Increased housing prices evoke students’ concern
By Daily Bruin Staff
May 27, 2002 9:00 p.m.
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By Jamie Hsiung
Daily Bruin Reporter
[email protected]
The 7.5 percent housing fee hike ““ which is more than
twice the average rate of inflation ““ was decided with no
student input on the housing and hospitality budget.
According to On Campus Housing Council member Helen Seliverstov,
a former Daily Bruin news writer, there was no student input on the
budget because the council got the budget too late ““ at the
last Policy Review Board meeting of winter quarter.
As a result, they were not able to make any “viable
recommendations for the next academic year,” according to the
letter OCHC submitted to housing director Michael Foraker,
expressing its disapproval of the fee increase as well as
disappointment with not receiving the budget earlier.
“It is impractical for fees to go up this much because it
makes it very hard for students to live on campus,”
Seliverstov said.
Housing Business Manager Dan Les said that Policy Review Board,
a group of students and administrators that discuss housing
policies, received the budget in the beginning of March because
housing didn’t know about the debt or other budgetary
information until the end of February.
Housing prices increased because Housing and Hospitality
Services is expecting to pay off a $200 million debt owing to the
completion of De Neve Plaza, Les said.
Other prime factors for the fee increase include: the operating
cost of De Neve Plaza; losing bed space when Courtside is renovated
next year; and inflationary costs from increased labor and utility
prices.
According to Les, the housing fee will also increase over the
next decade because $500-600 million in construction will be done
on the Hill.
“It always goes up to cover expenses; we always have
inflation,” Les said.
For the 1993-94 school year, residents paid $5,410 for a
high-rise double with 19 meals. This coming year, students will pay
more than $3,000 more for the same plan. UCLA saw an average
housing increase of 4.8 percent throughout the past decade.
For the 2001-02 school year, housing fee rose 6.5 percent to pay
for the debt and operation of De Neve Plaza and to deal with
increased energy costs when prices soared in California.
Some students say it is unfair to have everyone on the Hill pay
for construction of De Neve.
“De Neve parents should pay (the extra fee) instead of
people that live in resident halls,” said first-year biology
student Pantea Ahmadi.
Housing fees also cover program expenses such as the
implementation of the Student Technology Center in 1995 and
1988’s Access Control program, where residents must swipe
their BruinCard or a non-resident must sign-in, to gain access to a
dorm.
According to Les, in the absence of program increases, the rate
increase would be “considerably less.”
Some students think the increase in housing fees could be put to
other uses.
“We live in shoeboxes; we don’t even get any air
conditioning,” said first-year biology student Connie Kim.
“Our housing isn’t cheap to begin with.”
If fees did not increase, more people would live on campus
instead of apartments, said first-year undeclared student Jackie
Jou.
“I’m not happy that the fees are going to be more,
but what can we do other than live in resident halls?” she
asked.
