Peter Caty/The Mirror
It is taking over our campus by storm. It can be seen from every dorm room, academic building and athletic field. The snow this winter season has come in recording breaking fashion, and it appears as if it is here to stay.
“In my 45 years on campus, I can’t remember any winter coming close to the one we’re experiencing now,” said Vice President of Student Affairs James Fitzpatrick and weather reports predict that there is only more to come.
Ted Hunyadi, Director of Maintenance Operations, explained how the University has handled the accumulation of snow and storms thus far, as well as how they prepare for the ones to come.
Maintenance begins snow-clearing procedures once Public Safety calls with a half-inch snow accumulation notification or a hazardous ice condition warning.
On Tuesday Feb. 1, the maintenance crews were out at 3 a.m. loading sand and salt into trucks to use during the storm scheduled to hit later that day.
They begin the process of de-icing with primary roadways and the main arteries through campus. They then continue clearing the roads through the townhouses in case an emergency were to happen and students need to use their cars to evacuate.
“Actually [the maintenance crew] have 10 on duty right now because of icing conditions to help lay down salt. Sometimes we have up to 20 people helping,” said Hunyadi at 5 p.m. Tuesday, adding that sometimes outside resources are called in.
With 13 grounds personnel, 16-20 additional shovelers, four large pay loaders, and four highway type plow trucks Fairfield’s crews complete the operations needed to keep campus up to speed.
Fairfield owns 11 plow trucks and approximately seven tractors that are used for sidewalk snow removal.
After last Thursday’s major snowstorm, it took four days and many, many hours to finally clear everything. “Despite the record-breaking snowfall our roadways have been well maintained,” said Lt. John Richie, Assistant Director of Public Safety.
“Our dedicated staff members have been great about doing what it takes to get in.”
The University has already called two snow days as well as two-delayed openings due to the weather this season, and there may be more to come. Chair of the Marketing Department Mark Ligas said that due to these days off he must change the way he runs his Introduction to Marketing class. “I’m afraid that I will need to revert to a more “traditional” lecture format in order to catch up on material and remain on track for the first midterm.”
Even though classroom curriculums may be behind in work due to the closings and delays of classes, the rest of Fairfield University has been up and running, displaying the dedication of the different services.
“Through the great devotion of the Sodexo staff, we’ve been able to keep the café open without any closings,” said Fitzpatrick. “As far as the buses, we’ve added campus shuttles for four days already this semester.”
As for the predicted snowfall that is yet to come, Richie said he, “would like to remind everyone that delays and closings are available on the University web site and notices are made via email.”
Only time will tell if there are more snow days to come; however, for Siena Epps ’13 as long as it is on another Wednesday “it doesn’t matter because it doesn’t affect me, I have no class.”
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