Issue: The first major snowfall appeared to have caught many, including snow removal teams, off guard.

Winter is now officially upon us in Brookings. For students this can cause major headaches. Snow often means icy sidewalks and messy parking lots. After the first major snowfall on Nov. 15, students returned to a snowy campus. High traffic areas such as sidewalks connecting the Wellness Center and The Union were not fully cleared by the time classes started.

Following the first major snowfall of winter, snow removal efforts on campus have been less than satisfactory for students.

While it’s understandable that all sidewalks, and roads for that matter, are not cleared when snowfalls starting overnight, or early morning, this first snow storm happened over the weekend and much of the plowing was left on Monday morning when 8 a.m. class started.

Parking lots are another major issue once the snow begins to cover campus. The snow from the lots has to go somewhere, and once the plows push the snow into huge piles in the corners, the lots lose spaces.

As students demand that sidewalks and parking lots on campus be cleared, they also have responsibility when the snow falls. Once the lines are covered, it is difficult to see the lines. Everyone understands that. However, common sense has to be used when searching for a parking spot. While you may not be exactly between the lines, everyone knows about how far the edges of the row goes, particularly in the lot behind the Hilton M. Briggs Library and Agricultural Engineering. It should also be taken into consideration how far apart cars are. Each car doesn’t need an awkward 4 ft. space next to it. 

The snow removal has to be an agreement between campus patrons and university employees responsible for snow removal. There has to be some give and take. Clearing the sidewalks in a timely manner is important and making parking lots usable makes things easier when it snows. That being said, students have to understand that there is only so much that can be done overnight or early in the morning, especially with the current wind conditions blowing snow across already plowed areas. If we want clear sidewalks, we might have to move out of the way of the plows that are clearing walkways during high traffic times.