Week nine: Access control shortages, Murphy Hall flooding, man arrested for trespassing

This Week in the News serves as The Quad’s space for reflection on current events at and around UCLA. Every week, Daily Bruin staffers will analyze some of the most significant stories to keep readers up to speed.

As we approach the end of the quarter, students are scrambling to finish up final papers and study for impending finals. Amidst all the fuss, a lot has happened on campus. From housing staff shortages to dorm break-ins, UCLA has been a hub of pertinent events and affairs. Here, The Quad analyzes some of the biggest stories of week nine.

UCLA Housing experiences shortage of Access Control personnel

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(Liz Ketcham/Assistant Photo editor)

UCLA housing officials recently reported a lack of security officers in the dorms. Housing Access Control, the UCLA housing department in charge of security surveillance on the Hill, has had a large number of openings since the beginning of the school year. However, annual trends show that low levels of employment are typical in the fall.

Junji Toshima, the assistant director in Housing & Hospitality Services’ Safety & Emergency Preparedness told The Bruin the safety of students is not compromised, in spite of the short staffing. When Access Control experiences staff shortages they pull from other security departments on campus so as to avoid sacrificing students’ safety.

Melody Zaki, a first-year physiological science student, told the Daily Bruin having someone posted at the entrances and elevators makes her feel safer and more comfortable in the residence halls.

Because of the staff shortage, the current Access Control employees have been on the clock with more hours than typically delegated. In recent weeks they have hired 25 new employees to fill the large number of vacant positions.

Rain causes flooding in Murphy Hall, disrupts services temporarily

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(Jintak Han/Daily Bruin senior staff)

After walking to class in the rain on Thursday, students and administration officials alike were greeted by flooding in Murphy Hall. According to UCLA Facilities Management, flooding began at around 8 a.m.

The financial aid office temporarily relocated and the registrar’s office had to close until 10 a.m. Unfortunately, this meant a handful of students needed to reschedule impending appointments.

Meat Your Seoul brings Japanese-Korean fusion dining to Westwood

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(Amy Dixon/Photo editor)

After the failure of yet another pizza joint in Westwood, the previous co-owner of KONY Pizza, John Chung, opened a Japanese-and-Korean style fusion restaurant named Meat Your Seoul. Chung told The Bruin he believes the new restaurant adds to the diversity of cuisine in Westwood and thinks it will appeal to the large international student population at UCLA.

The trendy, cook-it-yourself eatery is just another addition to the Westwood’s ever-growing menu. Additionally, in the light of the success of the Westwood Forward Initiative, more restaurant establishments targeted at students are likely to spring up in coming years.

Man arrested on charges of trespassing, vandalism and prowling in De Neve Plaza

The UCPD recently arrested Winston Ekpo for attempting to access a building off of Midvale Avenue. He was additionally charged with telecommunications harassment and vandalism targeted at a student resident in De Neve, reportedly a high school friend of his.

Though students are unsure of when Ekpo started visiting the student, they believe he was misrepresenting himself as a student to access the De Neve residence hall for some time.

Denise Wang, a De Neve resident and second-year computer science and engineering student, told The Bruin he believes students should be held accountable for keeping nonresidents out of residence halls. However, Gianna Ly, another De Neve resident and a first-year biology student, said she believes Residential Life should take more action in increasing student safety.

UCLA dance groups stay in rhythm despite delay in creation of new practice room

Dance groups will have to practice in outdoor parking garages at least until spring quarter because of delays in the construction of a new multipurpose room.

Students advocated for the creation of a 1,600-square-foot room in the John Wooden Center last year to give student dance groups an indoor rehearsal space. The room, which will replace racquetball courts 8 and 9, was slated to be completed by January 2019, said Rudy Figueroa, senior associate director of facility operations at UCLA Recreation. Construction began in the summer and has since been delayed to late spring 2019 due to safety regulations and the discovery of a load-bearing wall, which carries the load of the floors and roof above as well as its own weight.

UCLA Recreation also has to add doors and emergency strobes to satisfy safety regulations, which will further the delay, according to a statement from UCLA Recreation.

Many student dance groups currently practice outside in parking lots and garages, as indoor practice space is limited. Dance groups like Samahang Modern and Foundations Choreography spend up to ten hours per week practicing outside, said Samahang Modern and Foundations Choreography leadership.

Student dancers had mixed reactions to the delay.

