Students lambaste idea of new campus
Plans for 10th campus garner little approval from Bruins
By Alisa Ulferts
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Money allotted for a 10th University of California campus would
be better spent improving and expanding the already existing nine
campuses, said cash-strapped students on their lunch breaks
Wednesday.
Scrounging in his pockets for lunch money, second-year
psycho-biology student Dimitriy Tsyrlin offered his view of the
plan to add a 10th campus, despite shrinking departments and
restructuring at UCLA and other UC campuses.
"Forget it," he said.
Plans for a San Joaquin Valley campus were abandoned last summer
because of the university’s deepening budget crisis.
Yet the regents of the University of California resurrected the
plans at their meeting last month, claiming the increased number of
eligible students made it necessary to either build a new campus or
change the standards of eligibility.
"Limiting access (to the university) will deter quality,"
student regent Terence Wooten said at the meeting. Some regents
have said cutting back on enrollment would affect mostly
lower-income students.
First-year biology student Young Bae disagreed. "Higher academic
standards will not affect lower-income students who really want to
succeed." Bae said the money planned for the construction of the
tenth campus would be better invested on the nine existing campuses
 even if that means limiting enrollment.
"I think they should raise the level of eligibility. So many
people from my school were accepted and I question some of those
acceptances," Bae added.
Ann Park, a first-year undeclared student, said that a tenth
campus was unnecessary as well. "Only UCLA and Irvine are really
crowded . The university should encourage people to go to other
campuses like Davis, Riverside and Santa Cruz," she said.
Many students said they are unsympathetic towards those who
would be affected by limited enrollment because they see their reg
fees going up along with the new construction.
"(The university) should put the money into lowering the reg
fees," said Mike Lamb, a first-year communications student.
Vincent Shih, a second-year electrical engineering student,
argued that the rising costs of education, which could be
alleviated by the money planned for the tenth campus, also affect
students’ ability to attend college.
"If fees are raised, it would keep students out anyway, " Shih
said.