Groups want Quad space

Although the Perelman Quadrangle is expected to create 85,827 square feet of space for student activities when it is constructed, many students are worried that the new structure may not suit their needs. According to Provost Stanley Chodorow, the Perelman Quad will create meeting rooms, lounges, music listening and practicing rooms, in addition to indoor shops and cafes by combining Logan, Williams, and Houston halls with Irvine Auditorium. But College senior and Daily Pennsylvanian columnist Mike Nadel said he fears the efforts to restore and transform these historic buildings will not be worthwhile. "We're taking a 100-year-old building, giving it a different name, spending $65 million to renovate, and at the end, will be left with the same old student center -- which is inadequate," he said. Graduate students also had concerns about the proposed space allocations in the Perelman Quad, as well as the student center's location on campus. "The lives of graduate students don't bring them to Houston Hall," Physics graduate student Surya Ghosh commented at yesterday afternoon's University Council meeting. While the Perelman Quad location will not change, Vice Provost for University Life Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum pledged to work with the Graduate and Professional Student Association to ensure that graduate students' needs are best served. GAPSA previously submitted a proposal with its suggestions on space allocation in the Perelman Quad. McCoullum accepted the proposal enthusiastically, and encouraged any other group or individual with suggestions on how to allocate Perelman Quad space to contact her. At yesterday's meeting of the Performing Arts Council, several members of the performing arts community also expressed concern that the Perelman Quad would not fulfill their needs for performing, rehearsal and storage space. But College senior and Counterparts member Graham Robinson, who is also chairperson of the Student Activities Council, said that more performance space in the Perelman Quad would be ideal because "it's in the middle of campus." Chodorow also conceded that while the Perelman Quad will increase student space on campus, "it won't solve every problem."