Collegiate Times

Although classes were not cancelled yesterday, the inclement weather forced the university to declare a snow and ice emergency. This declaration puts in effect certain parking restrictions on Washington Street, Kent Street, South Drillfield Drive and Spring Road.

Taking effect yesterday after 5:30 p.m., these roads were changed to no-parking zones until snow emergency status is lifted. If the snow emergency continues today, official no-parking signs will be displayed. Failure to obey these new parking zones will result in cars towed at the owner?s expense. The snow emergency also affects residential permit holders, who are now expected to park in the Duck Pond Road resident lot or the Stadium resident lot at all times.

Virginia Tech also experienced some cancellations, but no buildings were officially closed by the university. The academic decision to close buildings and cancel classes lies with Provost Mark McNamee.

Mark Owczarski, university spokesman, said the provost does not make the decision alone and collaborates with Kurt Kraus, vice president for business affairs, and Linda Woodard, assistant vice president in the department of human resources. Cancellations are not always applied across all departments or throughout the day. Weather and road conditions are unpredictable and are constantly evaluated with the safety of students and faculty in mind.

?When you have a situation with inclement weather the individual situations warrant different decisions. It?s not cut and dry because the university is responsible for activities early in the morning as well as in the evening,? Owczarski said.

Owczarski said critical services, such as the police station, are always open. It is the responsibility of the administrators to determine what buildings are superfluous and to keep open critical services that are needed by students and faculty. At a time of the year when studying for final exams is significant, library availability holds more importance.

Owczarski said that many factors are considered when the decision is made to close or remain open: specifically the amount and type of precipitation, the condition of roadways around the university region, the condition of parking lots and the availability of public transportation.

The annual snowball fight on the Drillfield, a tradition that pre-dates the 1930s according to reports from the Collegiate Times, returned to campus last night as well, drawing a crowd of roughly 250 mostly male participants by 8 p.m.

Students learned of the brawl through word of mouth, brandishing gloves and even slingshots. Chris Bell, a freshman general engineering major and member of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets, sported a Santa hat and said that he heard about the tradition from his peers in the corps.

The snow also affected Roanoke schools, which canceled classes for the day. Departmental offices in Roanoke also experienced reduced schedules. Victoria McCormick, the Roanoke county school communications director, said all 12-month employees reported to work at 10 a.m. McCormick said that the superintendent also closed offices early and employees were allowed to leave around 3 p.m.

If snow continues to fall, official notifications of closings regarding Virginia Tech can be found on the Virginia Tech homepage or the WeatherLine at (540) 231-6668.

News Editor Michael Sutphin contributed to this report