2008 Woodie Awards
Forest Park: Forgotten or Untold Story?
Issue date: 1/23/07 Section: Commentary
- Page 1 of 1
To the Editor:
The scene is Forest Park, located by the Mini Dorms at UNH. While the name might seem pleasant, the lifestyle isn't so.
Through interviews and research, it's understood that most UNH students don't even know about Forest Park. Either they don't know where it is or have no idea what's going on. That's why I'm here today to explain the difficulties these students face everyday.
The Forest Park apartments are owned by UNH and reserved for students with a family and many international exchange students on fixed Visas. Now imagine yourself for a minute as a college student, either single or married, with children. Parenting, schoolwork, work, and a social life would all be very difficult to balance. Factor in the current construction of dorms next to your apartment and you have yourself a very tough situation. This is just a small piece of what these people go through everyday. Along with the difficult and stressful lifestyle comes the recent actions of our university. Add in the increased costs of rent and demolition of some Forest Park apartments and you are now in the shoes of a Forest Park resident.
Since many of these students are international exchange students, they are forced to live off of fixed Visa's that limit their income. Increased rent and living costs have strapped these students into extremely hard living conditions. For the other students who are not exchange students, they still struggle with raising a family, getting an education, and ultimately making ends meet. Instead of trying to meet the needs, not even demands, of current UNH students, our University has chosen the other route--the money route. Rather than sticking to their "diversity" claim, UNH has chastised these students, our fellow classmates. They have basically stated that the incoming undergraduates of the next few years are more important than those they have already enrolled. Do I even need to explain what is wrong with this picture?
After attempting to create a documentary on the Forest Park situation for Community Development 415, my fellow classmates and myself were forced to give up. Not because we don't care, but because our administration failed to respond to our questions in regards to the situation. Why would Housing, the Board of Trustees, and other administrators do such a thing? Do they know what they are doing is wrong? I sure hope they do because it is.
As UNH continues with their goal of becoming a top research university, I recommend the administration look at bigger issues on campus first. If the University wants to become more diverse, then it should show it. Respect the students you currently have before focusing in on the incoming ones. You offered them the chance to be educated at UNH, now act like you meant it.
Jeremy Bourgeois
Class of 2009
The scene is Forest Park, located by the Mini Dorms at UNH. While the name might seem pleasant, the lifestyle isn't so.
Through interviews and research, it's understood that most UNH students don't even know about Forest Park. Either they don't know where it is or have no idea what's going on. That's why I'm here today to explain the difficulties these students face everyday.
The Forest Park apartments are owned by UNH and reserved for students with a family and many international exchange students on fixed Visas. Now imagine yourself for a minute as a college student, either single or married, with children. Parenting, schoolwork, work, and a social life would all be very difficult to balance. Factor in the current construction of dorms next to your apartment and you have yourself a very tough situation. This is just a small piece of what these people go through everyday. Along with the difficult and stressful lifestyle comes the recent actions of our university. Add in the increased costs of rent and demolition of some Forest Park apartments and you are now in the shoes of a Forest Park resident.
Since many of these students are international exchange students, they are forced to live off of fixed Visa's that limit their income. Increased rent and living costs have strapped these students into extremely hard living conditions. For the other students who are not exchange students, they still struggle with raising a family, getting an education, and ultimately making ends meet. Instead of trying to meet the needs, not even demands, of current UNH students, our University has chosen the other route--the money route. Rather than sticking to their "diversity" claim, UNH has chastised these students, our fellow classmates. They have basically stated that the incoming undergraduates of the next few years are more important than those they have already enrolled. Do I even need to explain what is wrong with this picture?
After attempting to create a documentary on the Forest Park situation for Community Development 415, my fellow classmates and myself were forced to give up. Not because we don't care, but because our administration failed to respond to our questions in regards to the situation. Why would Housing, the Board of Trustees, and other administrators do such a thing? Do they know what they are doing is wrong? I sure hope they do because it is.
As UNH continues with their goal of becoming a top research university, I recommend the administration look at bigger issues on campus first. If the University wants to become more diverse, then it should show it. Respect the students you currently have before focusing in on the incoming ones. You offered them the chance to be educated at UNH, now act like you meant it.
Jeremy Bourgeois
Class of 2009
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