Letter to the Columbia Daily Tribune

To the Editor,

We ask you to look at an uncommon event to reflect on something all too common at MU.

On December 1, 2006, classes at MU were cancelled for the first time in approximately ten years. The Columbia Tribune reported that the 13.9 inches of “snowfall has essentially shut down the city.” Moreover, the very same radio and television announcers that reported the canceling of classes urged residents to stay home, based on emergency officials’ statements.

University staff members, however, were required to come to work.

The staff of the University of Missouri, in short, are met with a double standard. When classes are suspended, the faculty and students are given leave to be absent from their respective jobs and classes. Staff, however, are required to use personal leave, vacation or sick hours for any time missed. This double standard puts the staff at risk for injury and property when traveling to work requires traveling on treacherous roads. The pressure for a staff person with limited leave, such as a single parent, to attempt travel would be very great.

This university policy on weather-related closings is unacceptable. Although the weather that we have experienced recently is rare, the policy points to a troubling double standard that is not rare.


Sincerely,

Members of the Workers in Education at the University of Missouri-Columbia, WE-UMC

Missouri National Education Association

Columbia, MO