Dear Editor:
Using the time tested tactic of introducing a
bill at the last
moment and ramming it through the Legislature,
UW is seeking to
divert millions of dollars from education to
empire building.
House Bill 293 – the “dorms bill” –
would fund the construction of
skyscraper-like dormitories in a quiet,
residential neighborhood
zoned for residences – not for huge buildings or
industrial food
service facilities. The behemoths would loom
over Laramie’s one
public cemetery, destroying the calm and
serenity of this historic
site, while frequently closing a major artery –
15th Street –
during construction and possibly ultimately
closing it altogether,
walling off the University enclave and isolating
local
neighborhoods from one another for a full mile
on each side. And to
meet the parking “requirements” of the
bill, UW could (and, likely
would) build one new parking space to serve
2,000 new beds, leaving
students with even less parking.
What’s more, to ensure that the
multimillion-dollar structures
remained full – however unwilling students were
to live there – UW
would continue to engage in the anticompetitive
tactic of “tying,”
denying its Constitutionally mandated services
to students if they
did not live in the new buildings. It would
likely expand this
practice to include sophomores as well as
freshmen. This would
deny students choice, extract funds from the
local economy, and
impact property values, reducing Albany County’s
already limited
tax base. Residents’ retirement savings, much of
them invested in
rental housing, would be devastated as the
University used their
own tax dollars to compete with them.
Finally, the project – governed by a task force
with no member from
the local community – would divert funds from
education and waste
millions of dollars in state funds just as we
are seeing a slight,
and possibly temporary, increase in mineral
royalties. The current
dorms are by no means inadequate; in fact, UW
has so much extra
space that it has idled an entire existing
dormitory.
Tell your legislator that UW should focus on
what you pay it
for – teaching – rather than building its empire
on the backs of
state residents and students.
Brett Glass
