Rice University plans to operate during normal business hours Thursday, Feb. 10. Employees who need to  come in late Thursday due to their children’s school delays/closings or weather and road conditions in their area should notify their supervisor, who will approve the benefit time. Students who live off campus and need to come in late Thursday due to the weather and road conditions in their area should notify their teacher/adviser. Students, faculty and staff should not risk their safety to get to class or work on time.

The Crisis Management Team will continue to monitor the weather and road conditions. If the situation warrants a change of plans, notices will be posted on www.rice.edu and on 713-348-8888. Notices will also be sent to cell phones via text and to Rice e-mail addresses.

Due to dangerous road conditions caused by the weather, Rice University is closed today, Feb. 4. All classes are canceled for the day.

Essential employees should contact their supervisor to find out if they need to report to work.

Our primary concern is for the safety of our employees and students. The mayor and county judge have urged citizens to stay off the roads, and all the local school systems are closed, so we realize many of our employees have family obligations to tend to.

The Rice Children’s Campus is also closed.

To meet the needs of the students residing on campus, the food serveries and the Gibbs Recreation Center will be open during normal hours. Fondren Library will be open until 10 p.m. and Brochstein Pavilion will be open until 3 p.m.

Limited shuttle service will be available on the Inner Loop and to the Rice Graduate Apartments and the Rice Village Apartments from 11:30 a.m. until 5 p.m.

Rice employees, except for essential staff, will be dismissed at 3 p.m. today, Feb. 3. Classes with start times after 1 p.m. have been cancelled. Classes that will still be in session at 3 p.m. should be completed as soon as possible after 3 so that faculty and students can have time to return home safely. Rice shuttle service on the Inner Loop and to the TMC/BRC will continue until 5:30 p.m. and to the Graduate Student Apartments until 7 p.m., unless weather conditions warrant earlier closure.

Most campus events scheduled for this evening are canceled; current exceptions include the Black List Project reception, the Rice Art Gallery reception and the School of Architecture’s Miquel Adria lecture, but you should contact the event organizer in case plans change.

The Gibbs Recreation Center will remain open until midnight; however, specific programs are being handled on a case-by-case basis. Please contact the Recreation Center Operations Desk at 713-348-4059 for updated information.

Fondren Library will remain open today until 10 p.m. and open at 8 a.m. Friday.

At this time, it is anticipated that Rice will be open on Friday. If a decision is made to have a late opening Friday, employees should report to work at the late opening time, with no charge to benefit time. In the event employees are not able to report for work due to the weather conditions, school closings, etc., employees should notify their supervisors, who will approve benefit time.

The Crisis Management Team will be monitoring weather and road conditions this evening. An update about the university’s plans for Friday should be posted between 10:30 and 11 tonight for employees and students at www.rice.edu and on the campus emergency hotline, 713-348-8888.

The Rice Crisis Management Team is monitoring weather forecasts and conditions as major winter storms have brought things to a halt throughout the country. Updates will be posted on rice.edu, and information will also be available on Rice’s emergency hotline, 713-348-8888. Please be sure you have updated your emergency contact information at esther.rice.edu to ensure that you receive any timely messages issued via text and cell phone.

Good news for Rice researchers: The rolling electrical blackouts that the Energy Reliability Council of Texas has ordered around the state are not expected to affect the labs on campus or the BRC. To be on the safe side, be sure your critical lab equipment is plugged into the emergency power outlets, and you should probably avoid starting a new experiment over the next few days. Also remember that space heaters are not permitted.

The shots will be administered:

• Oct. 12, 8 a.m.-3 p.m., in Kelley Lounge, Rice Memorial Center
• Oct. 16, 8 a.m.-3 p.m., Facilities, Engineering and Planning Training Room
• Oct. 23, 8 a.m.-noon, Kelley Lounge, Rice Memorial Center

Shots will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information about flu shot administration and the flu virus itself, visit the Human Resources Web site at http://people.rice.edu/benefits.cfm?doc_id=7983.

Students can still get a seasonal flu shot at the Student Health Center for $13. The shot is free for students who are at high risk of complications from the flu, such as those who are pregnant or have chronic illnesses like asthma and diabetes.

The flu shot costs $13 for most students. It is free for students in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s high-risk groups, such as those who have chronic illnesses like diabetes and asthma or are pregnant.

Dr. Mark Jenkins, director of Student Health Services, encourages all students to get a flu shot unless they’ve been advised otherwise by their personal physician. The vaccine should help protect them when the seasonal flu arrives later this fall.

The seasonal flu shot will not protect against the novel H1N1 virus that has been infecting colleges students at Rice and campuses all across the nation. The H1N1 flu shots are expected to be available around mid-October.

Free seasonal flu shots for benefits-eligible faculty and staff and retirees will be available in Kelley Lounge of the Rice Memorial Center/Ley Student Center Oct. 12 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Oct. 23 from 8 a.m. to noon; they will also be available Oct. 16 in the FE&P Training Room from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Non-benefits-eligible faculty and staff and all spouses/domestic partners can get seasonal flu shots for $25 per shot; they must pay by cash, check or credit card at the site.

As of Sept. 17, Student Health Services had seen 175 students with flu-like illness, and 63 had been confirmed as influenza. Jenkins said the number of new flu cases has been decreasing over the past week, and he expects that trend to continue. He reminded students to follow the CDC recommendations to wash their hands often and avoid contact with those who are sick. Students with the flu have been advised to stay in their rooms until at least 24 hours after they no longer have a fever.

An outbreak of the flu among Rice Owls volleyball players prevented the team from entering the UTSA Classic this weekend in San Antonio. With an 8-3 record, the team chose to remain home to allow ailing student-athletes to recover and to avoid spreading the flu to others.

For more information about the flu, visit www.flu.gov.

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Dr. Mark Jenkins, director of Student Health Services, noted that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised their guidelines for people in the high-risk groups, which include anyone who has diabetes, asthma, heart disease or some other chronic illness and those who are pregnant. The CDC recommends that if you’re in a high-risk group, you should talk to your physician about your influenza plan now rather than wait until you become ill. Your physician may want to provide an antiviral medication in advance so it will be readily available if you get the flu. For more on the CDC guidelines, visit www.flu.gov.

As of Thursday night, Student Health Services has seen 143 students with flu-like symptoms, and 58 cases have been confirmed as influenza. Most students are getting better within several days without antiviral medication.