Yesterday was bad enough coming in from Frederick but today, their being open while other institutions are closed is clearly shortsighted. I noticed 3 wrecks coming in yesterday between my commute on 70 and 495. I’m not sure why it is so important to have class when getting there puts students’ in danger.

I couldn’t agree more. I was surprised when walking to my car from class at 2:15 yesterday that the steps leading from the main corridor to the Fine Arts Building hadn’t been salted and were basically ice. I felt like an elderly person must feel, having to bend my knees and walk extremely slowly and hold the handrail the whole time down the stairs. I have never known UMBC to plow or salt the parking spaces along Hilltop circle either, and I feel like it’s anybody’s guess as to where the yellow lines are under the snow. I don’t expect this policy to change anytime soon, as emergency weather services cost money and the budget is already squeezed.

I live 10 minutes from campus, so my commute isn’t that bad, but some of my teachers and colleagues drive from the north of the city or from Columbia. I’m more concerned for them. If the other schools in the area are closed, why is UMBC open? If Howard, Anne Arundel and Baltimore County don’t salt the roads in time, UMBC is putting its students, staff, and faculty at unnecessary risk. And for what? The Victorian-era belief in the invincibility of our little empire in the face of whatever nature throws at us, and the smug satisfaction that “we never close?” Nonsense.

Well, you forgot to include Towson….a school that is about 15 minutes from here. But I do agree, UMBC should have CLOSED for PM classes. My Professor had to let us all out earlier because the roads were getting worst with the freezing rain that we had later on. Like I said, it might have to take at least a blizzard for UMBC to close its doors.

I agree with you 100% this school is crazy. I used to commute from home and it was one of the worst things to know school wasn’t closed so I had to risk either missing class or crashing my car or then walking across campus and then falling.
This just adds to other reason I dislike UMBC.

Mr. Ludensky,

I completely agree with your comments in your blog concerning the UMBC inclement weather policy. I attended my evening class last night and drove home in the freezing rain. The walks were not shoveled after 7pm last night and they were extremely difficult to navigate. It would be very sad if a lawsuit against the school were the catalyst for change in this policy. It is one thing to be tough and another to create an unsafe situation for students and faculty. Thanks for your words on this subject today.

The part that often gets overlooked is, as you noted, the safety of the campus itself, much less the roadways. Last year I was told that someone slipped on the ice and knocked herself out. Yesterday at Chic Fil A, someone slipped and fell and had to be taken out on a stretcher. I didn’t see much salt or shoveling going on on the campus yesterday until about 5 pm when I was leaving.

I agree, a serious rethinking of how they do things is necessary. I had a class in the TRC last night and rather than salt the entire sidewalk, there was just a giant pile of salt sitting by the door. All day we were slipping and sliding around campus. I was surprised this morning with the delayed opening. I was leaving for work at about 6AM and I had to go about 1-2 mph to get out of my side streets…even rolling road and I-95 were treacherous. I don’t know who decides on what conditiond are acceptable, but clearing the main walkway in front of the Meyerhoff building down to the RAC does not deem the entire campus safe.

It is ridiculous how stubborn UMBC’s policy is. Just last night, a friend of mine wrecked his car coming home from class due to the bad weather. Roads were slick and icy rain was continuing. It seems to me that a school with many commuting students should be conscious of the risks involved and keep their students’ and staff’s well being in mind at all times. In yesterday’s case, it should have been a no-brainer.

I saw the girl slip at chicfila and yeah she had to be carried out, she wasnt the only one who slipped… in fact they didn’t even have a rug to dry your feet off until after she slipped. Aside from that there was hardly any salt on stairs or walk ways.

i totally agree

i just tried, for half an hour, to GET TO MY CAR

my apartment complex has turned into an ice-skating rink… i even considered sitting down and ‘pushing’ myself across the pathway to get to my car

then i realized, its not worth submitting to the death-trap just to get to class

now im sitting in my apartment biting my nails over what important info im going to miss and whether any teachers will be kind enough to let me know rather than giving me a dirty look , or whether they will require some extensive written proof of my inability to get to class today
*sigh*

I do feel compelled to point out that neither Stevenson University nor College Park were closed today. They both had delayed openings, as did UMBC.

@ anonymous
While college park wasn’t closed yesterday it did close pretty early yesterday while UMBC didn’t at all.

I am a commuter and hate missing classes during snow days. It is just too much and I feel like for being such a commuter school, the policy does not look out for the majority. Friends that I have that reside on campus have even complained that it is too dangerous walking to classes.

If you don’t feel safe coming to class, stay home. This is college…it’s not the end of the world if you have to miss one day of classes. While I do agree that they should be more aware of the sidewalk safety, no other college closed today. Delaying the opening was a smart idea.

Other colleges in the area also did not open today until 12 or 1 whereas we opened at 10am. And yesterday salisbury, umcp, ub and umuc all closed early.
I’d like to point out that a umbc facilites truck got stuck on ice in the terrace apartments at around 11am, after our school deemed the campus to be safe to open.

I feel as Umbc should have closed today, the back roads that i take to get to the beltway from home are awful and i slid multiple times. As well as getting on the beltway to come from the Towson area, there were multiple occasions where Ice would fly from one car and hit mine. If UMBC is going to continue to jepordize our safety why should we attend the university. Obviosuly they do not care!!!

I am really angry about this. I had to drive in for a 7-9:40 PM class last night. UMBC felt it was perfectly safe for students to drive home after dark, in below-freezing temperatures, as freezing rain and ice was continuing to fall on roadways and walkways? I think this is incredible. I am angry at myself for leaving the house (my car slid twice on the ride home, and only out of luck did I not crash) and really, really, really angry at UMBC for what I regard as serious irresponsibility in not canceling evening classes when every other educational institution in the area called off evening activities. Ridiculous. UMBC, I hope you are held accountable for this.

You all suck.

