De Neve hit by further delays

  MIKE CHIEN Towers A and B, the computer lab, dining and
lecture halls of De Neve Plaza will most likely not open before
winter quarter said housing officials. De Neve is still in the
final stages of safety inspection.

By Jamie Hsiung
Daily Bruin Contributor

After promising students that the remaining buildings of De Neve
Plaza would open winter quarter, housing officials notified
residents last week that this isn’t likely, nor did they set
a completion date for the project.

Housing officials had hoped the two remaining housing structures
known as Towers A and B, as well as the computer lab, dining and
lecture halls in De Neve would open mid-fall or early winter. But
De Neve is still in the final stages of safety inspections.

Shaggy Bajrami, a first-year undeclared student living with five
roommates in a Hedrick Hall study lounge, said she’s not
surprised about the delay.

“We were told that we would be moving out in a few weeks
after we got to UCLA. Then a “˜few weeks’ turned into a
“˜few months’ and so on and so forth,” she
said.

Construction of De Neve began Oct. 1, 1997, and the entire
building was originally scheduled to be completed July 2000. But
bad weather and design changes delayed the project.

And now De Neve is undergoing its final inspection. The fire
department is checking sprinklers, elevators and cord compliance.
The inspection itself could take up to two weeks, and if errors are
found, that would further delay progress, said Alfred Nam associate
director of room operations for the housing administration.

“Our hope was to open during winter break and start moving
in furniture while the students went home,” Nam said.
“We’re hoping that it’ll open during winter
quarter, but that’s not likely.”

Dave Farley, a third-year transfer history student, was stunned
to find out about the delays Friday. He had originally signed up to
live in the on-campus apartments but was placed into a Hedrick
Lounge instead.

“You mean I won’t be moving to De Neve this winter
quarter? I’m shocked,” he said. “Why
couldn’t they have told us sooner?”

Housing officials have been informing students since Thursday
and Friday of the delay, Nam said. Housing assignment and Office of
Residential Life employees are creating a newsletter to notify
students as well.

Loungers receive regular updates from the housing office through
flyers, mail and meetings with their lounge resident
assistants.

Though Bajrami plans on moving to De Neve, she said the downside
is having to pay nearly $2,000 more than what she is paying now
““ the amount of living in a double-room occupancy.

For everyone to move out of lounges, De Neve must be completed
first, said Jack Gibbons, associate director of residential
life.

“We’re encouraging the contractor to work and
complete it as soon as possible,” he said.

The De Neve project, designed to reduce student density in the
dorms, could cause students to relocate throughout the dorm.
Loungers and students living in triples or doubles would move to De
Neve if they had requested it. Loungers that didn’t choose De
Neve would move into a double or triple.

Earlier in the quarter, Gibbons and Robert Kadota, the central
area director, distributed a survey to people in lounges regarding
their moving plans when De Neve becomes available.

According to Kadota, out of 167 students surveyed, 97 preferred
waiting for De Neve to finish. Eighteen wanted to take any
available space, and 42 wanted to stay in the lounge as possible
until something else becomes available. Ten people had no
preference.

Caroline Dao, a third-year biology student living in a Reiber
Hall study lounge who gets along with her five roommates, said
she’s looking forward to moving into De Neve nonetheless.

“There’s no privacy,” she said. “The
lounges are really cold because there are six windows in here …
and there are only two phone lines for six people.”

But others aren’t bothered by De Neve’s delay.

Evan Zucker, a transfer math-economics student, said he wants to
stay in the lounge at Sproul Hall.

“When I found out that I had to live in a lounge with five
other people, my first thought was: apartment,” he said.
“But now I’ve gotten used to it; I like living
here.”