Student Life

March 13th 2013 ¢ Over the Edge

UNBC STUCK IN THE ICE AGE?

SHELLEY TERMUENDE,

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & MANAGING EDITOR

Conan Winkelmeyer is in his second-to-last
year of studies at the University of Northern
British Columbia. In his first year, Conan
required the aid of two crutches to remain
mobile; since then, he has worked his way
down to one crutch before moving on to the
brass-headed cane he uses today. Conan thrives
on his mobility around campus, the same as
any other student. Hurdles still exist, however;
in the years Conan has spent working towards
his degree at UNBC, he has been fighting to
improve snow and ice removal around campus.
Being a Fort Nelson native, Conan is no
stranger to the cold, icy weather that frequents
the city of Prince George. He argues that
with increased maintenance through the
employment of weekend staff and_ better
preventative management, snow and _ ice
buildup at high traffic areas will cease to be
an issue for students. “Physical disability does
not play a role here,” he says; having lived in
residence since his arrival at UNBC, Conan
has regularly noted that snow and ice removal
practices have been negligent and filled with
unnecessary bureaucracy. “This is about
improving safety for everyone, regardless of
people’s physical ability.” Conan believes that
the maintenance department and its current
Director, Shelley Rennick, have been unable
to adequately address the concerns of students
in residence, some of whom (like Conan) have
been fighting this issue since 2007. To this day,
contacting facilities services or security to get
a ride to the school is still the main solution
presented to students facing difficulties getting
to and from school due to snow and ice.

On the 9th of November 2007, meeting
minutes were released which included details
on “how to transport disabled students from
residence during inclement weather.” In this
meeting, Godfrey Medhurst, Sheila Keith,
Caroline Russell, Glendon Scott, Shelley
Rennick, Don Maxfield, and Maureen Hewlett
were educated on the possibility of a covered
walkway in the future with the “workaround”
being transporting students via security and
facilities. In the email, Peter Hickey, then
the manager of Risk, Safety and Security,
explicitly stated, “this should not be a regular
occurrence.” Since then, Brenda Christensen
has taken over as Access Coordinator. In this
time, Brenda has been asking for issues of
accessibility to be examined; no concrete
strategies to significantly change the state of
ice and snow removal at UNBC have been

implemented. For Conan Winkelmeyer, this is
not enough.

Many students living in residence have taken
a tumble or two down the slippery slopes that
link the UNBC student residences to the Agora
Wintergarden and the NUSC building. Students
living on residence who are not confined
to crutches, canes or wheelchairs are also
concerned about the state of the ice and snow
buildup around residence. Kelsey Sandhu, a
second year student currently living in residence
said, “Though I have never fallen, it is still a
treacherous journey.” Many students have risked
injury going to and from classes. Rob Giardino
says that it is very easy to get the maintenance
department to assess and deal with complaints
of snow and ice around campus, saying students
just have to call security or facilities and they
will remedy the situation. Conan argues,
however, that remedying the situation involves
more than simply dropping a pile of gravel on
the affected area. On March 4th, Giardino said
he is trying to advocate aid for Conan and other
disabled students, but when asked about the
maintenance practices, Giardino stated, “I have
not had many dealings with maintenance or
with Shelley Rennick.” Giardino argues that he
has done his homework and he has worked to
offer every possible solution short of repaving
the area.

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Selena Hunjen, an able-bodied undergraduate,
and another UNBC resident who chose to
remain nameless spoke about how she suffered
a fractured ankle and torn ligaments from a fall
she took on the ice covered pathway in front of
the Neyoh residence on Monday, November
28th, 2011 at 8:30am. At the time of the
accident, Selena was wearing winter boots that
should have been adequate for the conditions
as stated by maintenance crews. Rennick’s
argument was that the snow removal team was
not on shift at the time of the accident, but stated
staff usually is on shift at 7:00 most mornings.
Selena was confined to a wheelchair and had
to undergo extensive physiotherapy, all on her
own dime. To this day, Selena still has problems
walking on her foot. Despite talking to Shelley
Rennick with the threat of legal action and
despite Rennick’s promises to go over security
footage and investigate the situation further,
Hunjen has not received any communications
regarding the remediation of the accident.
Selena argues a disconnect exists between
departments which has resulted in a resounding
disregard towards student safety, leaving the
University of Northern British Columbia stuck
in the ice age. On March 6th, 2013, Hunjen’s
story was brought to the attention of the VP of
Administration and Finance, Eileen Bray. When
confronted, Bray admitted she was not informed
about the incident but insists that whenever an
issue arises, she has a discussion with facilities
services regarding a solution. She wondered if
this was an issue regarding communication and
insists she will inquire into the issue.