I’d first like to point out that UMBC was incredibly irresponsible for not closing yesterday, because the campus was not safe to walk around in. They did however, make up for it by giving us a delay today. I still think we should’ve had classes cancelled up to noon, but 10 is just fine. I’d also like the point out that if UMBC is going to have classes today, then they shouldve had time to clear out parking spaces. The entire top floor of the Commons Garage was blocked off, when it couldve been cleaned. There were several spaces in the lots by the Public Policy and Physics building, but most of them were still covered in ice so you couldn’t park there. Also, the sidewalks in that area were also not clean. They were clean only in some areas. I don’t get this university sometimes, especially when my safety is in question…

This is such bullshit, I can’t believe I’m going to have to put on shoe spikes and inch myself to class yet again, I’ve been here for four years and this happens every time, you think it would stop when people get hurt, but the administration or whoever makes that call does not seem to care at all. Once again, fuck UMBC.

UMBC should recognize its commuter population. I don’t even want to leave my driveway (the neighborhood and my car are popsicles). I almost got into an accident yesterday coming to school. The policy is ridiculous! I know students that have to commute over an hour to get to school.

I especially love it when it’s an ice storm and they don’t cancel the evening classes. Last year, I was sitting in gridlock on Rt. 3 on my Blackberry with my classmates (they were sitting in lecture). After I got out of the traffic jam (about an hour and a half later), I determined that I would have to be insane to try to go to class. I was lucky to have made it home in one piece. I knew I wasn’t going to work on time today after driving home last night at 10 pm I was actually surprised to see that they had a late opening today. Of course, I don’t have class today. Not to go off topic, but it is my feeling that they don’t go out of their way to cater to working adults in many ways.

@ Lewis

If she sues the school for damages, I can almost guarantee she’d win!

I am usually able to make the commute on days of inclement weather but it was physically impossible to leave my neighborhood this morning. I feel like a lot of commuters had the same problem.

Yesterday I did not even make it to the top of my road without losing control. The tires on my car are not to great in this weather. I actually couldn’t even make it to school. I emailed my teachers letting them know I would be missing the first day of class. One of the teachers responded promptly stating she understood. The other professor seemed angry I missed class and the last professor failed to even respond. A lot of times I feel as a student, we get disrespected by the faculty & staff. That is just my opinon.

I was very surprised when UMBC did not close early on Tuesday… considering everyone else around us closed early (including schools such as College park and montgomery college). We are a commuter school, as I am a commuter and my last class did not get out until 9:20 and the roads were awful… even this morning, the weather was horrible and all we had was a 2 hour delay? It makes me think the school takes more pride about their low percentage of school closings instead of caring about the students safety.

I commute to school, and as if the drive alone wasn’t rough enough, I was saddened to see that the sidewalks had not been cleared. It was not just the long sidewalks all the way up to the hilltop lot, however, sidewalks inbetween the building including the stairs were not cleared. A half-hearted attempt was made, I could see a salt-crystal or two making a dime sized dent every few feet, but it was hardly a solution to the dangers of slippery concrete. The unfortunate maintenance men were subjected to planting trees and shrubs in November cold, but no one thought to anyone clear the sidewalks?

Fuck UMBC, my legs are fucking broken now! BASTARDS!

I couldn’t believe walking around campus. The school should either close or really invest in A LOT of rock salt…. that foam crap they put down doesn’t do anything for the refreezing! While I didn’t see the girl fall in Chik Fil A. Myself and a friend I was with almost fell quite a few times in there due to the slick floor! Walking from the commons garage today, I thought for sure I was going to fall!

I like the comments about the commuters. The majority of the school population are commuters. It takes us a lot just to get to campus!! What is it going to take for the school to realize the safety issue and close campus? Maybe when one of us dies they’ll finally see how unsafe it was. I think that girl in chik fil a should sue the school.

UMBC really does need to take into consideration the large commuter student body. For most commuters today must have surely been a challenge, unless maybe if you drive a Hummer or something. UMBC should fix up its inclement weather policy before the school finds itself in some lawsuit.

Main reason UMBC stays open compared to other colleges is that major highways are close by, which make it easier to commute. However, UMBC fails to consider the conditions of smaller roads which commuters INEVITABLY take.

Most of the classes were half full today, since there are some students who consider safety as more important than missing one class. Hoever, I have classes that have penalties for missing class if not incase of emergencies (which need to be documented).

THERE NEEDS TO BE A CHANGE!!

I had to communte to a 7:10pm-9:40pm class tuesday night from silver spring.
roads were horrible.
classes should have been cancelled.

Driving in to the city last night after my late class almost caused many accidents… Come on UMBC….

Yes I so agree with the majority of the comments. I live two exits away from UMBC where it normally takes me 6 minutes to get to school but because I live on a hill it took about 30 min just to get up the hill. My tires spun and burned as if I was doing a burnout. UMBC should consider that even though major highways such as 695 and 95 were clear, people don’t live on those roads, they live on actual residential roads that aren’t plowed to late afternoon. If we come to school can the campus at least me clear and safe. I saw a guy slip on frozen GRASS because the walkways from the commons garage were a complete slab of ice. Really? This is just crazy

yea i definitely agree umbc needs to think about the commuter population……….in my area the roads were still extremely messy and full of ice. The campus ground weren’t any better…..I saw several people fall today and I almost fell walking from the commons garage and I was walking like an old fart lol. And whatever mess they put on the ground to keep the ice from freezing did not help at all. Also, most schools had enough sense to close to today but not umbc. The school could have at least decided to open at 12am not 10am…….umbc never closes. Hopefully, who ever makes these decisions about school closings will rethink things soon or somebody is going to get seriously injured and call their friend SUE lol.

I had to drive to work yesterday and this morning during the snow/ice. I work 20 minutes away from my house. Yesterday I drove to the gym and then drove to my night class at 7:10pm. I broke through the ice in my car this morning, went to work, and I will go to class tonight. Work will never close because of bad weather, so you better get used to school not closing. Man up. It’s not that bad. Buy an ice scraper and stop making excuses.

The fall in chic fil a was due to how slick the floor in there gets when it is wet and would have been just as treacherous if it had only been raining. I agree about the closing policy with regards to commuters. Luckily I don’t have classes on Wednesdays as it was almost completely impossible for anyone to get out of my neighborhood before noon.

Not sure who picked out the tiling in cfa but it is definitely a lawsuit waiting to happen if not already in the works as a result of the mentioned fall. Unfortunate since I do love chic fil a.

