Students, faculty needed better communication

Students were in the dark Tuesday, and it was not just because of the power failure.

A variety of problems left much of campus without power for short and long periods of time. Some students were worried that they would not be able to eat. Commuter students whose classes were cancelled had to find some way to occupy their time. Dorm residents were without elevator use ­ not so bad if they had a first or second floor room, somewhat taxing if they were on the 14th or 15th.

We know the administration could not predict the power outage and we are sure they did everything in their power to resolve it as quickly as they could. But many students did not know what was going on. Some students, and even faculty members, did not know evening classes had been cancelled.

This is a university; perhaps this can be a learning experience. The administration should develop a plan for power failures and other non-emergency disruptions.

Put someone in the Student Center to keep people updated. Post that information on the school Web site so that even if the power is out, people off campus will have had the opportunity to find out about it.

This solution would help students and faculty who need to know what is going on. It would also help the administration by funneling people with questions to a single source, instead of having people ask questions randomly.

We are not blaming the administration for the power failure. These things happen. We are simply suggesting better communication.