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UO Alert! Provost yields to incessant tweets and ice, cancels classes

Wow, and I thought this blog gets some pointed comments. I don’t see anything that would be illegal under the protection of the First Amendment, but knowing how our administration feels about free speech I’m just reposting a few of the more civil ones:

Perhaps Coltrane was so reluctant to cancel classes because he remembers what happened last time:

Of course the faculty and staff will make it:

January 8, 2017 – 2:15 pm

Members of the University Community,

We expect the University of Oregon to be open on Monday, Jan. 9, however, all classes are canceled, and the new term will officially start on Jan. 10.

While temperatures are expected to warm considerably in the Eugene area by tomorrow morning, the impact of snow, ice, and extreme cold stretching from Northern California to Portland and beyond has made it extremely challenging for many students to return to campus in time for classes tomorrow. There have been numerous flight delays and hazardous road conditions in many areas on the west coast. For this reason, we are canceling classes on Monday.

We encourage students, faculty, and staff to use caution and stay safe as you travel to and around campus, and we specifically ask that faculty continue to be flexible for students who cannot make it to campus in the next several days due to continued travel-related delays.

UO Campus Planning and Facilities Management crews have been working overtime to make safe designated walking paths around campus, but some areas may remain challenging early Monday. We encourage everyone to please use caution and plan for extra travel time.

Below you will find a list of resources. Visit alerts.uoregon.edu for continuous updates as weather conditions continue to evolve.

Sincerely,

Scott Coltrane

Provost and Senior Vice President

10 Comments

  1. just different 01/08/2017

    So how come a few days of 30° weather (aka “extreme cold”) and two inches of snow doesn’t shut down Chicago, IL or Buffalo, NY, both of which are futher south than Eugene? Hmmmmm?

    • duckduckgo 01/08/2017

      I believe it is because Chicago and Buffalo have more than two snowplows and did not opt for the “soft rubber scraper” configuration.

    • UO Matters Post author | 01/08/2017

      I spent 7 winters in Wyoming and Montana and 1 in lovely Chetwynd BC. I’d rather drive on -30 degree snow than 30 degree ice. And besides, all the trees are trying to kill us. I’m staying in the house and away from the side with the Oaks.

    • Fishwrapper 01/08/2017

      Because the vast majority of folks out here who might drive vehicles in this stuff create a dangerous situation for themselves and others on the road (most of whom, too, don’t understand how the laws of physics are applied with this kind of surface treatment); a condition which is exacerbated by the simple fact that the highway and street crews around here do not have the materiel needed to maintain roads in more passable conditions as they do in, say Chicago or Buffalo.

      Of course, if you would like to create inland salt marshes along our highways and byways, you, too, could have the same results as those cities. But getting the salt delivered here in these conditions is really asking for trouble…

  2. Austin Nicholls 01/08/2017

    actually, the ice on my doorstep is clean, clear, and cools my single malt Scotch nicely. drop by if you dare. Personally, I would not want to walk or drive on it…

  3. Brrrr 01/08/2017

    Why not leave the decision of having or not having class up to the professors? Is it too much for the student to email the prof: “sorry I’m stuck at ATL airport”? Of course not. I would like to think most faculty would be fine with this. What if my class meets at 3pm and has 8 students whom I know all live on 19th Ave? No reason to cancel.
    Sorry, I see this as administrative micro management.

    • honest Uncle Bernie 01/09/2017

      Thanks, pal, but I’d rather have Scott/UO take the liability risk.

    • Anonymous 01/09/2017

      I submit that the person teaching Math 241, often taught in the big classroom in Geology (um, whose current actual name escapes me. The building across 13th from the EMU right at University), probably does not want to try to guess the proportion of the 450 enrollees who could make it, nor to wait for 450 emails to sort through, nor to get blasted for just canceling it proactively when it turns out 80% of class members live in Greek houses and totally could have made it.

    • dog 01/09/2017

      can we please have this professorial decision on whether or not to hold class be independent of weather?

  4. honest Uncle Bernie 01/09/2017

    A good move by Coltrane.

    Yesterday I was wondering if the power was going out again. Students emailing me about difficulty returning. Faculty visitor had to cancel.

    Today’s class stuff available by internet, studets expected to have gone over it. Won’t miss a bit in quarter plan.

    UO rarely closes, and not without good reason.

    Good call, Scott!

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