Left out in the cold: University should have delayed the start of classes

By failing to delay the start of classes Tuesday morning University officials did not do enough to make the weather outside less frightful.

Officials relied on predictions that the snow and ice would be moderate Tuesday morning. Instead they should have delayed at least the earliest morning classes and by doing so they would have  better ensured the safety of commuters.

Although crews tried to get roads and sidewalks salted as quickly as possible the job wasn't finished by 8 a.m. Tuesday. Roads were icy enough to pose a hazard whether commuters were walking or driving.

The fact that a number of traffic accidents occurred on campus in the morning is evidence enough that more precautions could have been taken.

Delaying the start of classes would have given the crews ample time to make the roads safe. (N.C. State University even canceled classes for the day.)

Moreover if conditions were bad enough for Gov. Bev Perdue to declare a state of emergency then they were bad enough to delay a few classes.

Professors who live farther from campus had difficulty getting to work so many canceled classes of their own accord.

However notification for these individual cases often came too late. Some students made it all the way to class to find cancellation notes left on the classroom doors.

The University canceled classes from Tuesday afternoon until 10 a.m. this morning. Although the idea was considerate the timing was not.

The prudent solution would have to been to simply delay early classes by an hour or two to allow more time for crews to work on the roads.

Next time it snows in Chapel Hill (whenever that will be) officials should err on the side of caution.