Members of Samahang Modern are disappointed about the delay, but ultimately thankful for the progress, said Krista Antonio, a third-year physiological sciences student and the artistic director of the group.

“At this point, we can only be grateful that this is a step further in terms of advocating for something that can benefit us as dancers, as a team and as a community,” Antonio said.

Dancers from Foundations Choreography feel a similar mix of disappointment and excitement, said Liana Liang, one of the group’s co-executives.

“We’re happy that it’s still in the works and not just an abandoned project,” said Liang, who is a fourth-year international development studies student. “But, definitely, if we had an extra room this year, it would have made a lot of things easier.”

Dancing in parking lots has also negatively impacted dancers’ health, said Miya Sheker, a fourth-year anthropology student and another co-executive of Foundations.

“The ventilation (in the parking lots) is not great, so a lot of people are getting sick, and obviously this is not good for dancers who are also full-time students,” Sheker added.

The new multipurpose room is expected to accommodate around 20 students, Figueroa said. Although the room likely will not be large enough to accommodate all of Samahang Modern’s 47 members at once, Antonio said she is optimistic about the room’s benefits.

“Even just a space for us to hold a portion of our team would be beneficial,” Antonio said. “The additional space will give us the benefit of working on multiple projects at once, as opposed to waiting until one group is done.”

Although Sheker said she thinks the new space is a step in the right direction, she added she thinks there is still a lot of progress to be made.

“I think UCLA still doesn’t understand how large the dance community is, and how many people would benefit from having more space,” she said.

Since the room will not be able to accommodate all members of larger dance teams at once, there is still a demand for spaces where all-team practices can occur, she added.

Despite delaying the project, UCLA Recreation has been working to ensure the construction meets all the proper requirements, said Julia Ho-Gonzalez, Undergraduate Students Association Council facilities commissioner and fourth-year political science student.

“(The new multipurpose room) is a pretty significant accomplishment for the dance community and finally shows that we do have a voice,” Antonio said. “It’s definitely been a long process, but I think the fact that we’re finally seeing the reality of it is reassuring.”

Danish diplomat discusses US relations, international developments

This post was updated Nov. 30 at 5:50 p.m.

A Danish diplomat said Denmark depends on the United States to help ensure its place in the international community.

Henrik Bramsen Hahn, deputy chief of mission at the Embassy of Denmark to the US, spoke about Denmark’s role in international affairs at an event organized by the UCLA Center for European and Russian Studies and the Burkle Center for International Relations in Bunche Hall on Thursday.

Hahn said Denmark relies on its relationships with other countries because it has limited resources as a small country.

“Denmark is a relatively small country that only consists of 5.77 million people,” Hahn said. “Due to the small size of our country, international cooperation is crucial to us.”

He said Denmark is very dependent upon the U.S. because it is Denmark’s third-biggest trading partner, and its biggest partner outside the European Union.

“The only one country that could ensure the safety of Europe is the U.S.,” Hahn said. “The U.S. stands as a lighthouse for Europe.”

Denmark thinks different countries should work together to make institutions like the United Nations, North Atlantic Treaty Organization and World Trade Organization stronger, he said.

“The UN, NATO, WTO is the only thing we’ve got, so we are prepared to work with our partners to make them stronger,” he said.

Denmark wants these organizations to be reformed so that every member gets an equal say in the organizations’ decisions, not just the bigger countries, he said. It especially wants reforms in the WTO because it is essential in determining how trade takes place in the world, he added.

“We need the U.S. to take global leadership for it is crucial in maintaining international order,” Hahn said.

Hahn discussed Denmark’s involvement with the U.S. against terrorism.

He pointed out Denmark had been involved in many missions with the U.S. in Syria and Afghanistan.

Denmark sent troops to Afghanistan and Syria and currently still has troops stationed in Syria, he said. Denmark also assisted in the transfer of chemical weapons out of Syria, where they also donated funds to rebuild war-torn areas and aid in Syria’s overall development.

In response to an audience member’s question about Denmark’s stance on the refugee crisis and immigration, Hahn said Denmark cannot handle the influx of refugees alone and that the Danish government does not want to accept more refugees into the country.

“There is a broad agreement in our parliament that we do not want a majority of our population to become foreigners,” he said.

Stefan Lindström, Consul General of Finland to the U.S., who was also at the discussion, said Finland also does not want to take in more refugees because it is also a small country that lacks the resources to support them.

