Saving the Bract Tract I
As Andrew Martinez accurately reported in “Tract plan draws faculty opposition” (June 29th), the only voices in favor of the proposals by New York developers Cooper-Robertson to build a housing development on top on UT land in West Austin are those of the developers themselves.
No one at UT has supported or contributed to the proposals, which would eliminate or seriously damage undergraduate education in one of UT’s largest majors: biology.
Paul Milana, a partner at Cooper-Robertson, is quoted as saying that “it was never our intention to eliminate [the field lab].” However, UT had already evaluated the alternative site recommended by Milana, and found it entirely unsuitable for teaching or research — and that information was reported to Cooper-Robertson. The development firm made their recommendation knowing full well that moving the field lab to McKinney Roughs would mean eliminating it.
UT needs the existing academic programs at Brackenridge, and it needs the space for future academic expansion. We desperately need more space, not less, for undergraduate teaching. Replacing UT’s Brackenridge Campus with a housing development makes no sense for UT.
Indeed, it makes as much sense as re-developing UT’s West Mall into a shopping mall, or turning the Communications Building into a department store because of its good location.
— David Hillis
Chair, UT Faculty Council
Alfred W. Roark Centennial Professor
Saving the Bract Tract II
The development plans proposed for the Brackenridge Tract by the New York-based firm Cooper-Robertson will create an unsustainable academic environment at UT-Austin, hinder scientific research and further mire Central Austin in traffic.
The firm ignored every recommendation from UT faculty, students and administrators in making its proposal. For example, our campus’ biggest hurdle for the future is space. Any further restrictions will directly impede, and in many cases prohibit, the development of undergraduate academics and scientific research. The parents of current and future UT-Austin students and all Texas alumni should be concerned about the diminished quality of education and value of their hard-earned degrees which will result from this development. The firm also revealed their utter lack of understanding of our city and its needs. We don’t need more traffic. We don’t need more strain on our water resources. We don’t need an academically compromised university.
By preserving the Brackenridge Tract for future generations of students, researchers and Austinites, the UT System Board of Regents will foster an environment of improved academic and scholarly prestige, honor our university’s generous donors (like George Brackenridge) and contribute toward a more environmentally sustainable city. If the regents develop the Tract, they will tarnish our university and wreak havoc on our city’s already tenuous transportation and water infrastructure. Please contact the UT regents and tell it you support the residents of Austin and members of the UT community in rejecting Cooper-Robertson’s proposal to develop the Brackenridge Tract.
— Samuel V. Scarpino
Graduate research fellow
National Science Foundation
