Ally Horine and Julia Oller | Echo
As winter arrives, GPAs aren't the only things students fear will fall.
"Tuesday morning I almost slipped on the ice six times," said junior Sophie Welch.
Facilities Services clears the two miles of roads, five miles of sidewalks and numerous parking lots on campus. In severe conditions, such as the storm in early January 2014, crews clear snow continuously.
Although Facilities Services does sprinkle ice melt on slippery paths and roads, it's cost-both financially and environmentally-requires that it only be applied in certain conditions. When the temperature dips below 15 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit, the Ice Melt no longer works effectively. Conversely, in warmer weather crews might only need to plow.
Chief of Police Jeff Wallace said that while roads and sidewalks can't all be cleared at the same time, Facilities Services does the best they can.
"When the weather gets really bad, just be patient," Wallace said. "Give them a chance to do their thing-it works out better for everybody."
According to Wallace, most vehicle accidents on campus result from a lack of common sense on the part of the driver. Wallace said that students and staff members have a responsibility to exercise extra caution while walking or driving in poor weather conditions.
Minor accidents and vehicles getting stuck in the snow occur most often in parking lots due to the inability of trucks to plow around parked cars. On Tuesday, the university sent out an email detailing procedures for student vehicles this winter in an effort to prevent parking lot mishaps.
Campus Police is willing to help dig students out when they are in deep, but the best way to prevent accidents is to limit unnecessary trips. To cut down on cars on the road, the police force offers rides around campus to anyone who asks.
Because police officers remain on campus overnight, they send weather reports to Facilities Services to notify them of the best times to plow. Wallace said that even though there's no perfect system to deal with bad weather, collaboration across departments allows the process to be as efficient as possible.
Ultimately, Wallace said, the weather is an unpredictable force that can keep crews working around the clock.
"There's no perfect system when weather like that hits. We just want to make sure we're doing everything we can to provide as much of a service (as we can)," Wallace said.
