By Shelley Taylor
The North Village Improvement Committee would like to thank the Daily Bruin for its July 22 news coverage and editorial comment on our first annual meeting. Brian Sullivan’s article, “Residents, students raise concerns about Westwood,” (News) accurately depicted the ground covered.
However, there are several statements within the Daily Bruin editorial, “NVIC must work with students for change,” (Viewpoint) we would like to clarify.
The title of the editorial, “NVIC must work with students for change,” hits it right on the head. We cannot hope to make the experience of living in the North Village a more enjoyable one without the important input of the student residents.
Brian Sullivan’s article reports residents’ concerns about a number of issues, including trash, Midnight Yell, and alcohol consumption. The Bruin editorial, however, inaccurately characterizes these concerns as NVIC proposals.
While we encourage responsible drinking behavior, the NVIC does not endorse academically penalizing students for drunken behavior as put forth in the editorial. To characterize this as a proposal by the NVIC would be like reporting the Los Angeles City Council proposes to allow residents to carry guns simply because a meeting participant suggested doing so during the Council’s public comment forum.
The NVIC had a successful first meeting. As your article stated, we are dedicated to one main goal: improving the quality of life for all North Village residents. We embrace and encourage the Daily Bruin’s call to involve students in this process. However, only a few students chose to attend and we hope more students participate in the future. Since the existence of the NVIC, UCLA has been tremendous in its assistance, but there is always more work to be done. We are beginning to form committees to address several of these issues and encourage all interested students, residents, property owners and managers to join with us in the job ahead.
The NVIC does not want to minimize any of the opinions offered by those attending the meeting. Anyone who chooses to live in the North Village is aware of UCLA’s presence; if one did not wish to be part of a college community, one would choose to live elsewhere. But that is not to say those who choose to live here should be denied a nice place to live.
Apparently Isla Vista’s reputation as a party town is infamous. When those who care about a community do nothing, they feel helpless, hopeless, and frustrated and then they move on. Such is the case in Isla Vista. When no one steps forward to guard the gates, the deterioration escalates. We all must strive to prevent this from reaching a point of no return, and that takes the involvement of not just property owners and management, but of residents – students emphatically included. Without student input, the goals of the NVIC will never be realized and everyone’s quality of life will be affected.
Inaccuracies aside, the editorial promotes discussion and hopefully solutions.