“(Such) small countries, like Denmark and Finland, are simply not prepared to take in many refugees,” Lindström said.

Hahn also talked about Denmark’s relationships with private multinational companies.

Big companies like Google and Apple are establishing data centers in Denmark because it provides reliable and sustainable sources of energy, Hahn said.

“We provide them reusable energy and provide them with a sustainable environment,” he said.

Hahn added Denmark is encouraging big companies to take responsibility for their contribution to the environment and push for sustainability because their economic influence is as big as that of small countries.

Bianca Rivera, a fourth-year European studies and computer science student, said she is interested in pursuing a career in international law or foreign diplomacy and gained insight into those fields from the event. She added she liked learning about Denmark’s push to achieve environmental sustainability.

Pro-LGBTQ display removed from Bruin Walk in accordance with SOLE regulations

UCLA administrators instructed a student government officer Tuesday to remove a pro-LGBTQ display following a dispute over display guidelines.

Jamie Kennerk, Undergraduate Students Association Council external vice president, said she set up the display this week, which featured photographs of LGBT and queer elected officials with a pride flag wrapped around a tree across from a religious activist on Bruin Walk shouting remarks about the LGBTQ community with a bullhorn.

Pamela Cysner, the student affairs officer for Student Organizations, Leadership, and Engagement, said Kennerk was asked to remove the display from the tree and place it elsewhere. SOLE is responsible for organizing and scheduling registered campus organizations’ events and displays on Bruin Walk and in Bruin Plaza.

SOLE’s UCLA Regulations on Activities, Registered Campus Organizations, and Use of Properties General Provision 12 states posters and signs cannot be affixed to trees or poles. Kennerk said she did not originally plan to tie her banner to the tree, but wanted to avoid blocking walkways.

Kennerk said SOLE called to confiscate the display if she did not remove it. Kennerk added she ultimately removed it because she did not want to lose it permanently.

Cysner originally told her the display must be removed, Kennerk said, because the fire marshal had deemed it a hazard and because environmentalists at UCLA opposed hanging the flag on a tree.

Eugene Volokh, a distinguished professor of law, said legal protections differ based on whether the university designates an area as a public forum.

“A sidewalk is a designated public forum, and Bruin Walk sounds like a limited public forum that the university opened up to students and even to outsiders, but the trees are not,” Volokh said.

Kennerk said she believed her display was in compliance with SOLE procedures because it was not blocking a walkway and because SOLE did not interfere with similar displays in the past. SOLE responded by saying the same would be asked of any group in the same situation or when there is a higher level of activity.

Cysner said SOLE regularly checks Bruin Walk to ensure display guidelines are enforced consistently.

Kennerk said she thinks current SOLE policy can obstruct student organizing because it can take up to weeks to get displays approved while the events they want to respond to typically occur at a more urgent pace.

“There are plenty of times when our organizing is proactive and we plan in advance, but sometimes it’s reactive to something that is happening right in front of us,” Kennerk said.

Kennerk said she thinks SOLE should have a procedure to expedite display approval in response to ongoing events.

“It can be tricky to define what types of situations require faster approval (from SOLE), but this shouldn’t inhibit us from making that policy,” Kennerk said.

Plans for The Agora housing development filed with city planning department

Two physicians are planning to build a new apartment complex for UCLA students in Westwood.

The plan for the new apartment complex, which would be built on Hilgard Avenue, was filed with the Los Angeles Department of City Planning on Nov. 19. The developers’ plan for the 16-story building, referred in the plan as The Agora, to have a total of 231 bedrooms spread over 64 residential units, varying in size from three-bedroom to five-bedroom plans in addition to some single- and double-bedroom units.

Eraj Basseri, a UCLA graduate and co-principal developer of The Agora, said the housing project was designed to address the lack of affordable student housing in Westwood.

“We are designing and programming The Agora to appeal to students, as there is a tremendous shortage of affordable student housing in Westwood,” Basseri said. “We expect students will seek out The Agora once it opens, so it is likely that only students will live there.”

Both Basseri and Ted Khalili, another co-principal developer of the project, said they introduced this project to help improve the living experience for college students in Westwood. They said they plan to provide open study spaces and communal lounges.

“We will have a broad array of services for resident students, including extensive programming focused on health and wellness,” Khalili said. “We will have a student-farmed vegetable garden, a teaching kitchen, a meditation garden and many other amenities.”

