Winter weather causes few problems for university

Students and faculty enjoy snow day while Health Services, Res Life and Mabee remain open for the day

by Tommie Ethington

Roughly one inch of snow blanketed San Antonio and Trinity’s campus last Friday, leading to the cancelation of classes, the postponement of Bid Day, frozen pipes and a day students spent frolicking in the snow.

John Greene, director of Facility Services, said the ice didn’t lead to any mechanical problems for the fountains. However, Greene reported that there were several instances when the Facility Services staff had to deal with frozen pipes on campus.

“We had frozen pipes in the Prassel Parking Garage, on the rooftop of Marrs McClean, at one of the vice president’s homes on Oakmont and near the loading dock at Mabee Dining Hall,” Greene said.
“Basically, we had to wait till things thawed out because we didn’t know the pipes were frozen until they burst. So when it happened, we had staff on site to deal with the situation.”

As the day continued, Greene said a lingering problem was the snow located on the north side of buildings.

“Once the sun came out, the ice in the sunny areas cleared up quickly, but the shaded areas were a bit of an issue,” Green said. “It would have been a little easier to deal with if it had happened during the week, but it was what it was.”

According to the San Antonio Express-News, the anticipated cold front and precipitation started with freezing rain at 9 p.m. Thursday night, followed by the first snowfall at around 1 a.m. Friday morning. San Antonio police began closing roads around 10 p.m., and many remained closed until mid-day on Friday.

When students awoke on Friday morning, they were greeted by a slew of e-mails sent by Sharon Jones Schweitzer, assistant vice president of university communications.

The first e-mail sent at 6 a.m. stated that classes would be canceled until noon. However, a second e-mail, sent out at 9 a.m., designated the day to be an official snow day, canceling all classes for the entire day.

The e-mail stated that “essential personnel such as Trinity Police, designated Facilities Services staff, and Dining Services staff” were asked to report to work, as scheduled.

Mabee Dining Hall, the Residential Life Office in the Witt Center and Health Services remained open. However, the Coates University Center and the Coates Library were closed.

Jackie Bevilacqua, coordinator of Health Services, reported that they only had one snow-related injury belonging to a university employee.

“We were open for shortened hours for students who did get injured,” Bevilacqua said. “In the end, it was the nurse who normally had the day off who had to fill in because she was the only one who could get here.”

Bid Day and related Greek Life activities were postponed until the following day, when students met beside a still-frozen Miller fountain. The fountain located near the admissions building was also frozen over.

Meanwhile, David Tuttle, dean of students and interim vice president of student affairs, was one of the first individuals to report on the situation at Trinity.

“The Dean’s List,” Tuttle’s blog, featured pictures of Miller fountain and the walkway outside of Northrup Hall, which captured the fresh snowfall in the early morning. He later posted pictures of students engaging in snowball fights, making snow angels and building snowmen.

A poll, conducted by Tuttle on his blog, asked students, staff and faculty members how they planned to spend the day. Out of the 249 responses, the majority said they planned to “play.”