LETTERS: Doing more to improve safety

To the Editor: The administration has shown little concern for students' real needs or safety in the implementation of this program, which University President Judith Rodin strategically announced in the midst of the crime of a month ago. Students on the Shabbos Security List, for example, would not use the new security system. But Rodin effectively used a "foot-in-the-door" ploy in getting campus approval for more security. The well-publicized $3 million cost is just the start-up price for the Sensormatic system, according to Public Safety Managing Director Thomas Seamon. He expects the cost to rise by millions as individual schools upgrade security. Besides possible kickbacks, Rodin's motives may be publicity and attracting prospective students. However, her greatest concern is losing employees who are potential crime victims -- the administrators and professors who commute daily and go home to families who fear for their safety. Beyond the superficially squandered money for additional dorm security, the Sensormatic program's true beneficiaries are the employees who want monitored cameras throughout buildings, garages and along walks where they spend time in West Philadelphia. They are worried about being attacked in the seemingly empty and endless stacks of Van Pelt. Or they have a concern that someone unexpected may visit them during office hours. Penn would be the first university nationwide to use this system. So what is happening here is that the line to get into the Quad will get longer, as we propel ourselves above the rest. At the same time, all that technology is experienced for only eight seconds, since once inside, students suffer without Ethernet, listening to busy signals. David Brown Engineering and Wharton '98 u To the Editor: It is time to rejoice everyone, or is it? We are getting a multi-million dollar security system to protect us from all of the grime and evil lurking around the streets of West Philadelphia, but it isn't for us! Where has University President Judith Rodin been during the past two years when crime was just as high? The only difference is that now are we getting the negative publicity. Therefore, this new "concern" is merely a political stunt, and it has little if anything to do with our well-being. I doubt that with the reputation of omnipresent crime, the brightest students will be attracted to our university. The announcement and implementation of such a security system is merely an attempt to pacify the potential nervous applicants that may want to come to Penn. Had not a student been shot, would we still be the "beneficiaries" of such a system? The answer is no. Had the welfare and safety of Penn students been the mitigating factor in this decision, we would have seen it a couple of years ago. Don't get too excited! Jason Pike Wharton '98 u To the Editor: I was disappointed at the content and quality of the "tips" offered by University professors in the wake of Vladimir Sled's murder ("Profs: U. could do more to boost safety," DP,11/5/96). These suggestions were typical of the University mindset regarding West Philadelphia. History Professor Michael Katz suggested a more aggressive effort on the University's part to populate West Philadelphia with students, staff and professors, while Biology's David Roos lamented uncleanliness in the area. In both cases, I would argue, the problem underlying West Philadelphia's(and thus Penn's) current situation has been missed entirely. Populating the area with people we deem more desirable neighbors would only push the geographic division further away from campus. This tactic would not solve the problem of gray areas like 40th Street -- it would just move the gray areas westward. Roos asserted that "It is well established that a dirty neighborhood begets crime." Again, I think he has missed the point. A dirty neighborhood is often the product of economic abandonment. If this is the case, a dirty neighborhood is really just a symptom, much like the crime itself. Escort service is another issue altogether. Certainly it is valuable and a necessity for a school like Penn that operates on a large, city-wide scale. Perhaps more emphasis should be put on walking escorts, rather than vans, which remove many people from the streets at night. In any case, I share Roos's hope that Escort will become less of a necessity in the years to come. All of the suggestions offered in Tuesday's paper fail to see that West Philadelphia has less of a need of locally-based Penn faculty and clean streets, and more of a need for economic revitalization. This economic revitalization is a many-faceted, complex need that the entire community must engage in. Until a large-scale effort is made in West Philly, by West Philly (including Penn), we can expect that our blue-light Band-Aids and kiosk villages will continue to fail in their efforts to solve West Philadelphia's problems. Dan Hauber College '97 u To the Editor: With the recent murder of researcher Vladimir Sled it has become increasingly obvious that Penn's administration is not doing enough to assist students and faculty living off campus ("Community mourns slain researcher," DP, 11/4/96). As a member of student government, I have worked first-hand with leading members of the administration and commend them for their efforts regarding increased patrols and new anti-crime initiatives. However, more must be done. The University should assist its faculty in taking advantage of Pennsylvania's new concealed weapons law. Firearm costs should be subsidized and training classes should be fully funded. As former Wharton economist John Lott, now at the University of Chicago, wrote in a recent study regarding the correlation between crime reduction and concealed weapons laws, "Surveys of convicted felons in America reveal that they are much more worried about armed victims than they are about running into police." The aforementioned policy would give Penn faculty the ability to defend themselves and clearly show that Penn is seriously concerned with the well-being of its community. Michael Bressler UA Safety Committee Wharton and Engineering '99