Snow day helps staff and students
In light of the subarctic weather we are experiencing, students are rooting for a snow day for at least one obvious reason: So we don’t have to go to class. On top of the regular lectures we usually endure, this week has the added pressure of midterms. The cancelling of shuttle and SafeRide services, and Tuesday’s power black out are just a few of the obstacles students have had deal with, in addition to the stress of their studies.
However, cancelling classes would benefit more than just students who want a day off for extra cramming or relaxation. Wednesday afternoon, the Northwestern emergency notification system sent out an automated voice message to NU students and staff stating that evening classes would be cancelled. An e-mail said that staff members had the option of leaving early, but any hours taken off would be counted toward their annual leave time. Weather conditions are not the fault of the faculty and staff. Given the circumstances the administration should be understanding about family obligations.
Unlike students who have the luxury of living on campus or in nearby housing, most faculty and staff members must drive or take public transportation in order to get to work. Midterms, especially those scheduled in the evening, may cause complications for professors seeking to get home to their families or collect children from cancelled after-school activities or bus services. Dining hall workers and custodial staff, who already work odd hours in general, will have to find more alternate ways to carry out their own family responsibilities.
Students would all love to take a day off, but they can always skip class if they really don’t want to brave the snow. But faculty and staff members do not have the choice to stay home. During the biggest blizzard of the year, NU should give them a break for a day.
Absenteeism or primary apathy?
During Tuesday’s election, numerous Northwestern students voted in the Evanston elections. There are no clear indications of how many students voted absentee in their home state. One would like to think the percentage was high, but statements like Weinberg senior Jeremy Vesta’s, from Wednesday’s Daily, seem all too common.
He was quoted as saying, “I forgot to get an absentee ballot, It’s more difficult than you think. … Voting is important. I vote in general elections every time, but I just forgot this time.”
Being the intellectual, politically salient college students that we are, of course we know the importance of voting. Yet sometimes it’s not so simple. NU is a national university that attracts students from across the country. It would be unreasonable for everyone who comes to NU to register in Cook County, and many students choose to use absentee ballots. The process requires at least a month of planning ahead, perusing government Web sites and, depending on the state, even phone calls to the elections bureau.
Such confusion is not an excuse for failing to vote, but it does make the process more tedious, and for some, more trouble than it’s worth. Regardless of one’s opinion of caucusing, Iowa makes participation in the primaries amiably simple: as long as out-of-state university are not registered anywhere else, they can vote in the caucuses. It’s ironic that students, who so often are accused of political apathy, might actually care enough to participate in elections but get stymied by moving cross-country for college.