I commute 50 minutes in the morning from Kingsville(NE Balto Co.) and close to 2 hours with traffic in the afternoon. Its ridiculous that I should have to miss class during the first week of the semester and waste my absence days, because UMBC only cares about it’s own campus and not the surrounding areas. Every single school within a nine mile radius of my home was closed. I don’t really care about an amendment to the policy for future students. They should take action now. I am so fed up with the bullsh!t UMBC throws at us that I am transfering schools in the fall. U Made a Bad Choice(UMBC)

-Max K

I almost slipped walking to class… dont worry, the teachers seem to have some sense, considering most of my classes have been cancelled by teachers today and yesterday.. also, my roommates were telling me today how they ALL have slipped and fallen and were in alot of pain because of it.. I can only fear that Im next:( Haha i was walking like an old lady too, it took me an extra 10 minutes to get anywhere!

I must agree with everyone. I can’t imagine what it must be like for commuters since I don’t even want to leave my room. And as a friend of Chic Fil A fall girl, it really was scary. I especially liked how one of the men in charge at Chic Fil A tried to claim she slipped because she spilled her soda (clearly that happened AFTER the fall). What will it take for UMBC to consider these issues more seriously?

I totally fell today because of the lack of salt and shoveling this morning!! Even though I didn’t get seriously injured I very well could have! My whole day was a mess because I had to make a serious effort not to fall every time I entered a building or walked on the stairs. UMBC has lost some of my respect in their care of the student body’s safety. I live on campus but live in the Towson area and if I was a commuter I would not have even attempted to come in today! Give us a break UMBC before someone break their leg!!

I agree, the policy is terrible. Last night I had a class from 7:10- 9:40 and not only was getting to school in the sleet and freezing rain a challenge, but leaving at almost 10 was impossible. My car was sliding around on campus as well as off. I passed multiple accidents on my way home. My roommate slipped and fell today walking from her car to her class, so as others previously pointed out, even the campus isn’t safe. I hope the girl who fell outside the University center today sues. It would be better if UMBC realizes that they are putting there students in danger from her minor injuries than if the inevitable happens, and someone actually does get into a fatal car accident coming to or leaving UMBC.

I missed class today because I couldn’t defrost my car (waited over an hour) and I could barely walk on my drive way because of the ice. The neighborhood that I live in, in Baltimore City, was a complete popsicle! Yesterday I almost fell multiple times attempting to walk on the sidewalks! I found that the street was easier to walk in – although even more unsafe because of the traffic. UMBC is a little ridiculous in its weather policy & I think that they need to re-evaluate. We all go to college to get a better education and we all want to be there as much as possible – but sometimes safety is more important.

UMBC’s administration needs to understand that they are putting students and staff in danger. When it started snowing, UMBC didnt salt or plow the way to the residence halls and I almost fell several times walking to and from class. Today was even worse. The floors in the buildings were so wet and slippery I was surprised most people didnt get hurt.

Someone is going to get hurt. I swear this school will only get it together when an elderly student breaks a hip or a pregnant woman falls and goes into early labor. This school needs to realize that they are putting us in danger.

I spent over forty minutes removing ice from my car before (wisely) deciding that just because my car was safe to drive didn’t mean the roads in my neighborhood were. A further concern was that UMBC is not known to take great care of the campus during snows; I figured ice would be even worse. It is truly ridiculous the school requires faculty and students to show up in this kind of weather – opening the school at 10am is literally laughable.

What I would like to know is who I could contact to actually get something changed?

I thought that those who attended were adults, not some high-school kids who want a day off from school to sit in front of the TV. Nobody is twisting your arm to attend! Do you want your work to close down so you don’t have to travel in the slightest bad weather? Some of you are going into the healthcare field I’m sure- NEWS FLASH: They don’t close hospitals for bad weather!

Sure, there were areas that were slippery. Yeah, the parking lots weren’t in the greatest of condition. UMBC probably should’ve opened an hour or two late yesterday, hell maybe today even, but closed? Give me a break. I was in classes and saw plenty of people out spreading salt and shoveling. Just because of an isolated incident or two does not mean we were put in harm’s way. It’s amazing to see how people are so prone to use the “you should sue” phrase as well. Typical numbskull reaction to something that could’ve been handled another way- by confronting the issue with the appropriate people.

How about next time we get some inclement weather, you act like an adult and take a little extra time on your commute so you don’t have to worry about driving the normal speed limits to be here on time. Otherwise, you’re no better than a bunch of crybaby high school children who don’t belong in a higher learning institution.

Also worth mentioning are the poor decisions made by individuals. I know the faculty are in just as much danger as the students, and obligated to come in when the campus is open at full capacity to the same extent as the students, but common sense tells you to cancel a 7:10 – 9:40 PM class when the roads are freezing over. Exercise some degree of autonomy to protect the safety of your students, even if your campus does not.

I totally fell on a sidewalk and slid a couple feet because I put my foot down in the wrong place while I was getting to class (from the Walker Apts) this morning. As I write this at 7:15pm, I know that there’s still slush and icy patches all over campus that were most *certainly* iced over this morning when the campus was “Safe”. It would be nice if whatever administrator is responsible for such a decision were … responsible.

I have a friend who works at The Commons, they got a complaint around 11:30 this morning that the handicapped ramp by the Physics building was a solid sheet of ice. The staff at The Commons thought it was Facilities Management’s job to clear that area and FM thought it was the One Source cleaners who’d been salting around some of the buildings so they could get their carts out and around, so nothing actually got accomplished on the ramp until after noon.

I also would like to know who to contact to complain about this. It’s ridiculous. The campus is obviously not prepared to deal with icy weather and no one seems to care.

I was actually glad to only have my one class starting late in the afternoon today; it was still a mess getting my car out of my neighborhood, but things at least had a chance to thaw. (I’m just off-campus, right in Catonsville.) I had to cancel an appointment down near D.C. earlier in the day today, and my professor was 15 minutes late because of that accident on I-95, but at least things were a *little* less icy.

My roommate, who had a morning class? Slipped and nearly broke a limb leaving the house this morning. We live *less than 3 miles from campus*. So who’s the genius who decided that it was safe to go waltzing along the ice this morning?

It needs to be taken into consideration that people travel miles, and miles to get to school at UMBC. The professor of one of my courses polled to see how far people travelled to come in today, and–believe it or not, there are some people that come from Southern Maryland, nearly 50 miles away, that commute to and from UMBC.

