Otto’s Army will suspend the night shift of the Duke University game campout for the next three days due to health and safety concerns from the below-zero temperatures.

According to a Syracuse University News press release, the camp-out will end at 9 p.m. Tuesday and start at 9 a.m. Wednesday. The campout’s schedule will repeat the pattern until Friday, when the normal schedule will resume at 9 a.m.

To assure correct line order, an Otto’s Army representative will record information before the campout ends each night and will also conduct check-ins. Students can move their equipment inside the Carrier Dome, but will have to have someone from their group resume camping at 9 a.m. each morning or the group forfeits its space.

Ben Glidden, the president of the student section, said he came to the decision after he camped out from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and experienced the cold weather for himself.

“What affected my decision was being out there,” he said. “I was out there for six hours and I was really, really cold and it made me think, ‘this might not be safe.’”

Glidden said he did research on the weather and the dangers of staying out in the cold.

He said he received the campus-wide weather alert after he finalized the decision, but he added that the email reassured him that he made the right decision.

“Safety is our first priority as Otto’s Army,” Glidden said. “We want to be as safe as possible and give everyone a comfortable environment.”

He called Sarah Ross Cappella, an SU administrator, to discuss the situation. He also spoke with other campers and employees of the Carrier Dome, but it was ultimately his decision.

Hailey Temple, a junior public relations and information management and technology major, intended to stay outside the Dome overnight Tuesday. Her water bottle gradually froze, and she was reluctant to remove her gloves to send text messages or type on her laptop, she said.

While Temple planned to shield herself with a sleeping bag and blankets, she understood the risks the cold posed.

“It’s really dangerous, I think, to stay here and camp out,” Temple said. “But I was ready for it. I was going to do it if we had to.”

Johnny Oliver, a freshman broadcast and digital journalism major, held his group’s spot Tuesday night, though another member of his group planned to relieve him. Oliver said layering clothing and blankets made the cold bearable.

Despite some campers’ willingness to risk staying in the cold, Glidden made the decision to suspend camping.

The possibility of moving the campout to inside the Dome was “too much to ask” and a “large expense” for Dome employees to handle, Glidden added. But Otto’s Army still wanted to have the presence of a camp-out to support SU’s basketball team, he said.

“We want to send the message to the Cameron Crazies, saying ‘We’re camping in sub-zero temperatures while you camp out in 40-degree weather,’” he said. “‘We’re the tougher student section.’”

When asked about who would have been at fault if the camp-out stayed on schedule and someone got sick or injured due to the cold weather, Glidden said he would take the blame because it was his decision for camping, but added it is “ridiculous to consider what-if situations.”

Said Glidden: “Why deal with hypotheticals? The situation is that we decided to move inside for the safety of Syracuse students and now we don’t have to worry about that.”

Published on January 21, 2014 at 7:32 pm