Editor’s Note:

In Wednesday’s column by Zachary Downes, he had claimed President Beverly Warren was not responsible for the cancellation of classes and faculty on the Kent State Campus.

This was not true when we were contacted by university spokesman Eric Mansfield about the discrepancy. Warren does have the final say on whether the campus closes and has the ability to give her input.

Mansfield said, “Tom Euclide, the provost, the police chief, and the VP of Finance all meet and discuss the current conditions, the forecast, and other factors affecting campus and then make a recommendation to Dr. Warren to either remain open, delay, or close. These conversations typically happen between 4:30-5:30 a.m. And if classes will be canceled, we do everything we can to make sure the decision is communicated to the public by 6 a.m.”

We apologize for any confusion the column may have generated.

Northeast Ohio tends to be a frozen tundra. We are all aware of the horrid climates that strikes Kent, Ohio, every spring semester. And every spring semester, the student body tends to take to Twitter and beg the Kent State president to cancel class. This is the most annoying process I’ve witnessed in my last three years at Kent State.

To be completely fair, Beverly Warren does not decide if school is cancelled due to inclement weather. Warren is probably in the same state-of-mind as everyone else when the temperatures are below zero and no one wants to walk across campus.

Tom Euclide, the associate vice president of Facilities Planning and Operation, and a couple other people decide on whether the main campus will close.

Unfortunately, this group of people rarely votes in our favor to cancel class. However, would you rather rough the cold weather for a couple weeks or have school be extended into your summer vacation? So the next time you want to blow up Warren’s Twitter, do know that she cannot do anything about it. She might be able to throw Tom a suggestion, but she has no say in whether to cancel school.

Another thing that is really annoying around this time of year are the people who are surprised that it gets cold in Ohio. Now, the people who are excused are the people who come from places like Southern California or Florida. It doesn’t typically snow there, so I can understand why the snow seems like a foreign experience.

However, if you are from any northern part of the United States, you probably understand that it snows from December to March (and sometimes April).

So tweeting “I don’t know why it’s snowing” on Feb. 2 really baffles me. If it was June 2, I still would not be surprised. All four seasons can happen in one day in Northeast Ohio, including the fifth season: construction.

Now, the weather does stink. I feel that we should not have to walk to class with the fear of going to the hospital for frostbite. If you are old enough to remember, good old Lester Lefton once emailed us saying to walk through buildings to stay warm when the temperature was negative 12. I think that was the day I protested the Kent State government and did not go to class for two days.

Moral of the pointless story: It gets cold in northeast Ohio so stop complaining about the weather. It happens every year, like clockwork. We know it’s going to happen. Stop acting surprised when white stuff is falling out of the sky and you slip on the sidewalk. That is called ice. It is dangerous, and you cannot walk on it.

Contact Zachary Downes at [email protected].