2008 Woodie Awards
Wasted experience
Issue date: 3/14/08 Section: Editorial
Unless A-Senate is planning on CMU not being around in 20 years, it should go back and try to figure out some guide for dealing with replacing future excesses of cancellations.
Despite what many senators said during the meeting, this is precisely the sort of issue A-Senate should address. Even if losing five or more days of school does not happen for another generation, it could happen next year or the year after.
Weather remains unpredictable, and if CMU continues to attract more commuter students, then weather delays and "snow days" necessarily will be more frequent.
Failing to address what we know could happen would be a mistake. Since something like this has not happened for many years, the current batch of senators have presumably spent more time learning about the issue than any other.
Why waste that expertise? Why insult the constituents senators should have consulted? If senators are worried their work would not survive the test of time, then perhaps they are right to pass it on to a better crop of representatives.
The type of situation necessary for such a contingency plan most likely would render any formal, written plans inadequate. A-Senate also lacks the authority to make binding plans. But binding is not the goal.
The goal should be having an idea of what students and faculty think should be done in such an instance. The idea of A-Senate is that front-line students and faculty have important suggestions - here's a chance to relay those suggestions.
A good framework would be to separate the question of weather or similar days off from the tragic emergency situations. Emergencies requiring school calendar changes are exceedingly difficult to prepare for and should only be given a cursory look.
Preparing for weather-related calendar changes is far easier and that preparation would give CMU a step up in the case of an emergency. While there is a limit to the usefulness of this exercise, there is no compelling reason to not attempt it.
If anything it would give a guide for any emergency plans and would be a welcome addition to CMU's response documents. Now is a chance for clear heads to offer ideas about how to adapt CMU's schedule. Any planning done now for continuity and recovery means less work when, or if, the time arises.
Passing the buck is rarely a noble quality in a representative body.
After all, every K-12 school district and many colleges in Michigan plan for weather problems that could delay the school year. There is no reason CMU can't at least give it a shot.
And there is absolutely no way this is not the sort of thing A-Senate should deal with.
Despite what many senators said during the meeting, this is precisely the sort of issue A-Senate should address. Even if losing five or more days of school does not happen for another generation, it could happen next year or the year after.
Weather remains unpredictable, and if CMU continues to attract more commuter students, then weather delays and "snow days" necessarily will be more frequent.
Failing to address what we know could happen would be a mistake. Since something like this has not happened for many years, the current batch of senators have presumably spent more time learning about the issue than any other.
Why waste that expertise? Why insult the constituents senators should have consulted? If senators are worried their work would not survive the test of time, then perhaps they are right to pass it on to a better crop of representatives.
The type of situation necessary for such a contingency plan most likely would render any formal, written plans inadequate. A-Senate also lacks the authority to make binding plans. But binding is not the goal.
The goal should be having an idea of what students and faculty think should be done in such an instance. The idea of A-Senate is that front-line students and faculty have important suggestions - here's a chance to relay those suggestions.
A good framework would be to separate the question of weather or similar days off from the tragic emergency situations. Emergencies requiring school calendar changes are exceedingly difficult to prepare for and should only be given a cursory look.
Preparing for weather-related calendar changes is far easier and that preparation would give CMU a step up in the case of an emergency. While there is a limit to the usefulness of this exercise, there is no compelling reason to not attempt it.
If anything it would give a guide for any emergency plans and would be a welcome addition to CMU's response documents. Now is a chance for clear heads to offer ideas about how to adapt CMU's schedule. Any planning done now for continuity and recovery means less work when, or if, the time arises.
Passing the buck is rarely a noble quality in a representative body.
After all, every K-12 school district and many colleges in Michigan plan for weather problems that could delay the school year. There is no reason CMU can't at least give it a shot.
And there is absolutely no way this is not the sort of thing A-Senate should deal with.
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