UCSD Aims to Address Appalling Infrastructure

For both commuter and on-campus students alike at UC San Diego, a prevalent concern among all students is the infrastructure and overall design  layout. Many students have complained about the lack of affordable housing, unfurnished apartment suites, insufficient parking spaces, and other accessibility features that continue to negatively impact student life. However, UCSD assures its students that big changes on campus are underway.

Last Wednesday, an official statement by Chancellor Pradeep Khosla revealed that UCSD has some big plans for future construction projects on campus. The main goal is quite simple: to address the many, many, many complaints people have made in the past, UCSD will now be adding six new colleges.

Each of the colleges will have ten parking spaces and offer innovative, one-of-a-kind living spaces: for a small fee of $50 an hour, students can rent out single-person tents! Of course, parking will be first come first serve and only open on weekdays. As for the tents — I mean, new student housing — each suite will come with a fantastic view of the concrete sidewalk and feature natural temperature regulation, using only the sweet ocean breeze to keep students cool during the hot summer.

If this plan comes to fruition, UCSD’s campus could  double — nay triple — in size. Many students still have some slight concerns about the topic at hand, asking questions such as “How will this actually improve student life?” and “This just seems like another cash grab. Why are they building so many damn colleges?”

Some even go on to theorize that UCSD is just using the new colleges as a means to increase the number of students they admit so that they can make more profit off of tuition fees, rather than actually improve the existing buildings and infrastructure.

But, surely, a school that is currently under fire for not paying their graduate students a fair wage wouldn’t go as far as this to make a quick buck, right? … Right?

While it is too early to tell if these new construction plans will truly have a positive impact on students’ experiences on campus, one can surely say that UCSD has a vision.

Sam Ford is a Conch writer for The Triton.