Everyone who goes to UCLA knows about its prestigious name,
notable professors and competitive athletic program, and they also
know about the construction.
It seems like wherever we walk, the humming of a cement truck or
the blasting of a jackhammer is not far off in the distance. There
is construction on Bruin Walk, in North Campus, by Janss Steps and,
now, they’ve brought it to the residential dining
facilities.
While eating in Covel you may have overheard comments such
as,”Why are they closing Covel?” or “What really
needs to be renovated here?” After pondering the issue
myself, I still can’t come up with any answers.
Some argue that Covel needs to be expanded to meet the growing
demands of the student population. I don’t buy that. Ask the
students themselves and see what they say.
If there is all this extra money lying around that is going to
be put into improving our “dining experience,”
administrators should spend the money on something more useful that
will benefit on-campus and even off-campus residents. We should
have a dining hall located closer to classes on campus where
residents can swipe their cards and eat, instead of hiking up the
hill in the hour break they may have between classes to grab
lunch.
The bag lunch program offered by the residential dining halls
works, but it is not nearly as beneficial as an on-campus dining
facility. Some may contest that there is not nearly enough space or
money to even conceive of such a thing; but think of how much
profit a dining hall on the main campus could make.
If students without a residential dining hall meal plan would
occasionally spend the $7 on a nice, filling dinner, the profits
would be remarkable. Not only would it eventually pay for the cost
of construction, the profits could be given back to the employees
who work in on-campus food service. I don’t think any of them
would argue with getting a raise.
The convenience, practicality and feasibility of this idea is
certainly better than renovating a dining hall that works perfectly
fine as it is. If making the college experience more accessible and
enjoyable to students is a concern and meeting students’
needs is a priority, then a dining hall closer to classes is the
answer.
Schwartz is a first-year student.