Editorial: UCLA abandons investment in mental health care, leaves students to struggle alone

When students are welcomed to UCLA during orientation, they’re told to save the phone number for the university’s Counseling and Psychological Services center in case of emergencies. They’re reminded we need to continue destigmatizing mental illnesses. They’re reassured the university has trained counselors who can tend to their needs.

What they aren’t told is limited resources means they can receive as few as three appointments per year. They’re not told wait times for those appointments can be nearly a month.

They’re not told UCLA has forsaken mental health care.

The Daily Bruin reported earlier this month that Acacia Counseling and Wellness, a private counseling service, is opening shop in Westwood Village. Acacia has set up five locations near universities, partnering with on-campus mental health services to mitigate high student demand for treatment. The company originated in Isla Vista, on the outskirts of UC Santa Barbara, and said it has partnered with UCLA to help the student body.

This service is bound to do good for this campus, which has been starved of a reliable yet nearby venue for mental health treatment.

But this story isn’t about a company swooping in to do good for a majority-student neighborhood. It’s about a wealthy university neglecting its community’s mental health needs and banking on good Samaritans from the general population to do the heavy lifting.

Over the years, despite an influx of student fees – assessed by both the UC Board of Regents and students themselves via the #UCLAWellness referendum – CAPS has steadily scaled back the number of appointments students can book per year, citing a lack of staff and space. The center sought in 2016 to employ student-run, peer-counseling groups to reserve its resources for only the most serious cases.

Two years later, Nicole Green, CAPS’ executive director, told The Bruin the service was only meant to offer short-term mental health care, and it would be directing students with UC-provided health insurance with more serious conditions to off-campus organizations, such as UCLA Neuropsychiatric Behavioral Health Services and Anthem Blue Cross insurance.

Green also said CAPS would not outsource its services to campus departments whose students may need care. Yet CAPS began offering the center’s limited resources to the School of Engineering for drop-in counseling.

CAPS is now geared to partner with Acacia to help it handle its immense demand. And while that offers relief for students, we have to ask: If the university is relying on a private company to offer mental health services – services this university seems wholly incapable of offering – why even bother having a campus psychological center?

The partnership with Acacia underscores not just how undecided UCLA is about its mental health resources but also how uncommitted it is to addressing this campus’s mental health needs. That the university would resort to depending on a private company to serve its own student body, despite collecting millions in student fee money, raising billions in donor money and creating grandiose campus initiatives to cure depression, speaks volumes of administrators’ dedication to mental health.

Yes, serving a campus of more than 45,000 students does mean administrators have to make certain compromises. But when UCLA grandstands about its commitment to treating those with mental health needs, it only fuels a system in which those needing care don’t seek it.

It comes down to intentionality: whether university leaders truly believe mental health is a cause worth investing in.

For now, it’s apparent administrators are just fine patting themselves on the back for operating a paltry excuse of a mental health facility.

Tree falls on Veteran and Levering due to heavy wind, damages cars

A tree fell near the corner of Veteran and Levering avenues Monday night.

An LAPD officer said the tree fell at around 6:30 p.m. due to heavy wind and damaged a car parked nearby. Another car was damaged because the driver failed to see the fallen tree in the dark and drove over it. The driver, Luigi Espino, was not injured.

Espino, a chef at the University Cooperative Housing Association Co-op on Landfair Avenue, said the darkness made it difficult to see the fallen tree.

“You can’t see it. All the brush, it’s dark. I couldn’t see it,” Espino said.

Many other cars also drove full speed into the intersection before noticing the tree.

Two LAPD officers attempted to make the tree as visible as possible by putting up caution tape, draping a luminescent jacket over the tree, blaring cop car lights and setting up orange cones.

Samantha Feldman, a fourth-year psychology student, lives in an apartment next to the fallen tree. She said she and her friend heard it fall and proceeded to call 911.

“It was pretty shocking, I guess, because it’s like the second tree that’s fallen in the last three days,” Feldman said.

Many similar incidents have been reported across the city, the officer said. Another tree fell Friday in front of the UCLA Store but no injuries or damage was reported in that incident.

