WTHR has an update on the Indianapolis sex-in-school incident that caused so much discussion on the blog yesterday. The highlight is this quote from a parent: “It just upsets me because it sounds like they’re trying to make excuses. It doesn’t matter to me how long it was, you know, 30 seconds, 30 minutes; it’s too long. I want to know where the teacher was and how this was able to happen.”

I disagree. It certainly does matter if it was “30 minutes,” because if so, that sixth-grade boy needs to think seriously about taking a different career path than what Career Day might suggest. ;)

Thirty-six alleged illegal immigrants were arrested at a Mishawaka factory yesterday, prompting a candlelight vigil for the arrested workers, who now face deportation.

Coincidentally enough, we received this e-mail from Notre Dame’s president, the Rev. John Jenkins, this morning:

I am pleased to announce that the topic of the third annual Notre Dame Forum will be immigration. A nine-member committee of faculty, administrators and students reviewed many suggested topics, and made proposals to me, from which I selected this topic. The subject is a timely one for our nation, and is certainly relevant to a Catholic university with an immigrant heritage. I have asked Timothy Matovina, Associate Professor of Theology and Director of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism, to chair a committee to prepare for the forum. The forum will take place on Wednesday, September 26th, at a time to be announced. Speakers for the forum will be announced at a later time.

According to WNDU, there was a test of the tornado sirens across St. Joseph’s County this morning, and there will be another test tonight between 7:00 and 7:30 PM. Just FYI.

Sixth-graders having sex during shop class… in Indiana.

When I was in sixth grade, I think I once ineffectually flirted with my crush during shop class. I guess today’s middle schoolers are a little more, uh, advanced. (And now, having said that, I need to go have some Geritol, because I’m officially old.)

[UPDATE: Bumped to top because of a surprisingly robust and interesting discussion. -ed.]

There’s nothing like a random thunderstorm at 7:00 AM on a winter morning, that’s what I always say!

Details on the storm here. Close-up radar view here.

I blame global warming El Niño La Niña. (Hat tip: Fax Paladin.)

The latest regional radar.

It’s going to get ugly tonight:

…SIGNIFICANT FREEZING RAIN…SLEET AND SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT INTO SUNDAY…

.A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER WESTERN KANSAS WILL MOVE NORTHEAST INTO THE SOUTHERN GREAT LAKES BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON. AHEAD OF THIS STRONG SYSTEM…A WEDGE OF VERY MOIST AND WARM AIR WILL RIDE NORTH REACHING PARTS OF NORTHERN AND CENTRAL INDIANA THIS EVENING AND CONTINUING NORTH OVERNIGHT. COLD AIR NEAR THE SURFACE WILL LEAD TO FREEZING RAIN…HEAVY AT TIMES TONIGHT…AND SLEET MAINLY ALONG AND SOUTH OF ROUTE 30. FURTHER NORTH THE PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO BE A WINTRY MIX OF PRIMARILY SLEET AND SNOW…WITH SOME FREEZING RAIN LATE TONIGHT AND EARLY SUNDAY.

SIGNIFICANT ICE ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS NORTHERN INDIANA…SOUTHERN MICHIGAN AND PART OF NORTHWEST OHIO SATURDAY NIGHT…ESPECIALLY ALONG AND SOUTH OF ROUTE 30 WHERE THE POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR ONE-HALF TO THREE-QUARTERS OF AN INCH ICE ACCRETION ALONG AND SOUTH OF A MONTICELLO TO WABASH TO HUNTINGTON TO LIMA OHIO LINE. MAJOR TRANSPORTATION ARTERIES THROUGHOUT ALL OF THE WARNING AREA WILL BE ADVERSELY AFFECTED. IN ADDITION… STRONG EAST WINDS WILL CAUSE TREE DAMAGE AND POWER OUTAGES.

Yikes. And I’m supposed to be going to a party tonight.

