Students flood admins. with response to crime

An outpouring of student concern over yesterday's shooting has clogged the University's crisis response systems -- crashing the e-mail account of the Vice Provost for University Life and forcing University Police to create an emergency telephone line. And officials have put together an emergency complement of counseling opportunities and forums for student reaction to help the University community cope with the recent crime and violence. VPUL Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum began an "ambitious" project yesterday to respond to Wednesday's incident by distributing an e-mail message to all University students with registered e-mail accounts. The 17,000 electronic letters are being distributed in groups, a process that will be finished within 24 to 36 hours. Distributing all the messages simultaneously would cause the University's computer system to fail. But administrators and Information Systems and Computing officials did not adequately predict the volume of student response the letter would solicit. At press time last night, 2,000 students had received the message and McCoullum received almost 800 responses -- a flow that caused a system failure. "Thank you so much for all the responses, but in light of their volume and the toll they are taking on the system -- please try to contact the Penn Police directly," McCoullum advised students. "But please continue to respond." University Police have developed a new telephone number, 898-8848, to handle all calls dealing with the shooting and recent crime. McCoullum said the number has been established to handle suggestions, advice and support. McCoullum's e-mail letter gives the number of Public Safety Special Services, but students should no longer use it due to the volume of callers. In addition, some people using that number have been connected to the Urology Department by accident. "Faculty and student response has been fantastic, but people must be patient and continue to work through the venues we are providing," McCoullum said. "We already have in place institutional resources to provide prevention and educational outreach to everyone." The VPUL office will hold group meetings and counseling services. In addition, Assistant VPUL Barbara Cassel is handling immediate issues involving shooting victim Patrick Leroy, a College senior. She plans to reach further into the University community throughout the week. "Random violence is really hard to control," Cassel said. "On the other hand, we have to be vigilant and support all of the initiatives around safety." Counselling and Psychological Services will conduct a discussion concerning the recent violence and crime at 2 p.m. today on the second floor of the Mellon Bank building at 36th and Walnut streets. CAPS Director Ilene Rosenstein said students will handle the recent trauma differently, but added that a wide range of reactions is normal. She said keeping lines of communication open is the most important factor in handling violence. The Reach-A-Peer helpline is also available for students to talk every day from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. at 573-2RAP.