As freezing rain and sleet fell on Hanover yesterday, Dartmouth students from Illinois to New York found their travel plans at the mercy of Mother Nature.
Canceled flights and dangerous driving conditions are expected to cause many students to miss their first day of class today, as well as mandatory registration.
In fact, so many students may miss the registration deadline that there could be an extension, according to Registrar Thomas Bickel.
Bickel said the decision would be based on how many people show up today -- "we assume everyone on campus will register," he said. If the number is low enough, there may be a blanket immunity given to all students who register late. If not, he said, students can always petition their fine.
In Chicago, where the city was hit with the second greatest snowstorm in its history, O'Hare International Airport saw thousands of people waiting in lines for hours to reschedule their flights. Among them was Mikah Soliunas '01.
"It was packed -- jammed with crazy amounts of people," Soliunas said. She added that it took three hours to get her flight rebooked.
Soliunas, who will not make it back in time to register, said she plans to petition to avoid paying the $50 late fee.
O'Hare canceled all flights through midnight Saturday, leaving thousands of people sitting in terminals and in surrounding hotels. Another 245,000 travelers were scheduled to fly through Chicago yesterday, further clogging flights.
Soliunas said she saw a group of Marines who had been there for three days, as well as "a bunch of people sleeping on the ground."
The cancellations at O'Hare affected most people flying on a number of airlines that use the airport as a stop on routes to eastern cities, including Boston and Manchester, common locations for students en route to Hanover.
Other cancellations in St. Louis, where TWA shut down 400 of its flights, also made air travel difficult.
Even students driving to Hanover had massive problems getting to the College. In the Northeast, a storm spread ice over much of the highways, causing a 50-car pileup on New York's Grand Central Parkway and a 22-car accident on I-80 in New Jersey.
Amanda Potter '02, who had hoped to leave yesterday afternoon, said she has been delayed because of icy roads in New York and New Hampshire.
Potter, who lives in Glen's Falls, N.Y., said she would probably make the trip late Sunday night and arrive in Hanover today in time for classes and registration.
