Some had to work anyway

James Klimas huddled over a manhole near the Castle yesterday afternoon, trying to stay warm. While campus thoroughfares were deserted, the Bell of Pennsylvania cable splicer, dressed in a hooded parka, work pants and insulated boots, shivered as he installed new telephone lines. "You need to wear a lot of clothes [to keep warm]," he explained. "Don't be concerned about what you look like, and don't stay out longer than you have to." Energy shortages prompted by frigid temperatures and slick sidewalks closed the University yesterday, three days after the second winter storm in as many weeks hit Philadelphia. But for essential personnel like Klimas who had to report to work, there was little time to worry about the weather. For him, and for many University employees, it was business as usual yesterday. Essential services are those that must remain in operation at all times – regardless of emergency conditions – in order to maintain the health, safety and well-being of the University community, said Dining Services Director Bill Canney. And students always need to eat, even if the University officially shuts down. "Food is an essential part of life, sustenance is required," Canney said. "We'll do whatever we have to do to provide food service to the University community, especially our students." Meanwhile, Dining Services has developed contingency plans to deal with the possibility of power outages at its locations, including instituting "paper service" if dishwashers are not operating. "I wouldn't have people eating with their hands," Canney said. Unlike Canney's employees, workers who were stationed outside yesterday had a single concern: the cold. And all of them offered the same suggestion as University Police Officer Marty Turofski. "Dress warmly," he said. James Wargo, director of the University's Physical Plant, agreed. "Put a heavy coat on, put a hat on so you don't lose all of your body heat, and wear insulated, non-slip boots," he said. "We're spreading 'no-skid'; it has a better effect on the ice than we thought it would." "It's not sodium chloride, it's crushed stone and lime. It's marking up the ice well, breaking some of it. We're spreading it all over walkways, and we're winning the battle [against the weather]." Additionally, Wargo said, Physical Plant employees are working longer shifts than usual – up to 12 hours per day. With rising temperatures, a new shipment of rock salt expected this afternoon, and strong sunlight over the next few days, he is optimistic that the University will finally be able to "thaw out". Official University departments, however, are not the only entities essential to students' lives. For some, food trucks and street vendors are just as important. Many trucks and tables, though, were conspicuously absent from the streets surrounding campus. Others, like the Quaker Shaker across from Stiteler Hall, remained closed all day. One of Le Anh Huynh's Chinese food trucks, located on Spruce Street near the Quadrangle's Lower Gate, looked to be doing a brisk business. Le Anh and her partner were wearing "lots of jackets to keep warm," and emphasized they had been serving customers quickly all day, so people did not have to wait long in the bitter cold for their food. And vendors on 40th Street added ski hats, headbands and earmuffs to their normal inventory of backpacks and videotapes.