Ice, Ice Baby Part 2

I’m writing this at 8 am just in case my power goes out today. Woke up at 7 to see ice dangling off the Adirondack chairs on my deck. I took a step out out on the deck to take this picture and I slid around, so it is definitely a good idea NOT to be driving on this mess. There is ice on the tree limbs too, but they are not bending low just yet. Right now it is raining (not sleeting) which I hope is a good sign. The temps are hovering around 32 and will get up to 35 later, which should help us.

As long as people’s power stays on, we will run the Call Center (336.758.7500) today from 10 am-5 pm and try to maintain those hours through the weekend too. Because we might be short on staff because of the weather situation, it would be helpful if you direct problems to the Call Center, and feedback on policy or process to our COVID email form (those DO get read and shared). We just want to keep the Call Center lines free for issues that need a timely response. Thank you for your understanding. In the event the Call Center cannot operate at all, see our After Hours Help page for emergencies.

Classes were canceled today. Your students got this message to notify them; it has information about dining and healthcare and more. Be assured that our students in quarantine or isolation ARE being fed even though classes are canceled today; they got extra meals delivered lastnight, with either an email or a paper message in their meal bag explaining the early delivery was due to the fact that we couldn’t predict that roads would be passable in the am for staff to deliver breakfast and lunch. We anticipate roads will be better by dinnertime for that delivery.

I will update this post later today if there is any additional news. Right now I am just thinking good thoughts that we stay more in the ‘rain’ range and less in the ‘ice’ range. Enjoy some shots of campus from our Riley Herriman (’22) at the end of this post.

A program note to share – saw this cool flyer for WakeHacks – which sounds ominous but is not. This story explains more about the process; here is an excerpt:

An effigy bowl from [Wake’s] Western Mexican Collection is one of three cultural objects inspiring a Blockchain challenge in the upcoming Wake Forest Hackathon March 6 and 7. Others include a Fijian oil bowl discovered by the 18th Century British explorer Captain James Cook, and antiquities from sites in Southwest Niger.

The WFU Hackathon is organized and hosted by Wake Forest computer science students. Undergraduate and graduate students nationwide are invited to participate in this year’s remote event to explore ways that blockchain technology can aid in the historical tracking and restitution of cultural property. Blockchain is a system of recording information in a way that makes it difficult — if not impossible — to change, hack or cheat the system. What the students discover may help museums and art collectors worldwide.

You don’t have to be a master coder to participate. This sounds super cool, and I hope your Deacs are interested (and there is a cash prize!).

UPDATE 4 pm – Same chair, MUCH better shape.

I know we had some disappointed students at the hotels who were supposed to be released today and had been told they had to wait until tomorrow due to the ice storm. We did not want anyone trying to drive on ice (I am from PA and will drive in all the snow in the world, but ice is another story). A few families asked why we made that call yesterday rather than this morning (when we could see road conditions); my best guess on that is because we needed to make sure all the parties who would need to weigh in on safety, logistics, etc. had power and phone service to talk out those details, and that was not a given for this morning with our forecast. The good news is now that we have warmed up, we are going to release those students at the hotels this afternoon. So we will have some happy early released students!

— by Betsy Chapman, Ph.D. (’92, MA ’94)