At IU, clearing snow is shared task

At this time of year, IU has precautions and plans in place for when it does snow — whether it’s the weekend or not. Several campus offices and departments work together to help get students to class safely.

“Part of the plan is looking at who is responsible for what,” said Director of the Physical Plant Hank Hewetson. “Campus Division is responsible for clearing out snow, and we do some snow removal with our custodians.”

The city of Bloomington and IU are separate from each another in terms of how they deal with weather conditions and take care of the streets.

Sophomore Alyssa Ruffier, who is from upstate New York, is accustomed to snow and other winter weather conditions. She said Bloomington takes care of its citizens and students.

“I think (IU) handles it really well. They just don’t have everyone on that (IU-Notify) list,” Ruffier said.

The campus has implemented an emergency notification system, IU-Notify,  to alert and instruct students about incidents. Subscribers of the service are currently notified via text, voice and e-mail messages.

“We use it specifically in emergency situations, chemical spills or power outages, or we use it for severe weather like tornadoes,” said Deborah Fletcher, director of Emergency Management and Continuity. “We don’t want to dilute the message by using it for everything.”

Fletcher said the system is being re-evaluated, and they are looking at different approaches, such as television or computer notifications, to communicate with the community.

Despite the help from the heads of Emergency Management and the Bloomington Physical Plant, Fletcher said everyone plays a part in winter safety.

“There is a sort of personal accountability,” Fletcher said. “Make sure people are watching out for you, keep in contact, let people know where you are and do the stuff your mom taught you: Don’t wear high heel boots when there’s ice on the ground.”