Classes to resume despite snowfall

There were snowball fights, snowmen, snow football and even a little snowboarding as Penn's campus came out in full force to celebrate its second snow day of the semester. But to many students' chagrin, at around 8 p.m. last night, Provost Robert Barchi and Executive Vice President Clifford Stanley decided that classes would resume today. However, all non-essential faculty and staff are asked not to report. The winter storm, reported as the worst since the notorious blizzard of 1996, pounded most of the east coast over the weekend and into yesterday, dumping close to 20 inches of snow in the Philadelphia area. With conditions rapidly worsening throughout the day Sunday, the decision to close Penn's campus on Monday, made jointly by Barchi and Stanley came shortly after 11 p.m. "Dr. Barchi and I were talking all day long since the morning," Stanley said. "It was obvious. It was already bad, and we knew it was going to get worse." "It wasn't clear that anyone was going to be able" to get to work, Barchi said. Both noted that the decision was also made to cooperate with the state of emergency declared Sunday by Governor Ed Rendell -- which called for clearing emergency routes by lessening nonessential traffic flow to allow emergency vehicles to get through. "I think we could be able to get things moving by tomorrow," Barchi said last night prior to the announcement. "We're going to be struggling to make up the time for classes." The National Weather Service extended a winter storm warning for blowing and drifting snow, as well as an additional inch of snow and sleet into last night.

"It's pretty bad out there," Cynthia Hite, a Philadelphia Streets Department spokeswoman, said last night. "We're really battling to keep the roads clear." Nevertheless, she added that SEPTA is now running. All through Sunday afternoon and into the night, students checked Penn's Web site and dialed 898-MELT anxiously to catch any word about the school's closing. "I didn't do any work last night," College freshman Nell Miller said. "I assumed there was just going to be no school." As soon as news spread of the official closing, the fun began. Nearby the library, College sophomore Melani Sherman had the real deal. A seasoned snowboarder, she'd been outside for a while making a path for her board, which she keeps at school. "I'm taking advantage of all this snow," she said. "I can't find anyone crazy enough to do this with me." "I go pretty far," she added, though "it was much better last time, because since there was less snow I didn't get stuck as much." Her philosophy, she says, "is wait for 5 inches." Engineering sophomore Randy Chung was outside pelting snowballs at friends for part of the day. While he enjoyed the snow, he noted that "I have midterms all this week and had four classes today." The cancellation of classes today means that "the exams are still on, but there won't be any review sessions," he added, but nevertheless seemed unfazed as he launched another snowball. Others seemed less thrilled.

"I still had to go to Crew practice at 7 a.m. this morning, and I'll have to go again at 5," said College freshman Anthony Oddo, adding that the absence of classes was not such a big deal for him. "Anyway, I'm from Chicago, so I'm used to the snow," he said. "It's not that much." He and a group of friends were off to the off-campus deli Izzy and Zoe's, one of the few places in the area that remained open. Indeed, stores that remained open such as Freshgrocer and McDonald's swarmed with customers throughout the day. The mass closings across campus foiled plans for the day for many students. Engineering sophomore Mike Swavola said his plan for the day had been to get some work done. "I have a 10-page paper I was going to do research for today in the library, and now I can't because it's closed," he said.

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