Tuesday, November 25, 1997
Students deserve place to live
HOUSING: Best solution to office space crisis is not close of
Hershey Hall
By Greg Schultz
I can’t believe the UCLA administrators’ views on the proposed
plan to close Hershey Hall after this academic year ("Can’t go home
to Hershey," Nov. 19). They act as if it’s "imperative" that
Hershey be converted to an office facility due to some supposed
campus office space crisis. Obvious questions for UCLA are:
(1) What about putting up some temporary office facility, like
Towell? Tearing Towell down sure seems short-sighted now.
(2) What about leasing office space in the village, as has been
done with various UCLA departments and offices for several years?
Why should "student residents" be forced off campus instead?
(3) Hasn’t the UCLA administration fully considered how this
could affect recruitment of graduate and transfer students? Quoting
Mike Foraker, director of the UCLA Housing Administration, when
explaining construction of De Neve Plaza: "Housing is very much a
critical component in helping our campus succeed at recruiting and
retaining outstanding students. It’s critical to the university’s
mission to compete for the best and brightest students in the
country" ("Housing boom on campus," UCLA Today, Nov. 10). So isn’t
provision of on-campus housing for graduate and transfer students
just as important to the university’s recruitment mission?
(4) Can the housing administrators possibly be more
hypocritical? From the same UCLA Today article written by Cynthia
Lee: "One reason why student housing has become so attractive is
because of a demonstrated academic advantage enjoyed by resident
students, Foraker said. Living on campus also links students to
academic resources and opportunities not otherwise available. And
socially, students fare better living among large groups undergoing
similar experiences; it’s easier to form friendships, become part
of social groups and participate in campus activities." Don’t
graduate and transfer students deserve access to these exact same
on-campus housing benefits?
Keep in mind that the alternative housing options being
developed for graduate and transfer students (e.g., leasing more
Hilgard Houses) are not acceptable on-campus substitutes for a
number of reasons. UCLA is trying to make these arrangements "on
the fly," without full consideration of all the pertinent
issues.
Therefore, I offer a compromise solution. Why not delay the
closure of Hershey by just one year, from June 1998 to June 1999?
In the fall 1999 quarter, De Neve Plaza is scheduled to open, with
1,300 new beds. Surely a portion of student housing there or
elsewhere on the Hill can be set aside for graduate and transfer
students. In this solution, I propose UCLA can offer continuous
on-campus housing options for the graduate and transfer student
populations, which number well over 10,000. What about the office
space "problem"? There are certainly other options available (see
my points 1 and 2 above). Graduate and transfer students should not
receive lower priority than seismic renovation plans for Haines
Hall. If absolutely no office space can be found somewhere (which
is highly doubtful) for sociology and anthropology (not scheduled
to move into Hershey until at least January 1999 anyhow), just
postpone the Haines renovation for a short time (up to one
year).