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Free expression area or construction site?

Containers obscuring campus 'drop-in' area are being moved, but ruts remain

by Jim Parsons
The Daily Cougar

A grassy median reserved for unscheduled freedom of expression on the UH campus has, in recent weeks, become a storage site for two large, blue metal construction containers.

Dean of Students William Munson said the University designated the area, located between two sidewalks just east of the Power Building and north of the University Center, as the "Drop-In Expression Area" a couple of years ago. Administrators had determined the need to set aside a place in which students and visitors could hold organized expressive activity without a reservation or approval from the dean of students' office.

One of the containers, which Executive Director of Facilities and Planning Vergel Gay said are associated with the library expansion work, had been moved by Thursday morning. "We're in the process of relocating those in order to make the area more accessible," Gay said.

However, the entire area was crisscrossed by tire tracks and deep, muddy ruts apparently left when the containers were moved and made worse by recent rains.

According to the dean of students' "Time, Place and Manner Form," individuals or groups may use the drop-in area between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. daily. The University's Freedom of Expression Policy prohibits the use of amplified sound, stationary displays or exhibits, signs with sticks, poles or wires and "non-permitted commercial activities."

In addition to the containers, an automobile was parked on a sidewalk near the drop-in area earlier this week, obscuring the single sign indicating the area's boundaries and policies regarding its use. Gay said he is working with Parking and Transportation to determine who has been parking there.
 

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