EDITORIAL: Planning wholistically

Penn needs to fashion new initiatives – like crime prevention strategies - to work with current programs. But erecting the kiosks cost $225,000 in materials and labor. Putting the kiosks in mothballs will have costs, too. And although scrapping ineffective security measures makes more sense than continuing to pretend they work, the kiosk mess is indicative of a more pressing problem. The University devises plans, generates proposals and implements strategies in a very piecemeal fashion. In some respects, administrators have to take this tactic, for the best way to pacify students, faculty or staff clamoring for action is through the immediate release of an initiative that addresses their concerns. But with a little more time and thought, new initiatives -- for campus facilities, for safety and security, for academic spheres -- could be fashioned wholistically, to work with existing programs and have lasting impact. We're not suggesting that the University ask its consultants -- like the team of Biddison-Hier currently looking at facilities usage -- to delay their recommendations until administrators have a nicely named Agenda for Excellence or Agenda for Progress or Agenda for the 21st Century to match. Plans and proposals do need to appear in a timely manner so that community members can comment on them. Nevertheless, a more coordinated strategy for addressing campus issues and dealing with problems raised by students, faculty and staff would assist in avoiding another kiosk fiasco in the near future. And that's something we could all benefit from.