A succession of snowstorms coupled with low temperatures in the past three weeks has left students and faculty alike struggling to keep up with wintery weather conditions.

Icy conditions and large snow drifts on the sides of the road have forced many students, who normally park on Louther and High St, to seek shelter in the Kline and ATS parking lots.

A particularly wet snow coupled with low temperatures has also caused trouble for the cars themselves. For those cars left parked uncovered during the snow storms, students have struggled to keep the ice off, which cakes their windshields and traps their cars to the sides of the road.

The Department of Public Safety (DPS) has received multiple phone calls from students with cars stuck in the snow and in need of assistance. According to Lieutenant Fazio, DPS has begun to give out metal shovels to help those in such situations.

“Not many students know about the shovels that they can borrow, but all you do is stop by DPS and hand in your student ID and take a shovel,” explained Fazio. “When they’re done shoveling and getting rid of the ice on their cars, they just come back and return the shovel and get their ID back, because we don’t want anyone stealing these shovels or else they’ll have to pay.”

For students struggling with the icy weather, the shovels are a much-needed help.

“I knew I wanted to use my car later in the day after it had snowed the day before so I went over to DPS and borrow a shovel. I shoveled around my car so I wouldn’t have a hard time pulling out of my parking spot located on D-walk,” said Joe Caucino ’17, who borrowed a shovel from DPS to free his car. “The kid parked next to me had to call DPS for some help because he couldn’t get his car out of the spot with all the snow and ice surrounding it.”

For students struggling with the weather, DPS advises students to shovel and scrape their cars right after the snow fall or else the snow bank becomes wider and builds up, making it more difficult to unearth the car. This can also be a way to prevent students from tripping and falling from the snow and ice as well.

If your car still has snow surrounding it or even on it, DPS advises students to scrape off any remaining ice or snow off the car when it’s warm out. Times such as this coming weekend, when the weather is forecast to be warm, are a perfect time to clear the snow around any student’s car.
For more information or to request help with your car, please call the Department of Public Safety at (717) 245-1111.