Editorial Board

Issue: Melting and freezing overnight turns campus sidewalks into one giant ice rink.

On Feb. 26, there were approximately 12 injuries due to the icy campus sidewalks, including, but not limited to broken bones and an anonymous head trauma report which resulted five ambulance calls within an hour and a half of each other. This does not include the countless numbers of falls that only resulted in mild public humiliation or broken belongings in backpacks.

One by one, fall after fall, slip after slip, students and faculty continued to take their tumbles while walking to their destination last Thursday. Even high traffic areas like the Student Union, the Rotunda for Arts and Science and the NFA building had reported falls.

Now, we understand that there are 18.5 miles of campus sidewalk that need to be shoveled, salted and sanded before classes, but how many bones need to break before we continue to let this happen? Mother Nature’s vicious cycle of melting and then freezing is of no help to anyone in the situation, but the most traveled sidewalks need to be focused on. Especially when the ice is invisible due to fresh snow.

Students, however, need to do their part in making the situation easier. For those of you who choose to walk to class in slippers and flip-flops, maybe you should rethink your footwear before walking to class on frosty mornings. Find something with a little more traction.

On the mornings in which there are freezing temperatures, sand and salt need to be laid over the fresh ice prior to the start of class in the high traffic areas at least. It is perfectly reasonable that it cannot all be done before class starts, but it needs to be safe.

Stance: Campus sidewalks need to be made safe before risking injuries of pedestrians.