We are guinea pigs in an experiment to test out the viability of a totally corporate environment. UCLA is taking the final step toward its conversion to a private space. At its heart, this conversion represents the division between people. If you examine Southern California, you will notice that an incredible disparity of wealth among people already exists. Yet, one need only drive 15 minutes east into Hollywood to see a completely different social landscape.
Rampant homelessness mars the sidewalks like infected sores on a leper' s body.
Throngs of working-class people jam the streets and buses. A large police presence, resembling a military occupation, patrols these less affluent areas. Equipped with weapons, the police function as a calculated imposition of social order in an area that has a history of unrest and dissidence. When armed agents of the established social order are everywhere, the poor think twice about rebellion. In a landscape where the poor are minutes away from the rich, the police force is an effective buffer between the areas of poverty and affluence.