neighbors with the sun

The smell of chicken fajitas and exhaust lingered in the air during the most “sick-nasty” thing ever to happen in C-Lot.
In a demonstration showing that Red Bull really does give you wings, motocross superstars flew through the air at a gnarly height of 30 feet on Wednesday. Red Bull, in conjunction with UNH Dining Services, hosted the two motocross shows during the fiesta picnic in C-Lot on Wednesday. X-Games gold medalist Tommy Clowers, Jeff “Fulltilt” Tilton and Chris McNeil are motocross celebrities and part of a national Red Bull tour.

neighbors with the sun

The smell of chicken fajitas and exhaust lingered in the air during the most “sick-nasty” thing ever to happen in C-Lot.
In a demonstration showing that Red Bull really does give you wings, motocross superstars flew through the air at a gnarly height of 30 feet on Wednesday. Red Bull, in conjunction with UNH Dining Services, hosted the two motocross shows during the fiesta picnic in C-Lot on Wednesday. X-Games gold medalist Tommy Clowers, Jeff “Fulltilt” Tilton and Chris McNeil are motocross celebrities and part of a national Red Bull tour.

A towering black platform was at the center of the fenced-in area. Seventy-five feet away was the ramp. The crowd waited with anticipation. “The atmosphere is electric,” said Mark Avery, 22, an attendee.

Swarms of students crowded the site, guzzling free Red Bulls and chowing down on Mexican cuisine.

“I thought it was a really good idea for Red Bull and UNH to do this. People see this and hear about this, and they’ll want to come to UNH,” says Steve Perros, 20.

The performers awed the crowd with supermen, lazy boys and catwalks, and the crowd hummed with appreciation and the occasional outburst of “Whoa,” “That was freakin’ awesome,” “Did he just do that?” and “This is so sick.”

The crowd squinted up at the airborne motorists as they hung in the air, neighbors with the sun momentarily, then cheered every time they returned to earth.

“It’s a great atmosphere,” said McNeil. “A bunch of young kids ready to party. They want to be entertained, and that’s what we’re here for.”

Friends of Forest Park protest

Cardboard boxes were set up on the lawn to represent the housing at the Forest Park complex, home to graduate and international students. People laid inside the boxes with signs around them reading, “Are you OK with poverty on your campus?,” “30 years of neglect” and “Hey Prez, take a paycut!”

A large banner hung between two trees above the faux houses, reading, “Future of family housing at UNH—Defend Forest park,” while volunteers handed out flyers with information on the current situation in the Forest Park community. Forest Park provides housing for “newly appointed faculty members, married students and students with dependent children,” according to the UNH Department of Housing Web site. There are also a large number of international students and families who reside at Forest Park.

Because of rent increases in the last few years, many families living in the Forest Park community have been struggling to get by.

Rob Wolff, a senior philosophy major at UNH and an advocate for Forest Park residents and member of the Friends advocacy group, commented that Forest Park residents have been forced to decide between paying rent or feeding their children.

“It is an issue of priority,” he said. “The administration needs to prioritize the dignities of the families on campus. Until things change, we will continue to put pressure on (the administration).”

During the demonstration, members served symbolic eviction notices  to three key administrators: director of housing William Conk, provost and vice president of academic affairs Bruce Mallory, and interim president J. Bonnie Newman. As of yet, there has been no response by the administration.

“Friends of Forest Park do not plan to meet with them until we hear from them that their position on this issue has changed,” said Rob Wolff. “We will continue to raise public awareness about issues surrounding affordable family housing and the situation for international and graduate students. We will continue our efforts to shame the administration into action.”

This population, according to Rob Wolff and many others, is “essential to the mission of the university” because of the diversity that resides there and the number of teaching assistants, researchers and graduate students living in Forest Park.

Friends of Forest Park claim that they have been lied to by the administration and that promises have been broken.
Sarah Gormady, a resident of Forest Park who is majoring in Russian and has just been accepted into the McNair program, said, “I don’t expect the administration to be understanding of the situation in Forest Park because they don’t come to Forest Park. They have lived privileged lives and cannot possibly understand.”

Gormady said that what is most upsetting to her is that the administration continually suggests that receiving a higher education requires sacrifice from students’ families.

“What I would like the administration to consider is that most students at UNH are asking their families to tighten their belts and live economically,” said Gormady. “What Forest Park residents have been asking of their family members is so much more. We ask them not to get sick, we don’t have insurance. We ask them to bathe in dirty brown water and live in horrid apartments, we ask them not to eat because there is no more food. At Forest Park we are asking our families to sacrifice their health for our education. That is disgusting. I have lost 10 pounds. I have lost energy. I have lost almost all hope. I wonder, what has my daughter lost?”

beaker explodes in Parsons Hall

A UNH scientist suffered a hand injury Wednesday, May 2, in a chemistry laboratory in Parsons Hall when a project backfired with an explosion.

At 10:34 a.m., Durham Fire Department received a 911 call for a medical emergency in a second-floor chemistry room in Parsons Hall. Upon arrival, firefighters found scientist Dibya Hamilia, of Dover, with trauma to her left hand. Hamilia was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The University of New Hampshire’s Office of Environmental Health and Safety responded to the scene to mitigate the environmental spill.

UNH Spokesperson Kim Billings said Hamilia was working on a project when a glass beaker she was holding blew up.

There was no fire, and the building was not evacuated. Billings said no one else was involved. Firefighters quickly determined there was no hazard to anyone else in the building.

The university reported details of the accident after calls from parents who were concerned there might have been some link to last week’s campus-wide bomb threat.

“We got a lot of calls in the president’s office from parents of students in the Physical Science Department,” said Billings. “They had heard it on the Boston stations.”

“Within the first 20 minutes of it being reported, we received 20 media calls at least,” Billings said. “Boston media picked it up from the scanner.”