Muncie pothole cost:
$61 a ton for hot-mix asphalt
$75 to $86 a ton for cold-mix asphalt
Winter wonderland
The early months of 2014 were some of the coldest in state history.
University snow removal faculty worked overtime throughout January and February to clear campus so students could get to class safely.
Jean Wheat, a landscape worker, said in February that the extreme snow and ice wasn’t anything new, but overworking was difficult.
“We’ve been working a lot of hours, and we’re seeing more of our fellow workers than our family members,” she said. “So it’s been really tough.”
After the snow in mid-April, Indiana’s snowfall for the year reached 55.7 inches, making the season the state’s third highest snowfall recorded.
Canceling classes
As temperatures plunged to a 20-year record low, President Jo Ann Gora canceled classes for the first time in many years Jan. 6 and Jan. 7. However, this caused making up class time on two Fridays and two Saturdays.
The National Weather Service said wind chills fell as far as negative 28 degrees, which could cause frostbite in 30 minutes.
Muncie declared a snow emergency and warned people to stay off streets.
Saturday classes
After the canceled classes, students received a campus-wide email saying they would have to make up missed classes on the two Friday evenings and Saturdays.
Citing federal regulations, Provost Terry King said professors would be held accountable to make up the missed class time.
“The university will develop a contingency plan for future semesters so that students and faculty will immediately know what to expect when classes are canceled,” the email said.
Backlash
After the announcement, some students took to Twitter asking if it was a joke.
“You must be a special kind of stupid if you think that anyone is going to Saturday classes, Ball State,” @alyssaleanne11 tweeted.
@oliviaromero echoed several people’s sentiments that students can’t cancel plans to make up class time.
“Nobody has time to make up syllabus week on Friday and Saturday. Ball State you’re so confused. #isthisajoke,” she posted.
A petition on Change.org was created looking to get Ball State to “cancel Saturday makeup days.”
The petition eventually reached more than 500 signatures, but the makeup classes were not canceled.
Potholes
In March, months ahead of traditional road repair weather, Muncie road crews had already spent $16,000 more than last year.
Although the crews can fill around 100 potholes each day, students were still worried about keeping their cars out of the ditch when weaving between potholes.
Mindy Wesley, a freshman vocal performance major, said she worried about her vehicle.
“Basically, I’m afraid my car is going to explode,” she said at the time. “I honestly forgot about [potholes] because the ice filled [them] up and now, I’ll probably have to get new tires.”
Junior computer technology major Ryan Zwilling said he preferred driving on the snow because it smoothed out the roads. After the snow melted, he said potholes became a problem near his apartment in University Estates.
“[The road near my apartment] gets a lot of traffic, and you have to try and dodge the potholes,” he said. “But I don’t think it will kill my car.”
Spring snow
Students woke up to a light snow covering cars and sidewalks, 26 days into spring.
Nearly one inch of snow fell in Muncie on April 15, after five days of temperatures in the 60s and 70s.
“My first reaction when it was snowing was something along the lines of like, ‘Please no,’” freshman English education major Joel Summer said.
Snowpocalypse 2011
This year’s canceled classes were three years too late for students who remember the massive snowstorm that hit Ball State in 2011.
The National Weather Service reported ice accumulations of an inch of ice or more and wind gusting up to 34 mph in February 2011.
Students complained at the time that they had to attend class while many state and area school districts took the days off, including Purdue University, which closed both days for the first time since 2007.
Some Facebook posts and groups popped up with memes about how Ball State stayed open
While the university delayed classes Feb. 2, a Facebook event called for Ball State to explain why it didn’t cancel Feb. 1 and Feb. 2 classes all together. The event, called 2011 Snowpocalypse Petition for Sensibility at Ball State University, had more than 3,600 attendees.
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