Week seven: CAE renovations, return of PIKE fraternity, rally in support of UCSC protestors

Week seven hurriedly flew by thanks to the President’s Day holiday Monday. For those of you still in vacation mode or buried deep in late-quarter midterms, here are this week’s top stories.

 

CAE to begin renovation aimed to create safe space for students with disabilities

Renovations to expand the UCLA Center for Accessible Education and create a community space for students with disabilities are scheduled to be completed by the end of spring quarter.

The CAE provides academic accommodations to students with qualifying disabilities. These accommodations include note-taking services, separate testing administered by a CAE proctor and exam breaks.

The renovated CAE will have repainted walls, fresh wooden flooring and new furniture approved by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Funds will also go toward new resources such as snacks for students with diabetes, stress-relieving strategies for students with anxiety and new coloring and spacing for the center to inspire productivity.

Currently, the planned renovations will not interfere with daily CAE operations. The center will continue to provide resources to students by working around CAE hours and through spring break.

The intentions of the renovations are to expand the center as a resource and bring together students with disabilities.

 

NWWNC proposes plan to get rid of required parking minimums in North Village

The North Westwood Neighborhood Council transportation and public safety committee passed a motion calling on the council board to consider removing parking minimums from North Westwood Village zoning regulations.

Many student residential areas operate in the northern part of Westwood Village with parking minimums. The motion aims to promote rent affordability for student renters, reduce construction costs for developers and help the environment by minimizing car usage.

North Westwood Village places an unnecessary financial burden on student renters when many prefer to walk, bike or take a scooter to class, said the NWWNC transportation and public safety committee chair and third-year political science student Grayson Peters in the article. Conversely, Ya-Roni Prather, a fourth-year neuroscience student and North Village resident, said in the article that the proposed plan only forces student renters with cars to find parking elsewhere.

The committee has also discussed charging for street parking and using the money for local infrastructure improvement, which will be discussed in a separate full board meeting.

The motion is an initiative toward changing regulations in the North Village and the motion will require approval from the Los Angeles City Council before the LA Department of City Planning can continue with the revisions.

 

Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity returns to UCLA, emphasizes its values in recruitment

Pi Kappa Alpha has returned to UCLA and is currently recruiting new fraternity founders.

The almost-152-year-old fraternity boasts more than 300,000 lifetime initiates and counting. In 2015, however, PIKE closed its UCLA chapter due to low membership. Upon closing, the UCLA Office of Fraternity & Sorority Life and the fraternity agreed to reestablish a chapter in winter 2020.

With plans to establish itself as a permanent chapter, PIKE is searching for potential new members through referrals from campus leaders and coaches.

PIKE purposes to reform itself in light of recent controversies such as the UCLA-wide alcohol ban and by seeking recruits strongly opposed to the negative aspects of Greek Life.

 

UCLA grad students rally in support of UCSC TAs striking for affordable wages

UCLA graduate students rallied Wednesday in support of graduate students at UC Santa Cruz striking against low wages and a lack of affordable housing.

Ucla4Cola organized the rally in the Court of Sciences. Dozens of students and faculty members participated in Wednesday’s “sick-out,” for which students called in sick to stand in solidarity with strikers at UCSC.

Student protestors at UCSC have ceased to teach, give grades or hold office hours since Feb. 10. By the third day of the strike, at least 17 people had been arrested after a physical protest broke out at UCSC.

The sick-out is one of four events planned this week by Ucla4Cola in advocacy of the UCSC protests.

UC President Janet Napolitano has expressed her disapproval of the protests and threatened to terminate the contracts of teaching assistants should they continue to strike.

The UC will not reopen negotiations or open a separate side letter for cost-of-living adjustments, Napolitano said in an open letter to students, faculty and staff at UCSC.

 

Internal audit finds UC lacks oversight in student admissions process

An internal University of California audit published Feb. 14 exposed systemwide defects regarding the documentation of athletes, artists and students who failed to meet minimum admission requirements.

The audit revealed UC campuses failed to verify applicant information and track special-talent admissions and student-athlete participation, among other areas. For example, two UC campuses were found to document team practices but not individual student-athlete participation. Currently, the UC system lacks a central database for special-talent admissions.

The audit was prompted by the 2019 athletics admissions scandal to ensure preventive measures against third-party influences on the admissions process. UCLA was one of the many campuses implicated during the nationwide investigation of students falsely admitted as student-athletes.

The UC will accept all recommendations produced by the audit, said UC President Janet Napolitano in a press release. To ensure the recommendations are executed locally and systemwide, Ethics, Compliance, and Audit Services, an independent audit organization reporting directly to the UC Board of Regents, will work closely with campuses and their departments.