By Duke Staff
As snow drifts across the Bluff, and students wear gloves or mittens while clasping hot beverages for warmth, they carry the same conversations across campus:
“It’s cold!”
Yes, it is. But what’s easy to forget is that in retrospect, this year’s students of Duquesne have it easier in the winter months than previous years.
For starters, it’s not even that cold. In 1994, temperatures plummeted to minus 22 degrees according to the National Weather Service. This week’s highs may not reach more than 30 degrees but it certainly is a reality check as you brave Academic Walk to class.
On top of that, current precipitations aren’t even close to holding a record. In 1975, the Steel City was blanketed in a record 26 inches in one day. One day! Compare that to the accumulated eight inches that fell in all of January, Pittsburgh has seen a lot more snow fall in days prior.
Ask your grandparents, they walked uphill both ways to school during much worse.
Speaking of commutes, it seems unnecessarily hasty to cancel classes or appointments at the drop of a snowflake in today’s age. It’s 2014. With the technology we have access to, communication, classes, meetings and much of today’s learning can be done virtually anywhere. With wifi available in many public places, not to mention campus dorms, a Google hangout could replace a class period in a pinch and with the use of email, assignments can still be turned in on time.
Outside of the classroom, there is absolutely no excuse to sacrifice safety for fashion’s sake when going out on the weekend. Miniskirts and button-ups will not keep you warm at night on the South Side. We know you have those $200 North Face jackets and lined UGG boots. Use them. Otherwise the only “looks” you’ll be getting is from the emergency room staff at UPMC Mercy.
In examples of extreme cold weather, take refuge yourself or direct the less fortunate to one of the five shelters Pittsburgh offers in addition to the 14 newly designated “warming shelters” Mayor Peduto has enforced as of Jan. 7. A list of locations can be found at Allegheny County’s website www.alleghenycounty.us.
So the next time you’re waiting for your car’s heated seats to warm up (bonus fact, they were invented in 1951 by General Motors) and are having thoughts of complaining, let images of the past warm you from the inside and remember that it’s not as bad as it could be. Quit complaining and be grateful that it isn’t worse.
