Part of going to school in Troy is dealing with the cold weather and we all know it. The “I can’t feel my face anymore” remark while walking to class each day is almost a given. Most students, however, wouldn’t expect that the sidewalks and stairways at RPI would be covered in ice and snow even two days after the snow first falls.
Last Sunday, I was on my way from Freshman Hill to the Union and slipped on a bunch of ice that was still covering the wooden stairs from the day before. The stairs were to the point where you couldn’t find a decent place to step. I hit my back and leg against about eight steps, and banged myself up pretty nicely to the point where I couldn’t even walk to the Union because my back hurt too much.
I went back to my dorm since it was closer and called Public Safety to suggest that they contact someone to clean up the steps before another student hurt themself worse than I had. I had to miss two meetings for that day and so I spent the day reading in bed with my bottle of Motrin close by. The stairs were clean the next day when I left for class—which is a step in the right direction—but RPI shouldn’t have to be reminded to clean up the snow so its students don’t get hurt.
After the snowfall we had this past Saturday as well, RPI responded very poorly to the bit of snow that shouldn’t have been too hard to clean up. They were quick to take down the snowman that members of Nason Hall had assembled to greet people as they entered the main door, but the plows waited too long to clear the sidewalks and hence, most of the snow turned to ice, which it turned out couldn’t really be scraped off the ground by that point. For example, parts of the sidewalk leading from the Quad toward the Ricketts and Troy buildings are still covered in ice two days later, and I noticed several people slipping on it or having to walk in the snow to avoid the ice. Parts of the sidewalk up on the Hill were also still icy on Tuesday. On the bright side though, the stairs going from Freshman Hill to the Union are clear as could be!
Students should be able to walk across campus without having to take ten minutes longer in an effort not to slip on the ice, or—in the case of many of us—to be able to dash to class when they have only five minutes to do so. The state of the sidewalks don’t allow for even a speedy walk.
Whoever is in charge of snow removal on campus is doing a rather poor job of it, given that the snow should in fact be cleaned up prior to it turning into ice a day later. It is a hassle for students, but more importantly, a safety hazard.
