When I first heard of Jack Craver’s topic for his column in today’s paper — “Ice in Madison” — I immediately thought here’s another kid from outside Wisconsin who can’t handle a little snow on the ground. Plenty of them exist around town — I saw one girl last week complaining on her cell phone, “There is SO much snow on the ground here!”

Sorry, my friend, but we have a long way to go.

Jack’s idea of some sort of reporting system to notify University of Wisconsin maintenance crews is admirable and one that could help in fixing areas causing a lot of problems. And I certainly agree that Bascom Hill should be an area crews focus a great deal of their attention on — it undoubtedly provides the most dangerous scenario when winter weather strikes.

But the basic point is still this: It’s winter. In Wisconsin.

Snow, ice, sleet, freezing rain, the whole deal — it’s here to stay from now until April or, God forbid, May. Side streets in downtown Madison will be narrow until then, chalking on campus will be impossible until then, and you won’t see a bare sidewalk until then. There will be ice and snow on the sidewalks, and no matter how slick you personally are, you’ll probably fall at some point.

Last winter was obviously ridiculous, with a record amount of snow hitting the area. But give UW crews a little credit. I don’t get the impression that they’re taking long coffee breaks when snow falls, and which one of us wants to shovel the sidewalk in front of the Union while hundreds of student pass by without the slightest bit of gratitude?

The university has taken steps is solving the problems from last year, specifically with its new “snow action day.” With Tuesday designated as the first action day, crews were able to target the most heavily-traveled streets, sidewalks and parking areas to ensure their safety. Already on Tuesday, there appeared to be an improvement over last year, and new equipment was purchased and new policies were enacted. Additionally, the university tells students not to risk their safety on their way to class and urges staff supervisors to have a little leniency with staff members on days of heavy snow.

Just this week, as freezing rain and several inches of snow hit, sidewalks around campus were pretty easily passable. The Metro buses never shut down, so you could still take the 80 for those two stops between Humanities and the top of Bascom Hill. (It’s quicker to walk, I assure you.) From personal experience, on Tuesday, it was just a little slippery near Humanities around 9:30 and Bascom was pretty easy to walk up around 10:45. With snow falling at a pretty steady rate for much of the day, it wasn’t too bad. It’s obviously never going to be perfect.

Campus areas are a hell of a lot better to walk around on than neighborhoods off campus. Crosswalks remained filled with snow most of the day, and you’re more likely to trudge through snow-covered snow on Langdon Street or Bassett Street sidewalks than passing areas surrounding Humanities and Grainger. An unscientific, informal survey around the Herald office Tuesday night reaffirmed this.

After walking down Mifflin, University and other city streets, our News Content Editor Beth Mueller said, “I was excited to get to university property because I knew it would be cleared off.”

There will be slippery areas around campus the rest of the winter, I guarantee you. Aside from the university doing everything it can to ensure safety, the easiest solution is really just watch where you’re going. Leave a little earlier, walk a little slower and help that fellow Badger who embarrasingly falls flat on his ass. We’ve all been there. Seriously, it’s impossible for the university to ensure every square inch of the campus is ice free all the time, and no rational student or faculty member can expect that, particularly on days when the freezing rain and snow continually fall.

So there’s my two cents; take it with a grain of salt. Jack makes some valid points and suggestions, but winter in Wisconsin is impossible to fully combat.

And as for Sam Clegg’s column below? Just another egotistical rant. I recommend “Hump Day” on page 9 instead.