I hope everyone survived the early spring holiday after Raleigh enjoyed a fresh 3-6 inches of apocalyptic snow that forced stores to close and kept people indoors. Not being from the Raleigh area, I found myself taking pictures of the bare bread aisles, empty beer sections and complete lack of bacon and meat. And though some of these aspects of the storm may have seemed funny to me, they enabled me to fully understand the cause of the severity of a storm that might seem normal to someone from the Midwest or Northeast. 

It is well known that Southern states don’t have the resources to take care of the roads during a snowstorm, and someone unaccustomed to snow lacks the knowledge to take care of his or herself in this situation. But with N.C. State offering courses teaching everything from the basics of exercise to beekeeping, why doesn’t it offer a winter weather education class?

This past weekend caused an incredible amount of unnecessary damage that would have been completely avoided by a society that is more educated about winter weather conditions. Yes, the snow accumulated on the roads, but there are some parts of the country that have snow-covered roads for the better half of winter, and their economies don’t come to a halt. And we can’t solely blame the lack of plows either, because even in the most snow-accustomed cities, trucks only plow the main roads. The roads would be drivable if everyone knew some basic snow driving guidelines. It doesn’t help that the media put an apocalyptic image in the heads of southerners and tell everyone to get home at the same time — which would have even gridlocked a normal weather day. An introductory class about the basics of driving, braking and other unspoken rules is all that would be required because I realize storms like this don’t happen very often.

This may sound ridiculous, but I find it strange that universities require students to take health exercise classes to fulfill the graduation requirement. I am an extreme advocate for living an active lifestyle and eating healthy, but universities are not responsible for keeping kids off the couches if they are not responsible for educating the public about basic winter weather safety.

By the time students enter college they are considered “adults,” and they are responsible for their own health and wellness. They should be able to take care of themselves and live a healthy life if they so choose. Universities should encourage physical exercise, but they don’t need to require it. The last time some students had a required physical fitness class may have been their freshman or sophomore year of high school, but they may have elected to participate in sports or exercise for the remaining years of high school. Requiring a physical fitness class takes me back to the days of the boring P.E. classes of elementary school, and students don’t normally have a good association with something that is required. So instead of universities taking responsibility for the students’ level of activity, they should let the “adults” decide how they will spend their time. At some point they have to learn how to maintain a healthy lifestyle on their own, and a one-credit fitness walking class isn’t going to change their minds about how they are going to live their lives. 

This doesn’t mean colleges shouldn’t offer fitness classes, but rather that they should stop requiring them and instead allow students to choose. If universities don’t feel responsible for the safety of students, then why should they feel responsible for the health of students? 

Send your thoughts to Tyler at technician-viewpoint@ncsu.edu.