LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: U. Police respond to incident

To the Editor: While on routine patrol inside one of the University's parking garages, a Penn police officer observed an automobile with the driver's side door ajar. Upon further investigation, the office found a firearm and a small quantity of suspected drugs inside the vehicle. A Penn police sergeant was immediately dispatched to this location. It was ascertained that the vehicle belonged to a University employee, Donald Gaines. The sergeant was immediately instructed by me to proceed with this investigation in the same way the department would proceed for any other University employee or non-affiliate. The firearm and suspected drugs were taken directly to the Philadelphia Police Department's detective division for further investigation, as is standard practice. As of this writing, that investigation continues. In all other respects, the Department of Public Safety's handling of this matter was standard and routine. An entry was not made into the Incident Journal as this was not an incident involving criminal charges. Penn police officers conduct weapons and narcotic investigations on a regular basis. We do not enter these incidents into the journal unless criminal charges are warranted. As of this writing, Gaines has not been charged with a crime. If the investigation warrants criminal charges, then and only then will this incident be entered into the incident journal. The members of the Penn police department and I have a duty to protect the safety and security of the University community and a public duty to the state as sworn law enforcement officers. We do our best to perform these duties every day. I sincerely believe we have lived up to the letter and spirit of our responsibilities in this case. Thomas Seamon Public Safety Managing Director Bringing minorities to Penn To the Editor: I think Calvin Yee in his Letter to the Editor ("Self-segregation mars weekend," DP, 3/1/96) raised an interesting point. As a "minority" myself, I have never really agreed with the principles behind the Minority Scholars Weekend. I think what we need to do is to ask ourselves, "What is the objective for having the weekend?" Is it to give underrepresented minorities a chance to see what college life is like at Penn, or is it to encourage minorities to associate themselves only with members of their own ethnic group? According to the scholar who spoke to Yee, the latter seems to be the case. If this is what the UMC intends, then it should definitely not be in charge of running the weekend. In my opinion, this objective only further polarizes a very divided campus. We need to move away from only associating ourselves with members who share a similar cultural heritage as our own. We must learn to take advantage of all the different people we encounter on a daily basis in an effort to further increase our knowledge. Limiting ourselves to associating only with our own culture further engenders the feeling of hostility we have toward other cultures, solely because we lack knowledge about the principles for which those other cultures stand. If the Minority Scholars Weekend wants to give minorities a taste of college life at Penn, it should embrace all aspects of all life at Penn, not just those associated with minorities. Afsaan Saleem College '97 Snap judgements unfair To the Editor: I would like to commend Jorie Green on her column "Dollars and sense," (DP, 3/5/96) for superficially poking at an issue of great concern in the daily lives of all Penn students. It is usually true that brand name products are more expensive than non-brand name products because of their quality and durability. It is a simple case of supply and demand. Higher quality products will entail higher consumer demand, and thus higher prices. It just so happens that these products carry brand names. However, people are not usually concerned about the quality or durability of the things they buy, but solely on whether these things are from The Gap or Banana Republic. I have met many hypocritical people who judge others entirely on their appearance, which is outlined by what they wear. I have heard of so many instances where social acceptance depends on what brand name clothes one has. I have seen people going to class wearing stuff one would wear to a nightclub. People are so caught up in how they look that they forget to look deeper than what's covering the surface. Whether a shirt I wear has the Structure label or not, people should not judge me, or others, or even themselves, using this superficially, egotistical method. If someone looks good, let them be, regardless of whether he or she got his or her clothes from the clearance rack at Saks or at K-Mart. It is a shame that people are so materially oriented that one is made to feel uncomfortable just walking down Locust Walk. People look at you, checking you out, seeing whether you're dressed to impress, and judging you as "a wanna-be," "a has-been," "a haven't-got-it," and a "boy-o-boy, definitely got it." That's just too bad. Eddy Park College '96 Princeton's narrowness To the Editor: "That, in fact, brings a smile broader than [Penn's] admissions standards to our face," nosed Justin Pope from The Daily Princetonian in yesterday's DP ("Princeton's Perspective: Penn made a bad deal"). I wanted to find the college environment that would provide me with the best education and experiences required to compete in the business world. One of the things that Penn tries very hard to achieve is a broad and diverse student population. Over the years, administrators, faculty and students have realized that this is one of the most necessary elements in "higher" education. Students at any university or college come in possessing a certain level of intelligence, and the purpose of their higher education is to enrich and apply their learning to real-life situations. Over the past six months, I have built friendships with a diverse bunch of students including athletes, Deadheads, farmer, and self-made millionaires. Each of my friendships is with an intelligent person from whom I learn. The most essential component in this learning process is to have a broad spectrum of people with whom to communicate information and from whom to learn. Intelligence is only valuable when it is used to do good. Earlier this semester, continuing to seek the ideal educational environment, I talked with students from other universities and colleges. Of the schools that I looked at, thinking their educational environment might rival the University's, Princeton ranked fairly high. My brother is a student there, and he has introduced me to several of his peers. All of them seem to appreciate having a broad range of students to interact with and learn from. Unfortunately, there are still students at these other universities that I have seen who believe a homogenous view of life is healthy.? So Pope, next time you want to compare your school to mine, make sure that your foot is ready to stick in your mouth, because later in life when you come to us Wharton grads begging for a job, we will not insert ours as gently. Peter Wright Wharton '99