LETTERS: Fostering dorm communities

To the Editor: Simply put, Stouffer works because of its people and its programs, not the particular walls that surround it. Your readers, and those who have expressed their opinion within your pages, should make no mistake: The Housing and Dining Renewal Program is designed to support the undergraduate experience that is nurtured through the college house program by providing high-quality residence and dining facilities for living and learning. Indeed, whether renovation of existing facilities or the construction of new space, the goal is to encourage the invaluable learning inherent in the University's innovative system of bringing together undergraduates, members of the faculty, graduate students and members of the staff to form distinct, shared communities. That said, we will engage the residents of Stouffer in an ongoing series of conversations in the months and years ahead; the first of these conversations will begin shortly. Our expectation, too, is to continue to work closely with the Residential Advisory Board and with various building committees who will be appointed within the residential areas. Consultation with students and members of the faculty was instrumental in bringing us to this point; it will be essential as we continue the process. We welcome the passion and insight of all college house residents and others with a strong point of view, and we encourage members of the campus community to share their views with us as we begin this next phase of the exciting work that will define the next generation of residential life at Penn. David Brownlee Director, Office of College Houses and Academic Services Larry Moneta Associate Vice President, Campus Services The humanities forum To the Editor: The DP editorial of November 9 ("Forum is not a Penn priority"), suggests that a major building program is required in order to house the humanities forum. That is not accurate. The name "forum" was chosen instead of "center" precisely to emphasize the programmatic features of the endeavor rather than the spatial features. The forum will ultimately be located in a relatively small amount of space in an existing University building yet to be determined. Preparing this space will require an investment that is quite small, certainly in comparison to other facilities needs in the school. And funding for the reconstruction has been supplied by donors who have specifically earmarked their gifts for this purpose. The idea that the forum will create unwanted and unnecessary burdens for faculty participants is erroneous. Participation in the forum by faculty and students will be purely voluntary. Many have shown a great deal of interest in its programs and promise. Rather than representing a drain, the forum woll provide important new resources for many Penn faculty and students. Samuel Preston Dean, School of Arts and Sciences Penn's APA community To the Editor: On behalf of the Asian and Asian American undergraduate student groups at the University of Pennsylvania, I would like to thank The Daily Pennsylvanian for its coverage of the Asian Pacific American Student Affairs Committee report. I would, however, like to clarify certain important points. Firstly, the report does not, as the subhead of your article suggest, call "for more Asian American students" ("U. urged to recruit more Asian Americans," DP, 11/4/98). Rather, the report recommends that a study be done to explore the lower rate of Asian American students that matriculate to Penn and the recent "lower admissions probabilities for Asian American applicants" to determine whether the admissions process inappropriately eliminates students from the admissions pool. In fact, the focus of the report was additional Asian American faculty and staff representation. The Asian Pacific Student Coalition certainly does not feel that there needs to be a percentage increase in Asian American students, particularly given the underrepresentation of Native Americans, Latinos and African Americans at Penn. We would, however, hope that the University take steps to encourage greater diversity amongst the different Asian Pacific American groups. Secondly, the hiring of both Sara Cho and Meeta Kumar to the University represented the fulfillment of previous committments to the APA student body and the University. Kumar was, as University President Judith Rodin's response to the report makes clear, hired to replace Alvin Alvarez, who left the University more than a year ago, long before the APASAC committee's first meeting. Cho, a full-time staff member at the Greenfield Intercultural Center, was also promised to our students before the completion of the APASAC report. Thus, while the Asian American community is certainly pleased that these particular individuals were hired, we do not feel that these hires are necessarily a part of APASAC's mission to create new and concrete recomendations to resolve issues for Asian American students. Finally, I would like note that my quote should state, "The Asian American student body at Penn is pleased that the University is working closely with students to address the needs of Asian American students at Penn," rather than "?Asian students at Penn." The distinction between "Asian" and "Asian American" is of partcular concern to myself, the Asian American community and the APASAC report. The article was quite thorough in all other sections, and I hope that the DP continues to make this essential distinction clear. Again, we would like to reiterate that APSC is pleased with the release of the APASAC report. In particular, we commend the Office of the Vice Provost for University Life for its work with Asian American students and look forward to working further with the University to better serve Asian Americans and all students. Seung Lee College '99 Chairperson, Asian Pacific Student Coalition