LETTERS: Down to the wire on vending

To the Editor: It's not clear what "myths" she refers to. PCA has done an important service in making clear crucial provisions of the ordinance that the administration has consistently tried to conceal and deflect attention away from. PCA maintains a website at http://galadriel.physics.upenn.edu/ foodtrucks/ that provides by far the most comprehensive and accurate information available anywhere on this issue. This includes admissions of all factual errors in earlier PCA statements that have been pointed out even after invitations issued to the administration for corrections. It contains detailed explanations of the draft bill, as well as a chronology of debate and negotiations, which speaks for itself. Now for some key points readers should know about the "middle of the road" proposal that the administration is lobbying very hard for, in contravention of it's own rules on public issues. There is to be no vending on public spaces on Walnut, Chestnut, 34th, 36th and 37th streets, Spruce Street east of 36th Street and on the east side of 38th Street. There are no provisions for altering this if the famous food plaza's should fail to materialize -- though they are the supposed basis for such restrictions being reasonable. The food plaza's plans are well-known to have changed a lot over time in the face of internal opposition, and there is no reason to believe that useful plaza's will exist at any particular time in the future, much less soon after the legislation is slated to come into effect in May. If this bill is passed, everyone buying lunch from trucks at the moment should expect to be forced to switch to rent-paying retailers. This will mean a cut in food standards and variety, while donating an extra dollar or two per lunch to Penn's real estate revenue. The hearings begin tomorrow. Alex Welte SAS '99 GAPSA liaison to PCA u To the Editor: While thumbing through the program at the Penny Loafers Spring Show, the first thing that hit me was that numerous local businesses had supported the show and taken out ads in the pamphlet. However, I didn't notice any food trucks that had chosen to support the singing group. After thinking about most of the other shows I have attended, I realized that food trucks rarely support our local performing arts groups. Local business, with a stake in the Penn community, take out ads that they probably don't want or need. They do it to help us. There is no "free lunch" in this world, and the food trucks' cheap prices come at the expense of getting nice restaurants that do not wish to compete with entities that have no stake in the community. Food trucks provide us with cheap food. But who pays for lighting improvements, neighborhood beautification and nicer sidewalks? The business owners that have an interest in seeing our community thrive. Each visit to a local business helps someone who will improve our campus because it helps his business. Food trucks, on the other hand, could care less what happens to Penn. They represent one of the downsides of capitalism and practice something tantamount to child labor. Just as I could produce cheaper socks if I were allowed to hire 10-year-olds, I can make cheaper Chinese food if I don't have to put up with pesky annoyances like health inspectors, insurance taxes and those persistent kids always asking me to advertise in their silly pamphlets. While the sale of cheap food is beneficial to Penn from a short-term perspective, it discourages nice stores from coming to campus and ends up hurting us in the long run. Therefore, I voice full support for administrative effort to get the food truck problem under control, and I appreciate their courage in facing this problem head on. Michael Bressler Wharton/Engineering '99 Red and Blue editor Random act of kindness To the Editor: I'd like to take this opportunity to thank someone who anonymously did something very nice for me. Not long ago, I absent-mindedly left my MAC card in an ATM (pin code entered, waiting for another transaction), and the next person to use the machine, rather than take advantage of or ignore the situation, took the card to my bank. While it is a terrible inconvenience to have a card stolen, I was especially lucky in this case, as unexpected withdrawal would have caused a check to bounce. By doing what he or she did, this person saved me a great deal of trouble. If you are reading this, please contact me, as I'd like to reward you. To ensure that no one else takes credit for your actions, I'll require the time and date of the event. Ed Lion College '98