LSU seems to have an obsession with endangering students’ lives.
The university’s priority should be the safety of its students, but with the first two weeks of school being plagued by nasty weather, that wasn’t the case.
From the polar vortex freezing the South to heavy rains flooding the state, LSU didn’t cancel classes past the first day of the semester nor take any major precautions for the safety of its students.
This had its consequences.
As we all know, Patrick F. Taylor Hall, LSU’s pride and joy, flooded as pipes burst and inundated classrooms, eventually shutting down our beloved Panera Bread. But the results could be much worse than a building breaking down.
Countless car accidents occur on the roads when they’re covered in ice, and the city of Baton Rouge isn’t equipped with the machinery to clear this away. LSU and Baton Rouge, in general, aren’t built with the infrastructure for freezing temperatures, and most students aren’t prepared either.
Any temperature below 31 degrees Fahrenheit can cause frostbite, which can freeze your skin. Baton Rouge faced temperatures as low as 17 degrees Fahrenheit on January 17, the first day of classes.
But what did LSU do? It waited until the last minute to cancel classes, even though the incoming polar vortex freeze was announced by meteorologists far in advance.
Many students travel from out of state, and they had to drive in those dangerous conditions only to arrive and then have class canceled.
Then came the flooding, and LSU refused to cancel classes, again. Not only PFT but other buildings around campus flooded, too, like Lockett, as well as some areas that LSU had to close temporarily, such as Engineering Lane at South Stadium Road.
Yet students were still told to go to class under these inclement conditions. One student splashed his way to class barefoot, the other option being, of course, sloshing away and ruining a pair of shoes, as a video on the LSU Chicks Instagram account shows.
With the option of having class through Zoom, LSU has no excuse for endangering students’ lives and making them attend class in person under hazardous weather. Even though I hate to say it, the University of Alabama canceled classes due to the cold weather they experienced. How can we get beat by Bama?
It’s not a game to see who can resist the worst weather and show up to class, or on the other hand, choose to hurt your grades to protect your safety. LSU can’t keep making its students choose between getting frostbite or soaked in rain and potentially catching a cold just so that we don’t fall one calendar day behind.
The long-term solution to the problem is for LSU to fix the infrastructure to withstand changes in weather, but until that gets done, its priority should be to protect its students’ safety in the ways possible.
School will never be more important than your safety and well-being, and if there’s one thing that’s more important than what’s being taught in class, it’s to make wise decisions and not endanger your life.
Isabella Albertini is a 23-year-old mass communication junior from Lima, Peru.
