Letters

Wednesday, October 15, 1997

Letters

Had enough of construction

Entering my second year here at UCLA I thought things might have
changed a little. And of course, a couple new things popped up to
complicate my life as a Bruin. That new BruinCard was just another
hassle that seems to have no advantages for me.

But one thing that has not changed is the construction. UCLA
keeps coming up with new ways to improve itself at the cost of the
students.

Last year I had to endure the partial closure of Bruin Walk. No
big problem, except the fact that it will be closed for at least
two more years. Not to mention the eye sore of a fence that is
right next to Pauley Pavilion. I love heading to class through the
dust storm the construction traffic lets loose every day.

I could not even escape the construction in my dorms last year.
During spring quarter, the powers that be decided to build a new
dining facility for Hedrick Hall. That was great news to me – I got
a nice wake-up call from UCLA every morning. There is nothing like
waking up to the sound of a jack hammer at 7 a.m. (Of course it did
me a lot of good considering my classes started at noon.)

To top it off, I live in an apartment this year so I will never
get to experience the new dining hall.

That brings me to UCLA’s newest improvement. I thought I could
escape some of the hassle of construction by living off campus. But
UCLA had to prove me wrong. For the first two weeks of this year I
biked up Landfair and through Dykstra’s basketball courts to get to
campus. But lo and behold, what do I find this Thursday? UCLA
closed the courts due to the construction of Dykstra’s new dining
hall. (By the way, can I meet the genius who decided to renovate
two dining halls at the same time?)

That was a UCLA-caliber move. Since in its divine wisdom UCLA
did not notify anyone they were going to do this, I had to hike up
Saxon’s "rape trail" carrying my 20-year-old 10-speed. This was not
as much fun as it sounds.

Can the construction please stop? Enough is enough. I have had
it with the noise, dust, traffic and inconvenience of it all. I am
pleading with you, UCLA. Stop the insanity. Lay your shovels
down.

Andrew Rich

Second-year

Political science