Greeks still feel unsafe

Panhel wants more security Sororities have yet to see any tangible results from their efforts to improve off-campus safety -- especially around their own houses, Panhellenic Council board members said last night. According to Panhel President Lissette Calderon, sorority sisters have held discussions with various administrators since the beginning of the semester, but no action has been taken. "We were expecting this semester to be a tugging back and forth, with evaluations of the situation," the Wharton senior said. "But we hope now to see the implementation aspect of the whole process next semester." Calderon said simply improving the lighting and trimming the shrubbery on Walnut and Spruce streets, especially between 40th and 42nd streets, would make those living in sorority houses feel more secure. Panhel Executive Vice President Laurie Curtin said she would like to see a kiosk at 41st and Walnut streets, where there is a "big population of students living off campus, including in sorority houses." But in the meantime, Calderon and fellow board members are trying to do as much as they can to improve off-campus security . Last week, Calderon said she and other Panhel representatives met with Provost Stanley Chodorow. "He said he understood where we were coming from," Calderon said. "He made it clear that there are limited resources, but he said he feels we should have a response and we should be heard." Curtin, a College senior, said that Panhel's Penn Watch and Safety Committee is playing a central role in these discussions and efforts. Earlier in the semester, for instance, several sorority sisters took administrators on a walking tour of various off-campus trouble spots. On a night in late October, they traveled by foot from Walnut to Pine streets, between 40th and 42nd streets, with Victim Support and Special Services Director Maureen Rush, Public Safety Director of Security Chris Algard and Public Safety Managing Director Thomas Seamon, Calderon said. Calderon said she hoped the tour was successful in showing administrators why many consider the area unsafe. "We can tell them until we're blue in the face but there was a need for them to get out there and see this," she said. According to Calderon, a man harassed several women, including sorority sisters, the same night the walking tour took place, in the same area. Calderon said Panhel is doing its own part to improve safety, by setting up a partnership with Penn Watch to provide training opportunities and information to interested sorority leaders and members. According to Penn Watch President Jon Brightbill, this will help by simply having "more people out there on the streets." The Wharton junior added that Panhel's support lends increased credibility and recognition to Penn Watch. "It's nice to actually get people committed," Brightbill said. College senior Joanne Pasternack, who has spearheaded several of the efforts to improve safety, said Panhel members are "willing to take the initiative to look out for their own safety." The Alpha Phi president said she hopes the students' efforts will continue just as much as she wants the administration to do more. "I feel like the administration tries to gloss over the problem by trying to focus on the safety on campus," Pasternack said. "But I feel that by getting more students involved and dealing with it, we really can make a difference." As another way of improving the safety of its members on its own, Panhel is planning a self-defense workshop for next semester, according to Curtin. Although sorority sisters are still concerned about off-campus safety, and have yet to see any real results of their actions, Brightbill said Penn Watch is helping to make those areas safer. "If I look at what's happened, I would venture to say that we're making a difference," he said. But Calderon said the University "still has a responsibility to us."