Monday, September 28, 1998
It’s crunch time as students, buildings compete for space
CONSTRUCTION: UCLA tries to make best use of land by scoping
options, Bruin needs
By Diana Ting
Daily Bruin Contributor
Like twins in one womb, students and buildings are forced to
share the same limited amount of space; now the question is, who
will be forced out first?
Although UCLA has the smallest land area of all the UCs – 420
acres – and the largest number of students enrolled, about 36,000,
it continues to build without the possibility of expanding its
boundaries.
The university has been under constant construction for nearly
20 years, simultaneously maintaining and fixing old buildings, and
repairing the damage from the 1994 earthquake.
Students such as Houman Tehrani-Vafa, a fourth-year
psychobiology student, are concerned about the effects of
overcrowding because of construction.
"If they continue to grow inside but not on the outside, we
might be built-out. It will be even more crowded," he said.
Jack Powazek, assistant vice chancellor of facilities
management, said construction is not the cause of overcrowding.
"The actual impact from construction is not great," he said.
Because most construction actually fixes buildings rather than
creating new ones, it does not cause overcrowding, according to
Pete Blackman, administrative vice chancellor.
Construction due to earthquake damage, however, may cause the
expansion of existing buildings.
"In each case where a seismic renovation has taken place,"
Blackman said, "when the project is put back, the effort has been
to always improve the surrounding territory by redoing the
landscape and recreating people place."
Although more building space is added after seismic corrections,
construction is limited by the amount of available land the
university has.
When UCLA received its land grant in 1925, developers did not
anticipate the large enrollment numbers 70 years later or the
growth of the surrounding residential community.
Because of this growth in the surrounding communities, UCLA does
not have room to grow; it’s surrounded by homes and businesses.
Despite these limitations on space, UCLA continues to build.
Compare that to the University of California at Santa Cruz, which
has the largest amount of area per student, and thus it would still
have land available for expansion if the campus were to become too
crowded.
Charles Oakley, assistant vice chancellor of Capital Programs,
said that it was unfair to compare the situations of the two
universities.
"We’re in the middle of the second largest city in America;
they’re in the woods," he said. "I don’t think that you come to Los
Angeles for the same experience you get at Santa Cruz."
Because of the seismic renovations, Blackman agreed that the
construction is "difficult and dislocating" for students, staff and
faculty.
"So the place is crowded, yes. It has quite a large population,"
Blackman said.
"Is it overcrowded? I don’t think so," he continued.
Students, however, said construction has upset their lives by
forcing them to find alternate routes to classes and to sit in
overcrowded classrooms.
Jason Kim, a second-year computer science student, complained
about the overcrowding.
"It was ridiculous to wait in the long food lines, just to
finally get the food and have to wait for somewhere to sit," he
said.
Neither reducing enrollment nor buying more land is a plausible
solution to the overcrowding on campus. University officials are
reluctant to admit fewer students, and there is nowhere for UCLA to
further expand.
Blackman said that the only large plot of land near campus is
not available for university use because it is owned by the federal
government. Even if land were available, UCLA would still probably
not purchase it.
"Because of the very high surrounding property values,
purchasing more land is an unlikely option," Blackman said.
Oakley said plenty of recreational space is still available.
"UCLA is a wonderful place to be, and there are a lot of civic
spaces," he said, referring to open spaces such as Royce Quad, the
Sculpture Garden and Westwood Plaza.
Although UCLA will not expand beyond its current boundaries, it
will continue to build within the campus.
"The role that this institution plays suggests to me that new
projects will come along," Oakley said.
He said the existing and new projects would help students’ needs
and make their lives better on campus, citing the Gonda Goldschmied
Neuroscience & Genetics Research Center, located near Health
Sciences, as an example of construction that would improve
students’ lives.
Powazek said the university is concerned with the interests of
its students, expanding parking underground rather than upward and
outward.
"There’s an attempt to put things underground, like the parking
structures underneath the soccer field," and another parking lot
"beneath the Dance Building and the Men’s Gym area," Powazek
said.
The university is "not just doing the cheapest thing, which is
slapping on another parking structure," Oakley continued.
"That’s really valuing our land and campus," he said.
Despite these assurances, administrators did not hesitate to
make changes to the Long Range Development Plan (LRDP), which was
intended to limit growth on campus, when they wanted to expand the
Morgan Center in 1997.
The expansion drew an uproar from local residents, many of whom
hold a long-standing animosity toward UCLA and fear that the
university encroaches on their property.
The LRDP separates the campus into eight zones, reserving
specific parts for nature and limiting the amount of construction
in each zone.
In June 1997, the LRDP was amended by administrators,
reallocating land in one zone to another so that the expansion of
Morgan Center would comply with the plan.
The amended plan left less space for future graduate housing.
Originally, the area around Lot 31 was proposed for graduate
housing because of the large amount of space available.
Mark Horne, assistant director of Capital Programs, said the
original plan was based on the students’ estimated future needs for
the next 15 years. The plan had to be changed.
"What was not anticipated in the 1990 LRDP was the impact of the
Northridge earthquake," he said.
Instead of only repairing the buildings damaged by the
earthquake, however, the university decided to expand in
anticipation of future student needs.
"Additions to the north and west of Wooden Center are proposed
to meet staging needs (for seismic repair)," he said.
"Therefore, an LRDP amendment was necessary," Horne said.
Last year, students, faculty and Westwood residents complained
about the expansion of the Morgan Center at the cost of the
environment.
This year, Jenny Park, a third-year psychology student, said
that if the administration agreed to expand, there must be a
reasonable explanation.
"I’m sure that the developers know what they’re doing. It’s
their job," she said.
"I don’t think that the campus is overcrowded, but what can you
expect? People come here knowing that there are a lot of people;
but then, that means there are more chances to meet new ones," Park
said.
Blackman said that overcrowding on campus is not an issue.
Instead, what is important is how construction can help the
students.
Maintaining the landscape and open spaces are "one of the
greatest glories of UCLA," he said.
"(As are) the creation of places where people can live, work,
study – an attractive place even in this dense environment,"
Blackman continued.
Related Site:
“¢bull;Daily Bruin (6/29/98): Housing, recreation hit by
overcrowding
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