EDITORIAL: Where's the Beef?

Two students get shot minutesTwo students get shot minutesfrom campus - the administrationTwo students get shot minutesfrom campus - the administrationneeds to provide actionTwo students get shot minutesfrom campus - the administrationneeds to provide actionand leadership, not smoke and mirrorsTwo students get shot minutesfrom campus - the administrationneeds to provide actionand leadership, not smoke and mirrors______________________________________ "Penn student killed in hold up," announced The Philadelphia Inquirer. "Math grad student shot to death near off-campus apt.'' read the DP. "Do Him: Penn student gets shot for $5 and change," screamed the more down-to-earth Daily News. And those who missed the daily papers last week have probably heard about the Wharton student gunned down a few weeks earlier at 3946 Pine -- fortunately, the wounds weren't fatal. Clearly, this is hardly the kind of publicity the University needs, especially with parents who already regard West Philadelphia as an urban war zone. The University needs specific action now, not vague words like the ones uttered by President Judith Rodin and City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell at a press conference three days after the tragic death of Al-Moez Alimohamed. The two spent most of the time congratulating each other for the swift action taken. Meanwhile, Rodin announced no new security measures or plans to increase the University's spending on safety. The Inquirer described the news conference as "rich in tone and symbolism and short on substance". University Police Commissioner John Kuprevich said Moez's death didn't raise the question of expanding University Police jurisdiction to protect students living off-campus. Well, it should. The issue of deputizing University Police to allow them to patrol off-campus has been bandied about for years -- the time has come to follow through and provide a shred of safety to students living past 43rd Street as well. In addition, University Police should work as closely as possible with city police, making sure that wherever they overlap, they are complementing and not duplicating each other. Making off-campus areas safe would not only benefit students, but the West Philadelphia community as well. The community's strained relations with the University can be improved by a common effort towards such a goal. If the death of a student does not summon the University to action, it is hard to imagine what will. A new approach to on- and off-campus crime is a cause that all interest groups can rally behind. Only a firm effort by our administration can prevent further incidents such as Moez's death -- words will only go so far.