ONU Students Find Opportunity

A student reports (anonymously):

Every bad situation can have a positive outcome. After being sent home from campus on Thursday, Jan. 6, my roomates and I spent some time drinking and thinking. Although the drinking part could be looked at as a positive side of the icy situation, there was yet a bigger and better outcome we discovered. In our drunken moments, we decided that since we are business students, lets start up a tree service business. What started as just an idea became reality on Saturday, Jan. 8th. That afternoon, we headed back to icy Ada, Ohio, armed with chain saws. That evening we got our first job offer for $150. The 2 hour job proved profitable so we decided to continue our adventures the next day. On Sunday, Jan. 9th, we collected $850 for cleaning up people's yards. (That's right, we collected a gross profit of $1000 in about 11 hours of work) Our thanks goes out to Dr. Kleine and the rest of the Business college. They have enabled us to always find market opportunities, and how to take advantage of them. The market we targeted was the older, well-off people who did not want to clean up all the tree mess, and had money to pay us to do it. Hats off to Dr. Kleine!

Ah, the value of an ONU education!

News & Information from Ohio Northern University

ONU's News and Information dept just published this synopsis of the ice storm:

Classes resume at Ohio Northern University

Classes resumed at 8 a.m., Tuesday, Jan. 11, at Ohio Northern University, following the ice storm of 2005.

The university dismissed students at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 5, and remained closed due to storm damage caused by a combination of freezing rain and later snow. Ice accumulation on the heavily wooded campus caused limbs and branches to sag and break causing hazardous conditions.

Because roads remained open, many students left campus and returned home.

During the height of the storm the university opened its facilities to shelter area residents who had lost power. Older residents were invited to use the facilities of McIntosh Center while families were housed in the Sports Center. Approximately 40 people made use of the facilities that were powered by back up generators provided by ONU graduate R. Scott Bodie of Fostoria, Ohio.

After the vast majority of the students left campus on Jan. 6, ONU provided 3,289 meals to community members, ONU staff, and the students who chose to remain on campus. Nursing staff worked 12-hour shifts to assist residents, students and staff. Student staff kept the McIntosh Center open 24 hours a day. Shower facilities were made available in the King-Horn Center and at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, the university hosted an ecumenical church service that was attended by approximately 200 people.

Ohio Northern President Kendall Baker said, “We are extremely thankful for the extraordinary efforts of our faculty, staff and students, especially the marathon work of our physical plant and food service employees who met every challenge and provided incredible service through out the emergency.”

Today approximately 38 ONU students, fraternity and sorority members, Student Planning Committee members and Residence Life staff who remained in Ada, are volunteering with Village of Ada crews to help with community clean up.

Posted On: 1-11-05

Photos

The university has posted these photos taken of the ice storm (transitory URL may not work for long).

ONU to Resume Classes Tuesday

Subject: FACULTY-L Classes resume Tuesday
Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2005 10:46:27 -0500
Sender: owner-onu-faculty-l@postoffice.onu.edu


Ohio Northern University will resume regular classes at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 11.

All classes and events will be held as scheduled.

For questions, call (419) 772-2000 or (419) 772-2400.

Email to ONU Community

Text of email--sent at Sunday, January 09, 2005 1:58 PM--to all members of the ONU community:

Ohio Northern University anticipates re-convening classes at 8:00 a.m.
on Tuesday, January 11.

At 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 11, Ohio Northern University will resume normal, full operations. All classes and scheduled events will be held, as normal beginning January 11.

Administrative and staff personnel should report, as per normal, on Monday, January 10.

Students of Ohio Northern University should monitor their University e-mail accounts and the University web-site for the most current messages.

Questions may be addressed by telephoning (419) 772-2000 or (419) 772-2400.

ONU Web Server Now Serving ... again

ONU's web and email servers are serving again. ONU's homepage hasn't been update to reflect the cancellation of Monday's classes.

ONU Classes Remain Cancelled on Monday, January 10

Rich Meininger just called to say that ONU classes scheduled for Monday, January 10, are cancelled. Tuesday classes are iffy.

On a personal note, Rich indicated he still has no electricity at home. Oh, my, Ada continues to peg the high end of the fun-o-meter.

ONU Web and Email Servers Down Again

I just noticed that ONU's web and email servers are down again. Hmm ... has Ada lost electricity again?

More from the Blade

toledoblade.com:

In Allen and Hardin counties, nature itself seemed to bow to the power of the storm. Ice an inch or more thick encased twigs and limbs, causing saplings and young trees outside Lima Senior High School to bend until their upper branches touched the ground.

