Hill construction fails to build

A computer lab, study lounge, music practice room, fitness room
and large screen television ““ for most residents living in
the dorms, these features are a reality.

But for residents of Hedrick Hall, they are only a dream.

The residence hall’s first floor is undergoing renovation,
which began August 2003. The renovation will bring residents a new
front desk, front entrance, student programming space and
administrative offices.

In addition, construction adjacent to the residence hall will
result in 765 more bed spaces for future students.

Because of the construction, Hedrick residents do not have the
perks residents enjoy in other halls. But they still pay the same
housing fees, which range from $7,969 to $9,764.

Jack Gibbons, associate director of the Office of Residential
Life, said the reason all dormitory residents pay the same amount
is because all the dorms are under construction and it would be
difficult to adjust prices for each hall.

“UCLA has a historical practice of not giving
differentiated rates for construction reasons,” Gibbons said.
“We made a decision a long time ago that we won’t
attempt to differentiate rates.”

Instead of direct financial compensation, there are other
mitigation sources such as a $10,000 programming fund. Each dorm is
allotted an amount from this fund, depending on the amount each is
affected by the construction. Hedrick Hall has access to $3,000 out
of this $10,000 fund, used for programs and activities.

But for some students, this type of compensation is not enough,
as construction has increased during the course of the academic
year and has included the destruction of the Hedrick Hall
driveway.

Carl Roque, a first-year biology student, lives on the second
floor and said he can sometimes smell sewage from outside his
window as a result of the construction.

Roque also said he is frustrated that Hedrick residents must pay
the same amount as residents in other halls. He had visited the
housing Web site, which had promised certain features, before
moving in. He was disappointed when he found these features ““
including a study lounge and weight room ““ were not
available.

Roque said he felt the housing administration acted in an
“underhanded” manner by professing on its Web site to
give students certain housing standards.

Gibbons did not have an answer as to why the Web site was not
updated to tell future residents about the lack of these features.
However, Gibbons said students were notified of the construction at
Freshman Orientation, and flyers were also posted and mailed to
students’ homes.

“We made a significant effort to notify students and their
parents about the construction,” Gibbons said.

However, several students said they do not recall any warning
regarding the construction before they moved into Hedrick Hall.

Jessica Goza, a first-year linguistics and anthropology student,
lives on the sixth floor of Hedrick. Goza said she is tired of
waking up to the sounds of jackhammers at 7 a.m.

Goza is also frustrated with inconveniences associated with
getting to class. She said she leaves at least a half hour before
her class starts because she never knows what to expect walking
down the hill to campus.

“As if being on the highest hill isn’t bad enough,
we have to leave even earlier due to the construction. Sometimes we
don’t even know when something is going to be blocked off,
and we find out that morning on the way to class,” Goza
said.