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April 14, 2008, 01:53 AM ET
Lawmakers Scrutinize U. of California's 'Fantasy Island'
Republican lawmakers in California and antitax activists are calling on the University of California to sell a research station it owns on Moorea Island — a place near Tahiti that some real-estate agents call “fantasy island,” reports Steve Geissinger of MediaNews. The state and the university face a daunting budget crunch, and the critics say surplus land like the island should be sold off.
The news report certainly made the research site, called Gump Station, sound like paradise — at a bargain for visitors. “Surrounded by clear waters lapping white-sand beaches, and covered by forests topped by jagged peaks, it’s ‘UC Berkeley’s best-kept secret,’ declares the Berkeley Science Review,” the article said. “Students and professors pay a UC-subsidized price of about $40 per person nightly for a waterfront bungalow, says a facility Web site. Nearby five-star resorts on Moorea, which is a popular destination for honeymooners, charge up to about $900 a night for an over-water bungalow on piles.”
But selling the land would be shortsighted, university researchers said. The location is ideal for global-warming research, and the station is integral to various projects to preserve and catalog biodiversity in the region. Moreover, they said, much of the operations are supported by grants. Certainly, if the university sold off the land, it could never get it back. The report noted that a nearby plot of land with three thatched huts recently sold for $1.9-million.
“It’s quite a bargain,” Beth Burnside, vice chancellor for research at Berkeley, told the reporter. “There’s not any consideration, whatsoever, of selling off that property.” —Scott Carlson
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