Rain dampens first day of class for IU students

Labor Day, torrential rains and the jitters of the first day of classes.\nThose were the subject of grumblings heard from students huddled in door frames and doubled up under umbrellas Monday while 1.5 inches of rain fell on Bloomington, interrupting classes and forcing students to run for cover.\nSenior Amy Fischer, who was leaving the Indiana Memorial Union during spurts of rainfall, said she thought the rain was refreshing.\n"I think it cleansed a lot of frustration on the first day of class," Fischer said.\nBut others said they didn't appreciate the soaked clothing.\n"I think it sucks we had to go on a day everyone else got off," sophomore Mike Dean said. "And then we got rained on."\nDean was eating lunch wearing a damp T-shirt and staring out a window in the IMU at the gloomy day. He said he only got a little wet because he was in class all day.\nBut not all students were victims of the sporadic torrential downpours.\n"It doesn't surprise me it rained because last year it rained at least once a week," sophomore Alicia Gehlhausen said.\nNot only did the rain affect students' moods, it affected road conditions for many campus and Bloomington drivers.\n"There was a slight increase in traffic accidents and a small increase in flooding," Bloomington Police Department Sgt. Anthony Pope said. \nBPD reported at least two traffic accidents -- one on north Walnut Street and another on south State Road 46 which sent victims to Bloomington Hospital.\nTwo traffic accidents kept the IU Police Department busy as well, according to Sgt. Tim Lewis, who said the IUPD worked at least three accidents by 8 p.m.\nTwo accidents -- at Atwater and Hawthorne streets as well as 10th and Woodlawn Streets -- involved only property damage and no injuries. At 11th and Woodlawn streets, two cars were involved in an accident where one of the drivers complained of neck pain, but refused an ambluance.\nLewis advised drivers to slow down in difficult weather.\n"Particularly in this weather because the rain makes things more slick," he said. "There's more traffic and pedestrians now (that school has started again) and people need to slow down and take into account all these factors."\n-- Contact staff writer Brandon Morley at bmorley@indiana.edu.