LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: A Disappointing Administration

To the Editor: In the University's hasty action to quickly annul the event, they neglected to consider a few important points. How does one expect to get students to attend future events when they arrive at the last one only to find out it does not exist. The Class Board suffered an enormous blow to it's credibility in the entire process. Additionally, the Board lost our integrity with area businesses.We had previously contracted $1,500 in orders with local establishments, all of which were cancelled the evening before the event. On top of all this, the board members spent countless hours without personal benefit to plan this event. All of this time was wasted with the blink of an eye. Should we continue to plan such traditional Class Board events such as Homecoming and Hey Day or will they too be cancelled at the last minute? Brett Lasher Engineering '98 Sophomore Class President Setting a Model To the Editor: It is indeed a pleasure for a professor when a student at the University writes in the professor's field as cogently and with the sophistication and maturity as Peter Morrison's column, "Breaking the Chains" (DP, 9/20/95). America and the 104th Congress seem to have the most punitive attitude about crime and punishment that I have experienced in many years. Mr. Morrison's position against harsh punishment and "lock-'em-up-and throw-away the key" strategy is correct and supported by an abundance of scholarly, empirical research as well as many anecdotal data. The United States not only has more persons in prison, per 100,000 population, of any country in the world. We also have the highest rates of recidivism. Thank you Peter Morrison. You have set a model for your peers of clear writing, good logic and mature thinking. Marvin E. Wolfgang Criminology and Law Professor UniversityPolice Horror Story To the Editor: As anyone who has ever shopped at UniMart knows, the University has a police force (or so they are dressed). Recently, I suffered from an acute allergic reaction to food. I needed to be transported from my house at 40th and Locust (one block from the police station) to HUP. After numerous calls to University Police, a rude, unsympathetic dispatcher, and over a half-hour wait (as my condition worsened), two smirking policemen arrived outside my house. With disbelief, my friend and I stared at the paddy wagon they drove. They told us it was the only vehicle available (We found that hard to believe). With no other options and time quickly passing, we realized we had no choice but to ride in the paddy wagon. Laughing, the policemen slammed the metal bars closed behind us. "We'll turn on the radio for you. You'll be fine," they sarcastically said. They treated us as if we were criminals. Inside, we were smothered by the smells of stale smoke, foul-smelling body odor, and warm liquor. A continuous blast of heat suffocated us and fostered the stench. We sat on the hard, white seats of the van. Worst of all, though, as we held hands and sat on the edges of our seats, we looked around in horror--the walls and seats were marked by dry, splattered blood...everywhere. It is hard to put on paper how unjustly they treated me. It seemed like a disgusting and senseless act of power and aggression. What right did they have to create a mockery of my medical emergency? If it were their children in an emergency, would they have wanted them to be transported in a foul, bloody van by barbaric law enforcers? And we call these people "officers?" This entire episode and others have made me question the commitment and level of training and supervision and even common sense of University Police. Ironically, HUP considered my problem dire enough to treat me immediately despite other patients waiting ahead of me. Why do we pay $25,000 a year to be treated so unprofessionally and with such condescension and inhumanity by the people who are paid to protect us? It seems every student has a "University Police horror story." Perhaps it is time University officials investigate why this is so. It seems to me that an evaluation and implementation of improvements in University Police procedures and demeanor are essential. Maybe if University Police began treating students as students and criminals as criminals, we would have less of a problem with crime on this campus. Naima Mian College '96 Ellen Huchital College '96 Strolling Down Memory Lane To the Editor: I just wanted to let y'all know how much I have enjoyed your "Great Games in Penn History" series. I graduated undergrad in 1990 and had the pleasure of being at Penn during some of our greatest football years. Today I read the paper and was reminded of five friends from college whom I have not seen in a few years. Perhaps I'll even go to homecoming this year. Pamela L. King Sociology Department Rethink the College Houses To the Editor: I am pleased the editorial staff has urged the provost to rethink his plan to implement the college housing system based on the common intellectual/academic interests of the residents. While I am a supporter of a more integrated approach to student life, I have yet to find one undergraduate student who has reacted with pleasure to the idea of living, socializing and sleeping under the same roof with members of their own department. Without exception freshmen, sophomores and juniors I have talked to have said to me, "I spend all day in classes with these folks. Why would I want to go home and talk with them over the dinner table about more of the same?" The editorial staff has raised some valid issues about the timing of declaring one's major and the impact on the student and housing issues if majors change. I trust the provost and his committee will take your concerns seriously. It's a great idea, but it is not a perfect one. Beverly Dale Christian Association Executive Director