By Tom Interval
Staff Writer
It’s 8:30 in the morning. Meteorologists predict another two to four inches of snow by noon.
For the past two hours, you’ve listened to the radio and monitored subtitles at the bottom of your TV screen for school closings. Still no La Roche.
It’s 8:45. After brushing off snow from the car, you leave for a 9:30 class.
As you drive along the snow-filled road, an oncoming car slides into your lane and almost hits you. Trying to avoid the accident, your car rotates 180 degrees.
Since you’re headed in the opposite direction anyway, you decide to drive home, confident that life is more precious than a college course.
The above scenario is a true account of what happened to me on Jan. 12.
I live about 13 minutes from the college. But what about the poor people who commute from Butler, South Hills, Cannonsburg and other far-off places?
Here’s my point: Why are decision makers at La Roche so reluctant to cancel classes when it snows?
Sure, they called off school for one day after the “Blizzard of ‘96.” But it shouldn’t take two feet of snow for them to cancel classes, especially morning classes after an all-night snowfall.
The concept is simple: Early morning is the worst time to drive on snowy streets. People who decide to cancel classes should give municipalities a couple of hours to plow and salt the roads. Many commuters need that much time just to dig out.
I spoke with Roger Carothers, vice president for Business Affairs (the department in charge of canceling classes). Carothers said they can’t always cancel classes because snow is a regular part of life in Pittsburgh. He said that, theoretically, it could snow from now until April, nonstop.
It’s also possible that a huge asteroid will strike the earth, causing the next mass extinction.
This is Pittsburgh, not the North Pole. It snows here infrequently enough where canceling classes wouldn’t significantly set back the school year.
Please understand that this is not a personal attack on Carothers or on Business Affairs. However, I believe that the office uses poor judgement when they decide not to cancel classes during adverse weather.
In fact, it’s more than poor judgement. The lack of concern for students’ safety represents a bigger problem: The “Who Cares?” mentality of large organizations.
Organizations such as La Roche often forget that satisfying the customer should be the number-one goal. We, as students, are customers; we buy education from La Roche. And we pay dearly for that education. We should be treated with respect.
By granting students the simple courtesy of canceling classes because of dangerous driving conditions, La Roche might prevent needless accidents from occurring: The very least this college can do for its customers.
