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Campus discos big money-spinner for Politehnica

Laura Elena Culiţa, Cristina Negraru

A plan to shut down nine discotheques in the University Politehnica of Bucharest (UPB) could cost the school between half a million and a million Euros a year, according to Rector Ecaterina Andronescu.

The Rector announced in February her intention to close down all nine clubs and turn the space they occupy into libraries, bookshops, cafeterias, and technical centers where students could go to repair their computers.

Gabriel Petrea, president of the Politehnica Students Association, said he didn’t know exactly how much the University earned from renting the space, but usually the money was spent to renovate all the student dorms. The university has a project underway to renovate all the dorms by the end of this year.

“I don't know the exact sum of money, but I do know that discos in the Regie campus make lots of money. In 2005, hostels P1, P2 and P3 were restored from this money, ” he said.

Petrea added that the idea to close down the discos was not new; it first appeared three or four years ago. In order to learn students’ views, the Association decided to organize a poll that began March 7. “We will choose a certain figure… For example, if we choose the number four, we will go into rooms 14, 24 and 34 (in student dorms). In fact we will have three polls: one in the Regie hostels, another one at our association headquarters and the last one will be organized during our different activities,” he said.

Some students have complained for a long time that the discos are very noisy which prevents them from studying. “No disco should be placed here. Why here when they can be built outside the campus? It's very difficult for me to study, especially during the night, when one can hear the music booming out of the disco,” said Liza Toronciuc, a medical student living in the hostel next to the Maxx Club.

In an interview with The Bullet, Andronescu said she recognized that students needed places to enjoy themselves and she did not want to transform the campus in some sort of a monastery. “I know that teenagers want to have fun but on the other hand they must have the proper conditions to study”, she said.

A representative from the ONX Club, who asked to remained anonymous, denied receiving any complaints, even when the music keeps blasting until 4 a.m. He said the walls of his club are soundproofed and that the premises are surrounded by a parking lot and an empty field.

Other students say the Regie discos sell alcoholic drinks which can cause drunkenness and violence. Regarding this, Petrea said it was wrong to blame the discos exclusively because students often throw parties in their rooms and drink there too.

Alexandra Tudorache, a student of electrical engineering, said: “I haven't heard about big fights between students in the campus. The police are always patrolling in this area, so there are not such incidents.” The ONX Club source said club employees do their best to prevent fights and stop them quickly if they occur. There is far less violence in the Regie campus than other parts of the city, he said.

In order to protect students, the university wants to build a fence around the campus so that nobody can enter without a special card. The Politehnica students association in cooperation with the National Union of Romanian Students have asked the authorities to make the 601 bus line non-stop between the campus and the city center so students can go to downtown clubs easily and quickly and get back safely.

“Any civilized country has a line like this. We are thinking about appealing to the Bucharest General Mayor and to the Prime Minister for support. This way, students could go to clubs outside the campus without worrying about how to return,” said Petrea.

Ultimul număr tipărit (mai 2007, format PDF):