Women’s tennis rusty in final individual tournament after rain delays practice

The Bruins faced their final test before the start of dual matches.

Eight members of No. 8 UCLA women’s tennis traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada, to participate in the Freeman Memorial Championships. Seven schools including five top-10 ranked programs competed in the event.

“The players needed to play a lot of matches and they had that opportunity,” said coach Stella Sampras Webster. “We were not able to play a whole lot last week due to the rain. A lot of the players hadn’t played since November.”

Senior Gabby Andrews won the singles flight two final against Pepperdine’s Anastasia Iamachikine 6-4, 6-4. She lost in the quarterfinals in doubles as the first seed with partner senior Ayan Broomfield to Stanford’s Melissa Lord and Niluka Madurawe 6-2.

“We had a tough one,” Andrews said. “We were probably a little tired from playing so many matches. We didn’t get to practice the past few days due to the rain so it was kind of tough. We could’ve went for it a bit more and been more aggressive with our stroke play.”

Freshman Elysia Bolton and redshirt junior Jada Hart made it to the doubles semifinals after downing Texas duo Tijana Spasojevic and Petra Granic 7-6.

The third-seeded duo had to pull out due to a strained hamstring that Hart suffered Saturday. Bolton and Hart are currently 11-3 on the season as a pair.

“We get along really well and have similar personalities,” Hart said. “(Bolton) is really good at the net and I’m pretty good at the baseline so we complement each other pretty well.”

Hart said she will be ready for the matches next weekend.

No. 11 Bolton, UCLA’s top-ranked player, was rested in singles according to Sampras Webster. She lost an added singles match Sunday against No. 49 Texas junior Ella Turati 6-3, 6-1.

“She played well today but lost against a great player,” Sampras Webster said. “Great having the freshmen with the team. They bring energy and are great team players.”

Freshman pair Taylor Johnson and Katie LaFrance made it to the round of 16 and round of 32, respectively. Johnson lost 6-3, 7-5 to Florida’s Marlee Zein in the round of 16.

Last year’s event featured an all-UCLA singles final as then-No. 16 sophomore Ena Shibahara defeated then-No. 119 redshirt sophomore Hart 6-2, 7-6. The duo played together in doubles too and took home the doubles crown.

The Bruins kick off their regular season next weekend against Minnesota at home for the International Tennis Association Kick-Off weekend.

Women’s water polo smothers competition, undefeated after UCSB invitational

Just like last season, the Bruins came out of the UC Santa Barbara Invitational without a loss.

No. 3 UCLA women’s water polo (5-0 Pac-12) left Santa Barbara with five wins against ranked opponents – No. 18 CSUN, No. 6 Irvine, No. 24 Cal Baptist, No. 9 Michigan and No. 17 UCSB.

In the first weekend of competition, 52 goals came from 14 different Bruins.

Freshman attacker Val Ayala and senior attacker Lizette Rozeboom led UCLA in scoring. The tandem combined for 19 goals, including three hat tricks from Ayala and two from Rozeboom.

“(Ayala) has the ability to be a real special player,” said coach Adam Wright. “She’s super aggressive and finds spots to put herself in good position to score and that’s going to be key for us. With (Rozeboom), she has a powerful shot and brings with (her) such a strong presence and that forces the defense to react which opens up space for others.”

In the cage, senior goalkeepers Carlee Kapana and sophomore Jahmea Bent split time throughout the weekend. Kapana started all but the contest against Cal Baptist. Despite the one start for Bent, she made an appearance in four games during the invitational.

UCLA picked up a 10-6 win on the opening night of the new season over No. 18 CSUN.

Ayala dropped a hat trick in her first collegiate action followed by junior attacker Brooke Maxson with two and five others who scored.

The true freshman said she had no nerves leading up to her first game as a Bruin.

“I was ready to roll,” Ayala said. “It felt great getting some games under our belts after a week of practicing hard. I wasn’t nervous at all.”

The Bruins picked up wins of 10-6 and 17-8 on Saturday over No. 6 Irvine and No. 24 Cal Baptist, respectively.