Boughs on older, less flexible trees broke off, leaving pale brown scars in the dark bark. In Lima and Ada, driveways were showered with tree debris, often rendering them impassable.

ONU Web Server Now Serving

It appears that ONU's web server and email server are back on line. I tried the webcam mounted on Hill that is pointed toward Dicke Hall hoping for a look at Ada. No go. The cam works. But, an ice coating over the cam's protective bubble yields a low-detail view.

Dr. Rob's Friday

Friday

BG City Schools transition from 2 hr delay to CLOSED. Kelsey has another snow day. The Montessori school glows green: On Schedule. Emily left for school on the assumption Kelsey was on a 2 hr delay. Boy will she be miffed to learn that her sister got another snow day!

Jeff IMed to double-check on the status of the MRKT 380 simulation.

Toledo Blade Skates In: Ice Causes Wide Spread Power Outages

The Toledo Blade reports 250,000 customers lost electricity due to Wednesday's ice storm, including:

• 30,000 in Allen County.
• 11,510 in Hardin County.
• 6,929 in Huron County.
• 5,566 in Wyandot County.
• 4,896 in Hancock County.
• 2,240 in Seneca County.
• 1,489 in Putnam County.

To provide perspective, 36% of Hardin county residents are without power (based on the 2000 US Census report of Hardin County's population as 31,608).

Akron Beacon Journal Reports

The Akron Beacon Journal reports

"Classes were canceled in many parts of the state, including at Ohio Northern University in Ada where emergency generators kept heat flowing inside a few dorms and the student center, where students set up spare mattresses to give older people in town a place to stay.

The campus and town are littered with downed trees, power poles and electric lines.

'You can hear the trees cracking,' President Kendall Baker said. 'You just hope there isn't a student nearby when that happens.'

AW's Front-Line Experience

Amy Warren IMed this evening to touch base. Amy shares her Polar Bear Ice Out experience in this (slightly) edited IM transcripd:

AW (8:39:26 PM): Hi Dr Kleine....I was just wondering how we are going to do the e-simulation stuff since none of us are in Ada

robkleine3 (8:39:43 PM): good question ... i've contacted the vender to see about moving the simulation time-table back a week

AW (8:40:24 PM): we were all sent home and told that if we didnt go home that we were going to have to move into Founders Hall....and with no power there was no way for us to get a hold of our group members

robkleine3 (8:40:37 PM): understand
robkleine3 (8:41:20 PM): contribute to this: http://pbio.blogspot.com/2005/01/ice-storm-closes-onu-share-your-story.html

AW (8:41:23 PM): ok...i was thinking that something like that may be able to be arranged but i didnt know for sure and wanted to make sure that we werent expected to have it done because obviously since our group couldnt all meet until today it was crazy. i saw that....it would take a long time to tell all the madness that happened

robkleine3 (8:41:56 PM): multiple installments are possible ;-)

AW (8:41:58 PM): you wouldnt believe what the campus and town look like

robkleine3 (8:42:20 PM): give me a clue .. when I left @ 4 things were not bad

AW (8:42:23 PM): i wish i would have had my camera when i was driving out of town because i know its something i'll never see again like that

AW (8:42:43 PM): classes got cancelled and we were sent home from work at 4 because they knew it was coming

AW (8:43:07 PM): they sent home all secretaries and adminstration and faculty
AW (8:43:31 PM): it got to be pretty icy and the freezing rain continued through the night
AW (8:43:54 PM): when i went to leave work at 4 they were talking on the radio about two dorms not having gas and tree limbs were already falling
AW (8:44:28 PM): we stayed in the rest of the night and we live in the campus apartments....the lights flickered all evening but we didnt lose power
AW (8:44:43 PM): at about 2 am the smoke detector went off and then the power went out
AW (8:45:02 PM): we woke up at 7 with a call from a friend that said we didnt have classes and still no power
AW (8:45:19 PM): we got up to see what campus looked like and it was completely black out there....it was really weird
AW (8:46:17 PM): we opened the door again at 10 to find notes on our doors that said "No Classes Today Stay Inside Stay Warm Mac is serving food to ALL students"
AW (8:46:38 PM): we went to eat at mac and there were trees down everywhere from the weight of the ice
AW (8:46:57 PM): the tundra is just covered in debree...trees were literally split in half
AW (8:47:41 PM): there were people everywhere in mac getting food....people that were seniors and live off campus even....dr baker made his usual appearance in old clothes and tried to look at miserable as we were lol
robkleine3 (8:47:54 PM): lol
AW (8:48:04 PM): they told us that classes were cancelled for friday as well
AW (8:48:31 PM): i talked to some pplant people that i know from work and they said that they dont know if things will be done by monday
AW (8:49:16 PM): one of our friends that is from ada contacted the power company and they said that the estimation is 9 days for full restoration of power with a hopeful guess of 4 but nobody really knows
AW (8:49:45 PM): then we were told when we got back to our apartments that if we didnt leave and go home that we had to pack a small bag and stay in Founders Hall

robkleine3 (8:49:55 PM): meininger called this morning to make sure i know about the cancellation ... at that time he expressed doubt about restarting monday ... 9 days possibly? wow!

