Icy sidewalks lead to student injury

While walking to class last week, University of Northern Iowa freshman Shauna Happel slipped on the ice that had accumulated after the weekend's snow and rainfall. She fell and fractured a bone in her leg.

"(I) was simply walking to class with my roommate on a campus sidewalk, and all of a sudden my foot slid," said Happel, a deciding major. "I felt a snap, and I was on the ground unable to get up. I ended up fracturing my fibula above the ankle and had to have surgery that required inserting a metal plate and screws."

According to Paul Meyermann, UNI's assistant director of operations planning, the operations planning department opted to not put sand down on the sidewalks because each snowfall has "different characteristics." They did, however, put down ice melt.

"While sand can have a temporary help in providing a friction on the surface, it doesn't have melting properties," Meyermann said. "Ice melt is a significantly more efficient use of time, energy and resources."

Meyermann said his team cleaned off all the snow off the sidewalks on Saturday, Jan. 21, but on Sunday, it began raining and freezing.

"This is what we had to deal with on Monday morning," Meyermann said. "We came in at 6 a.m. to put ice melt down, but it takes time."

Ice melt breaks the bond of the ice with the pavement, enabling workers to scrape it off the sidewalks, according to Meyermann. After putting down ice melt, Meyermann and his team spent three days getting all the ice off the sidewalks. Two contractors remove ice and snow from the entrances and steps, while Meyermann's team splits the campus between the north and south sides.

"With 60 miles of sidewalks, it is a challenge to remove any ice or snow because you can't do anything about it until it's down," Meyermann said. "You just have to marshal your resources to cover the large amount of area."

Meyermann, upon hearing of Happel's incident, said he "was very sorry, but maintains (his) decision to not put sand on the sidewalks."

"In hindsight, I do not think it was the wrong choice," Meyermann said. "When you are dealing with an exposure to a hazard, the best way to deal with it is to remove the hazard."

Happel said it was frustrating to traverse campus on crutches in the winter. In her first few days back to class after the surgery, she found the sidewalks were still a sheet of ice and the floors in the buildings were wet and slippery.

"The most frustrating thing for me, though, is the fact that I am not able to play soccer with my team and partake in all of our winter and spring training and conditioning," Happel said. "Spring soccer allows our team to start building a foundation for the following fall and now I am going to miss out on that opportunity."

She said dorm life was especially difficult on crutches.

"Fortunately, I have a great roommate and good friends that have helped me deal with this situation," Happel said.

Happel said many people have expressed to her their outrage at this problem.

"The fact that I have had numerous faculty and students who have been on campus longer than me question why I am not taking legal action makes me realize that this is a serious problem that is being ignored," Happel said. "While I will have to deal with the circumstance I am facing, I can only wish this does not happen to anyone else."

Happel said she would ask Meyermann, "If he felt it was not necessary to put sand down on the sidewalks, then why did a worker at 23rd Street Market go out and spread ice melt all over the sidewalks immediately after I fell?"

Brooke Badker, a freshman math education major, said she thinks it was "kind of stupid not to put sand down."

"I also fell like many students and hit my head pretty hard," Badker said. "I don't think it was a smart decision not to put sand down, especially if some students were seriously injured."

Meyermann said another problem with putting sand down is that it "will blow or get kicked off, but ice melt sticks." In addition, he said sand could get dragged into the buildings, which would ruin the carpet, linoleum and other flooring.

"This type of work is a dynamic process," Meyermann said. "We just try to do the best we can."