Rain causes slick paths

The beauty of the freshly-fallen snow from last weekend's storm has quickly turned into a safety concern for IU students and professors.\nKelley School of Business Professor Wayne Winston slipped and fell on a sidewalk around the arboretum at approximately 10 a.m. Monday. Winston suffered a broken hip and is currently receiving treatment at Bloomington Hospital. \nWinston cited icy sidewalk conditions as the main reason for the fall but also blamed his own lack of caution for the hip injury.\n"It was icy, and I was walking down a hill toward the HPER," Winston said. "I slipped and broke my hip, and I should have been more careful."\nWinston said he is unhappy about the fall and injury but does not necessarily blame the University. \n"I think they should have put down more salt," Winston said. "Basically, I feel horrible because I've broken my hip, but I'm not going to blame (the University)."\nRisk Management Director Larry Stephens said worker's compensation would be an option for Winston because the accident occurred on University property during normal business hours. Stephens also said Winston's accident was not an isolated event.\n"His only recourse would be worker's compensation," Stephens said. "Yes (such accidents have happened before), while I don't want to say it's common, it has happened."\nIf Winston seeks worker's compensation, Stephens said the amount of money allotted to him depends upon the severity of the injury.\n"In terms of workers compensation, depending on the type of break, it could be $40,000 or $100,000," Stephens said. "It depends upon the age, the type of break and other variables. After all, hospital bills are not cheap these days."\nIcy sidewalks near Dunn Meadow and slippery stairwells in Ballantine Hall were treacherous pitfalls Monday afternoon. Sophomore Elizabeth Rees said she witnessed numerous people slipping on the ice. \n"I saw people falling all over the University," Rees said. "There should be some changes made. It should be safe to walk around the campus, especially with so many people going to classes every day."\nThe IU physical plant cleared only some areas during the wet morning. \n"Some of the sidewalks haven't been cleared," Physical Plant Campus Division Manager David Hurst said. "That's all there is to it." \nWhile Stephens said IU's road and sidewalk conditions were bad in certain places, he said the University is doing the best it can with the problem.\n"There's only so much that can be done to keep the sidewalks clean," Stephens said. "Especially when it gets so cold the ice-melt simply won't work. So this is certainly a peak time for falls."\nDespite the severity of his injury, Winston said he has not thought about pursuing legal action against IU.\n"It depends on how bad the injury is," Winston said. "I haven't thought about (legal action against the University), and I won't think about that for months."\n-- Contact senior writer Dan Patrick at djpatric@indiana.edu.