Security added in Quad

The University attached barbed wire to a fence on the Hamilton Walk side of the Quadrangle over winter break in response to two recent burglaries in the Butcher-Speakman-Class of 1928 House. In both incidents, burglars scaled the fence along Hamilton Walk, kicked in windows of ground floor rooms and escaped back over the fence with stolen property, Assistant Dean for Residences Jane Rogers said yesterday. University Police Detective Jane Curry, who is investigating the case, said there still are no leads. But she said she thinks that the two incidents are related because "the mode of entry was the same." University officials said they feel the barbed wire solution is necessary to insure the students' safety until another solution is found. "The people that live there needed a visible sign that something was being done," Rogers said. "Until we come up with another method to stop these burglars, [the barbed wire] is a good idea." Gigi Simeone, director of Residential Living, stressed that although necessary, the barbed wire is a temporary solution to the recent problems. "We were very concerned for the students' possessions, but we also had 15 to 20 faculty families living in the Quad [during the winter break]," she said. "It is a temporary stopgap measure until a more permanent plan is put into effect." "The barbed wire will discourage anyone to climb the fence," said Residential Maintenance Director Lynn Horner, who added that the wire costs "several thousand dollars." Rogers said the burglars attempted to cut the strong wire screens from the windows in an attempt to break in, but could not cut the screens. Instead, the burglars kicked the screens off their mountings. Rogers added that the University is now looking into stronger ways to mount the ground floor screens. To further secure the area, additional lighting has been installed on Hamilton Walk and a University Police officer will be stationed there from 3 p.m. to 7 a.m. Students living in the Butcher-Speakman-Class of '28 area said yesterday they have mixed emotions about the barbed wire that now adorns the fence just outside many of their windows. "[The barbed wire] is necessary because it's the reality of living in the city," Speakman basement resident and Engineering freshman Jeremy Agulnek said. "Someone down the hall just got robbed. It could have been us." "If putting up barbed wire is what is necessary to secure our safety at Penn then it doesn't bother me," Agulnek's hallmate, College freshman Jessica Thrope added. "We happen to be in an urban area and it's necessary to take precautions." Other students said they are outraged by the atmosphere the barbed wire has created. "I feel it is completely inappropriate and unnecessary for the college environment," College freshman Rob Salama said. "All they tell you is how great the security is at this school, how there's only two Quad entrances and how there are escorts available to protect you. So why then do we need barbed wire? Why can't the security people start doing there jobs?" "When I came to Penn, I thought I was going to college, not to prison," Wharton freshman Jeff Lieberman said. "The barbed wire creates a feeling of incarceration. The only problem is that the inmates of this prison are the victims of the crimes."