Wednesday, May 27, 1998
Washington Center plans are underway
ABROAD: Building will centralize programs, cut commute, increase
fees
By Catherine Turner
Daily Bruin Contributor
For the past eight years, the Washington Center has been a
center in name only, but an elaborate, $31 million plan initiated
by the UC system will change this.
The Washington Center encompasses UC programs based in
Washington, D.C., including classes, internships and research.
The center’s programs, housing and offices are currently
scattered all over Washington and its neighboring states, but in
2001, everything affiliated with the Washington Center will be
centralized in one building on Rhode Island Avenue.
The building plan includes the construction of a
147,000-square-foot, 11-story building, which will contain
apartment units, classrooms and offices.
The $31 million price tag will be financed by raising the
housing fees of residing students and the tentative sale of another
UC-owned building, currently occupied by the UC’s Federal
Government Relations Office.
"The primary mission of the UC Center is to use the unique
resources and opportunities of the capitol to expand and enrich
programs for UC students and faculty, and to enhance our federal
relations and public service activities," said UC President Richard
Atkinson.
By making extensive research accessible to policy-makers and
legislatures, the center has aided Congress and federal agencies on
many important issues, including tobacco and AIDS.
The plan is awaiting the approval of the District of Columbia
Zoning Commission and UC Board of Regents.
Although issues such as the organization of the building,
financial resources and the physical appearance of the building are
still under discussion, all agree that the construction of the
building will be advantageous to everyone involved.
Currently, internships, housing and classrooms are in separate
buildings and sometimes even in separate cities. Students and
faculty have to either walk or use public transportation to get to
their programs.
With all assets under one roof, communication between programs
and students will be more efficient, and transportation will be
less of a problem.
"Sometimes people would have to sleep where the computers were
so they could finish their papers because the subway shut down
early," said Julie Sager, a fourth-year communications student who
participated in the Center for American Politics and Public Policy
Program (CAPPP) last spring.
CAPPP is a UCLA program that gives undergraduates an opportunity
to get hands-on experience for one quarter in areas directly
related to the federal government’s policy-making process.
Students participating in CAPPP are currently housed in
Arlington, Va., in "The Virginian," a residential hotel.
The students take the subway to their internships and classes in
Washington, D.C., and are warned of the dangers of traveling alone
in the capitol, a place whose high crime rates are notorious.
The site for the new building was chosen because it is in a safe
neighborhood for students and faculty, close to restaurants and
transportation, and accessible to Capitol Hill and federal offices
where many of the students’ internships are.
"Students won’t have to commute anymore because they will be in
the heart of Washington," said Joel Aberbach, director of
CAPPP.
Because of the new building’s location, students’ transportation
expenses will decrease. Hopefully, this decrease in costs will make
up for an expected increase of housing fees.
"The exact fees are under discussion, but we are attempting to
keep the fees affordable and within the current range," Aberbach
said.
The center will be especially useful to six of the nine UC
campuses (Berkeley, Los Angeles, Davis, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz
and San Diego), whose students participate in programs organized
through their individual programs and the Washington Center.
"Maybe the building of the center will encourage the other
campuses to participate in the DC Program," Sager said.
Sager also believes that the building will make it easier for
the UCs to send more students to the capitol, draw more attention
to the UC system and, consequently, better professors and more
money.
The building of the center will also be an important addition to
policy-makers’ accessibility to information relevant to many
important governmental and social issues.
Research conducted at the center by graduate students and
faculty covers areas including political science, law, medicine,
human development, physics and international agricultural
development.
Although the new building will bring the programs together
physically, there is still much discussion on the ultimate
organization of the programs.
"There is also the issue on how much autonomy the campus
programs should have," Aberbach said.
Currently undecided is whether all of the campus programs should
be unified under one main program or if they should remain
individually run by each campus.
CAPPP hopes that they will be able to continue to focus on
serving primarily UCLA students and preserve their high quality
services. They believe that they are best suited to distinguish the
individual needs of UCLA students.
"We very much hope to maintain a UCLA identity in Washington,"
Aberbach said.