Aaron Green, a representative for the project, said although plans have been announced officially, the city planning department has not yet approved the plans.

“The Agora has only recently been applied for and no plans have been approved yet,” Green said. “We are in the very beginning of a multiyear process that includes a robust and exciting conversation with our neighbors and stakeholders throughout Westwood.”

Susan Reuben, vice president of the Holmby Hills Homeowners Association, said the association likely will oppose the construction of The Agora because of its proximity to the Holmby Hills community. She said Holmby Hills residents pay high taxes for privacy and a peaceful lifestyle, and that she thinks the influx of students into The Agora would disrupt that environment.

Reuben added she believes the presence of a large number of students living nearby would significantly contribute to traffic in the area.

Paavo Monkkonen, an associate professor of urban planning, said he believes the students there would likely have little to no impact on the traffic of the surrounding area.

“I don’t think it’ll have any noticeable impact. I don’t think the students are going to be driving over to Manning or Westholme,” Monkkonen said. “They’re just going to be going down to Wilshire or into Westwood Village.”

Monkkonen added he believes the Agora project will provide needed housing for students.

“In general, I think that the east side of campus has too much housing that’s not directed at students,” Monkkonen said. “So I’m happy to see this project come in.”

Ryan Snyder, a member of the North Westwood Neighborhood Council and member of the faculty at the department of urban planning, said he thinks this project will provide more affordable housing near UCLA for students.

“I think this is one type of project we need to be building, and it’s badly needed,” Snyder said.

Snyder added the dorm-style living arrangement in The Agora helps lower costs and allows for students to live in Westwood affordably.

“Their approach is one that I’ve been wanting to see, where you have things like shared bathroom facilities. To me, that makes a lot of sense,” Snyder said. “It’s along the lines of dormitory style.”

Some students said they felt this housing arrangement would be suitable for students who enjoyed living on the Hill and want to keep living costs low.

Amanda Ly, a fourth-year cognitive science student, said she thought this project would be good for people off campus who wanted to maintain a dormitory lifestyle similar to the Hill.

“I would prefer to live in the separate, independent apartments, but I do think that it’s a good option for people who still want to keep meeting new people and also have that communal aspect that was in the dorms,” Ly said.

AJ Goldsman, a fourth-year chemical engineering student, said new housing developments like The Agora will help reduce rent prices for students in Westwood.

“There are a lot of options, but they all are very expensive,” Goldsman said. “I think the more housing there is, the more competition there will be, which will drive prices down.”

However, Snyder said he doesn’t see any guarantee the new apartments will be affordable in the long run.

“It’s still a private development, and … it’s always important that what we build will be affordable in perpetuity,” Snyder said. “It looks like it’s their intent, but what happens if they sell the building, somebody else takes over, and they just get the rents up to as much as they can get on the market?”

Michael Skiles, president of the Graduate Students Association and of the NWWNC, said he thought this project was innovative and would help combat the housing shortage in Westwood.

“I am excited not only by the project but also to see this type of project come before the council right of out of the gate. It is bold,” Skiles said. “It seeks to offer 500 students a place to live, which is in itself a lot bolder than most housing projects that went before the old neighborhood council.”

Skiles said the NWWNC will discuss the project further at its second meeting Wednesday and that he hopes to see more proposals like this come before the council.

“I’m hoping that this project can inspire many other such projects to come before the council as part of a new wave of Westwood saying ‘yes’ to the new changes that are needed to solve the student housing crisis,” Skiles said.

Women’s golf player Lilia Vu earns LGPA Tour card during break from fall season

Two Bruins took time off from UCLA this fall.

Two Bruins competed in the Ladies Professional Golf Association Qualifying Series to try and earn their LPGA Tour cards. Senior Lilia Vu and sophomore Patty Tavatanakit did not compete with UCLA women’s golf for two months, instead participating in the LPGA Qualifying Series and trying to earn their LPGA Tour cards. Vu finished 27th place with 5-over 581 after eight rounds and earned her LPGA Tour card.

“I was really pleased with how I played,” Vu said. “Even though I didn’t do so well my first four rounds, I changed my mindset and it changed how I played the last four rounds. I just had a meeting with coach Carrie Forsyth and we were discussing my plans going into the tour along with school and graduating.”

Forsyth said she believed in Vu and is excited for her future.