AW (8:50:11 PM): yeah....we are all wondering whats going to happen

robkleine3 (8:50:16 PM): pajama party in Founders?

AW (8:50:20 PM): especially with things like mock interview day
AW (8:50:34 PM): i hope i never have to stay in the dorms again! i was glad to drive 3 hrs instead of stay there
robkleine3 (8:50:39 PM): yeah, mock interview day must be on the bubble
robkleine3 (8:50:52 PM): hey, it's a memory you'll cherish in years to come

AW (8:51:13 PM): i had some friends in both Findlay and Kenton that said i could stay with them but i have a feeling that this could be a second break for us

robkleine3 (8:51:31 PM): it IS a second break

AW (8:51:55 PM): my mom wanted me to come home and work for her company at least tomorrow and maybe next week and help her prepare paperwork for the state for part of the accredidation stuff they have to do so it worked out

robkleine3 (8:52:20 PM): that's good ... too bad we can't plan next week.

AW (8:52:24 PM): the only really bad thing for some of us is that we have a 2 day exam in two different classes now whenever we get back

robkleine3 (8:52:37 PM): 2-day exam?

AW (8:53:00 PM): i was supposed to have one in finance today and tomorrow and then one in international business monday and tuesday
AW (8:53:12 PM): there are a handful of us in this situation now
AW (8:53:40 PM): we know that whenever we get back we could possibly have both two day exams on the same days

robkleine3 (8:54:18 PM): it will sort out when school resumes ... plead for a "review day" ... not that i'd suggest such a thing

AW (8:55:05 PM): i doubt XXX will give us a review day....hes not very easy to persuad to change anything...im sure hes having a hard time with all of this unexpected class LOL
AW (8:55:34 PM): hes a good professor he just doesnt seem to like change

robkleine3 (8:56:12 PM): some of us are like that

AW (8:56:25 PM): as much as we all wanted to have a fun free day off we didnt expect anything quite like having this many days off

robkleine3 (8:56:40 PM): too much goodness?

AW (8:57:06 PM): when theres no heat, water or power yeah...i think that could be too much goodness

robkleine3 (8:57:27 PM): a reverse tsunami?

AW (8:58:39 PM): something like that....im pretty sure mac looked a lot like a disaster relief area....i've never seen so many people flock to that building at one time...i think there might have even been people from ada there that werent part of the university

robkleine3 (8:59:27 PM): susan and i were speculating that they'd herd you into the field house ... bottled water and port-a-potties

AW (8:59:57 PM): LOL thats probably what Founders Hall looks like about now

AW (9:01:35 PM): my roomate and i were mostly disappointed this morning that we couldnt see Ohio Northern University scrolling across the bottom of the screen

robkleine3 (9:01:45 PM): ?

AW (9:01:58 PM): because we were closed
AW (9:02:04 PM): we had no power so no tv
AW (9:02:41 PM): that was a delayed typing....lots of boxes open

robkleine3 (9:02:52 PM): ah ... a bit slow. my buddy list provided a first clue that something catastrophic happened in ada ...
robkleine3 (9:03:29 PM): for the first time it was completely empty of onu students

AW (9:05:32 PM): my roomate didnt hear the smoke detectors go off right before the power went out....but i definitely did and i knew then that we werent having classes today

robkleine3 (9:06:54 PM): a subtle sign
robkleine3 (9:07:03 PM): mind if i edit this and post it?

AW (9:08:30 PM): i guess you can lol i didnt know the Ada Ice Storm would be this big to people lol

robkleine3 (9:08:54 PM): i thought it could make for a fun oral history

AW (9:09:40 PM): 20 years from now someone will Google search the Ada Ice Storm and find this story

robkleine3 (9:09:58 PM): let's hope ... you never know ... at minimum, the details are most vivid right now

AW (9:10:25 PM): oh i definitely wont be forgetting this

robkleine3 (9:11:23 PM): do have some fun these next few days. you deserve it!!!

