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Synapse Newspaper The UCSF Student
synapse.ucsf.edu | Thursday, January 22, 2015 | Volume 59, Number 7
Town hall meeting exposes alienation among UCSF students over race issues
Jenny Qi/Synapse UCSF medical students show solidarity with protestors nationwide at a Die-In in December following the recent deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner at the hands of police officers.
By Jenny Qi Editor-in-Chief Students at the Town Hall meeting reported feeling “isolated and alienated” in the wake of decisions on the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases in late 2014. “As we become more educated, we get more and more segregated,” said a student attendee to aggressive nods of agreement around Cole Hall. It was largely this sense of isolated helplessness that spurred UCSF medical students to organize in a mere five days a national “White Coats 4 Black Lives” DieIn, held on Wednesday, Dec. 10 to spread awareness of the tremendous health issue presented by violence and racism.
On the Friday following the Die-In, organizers—led by second year medical students Frederick Jamison and Sidra Bonner—held the Town Hall meeting to share reflections on violence, racial bias and personal experiences with diversity at UCSF, and to plan the next steps after the Die-In. The majority of Town Hall attendees were from the School of Medicine, but all UCSF students were invited. Given the short time frame in which organizers planned events, some simply learned about them too late. Earlier in the week, students on social media pointed out the need for greater interprofessional communication. “It is imperative that we work across colleges and disciplines at UCSF when it comes to
these issues,” said Florencia Rojo, a sociology doctoral student, in the “National White Coat Die-In @UCSF” Facebook group. “[Greater collaboration] is particularly important given that many people in research programs are working on…issues of racial inequalities, violence prevention, health impacts of violence and trauma, anti-racist direct action and community organizing.” Die-In organizers echoed these sentiments during the Town Hall meeting. This remained a common thread throughout discussion of action items. Ideas suggested included hosting an annual gun violence and health conference, a Tumblr blog featuring student stories of racism, and the creation of an interprofessional student space. Event organizers will meet in the near future (date TBD) to finalize the action plan. Students who want to get involved are asked to e-mail Amanda Onyewuenyi, first year medical student and Student National Medical Association co-president, at Amanda.Onyewuenyi@ucsf.edu. Improving avenues for interprofessional communication in this and other issues is a primary goal of the Graduate and Professional Students Association. To get involved, e-mail gpsa@ucsf.edu.
Jenny Qi is a fourth year BMS student. Action items at the town hall meeting were categorized as follows:
1) Social health accountability 2) Medical school curriculum development 3) Human resources/faculty diversity 4) Policy and advocacy 5) Interprofessional curriculum 6) Sustained dialogue 7) National movement
Mark Citret/UCSF News & Media Services The brand-new Mission Bay Medical Center will officially open for business on Feb. 1
UCSF receives $40 million for new outpatient facility at Mission Bay Medical Center
UCSF will receive a $40 million donation for its new Medical Center at Mission Bay from philanthropist and investor Ron Conway. The medical center, part of a $1.5 billion hospitals project at Mission Bay, is set to open Feb. 1 with some of the clinics opening on Monday, Jan. 26. In honor of Conway’s support, UCSF will name its new 207,500-foot outpatient facility the UCSF Ron Conway Family Gateway Building. The building is expected to have at least 1,500 outpatient visits daily. It will contain a cancer clinic, women’s health clinic and pediatric clinic. Conway’s investment firm, SV Angel, has helped startup companies like Google, Facebook, Square, Twitter, Dropbox, Pinterest and Airbnb. He currently sits on the UCSF Medical Center Campaign Cabinet. He also has served as a board member on the UCSF Foundation and has been a supporter of the Neurosciences Initiative. “We have watched UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay grow from a concept to a magnificent hospital complex, and can think of no better investment than supporting patients who are accessing needed outpatient medical services,” Conway said in a press-release statement. —Bryne Ulmschneider
Long-range development plan sets goal of expanding campus housing Editor's Note: Finding affordable housing is a struggle for many in the Bay Area, and UCSF students are no exception. Over the next few issues, Synapse will be exploring the present and future of student housing at UCSF.
By Taylor LaFlam and Bryne Ulmschneider Staff Writers Taylor LaFlam/Synapse UCSF plans to turn the upper three floors of UC Hall into housing, starting around 2019.
UCSF has some work to do. The school is accustomed to accomplishing its goals, but right now, by its
own admission, it is falling well short when it comes to housing. In its long-range development plan, approved late last year, the UCSF administration set goals of substantially increasing housing over the next 20 years. Campus housing currently consists of 921 beds spread across 653 units, about two–thirds at Mission Bay and the remainder near Parnassus. As noted in the long-range development plan, “Occupancy is generally 100 percent, with a wait-list of over 700 individuals. There is a correlation between the steep increases
in the number of people on the wait-list and rising rents in the city over the past few years.” A similar proportion of postdocs and students—just shy of 20 percent of each—currently live in campus housing. It is with students and faculty, though, that UCSF wants to make the greatest improvements. Their goal is to provide housing to 40 percent of students, 25 percent of postdocs, 25 percent of clinical residents and 10 percent of the faculty.
HOUSING » PAGE 10