Collegio Online

Issue date: 1/24/08 Section: Campus Life

Media Credit: Aaron Anders Freshman Stephanie Peterson scrapes the ice off of her windshield piece by piece in order to see out of the car at the Nation Hall Parking lot, Sunday Dec. 9.

Media Credit: Aaron Anders The ice storm Monday December 10 caused approximately 90 percent of the trees on campus experienced damage and about half of those trees were damage significantly.

Media Credit: Aaron Anders The ice storm Monday December 10 caused approximately 90 percent of the trees on campus experienced damage and about half of those trees were damage significantly.

While most of Pittsburg has recovered from the storm in early December that coated the town in inches-thick ice, there are a number of people on campus whose jobs have only just begun.
"We've already cut down nine trees," said Larry Miller, grounds maintenance supervisor. "There's still about six more old elm trees that have suffered, and three or four more that have so much significant damages that we may have to take out because of the way they broke."

Miller says that the maintenance crew's first priority was removing anything from the campus that could be hazardous.
"Initially, the first thing, of course, is safety for the people in the area - the students, professors and staff," Miller said. "We tried to make sure we got all of the stuff on the sidewalks and things that were hanging off first."

While students and staff left for break only days after the storm hit, workers managed to get the initial damage under control.
"We were able to get the bucket truck in and do a lot of the clean-up work; branches that were broken but not ready to fall," Miller said. "Then we had stacks and stacks of broken limbs in the oval."

After gathering up all of the debris, Miller and his crew began moving it off campus. Luckily, Miller says, they were able to use the city's disposal site, just a mile and a half away from campus.

Miller says that he and his crew have been fortunate in that all of their machinery has been holding up. They have, however, had to purchase basic supplies, like an extra chain saw and back-up chains for each of their old saws.

The last time Miller saw anything similar to the December damage was in January of 2002.

"I remember walking across the oval and hearing crack, crack, crack as branches fell, but this was even worse," Miller said. "We still have a lot of tree trimming to do. We still have to go back and make a lot of corrective cuts because a lot of them are still jagged."

Tom Amershek, director of building trades and landscape maintenance, says that his group didn't tackle all of the clean-up work alone.

"I had a couple a painters that stayed and helped, and some plumbers and welders help, and I've had some carpenters," Amershek said. "They usually pitch in and help each other and we need to do that."

Amershek says that a lack of electricity meant students in the dorms had to get creative for their entertainment.

"I'd see kids out playing," Amershek said. "One night I came out here and there were students walking from the dorms with flashlights and blankets going to the Axe Library. They were laughing and going down the street. There's not a lot they could do."

With months of cold weather still ahead, Amershek says that he feels the university is prepared.

However, one of the problems that the university faces, Miller says, is that they are only funded to plant a relatively small number of trees each year on campus. With nine trees already lost and six more that may soon be lost, the campus may look a little barren.

Both Miller and Amershek say that they'd be open to any organization interested in volunteering or even making donations for the funding of new trees.

"That would be a commendable project for someone," Miller said.

Amershek says that the way the university looks adds to the educational experience.

"I think there is a lot of pride in how our university looks," Amershek said.

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