Take a look at the surface map as of 2:15 PM:

That’s a lot of isobars.

From the National Weather Service:

FREEZING FOG ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON EST /11 AM CST/TODAY.

WIDESPREAD DENSE FREEZING FOG WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE REGION THROUGH NOON EST/11 AM CST. VISIBILITIES WILL BE REDUCED TO 200 FEET TO 500 FEET. THE COMBINATION OF THE DENSE FREEZING FOG AND FREEZING OF MELTED SNOW FROM YESTERDAY WILL RESULT IN AREAS OF BLACK ICE ON ROADWAYS, SIDEWALKS & PARKING LOTS. VISIBILITIES ARE EXPECTED TO SLOWLY IMPROVE LATE MORNING THIS MORNING & EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. TEMPS SHOULD ONCE AGAIN RISE ABOVE FREEZING IN THE AFTERNOON ALLOWING THE ICY SPOTS TO MELT OFF.

It’s not just around South Bend, either; Freezing Fog Advisories are in effect for much of the, uh, Michianohionois area, as this map shows.

National Weather Service: “PEOPLE ARE BEING URGED TO STAY OFF OF ROADS GIVEN THE TREACHEROUS DRIVING CONDITIONS. SECONDARY ROADS IN MANY AREAS WILL BE SNOW COVERED AND MAY BE IMPASSABLE DUE TO BLOWING AND DRIFTING. TRAVEL ONLY IF IT IS AN EMERGENCY.”

. . .

Pretty much everything in Michiana — including, for the first time this winter, the day-care center where Becky works — is closed today because of the Great Valentine’s Blizzard of 2007. Purdue University has cancelled morning classes. Admittedly, West Lafayette got it worse than South Bend… but IUSB and Ivy Tech are closed, too, and so is Holy Cross College.

But Notre Dame? Ha! Surely you kid.

If they were cancelling classes, I assume we’d receive an e-mail, and I assume the news would be posted here. But as of yet, nothing — and the only “Notre Dame” on WSBT’s list is Notre Dame Grade School. Same goes for WNDU’s list.

Of course, it’s barely 6:00 AM, so I suppose that could still change. But there are classes as early as 8:00, so they’re running out of time to make a decision to close. I assume they have, in fact, made a decision not to close, this being Notre Dame and all. As I said before, it would take an act of God or the Pope to cancel classes at ND — and by “act of God,” I don’t mean a mere weather event, I mean something more akin to the sky actually opening up and the Almighty declaring in His booming Voice for all to hear, “CANCEL CLASSES, FATHER JENKINS!” (And might I humbly suggest, lest there be any confusion, that He add, “You too, Dean O’Hara!”)

Here’s the thing that bugs me about this. If they don’t want to cancel classes, fine, whatever. But they absolutely need to at least require professors to allow weather-related excused absences on days like this. You might think that would be a superfluous requirement, but you’d be wrong. I’ve already heard one story of a fellow law student from a Sun Belt state (so, not an experienced winter-weather driver) who, on that morning two weeks ago when it was snowing ridiculously hard (with yellow echoes on the radar from 8:00 to 8:20 AM), decided it was unsafe to drive to school for her 8:30 AM class. The roads were awful, there were near-whiteout conditions, and apparently her apartment complex was totally unplowed. So I really can’t blame her for not going to class. Her professor, however, apparently could blame her. When she explained her reason for missing class, she was reportedly informed that it was not a legitimate excuse.

That sort of thing has got to stop. It’s completely ridiculous. The roads were godawful yesterday, and with all the blowing and drifting, and the apparent inability of local road crews to deal with snowfall rates of more than a flake an hour, I have no doubt they’re just as bad, or nearly so, this morning. For heaven’s sake, the National Weather Service is telling people not to travel unless it’s an emergency, and we don’t even get an excused absence if we prudently decide to follow their advice? That’s unconscionable.

