(Jackie Swanson/Guardian)

UNIVERSITY CENTERS — Price
Center is expanding, as many
readers well know by now. The $45-million expansion, the site of the campus’
many construction cranes, is slated for March completion and aims to accomplish
what the current Price Center
evidently could not: accommodate the increase in projected student enrollment.

Yet, a visit to this seemingly unending endeavor’s Web site
delivers facts that fail to show that the student body actually need two Price
Centers in the first place. Indeed, given expectations for what purposes the
new building will serve, it would appear as though an increase in student
enrollment is a weak excuse to argue in favor of enlargening Price
Center. While increases in
enrollment would, rationally, lead to debates about the supply of on-campus
housing or future parking vacancy levels, expanding a seemingly adequate
university center seems like a dense proposition.

By the year 2010, UCSD’s total enrollment is expected to
break the 30,000 mark if the volume of yearly applications continues at its
current pace. There are an already tenuous circumstances surrounding housing
availability, and any systematic increase in UCSD’s on-campus population would
spike a new premium for living quarters. In addition, a recent audit by Campus
Planning and Transportation and Parking Services found that the availability of
parking during peak hours in the coming years will also take a hit.

At a fundamental level, then, the problem with breaking
ground on a larger Price Center
is that its planning assumes a deficiency in the degree of foresight necessary
given the influx of new undergraduates. Instead, what the campus is left with
is an expensive, student-funded construction project whose number on UCSD’s
figurative list of priorities should’ve been much lower.

Some of the primary bouts of skepticism directed toward the
new center stem from its logistical challenges. In order to wedge in the
building, the western terminus of Matthews Lane
needed to be shut down. Thus, not only were shuttle bus routes rerouted, but
more importantly, any previous hopes for a Matthews-Myers-Lyman
Lane connection that would ease traffic congestion
have been permanently dashed. Add in the prospect of more delivery and service
trucks needed to maintain the new building, and you’ve got a profoundly large
traffic problem developing.

The questions surrounding the new Price
Center do not limit themselves to
mere issues about congestion. Questions remain as to which group of UCSD’s
students will be forced to foot the bill as a result of a referendum in 2003
that effectively approved the expansion of both Student
Center and Price
Center.

Consequently, the referendum’s makeup stipulated that
students would begin to be charged extra in their quarterly university centers
fees once the new Price Center
is completed. Yet the problem is that those who voted for this new building are
now alumni, while those who are expected to pay up never got the chance to
vote.

It is now 2008 with the project incomplete — it has not
benefitted anyone and will be paid for by students who did not vote for it.

Priority is the operative word. And given the fact that
student enrollment volumes are trending upward, it is only logical for one to
consider the different avenues available to help an already stressed student
body dealing with limited essential resources. Indeed, UCSD is adding a new
dormitory complex just north of Eleanor
Roosevelt College
in an effort to ease the living situation on campus. The bad news is that a portion
of the north parking area will be scavanged in order to make room for the new
structure. Had the new Price Center
area been afforded plans for a dormitory complex, none of the vaunted parking
lots would have been touched.

But given that the new building is apparently nearing
completion, it may be time to look ahead and make the best of what may turn out
to be a quintessential example of bureaucracy trumping efficiency.

So in an effort to alleviate the possibly adverse effects of
future traffic congestion, one suggestion is to leave open enough space to
connect Matthews Lane and Myers
Lane. That way, at least the heart of the campus
will be navigable by any vehicle.

In addition, and perhaps more importantly, it is without
question that the intention for the new Price
Center is not to turn into the Student
Center in terms of sustainability.
Thus, the new center should attract clientele that will prove interesting and
beneficial to the school’s students; a nightclub and a grocery store are fine
starts.

In essence, those diving into a project whose basis for
construction and planning relies upon a contestable notion back in 2003 would
be wise to look at the more practical necessities of this growing campus.
Before they look into creating entertainment facilities geared toward
attracting more prospective applicants to the campus, they should take note
that the campus’ growth belies the needed action to help out UCSD’s students
more productively.