4 Friday, February 4, 2005

got this idea and it worked.” Gregory Hanf, manager of Residence Life and Vickie Weaver, director of Safety and Security, coordinated with Kemo to send the packages to 25 soldiers they knew from the 98th Institutional Training Division of the Army Reserve. They are both retired ser-geants who served in the Army Reserve together.

Among those who will be receiving the packages are stu-dents Steven Forsyth, Joshua Hammill, Daniel Saldutti, Security officer and part-time student Jason Swingle, and Capt. Margaret Brescio, a human services and adminis-tration graduate. “I either know them, worked with them or trained them,” said Hanf, of the sol-diers receiving the packages. “They’re not strangers.” Student Jeff Stout, whose father is stationed 30 miles outside of Baghdad, paints a bleak image of the living con-

ditions of American soldiers there: soldiers live out of tents, use a pot on the floor as a latrine and the food they eat is prepared by Iraqi soldiers. “They [his father’s unit] will eat anything, but all they have to eat is Iraqi food,” said Stout. “All of them are losing weight.” Both Stout’s father and the soldiers in his unit need starchy, carbohydrate-rich foods and jerky to help them through the cold Iraqi winter, said Stout. Apart from food and medicine, the packages

include Rider basketball hats and water bottles and “Winter Weekend” t-shirts. According to Hanf, trading college hats has become a common prac-tice amongst soldiers in Iraq. Also included within the pack-ages are Valentine’s Day let-ters from teacher Jess Franco’s class at the Gregory School in Trenton. Donations are still being accepted for the next batch of packages in room 137 of the Bart Luedeke Center.

‘IRAQ’Continued from page 1

and Princeton campuses. The Security officers also check the roads on the campuses and notify the Director of Safety and Security, Vickie Weaver, who then phones Campbell about the situations. “When we give him the call, there has already been so much information gathered, it’s like he’s armed with info,” before making his decision, said Weaver. The reports also note

whether or not Security vehicles have been having trouble on the roads with issues such as trac-tion, according to Weaver. “We’ll notify him of areas that are slippery, icy, or just downright dangerous,” she said. This process takes place extremely early in the morning, as to advise faculty, staff and student commuters. Campbell discusses the conditions with President Mordechai Rozanski and a decision is made between 4:30 and 5:30 a.m. “We’ve got to get the word out to those people before they leave,” said Weaver. “The

University certainly looks at the safety of those who have to drive here.” “Obviously the informa-tion we receive about the major roadways leading to the cam-pus and any state of emergency would be the prime consider-ation in evaluating whether or not to close or delay classes,” said Campbell. However, those hoping for a lot of snow days may want to take into consideration that as the days off add up, students are at risk of being forced to stay for a longer semester. “We do not plan for a number of snow days, but there

are minimum standards for class days that we must meet,” Campbell said. “If the number of class meetings becomes an issue, we would have to plan make-up days.” The University will not close as often as many students think. “My best advice is [for stu-dents] to prepare for classes unless they hear from an official source that a change has been made,” said Campbell. “Since we do not have school busses picking up students, [they] can expect that we will close or delay classes less often than sur-rounding school districts.”

By 6:30 a.m. the informa-tion extension and website is updated to announce the status of the University—whether or not the University has closed or issued a delayed opening. Students should call x. 2000 for the Lawrenceville campus or x. 2001 for the Princeton campus to hear updates about school closings. “Do not call Security to find out if classes are cancelled,” said Weaver, because the lines will be left open for cases of emergency and students will be redirected to call the informa-tion extension regardless.

‘SNOW DAY’Continued from page 2

Vickie Sosnoskie-McLaughlin arranges packages for troops.

Photo by Allen Huang