ROSETTE GONZALES USAC president, Karren
Lane, (left), speaks at a meeting as Evan
Okamura and the rest of the USAC members listen.
By Arj Arjunan
Daily Bruin Contributor
At its Tuesday meeting, members of the Undergraduate Students
Association Council said current construction projects around
campus inconvenience students without adequately considering
student interests.
Facilities commissioner Jeremy McKenzie reported to the council
that the number of construction projects undertaken by Capital
Programs has increased this year and will continue over the next
several years.
Capital Programs oversees all construction projects at UCLA and
draws up plans for projects, takes bids from contractors and sets
completion dates.
USAC members said students have contacted them to complain about
the noise, dust, delays and general disruptions to campus life that
construction projects have caused.
“The general sentiment is that people are fed up with
project after project,” McKenzie said.
He said students have complained about the dump trucks leaving
the Intramural Field that kick up dust and congest traffic on
Charles E. Young Drive West and the construction noise.
Tom LaVanne, director of construction services for Capital
Programs, said Capital Programs has addressed the issues
surrounding the construction under the IM Field by sweeping dust
from streets and working with traffic monitors to ensure student
safety on Young Drive after trucks transporting dirt increased
traffic along the route.
“There’s always discussion of how to move forward
with a low impact on student life,” LaVanne said.
In recent years, Capital Programs has worked on the construction
of De Neve Plaza and renovation of Haines Hall. Current projects
include construction of the parking structure under the IM Field,
the Westwood Replacement Hospital and the Physics and Astronomy
building.
Capital Programs is also renovating and seismically retrofitting
the Men’s Gym. Following the 1994 Northridge 6.7 earthquake,
UCLA scheduled all campus buildings for seismic retrofitting.
Marc Fisher, campus architect for Capital Programs, said past
projects ““ the renovation of Kerckhoff Hall, Ackerman Union,
Moore Hall and Powell Library from 1990-95 ““ had a greater
impact on student life because they all occurred in the same area
on campus.
Capital Programs established the project impact mitigation
committee to bring together construction project managers and
members of the community to discuss current and future
projects.
The monthly committee meetings allow the project managers to
notify interested parties about projects under development that
will begin in the next three to six months, LaVanne said.
McKenzie said Capital Programs has not regularly notified him
about the committee meetings. He said he will attend its meeting
Friday.
Internal vice president Kennisha Austin said students should
have a larger voice in the number of construction projects
undertaken because of the impact on student life.
“We need to investigate the role we play in these
decisions and make sure students are taken into account,”
Austin said.