Rain, rain, go away, JMU wants to play

House Editorial

We live in the climate equivalent of Dante’s limbo. The weather in Harrisonburg, in any given week, fluctuates between 80 degrees and sunny to 40 degrees and pouring rain. It has been raining so much in the past few days that it’s rumored computer science majors have abandoned their computer programs and have started working on a large wooden boat. Snow is the winner of the weather beauty pageant with its good-natured, sugary-white smile. Rain, on the other hand, is snow’s ugly stepsister who always vied for attention, but never quite received it.

This dilemma is evidenced by the way JMU has gone about solving its respective weather problems. When it snowed, the maintenance staff spent hours plowing the campus streets and sidewalks and then peppered the pavement with industrial salt. Dining Services allowed students to use Dining Dollars to purchase sleds at PC Dukes for $5. This is how the princess of the weather family should be treated. But, JMU leaves the runt of the litter — rain — fending for itself.

With rain in the forecast today and through the weekend, JMU should pay attention because it is the source of much displeasure for students. Much like the security blue lights positioned around campus for persons who feel they are in danger, there should be ways to avoid the harassment rain brings.

The biggest qualm most students have about bad weather is the closure of the gravel lots. In wet weather, these lots fill up with water and become unusable or swamp the cars that were parked in the originally dry gravel lot, which creates pandemonium. Commuters return to the lot to see their windshields capable of being used as a water slide into the pool that developed from the once-existent parking lot. Paving these lots presents a bit of a conundrum because some of them are leased to JMU — not being owned by the university.

It seems that JMU should be able to work something out with the lots’ owners to pave them — the local economy is more pumped up on students’ dollars than Barry Bonds is on steroids. A stronger effort needs to be taken to make the gravel lots more functional during inclement weather. Putting covered shelters by the ISAT and Miller Hall bus stops also is a simple service the university could provide to the students. The shelters would prevent students from getting on the bus looking like they had just been playing on the makeshift waterslides in the gravel lots.

A covered walkway should be extended from Bluestone Drive to ISAT to facilitate a dryer travel option for students making the pilgrimage to and from the science super center. The walkway could be constructed on the side closest to Interstate 81 to prevent the covered walkways from interfering with the aesthetic beauty of the campus. More canopies and overhangs should extend over walkways so that students could wait outside of buildings for friends without a deluge of water pelting them.

When the weather is bad, the dining halls are also packed with would-be outdoor diners. D-hall is crammed because students are less inclined to grab lunch to-go. A covered patio wrapping around the Chick-Fil-A entrance to Market One would provide some outdoor eating availability when the weather is rainy.

Rain, simply put, is unpleasant. Just because it is not as noticeable as snow does not mean that it should be overlooked. Sure, many students have umbrellas, but how many have those really big ones that keep even their backpacks dry? Rain is one of the unwelcome character traits that ushers in spring. March is barely over, but it seems this year the April showers applied for early admission to JMU.