TOUGH DECISIONS: U. to revisit its policy on facility usage

In light of Sunday's shootings following a high school basketball game at the Palestra, University officials said they will rethink policies about allowing outside groups to use Penn facilities. The shootings -- which left one dead and three injured, including a University student -- immediately followed the Philadelphia Public League championship basketball game between Benjamin Franklin High School and the Franklin Learning Center, which are located a block from each other just north of Center City. "We want to take a hard look at our policies and procedures," University spokesperson Ken Wildes said last night, warning that "we're not going to have any quick, easy answers." According to Wildes, two other high school basketball leagues are scheduled to use the Palestra this month, and University officials do not plan to cancel the events. University officials discussed that issue at a meeting yesterday afternoon. About a dozen representatives from several departments -- including the Athletic Department, the Office of Student Life, Activities and Facilities and the Division of Public Safety -- attended the session in College Hall, Wildes said. At that meeting, the group discussed the shootings and decided the University needs to examine its decision to let outsiders use the Palestra, as well as the general issue of the use of all facilities by people not affiliated with Penn, he added. Public League officials did not return repeated calls for comment yesterday. Wildes said the University allows groups such as the Philadelphia School District use of its facilities because "we want to be helpful" to the community. Penn does not charge the Public League to use the Palestra. "It's the kind of thing we should be doing for a lot of important reasons," he said. "It's consistent with our educational mission." He said officials could reach a decision about next year's Public League championship game within the next several weeks, adding that "we want to gather the facts as quickly as we can. We will make this decision on the basis of facts, not emotion." A campus-wide review of outside groups' use of facilities, though, will likely take several months, given the many divisions and organizations in the University, Wildes said. The Public League championship game moved to the Palestra last year after several years in the nearby Civic Center and, before that, Temple University's now-defunct McGonigle Hall in North Philadelphia. Following last year's game, police heard gunfire coming from a car at 33rd and Walnut streets -- at nearly the same exact spot as Sunday's shootings -- but no injuries were reported. Wildes said the 1997 incident caused "some" hesitation about letting the league use the Palestra again, but officials decided it did not pose a threat. Charles Staniskis, the principal of Franklin Learning Center, said he believes the incident was largely unrelated to the basketball game, and hopes Penn officials would allow the league to use the Palestra again.