UCLA will play host today to a sister school long considered to
also be a rival. And this time the two will meet with good
intentions.
Representatives from UC Berkeley will be on campus today to
conduct an interview with Student Union Director Jerry Mann. The
interview is part of Berkeley’s ongoing effort to create a
blueprint for its new student center on campus.
UCLA’s Ackerman Union was ranked among the top five at
comparable institutions in a nationwide survey conducted by the
Berkeley leadership development program’s campus student
center project.
Berkeley made its selection based on such factors as management
practices and services offered in campus centers. Universities were
drawn from a pool of those similar to Berkeley in terms of academic
standing, student population and campus setting.
Having identified the top five student unions, the project team
at Berkeley is currently conducting in-depth reviews of the centers
on each campus. It is also interviewing the management staff at
selected universities to gain perspective on how to create an
active university center.
Many UCLA students expressed their satisfaction with the
infrastructure and services provided in Ackerman.
“It’s very convenient that everything is all in one
place. There’s no need to go into Westwood because everything
I need is available here,” said Daniel Lee, a fourth-year
economics student.
The only problem, he added, is that the post office is small and
understaffed so it takes awhile to send his mail.
Jennifer Kubit, a third-year English student, is impressed by
the cleanliness of Ackerman’s food facilities.
“Whenever I’m eating, there’s always a very
energetic cleaning guy coming to wipe my table every five
minutes,” she said.
Mann said that Berkeley’s selection of the UCLA student
union as one of the best is an honor and reflects the focus that
the Associated Students of UCLA places on creating a vital and
responsive university center.
“We realize that what students do outside the classroom is
as important as what they do inside, and our goal is to provide
them with the space for interaction, programs, and work and
leadership opportunities inside the union,” he said.
Other students, however, said they rarely use the union’s
services.
Kai Cheung, a second-year undeclared student, said she only buys
Scantrons at the UCLA Store. She said she can find things for a
cheaper price elsewhere.
Some students at Berkeley said they are generally satisfied with
the services offered at their student union.
“There’s a lot of free entertainment like bands and
movies offered in the union. … It’s not as well-kept as
other buildings on campus, but I don’t have a problem with
that because it’s still useful,” said Jeana Radosevich,
a second-year undeclared student.
Homa Khamsi, who is part of the project team at Berkeley, said
the findings will go under review by the project staff before the
final report is made to the Berkeley chancellor around January
2004. Khamsi added that it would be premature to comment further on
the report, as the project team is still reviewing it.