On Feb. 8, the U will play host to more than 50,000 spectators and athletes.

Officials will block roads surrounding the Rice-Eccles Stadium, shut down the nearby TRAX line and drastically restrict access to the area surrounding the stadium.

Though it is a daunting task, U administrators have done their part to help make the job easier?they will shut down virtually the entire campus.

However, administrators apparently weren’t as cognizant of an equally significant event that will happen in the same place about a month later?the Paralympic Opening Ceremony.

Currently, administrators plan for the U to fully function that day. As the campus welcomes thousands of spectators and more than 1,000 Paralympic athletes, it will also welcome 26,000 loyal U students?students who will be decidedly agitated as they compete with visitors from around the world for what little parking and driving asphalt remains.

On Thursday, the Undergraduate Council discussed several options for the U on March 7, the day of the Paralympic Opening Ceremony, including canceling afternoon classes. The Council discussed the options and could not formulate an adequate solution.

What the council considers a pressing conundrum is, in reality, a simple equation with a simple answer.

The nightmare logistics of driving and parking, in addition to coordinating the movements of thousands of people equal more than enough hazard to warrant closing the U.

Planners forecast several acute challenges surrounding the Paralympic Ceremony. These include the closure of Fifth South at 3 p.m. and the shipping of massive amounts of equipment to the stadium over the course of the day.

U administrators will shut down the university for the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics, and it would behoove them to do the same for the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympics.

If, because of parking concerns, U President Bernie Machen can close all of lower campus for a snow storm, surely he can make the same sacrifice for the 2002 Paralympic Opening Ceremony.