New Parking Program Offered for Move Out

University Transportation Services has introduced a new parking permit to help ease the stress of move out: a free, 2 hour pass which would allow parents and students to park nearly anywhere.

“The 2 hour pass is the result of too many cars being parked in fire lanes along side buildings,” said Dirk S. Timmons, Director of UNH Transportation.

The pass, which is available in the parking office, will state the time and date of move-out as well as the vehicle’s license number. The intention of this new parking pass is to help ease stress during the moving out process as well as avoid excess ticketing.

“During move in my mom got a two hundred dollar fine, just for parking near my dorm,” said Matthew Normandeau, a sophomore. “If this helps avoid such ridiculous fines, then I’ll do it,” said Normandeau.

The parking pass would allow students and parents to park in nearby faculty and staff parking lots, as well as commuter lots, between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. It also will allow students to utilize any nearby resident lots during any hour of the day.

However, as some lots are not open at night, the parking office advises that students plan ahead.

“Because the enforcement hours exceed our office hours, depending on the time of your move-out you may need to plan ahead to get your permit,” said the department in a public notice.

If a student requires more than two hours, then the family may revert to the normal (paid) temporary parking, either at the Visitor Center, West Edge Lot, parking meters or Lot C.

“Honestly, I don’t think that 2 hours is going to be enough time for a lot of students,” said Gail Winsor, a sophomore. “We all have a lot of stuff,” said Winsor.

Another option for students is parking in fire lanes along side buildings. Although it is allowed, parking in a fire lane is strictly limited. It is only allowed if a licensed driver remains with the vehicle at all times. The vehicle must also be in the active process of being loaded.

Unattended vehicles in fire lands, or those lingering longer than it takes to load and leave, risk standard enforcement even though it is move out week.

“This of course is an important safety consideration, so while there is some wiggle-room, it is conditional,” said the parking department's public statement.

Vehicles which are parked without a permit in areas that require them will risk standard enforcement, despite it being move out week. This could potentially mean heavy fines and parking tickets.

“It’s annoying to have to walk to the parking office, but I suppose I will because I don’t want to have to pay for parking, or worse get a fine,” said freshman Kathleen Leahy.

The permits may be picked up at the parking office service counter, which is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 am until 4 pm. The permits require a vehicle number and will be prepared in advance for students.

UNH Parking will not issue successive permits, as students are expected to then move to normal temporary parking if they exceed the 2 hour limit.

“We are hoping this new permit will help the process, not cause more hassle,” said Timmons.

Fellows Lectures: Egyptian Land Reclamation and Water Management

With pictures of Egypt’s deserts turned into grassy, landscapes projected behind her, Professor Jeannie Sowers hosted an informal lecture last Wednesday in the Memorial Union Building sharing her research from her last recent trip to Egypt.

“She has been a major force in the Political Science department for the last four years,” said Professor Lawrence Reardon, who introduced Sowers.

Sowers, an Assistant Professor of Political Science, has traveled multiple times to Egypt to research the politics of water management and land reclamation. She is the recipient of a fellows research grant from the Center for the Humanities and has therefore been able to spend time interviewing Egyptian government officials involved in these projects.

In her lecture, titled "Re-mapping the Nation, Critiquing the State: Narrating Land Reclamation in Egypt’s New Valley,” Sowers discussed how conducting research in a foreign country was at times highly challenging.

“It’s not just bureaucracy, it’s also the way people think that makes [research] a challenge,” said Sowers.

Sowers found that the Egyptian land currently being occupied is confined between the Nile and the Red Sea. The area has become highly populated while the rest of Egypt, which is mostly desert land, remains unused.

“The water management plan is supposed to reclaim 3 million acres,” explained Sowers. Water reclamation would not only allow crops to grow in the desert, but would make the area more suitable for living.

However, so far only 100,000 acres have been reclaimed, and at a very high cost.

“Many commentators saw this as a failed project,” said Sowers, “But there simply isn’t a demand for it.”

The government has tried to encourage people to move to desert areas by exaggerating the pollution in Cairo and other cities, but the Egyptian people have resisted moving. Despite cheap land prices, high temperature, isolation and a lack of amenities has prevented many from relocating.

“I think it’s starting to run up against its limits already,” said Sowers.

Sowers explained that water availability and the deteriorating quality are contributing factors to the failed effort. Additionally, the process has become too expensive for the government to continue funding.

“Many people I think expected greater results by now,” said Sowers. The project was supposed to be Egypt’s big break, which would enable the country to smoothly leave the private sector and establish a market economy.

Despite this vision, many Egyptians were unaware of the effort at all. A lack of accessible, public media prevented much discussion on the project.

“When I was there in the late 1990s the project was conceived in official journals,” explained Sowers. However, when she returned this past year she said that the new independent forms of media have enabled much livelier debates among citizens and even Parliament.

“There are much livelier debates now about water management and how the regime handles it,” said Sowers.

Other areas around Egypt have begun embracing water management and land reclamation as well, also in hopes of expanding livable area. Other such areas include South East Asia, Turkey and Israel.

Sowers' lecture ended with a brief question and answer session where some fellow colleges and students all took an interest in her discoveries.

The next fellows lecture hosted by the Center for Humanities will be in the Fall 2010 semester held by Janet Yount, of the English Department. She will be conducting a lecture entitled “Reading Clarissa under Apartheid: The Enduring Force of an 18th Century Novel.” A specific date will be announced in the fall.