I, myself, live on campus, and I found that stepping even along the sidewalks made it really hard to walk around on campus. The floors were slippery, even wiping my feet on the mats, I had a hard time maneuvering around Chick-fil-A, around the dorm lobby, and obviously out on the streets.

Unfortunately, it’s true–colleges won’t learn that inclement weather them to steer away the student’s body when they don’t show that they care about the safety of the student body. Hopefully, something changes. I don’t understand why UMBC doesn’t take stuff like this seriously. I know very well that they had salt trucks running since 4 AM this morning, but the condition of the roads and sidewalks, very easily, made my day terrible. Some of my classes were canceled, professors didn’t even show up. Students should be worried about their academics, not whether or not they’re going to bust their butt from slipping.

Yeah, I was surprised to see that UMBC didn’t care to start pouring that foam crap on the sidewalks till yesterday afternoon around 5pm when I left. Moreover, the campus was a complete mess when I got here this morning. They really need to consider the number of commuters that attend. With how much tuition we pay, and with how much we pay for all of these mysterious ‘fees’, I am sure that UMBC can reserve some of that money for at least cleaning up the school properly for snow days.

I have attended UMBC long enough to know that we will have school every day of the year; the least that UMBC can do is pour out some stuff on the sidewalks to ensure that we get to our classes.

I agree with everyone who said that UMBC needs to be more considerate of their commuter population. Commuting is awful in the type of weather we’ve been having.

I’m a commuter. It takes me 40 minutes to get to school on a good day with no traffic, and on a day like today, it was HORRENDOUS. It was a nightmare trying to get out of my neighborhood, let alone trying to get out of my house without breaking a bone.

The back roads that I use to get to 95 were bad. But UMBC’s sidewalks were worse. Some parts weren’t even salted or cleared. I almost slipped several times. UMBC will get sued by an injured student if these things aren’t taken into consideration, and changes made.

When will UMBC change its inclement weather policy? When will they take better maintenance of the campus in weather like this?

This being my second semester at UMBC, after transferring in from another college, I am completely shocked at the lack of concern for the student body! Yesterday was a day mostly of concern for commuters like myself. I had to weigh the option of my safety over the importance of class and I don’t feel as if that is fair for us to have to make! A large majority of students at UMBC are concerned with their classes and grades and to put them in the situation of having to choose life over academics is completely astonishing and irresponsible! Besides that, I don’t know how many times I heard, and lived for myself, a class being canceled by a professor who decided not to come in. That is fine in every way EXCEPT FOR: how hard is it to send out an email to students so they don’t wait around for that class but instead could have been getting home safely at an earlier hour??? I feel as if UMBC should take cues from other colleges in the vicinity closing rather than try to show that they MAY value their academics over others. While I understand the physics of Lot 10 (visitor parking garage but the academic building) being hazardous, I don’t understand in the least bit how the college can deem a parking lot unsafe in inclement weather, close it to the population, yet NOT have the decency to close the rest of the campus!!! How does that make sense?!?!? On today’s note – the college opening at 10am was a joke! It should have at least opened up at least at 12 pm considering that at 10 am they didn’t even have 1/4 of the parking lots, side roads, and sidewalks cleared ON CAMPUS?!?!? What did they expect the rest of the world to look like? Today was dangerous to not only fellow commuters like myself but also dangerous to the student body that stays on campus. I hope they reconsider their policies and FINALLY realize that sometimes safety triumphs over academics!! This was astonishing and irresponsible!! Who can we get into contact with so they can see how we all feel???

i thought it was insane, i had a 10am class on tuesday, i was about to leave the house but turned around because the roads were so bad. I thought it was insane that the school wasn’t closing early. I saw that college park was closed, but it was a really bad decision not to close the school.

I, for one, didn’t bother showing up to class, i have a 30 minute commute and I wasn’t risking my safety and the safety of others on the road. All in all, UMBC needs to take into account the conditions around Baltimore and other counties as well, because *shock* students do commute from locations other than Baltimore. If the roads aren’t looking good tomorrow, I’m skipping class and if any of my professors have a problem with that, they can take it to the president.

I totally agree!! I had to commute all the way from Laurel to get to class on time and not to mention when I arrived on campus the sidewalks were still icy and I almost slipped and failed on more than one ocassion. This isn’t fair at all for me to put myself at risk of injuring myself in order to make it to class on time.

I agree with the idea of changing the policy. I didn’t mind going to class, but if they are going to make us go to class, they should at least have the consideration to PROPERLY clear the sidewalks. It looked like someone came through and tried to remove the ice, but did a rush job instead. The salt on the ground wasn’t even covering the sidewalk evenly.
Also, I tripped and fell outside of Meyerhoff today, and thankfully I wasn’t injured. I was even wearing snowboots for some added traction. It didn’t help.
I think that the handling of inclement weather needs more urgency than the closing policy. At least make it safe for us to walk around campus.

I commute via trains, which in some ways is worse than driving in this weather. First I have a 15 minute walk to the metro, then I take the MARC train, then I take a UMBC shuttle. Walking anywhere today took me twice the time it usually does.

Even when campus opens late, like it did today, that doesn’t really help commuters at all. My first class is at 10, and to get to class on time I have to leave the house around 7 am. The roads and sidewalks were still horrible at this time, so opening late did me no good at all in the long run. Curse you, UMBC!

I feel that whenever College Park is closed, UMBC should be closed.

I have to agree, I ventured out today and nearly fell when I excited one of the buildings to find right outside the door hadn’t been cleared of ice. Also while me and my friend were walking between the Mathematics/Psychology and the Sondheim buildings a large chunk of ice/ice sickle fell from that overpass between the buildings and nearly hit her. It was danger that one never see’s coming.

I had a class once with the girl that fell in Chick Fil A. She told me today that she is feeling much better, and the university has offered 80 thousand plus a refund of all her tuition.

Does this article make anyone else think of Foreigner’s song? Cold as Ice?

I guess differing opinions are not allowed amongst UMBC students. This obviously has an agenda (while a stupid one, it’s an agenda) and any means possible will be used to advance it. This includes killing off those who go against it. Very open-minded of you!

