No hot water or gas and a lot of dust are among some of the
problems graduate students living in Weyburn Terrace have
experienced since the opening of the apartments last fall.
Residents were allowed to move into Weyburn Terrace, a
collection of seven housing buildings for graduate students, as
construction continued on the apartments.
But soon students were complaining that the apartments were
inadequate and the ongoing construction was a major nuisance.
In response to the continued delays in the apartments’
completion and the noisy atmosphere caused by construction,
residents formed the Weyburn Terrace Residents’ Association
as a way to communicate their concerns with UCLA Housing.
“The situation was really deplorable,” said UCLA
Graduate Students Association President Jared Fox.
UCLA Housing Director Michael Foraker could not be reached for
this story, but housing officials have said they are continuing to
address student concerns. Foraker has also said in the past that
some of the problems, such as construction issues, were out of
Housing’s control.
Fox is not a resident of Weyburn Terrace, but he said the
quality of life at the apartments was a major issue that negatively
impacted many of UCLA’s graduate students last year.
Fox said he received numerous e-mails from graduate students
complaining about the various issues, the most egregious problem
being the large amount of rodents near the apartments.
With construction completed and many problems solved, Fox is
using the apartments’ rough beginnings to get residents
involved in the graduate student community.
The association aims to effectively communicate their
residential living concerns to UCLA Housing while building a sense
of community among residents, Fox said.
Even though GSA represents residents, Fox believes a
residents’ association is critical in order to open the lines
of communication between residents and management.
Fox said the group’s effort to organize a meeting with
UCLA Housing was a slow process, and was delayed for nearly five
months.
In the meeting last spring, the group was told that in order to
form an officially recognized association, the students would have
to first create a mission statement and develop charters and
bylaws, Fox said.
But with many students busy studying, they did not have the time
to develop the association’s requisites, Fox said. He added
that many students did not know how to develop a mission statement
or bylaws in the first place.
Currently, the group is receiving assistance from Jack Gibbons,
associate director of the Office of Residential Life, who has
experience developing and maintaining residential associations on
the Hill.
The other student residents’ associations could serve as a
template for the new Weyburn Terrace Residents’ Association,
said Gibbons.
Gibbons said several students requested the development of a
residents’ association last year, though it was slow to gain
momentum.
In the next few weeks, Gibbons said a town hall meeting will be
held to see if there is significant student interest in the Weyburn
Terrace Residents’ Association.
Gibbons said the association will have three main goals: to
represent the views, interests and concerns of residents; to
provide social programs to bring the graduate community together;
and to serve as a bridge between Weyburn Terrace residents and
GSA.
“My hope is that by the end of October, we have an
organization that is ready to become active,” he said.
Mark O’Connor, a post-doctoral student in medicine and a
Weyburn Terrace resident, said he has had no problems since moving
into the apartments six weeks ago, but the social environment has
room for improvement.
“It seems pretty distant,” he said.
O’Connor said he would welcome any social event put on by
the residents’ association if it increased social interaction
among residents.