LETTERS: Standing behind negotiations

To the Editor: The University has spent countless hours during the past six months negotiating with community groups, the Penn Consumers Alliance and the Penn Vendors Alliance on the vending ordinance. While it is unfortunate that we have not been able to reach consensus on all issues, our remaining differences are not for lack of good faith efforts. They're due instead to fundamental differences in how we view the current state of affairs and the solutions embodied in the proposed ordinance. University officials believe that in order to improve the quality of life on this campus, and to ensure safe and convenient vendor food options for our community, we need to establish a set of ground rules for vending in University City. While still providing an abundance of locations from which stands, carts and trucks can operate, the proposed ordinance establishes these ground rules, including design, safety and cleanliness standards. Additionally, we will not only maintain but increase the number of vending outlets (currently there are about 90 vendors in the area around the University). Vendors' cries that they will be forced to go out of business are simply false. The assertion that the University has not negotiated in a forthright way is also false. We have negotiated, but in the end, disagreed with the PCA and the PVA. The vending ordinance is now a legislative matter. As we have done for the past six months, we will provide continuous and accurate information on the status of the ordinance through the vending Web site (http://www.upenn.edu/foodplaza). John Fry, Executive Vice President Carol Scheman, Vice President for Government, Community and Public Affairs Vet School excluded To the Editor: In your article regarding U.S. News and World Report's graduate school rankings ("Law School deans blast 'U.S. News' rankings," DP, 2/23/98) you mention that Penn's Law School is tied for eighth and that the doctoral programs in Economics and Psychology are both in the top 10. You state that Penn "placed three of its professional schools -- Nursing, Wharton and Medicine -- in the top five nationwide." You fail to note, however, that Penn's School of Veterinary Medicine ranked third in the country in the 1997 survey, which U.S. News says is good for three years. So, really, we have four of our professional schools in the top five, right? While I certainly am not entering the veterinary medical profession for the glory of it, it would be nice if our own newspaper could recognize us along with the other professional schools at Penn. It seems we're always left off the list, for some reason. Hillary Gorman Vet '00