EDITORIAL: Putting Safety First

The UA has allocated moneyThe UA has allocated moneytowards student safetyThe UA has allocated moneytowards student safety_____________________________ Sunday night they allocated $2,227 towards buying two bikes for University Police and resurrecting the Penn Watch program. The money came not from the UA budget however, but from a semi-forgotten fund-raising effort initiated in 1992: the Bullseye fund. The Bullseye fund was originally established by then-UA chairperson Jeff Lichtman to raise money for student groups. The idea was to hit up alumni and other sources for one-time donations. The effort raised over $5,000, of which $2,227 was given to the UA. Last year, the UA decided to use the money to buy another Escort van, but soon realized that vans cost a lot more, and they were not going to get additional funding from the University. So, in typical UA fashion, the issue was quickly forgotten until this year, when UA chair Dan Debicella once again raised the issue of what to do with the money. Now, however, the UA has done something concrete. They earmarked $1,600 to go towards the purchase of two new bikes for University Police. The rest will go towards Penn Watch, the University's student-run version of the successful "Town Watch" programs, where citizens patrol neighborhoods armed with flashlights and walkie-talkies. If the UA follows through and makes sure the money is well spent, both by University Police and Penn Watch, they will have made an important contribution to the student body. We applaud the UA for taking much needed action with funds that were lying dormant and for attempting to address the security issue head on. And we hope the administration can follow their example in allocating more money towards security as well. But we take issue with one UA member -- Josh Gottheimer -- who blurted out "the UA has done something!" after the vote. The UA "doing something" should not be cause for celebration -- it should be the norm. We hope this is the first step.