On tuesday my neighborhood had not been plowed nor had some of the main roads that i used to get onto the parkway. I almost didn’t make it out of my neighborhood and UMBC is majority commuter as people have said. I also have 40minute commute and it definitely was not easy. Who is in charge of making the decision to keep school open? I thought UMBC cared about its students.. or only when its getting honored for it…

If UMBC wants its students to go to class, they should at least not make the environment hostile. It is not even safe to walk outside the doors of residential areas on campus. Students are expected to go to class when sidewalks right outside building doors aren’t cleared. It is almost IMPOSSIBLE to find safe walkways. Higher education is a priority, but not at the cost of students safety and lives. It is not worth broken or fractured bones, or car accidents (even though no one gets hurts). Sidewalks and parking lots are shining from the coating of ice that UMBC has neglected to deal with. Unfortunately, no matter how many students express their genuine concern for their safety and lives, UMBC will NOT change their policy because no matter how much they make it appear as if they care about our feedback, they don’t care because they DON’T do anything at all about our opinions. One would think think that being at a “Honors” university, we would have a sensible administrative staff that takes the safety of its students into consideration when making decision regarding their safety.

We had a 2 hour delay on a day where we had freezing rain, sleet/ice till 8pm. What was the point of that? you might as well keep it open all day or close it down.
Who is making these decisions honestly… they must be driving a plow truck to UMBC everyday and don’t have windows in their office. This is just plain stupid.

yup I agree its going to take a student or faculty member getting hurt before UMBC starts considering the saftey of their students.

They also need to look at keeping housing open for students who live far away when there is bad weather at the beginning of University breaks. I remember my first semester, I asked at a floor meeting what they do if the roads are bad and I can’t make it home that day but the dorms are scheduled to close. Note that I live about 4.5 hours NORTH of UMBC. The answer I received was that they have to stick to the manual and close the dorms, and it would be up to me to find a place to stay. Also note that in PA you have to be 21 to get a hotel room, even with dangerous conditions outside. That spring break, it was raining as I left to head home, and the rain turned into snow and sleet before I was out of Maryland. A 4.5 hour drive took me nearly 11 hours, and I went off the road twice that day. Thankfully, I survived and my car wasn’t destroyed. However, when I finally made it home, my dad said if I had died that day, he would have sued UMBC for all they are worth for making me leave campus with such unsafe conditions on the roads.
Thank you UMBC for making me risk my life, and then charging me so much money I can’t even afford to stay here next year. Thank goodness I took summer classes and am out of here in May. Don’t F*ck me over about that either.

Somebody slipped at Chic-fil-a… … call the whaa-bulance.
There is ice on the sidewalk…. … call 9-whine-whine.
Sleet and freezing rain are a part of nature. Everyone knows that Maryland gets this type of weather in the winter, and it was not as bad as most people make it out to be. I still have to go work when there is bad weather, so why should UMBC cancel its classes? I am paying the salary of the people who work at this university; therefore, they should come to work as well. The fact remains we all pay for the education and services we receive at UMBC, so if you elect not to come to class so-be-it, but those who show up are getting what they paid for. I whould have a problem if the instructors, TA’s or Professors don’t show; but whiny students crying about a snowflake sticking to their face is just normal campus small talk. Always remember, there are other Universities that close when it snows and I am pretty sure they have room for admission.

We are a “higher education” university =). With that being said, education must be more important than the safety of the university.

I live in Walker, and it was definitely difficult to get down to campus. On Wednesday, my first class was at 11, so I left my apartment at about 10:30 since I knew I would be walking a lot slower than normal. There were patches of ice all over the place on the top part of campus, from walker to the campus police station. Then, the sidewalk-covering sheets of ice started. There were at least 3 large sheets of ice covering the entire sidewalk on the path from the lot to the academic buildings. The island in that little traffic circle by the fine arts building was completely covered. I watched one girl slip and nearly fall on one of the patches. I ended up walking on either the road or the grass(which wasn’t that much better, but workable if you really stomped down to break the ice covering and didn’t mind getting snow in your pants and shoes), rather than the actual sidewalk. It bothers me how umbc doesn’t salt until it’s too late, and doesn’t seem to care about its students walking.

However, I can see what some people are saying here about if you think it’s too dangerous to go to class, then just don’t go. The problem with that, is sometimes teachers are not sympathetic. There are some classes where if you miss more than 1 or 2 classes in the entire semester, you lose a portion of your final grade. If you live in an area that doesn’t get plowed(like my street I used to commute from), and it’s a bad winter, you could lose several days due to weather. Not all professors would understand this.

What I think umbc should do, is in two parts. First, they should definitely improve their response to winter weather. Get the salting teams out early, salt everywhere(there is more to this campus than academic row!), and alert students if a certain part of campus is unsafe(but then FIX IT!). Secondly, they should add something to their weather policy. I’m not saying to close more often, because I know that some students will be able to make it in, but others will not. They should implement winter weather days. They are days where umbc recognizes that the weather is bad, and many students will not be able to make it to class. These are enforced as days that students can’t be penalized for not showing up to class, as long as they e-mail the professor before the class start time letting them know that the weather is too bad for them to commute(it’s not too big of a problem on campus, unless you’re on crutches or otherwise can’t get around too well. We can GET to classes(walk on the road if necessary), it’s nothing like what it is for commuters.) It can be announced int he same way that current closings are announced. I believe that could help protect students from the constant fear that if they don’t attend class on a dangerous day that they’ll lose points in the class, as well as letting those who CAN attend take advantage of the class day.

When will they start closing school when it’s too dangerous to come? When someone dies and the family sues?

I have not had time to read each letter so maybe this was mentioned above, but UMBC definitely did NOT consider the students with disabilities that commute to this campus. Yesterday, I saw several students who had major struggles trying to get on campus and to class. I also had a co-worker with a disability who drove around trying to find a disabled parking spot, which she never did find!!! She even stopped someone from parking services (you know…the people who love to give the tickets), when she asked him where she should park he responded that he did not know and drove away!!! Same thing happened to her again today because Lot 10 is still not clear on the top portion. If UMBC feels it is that necessary to open the campus, at least have the lots, streets, walkways clear BEFORE we arrive. Two of my other coworkers fell and I almost fell twice. Let’s hope our letters of complaint help make this campus safer.

Whine whine whine.

II commute 30 minutes to UMBC too. Suck it up and decide to either…

A. Take a personal day off and email the teacher explaining.
B. Go to school

We all know nobody likes to go to classes when it should be a snow day. Wah, go cry.

