Forum to address U. safety

A campus safety forum will be held Wednesday night from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in room A-1 of the David Rittenhouse Laboratories. The forum -- sponsored by the Division of Public Safety, the Office of the Vice Provost for University Life, the Undergraduate Assembly and the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly -- will give students the opportunity to learn about the safety resources available to them. Students will also be asked to give their input as to which safety issues they feel the University should devote the most attention, Undergraduate Assembly Chairperson and Wharton junior Dan Debicella said last night. Among the guests at the forum will be University Police Commissioner John Kuprevich, Victim Support and Special Services Director Maureen Rush, Philadelphia Police 18th District Captain Jack McGinnis and representatives from the VPUL and student organizations. The first segment of the forum will be a panel discussion, followed by focus groups, Debicella said. "We're really trying to get two goals accomplished here," he said. "One is to get information out about security services around the University and the second purpose is to get ideas from the community on ways to improve security on campus, because there are a lot of people out there with ideas on safety." Wharton senior Jason Diaz, who is a member of University President Judith Rodin's ad-hoc committee on security, said the forum was designed to address mounting security fears on and off campus. "The recent tragedy of [fifth year Mathematics graduate student Al-Moez] Alimohamed and the shooting of [Wharton senior] Samir Shah have brought highly visible crimes to campus and it provides an opportunity for the new administration to send resources to fight crime," he said. "I encourage every student and faculty member to come to the forum because it's their community and their University and unless we work together, we will not be able to make this campus as safe as it can be," he added. GAPSA Chairperson and fifth year Astronomy graduate student David Mestre also said he hopes many people from the community will attend the meeting. "Students have to be honest with themselves that living in the city they can be in danger," he said. "And the University doesn't have the means or the manpower to maintain a student allusion of invincibility."

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