faculty center

As earlier posts on this blog have noted, the administration recently circulated an email containing a statement that commercial business was not going to be possible under the plan to build a hotel/conference center to replace the Faculty Center. The no-commercial rationale was based on the idea that if the University took commercial business, it would have to pay taxes. An article in USA Today published about a year ago, however, profiled UCLA – along with other universities – as competing for commercial business and certainly accepting it: Meeting planners cut back on conventions at pricey hotels (excerpt) USA Today,…

If you had feared that UCLA is really running out of conference space and thus did need a new hotel/conference center on the site of the existing Faculty Center, you might be comforted by the project described below. The material below is taken from the website: http://uclameetings.wordpress.com/tag/ucla/ It describes a building project on the northwest section of the campus – not the Faculty Center location – which will include a restaurant seating 750, a ballroom, and “sleeping rooms” for guests. You can even link to webcams to watch the construction. See the large bold italicized text. ——-UCLA Housing Construction &…

In yesterday’s post on this blog about the proposed hotel/conference center that would replace the Faculty Center, the most recent statement on the project from the administration was included as an update/link. The Center is shown here on the right, back in the day (when budgets were flush). That latest statement is puzzling as it refers to the consultant’s report on the project and yet seems to contradict it. The consultant seemed to assume that there would be outside (non-UCLA) business conducted at the hotel/conference center. The consultant’s report had estimates of taxes to be paid. However, the most recent…

Spring quarter 2011 has arrived. But the issue of replacing the existing Faculty Center with a large hotel/conference center remains from last spring, when news of the plan was (sort of) made public. You will be seeing flyers such as the one on the right and related yard signs in the neighborhoods around UCLA. As the flyer points out, there is a public meeting at the Faculty Center about this issue on Wednesday, April 6, at 7 PM. Earlier posts on this blog have summarized the issues involved. The most recent development was the strong vote against the project by…

The item below appeared earlier today on the Faculty Center website. Apparently, the membership does not have the problem pictured to the right: The Votes Have Been Tallied!The ballots on the question “Should the Faculty Center building be torn down to be replaced by a Hotel/Conference Center/Faculty Club” have been counted in the presence of representatives of the various interested groups and the outcome is: Yes = 269 (in favor of the FC being replaced) No = 815 (oppose the FC being replaced) The results will be communicated to those involved in planning the proposed Hotel/Conference Center/Faculty Club. Taken from…

Some of you who read the LA Times may have been reminded of the body parts scandal at UCLA that unfolded about 6 years ago by a column that appeared yesterday by Sandy Banks. You may not have connected it, however, with the current controversy about the hotel/conference center proposed to replace the existing Faculty Center. Below is an excerpt from the column by Banks, followed by some observations and a question. — Lost UCLA cadavers’ final chapter: With no hope of winning lawsuits over loved ones’ remains, relatives fight for the last word. Sandy Banks, March 19, 2011, LA…

Prof. Dora Costa of the UCLA Economics Dept. sent the message below to faculty who signed the petition expressing concern about the proposed hotel/conference center. It is reproduced below. She notes that a redacted version of the report by the consultant hired by those who propose the project is now available at the Senate website and she expresses various concerns. You can find that report at http://www.senate.ucla.edu/documents/UCLACONFCENTERSTUDYDRAFT-RedactedbyPKF03102011.pdfYours truly would add the following three points to those made by Prof. Costa. 1) Because the report has just become available as a public document, you can be sure that neighboring commercial hotels…

The item below containing 10 questions on the Faculty Center issue was circulated by UCLA communications. Here is an 11th question: Can it be said that in the midst of a major budget crisis, UCLA’s top priority is to build a hotel/conference center whose downside financial risk in one way or another will be assumed by the campus? 10 Questions: Scott Waugh on the residential conference center and faculty club project UCLA is planning a residential conference center featuring 33,000 square feet of meeting and conference space and 282 hotel rooms. Project plans also include a new faculty club with…

Below is an official “demand narrative” related to the proposed hotel/conference center that is the replace the existing Faculty Center. Center members are currently balloting on whether this project should be approved or not. The document in its original form can be found at http://www.senate.ucla.edu/documents/ProposedConferenceCenterDemandNarrative_Morabito-7Mar2011.pdf It is reproduced here in full because it is labeled “draft” and it is useful to preserve the initial language. The narrative does not directly address two issues: Downside risk. All forecasting is done with error. It seems unlikely – if the projections of revenue do not pan out – that UCLA would let this…

A blog post yesterday featured an email exchange on the proposed demolition of the Faculty Center between Prof. Dora Costa (Dept. of Economics) and Prof. Ann Karagozian (Chair of the Academic Senate). Here are two more emails, these related to the use of $40 million in gift funding, in the interest of our fair and balanced reporting. = = = = = = = = = = = = = From: Daniel J.B. Mitchell Sent: Thursday, March 03, 2011 9:05 PM To: Ann Karagozian Subject: Re: petition to CPB and FW on proposed RCC/hotel Ann: This project surfaced last spring…