“I knew that she would perform well, and we were excited to see her compete successfully,” Forsyth said. “We now have to discuss where she is academically because she has just a few more classes to complete. The tour starts in February, and right now we’re not at 100 percent regarding her decisions.”

Tavatanakit, on the other hand, finished with a 24-over 600 and did not earn her LPGA Tour card – but said she is excited to return to the Bruins for the spring season.

“It didn’t go the way that I wanted, but it was because I wasn’t in the right mindset to compete,” Tavatanakit said. “I didn’t put my heart and mind into it, so I knew that it was not going to turn out the way that I wanted.”

As Tavatanakit prepares for the spring season, she said she is excited to continue playing for UCLA.

“I still want to be in college and compete with my team because I love traveling with them and knowing that everyone has each other’s back,” Tavatanakit said. “You’re never too old to join the tour, but you really only have four years to play in college and I want to experience that.”

Despite having two Bruins gone during the fall season, Forsyth said the team still functioned well.

“Without Vu and Tavatanakit, the atmosphere was different and we definitely felt that missing presence,” Forsyth said.

“But senior Beth Wu and junior Mariel Galdiano both played really well in tournaments.” Wu tied for 10th with a 1-under 218 in Hawaii at the Nanea Pac-12 Preview on Nov. 5-7. Galdiano won the Golfweek Conference Challenge with an 8-under 205 and placed first at the Stanford Intercollegiate on Oct. 19-21.

The Bruins start their spring season in February at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge in Palos Verdes, California.

Fresh Off The Grill: Women’s volleyball needs consistent, diverse lineup to avoid future embarrassment

Three weeks ago, Michael Sealy said his team was an embarrassing representation of UCLA.

And he wasn’t wrong.

The coach failed to lead UCLA women’s volleyball (13-14, 8-12 Pac-12) to the NCAA tournament after the team lost nine of its last 11 games and finished with a losing record for the first time in the program’s history.

Sealy has proved that he can be a high-caliber coach – leading the Bruins to an NCAA championship in 2011 and taking home the AVCA National Coach of the Year award that same year. He has watched his team go to seven NCAA tournaments and has advanced to the Round of 16 or further the past four years.

But this season was different – or at least the end of it was.

UCLA started the season 4-0, led by freshman setter Devon Chang who recorded 52 assists against San Diego. While UCLA had a spotty September with losses to Cal Poly, USC and Stanford, it looked like a real postseason contender in October.

UCLA sat comfortably in the top 20 match after match, garnering four straight wins in two weeks.

But as October came to an end, so did the Bruins’ success. They began to lack effectiveness on defense and behind the service line. Their seemingly steady lineup started to crack.

They were not the same team.

After UCLA’s loss to USC in September, junior Kylie Miller became the starting setter for the remainder of the season. Chang would jump in occasionally late in sets, but it became Miller’s team.

The setter acts as the quarterback on the court, calling the plays and controlling the ball. Switching up the position partway through the season – just like changing who is at quarterback – can be an unsteady adjustment for any team.

If UCLA had stuck with a single setter from the get-go – whether it be Chang or Miller – it would have been able to develop more cohesion and consistency throughout the middle of the season.

Beginning with the Bruins’ preseason exhibition match against UC Santa Barbara in August, Sealy harped on his range of lineup options and versatile freshmen who would come in handy this year.

He didn’t utilize them, though.

Freshman opposite Hawley Harrer – who had three straight seven-kill matches early in the season – only played in six sets in November.

Freshman defensive specialist Sawyer Aigner-Swesey posted 13 digs in UCLA’s second match of the year against Gonzaga, but only saw the court this season when she would come in for sophomore outside hitter Jenny Mosser to play defense.

While Sealy did give more playing time to redshirt freshmen outside hitter Alexis Light and middle blocker Emily Ryan, he failed to mix in sophomores defensive specialist Anne Crouch and middle blocker Sabrina Smith.

Crouch and Smith played in 29 and 16 sets, respectively, last season – but never played once this year.

After the Bruins’ win against the San Diego Toreros in September, Sealy said he had a roster of 18 players who were going to help UCLA win matches.

Only eight of them consistently saw the court.

If Sealy wants to get the program back up to UCLA standards, he needs to fine-tune his lineup, establish more consistency at setter and play off the strengths of his roster.

Or next year will be just as embarrassing.