Neal Mayer, a Penn State freshman living off campus, knows what it feels like to be inconvenienced by the snow. This past winter Penn State saw some nasty snow and ice storms. During one of these ice storms in January Neal was unable to get to school. “I live on back roads,” he said. “My class was 9 a.m., plows hadn’t come through yet.” Fearing the roads were too dangerous to travel, Neal e-mailed his professor to alert him that he would not be in class, and asked him if he would be allowed to make up the in-class quiz that had been given that day. Surprisingly, even after Neal explained his situation, the professor said no. Snow and ice in Happy Valley does not just affect students however. Many faculty and staff have to brave the icy roads to come as far as thirty minutes away. If delays and cancelations on the Penn State campus were a little more frequent, we could reduce vehicle accidents, lessen the risk of falling snow off trees and buildings, falling on icy sidewalks, and make OPP’s job a little easier. Therefore, I propose that Penn State be more lenient in giving two hour delays and days off and have professors put assignments for the missed class time on-line.

Neal Mayer, a Penn State freshman living off campus, knows what it feels like to be inconvenienced by the snow. This past winter Penn State saw some nasty snow and ice storms. During one of these ice storms in January Neal was unable to get to school. “I live on back roads,” he said. “My class was 9 a.m., plows hadn’t come through yet.” Fearing the roads were too dangerous to travel, Neal e-mailed his professor to alert him that he would not be in class, and asked him if he would be allowed to make up the in-class quiz being given that day. Even after Neal explained his situation, the professor said no. Unfortunately, snow and ice storms do not just affect students. Some faculty and staff have to brave the icy roads to commute from as far as thirty minutes away. If delays and cancelations on the Penn State campus were more frequent, we could reduce vehicle accidents, lessen the risk of getting hit by falling snow from trees and buildings, and slipping on icy sidewalks. Also it would make the Office of Physical Plant’s (OPP) job of clearing snow easier. Therefore, I propose that Penn State be more lenient in giving two hour delays and days off and have professors put assignments for the missed class time on-line.