university and students are concerned with possible summer school boycott

According to Dale Barkey, president of the American Association of University Professors, and Bruce Mallory, provost and executive vice president of academic affairs at UNH, if the AAUP and University of New Hampshire do not reach an agreement later this month, a summer school boycott by the AAUP is likely for both the Durham and Manchester campuses.

After 19 months of failing to agree on contract negotiations, the AAUP and UNH will resume negotiations with a third party mediator later this month. This is the second impasse during these negotiations. Before the present contract, the last time the two sides had to declare an impasse on a contract negotiation was 1997. According to Mallory, the AAUP also boycotted summer courses that year.

Barkey said that the AAUP is not trying to harm the UNH students. The union is trying to make students on campus aware of the current situation between the faculty and administration while there is still time for students to consider taking summer classes at other universities.

“If it should come to a boycott, we want students to have as much prior notice as possible,” said Barkey. “We want them to have the time to make other arrangements.”

Mallory said that he is concerned about how the boycott would affect UNH students.

“It makes me sad, because summer school is important to our students,” said Mallory. “A lot of them depend on it to graduate and meet the requirements in their majors. Sometimes they need it to make up for classes they have not succeeded in during previous years.”

Mallory said that if a boycott does occur, the university would still try to make summer courses available to students on campus by getting other instructors more involved.

Sophomore Dan McMahon said that he is not only concerned about students not being able to take summer courses, but also upset that it would even come to this.

“Informing us that we are not going to have summer classes doesn’t make summer classes magically appear,” said McMahon. “It is not going to help the students any more. They are just going to get angrier earlier.” —Erica Brien

nationwide protest comes to Dover

It was cold and wet outside with potential ice on the way—an ideal climate for real polar bears. But for protestors dressed in polar bear costumes outside a Shell gas station in Dover on Wednesday, Feb. 6, it was not as comforting.

Nationwide concern about a lease sale that will give the highest bidding oil and gas company access to nearly 30 million acres of the Alaskan Chukchi Sea (also known as part of the Polar Bear Seas) became local when protestors hit the streets outside the Shell station to raise awareness about the potential threats the deal could pose for the already dwindling polar bear population.

According to John Demos, a member of the Northeast Region Field Staff for Alaska Wilderness League, an organization whose mission is to “preserve Alaska’s wilderness,” protests were being held at Shell gas stations throughout the country.
“Shell (was) speculated to be the highest bidder, although other foreign companies and Exxon have been named, too,” Demos said.

According to Scandinavian Oil-Gas Magazine, Shell won the lease the following day with a bid of $2 billion.

Demos was present at the Shell Station along with UNH students Claire Stodola and Liz Willey, both members of The Student Environmental Action Coalition. Both wore polar bear costumes and waved signs reading “Honk for polar bears” and “Shell, don’t drill into the Polar Bear Seas.” As she and her fellow SEAC colleague waved cheerfully, getting the attention of passing cars, freshman Stodola said, “ I came out to support the cause and thought this was a fun way to do it.”

Most reactions they received were positive—from cars honking to pedestrians offering their support. However, others were not as supportive as they drove by and gave the demonstrators the finger. “It happens,” Demos said with a shrug, “but most of the people that have driven by have given us a positive reaction.” —Caitlin Lowry

taking the plunge: supporting the Special Olympics

Captain Plunger once again wore his helmet with three plungers stuck to the top, accompanied by a couple of car dashboard hula girls. He also wore winter-themed pajama pants, a cape and two leis to decorate a shirt that looked like it was made for a Beach Boys album cover.

Participating for the ninth year as Captain Plunger, Bill Jones was one of 807 people counting down the minutes in 38-degree temperatures, waiting until he could submerge himself into the frigid waters of the Atlantic Ocean as part of the ninth annual Penguin Plunge.

The Special Olympics New Hampshire Penguin Plunge took place Feb. 3 at Hampton Beach. As the largest annual fundraiser for the Special Olympics, each “penguin” plunger is required to contribute at least $350 to participate, although it is possible to donate and sit out the plunge as a “chicken.” Combining all donations, this year’s plunge raised $546,681 for the organization.

As an event that involves the community as well as participants, hundreds of spectators watched three waves of plungers dressed in all costumes imaginable run screaming into the water, then scream even louder as they ran back out. From Patriot jerseys to hula skirts, bikinis and even bottles of Bud, the outfits worn by plungers created a sense of celebration for the crowd.

Christine Fox, a sophomore from UNH, made a solo plunge this year, dressed in a hula skirt, Tom Brady Jersey, lei and a stuffed penguin used as a hat. Although the water was cold enough to numb Fox’s toes in her quick plunge, she said, “You don’t even care how cold it is. Everyone’s so excited and it’s such an adrenaline rush.”