Junior attacker and All-American Maddie Musselman found the back of the net four times against the Anteaters. Ayala picked up her second hat trick in as many games, while Rozeboom put in the first two of her nine goals on the weekend.

Kapana got the start in the cage and played the majority of the game, tallying six saves and surrendering six goals. Bent was subbed in for the final minute and a half of the contest.

In the win against the Lancers, Bent got the start and went the distance with seven saves and eight goals allowed. Rozeboom led the team with a hat trick, and four other Bruins had at least two goals.

“I think it’s awesome that we had so many different people scoring, especially because it will be harder for other teams to decide who to drop off of,” Rozeboom said. “That’s a really strong point of our team, that we are really deep and that we all can score.”

UCLA concluded the invitational with 9-7 and 6-3 wins over No. 9 Michigan and the host No. 17 UCSB on Sunday. Rozeboom and Ayala each had another hat trick against the Wolverines. Junior attacker Bronte Halligan and junior attacker Emily Skelly each had two scores against the Gauchos.

After besting five ranked teams in the first weekend, Wright said the invitational was a great opportunity for the Bruins to evaluate where they are as a team.

“There were a lot of positives, but there are still a lot of things to work on if we want to have a chance to be successful in every game,” Wright said. “The two tight games at the end serve us well for the future because if we want to be the best, we have to do well in pressure situations.”

Seniors score season-bests, continue winning streak in swim and dive competition

The Bruins are still undefeated.

UCLA swim (8-0) defeated Oregon State (3-7) 160-93 on Saturday while the diving team hosted the Bruin Diving Invitational all weekend.

Against the Beavers, the Bruin swimmers recorded their best times in all 14 scheduled events of both individual and relay.

The Bruins opened the meet with a win in the 200-yard freestyle relay, swam by junior Kenisha Liu, freshman Emily Lo, sophomore Jennifer Lathrop and freshman Claire Grover.

Liu also notched season-best time in the 200-yard breaststroke.

“I was really surprised with how well I did this meet,” Liu said. “It really just shows how good our training has been lately.”

The eight seniors on the team were also honored Saturday, including Sandra Soe, Emma Schanz and Elena Escalas.

Escalas competed in the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke and Schanz raced in the 100- and 200-yard backstroke.

“The seniors were the standouts of this meet,” said coach Cyndi Gallagher. “The (other) girls really stood up and raced for the seniors.”

Liu added that she was extremely proud of all the hard work that the seniors have put in over the past couple of years.

“We’re all just really watching them figure it out,” Liu said. “It’s amazing to see how far they have come so I’m honored to be part of their last meet.”

Soe walked away with a win in the 1,000-yard freestyle, recording a time of 10:02.00 – an event she has previously won at the last three meets. Soe also competed in the 500-yard freestyle, coming in first place and beating the five-minute mark by about five seconds.

In the 1,000-yard freestyle, two other Bruins, Lisa Kaunitz and Sophia Cavalli, placed both second and third with times of 10:22.71 and 10:37.49, respectively. This was Kauitz’s season best and Cavalli’s first time racing in the 1,000-yard freestyle.

Schanz also logged a season-best time in the 200-yard backstroke, taking first place. Schanz said her family was present at the meet, specifically her grandma and brother.

“My parents don’t come out that often for meets,” Schanz said. “They got me into swimming so I really contribute my success to them.”

In the Bruin Diving Invitational, seniors Maria Polyakova and Eloise Belanger finished first and second in the women’s 3-meter diving championship Friday morning. Polyakova set a pool record and Belanger qualified for zones in her season debut.

On Sunday, Belanger claimed first place in the 1-meter championship. Sophomore Alice Yanovsky was the second highest ranking Bruin before seniors Traci Shiver and Madeline Russell.

With teams such as No. 5 California and No. 2 Stanford next on the schedule, Gallagher said the season is far from over.

“We have to attack each race like we did today,” Schanz said. “We need to prepare as much as we can, we can’t overthink too much especially with Stanford and Cal.”

The Bruins will face Stanford on Feb. 1 at the Avery Aquatics Center.