Snowballs fly as Penn closes

Students found different ways to spend the day, from sledding to sleeping to watching TV. When College sophomore David Hittinger opened the front door of his fraternity house yesterday morning, he was shocked to see an empty Locust Walk. Wharton senior John Leong had a similar experience. "I went outside and found everything was closed -- it was so quiet at 7 a.m.," he said. After returning to their rooms, both students found out that classes had been canceled due to the snowstorm the night before, which left almost a foot of powdery snow on the ground. But the early morning quiet did not last for long. Later in the morning, hundreds of students -- bundled up in ski parkas, scarves, gloves and hats -- filled the courtyards of upper and lower Quad as they pelted one another with snowballs. Students could also be found romping on the lawns in front of the high rises and on College Green. "I was frolicking in the snow because I'm from Florida," Engineering senior Jill Korschgen said. "I don't get to do this very much." Some students used the Quad's Junior Balcony as a fort, hurling snowballs at those who dared pass below and tackling each other to the ground in fits of giggles. Not all students outside played in the snow, however. College sophomore Brant Kuehn saw his day off as an opportunity to run errands -- to the bank, the florist and the barber shop. He said he was disappointed and shocked to find all three closed. "Back in Utah, businesses don't close down for just a few inches of snow," Kuehn said. "The world goes on -- people panic here." Some students, however, had no desire to spend any time outside, braving the cold. "It's a good day to be inside," College sophomore Kate Moore said. She invited a few of her friends to her room to lounge and enjoy hot chocolate while listening to soothing music. College sophomore Arpan Punyani also stayed inside, but not to relax. "I'm working, unfortunately," Punyani said on his way to a computer lab. "But I'm planning to play basketball today." In the midst of writing her name in the snow, Bianca Bacinschi, a College freshman, stopped to ponder the significance of the snow day. "God is giving me a second chance to do my reading for tomorrow," she said. "But it is so distracting with everyone playing outside." Still others took the snow day as the perfect opportunity to catch up on some much needed sleep. Alex Kapur, a College freshman, was just rolling out of bed at 2:30 p.m. Kapur said he planned to spend the day recovering from last week's rush activities. Because the weekdays do not afford much time for TV watching, Korschgen said she was looking forward to staying home and watching Days of Our Lives. Unfortunately, the snow foiled her plans. "I'm bitter because [the soap opera] wasn't on because of the news," Korschgen said. But Ware College House Graduate Advisor Autumn Grice was able to spend the morning catching up on some of her favorite shows. She did not intend to spend the entire day in front of the TV, though. "My students and I want to go sledding," Grice said. But there was one complication to her planned snow day fun. "We don't have a sled," she said. The creative GA borrowed a tray from dining, and had plans of using it as a makeshift sled. Although students took advantage of the snow day in different ways, few would disagree that a "snow day is like a free day," as College freshman Lance Kaminsky said. And few would mind having another snow day this year. "I never thought I'd see a snow day before I graduated," College senior Jessie Beller said.

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