Students deserve place to live

Published: Tuesday, November 25, 1997

Tuesday, November 25, 1997

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).