This year marks a change in the actions students
are taking to combat the university’s inability to
enact positive solutions to snow and ice build-
up around campus. Conan has taken a stance

f--

online against what he feels are the bureaucratic
shortfalls limiting the success of the snow and
ice removal project at UNBC. He has created
the Facebook group “Neyoh Snow Removal
Weekend Team” to notify students on the
inconsistencies of the snow and ice removal
system currently set in place. By posting time
stamped photos and captions explaining each
situation in detail, Conan hopes to shine a light
on the battle he has been fighting for over six

This is about improving safety for everyone,
regardless of people’s physical ability.

years. Conan has created the Facebook group
in the hopes that he will give a voice to other
students who, in the past, have not been able
to raise concerns on this issue. Rob Giardino,
now current Residence and Student Life
Manager, has asked Conan to take down the
Facebook page as he has offered Conan several
solutions and worries about the repercussions of
promoting students shovelling and de-icing the
area themselves. Rob argues that students would
be taking away employment opportunities for
union members.

On Tuesday, March 5th, Over The Edge
scheduled a meeting with UNBC Facilities
Office Administrator Mandy Plimmer and
Maintenance Supervisor Steve Patton to
discuss UNBC Facilities’ position on the issue
of snow and ice removal. After fifteen minutes
waiting for Steve Patton to show up to begin
the proceedings, Over The Edge was notified
that Steve was delayed and the meeting would
have to be postponed. The following day, Over
The Edge was notified by email that the UNBC
facilities department would not be making a
statement regarding the issue.

When asked how she feels about the current
management practices and whether she feels
the pathways are providing safe access routes
to and from campus for students, Eileen Bray
commends the UNBC facilities department
and argues that Shelley Rennick has been very
proactive in dealing with Conan’s concerns
of accessibility, in addition to those of other
students. Eileen informed Over The Edge
that over the past few years, the university
has actively been working to aid Conan in his
accessibility around campus. Bray states that
by giving Conan unlimited twenty-four hour
access to the NUGSS building and by giving
him full access to campus security to drive

him to and from school, she feels that the
university has done its best to make it known
that “all windows are open regarding student
accessibility.” When asked whether a budget
existed regarding pathway maintenance, Over
The Edge was informed that the budget was
within that of UNBC Facilities staff wages and
expenses. Bray confirmed that Shelley Rennick
issued a budget request three years ago for
approximately $10,000 to allow for UNBC
Facilities to hire more on-call staff and purchase
better resources. Bray holds that as far as she
knows, Monday to Friday, 7:00am to 3:00pm,
there are staff actively out laying down ice melt
and gravel, clearing pathways and thanks to the
budget increase, there is more staff available
for after-hours maintenance. Eileen Bray states
that she traverses the campus on a regular basis
and believes the current maintenance practices
are effective. She states that injury on the ice is
usually the result of inadequate footwear for the
weather conditions.

Under the current contract UNBC holds for
insurance, UNBC Facilities is required to
keep and submit detailed log books of weather
conditions in addition to dates and times when
pathways have been cleared and where they
have been cleared. As for road and parking lot
conditions, UNBC is working with an external
contractor who is required to clear the roads
within a limited timeframe that a complaint has
been made.

In the time Over The Edge has been researching
this article and been gathering interviews,
many students will likely have noticed the
sudden improvement in the maintenance of
the walkways. This sudden improvement
showcases the form of reactive management
often associated with the University of British
Columbia facilities department.

The University of Northern British Columbia
prides itself with its reputation of being “a
welcoming place, with a learning environment
that is friendly, inclusive, and supportive.” The
University’s past and current insufficiencies
to clear up concerns regarding dangerous
conditions of pathways showcase the hypocrisy
in UNBC’s fundamental mission statement.
Conan, along with the concerned students of
UNBC has vowed that he will continue to fight
the overwhelming bureaucracy that shadows
what is in his mind, a very simple problem to
permanently resolve.