AW (9:12:12 PM): i have A LOT of studying to do....thats really what these days will be for me....more study time which will have to do

robkleine3 (9:13:11 PM): do try to squeeze in some sledding ;-)
AW (9:13:20 PM): LOL
robkleine3 (9:14:04 PM): enjoy your evening!
AW (9:14:09 PM): you too!

WTOL: Areas South of Toledo Slammed by Heavy Ice Storm

Michael Johnson pointed out WTOL's report (video here):

ADA, Ohio -- Students at Ohio Northern University in Ada are setting up spare mattresses in the school's student center for folks who don't have any heat at home. Nearly all of the campus is without power. And the campus and town are littered with downed trees, power poles and electric lines, forcing classes to be canceled for today and tomorrow. University President Kendall Baker says emergency generators are keeping heat flowing inside a few of the dorms. Most of the 34-hundred students on campus are going home, but those staying are being moved into the dorms with heat. WTOL News 11 will have the latest with Reporter Joe Nugent at 5pm.

Meanwhile, in Carey and other parts of Wyandot County, the storm has left thousands of people in the cold as heavy ice knocked out trees and powerlines.

The American Electric Power Company says over 50,000 of their customers are without power today in a wide area of NW Ohio, including Carey, Upper Sandusky, Tiffin, Findlay and Lima. WTOL will bring you the latest tonight at 5 and 6pm.

WTOL's video of ice in Ada is here.

Dr. Rob's Thursday

Thursday, January 6

Around 3 a.m. I stirred and awoke. Curious about the weather, I padded down the hall to my home office. Lots of white stuff outside. Sound of ice falling. The radar showed lots of blue extending west to east, a horizontal red band just south of Findlay, with an extended green layer about 10 miles further south. Interesting.

Then it registered. The Class-Current category in my AIM buddy list registered 0. Zip. Zilch. That category has never dropped to zero actives. A second clue that Ada conditions were perhaps more interesting than here in BG.

Around 7 a.m. WFIN's school delay list changed to show ONU CLOSED. Both girls' schools showed CLOSED. Ah, family day!

8:30 a.m. A phone call from Rich Meininger brought confirmation that ONU was indeed closed, and sketchy details: no water, no power power.

Noon. Rich called with the news that ONU would be close until at least 8 a.m. Monday. The administration was trying to get all students out of town.

Two students IMed after dinner to touch base. Both were home and safe. Whew. Amy pieces of shared her story. Michael told me there is a new "lake" in the middle of campus and pointed me to WTOL's coverage.

Dr. Rob leaves Ada Just Just in Time

An ice storm caused ONU to close from Thursday, January 6, through at least 8 a.m. Monday, January 10. The ice took out electric and water service. ONU moved to evacuate all students from campus.

Here's my story. Not too exciting, but part of the mesh:

Wednesday, January 5

Anticipating a major winter storm, all schools in Bowling Green closed for the day. Kelsey and Emily were thrilled to have a "no school" day. I Passated down to Ada.

12:19 Gina emailed to say that because of deteriorating weather, she was staying in Lima and would miss 351.

4:15 p.m. I left campus with the thermometer in my Passat registered 30 deg. F. The sky was crapping ice droplets. Trees and bushes were ice-loading. Route 335 northbound out of Ada was OK: wet, but not slippery. That changed once I crossed the intersection with US 30. Road conditions deteriorated steadily from there. Route 235 was decidedly slushy. I-75 northbound was distinctly snow-covered crawling at 35 to 40 mph. Heavy traffic complicated matters. It was a relief to exit at Cygnet and switch to very snowy, but abandoned, RT 25 for the last 10 miles to home. With relief, I parked the ice-encrusted Passat in the garage and grabbed a Sam Adams as I headed into the house.

7 p.m. IM from a student enquiring whether I was planning to have class Thursday. I hadn't considered otherwise. Replied that I'd assess the situation in the morning. Hmm ... is there more to this storm than I've sensed so far?

10 p.m. Another IM. Another student. Same question. Diane expressed skepticism about the possibility of Thursday classes. "Downed power lines and fires in Findlay," she reported. "Oh, my ... trees are falling outside my house ..." Diane's screen name dropped from active to Offline. Hmm....

Ice Storm Closes ONU - Share Your Story

Share your story about the great Polar Bear Ice Out!

An ice storm caused ONU to close from Thursday, January 6, through at least 8 a.m. Monday, January 10. The ice took out electric and water service. ONU moved to evacuate all students from campus. What else happened? You were there. Share your story!!


Your Turn
Share your storm experience. What were you doing? How has the storm impacted you? What happened in Ada?

Click the Post a Comment below to share your experience as part of what is sure to become the legendary Polar Bear Ice Out.