University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: October 19, 2006

By MARY COCHRANE
Contributing Editor

The university—closed from last Friday through Monday as the result of the early fall snowstorm that devastated surrounding communities—reopened Tuesday, thanks to a team effort by hundreds of UB employees, many of whom worked 36 hours straight to restore full power and provide safe passage on the campuses.

A grove of trees behind the Governors Complex on the North Campus was hit hard by the storm, which dumped nearly 2 feet of snow that snapped tree limbs and downed power lines.
PHOTO: NANCY J. PARISI

President John B. Simpson, who returned late Monday evening from a trip to China, where the storm made international news, said on Tuesday that he was impressed by the progress made on campus to resume classes, operations and activities, and address storm damage.

"It will clearly take some time before the university and our surrounding communities are fully recovered, but it says a great deal about our UB family that so many of our members—many of whom continue to deal with post-storm challenges in their own homes—have pitched in to aid in the recovery effort on campus and elsewhere in our communities," Simpson said.

"I think we'll always remember October of 2006 for its historic storm," he noted, "but we'll also remember it as a vivid illustration of the dedication, compassion and caring that characterize the members of the UB community. Those are the qualities that connect us as a university community, and they have been shown in abundance throughout this trying time."

Louis J. Schmitt, facilities operations director, said UB has approximately 350 facilities employees, and over the course of the weekend "virtually all of them had some impact on the recovery."

"From the custodians to the grounds workers to the tradespeople—the electricians and plumbers—to the people from public safety, transportation and the residence life workers; it was a great team effort," Schmitt said. "And our friends at Environment, Health and Safety Services did all the disaster planning long before this."

Gerald W. Schoenle Jr., chief of police and public safety, said that most of his staff stayed to work double shifts Thursday evening as the heavy, wet snow began accumulating and knocking down trees and power lines across the region.

Despite losses of power from south of Buffalo to Niagara County, the university was without power for "only a short time" on Friday, Schoenle said, and switched to using back-up generators "so we had emergency power, heat and water for almost the entire time."

"The worst damage," Schmitt said, "was to the trees on both campuses. The South Campus, with its mature trees, was hit hard and certainly decades of growth have been lost there. The North Campus trees, which were put in in the 1970s and had just started to turn into mature trees, also have lost many of their branches."

Schmitt acknowledged that the cleanup is far from complete, and asked for help from the UB community in the recovery process.

"We will be working for a long time with the issues coming out of this storm," he said. "The students and staff are our eyes and ears. We look forward to people calling us and alerting us to any problems, such as a door that might not be working or a broken window."

Despite obstacles created by the record-breaking snowfall and its aftermath, UB students fared well in general during the storm's aftermath, helped by the Student Union staying open around the clock beginning Saturday to provide shelter for off-campus students whose apartments and homes lost power, the Undergraduate Library in Capen Hall opening on Sunday, and North Campus libraries resuming their regular hours on Monday.

"We ran the Student Union 24 hours a day starting Friday so that students who needed someplace to be warm and a place to gather had somewhere to go," said Dennis R. Black, vice president for student affairs.

Students and working staff also enjoyed a full menu of hot meals provided by Dining Services, part of Campus Dining and Shops, on Friday evening. That night, the Governors Complex and Red Jacket Quadrangle in Ellicott Complex, both on the North Campus, served 2,000-plus diners—no one was turned away.

"On a typical Friday night, a large percentage of our students go off campus to eat," Black said. "This Friday night, students began arriving at 4 p.m. and no one left the campus, and they brought along about 1,000 of their friends who had moved in off-campus or who came to the campus for heat and warmth."

Although Dining Services was understandably short-staffed that evening, "we had probably the biggest dinner we've ever had," Black said, adding that residence hall assistants came along with the students to help serve the meals, which included a variety of pasta dishes, chicken and biscuits, salads, a soup bar and desserts.

"The RAs were our servers and bus people," he said, adding that the serving didn't stop until everyone had been fed.

Black credited Mitchell L. Green, executive director of Campus Dining and Shops, with the smooth running of the evening.

Green said only 20 or so of the 180 full-time kitchen staff were in on Friday evening when students began arriving, hungry for hot food, so some of his administrative staff pitched in to help prepare and serve dinner.

Earlier that day, Dining Services served brunch to "over 1,600 people," Green said. "Normally we'd feed about 150," he said.

Green said his staff served 1,450—"versus a normal count of 900"—diners in Red Jacket, and another 670 in Governors—"versus a normal count of 350"—whether or not the diners were "regulars."

"We fed basically anybody who showed up at the door," Green said. "I estimate that we gave away 1,600 meals over the three-day period to people who didn't have anywhere else to go."

There was plenty of food to go around, he added, because "We always have two or three days of food on hand." Vendors made deliveries to UB on Saturday and Monday, so Dining Services already has re-stocked its shelves.

Green thanked his staff members, some of whom "were putting in 16-hour days" to keep the campus fed. He even managed to provide concession services at the UB football game that was rescheduled to be played on Sunday.

"With everything else going on, we were able to square off a couple people to open up a stand that day," he said.

Black reminded students and staff returning to UB Tuesday that "40 percent of traffic lights are still out in the Town of Amherst and many of the sides streets in the surrounding areas are down to one lane." He encouraged all to keep to the main streets around campus and if possible, use public transportation and carpooling to travel to campus.

Shuttle buses, which ran intermittently over the weekend, were back to their full schedule on Tuesday.

Schmitt cautioned those returning to UB to take extra care as they navigate their way back to classes and offices.

"I would advise everyone to take extraordinary precautions on walkways to make sure they don't walk into branches and tree limbs," Schmitt said.