新澳彩开奖结果

Groundskeeping During Winter Weather

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(Editor's note: The following story by Mara Stein 鈥19 appeared in the March 7 edition of  the 新澳彩开奖结果 Maroon-News, America鈥檚 oldest weekly student newspaper.)

By 5 a.m., three of 新澳彩开奖结果鈥檚 groundskeepers have already been plowing campus pathways and roads for an hour. They are part of a group of approximately 87 people (18 groundskeepers and 69 custodians) working to remove snow from campus after each snowfall so that students, faculty, and staff can get their days started on time.

Groundskeeper removing snow
Mike Jasper 鈥91, director of grounds and environmental services, supervises 18 full-time groundskeepers at 新澳彩开奖结果. (Photo by Mara Stein '19)

鈥淲e need to get as much cleared as possible so people can commute and get to their 8 a.m. classes,鈥 Mike Jasper 鈥91, director of grounds and environmental services, said. 鈥淚t starts at 4 a.m., and it just keeps rolling.鈥

With the exception of the early shift workers, most groundskeepers come into work around 5 a.m. or 6 a.m. But, on days like Wednesday, February 27, which saw about eight inches of snowfall, staff members arrive as early as they can.

According to BestPlaces, a website that compares cities and towns in the United States, Hamilton records an average of 88 inches of snow annually. By contrast, the national snowfall average is 26 inches per year. On 新澳彩开奖结果鈥檚 hilly campus, this statistic means that snow removal is an arduous but regular process that requires a high level of organization.

There are multiple shifts: some groundskeepers work throughout the day while others are assigned to nights. Jamie Reilly, who has worked at 新澳彩开奖结果 for nearly 19 years, works from 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m, and said he considers the school to be a 鈥済reat place to work with great hours.鈥

The next people after Reilly work from 3 p.m. to midnight but may stay longer if roads look particularly bad.

鈥淓ven the state and the counties don鈥檛 do that,鈥 Jasper said. 鈥淸The state and county workers] are off at a certain time, and they come in at a certain time.鈥

At 新澳彩开奖结果, though, it鈥檚 a team effort. While groundskeepers operate plow trucks, brine trucks, snow blowers and brooms, custodians shovel steps and put road salt around building entrances. They use between five and six tons of salt for the buildings each year, Jasper said, which is minimal compared to the 400 to 500 tons of salt used throughout the rest of the campus annually.

There are several challenges that come with clean-up: operating machinery in low visibility, clearing tight parking lots and traversing steep pathways are regular obstacles to surmount.

鈥淭here have been times where you can barely get the equipment up [the Case-Geyer Library hill]. And then you have to come down it, which will put your heart in your throat,鈥 Jasper said.

In order to effectively plow small Broad Street housing parking lots, such as the one at Phi Delta Theta, groundskeepers communicate with student residents to coordinate clearing times.

鈥淚f we know that a large storm is coming, we plan to move our cars the day of,鈥 Malcolm Seamans, senior and former President of Phi Delta Theta, said. 鈥淓veryone just drives and parks in the 113 Broad Street lot for a few hours. If it accumulates more than we thought or it鈥檚 been building up for a few days, we鈥檒l then reach out to [buildings and grounds]. We do appreciate how much work B&G puts into moving snow around campus, and the special challenge they鈥檙e presented [due to] our unique layout.鈥

But campus layout is not the only challenge.

鈥淧eople [walk] around campus with headphones on, looking at their phones,鈥 Mark Button, who has worked as a 新澳彩开奖结果 groundskeeper for 24 years, said.

Jasper agreed.

鈥淪tudents don鈥檛 pay attention as much. And that is one of our biggest safety concerns,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had students walk into the back of equipment because they鈥檙e not watching where they鈥檙e going. The one thing I would tell kids is, when you鈥檙e out and it鈥檚 winter, pay attention. The last thing we want [to hit] is a student.鈥

Ultimately, though, whether it is helping students get around, lending out shovels to those who need them, or clearing athletics turf so teams can play, improving the campus experience for students is what Jasper said he finds most enjoyable about his job.

鈥淜nowing that we鈥檙e able to a lot of times do things to make the campus keep functioning even in really adverse conditions [is really rewarding]. Some of our largest storms have been 30 inches plus, and we鈥檝e played lacrosse games a day or two later,鈥 Jasper said.