January 13, 1998

The Cadre

Montreal students struggle to weather storms of a life-time

BY IDELLA STURINO

MONTREAL (CUP) — Kathy Proot woke up later than usual last Tuesday morn- ing because her alarm clock didn’t go off. In fact it wasn’t even working and neither was anything else requiring elec- tricity, including the heat. So Proot made her way to the bathroom where she washed with cold water and put on her contact lenses by candlelight. She then went downstairs to the kitchen and ate breakfast in the dark.

By the time the McGill University student arrived at school, late for her second day of winter term classes, she thought to herself, “What am I doing here? I want to go home.”

It was a sentiment ech- oed by many Montreal univer- sity students hit by the prov- ince-wide power failure caused by a massive ice storm early last week.

An eerie feeling per- vades the city, with unusually quiet streets and trees disfig- ured under the weight of ice. Branches encased in inch-thick ice hover menacingly above people’s heads as they walk along the sidewalks, dodging falling branches and patches of sheer ice.

versities were trying to carry on as if Montreal had not been transformed into a frozen city of darkness. Most were ini- tially unaffected by the mas- sive blackout which plunged just under |-million Que

households and businesses into darkness, as of Thursday night. The storm also affected parts of Ontario and the Maritimes.

By the middle of the week Proot had already re- ceived assignments in some of her classes, but couldn’t do them because her apartment had no light, her computer wouldn’t work and she was too busy trying to stay warm.

“It is seven degrees in my house,” Proot said. “So cold that I can see my breath.”

Many students would have preferred to stay at home in the cold orto go to one of the many shelters set up across Montreal than deal with school responsibilities, but they still came to class for fear of fall-

McGill student Shane Utter a feeling of frustration and hopelessness at the situation.

“Things are getting worse and there’s nothing you can do about it, yet I have to come to school,” he said, add- ing that he preferred to be at home, tending the and

caring for his 86-year-old

grandmother and hi Desby Thmareday, BEG

and Montreal’s other three major universities

ia, Universite de Mon- treal and Universite de Que- bec a Montreal — responded to the concerns of students like Utter by canceling all classes. They are not expected

to re-open until January 12, by which time the ice storm is expected to abate.

“Our concern is for the needs of our clients — the students and staff. It was felt that it would be in the best interest of students to close down the university so they can concentrate better on their needs,” Roger Cote, Concordia’s dean of students, said.

Bishop’s University in Lennoxville, an hour's drive east of Montreal, has so far not been affected by the ice storm. The area is prone to flooding, which may result from the storm, and the university is ready to evacuate if neces- sary. Quebec’s colleges, which don’t resume classes for an- other couple of weeks, were also unaffected.

At McGill, as with the rest of Montreal and Quebec, the storm has had at least one positive affect, giving people an ity to lend a help- ing . The student union turned the student centre into a shelter Thursday night for students and their families who were stranded on campus or left in the cold by the blackout.

“A lot of people came to our front desk saying, We have no heat or hot water, and asking what we would do to help,” McGill student union president Tara Newell, said. Once the decision was made to use the student centre as a shelter, dozens of students eat ble.

In the end, gh, only four students came to use the shelter. This was attributed by Newell to the little time the council had to get the word

out. There were plans to make sure more people knew about the shelter for the weekend, but the ae was scuttled when McGill's power went out Friday as a result of the spreading blackout.

The blackout Fri- day to Montreal's downtown core, which had been unaf- fected until then. Stores closed early and the streets were lined

tem " to navigate without traffic lights. Pedestrians scrambled to make their way to the crowded bus stops and watched the passing army trucks with curiosity. Troops are assisting in the restoration of power to the area.

Hydro Quebec predicts that it will be days before power distribution is back to normal across the province.

with slow-moving cars at-

¢ Etudes en sciences de la sante

Avis aux résidents et résidentes francophones de /’/le-du- Prince-Edouard désirant poursulvre des études en médecine dans les universités du Québec.

Une entente signée entre le Nouveau-Brunswick et le Québec permet en plus & un résident ou une résidente francophone de I'iie- du-Prince-Edouard de s’inscrire au programme contingenté de médecine offert dans les trois universités sous-mentionnées du Québec.

= MONTREAL = LAVAL = SHERBROOKE

L'admission est assujettie aux qualifications académiques et a rentrevue. Elle ne comporte aucune obligation de la part des trois universités.

Pour renseignements et formulaires de demande d'admission, veuillez vous adresser le plus tot possible a : P. Paul LeBlanc Responsable des programmes spéciaux Faculté des sciences, Université de Moncton Moncton, N.-B. E1A 3E9 Téléphone : (506) 858-4500

REMARQUES : Tous les candidats et candidates francophones de Thhe-du-Prince-Edouard doivent passer obligatoirement par nos bureaux. Les formulaires de demande d'admission diment remplis doivent étre retoumés a adresse indiquée ci-dessus avant le 13 février 1998. Le Comité acheminera les dossiers vers [université concernée ol la sélection sera faite.

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