Stony Brook Again Demonstrates A Dangerous Lack of Logic

It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside to know that Stony Brook cares so much about its students. The snow is still falling outside my window almost 18 hours after the editorial staff posted the original editorial. The roads have yet to be plowed and all of the newscasters are saying that unless it is absolutely necessary, no one should drive. Well, apparently, Stony Brook thinks that it is absolutely necessary that we drive today, even with almost a foot of snow on the ground. Forget the fact that there have already been countless accidents on Nicolls Road and the Expressway, any number of whom could be Stony Brook students. There truly is no such thing as a snow day at Stony Brook. They should put this in all of their new student brochures. If I had known when I signed up that the school was going to care so little about the health and safety of its students, I would never have signed at the 'x'. I think it's long past time for the university to wake up to the fact that they are endangering the welfare of their students by not cancelling classes and fix their system of determining when and when not to close school.

I think we got gypped as far as snow. I think the media just blew it WAY out of proportion. It did snow, though. And it did snow quite a bit, whether it snowed as much as we thought it would or not.


Most importantly, I didnt want to go to school toay.

Stony Brook, more than any other area university, is a true commuter school in the sense that people drive there from as far away as Queens/Brooklyn to the West and the East End of Long Island. Stony Brook should take into consideration the fact that side streets have not yet been plowed, that cars need to be unburied from the snow, and that it's slow going even on roads that have been cleared, plus major accidents, and you have every reason to at least have a delayed start of 2-3 hours.

Not to mention this.... what's the logic of cancelling Stony Brook Day in Albany, if the roads are supposedely all clear? I like how Stony Brook jumped the gun on this one but waited until around 4 pm to cancel its own evening classes, by which time most commuters were already at the university anyway.

I'm not on campus right now, but I would also be curious to know how the paths and walkways on campus are faring. Stony Brook seems to not understand the concept of salt, or if they do, they only throw salt once, and let it be. Many paths are also shoveled very poorly, leaving a nice, flattened layer of snow at the bottom which turns into a sheet of ice as soon as the temperature goes below freezing. Last year, I personally knew two different students who broke bones in their legs from tripping on poorly-cleaned paths. But what am I talking about? Stony cares about our safety. So much that they're raising our tuition, cutting financial aid, and asking students to donate money out of their pockets directly to the university.

I sure pray someone from the university is reading this, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

...that Stony Brook University's administration is demonstrating a complete disregard for the approximately 50 percent of its students that commute to campus on a daily basis. I am a commuter myself and this is what the school's official website had to offer me for today's weather conditions:


Stony Brook University and Stony Brook Hospital remain open. Classes will take place as scheduled. Students, faculty, and staff are urged to use caution and keep their personal safety in mind when making any decision to travel to campus.


If my classes are taking place as scheduled, what other decision do I possibly have to make with regards to traveling to campus? If my classes are on, I have to go! Otherwise I get an unexcused absense and I miss out on vital material that will more often than not be essential to an exam or assignment due date. So basically, Stony Brook University has left me with this choice: stay at home and be sure not to be involved in a weather-related traffic accident or risk my personal safety so that I don't miss out on the classes they refuse to cancel. Thanks, guys...


Also, I agree with the comment Mike made about the cancellation of the SUNY Day in Albany trip. If the roads (many of which are winding, hilly side roads on my journey) are safe for me to travel, how come the roads (most of which would have been major highways on their journey) are not safe for a busload of students to travel? Some some consistency!


I have no problem operating my vehicle in the snow. I know how to drive. The only problem I see is that most people don't know how to drive and thus by going out I am putting myself in their incompetent hands.


I am thoroughly disappointed in the administration of Stony Brook University and I only hope that one of them reads the editorial and comments pertaining to it.

Well I dont completely agree with you guys. Usually groundskeeping personell plow TOO much. They even plow the grass. Of course, nothing is consistent. Things appear to be plowed RANDOMLY and shovelled by laborers on their cell phones. Realistically, school should not have been cancelled today. Classes through 10am should have, though, because thats when the streets are the most dangerous
Plus, whos gonna wake up even earlier for those early classes, just to dig their car out?
Anyway. I'll bring my camera today. I'll get some pictures.

In the morning I dreaded climbing out of my bed just to shovel enough snow out of the driveway so that I can get my car out, after learning that school was not cancelled. As much as I dislike having to goto a morning class with snow still drifting outside, it would have been MUCH worse if Albany Day wasn't cancelled.

I sure pray someone from the university is reading this, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

We could invite university officials to respond to Independent articles. It might even work. We could also try to interview members of the administraton and post their response. That would be interesting. Maybe that's something to talk about at a staff meeting?