NEWS
FRIDAY, J A N UA RY 2 1 , 2 0 1 1 — T H E M A N E AT E R
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Snow blocks roads but leaves many class schedules untouched Classes were last canceled in December 2006.
KRISTIAN MUNDAHL Reporter A winter storm blanketed campus Wednesday night and Thursday, leaving 8 inches of snow and a forecast for more severe weather Sunday. Although several instructors and professors chose to cancel individual classes Thursday, Chancellor Brady Deaton, the sole MU official with the authority to cancel all the day’s courses, opted not to make the call. Historically, heavy snowfall has rarely cancelled class at MU. December 2006 marks the last time a snow day hit campus when 20 inches of snow forced Deaton to cancel classes for one day. Since that December, class schedules have gone undisturbed by snow and ice. According to the Missouri Climate Center, 6 inches of snow from a Christmas Eve storm continued a trend of abnormal winter weather. The city has been hit with 13 inches of snow since July 1 of 2010, a sizable departure from the average of 9.6 inches, according to the National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in St. Louis. Despite the increased snowfall, MU has several organizations dedicated to cleaning up
SARAH HOFFMAN/SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Students walk through the freshly fallen snow on Francis Quadrangle on Wednesday night.
the about 740 acres of campus, including the MU-run Landscape Services. Landscape Services strives to have clear roads and pedestrian walkways by 7:00 a.m., aided by a priority list that determines the importance of snow and ice removal from certain areas on campus. The University Hospital and Clinic roadways are at the top of the list, followed by campus building entrances and disability parking areas. Other campus sections round out the list. According to Campus Facilities’ website, half of the Landscape Services’ budget funds turf, tree and shrub management, and the remainder is spent on ground maintenance activities, including snow removal. Landscape Services clears most of MU’s streets, how-
ever some auxiliary programs are not included in its services. “Athletics, Residential Life and Parking & Transportation are charged for Landscape Services’ snow removal, because removing snow in these areas is not in our budget,” Campus Facilities spokeswoman Karlan Seville said. Since Landscape Services is funded with education and general money, any work besides educational and administrative buildings and their surrounding areas is billed to the client. In order to move the snow, Landscape Services uses a fleet of 11 truck plows, 12 sidewalk plows and four cinder salt spreaders. To melt ice, 100 tons of sand and more than 20 tons of environmentally friendly potassium chloride are spread through the streets and on the
JAMES MILITELLO/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Students and staff members wait in traffic to leave campus Wednesday night on Hospital Drive.
sidewalks. In a typical winter season, more than 2,500 hours of labor to return the streets and walkways to usable condition are put in. There are a few roads however, that Landscape Services does not clear and are taken care of by the Public Works Street Division of Columbia. “Areas within the MU campus near the city and the Greektown streets are plowed by the city,” Columbia Public Works spokeswoman Jill Stedem said. Students have noticed a difference between MU’s streets and the city streets that run through Greektown and Frat Row. “It’s usually removed fast, but Greek row isn’t always cleared, and it’s annoying to walk through the snow there,” sopho-
more Trevor Peters said. According to the Office of the Chancellor, the chancellor’s decision to cancel classes would be communicated to students through local TV, radio stations and the MU Alert website after 6 a.m. To keep classes on schedule, cancellation is avoided whenever possible.
TATE CHITWOOD/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Bikes covered in snow sit in front of Plaza 900 Wednesday night.