Remember those winter mornings when your mother would come wake you up to inform you that school had been cancelled? You'd run to the window and look out at the fresh layer of snow that had fallen as you slept. You wanted to go play in the snow, build a snowman or go sledding with friends. But first you had to shovel the driveway.
There was always that one kid, though, whose parents paid him for his snow shoveling services. Later, while sipping hot chocolate after a neighborhood snowball fight, this guy would recount how his parents had slipped him a Jackson when he came back from shoveling (and, by the way, this kid's driveway was way shorter than yours).
You'd return home and recount the kid's story to your parents in an effort to milk them for a little cash, but to no avail. "Everyone in this family has responsibilities to uphold," your father would predictably respond.
In the throes of last week's snowstorm, memories like these came flooding back to me. Although classes weren't cancelled, the scrapes of shovel on cement and the roar of the snowplow engines were vivid reminders of my days spent shoveling the driveway. But who were these people shoveling all the snow? That morning, I saw Michelle, my dorm's custodian, outside clearing the snow from the steps. As I exited the library later that night, I saw two people from grounds crew hard at work heaving snow away from the entryway of Baker-Berry.
Now, there are two things that Dartmouth has an overabundance of: snow and cheap, unskilled labor. College students are notoriously strapped for cash, and almost half of the student body at Dartmouth receives some sort of need-based financial aid. The College should do its best to create job opportunities for its students. So why, then, does the College pay professionals to shovel snow when students could do just as good of a job?
What I am suggesting is Snow Reform. Instead of paying unionized Dartmouth employees premium compensation for shoveling snow, Dartmouth should look to employ the muscles of its students. Interested students would be assigned a designated area to shovel during the winter months, like the steps to Robinson Hall or the entrance of their dormitories. These would be places the College plows couldn't reach, of course. At the end of each season, participating students would receive compensation for their work, if it had been completed satisfactorily.
I understand this Snow Reform is not yet a viable program. Two glaring unknowns still remain: One, the effect that this program would have on college workers, and two, the type of oversight that would need to be put in place to ensure students fulfilled their duties. With regard to the former issue, we are in the midst of unprecedented economic downturn. As Dartmouth looks to cut $40 million from its budget, we need to devise strategies to be more cost-effective.
If cheap student labor can be as effective as Dartmouth employees, the College should employ students. While this may mean cutting employment hours, or even jobs, the College is desperately in need of some penny-pinching programs. To remedy the latter dilemma, the College could designate a handful of employees to ensure that students were keeping their areas clear of snow. If students failed to clear their areas in a satisfactory and safe way, they could be docked a certain amount from their season's paycheck.
This program would be mutually beneficial for both the College and the student body. By employing cheap student labor, the College could drive down costs. The wage paid to students for shoveling would pale in comparison to the wages demanded by unionized College employees. The program would also benefit students who are constantly in search of ways to make an easy buck.
Dartmouth is currently going through some very trying times. With $40 million in budget cuts to be made, I think Snow Reform could be the type of program the College needs.
