Suit Filed Over University Housing Plans
Stuart Flashman delivered on his promised, and filed suit against the University. The Berkeley Daily Planet has an article, "UC Sued Over Albany Village Development" discussing the lawsuit:

On Thursday morning the Committee for Affordable Student Family Housing (CASFH) filed suit against the University of California in Alameda County Superior Court. The lawsuit alleges that the university has acted illegally by approving plans that call for the demolition of 564 units of student family housing in Albany Village without having considered the environmental impacts that will result from the displacement of low-income residents.

The suit that Flashman filed on behalf of CASFH alleges that there were three major environmental impacts overlooked in the report that the University was required to file under California Environmental Quality Act. According to Flashman (as quoted in the article), the remodeled housing units will be substantially more expensive leading to

• an increase in traffic, since wealthier people are more likely to drive
• an increase in homelessness as those people priced out of Albany housing move into other low income housing and the current residents of that housing have nowhere to live
• an increase in housing overcrowding as low-income students begin sharing living quarters with each other potentially leading to the spread of infectious diseases

According to the UC administration, they haven't seen the suit yet, but I will be contacting them Monday for comments.

Here are my initial thoughts:

• When liberals bring up traditional affirmative action plans that take ethnicity into account, conservatives often respond by saying that if any favoritism in admission is given, it should be based on socioeconomic level. This is a valid point, in that a rich black student should not be given any advantage over a poor white student. Using the admission process to correct for the adversity faced by low-income high school students only makes sense if these students are then able to actually afford to make it through school. If UC Berkeley wants to represent the diversity in California with a diverse student body, including low-income students, then it must provide the cheap housing where these people can afford to live.
• All reports I have come across note that the housing that will be torn down is in rather shabby condition, and offering low income housing that creates a terrible standard of living for the people who inhabit it is not the ideal solution. (Anyone know anything about mold in the Albany Village units?)
• Finally, the key issues hear seems to be the University's unwillingness to address affordable housing issues. Flashman made this observation when I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago, and repeated it in the article. The University is renovating some of its housing (perhaps necessarily so) with no apparent concern or thought given to what effect it will have on the low-income students who reside there. There are a number of possible solutions I have heard proposed (including Flashman's, about allowing a loan structure that could be repaid over time), yet the Univerisy seems to be completely ignoring this issue as a they proceed with their plans.

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