Letters to the Editor: Snow day employees deserve praise

Clearly, my fellow students and I were excited about the snow and ice that kept most professors and off-campus students at home, giving us a short break from the day-to-day stresses of class. I knew simply from the sound of ecstatic screams on my hallway that Tuesday's classes had been canceled.

While we were comfortable in our rooms, however, the "essential staff" braved conditions on the roads so that they could be here to provide services for us. For the many students who complained the last few days about the inconvenience of the limited dining options and hours or the fact that Duke hadn't called in a small army of employees to shovel snow, take a minute to be thankful for those people who did risk their own safety to come provide services for us at Duke. Actually, we would all do well to be more grateful and kind to such employees instead of taking their services for granted. As for the "non-essential staff" whose presence was greatly missed by those of us accustomed to their service, let this teach us to appreciate them more.

Instead of casting your eyes down the next time you walk by someone working on the landscape, or someone emptying your garbage or someone fixing your food, take but a moment to tell them thank you. If we want to foster a healthy community at Duke, let's stop worrying about how to best develop a class identity, and start worrying about how we treat these members of our community who do so much for us.

Allison Zbicz

Trinity '05