Proposed Living Space at California University Causes Big Debate
2021-11-14
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1Businessman Charles Munger recently gave $200 million to the University of California at Santa Barbara, known as UCSB, to help pay for a new student living space.
2At colleges, students live in buildings called dormitories, or dorms for short.
3When complete, the building will be called Munger Hall.
4The university hopes to open the dorm in late 2025.
5The school is in Santa Barbara, a small city on the Pacific Coast about 160 kilometers north of Los Angeles.
6If the plan continues based on current designs, it will be 11 floors high and provide beds for 4,500 students on a small piece of land.
7Most of the sleeping areas for students will not have windows.
8The building only has one large entrance on each side.
9The dorm is close to the school's sports fields but far from the rest of the university and the coast.
10With so many students there, it would be the eighth-most densely populated living area in the world, similar to a part of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
11The building plan became publicly known recently.
12Many people were surprised by the number of students and the lack of windows, said Matt Poldberg.
13He has already completed his studies at UCSB.
14He said one of the best parts of going to school in Santa Barbara is closeness to the ocean and beautiful areas.
15Not having windows seemed strange, he said, and being on a piece of land far away from the best parts of the school was strange, too.
16"You know, to build such a windowless, joyless-seeming place it seemed like a waste to not have it at least be like 10 steps from the beach like everything else is there."
17Munger said the design puts more importance on public spaces.
18He wants students to spend most of their time away from sleeping areas so they can meet each other and work together.
19The building will have large cooking, eating and gathering spaces.
20The project was not getting much attention until October, when one of its architects dropped out, calling it "disturbing."
21Dennis McFadden wrote a letter on October 24, calling the project "destructive to the campus" and the design "unsupportable."
22He said he was disappointed that the group of administrators and professors studying the project did not object.
23He said the building was a "radical departure from student housing standards."
24News organizations such as The New York Times, CNN and The Guardian all wrote about McFadden's concerns.
25Some called the project "dormzilla," after the Japanese movie monster Godzilla.
26Munger answered the criticism in early November.
27He talked with Architectural Record about the project.
28He said the rooms without windows are "quite endurable," and compared them to the rooms on large vacation boats known as cruise ships that do not look onto the water.
29He called the building's design safe and able to meet building requirements in California.
30He said he thinks universities around the United States will build more buildings like Munger Hall.
31The UCSB design is similar to a project Munger funded at the University of Michigan.
32Students have mixed opinions about it.
33UCSB, like much of California, does not have enough low-cost housing.
34There are more people who want to live in Santa Barbara than the number of homes available.
35That is a big problem for a university with 25,000 students.
36Atmika Iyer writes for The Daily Nexus, a student newspaper at UCSB.
37She said there is a housing crisis for students.
38Some students must live far away from campus and drive over an hour to get to school.
39Others have been known to sleep in their cars.
40Right now, the university pays hotels so students can live there.
41She said one problem is that while the university has been welcoming more students, it has not been building more housing.
42While the school sees Munger Hall as an answer, Iyer said most students disagree.
43"The general consensus among most of the people I've been speaking with is that this isn't a good idea."
44UCSB, however, posted a "question and answer" page online recently, and said "we expect Munger Hall...to be highly desirable."
45Nolan Gray is a researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles.
46He studies urban planning. He recently wrote about Munger Hall for Bloomberg news service.
47He said that the "mega-dorm" with a cost of over $1 billion, may be UCSB's only way out of an "extreme" housing problem.
48Because the universities in California are so good, Gray said, schools have no trouble finding students.
49Because the cities in California are so costly to live in, students often share small rooms.
50Some even have to leave school because they cannot afford to live near their classes.
51Gray called Munger Hall "a trade-off," where students get to go to school in a beautiful place in exchange for sleeping in a small, windowless room.
52"Living in a dorm is not unlike living in a small apartment in a really nice city, right? When you live in a city, the park is your lawn, the restaurants are your dining room, the bars are your parlors, the library is your office."
53Gray said he thought Munger Hall has a 65 or 70 percent chance of being built at UCSB in the coming years.
54"They're probably going to do everything they can to make something like this work," he added.
55Iyer said the responsibility for the problem rests not only with the university, but with the state government and the communities close to the university.
56All three have not done a good job of meeting growing demand for higher education and housing.
57In addition, Iyer said, there are no other current plans for student housing.
58"UCSB is sort of putting all their eggs in this one basket, right? Munger Hall is the only proposed solution thus far."
59If Munger's project goes ahead, it will only solve the housing problem for a short time.
60The school said it is only a "partial fulfillment of our responsibility to our students."
61Poldberg, the UCSB graduate, said he thinks students would still rather go to Santa Barbara than to other California schools.
62"I would probably pick the windowless dorm," he said.
63I'm Dan Friedell.