Agreed! Sure, we all need to go to school but, for commuters, not allowing us to stay home was a bad idea.. it just was not a fair or safe call. I saw three wrecks on 695 coming here on Tuesday and, thereafter, had to walk around all day in snow when I arrived at UMBC. I then saw three people slip and fall on the stairs that had not been iced or tended to any way. Silly. Think about the students when making another call like that!

I think it was a horrible decision to stay open. Not only did I have to shovel the ice so I could leave my street I fell in the process. Then after getting on campus I found that some of the parking lots had not even been cleared. Towson atleast went in at noon so they could clear everything. I highly recommend UMBC rethink the policy for the safety of the students and their instructors. It will look very bad on the institution is someone was to get hurt due to the lack of consideration for the well being of the students/staff.

It was 40 degrees at 7:30 last night, what a bunch of drama queens.

Suck it up, put on some boots, gloves and a hat and everyone will be fine. It gets slippery, pay attention when you’re walking or driving, simple as that. Stop trying to get a day off work. You want to see a winter, drive 10 hours north, they barely ever stop school.

[...] noticed this article today on the myUMBC homepage.  It’s good to know I’m not the only one who agrees the [...]

I commute from frederick and i popped my tire on the way the other day.. of course i missed the class.. if they canceled the school like other institutions.. i wouldn’t of been so unlucky.. I know even professors agree with this article but not saying anything bout it.. so please.. think about the commuters instead of thinking 2 hr delay is the answer.

I live about 15 minutes from campus and could not get to school on Wednesday morning. I went outside and de-iced my car, but I could not get up the incline of a secondary road to reach a drivable main road. To get to my 4:30 class that meets only once a week, I had to have my car pushed.
To the people are saying to “suck it up” and that shutting down a business in the real world due to inclement weather doesn’t happen:
The difference is that employees have the option to call out without needing to get missed information and often hospitals have volunteers with adequate vehicles to pick up essential employees in bad weather.

@afraid of the cold

…yeah and 10 hours north of here they are WAY better at clearing the roads and dealing with winter weather.

don’t know where you come from to get to school but the fact of the matter is we’re not just complaining or trying to get a day off from school, i would much rather have been at school to hear the lectures and not miss things….but driving on a sheet of ice on an unplowed road is IMPOSSIBLE even if you “pay attention to where you’re driving”

also people need to remember that road conditions are not the same everywhere and just because you got to school without any problems an your roads were plowed does not mean it was the same for everyone else. we need to respect each other and not put each other down for you see as laziness or wanting to get out of school…..you don’t always know the whole story

that said, umbc really does to think their decisions through a little better…and it’s not like this is the first time either…..

To all those who are annoyed at the people complaining about the situation:

Obviously you are not disabled.
Obviously you don’t know or care about anyone with physical disabilities.

When a person drives in dangerous conditions to get to a school that they pay a large sum of money to attend only to find out that ramps and sidewalks are solid sheets of ice, it’s not acceptable.

And I don’t know how anyone could think it is.

If you don’t feel safe going to class, don’t go to class. But I don’t want to be cheated out of a class that I PAID for just because YOU want a day off. It says in the snow policy that professors should be aware that not all students will attend class. Your professor will most likely understand if you let them know that you couldn’t get out of your driveway. But if THEY can make it to class, class shouldn’t be cancelled.

Learn how to be adults and be responsible for yourself. We pay lots of money for these classes, I don’t think they should be cancelled.

For the record, I do commute, about a half an hour. I did not attend my 7 pm class on Tuesday, but I spoke with my professor and the absence was excused.

I had a 10am class so i had to be on campus around 9:45am…
when i came to umbc i was SHOCKED to find out that barely anything had been de-iced and that the crew was still trying to salt the sidewalks and such. I almost slipped 4 times getting from commons garage to MP building.

By 12pm, situations were much better.. so my question is, why didn’t they open UMBC at 12? That would have been a much better decision than opening it at 10am!

It’s a conspiracy to make more money.

Shutting down means no money for UMBC. We forget that universities are businesses too.

i was shocked to see the campus open tuesday and wednesday while both anne arundel county and baltimore were either closed or on a 2 hour delay, i drive about an hour to and from campus (SoCo) and it sucked drivng both days! honestly i dont mind driving in it, its the people that dont know how to drive in bad weather that freak me out! if you dont feel comfortable driving, dont!

Hi, I agree 100%… UMBC is rediculous with their weather policy. That is one of the main reason why I transfered to another school. Risking my life is not worth it. I just transfered for this spring semester. However, last year, it snowed and I had to walk from Sond… to the parking lot by the UMBC police department and ALL the walkways were slippery and not salted… I was sliding all over the place and evening classes were not even canceled that day. But when I got home, evening classes for other schools including nearby CCBC were canceled. UMBC has to definately change somethings around because if many other school could close yesterday because of the weather and conditions of the streets, UMBC sure could have. I now attend Morgan State and at first they were to open at 10 am, then cahnged to 12 noon, then decided to close, and I was greatful because I also commute there too and driving on those roads was not an easy task yesterday!

i think we should start voting on closing school when it is too cold (like below 40 and windy) and too hot (like above 80 and not windy). that’ll be fair

The sad display of English grammar, spelling, and usage on this comment section provides adequate defense of the current inclement weather policy. In addition, the university should force you lot to attend remedial English courses on the weekends with a heavy focus on composition. This post-high-school generation spews out so much crap online and with such a poor command of the English language, that they cannot hear what whiny losers they have become. I fear for the future and your words make the infant Buddha weep.

my sister goes to York College of PA, and their snow removal system is terrible, but I have not heard her ever complain about York’s inclement weather policy. Instead of salting the ice and plowing the snow like the MD Dept. of Transportation, the DOT in PA either ignores ice or puts gravel on it (to “improve traction” they say). If you’re really lucky, you get sand. Salt is “expensive,” so it is only used on major roads and highways. Last winter a professor slipped in the ice and broke her leg. Only after she sued YCP did they hire a private contracting company to remove the snow/ice from campus. So she says no matter how bad we think we have it here in MD, in PA it is so much worse.

So I was driving on ice the other day, trying to get to campus since it was open for some reason (never mind the fact that I slipped on ice walking to class. Twice). My car slides on ice and slams into a curb. Thanks UMBC, now I have to get my tires aligned.

