White Stuff
Dec. 8th, 2005 10:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stoutfellowIt's coming down pretty heavily out there; they're forecasting up to three inches before it's done, and a lot of schools are closed or closing early. I seriously hope it doesn't force the university to shut down; I'm supposed to hand out take-home finals in two of my classes this afternoon and evening, and also the student evaluations.
In Chicago this would barely even register. The U of C didn't even shut down for the Blizzard of '79. Of course, it helped that most students lived within short walking distance of the school. This university used to be almost exclusively a commuter campus and still has a pretty fair number of commuters, so the parameters are different.
In any case, it's good to see winter asserting its presence - even if, by the celestial definition, it won't begin for another couple of weeks!
In Chicago this would barely even register. The U of C didn't even shut down for the Blizzard of '79. Of course, it helped that most students lived within short walking distance of the school. This university used to be almost exclusively a commuter campus and still has a pretty fair number of commuters, so the parameters are different.
In any case, it's good to see winter asserting its presence - even if, by the celestial definition, it won't begin for another couple of weeks!
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no subject
Date: 2005-12-09 12:42 am (UTC)Seriously, though, times have changed. When I was and undergrad at VT, we almost never cancelled classes due to snow. When I came back 25 years later as an instructor, snow delays and cancellations were fairly frequent occurrences -- and there was no real difference in the amount or intensity of snow. We're a much more litigious society now, I guess.
Our boys have had a different experience of sorts. In Blacksburg, they were part of a county-wide school system in fairly rugged Appalachian terrain. Here in SE PA, they're part of a small local school system in relatively flat countryside. Consequently, whereas they often had snow days and delays in Blacksburg, they almost never have delays up here, let alone cancellations. Their enthusiasm for snow seems somewhat diminished as a result.