Monday, September 28, 1998
Students stuffed in dorms, dining halls as housing saga
continues
CROWDING: Triple rooms, DeNeve Plaza construction to help
alleviate problems
By Stefanie Wong
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Living in the residence halls means no curfew, no parents and
lots of independence. But it also means no privacy, no personal
space, and, if you live in the high-rises, sharing eight toilets
with almost 80 people.
Students who have lived, visited or even just walked past the
residence halls know that on-campus housing is crowded – and next
year won’t be any different.
Housing Administration estimates that 6,200 students will live
in on-campus housing this year – an increase of 500 people over
last year.
As a result, more triple-capacity rooms were created, and for
the first time, the number of these triples will surpass the number
of doubles.
Most of the incoming freshmen will be living in triples – 70
percent – because, while they are guaranteed housing, they cannot
choose which room or building to live in.
Returning residents can choose where they live, so they are less
likely to end up in a triple against their preference.
In addition to adding triples, the Housing Administration will
place some students in the third-floor lounges of the high-rises
for the first few weeks of school.
"This high number of students is requiring us to activate some
lounges," said Michael Foraker, director of the Housing
Administration, adding that placing students in lounges is the last
option used to compensate for the lack of housing.
Those students will be moved into regular rooms when spaces
become available but will receive no compensation for having to
live in the lounges.
Foraker attributes the rise in the number of residents to this
year’s larger freshman class and more eligible second-year students
choosing to return to the residence halls.
The closing of Hershey Hall as a residence facility this past
year did not add to the crowding situation in the residence
halls.
"Hershey accommodated about 335 single graduate students, and we
did not relocate any of those students to the hill," Foraker
said.
Instead, the students who lived in Hershey Hall were relocated
to university apartments. Hershey Hall will be used to house
offices from Haines Hall while it undergoes seismic renovation. The
building will no longer be used to house students.
The growing number of students who need housing has been a trend
over the past years that prompted the construction of De Neve
Plaza, a new housing facility next to Dykstra Hall that is set to
partially open in Fall 1999.
When completely open in Winter 2000, the new building will have
616 double rooms, each with private bathrooms; a new dining hall
and space for students to study and hold programs, among other new
facilities.
The Housing Administration said it hopes that this building will
rid the rest of the residence halls of triple-capacity rooms, or,
at the very least, help alleviate the general crowding.
But until De Neve Plaza is finished, the Housing Administration
must try to ease the overcrowding by developing new programs and
modifying current operations.
The dining halls will be greatly affected and various changes
and programs have been made in order to accommodate the expected
higher traffic, according to Mary Niven, associate director of
dining services.
"We’re putting a real focus on customer service … ensuring
that students have an excellent experience," she said.
Longer and later dining hours will be available to students, and
more part-time workers will be hired.
Rieber dining will also allow students to take meals to their
rooms in a new "grab and go" program.
In addition, special items such as made-to-order sushi and
individual fruit cobblers will be offered weekly at Hedrick along
with other "special programs to attract more people," Niven
said.
Since the dining facility in Hedrick Hall opened last year,
students have never fully used its maximum serving and seating
potential, and these programs may alleviate some of the traffic at
the other facilities, Niven added.
The Housing Administration expects the students will want to
spend more time outside of their cramped rooms and is planning
around this prediction.
"One thing we’re doing is anticipating that students will move
out of their rooms and into common areas," said Alfred Nam,
associated director of Room Operations.
The Office of Residential Life (ORL) is taking this prediction
into consideration and is planning more outside meals, barbecues
and mixers with other halls to utilize more resources and building
facilities.
"We’re encouraging more out of hall programs," said Jack
Gibbons, associated director for ORL.
The Housing Administration is also turning Sproul’s dining
facility, which was closed last year, into student space for
programs and studying. Folding chairs and tables are also being
added to study lounges for students to use.
"We’re working to increase usable study space," Gibbons
said.
However, more students out of their rooms means an increase in
traffic and trash in the common areas, so more maintenance and
housekeeping personnel will be hired so that there will be longer
work hours and they can "respond more quickly," Nam said.
ORL also knows that more residents could mean more tension
between roommates.
During move-in week, ORL will be hosting educational sessions on
how to develop healthy roommate relationships.
"There might be more incidents with roommates conflicts, but it
will not be anything significant," Gibbons said.
While the opening of De Neve Plaza will help with the
overcrowding the Housing Administration faces, the completion of
the building also means other construction projects currently on
hold in the residence halls can be finished.
When the new dining hall in the Plaza is completed, the food
service facility in Covel Commons will be closed and modified into
an exhibition-style serving area, where individual stations prepare
a specific dish or type of food.
The Covel dining area currently serves food like a traditional
cafeteria where students go through a line to get their meals.
But the exhibition-style service, currently used in Rieber and
Hedrick, is a more efficient system where the dining hall can
"service more people in a shorter amount of time," Niven said.
The opening of De Neve Plaza may also prompt the closing of
Courtside, one of Sunset Village’s three buildings, in order to
make permanent repairs for "water intrusion," Foraker said.
Courtside has had problems with leaky roofs since its opening in
1992.
"We think the greater majority, if not all, of where there was
water intrusion will be temporarily repaired and we do have a plan
that once De Neve is fully up and running that we’ll take Courtside
out of operation," Foraker said.
BAHMAN FARAHDEL/Daily Bruin
Laura Lin (left) and Candice Ling, both undeclared students,
share a triple room with another roommate in Sproul Hall during
orientation.
Related sites:
“¢bull; UCLA Office of Residential LIfe
“¢bull; UCLA Housing
“¢bull; Daily Bruin (8/17/98): Dorm shortage puts squeeze on
students
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