Remember when your grandfather used to tell you about his many miles-long walks uphill in the snow to school in his younger days? Boston University students will have comparable tales to tell their grandchildren after today, when forecasters are saying temperatures will hover in the negatives all day. At press time this morning, BU had decided to avoid doing what more than 350 public schools and districts were planning to do, deciding not to close down due to the sub-zero temperatures. And while this choice may anger many students – windburn and numbed body parts will be common today – it is the right decision.
College students are smart enough to make their own decisions about whether or not to walk around in difficult weather, and BU’s decision reflects that. While BU’s campus isn’t the most conducive to bad weather – located along a one-mile stretch of road often referred to as a “wind tunnel” – students should know better than to run around campus sans jacket or in shorts. That is just an invitation for pneumonia.
Massachusetts school districts’ decisions to cancel are perfectly understandable. Six-year-olds left waiting at bus stops may not know any better than to take off their hats and mittens – the weather really does present a danger for them. But 20-year-old college students understand that they need to bundle up and protect themselves from the harsh weather while making the trek to class – BU knows that.
Most college students already dread the thought of actually attending class on Fridays – fewer classes are often scheduled and even fewer students actually attend them – so many probably won’t even notice the difference. Even still, professors should keep in mind that those students who do have class might decide not to attend. For some students, it may just be too cold or the distance just too far. For example, many students living off campus or in on-campus dormitories like Hamilton House or Danielson Hall may decide to take an absence instead of risking frostbite on the 20-minute walk to class. Just the same, professors should not hesitate to make the decision to cancel classes because of the weather – they will not be the only ones in the city to decide it’s just not worth it to leave the house.
But some people don’t even get to contemplate the idea of a day off for bad weather. Buildings ‘ Grounds workers have once again done an excellent job keeping the campus safe for students, faculty and staff. By salting the streets early in the morning and keeping steps ice-free, B ‘ G workers have once again shown just how important they are to keeping BU running. As soon as a sprinkler burst in the School of Management Wednesday night, B ‘ G workers were on the scene cleaning the mess and preparing the building for use Thursday. They did an equally good job with problems in the West Campus dining hall early in the week.
B ‘ G does have its work cut out for it today. They must keep a close watch on campus buildings and make sure pipes don’t burst and the heat keeps running – especially in student residences.
Indeed, a four-day weekend would have been nice. With Martin Luther King Jr. Day already making for a three-day weekend, it would have been great to have a fourth. But BU made the right decision not to shut its doors.