48 Snow causes class dismissal by Amy Blankenship Bison ed itor More than a foot of snow prompted cancellation of the first day of classes and caused problems with the University 's physical plant last week. For the first time in the history of Harding, classes were cancelled due to snow after a winter storm dumped 13.5 inches of snow on Searcy in a little more than 24 hours. The only previous weatherrelated dismissal of classes was following severe damage from a tornado in the early 1950's. " It was really a difficult decision to cancel classes," said President David Burks. " Up until late Wednesday night, I had planned to go ahead and meet, but decided early Thursday morning it would be best to cancel." Burks also considered dismissing classes on Friday, but determined that most of the students and faculty would be able to attend classes. Several members of the faculty and staff provided transportation for colleagues unable to drive to the campus. "We had good class attendance on Friday," said Burks. Many students took advantage of the postponement of classes to sleep late, go sledding at Skyline, and play ball in the snow. The dining halls were especially crowded on Thursday and through the weekend, as many students unaccustomed to ice and snow decided not to venture away from campus. In addition to the heavy snowfall, temperatures fell at least eight to 10 degrees below normal. According to the National Weather Service, the temperature plummeted to a low of four degrees for three consecutive days early this week, and dropped to five degrees another day. Although these are below normal, the record low in Searcy was set on Feb. 3, 1951, when the temperature fell to 10 degrees below zero. Freezing ternperatures caused numerous problems with the physical plant, according to Dr. William Ryan, physical plant engineer. In Harbin Hall, a break in a pipe caused the loss of hot water used for heating, a pipe which was finally repaired on Tuesday. ' 'They had heat, but since the pipe was broken, we were losing 100 to 150 gallons of hot water per hour," said Ryan. "We chose to lose the water and keep them warm, which covered an eight-day period.'' Another heating pipe in Harbin was frozen as a result of a door being left open, Ryan reported. A window was also left open in Patti Cobb, causing a pipe to break Saturday and flood areas of the building. Students play a game of ice football during January's heavy snowfall. (photo by Bill Tripp) In the American Heritage, a steam valve broke, leaving some residents without hot water. "When the temperature drops below freezing, students need to conserve hot water, because a( this point, the supply begins to deplete very quickly,' ' Ryan noted. He also stressed the importance of closing all doors to the buildings. Ryan said the process of clearing sidewalks and parking lots was slow because many of the crew members, some of whom live as far away as Bradford, were unable to get to campus. Last Thursday and Friday, "only 40 to 50 percent" of the workers were able to work. Ryan said all of the parking lots had been at least partially cleared, with the exception of the Stephens lots. This was due to the large number of cars that have remained in the lot throughout the storm and its aftermath. Despite the many falls that have been taken on the icy sidewalks and streets, Pat Rice, student health nurse, said that only two injuries have been reported. One of these was a result of a sledding accident. Spring Sing practices by Phillip Tucker Bi son assistant editor Alterations have been announced for the 1988 production of Spring Sing, said Dr. John H. Ryan, chairman of the department of communications and director of the musical production. Ryan explained that basically two changes have been made. F irst, .he said "a concerted effort on everyone's part to reduce the inordinate amount of time usually spent in rehearsals" is needed. With fewer, "streamlined," more strategically planned rehearsals, and consequently less overall hours spent, Ryan feels there would be fewer academic burdens on students. Also, the question of choreography and the amount of emphasis it carries has been evaluated . Ryan said while choreography is still an important part of the show, it will not be emphasized as much as in the past. " If clubs do have very difficult steps they want to feature in their show," he said, " they should go ahead with that only if they have some very talented people who can catch on to it very quickly. He suggests shying away from difficult choreography, and performing simpler steps that are just as entertaining and appropriate. This year will mark the 15th production of Spring Sing, which Ryan feels is Harding's largest oncampus recruiting device. Approximately 12,000 are expected to attend, as in the last five years, many of whom will be high school students. The show will once again be held on Youth Forum weekend, a special weekend set aside for high school students to get acquainted with Harding. Four performances have been scheduled for March 3~ April 1 and 2, with 11 groups presently signed to participate.
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