LETTERS: Progress made for a cleaner Penn

To the Editor: While Nurick praised some initiatives, he also expressed concern with what he perceives as the administration's lack of attention to quality of life issues. This is clearly not the case. In fact, one of the top priorities of the University's administration has been to create a clean, safe and attractive neighborhood around the campus. In the past year alone, the University has made significant progress toward its goals for the campus community. We have energized our retail environment with the opening of new restaurants including La Terrasse and Mad 4 Mex and have broken ground for Sansom Common. Come January, a new diner, Eat at Joe's, will open at 39th and Walnut streets. Students returning to campus this fall saw block after block of newly lit streets, thanks to the UC Brite program. In addition, a clean move-in was facilitated by the recently deployed crews of the University City District an effort aimed at cleaning the streets, improving security, and marketing the unique attributes of University City. Next semester, our new Public Safety facility will be completed, to better support our recently enlarged police and security forces. This facility, along with other investments, should help anchor 40th Street, where new street lamps, trees and planters were installed last winter. The University has also forged new partnerships between the City of Philadelphia and our police force to target quality of life crimes such as aggressive panhandling. The Penn administration will continue to advocate for a clean, safe, and vibrant neighborhood. We have made significant progress in the past two years and are committed to successfully implementing the many developments we have planned for the future. John Fry Executive Vice President Chairman, University City District Don't cut down our trees To the Editor: I am outraged that, as U.S. taxpayer, I am subsidizing the destruction of our national forestions. Because of the Forest Service timber roads program, taxpayers such as myself are giving $91 million to the multibillion dollar timber industry to create destructive, paved roads through our already traffic-congested national forests. We should not be subsidizing any new construction of these roads! The Bryan Amendment, which would cut out the subsidy, is soon to be voted upon in the U.S. Senate. Both Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.)can play an active role in protecting both the remaining national forests and the wallets of all U.S. taxpayers by voting yes on this amendment. If the timber industry is going to pave roads virtually for free and take away all the trees and profits associated with them, let's at least make them pay for it. Enough is enough. Alex Abrams College '01