Hoping to score points with tenants who live with the constant
hums, pops and screeches of nearby construction projects, the
Office of Residential Life is considering offering students living
on campus Scantrons and bluebooks as thank-you tokens when finals
come around. Perhaps ORL and other administrative branches should
offer services and goods that more directly address the problems
students face as new complexes are constructed on the Hill.
Students understand construction is a necessary evil of
attending a top, vibrant university like UCLA. Construction is how
our buildings stay beautiful and safe. Construction ensures that
space is allocated as efficiently as possible. And now,
construction is a big part of how UCLA is going to deal with
enrollment boosts unlike any it has faced in decades.
On-the-Hill construction will lead to improved dining
facilities, more comfortable rooms, fewer triples and housing
available for students for up to four years.
But while construction is an investment in the future, it is
those of us in the present who must deal with it not only
monetarily, but by making adjustments in our daily routine ““
like having to find different places to study. UCLA students, who
shell out thousands in student fees and pay even more for on-campus
room and board, deserve the best from UCLA, whether from ORL,
Housing or any other administrative branch.
ORL exists specifically to make a student’s stay in
on-campus housing as comfortable as possible. ORL includes a
professional staff and student resident assistants, programming
assistants and resident computer assistants who receive varying
levels of compensation from the university ““Â they can do
better than bluebooks and Scantrons. It is their job to do so.
ORL has also discussed the possibility of creating special study
breaks where it provides food and beverages. But ORL needs to show
students it is serious about more fundamental questions regarding
construction: Can construction be put on hold during finals week?
Can ORL ensure students are transported to a different part of
campus to study when construction is happening?
Even the most dedicated and creative ORL staff can only do so
much, though. More important than thank-you gestures or token
rewards is that the construction actually gets done on time.
This is where Housing comes in. The last dorm complex, De Neve
Plaza, took a ridiculous amount of time to build, with its
construction plagued by unfavorable weather, among other problems.
When students were finally able to move in, they complained of wild
elevators and rooms with acoustics so poor they could hold a
conversation with their next-door neighbors through the walls.
Carpets in De Neve are torn up, and duct tape is used to cover up
bare spots on staircases. Courtside, meanwhile, was constructed
inadequately and water began seeping into rooms.
Chocolate bars, muffins, bluebooks, Scantrons ““ these are
all nice, but quick and competent construction is better. Hopefully
Housing was thorough enough in its investigation for a company to
build Hedrick North to find someone better than the company that
built Sunset and De Neve.
Otherwise students, already facing boosts in their room and
board fees in part to pay for construction projects, will pay a
different kind of price as well.