There has been a long-lasting argument about having school canceled due to the massive amounts of snow and ice Ames has been getting this winter. However, since education trumps being cold, there is only one thing I ask of the school and the city of Ames-work harder at keeping the walkways and streets ice free.

For example, after that beautiful day where Ames received above-freezing temperature weather, all that snow from before turned to lovely slush. The next day, we received rain, freezing rain, then more and more snow. All that slush turned to ice and was topped with a few inches of snow that is getting more and more ice-like with every step students take on it.

I understand that Iowa gets a lot of ice and snow, considering we are relatively far North. However, when there’s a few inches of ice somewhere with heavy traffic and it is hidden by beautiful blanket of snow, students are bound to slip and fall.

There is one solution I would like to ask Iowa State and the city of Ames to consider-invest in more salt and spend more time plowing the streets/highways/walkways.

There should not be a few inches of ice on walkways or piles of snow in the middle of the side walk. It is already hard enough to battle the single-digit cold; students should not have to trek their way through campus in these conditions.  

Personally, I have seen many students slip, fall or do a mixture of both. Parts of campus, especially those that are not heavily used, such as the allies around Engineering or near Ross Hall, have enough ice and snow that students are practically ice skating to class.

As for the city of Ames, there should be a standard by which the sidewalks, highways and streets are held to. Having the streets go unplowed during a storm is making it that much harder for any driver to navigate safely.

The highways especially need more attention. Drivers are normally more impatient and tend to go faster when on a highway, which can easily cause any kind of crash. Thankfully, after the 70 car pile-up on I-35, Ames decided to shut the highway down. Yet, it leaves me to wonder if that pile-up still would have happened if the city would have closed the highway down sooner? There were obviously awful conditions and the roads prevented stopping or quick movements, such as swerving.

In conclusion, drivers and students, keep warm in the cold and stay safe. It is important not to put yourself in a situation that is likely to have a negative outcome. Ames and Iowa State, try to make the walkways and roads better for those who need to travel around the campus or city. We would all appreciate not having to walk like a penguin through campus to potentially avoid falling or driving 10 mph in a 30 to just try and not slide into someone else or slide through a stop sign.