A message sent to all students by Tom Tiberi, Sr. Associate Director of the University Residence Halls & Apartments read, "CLASSES ARE NOT CANCELLED. You are advised to remain inside when possible. If you do go outside, beware of flying debris." Really? If students could potentially get injured by flying trash - or flying cars - wouldn't that be a good day to cancel all classes?
All area high schools are reasonable when it comes to high wind warnings. For a school that wants to add 10,000 more students in the future, safety concerns should be paramount to administrators. Fishtailing and hitting a tree on the way to your morning lab isn't worth the risk, and the school knows that.
Also, if classes weren't cancelled why was a memo sent in the first place? The lack of an e-mail would have alerted students that they still had class, but a campus-wide alert could confuse students.
Having to send an e-mail to students warning them about flying debris should have been a red flag to administrators that maybe canceling school would be a good idea.
Flying debris wasn't the only thing pedestrians and drivers faced. Many commuters are not used to driving in the snow. That, coupled with police blockades on Millersport, tree limbs falling, and accidents on North French, made getting to campus highly hazardous. The freezing temperatures continued to drop, making for slick, unsalted roads when students were en route to school.
Some smart teachers - especially those who commute long distances - canceled their classes when they saw that all high schools and some local colleges were closed. Other softhearted teachers who held classes didn't want to penalize absent students (or reward those who came in). So those who weathered the storm got out of bed for nothing, making the argument for the snow day more plausible.
So for those of you who took one look outside and said "screw it," you can always get the notes from someone who had to put rocks in their pockets to avoid blowing away.
Election 2008
Editor's Note: This editorial is a part of The Spectrum's ongoing coverage of the 2008 Presidential Campaign.
Voters hoping for US Sen. Barack Obama to be the Democratic nominee for president are going to have to try a little harder than normal. In fact, any candidate of the people (Obama) who is fighting off an insider (US Sen. Hillary Clinton) is going to struggle for the nomination.
Apparently, back in 1970, the Democratic National Committee felt that the people had too much control over who the presidential nominee would be - instead of having the regular delegates to nominate the candidate, the DNC introduced unpledged delegates, or superdelegates: people appointed by the DNC to vote for their candidate of choice.
According to the Democratic Convention Web site, superdelegates are all the current Democratic members of the US House of Representatives and US Senate, current Democratic governors, former Democratic presidents and vice presidents, former Democratic leaders of House and Senate, and many others.
With 796 superdelegates and 3253 regular delegates, these oligarchs have the ability to swing an election one way or another. As of right now, Obama won 63 delegates from the six primaries and caucuses so far, while Clinton has only won 48 delegates.
However, when you include the superdelegates that have already voted, including Clinton and her husband, she has 232 delegates, while Obama has 158 in all, according to CNN.com. The Republicans only have 123 superdelegate-like voters, 13 of which have cast their votes.
Former President Jimmy Carter and former Vice President Al Gore have not placed their superdelegate votes.
If Clinton and Obama stay close in the amount of regular delegates they get, superdelegates have the ability to swing the election. Even if one of the candidates develops a lead in delegates, as Obama has, the superdelegates have influence enough to swing the votes. The people's votes are mattering less and less.
For once, the Republicans are the party of the people; at least more than the Democrats.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
