Students struggle due to lack of campus snow removal

On Feb. 1, 2015 winter-storm Linus passed through Meadville, Pennsylvania leaving behind immense amounts of snow and frigid air. Not the best way to kick off the first week of February, if you ask me, even though I love snow.

The snow is a pretty sight and fun to walk under, however it is not fun for a student who must trudge through it in his or her heavy snow boots while heading to morning classes or to Brooks for lunch.

It sure would be a lot easier if the sidewalks and pathways were cleared of the snow throughout the day. Why is the snow not being removed for Allegheny students?

My first encounter with the snow was when I returned to Allegheny College at 11:00 p.m. on Feb. 1, 2015. For a half-an-hour, I drove through a blizzard in which I could only see about a car’s length ahead of me. Once I made it to Meadville, I thought I had it in the bag; nothing could go wrong from there. I was wrong.

As I was turning into the parking lot behind Oddfellows, my vehicle got stuck in a foot-and-a-half of snow. I attempted to clear the way by kicking snow out of the way with my boots, but the ice underneath from a lack of salting, caused my tires to spin out.

I called safety and security. Fortunately, after they just got their vehicles unstuck, they came up and helped me move my vehicle into a parking space.

What bothered me the most was that this could have been avoided.

Rather than waiting until morning, Allegheny’s staff could have been plowing and salting for the incoming storm. The parking lot was not plowed nor salted when I arrived as it should have been. Granted, I would not want to work at midnight, but someone should in order to protect Allegheny students. I know I was not the only one who had his or her car stuck. I saw at least five posts on Yik Yak asking for assistance in moving a car from various parking lots around campus.

Cars are not the only problem though. Getting to class on time and alive is another one. Many referred to it as the #AlleghenyStruggle when having to walk through all of this snow.

“I’ve fallen like five times on my way to football practice in the mornings,” said Justin Mcclain, ‘18.

Just the simple act of walking is a dangerous task to accomplish this month. Snow, slush, and ice was all over campus. For the past week, all I have been doing is slipping and, luckily, not falling yet. But, I have seen people fall and it does not look enjoyable.

The sidewalks seem to have only gotten worse, too. Especially, on Feb. 9, 2015. Because of freezing rain the night before, most of the walkways and stairs froze over with slippery ice.

Students everywhere were cautious while walking over the ice patches. What used to take five minutes to walk to Brooks, turned into ten minutes.

Jonn Alcantara, ‘18, posted on Facebook, “Quote of the day at Gheny: What the f*ck, where’s the salt?”

With the icy paths which lasted all day, despite a couple that cleared up enough to safely walk through after all the ice was trampled away by previous passerbyers, his post became the common question. Along with, why?

“The fact that they… do nothing is irritating,” said Jordan Drexler, ‘15.

Granted, staff did venture out about halfway through the day to begin spreading salt in some areas, but that was not helpful when students most needed it in the morning.

With the weather only getting worse, there are still huge patches of ice around campus that pose threats to those who cross them. When will those go away?