ASUCLA rejects Ackerman expansion

The Associated Students of UCLA have decided against the idea to
expand the square footage of Ackerman Student Union due to
financial concerns.

The $20 million proposal, which would have added an additional
2,000-3,000 square feet to Ackerman, could have increased the
student union fee from $7.50 to $60 annually.

“It would’ve been a disservice to students,”
said Dria Fearn, who serves on the board of directors’
finance committee. “Ackerman would’ve cost students a
lot of money.”

Fearn added there is already the possibility of an additional
student fee increase when the Undergraduate Students Association
Council introduces a referendum during the fifth week of fall
quarter.

“The last thing we want is to impose a fee on
students,” Fearn said.

Also, ASUCLA will be paying about $800,000 for newly-unionized
workers and needs extra money in reserve. The Association is also
still paying off debt from the previous Ackerman expansion in
1992.

“We are stable financially but it took us many years to
get here after a big expansion,” said ASUCLA Executive
Director Pat Eastman.

Though current plans to expand Ackerman have been canceled, it
is still a possibility for the long-term future, Eastman said.

The proposal was introduced a few years ago, but the expansion
was never considered a top priority, said ASUCLA Services Committee
Chair Reem Salahi. The services committee is currently exploring
various ideas to improve student union services.

“Even when it was first brought about, it wasn’t an
idea that most (of the board) would go for,” Salahi said.

The original point of the plan was to create more services to
students, including more Internet access, more places to study, and
more meeting rooms.

“The union is large but it’s kind of cramped for
space.” Salahi said. “In terms of study lounges, there
are not enough rooms.”

Student Union Director Jerry Mann said with a current capacity
of 14 meeting rooms, Ackerman lags behind some of the
university’s comparable institutions he visited last year,
including UC Irvine, Cal State Fullerton, Arizona University and
Arizona State University.

These schools had anywhere from 20 to 30 meeting rooms for
students, Mann said.

Regardless of the fee increase if the proposal had gone through,
fourth-year economics student John Doan said he would have
supported expanding Ackerman.

“It gets really crowded in certain times of the
day.” Doan said. “Every year students are expanding.
Making Ackerman bigger would be a good thing.”

Other students would have supported expanding Ackerman simply
because there aren’t many good, quiet places to study ““
other than the library.

“A lot of people have trouble finding spaces where
there’s peace and quiet to study in,” said first-year
history student Pouya Bavafa. “I’d like to find more
places to study where I won’t be bothered as much.”

Since expanding the student union was a long-term idea, it was
not considered part of Phase One of the Student Union Strategic
Initiative, a plan developed by ASUCLA which would increase various
student services.

Phase One of the plan, which consists of services free to
students, currently includes a brown bag lunch with professors,
Internet access in Kerckhoff, and possibly transforming the
Cooperage into a pub.

Though ASUCLA was always undecided on whether the Ackerman
expansion project was even a priority, Fearn said the pub is still
one of the Association’s top priorities.

“Expanding Ackerman would’ve been a gamble,”
Fearn said. “(Discontinuing Ackerman expansion) is something
I’m fine with … I have a responsibility to make sure the
Association’s financially stable.”

With reports from Robert Salonga, Daily Bruin Senior Staff.