Council discusses crime, NCAA

During a meeting yesterday, University Council heard a report stating that the University far surpasses National Collegiate Athletic Association academic standards. Vice President for Finance Steve Golding reported that the University's athletic program will be recertified when NCAA representatives visit the campus in April. University President Judith Rodin said there was little doubt that the University would meet the requirements, since Ivy League standards are more stringent than the NCAA's. "[The NCAA standards] are not geared towards Universities like Penn," Rodin said. "The NCAA is concerned with a set of regulations that have more to do with large state schools with football programs than with Ivy League institutions." Golding added that the committee will make some recommendations for change in the area of communications, including the establishment of a student-athlete advisory committee. Anesthesiology Professor Sean Kennedy reported that the Crime and Safety Committee deemed University crime-reporting to be sufficient under the federal "right-to-know" law. Kennedy explained that the law's definition for on-campus crime applies regardless of whether the University considers the definition appropriate for its campus. University disclosure is adequate independent of this definition, Kennedy said, since reports detailing crimes to which University Police respond and crimes within Penn's patrol area that are handled by Philadelphia's 18th District are both printed in Almanac, the University's official publication of record. Kennedy then asked Council to grant Almanac's request to print the 18th District crime report less frequently in order to reduce the publication's workload. The request upset some members of Council, who argued that public awareness of crime reports helps increase safety. Microbiology Professor Helen Davies objected to the request, explaining that several years ago she served on the Safety and Security Committee while it fought for frequent crime reports in an effort to increase public safety. The Admissions Committee announced two possible Internet developments designed to eliminate some of the 750,000 pieces of mail received from students during the application process. Meanwhile, the Book Store Committee presented a plan to foster competition between local bookstores and Barnes & Noble. The plan would allow local stores to stock textbooks based on a World Wide Web list of course materials. Provost Stanley Chodorow added a topic to the Council's agenda as he assured members that repairs had been completed on a faulty turnstile in the Quadrangle. "I can report from personal experience that it has been repaired," Chodorow said. "I was rejected; apparently my card has expired. I am lucky to be here."

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