NewsBriefs: Friday, October 18, 1996

Public Safety hotlinePublic Safety hotlineopens Sunday University President Judith Rodin and other administrators and Division of Public Safety officials will man the phones from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. – Randi Feigenbaum Free Library to close for renovations The Free Library of Philadelphia at 40th and Walnut streets will close for renovations on October 26, according to Branch Manager Carol Ward. The Walnut Street West branch of the library will undergo rewiring, repainting and architectural repairs to bring it up to current building standards. The rewiring will allow for the installation of state-of-the-art computers with Internet access. A new climate control system will also be installed and a new pre-school library center will be built. The renovations are being funded by large corporate and private donations, combined with money from the city budget. Ward said every effort will be made to reopen the library within six months. In the meantime, library staff are being reassigned to other branches in the West Philadelphia area and library patrons are asked to use other local branches of the Philadelphia Free Library. – Dina Bass Recycling program to debut at Van Pelt Recycling bins will be placed in each dorm room of Van Pelt College House by the beginning of November, according to Undergraduate Assembly member and College junior Josh Rockoff. Rockoff has been working with the Penn Environmental Group to implement the pilot program. The group's Recycling Committee will distribute the bins to Van Pelt residents and then will continue to monitor the success of the program, he added. According to Rockoff, Physical Plant has also agreed to help evaluate the success of the pilot program. Rockoff noted, however, that it is impossible to calculate the actual amount of paper recycled in the new location because there are so many recycling facilities on campus. Rockoff said the recycling bins will be included on the inventory sheet that students fill out at the beginning of the semester and there will be a $10 charge for missing or damaged bins. – Shannon Burke