Patrick Kenney
Managing Editor
December 2014 was a pretty disappointing one. While some places have a few inches of snow for the holidays, most of us experienced an abnormally green vacation.
As students attending school in the New England region returned to their campuses towards the end of January, their dreams of a white vacation finally came true.
With winter weather that feels like Massachusetts was picked up and dropped at the North Pole, late January and February have been tremendously impacted by snow, ice and blistering winds.
“This reminds me a lot of 1976 and 1978, when we had tough [winters],” remembered Springfield College Police Chief Mike Sullivan. “The cold is really unusual for this long and this far into the winter. The only good thing is that it will get warmer eventually.”
With the cold and prolonged winter weather comes complications that damper every one trying to live out their normal lives. Mobility, however, has been an important issue for Springfield College.
With the non-stop snow and refreezing, the side walks and roadways throughout the state have slowly started to become figments of our imaginations.
“Some of our students, when the weather gets like this, have a difficult time getting from point A to point B and we decided that we needed a system in place,” continued Sullivan.
As of Tuesday Feb. 24, Public Safety initiated a ‘Mobility Shuttle’ system in order to help any student get to where they need to be on campus. Separate from Pride Ride, the ‘Mobility Shuttle’, is strictly for a winter weather basis.
Snow and ice clutter the pathways and roads, which is right where the ‘Mobility Shuttle’ comes into play. When days are forecasted to diminish travel or transportation, Public Safety will make the call and email the student body.
“We are going to try and send out an email message at 6 A.M. that morning if not the night before the weather hits,” said Sullivan.
“The emails will let people know that the shuttle is available and it will be a door to door service.”
“We want all of our students to be able to go wherever they want on campus.”
The “Mobility Shuttle” gives the ability for every student to get around campus showing that Springfield College is a community of one.