P.S. Incidentally, I don’t have an ulterior motive here. I, personally, don’t have class till 2:00 PM today, by which point I expect the roads will be better. (The blowing and drifting is expected to decrease around noon.) So this isn’t about me. I’m just ticked off as a matter of principle, and on behalf of my fellow students who have morning classes today.

South Bend is just north of the Blizzard Warning zone, but it’s still going to be a snowy and windy 24 hours:

SNOW WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE AREA TODAY AND BE HEAVY AT TIMES. STORM TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS THROUGH EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING WILL RANGE FROM 7 TO 11 INCHES IN THIS AREA. IN ADDITION… STRONG NORTHEAST WINDS WILL CAUSE CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW…WITH WHITEOUT CONDITIONS AND SOME IMPASSABLE ROADS POSSIBLE. IN ADDITION…IT WILL BE VERY COLD WITH WIND CHILLS FALLING BELOW ZERO BY THIS AFTERNOON AND CONTINUING TONIGHT.

I advise everyone to follow Casey’s lead and make sure you’re adequately stocked up for the storm: “In preparation for this event, I have purchased 1 bottle rum, 4 bottles wine, 1 bottle champagne, and 2 six packs of beer. I should be able to deal with anything that comes up.” Heh. Indeed.

P.S. Quote of the day, from one law student to another: “You smokers are really committed to your craft, going outside in this weather.”

Much of the Upper Midwest, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states are expected to experience a major snowstorm over the next few days. Here’s a look at the predicted accumulations:

According to the National Weather Service, St. Joseph County, Indiana (which includes South Bend) is right on the borderline between the “moderate” and “high” risk areas “for 8 inches or more of snow from late Monday night into Tuesday night.” In the high-risk area, some folks may get “more than 15 inches.”

Anyway, we’re under a Winter Storm Watch:

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Check out the icicle in the middle — it’s more than a story high!

More icicle photos here.

“WIND CHILL VALUES WILL INCREASE TO AROUND ZERO IN THE AFTERNOON.” –National Weather Service advisory, 4:09 PM, discussing tomorrow’s forecast.

Heh. “Increase to around zero.” I love it.

After dipping as low as -7.6° at 8:50 AM this morning (with a wind chill of -29°), the mercury crested the zero mark shortly after after noon, and is now up to a balmy 3°. A look at the hourly temperature history shows just how cold it was this morning:

According to this morning’s 4:11 AM National Weather Service advisory, “EXPOSED FLESH WILL FREEZE IN ABOUT 10 MINUTES THIS MORNING.” For that very reason, many schools closed around the area. This brings me to my question of the day.

Given that many students live in apartment complexes that are more than 10 minutes’ walk away from their classroom buildings (e.g., Fischer/O’Hara Grace, Turtle Creek, Clover Ridge)… and given that many of these students regularly walk to school and do not have cars… and given that what public transportation is available via TRANSPO isn’t sufficiently reliable to guarantee that prospective riders won’t have to stand outside for more than 10 minutes while waiting for the bus… and given that Notre Dame knows all of this…

Shouldn’t classes have been cancelled today?

It’s -6° outside, with a wind chill of -28°.

Good lord.

UPDATE: According to a commenter, Hesburgh Library is closed because of flooding. Can anyone confirm this? What’s going on? Pipes bursting?

I would tromp across campus to investigate, but uh, it’s FREAKING COLD outside.

UPDATE 2: Confirmed via e-mail from the university:

Due to flooding in parts of the Hesburgh Library, the building will be closed until further notice.

UPDATE 3: A new e-mail, sent out at 3:55 PM, states:

The Hesburgh Library reopened at 3:30 p.m. Monday (Feb. 5). Selected areas of the building will remain closed until further notice due to water damage.

The Indianapolis Star’s take:

And the Chicago Tribune’s take:

But the award for the day’s worst headline goes to the South Bend Tribune:

Huh? And an ugly layout, too!

More front pages after the jump, including several with puns on the word “rain” that actually make sense.

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