With the recent weather conditions on campus, Keene State faculty, grounds crew and advisors have reflected on the cancelled classes and complications caused by the snow days.
Joe Britton, supervisor for grounds, spoke on what his team has seen with the weather thus far.
“For me and the team it’s been a real New England winter,” Britton said. “Lots of hours. There’s a lot of early mornings. Wear and tear on employees, wear and tear on vehicles.”
Britton expressed his gratitude for the help he and his team have received from Campus Safety and C&W Custodial Services with handling the weather conditions, praising Campus Safety for providing their assistance in clearing out the Winchester Lot. He also drew attention to the ongoing salt shortage, saying, “we were trying to go slow on salt usage.”
Britton added that puddles freezing over is one concern that he and his team have, and that the goal is to prevent students from slipping while walking across campus.
“It’s not safe to operate around students,” Britton said. “So we try to be careful of the student life, sleeping, class changes– stuff like that. It can be difficult working around students and their classes.”
Britton expressed this year’s winter has been harsher than last.
“We’re not dealing with the typical icy conditions we’ve seen in the last couple years,” Britton said. “But the difficulty is the frequency of the storms. Two or three weeks ago, every day we came in it was an inch and a half. We still treat and clear every surface. It’s been a huge draw on the crew and the equipment.”
Britton addressed the major areas of concern when it comes to the storms.
“Our number one response is emergency access and pedestrians on campus,” Britton said. “Students are our number one, and when we curtail or delay we also have to think about people from far away.”
Britton spoke on the delayed opening on Wednesday, Feb. 25. He said he was worried about the puddles freezing over and that “we don’t just do it for the fun of it, there’s a thought process behind it.”
Britton added what he and his team did the morning of the delayed opening to make the campus safer for students.
“I’ve got great backing from my higher-ups,” Britton said. “And looking at distances where people come from. But historically, the storms like that one yesterday [Feb. 25] bring our worst slips, falls and liabilities. We were in at 3 a.m. yesterday. We treated all of the frozen puddles and then once snow opened, we followed up with some plowing of parking lots.”
Glen Hueckel, professor of psychology, expressed worry about the number of snow days the college has seen so far.
“It’s a lot of snow this year,” Hueckel said. “As far as I’m concerned, I get really worried I can’t fit my whole curriculum in. If students don’t stay on pace, will they lose interest? I hope students feel the same.”
Beth Zinn, an advisor for TRIO, provided her feelings on the current conditions.
“I am tired of the snow and cold,” Zinn said. “I feel like it’s a long time since we’ve had this much snow. I love the snow days, though.”
Sophomore Chelon Le also expressed excitement over the recent snow days.
“Snow days are perfect for when you just need to rot,” Le said. “They’re becoming a lost art form, I think.”
Chloe Erno can be contacted at
