UCLA

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…