In the first issue of The Charger Bulletin this semester, I used my editorial as a bit of a welcome back message to encourage everyone to work hard and start the semester off on the right foot. Then Mother Nature proceeded to undermine my efforts by giving us completely ridiculous amounts of snow that led to the elusive double snow day and, for those of us without Friday classes, a five day weekend. I enjoy free time and time off from school; however, the first full week of classes is one of my most inspired weeks. I always head into it thinking, “this semester is going to be different” and “I won’t put off any of my work.” Granted, it usually returns to the normal day in day out the following week but still, the first week gets me pumped up! Let’s sum up my point here: sure, we’ve had a really easy return to school so far, but don’t slack off just because of that!
This winter is lined up to be the worst in a long time so it’s going to be crucial to not let some precipitation fully interrupt your academics. Safety is important, but if there’s a flurry, don’t complain that the university didn’t close early! On the other hand, snow removal has become a bit of an issue. With the last major snow storm, I fully understood the slow snow removal and parking spaces that were lost due to snow. Thanks to the hard work by Facilities and hired help, many of the commuter lots were back to normal in a timely fashion.
However, what is frustrating to me is the way snow was handled at the Main Street Condos. I can’t speak for other off campus housing locations, because I haven’t seen the conditions there, but even now there are still some residual effects in the driveways and roadways. My neighbor’s driveway has pooling issues because a plow truck left a pile of snow over the sewer grate leaving nowhere for melt water to go. Additionally, because of how the driveways were plowed when we arrived back at school, now some driveways are barely wide enough for two cars. My roommate was “trapped” in his car until I shoveled a snow bank left by a plow back farther by about a foot.
Overall, I’m content with the way the snow was dealt with since, let’s face it, the entire northeast dealt with the snow in pretty much the same way. There’s just too much of the white stuff to easily handle removal. All I request would be a more proactive response, at least an email significantly in advance with regards to plowing plans and whether students need to move their cars.
To finish off my editorial this week, I just want to address a situation that arose on The Charger Bulletin’s wall on Facebook last week. On person posted an issue, which we replied to and plan to help as best as we at The Charger Bulletin can. However, shortly after this, a small wave of other students posted issues. We will always do all we can to help students and spread the word of what students are thinking and feeling but be reasonable. Facebook is not the best medium. Submit a concern at www.ChargerVoice.com where the USGA can help address a solution; you could even try emailing or setting up an appointment with the appropriate department or office. Rationally trying to fix a problem is a lot better than venting on the internet and expecting someone to handle it completely for you. I like to see students interacting with The Charger Bulletin on Facebook but don’t give into the temptation of taking the easy way out with issues you have with the university. Solving the issues takes time and effort from UNH, so the least you can do is give everyone involved a chance to redeem themselves!
Have a great rest of the week and I hope you enjoy this issue of The Charger Bulletin!
