Last week, I ventured to the Alumni Plaza meeting to see what our powerful graduates were up to. Vicious campus dialogue has been shooting back and forth regarding the proposed plans for an "Alumni Plaza." The confusion can be accredited to the lack of dialogue between the current campus community and the alumni, as well as disagreements, misunderstandings and superficial motives emanating from the anticipated project.
The public congregated for the meeting in a third floor room at the Marvin D. "Swede" Johnson building. Sitting in chairs that made you wonder how many TA's salaries could be paid with each plush armrest, students, faculty, UA employees, UA alumni and others from Tucson were spoon-fed the plaza proposal. Slide after slide depicted a group that had performed "research" - on the students' use of the Mall, the flow of pedestrian and bike traffic travel through the center of campus and the actual needs of the student body. In their own words, the chosen spot was the "true crossroads of the UA."
Their slide show was professionally compiled to mask some obvious problems with their ideas. A group discussion followed, bringing up points the Alumni Association seemed to want to sneak right past. The first and most important argument is the fate of the cactus garden.
If you want to talk about UA history, the cactus garden is it. Professor James W. Toumey planned the garden, and it sprouted in 1891. At its peak, the garden incorporated more than 600 native and rare species. In 1929, it was relocated from the fountain side to the east side of Old Main. In the 1960s, part of the lawn to the Mall was expanded, shrinking the garden. In the 1980s, the unique cacti patch was reduced to the size it is now and renamed the Joseph Wood Krutch Cactus Garden. The UA Campus Arboretum believes that many of the fragile cacti would not live through relocation and that "history exists in situ; moving the historical object severs the linkage and shames the validity of the effort."
Another huge problem with the plaza plans is the layout. The alumni think it would be great to fill the area with trees and jumping fountains. Although the audience was quick to remind them that we do live in an arid desert, the presenters didn't seem to care. They also didn't have an answer to the question: wouldn't more pavement encourage rain run-off and add to our campus flooding problem?
After the presentation, many of the students wanted to know if the Alumni Plaza would infringe upon more of the sacred Mall. If I read their models right, it does not seem that the plaza would take away any more of the grass. They do have plans to reroute the bike lanes and sidewalks but not build on the Mall. That was the only "thumbs up."
Do the students actually want it? The answer was dodged by a strategic switch of topics. The Alumni Association's motto is that "it is for the benefit of the students." Mike Urbancic, a UA senior who was also at the meeting, told me, "I would venture to say that the Alumni Association simply does not have an adequate conception of what we as students or faculty want or need. I don't recall making any request that the alumni spend $2.7 million of private donations on a place to sit, nor can I think of any similar request registered by ASUA or any other student body. They have invented a need for such a plaza, despite the fact that there are many places to sit and associate. As if their presumptuousness in the assessment of our needs wasn't enough, they have selected the very heart of campus as the site of their selfless donation."
And lastly, amid the recent budget explanation by President Likins, the students just can't seem to justify spending that type of money when the academic integrity of the university is in a downward spiral due to the financial plan and brain drain. The Alumni Association should consider reallocating their money to help our university where we need it.
The meeting was not intended as a public discussion but rather to force the plan down our throats. No one was officially taking notes in order to keep record of the audience's concerns. The association did not care. As I was leaving the meeting, I overheard a member of the association tell someone that President Likins wants the project on the fast track.
Those who don't want to see the destruction of the cactus garden and the increased Phoenixification of our campus need to speak up - quickly.
