the February 18, 2010 • Volume 106, No. 14
Etownian elizabethtown college
On the Web: www.etownian.com
One Alpha Drive • Elizabethtown, PA 17022-2298
on campus
Snow removal policies tested with consecutive storms Jamie A. Miller Staff Writer
S
ince the innocent days in elementary school and junior high, we plant our hopeful selves in front of the television screen, drinking hot cocoa and staring wide-eyed at the school closing and delay listings as they flashed ever so slowly upon the screen. Snow is what helped us all survive the long, dreary winters. Now, times have changed, and we find ourselves impulsively checking the Internet in hopes of receiving an e-mail from our professors, regrettably informing us they cannot make it to campus for class. After the incredible amount of snow that buried our small town Friday into Saturday, the students of Elizabethtown College, held hostage in their dorms and apartments, were so kindly allowed a short reprieve from classes. They instead spent their days and nights sledding and starting snowball fights. Sophomore Katie Merk admits the snowfall was a pleasant surprise. “I did not expect even half as much snow as we have right now,” Merk said. “There hasn’t been enough time to take care of all this snow before even more started falling. Even though I’m not a big fan of the snow, I’m so thrilled that we got a snow day from it!” Some people loved it, while others groaned at the sight of a snowflake. Direc-
tor of Student Activities Toni Kupchella paid little attention to the poor driving conditions and large mounds accumulating on the streets and cars. She introduced a different perspective: “It sets the mood for the winter Olympics … go USA!” Joe Metro, director of Facilities Management, and Scott Nissley, building trades and grounds manager, seized the inclement weather as an opportunity to show the campus and community the stuff of which they are made. Students were presented with the challenge of finding and digging their cars out of the domes of snow plowed around them on Super B owl Sunday. It seemed as though shovels were shrinking against the knee-deep amounts of snow that packaged hundreds of cars. The increasing cabin fever was motivation for students to use anything they could
get their hands on to clear the snow enough to get to their cars and venture off campus. Junior Heather Rhodes said that trying to dig her car out from underneath the snow piles on Cedar Street was “a large pain in the butt. Snow shouldn’t be such a difficult burden. I think it really pushed everyone’s plans back, if it didn’t cancel them.” Facilities is supplying snow shovels in the Brown Building from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m. with the exchange of student ID cards.
Photo: Aimée M. DiMichele
Campus Security also has shovels available anytime. Students also must leave their IDs for collateral. In response to the many complaints about the parking situations,
Nissley said, “That’s exactly why we are doing the parking lot procedure … it provides a clean, fresh start without any snow.” continued on page 3
on campus
Work orders accumulate as student frustrations rise Shelby L. Meyerhoffer Staff Writer
E
ven though Elizabethtown College is a relatively small campus, one would be surprised as to how many things break or need to be fixed or replaced. A broken window shade here, a leaking faucet there; with an array of different complaints, who is there to call? No, students do not need to invoke the infamous Repair Man (Man, Man, Man…) that brings back old memories of watching “All That” on Nickelodeon; a simple call or e-mail should suffice. However, as the list of orders to be completed multiplies, some jobs occasionally appear to slip through the cracks, leaving students with nowhere to turn. “At any given time, there could [be] up to about
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200 work orders in the backlog. Today there are 117,” Joe Yurkovic, workstation coordinator of Facilities Management, said. “We always have things that need to get done.” And with a list that long, it is a huge task to try to get orders resolved in a timely manner, especially with Mother Nature wreaking havoc in the form of substantial amounts of white fluff. After receiving as much snow as our campus did, snow removal became top priority so students could resume their normal schedules as soon as possible. As a result, the weather put a damper on most of the orders waiting in the backlog to be repaired. “Our main concern is the snow right now, which unfortunately pushes everything else back,” Yurkovic said. “Work orders never disappear; they are just prioritized and taken care of as soon as possible.”
Illumina Illuminated Learn about the origins of Etown’s first show choir.
Features, page 5
Masonic Village’s 100th Anniversary The Masonic Village celebrates its 100th year. Learn more about the Masons.
Centerfold, pages 8 & 9
He also stated that, in some cases, the crews needed to clear up the snow before they could attend to the actual work orders. Work orders come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from changing light bulbs to repairing sinks that somehow become unhinged from the bathroom wall. In drastic cases, such as late night sink issues, Security is called and officers relay the message to an on-call repairman. Although there are no non-functioning blue lights on campus at the moment, it is inevitable that they will occasionally burn out. “It’s nice to know that we have the safety of the blue lights, even though our college is located in such a safe and small community,” first-year Sarah Stein-
Tantalize Your Tastebuds Meatless Mondays and Dining Services’ pirate-themed dinner (which sets sail next Wednesday) offer something for everyone.
Campus Life, page 10
continued on page 3
High School Dropouts Despite leaving high school before its conclusion. many have made their way in the world quite successfully. Find out how!
Opinion, page 12