Letters to the Chronicle

Praise for staff who kept campus running

Predicting the effect of the weather is a risky business. The decision to close, delay opening or send employees home due to inclement weather is made based upon the best information available at the time. Our primary consideration is always the safety and well-being of employees and students.

While some of us benefit from an unexpected day off, can sleep a little later or get home earlier, others must fight the elements to keep vital activities functioning and prepare the campus for a return to normalcy. With more than 10,000 students living on campus we need to staff our dining halls and other food service operations. Our buses provide vital transportation for students and citizens of the valley. Health Services, Public Safety and Environmental Health and Safety personnel need to be available at all times for whatever emergency that might arise. Physical Plant employees must continue to feed our boilers and monitor critical systems. Grounds and custodial personnel must clear acres of parking lots, miles of roadways and walks and hundreds of building entrances. Many others also contribute in what is truly a team effort.

When the weather does clear and the beauty of the campus reemerges, we can once again go about our normal business as a result of the efforts of these dedicated employees. They deserve our thanks and appreciation for a difficult job done well.

PAUL PAGE
vice chancellor,
Administration and Finance

Physical Plant director lauds storm efforts

This letter is to express my sincere gratitude to all the Physical Plant people who worked so hard from Monday afternoon until early Wednesday (March 5-7) to attack the "50-year storm" and get the campus open for business Wednesday morning. It took 12-hour shifts around the clock trying to stay ahead of this storm. Then in the last eight hours before Wednesday's opening, they worked diligently to ensure all roads, parking lots, sidewalks and buildings were accessible. Still, they continued with untiring effort over the next few days to complete the cleanup.

They did this in addition to their responsibilities to their families. Many were away from home for the entire storm because of distance and the inability to travel, and they have my sincerest thanks.

I would also like to thank those groups that helped Physical Plant in doing this job. Specifically, I want to thank the Campus Center for providing room accommodations to emergency personnel who could not reasonably get home and back to drive plows or shovel snow. Additionally, thanks go to the Dining Services Division for making meal service available to the crews during long days and longer nights.

EARL SMITH
director,
Physical Plant