2008 Woodie Awards
Letter To The Editor: "Employee Reaction To Rollins' Hurricane Wilma Plan"
Issue date: 10/28/05 Section: Opinions
Dear Editor,
The decision not to suspend classes and other activities at Rollins College during Hurricane Wilma was an unsafe and inconsiderate one, not just for the students, but also for the faculty and staff members who were expected to drive here. Who actually came to work on Monday, Oct. 24? Besides Campus Safety and other essential personnel, I would guess that most Rollins staffers wisely decided to remain home. Unfortunately, that morning we had to make the decision between following instructions and heeding our own common sense.
Adding to the frustration was a sense of disconnect from school administrators. The Rollins hotline continued to play the same message from 8 p.m. Sunday night until well into Monday morning, despite increasingly cautious reports from the media. Just as uninformative was the web site, which was only accessible to those with Internet service (or electricity) during the storm.
I doubt that many employees here received President Duncan's Monday morning email until much later in the day, or until Tuesday. In it, he shared some of his reasons for keeping the college open. It was probably better that we didn't see the message until after the storm.
"While local television reporters have made occasional comments about workers staying home today," wrote President Duncan, "they do not represent any official opinion."
What local television reporters did represent were the opinions of meteorologists and emergency experts. At 7:10 a.m., Channel 9 reported sustained winds of 50-60 mph in Orange County, with gusts exceeding 70 mph. There was also a tornado watch issued all the way up to Seminole County from 6 to 11 a.m. Orange County emergency managers said to stay off the roads.
"The storm continues to follow a tightly predicted path," President Duncan continued, "with projections for Winter Park to receive less than tropical storm level winds and a series of bands of rain, sometimes heavy, passing through the region, ending around noon to 1 pm."
The decision not to suspend classes and other activities at Rollins College during Hurricane Wilma was an unsafe and inconsiderate one, not just for the students, but also for the faculty and staff members who were expected to drive here. Who actually came to work on Monday, Oct. 24? Besides Campus Safety and other essential personnel, I would guess that most Rollins staffers wisely decided to remain home. Unfortunately, that morning we had to make the decision between following instructions and heeding our own common sense.
Adding to the frustration was a sense of disconnect from school administrators. The Rollins hotline continued to play the same message from 8 p.m. Sunday night until well into Monday morning, despite increasingly cautious reports from the media. Just as uninformative was the web site, which was only accessible to those with Internet service (or electricity) during the storm.
I doubt that many employees here received President Duncan's Monday morning email until much later in the day, or until Tuesday. In it, he shared some of his reasons for keeping the college open. It was probably better that we didn't see the message until after the storm.
"While local television reporters have made occasional comments about workers staying home today," wrote President Duncan, "they do not represent any official opinion."
What local television reporters did represent were the opinions of meteorologists and emergency experts. At 7:10 a.m., Channel 9 reported sustained winds of 50-60 mph in Orange County, with gusts exceeding 70 mph. There was also a tornado watch issued all the way up to Seminole County from 6 to 11 a.m. Orange County emergency managers said to stay off the roads.
"The storm continues to follow a tightly predicted path," President Duncan continued, "with projections for Winter Park to receive less than tropical storm level winds and a series of bands of rain, sometimes heavy, passing through the region, ending around noon to 1 pm."