<p>I appreciate your optimism Leviathan08 but I fear that it is blinding you from the issue at hand: we were deceived by an institution that we had put our trust into. </p>
<p>This excerpt is taken from the actual email: “Due to the high demand for on-campus housing, we are excited to announce that construction will begin on the next phase of housing scheduled to open in August 2010. To reach this opening date, construction will need to begin in October 2008.”</p>
<p>If construction is to begin in October 2008, all the prior building permits must’ve already been filled out by then. This process takes MONTHS beforehand. You can’t simply walk up to the city and ask to build, even for a UC. Permits must be filled out and committees must be organized to assess the environmental impact of said building. </p>
<p>When I spoke to my father about this issue, he was completely outraged at UCM’s lack of consideration and deceptive tactics. My father is a civil engineer whose job entails managing large scale construction sites such as reservoirs. When he comes home, he tells me and my mother about all the tree huggers fighting to protect the three-legged frogs, the city municipalities he has to argue with, and the in-house problems he must resolve. With that being said, the process to build the dorm started MONTHS ago and we, as the students and families who put our faith into UC Merced, should have been alerted swiftly. It is only fair that the public be alerted so they can make adjustments accordingly.</p>
<p>THERE IS SIMPLY NO WAY UC MERCED CAN HAVE SUDDENLY COME THIS REALIZATION SO RECENTLY. THEY KNEW THAT IF THEY TOLD STUDENTS ABOUT THEIR PLANS TO BUILD EARLIER, MANY STUDENTS WOULD RECONSIDER ATTENDING UCM. THEY WANTED THE ENROLLMENT SO THEY POSTPONED THEIR ANNOUNCEMENT UNTIL AFTER WE REGISTERED, THUS SCREWING US OVER SINCE MANY PEOPLE WOULD RATHER STAY WITH THE SCHOOL THEY ORIGINALLY ACCEPTED.</p>
<p>MORE STUDENTS = MORE MONEY. </p>
<p>The fact of the matter is we were tricked. Parking is essential on campus whether you are staying overnight or only for a couple hours. If you don’t know what I’m complaining about, get your head out of your ass, open your damn eyes and look around for once. It may help to see when people are walking all over you. Just because they are a UC doesn’t mean they won’t do anything possible to better themselves, even if it means postponing the release of information that may sway student’s minds.</p>
<p>Here’s another little excerpt from the email I find amusing: “Please note: The campus is currently exploring options for alternative remote parking sites at discounted rates. Once we have secured a definite plan, we will update you.”</p>
<p>Translated into real talk: “We aren’t really going to do anything because frankly, it’s not our problem if you don’t have a spot. Hell, why should we care? You already signed your life away. We say that we’re going to update you so as to avoid you taking any initiative upon yourself. Unless you complain, you won’t get anything from us”.</p>
<p>Here’s the deal, you can either sit back and let UCM walk all over you, screw up your original plans, and basically inconvenience you to the point where you have to take the damn TRAIN to school, or you can send me a PM and we can do something about it. </p>
<p>Remember, they can only do what we allow them to.</p>
<p>Your choice.</p>