@Alumnus Humunkus
That’s bad comedy.

Man, stupid snow, I lost my wallet in my evening class, which wasn’t canceled thanks to our great weather inclement policy. By the time I found it, I was sick like no other and when I was leaving campus, my car skidded off the road and almost hit the curb. I made two trips back and forth looking for my wallet and well it definitely sucked because I am a commuter and this isn’t fair to us who have to drive in such crappy conditions.

BLECHH

I agree that the weather policy is absolutely terrible. When I heard that the university was going to open at 10:00am, I checked outside my window every 30 minutes hoping that the trucks would come to clear the neighborhood roads in time for me to get to class. The sheets of ice were so thick in my area that cars were sliding into parked cars on the side of the road. Honestly, only 38% of students live on campus and with this low of a percentage the university really needs to take into account the safety of the of students. And as for the salt job on campus…..wow.

Towson and AACC are wimps for closing, unfortunately it appears the UMBC student population would be much happier there with their own kind.

Who do we talk to so that we can ensure changes are made to the policy? I think it was total crap to not close when there was at least an inch of unsalted ice covering the sidewalk, courtyard, and parking lot at my apartment, and I’m sure it was the same elsewhere. Sitting here complaining about it won’t do much though unless we know who we have to go talk to about it.

To those who are calling people ‘whiners.’

First off, bravo on making it to your classes and dealing with the elements, you obviously have guts.

Second off, saying that people need to “Grow up” is completely an ignorant statement. Many adults, including 75% of those in my neighborhood didn’t go to work because they couldn’t, as in, physically couldn’t. The untreated uphill roads caused 3 accidents on my street and the only ones who actually made it up the hill spent over an hour inching along with chained tires. Not everyone is an AMAZING driver like you must be to handle all of this.

Yes there is bad weather in this region, and we cope by creating safe situations for citizens and not requiring them to go places. This is all about the safety of staff and students on campus.

I suppose you all love to go romp around the countryside during hurricanes as well. Well have fun with that… I’ll wait to see your name on the Darwin awards.

I agree with people being concerned about safety when it comes to these sort of situations.
And unfortunately when it comes to something like this, something bad is probably gonna have to happen before something is done.
I do have to say that even though it was still icy on Wednesday. I thought it was fine once they opened at 10 am.
I did have issues coming over from my own street, like many of you had. But that’s why they opened later so it would give people a chance to dig their car out. A chance to defrost. And give the roads a chance to get salted.
By the time I got at school which was 10 am, I parked nicely near the Fine Arts building. And the steps walking down were fine. People can also think about walking through the buildings to avoid the ice and cold. That’s what I do.

I have not lived in the US long, but I have seen weather worse than this and school (CCBC) still opened. Late, but still opened.

I agree with the safety matter. But I want to go to class, we pay a lot of money for our lectures. I want to get my money’s worth. Now if there was a blizzard, than of course I wouldn’t come. But a little ice and snow can be dealt with.

I had fun slipping while walking to the Dining Hall, but I want to point out to the sidewalk shoveling crew that the sidewalk on the apartment side of the loop was not shoveled. I ran around the loop for exercise, and there wasn’t very much sure footing, running up the hill.

I believe Lynn Schaefer is the person who makes the decision.

I understand that UMBC is an Honors University and education is extremely important. I also understand that no matter what the inclement weather policy is, someone is going to complain. However, it is absurd that classes continue with the campus in the state that it was in. Ice is an unpredictable element, and you can not protect yourself no matter how safe you try to be.

So many students have told stories about how they slipped, fell, scrapped a knee, or broke a limb because they were going to or leaving a class with the campus blanketed in ice. Thank goodness that most often a bruised ego is the worse that happens.

I know that the campus does the best they can to clean the snow and ice with the resources that are available (i.e. student workers). However, even if the campus was completely free of ice, that does not mean that the rest of the surrounding community or state of Maryland is. The lives of the students, faculty, and staff are at stake (this includes the chartwell’s staff that are expected to work).
I hope that all here who have posted, including myself, will take more action than just complaining to help keep our students safe.

[...] A smart blogger placed an interesting blog post on The Retriever Weekly Blog Blog Archive UMBCs inclement …Here’s a brief overviewI felt like an elderly person must feel, having to bend my knees and walk extremely slowly and hold the handrail the whole time down the stairs. I have never known UMBC to plow or salt the parking spaces along Hilltop … [...]

UMBC is quite notorious for leaving these calls up to professors. Fortunately, most of my professors have been kind enough to just cancel class on days when travel conditions are far from ideal. For me, it’s not so much that UMBC refuses to cancel school when their own walkways are totally covered in ice, it’s that they don’t clear their walkways well enough. Last year, several students fell down the ice-covered stairs next to the Fine Arts building and the Chem building, and why? Because there wasn’t a teaspoon of gravel or salt on the stairs. Conditions are usually worse as you get away from University Center and near the parking lots and garages. Things seem to have improved slightly from when I first started here, but I still find myself making deals with God as I attempt to go down the outdoor stairs or walk across a wide open area in the Winter on campus.

“UMBC notoriously does not close school, close early or open late even when the weather poses a particular threat to students.”

What are you talking about? Get over yourself.

I was surprised that the school was still covered with wet snow and ice when I arrived for night class on Tuesday. One of my classmates almost slipped and fell on the way out of class. Usually College Park is bad about closing but I guess UMBC likes to take it even further. They should at least have some type of policy that allows students to make up work if a class is missed on a snow day. I was really baffled as to why they had not cleared the sidewalks and streets on campus. This was truly bizarre especially since they were open all day and night on Tuesday.

This kind of disregard for its students makes UMBC a complete shit hole. Universities are here FOR the students, therefore the students SHOULD be the number one priority. UMBC however doesn’t think that way, and in return students just can’t wait to get out of here and never look bad. fuck umbc and once i am out of here never will i ever donate a single penny as an alumnus. fuck you umbc, fuck you up your ass.

This just adds more reasons for me to dislike UMBC. They never do anything right. I cannot wait to transfer. PEACE

UMBC fails.

