Winter headaches continue on campus

Icy precipitation building on the roads and walkways caused cancellations, automobile accidents and inconvenience to students over the weekend, and may continue into the week, with The Weather Channel predicting flurries today and additional snow on Wednesday. \nHank Hewetson, the director of IU's Physical Plant, said his workers follow the weather and after receiving word from the IU Police Department that the streets may be unsafe, the campus division of the plant dispatches crew to deal with icy walkways and roads. \n"For our current weather situation, our people were out most of the day," Hewetson said.\nHewetson said his crew began their work at 4 a.m. today to ensure the campus is safe for students traveling to class first thing in the morning.\nDespite the recent snow spree in Bloomington, the campus division remains within its budget, mainly because there is no separate budget for snow removal. Campus division manager Dave Hurst said most snows have happened during hours when staff is around, so there has not been a need for too much overtime.\nA couple of ice-related accidents occurred over the weekend, according to the IUPD.\nIUPD Sergeant Don Schmuhl said about five car accidents have been a result of the weather. \n"There haven't been too many accidents because people have stayed off the roads," Schmuhl said.\nSchmuhl said the accidents were not severe, with three of them being rear end accidents located near the 800 block of Jordan Avenue, including one rear end collision with a limousine. Schmuhl said there was property damage, but there were no injuries.\nToday is a snow day for Monroe County schools. On Sunday, hundreds of organizations' activities and church services were canceled in Bloomington and Indianapolis, where more than 100 accidents or slide-offs were reported in Marion County alone.\nSeveral counties issued snow emergencies Sunday including Madison, Hancock, Randolph, Jay, Delaware and Blackford counties.\nStill, odds of a cancellation for IU students seem unlikely. IUB Chancellor Sharon Brehm holds ultimate authority over whether classes will be cancelled, but classes have never been called off since she has been in Bloomington.\nWhether or not classes are in session, Schmuhl said he expects traveling to be much smoother than it was this weekend, although some accidents are expected.\n"We can expect a fair amount of property damage due to people driving too fast in the morning," Schmuhl said. "Hopefully, people will leave a little earlier to prevent any more problems"