After visiting the College Library with the second largest collection of books in America, an impressed visitor walks out of Powell to be greeted by bright green grass ““ and bright yellow ropes marking it off. Dickson Terrace, the grassy rectangular areas between Powell, Royce, Haines Hall and the Humanities Building, remains guarded from all wandering students.
Nearly every day of the year, the green grass of our main academic quad is treated as private property. This exclusionary act is clearly an attempt to maintain the university’s image, but it is a disgrace to this fine school.
Facilities Management said they believe that only by prevention can the three large grass patches be perfectly preserved.
“We are trying to walk a very thin line between making (walking on the grass) a prohibition and keeping as many people away from the grass as possible. The ropes facilitate people between their daily travels,” said Jack Powazek, associate vice chancellor of general services for UCLA.
Though Powazek said students may enjoy the grass and that the twine is merely meant to keep people on the path, students have been kicked off for relaxing or playing Frisbee within this roped-off area.
Third-year aerospace engineering student Kevin Manss said he tried to toss a Frisbee between class in Dickson Terrace and was asked to leave.
“I was just enjoying the grass and the sun, and a Facilities Management worker came up to me and told me to leave. I couldn’t argue with her, especially because I was in roped-off space.”
Even if lingering in this space is allowed, few students dare to cross the line into the grass, especially with facilities workers constantly walking by. This pristine grass is truly regarded as off-limits.
And that is truly unfortunate for UCLA students, as green space is a center of activity at any college campus. Having a place like this to read, throw the football or Frisbee is an essential part of the college experience. Closing this space off to its own students, all in the name of casting a prestigious impression, is a disgrace and says a lot about the university’s priorities.
Jack Moxon, a fourth-year economics student, said he is annoyed by the presence of the ropes.
“It is important for me to have grass at my campus. I probably wouldn’t have come here if I would have known this is the type of school that keeps ropes up on their main academic quad.” Moxon said.
Kevin Manss said he has only seen the ropes removed on a few occasions ““ specifically, when the campus was publicized.
“I’ve only seen them down for Parents’ Weekend, lawn mowing and the Festival of Books, where all the grass gets destroyed anyway,” Manss said.
One must question the motives of an administration that knowingly withholds these areas from the student body the vast majority of the time, yet ditches these policies for a few weekends each year to impress parents and other non-students. It appears that Facilities Management is only concerned with sharing these grassy fields when others are looking.
Moxon said he is exasperated with the grass-is-greener policies.
“It’s an embarrassment to the university,” he said. “This policy is indicative of the shallowness of our administration: keeping up with this facade of grass without actually providing it to the student body.”
UCLA needs to remove these ropes and open these areas for students to enjoy. Instead of being forced to find grass on an uncomfortably steep hill by Janss steps, students should be able to study or relax in the university’s main quad. I understand UCLA’s storied history and the prestigious image it endeavors to protect, but accomplishing this by withholding the green grass of the main quad from students is unacceptable.
If you are also irritated by these ropes, e-mail Pearring at spearring@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.