Dylon Harrison
Interim Editor-in-Chief
This past Monday, Feb. 2, ISU cancelled all classes starting before 10 a.m. due to snowy weather and poor road conditions.
While it was nice to have this extra time for roads to be cleared before students began their commutes, it wasn’t enough. Frankly, there is no reason any classes should have been held.
The roads were not safe to be driving on. I live about a minute drive from my classes. In that time, I slid off the road twice. This was well after 10 a.m. when classes started up again.
After arriving at the building my classes are in, my department’s secretary approached me looking for help. One of the professors had slipped and fallen on the ice walking inside and needed help up.
Because of ISU’s strictness about not cancelling classes, that professor still held his class. This should not be happening.
I understand that it’s important for classes to be held if at all possible, but it’s much more important for students and faculty to remain safe.
Yeah, the roads were cleared. That’s awesome, but it doesn’t do much when it’s still snowing all day and the wind is continuously making new drifts.
ISU is always claiming that it cares about its students. Unfortunately, its actions directly contradict that.
When the weather is this bad, just cancel classes. I understand that it will throw off schedules. I understand that it’s important that students be in as many classes as possible, but students will miss a lot more than one class if they end up in the hospital, or worse, because they slid off the road in the middle of a winter storm.
ISU, you’re doing it wrong. Take note of the other schools in Pocatello. If they all close and you remain open, maybe there’s something wrong with your thinking.
Our lives are more important than a class. Don’t force us to make that decision when we shouldn’t be on the roads in the first place.
