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	Vol.7, No 71, February 9, 2000
	CSULB drops land plan By John Putman Daily Forty-Niner Plans to create a Cal State Long Beach educational wetlands center in Newport Beach were dropped because faculty interest dwindled, Keith Polakoff, associate vice president for Academic Affairs, said last week. Polakoff announced the change at the Jan. 24 Committee on Native American Repatriation and Cultural Patrimony meeting. The school had originally planned to acquire 26 acres of Bonita wetlands for the departments of anthropology, biological sciences and civil engineering, Polakoff said. Officials feared that the responsibility of managing the ecologically fragile property would be too great, Polakoff said. "There was a concern on the part of the university that this was, after all, not the business we were in," said Polakoff. "We don't have a lot of experience with land management." The faculty's general lack of enthusiasm over acquiring the property, which is part of a wetlands restoration project cultivated by the Transportation Corridor Agencies, became apparent in an informal email survey conducted recently by Polakoff. The anthropology department, which could have utilized the site to study Native Americans as they demonstrated how indigenous peoples used native plants in traditional basket weaving and other activities, was the only department to respond positively to the survey, Polakoff said. Polakoff said the negative response caught him by surprise, as a previous survey conducted last year had indicated a great deal of interest in the site. In addition to anthropology, the departments of civil engineering, biological sciences and geography had also expressed interest in the wetlands as a viable educational resource. According to Polakoff, as more faculty toured the site recently they began to rethink the property's educational value, and ultimately decided that their studies could be better served elsewhere. "There are better preserved wetlands available," said Polakoff, including the National Wildlife Refuge at the U.S. Naval Weapons Station in Seal Beach and the Bolsa Chica Wetlands. CSULB officials had been negotiating with the TCA since the agency approached the university about acquiring the property in December 1998. The wetlands would have been donated to the university by the agency along with an endowment enabling CSULB to manage and maintain the site, according to those close to the negotiations. The university paid for a legal evaluation of the title transfer in order to ascertain what legal and environmental restrictions and responsibilities would be involved in acquiring the site, Polakoff said. The TCA was informed that the university was no longer interested in acquiring the property in a December letter from William Griffith, vice president of administration and finance, according to Terry Swindele, deputy director of rights of way and special projects at the TCA. "This letter was really a bombshell," said Swindele. "We were extremely disappointed. It was a win-win situation for both of us." Swindele said he was frustrated that the university would withdraw its interest in the site after conducting a year-long legal study of its feasibility. "It looked like we were getting over what were considered obstacles," Swindele said. "We can't force people to take the land off of us for free." While Polakoff said he doesn't believe another site exists where the anthropology department could work with Native Americans in an indigenous environment, he holds out hope that  CSULB may have access to the site for such purposes in the future. "I don't think that opportunity is lost," Polakoff said. "We will certainly continue to work with both the Native Americans and the TCA to express our belief that represents a valuable use of the land that ought to be considered."		Valentine artist a mystery   Sandler to visit campus   CSULB drops land plan   Teacher education goals being met, CSU report says Contributions mean buying politicians Ballad Session offers romantic songs in time for upcoming holiday   Lox's 2nd CD decent attempt for hip-hop group   Imports offer great music in spite of high price Women's team adds players Spring 2000 ISSUES DAILY 49ER HOMEPAGE
Forty-Niner Publications, Department of Journalism, California State University, Long Beach © 2000 All rights reserved.