Maryland fails

dear UMBC,

i woke up and realized there was a THICK layer of ICE on my CAR and DRIVEWAY so in my efforts to be able to DRIVE to school in SUCH weather, the PILE OF ICE on top of my car SLID BACk and SMASHED the BACK WINDSHIELD of my car…resulting in 300$ worth of DAMAGE…once again, thankyou UMBC for you choosing NOT TO GIVE A DAMN about your STUDENTS.

dear UMBC,

i woke up and realized there was a THICK layer of ICE on my CAR and DRIVEWAY so in my efforts to be able to DRIVE to school in SUCH weather, the PILE OF ICE on top of my car SLID BACk and SMASHED the BACK WINDSHIELD of my car…resulting in 300$ worth of DAMAGE…once again, thankyou UMBC for you choosing NOT TO GIVE A %$&# about your STUDENTS.

I am so disappointed at UMBC and some of the professors! I will not risk my life just to make it to class after all the media warnings about the weather. How can you penalized a student for not making it to class in a bad weather? Please, use some brain here? Do we pay all that money to UMBC just to miss class? I don’t get it. UMBC should revise their weather inclement policy, when baltimore county schools are closed why can’t UMBC close at least for the pm classes? isn’t UMBC in baltimore county?
Suckers!!!!!!!!!!

Not to mention the fact that we are a major commuter school…
Its one thing to try and balance with a bag full of books on poorly salted (if they were even salted) sidewalks
Its even worse when you have to drive on ice just to walk on more ice!
Thankfully I had a smart professor who cancelled a night class! We need more of them

I agree, the inclement weather policy is horrible. I am commuting this year, and I could not make it to my 10am and 11am classes Wednesday because my car could not get over the wall of ice blocking me in. I had to literally kick the ice and snow away (I don’t have a shovel since I live in an apartment) to make it to my afternoon class. On the way to class, i saw the remains of two accidents, and a few parked cars with banged up bumpers as well. Regardless of how moderate our weather may be compared to more northern states, our cleaning efforts do not match. In addition, to be quite frank, even if I can manage to get my light front wheel drive car that is HORRIBLE on ice around without hitting people, I don’t trust other Maryland drivers to be able to do the same. As one of the lovely posters above me noted, PA, NY, etc. have more snow and never close. They also have far better snow-driving cars and drivers in my experience (and I lived in PA for a while), Sometimes the most dangerous things on the roads isn’t the ice, its someone else.

While yes most campuses were open at ten, it should be noted that any university that is primarily commuter (such as UMBC and I agree Towson as well) should be closed during inclement weather. Especially when this weather is as treacherous as it was last week. I personally refuse to drive and risk my life, my car and everything else for one day of class. If the weather is bad I do not go. If this means I get a dirty look or an exasperated sigh and spend most of the semester feeling as if I have to make up for the one day I missed in an ice storm, oh well. I would rather ensure as much as possible, the fact that I will be able to attend class in the future. If I was to have an accident, wreck my car, or hurt myself, the likelihood of me missing more than one class is pretty strong. UMBC needs to consider the needs of it’s commuter students. It is supposed to be a commuter friendly college, but the inclement weather policy is not.

Shame on you UMBC Weather policy.

I’ve almost got an accident on my way to school, 3 (all of my class) are canceled. What’s the point of wasting my five hours? Compare to Towson and UMCP, they have way better treatment to student.

Why so being strict about opening school while professors and student is in danger?

Answer!

I’m actually thrilled that UMBC keeps classes going when there’s snow. There’s a comical amount of hysteria in Maryland when snow falls. It’s a complete joke. Seriously guys — let’s get over ourselves. If it’s snowy out then brush off your car and leave 15 minutes earlier than normal. I had to chisel my car out of solid ice for 15 minutes last week. Big deal! That’s real life.

Whining about it makes you sound silly. Are you really so pathetic that you can’t deal with the season of winter?

I can’t believe how many people here are blaming UMBC for their problems and are DISAPPOINTED in the school! Ya’ll need to take some responsibility! The job of the University is to educate us. To provide us with the classes we pay for. This isn’t a job that you wish got cancelled. We (or, probably your parents, for a lot of you whiners out there) are PAYING for them to be open. If you don’t want to go to class, don’t go to class! Ittt isn’t that difficult!

@Monique
Schools with CHILDREN at them are different. We are all (or at least should all ACT like) adults at UMBC. I imagine students that missed classes Wednesday were not penalized by their professors. You mention payin all that money to UMBC… so why don’t you want to receive the class you paid for?!

I do not understand the vast majority of UMBC students. Gah!

there needs to be a blizzard or something before UMBC will budge…I sat in my car waiting for class to start once and saw 3 or 4 people wipe out in less than 10 min on icy sidewalks because every other college cancelled classes…but not UMBC….and I thought UMBC was a “Commuter School”!! kinda hard to do when there’s ice all over the place…

Late, but better then never. UMBCs inclement weather policy is redic. But so are the professors. I emailed my professor asking if class will be in session at 10am due to ice and she said class must stay in session, which to me is REDIC. If I live in Baltimore Co., and Baltimore Co. schools are closed that means the streets aren’t clear, what makes UMBC think I will be in attendance? My street was PURE ICE, and at 10am, even though people THINK that’s enough time for ice to melt, it isn’t. At 10am, its not even warm enough for ice to melt. They need to revamp their policy. While they are building new food places, and adding new food places in the Commons, they need to look at a policy that is life or death, because Education and UMBC wont do me much good if die trying to get there.

Apparently with all of the great minds of the UMBC community, not one single person thinks that water will refreeze. As soon as the rain stopped last thursday, salt was never put on any of the sidewalks. Yet almost everyday we’ve had sub freezing temperature and the melted snow flowing across the walkways froze. again. every time I walk outside of my dorm I see someone slip, since the ice near my hall covers nearly 3/4 of the sidewalk, so I ask this, does anyone with any type of responsibility care about the UMBC community?

I am really discouraged with our society and its wastefulness. Last week, thousands and thousands of tons of Sodium Chloride, but mostly Calcium Chloride were thrown haphazardly in the name of keeping the public safe. As humans, can we have a bigger effect on the environment than this? People complain about the health of our bay and waterways and the availibility of the Maryland Blue Crab, well think on this, By raising the salinity of the brackish water in the bay through road runoff, habitats are destroyed, eggs killed and the delicate balance altered. What is that you say? It does not effect you? Don’t care? Alright, please drink only salt water for a few weeks and see if you like it, or even if you’re still alive.