1Businessman Charles Munger recently gave $200 million to the University of California at Santa Barbara, known as UCSB, to help pay for a new student living space. At colleges, students live in buildings called dormitories, or dorms for short. 2When complete, the building will be called Munger Hall. The university hopes to open the dorm in late 2025. The school is in Santa Barbara, a small city on the Pacific Coast about 160 kilometers north of Los Angeles. 3If the plan continues based on current designs, it will be 11 floors high and provide beds for 4,500 students on a small piece of land. Most of the sleeping areas for students will not have windows. The building only has one large entrance on each side. 4The dorm is close to the school's sports fields but far from the rest of the university and the coast. With so many students there, it would be the eighth-most densely populated living area in the world, similar to a part of Dhaka, Bangladesh. 5The building plan became publicly known recently. Many people were surprised by the number of students and the lack of windows, said Matt Poldberg. He has already completed his studies at UCSB. 6He said one of the best parts of going to school in Santa Barbara is closeness to the ocean and beautiful areas. Not having windows seemed strange, he said, and being on a piece of land far away from the best parts of the school was strange, too. 7"You know, to build such a windowless, joyless-seeming place it seemed like a waste to not have it at least be like 10 steps from the beach like everything else is there." 8Munger said the design puts more importance on public spaces. He wants students to spend most of their time away from sleeping areas so they can meet each other and work together. The building will have large cooking, eating and gathering spaces. 9The project was not getting much attention until October, when one of its architects dropped out, calling it "disturbing." 10Dennis McFadden wrote a letter on October 24, calling the project "destructive to the campus" and the design "unsupportable." He said he was disappointed that the group of administrators and professors studying the project did not object. He said the building was a "radical departure from student housing standards." 11News organizations such as The New York Times, CNN and The Guardian all wrote about McFadden's concerns. Some called the project "dormzilla," after the Japanese movie monster Godzilla. 12Munger answered the criticism in early November. He talked with Architectural Record about the project. He said the rooms without windows are "quite endurable," and compared them to the rooms on large vacation boats known as cruise ships that do not look onto the water. 13He called the building's design safe and able to meet building requirements in California. He said he thinks universities around the United States will build more buildings like Munger Hall. 14The UCSB design is similar to a project Munger funded at the University of Michigan. Students have mixed opinions about it. 15Why does UCSB need Munger Hall? 16UCSB, like much of California, does not have enough low-cost housing. There are more people who want to live in Santa Barbara than the number of homes available. That is a big problem for a university with 25,000 students. 17Atmika Iyer writes for The Daily Nexus, a student newspaper at UCSB. She said there is a housing crisis for students. Some students must live far away from campus and drive over an hour to get to school. Others have been known to sleep in their cars. Right now, the university pays hotels so students can live there. 18She said one problem is that while the university has been welcoming more students, it has not been building more housing. 19While the school sees Munger Hall as an answer, Iyer said most students disagree. 20"The general consensus among most of the people I've been speaking with is that this isn't a good idea." 21UCSB, however, posted a "question and answer" page online recently, and said "we expect Munger Hall...to be highly desirable." 22No other choice 23Nolan Gray is a researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles. He studies urban planning. He recently wrote about Munger Hall for Bloomberg news service. He said that the "mega-dorm" with a cost of over $1 billion, may be UCSB's only way out of an "extreme" housing problem. 24Because the universities in California are so good, Gray said, schools have no trouble finding students. Because the cities in California are so costly to live in, students often share small rooms. Some even have to leave school because they cannot afford to live near their classes. 25Gray called Munger Hall "a trade-off," where students get to go to school in a beautiful place in exchange for sleeping in a small, windowless room. 26"Living in a dorm is not unlike living in a small apartment in a really nice city, right? When you live in a city, the park is your lawn, the restaurants are your dining room, the bars are your parlors, the library is your office." 27Gray said he thought Munger Hall has a 65 or 70 percent chance of being built at UCSB in the coming years. 28"They're probably going to do everything they can to make something like this work," he added. 29Iyer said the responsibility for the problem rests not only with the university, but with the state government and the communities close to the university. All three have not done a good job of meeting growing demand for higher education and housing. In addition, Iyer said, there are no other current plans for student housing. 30"UCSB is sort of putting all their eggs in this one basket, right? Munger Hall is the only proposed solution thus far." 31If Munger's project goes ahead, it will only solve the housing problem for a short time. The school said it is only a "partial fulfillment of our responsibility to our students." 32Poldberg, the UCSB graduate, said he thinks students would still rather go to Santa Barbara than to other California schools. 33"I would probably pick the windowless dorm," he said. 34I'm Dan Friedell. 35Dan Friedell wrote this story for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. 36What would you do if you lived in a room with no windows? Tell us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page. 37_________________________________________________________________ 38Words in This Story 39architect -n. a person who designs buildings 40disturbing - adj. causing people to be upset or worried 41radical - adj. very new and different from what is traditional or ordinary 42standard -n. a level of quality or accomplishment that is considered acceptable or desirable 43endure - v. to deal with or accept 44consensus - n. a general agreement about something; an idea or opinion that is shared by all the people in a group 45apartment - n. a (usually) rented room or set of rooms that is part of a building and is used as a place to live 46lawn - n. an area of ground (such as the ground around a house or in a garden or park) that is covered with short grass 47parlor - n. a room in a house or apartment that is used for spending time with guests 48to put all your eggs in one basket - expression to place your chance of success on one thing