a hospital visit, we’re concerned.
The grounds staff seems to be doing what they can, given the circumstances and the 15 foot high piles of snows around campus. The campus can’t close every day, and commuters are able to travel reasonably well on the roads.
But we’re not talking about the roads.
We’re talking about places on campus that had multiple inches of ice, places that only got more slick when the ice began to melt.
We’re talking about the steps to buildings that had unsafe amounts of slush.
We’re even talking about all of
the snow days we didn’t have, for the various reasons, but the weath- er was bad enough to warrant an explanation from the administra- tion about why classes were still in session.
But some students said they were becoming apathetic to the campus conditions.
“The poor conditions are becoming the norm,” said a senior female. “It’s almost like I’m desen- sitized to it.”
The weather took a warm turn this week, but it’s supposed to drop back down next week. What we saw weeks ago is that the salt doesn’t work when the temperature is below freezing, but we saw this week was that, when that happens, the ice all melts at once and students talk about the “Bradley Boat Tours.”
So what happens when Peoria freezes again? What happens when these ponds (or in some places, lakes) on campus turn to ice? Will the salt work, or will parts of campus be known as unavoidable slippery death traps?
We’re also worried about stu- dent education. While a good amount of students would probably love a day off, we know that getting two in a semester is fairly rare, and the school year doesn’t have snow days built in like the high school calendars did.
But we’re worried about student safety.
“When walking back from Markin, there was black ice, and I nearly slipped many times,” said one sophomore female.
“My back still hurts,” said one sophomore male.
It’s almost to the point where getting to class is more difficult than the classes themselves.
