Security issues headline open forum at U. Council

Penn's new provost, Asian American concerns and the planned Wharton School building were also discussed. Lengthy conversations about women's safety on campus, Penn's Asian American community and the proposed new Wharton School building highlighted yesterday's University Council open forum, held during the advisory body's monthly meeting. After bidding farewell to Interim Provost Michael Wachter and welcoming Provost-designate Robert Barchi, University President Judith Rodin addressed women's safety on campus -- an issue that gained prominence last month when a sophomore woman was attacked by a knife-wielding man just before 3 a.m. in a basement bathroom of Steinberg-Dietrich Hall, one of the few campus buildings open 24 hours a day. "We all share distress in the fact that a student was attacked early in the morning in Steinberg-Dietrich," Rodin told the crowd. "There was an intensive 24-hour-a-day investigation. The suspect was arrested very, very shortly." According to Rodin, the administration is currently engaged in a "comprehensive review of academic facilities," noting that several methods designed to lessen crime on campus have recently been proposed. Rodin said Penn is assessing the number of facilities being used for 24-hour academic activities and deciding which buildings merit being open all day. The University is also considering limiting after-hour access to one door only and requiring students to "prominently display their PennCards" in order to gain access late at night. But Rodin also noted that "if users of the buildings continue to prop doors open, then no action that our Public Safety department can take will ensure all of our securities." Public Safety officials believe the suspect in the attack, a 16-year-old West Philadelphia resident now charged with attempted murder and attempted rape, entered Steinberg-Dietrich via a side door which was propped open. The first speaker to address Council as part of the body's annual open forum meeting was College junior Erin Healy, the co-chairperson of the Penn chapter of the National Organization of Women, who spoke on behalf of a "coalition of proactive women students and organizations." Healy presented a list of four demands to Council, as well as a list of 19 bathrooms on campus lacking in "emergency security alarms." The demands included "regularly maintained emergency alarms, multiple victim advocacy resources, a more frequent publication of the step-by-step procedure for reporting crimes and a mandatory workshop" on violence prevention which would be included in New Student Orientation. Council member Deborah James, a student in the Graduate School of Education, countered Healy's arguments by saying that "in my 10 years here, I felt safe as a woman on campus." After some deliberation, Council agreed to discuss the issue during next month's meeting. Following the women's safety discussion, Council turned its attention to English Professor Eric Cheyfitz, chairperson of Council's Pluralism Committee. Cheyfitz charged the administration with giving "no further response" to the committee's April report recommending that Penn "aggressively recruit Asian/Pacific American staff and/or staff with skills in dealing with the issues faced by Asian Pacific American students." The report also called for "planning and development of an Asian American resource center." Cheyfitz asked for an immediate response to the committee's recommendations. Andrea Cherng and Seung Lee, representing the Asian Pacific American Student Affairs Committee and the Asian Pacific Student Coalitionrespectively, echoed Cheyfitz's sentiments. According to Lee, while Penn may have a relatively large number of Asian and Pacific Americans, there is "little Asian American presence on campus." Wachter responded by saying that the School of Arts and Sciences has authorized the History Department to search for a tenured Asian-American faculty member for the year 1999-2000, adding that the "number of Asian Americans on our rolls is a good number." Council Moderator William Harris, a Political Science professor, referred the issue to Council's steering committee. Transportation Professor Vukan Vuchic reviewed the 1997-98 year-end report of Council's Facilities Committee. The report focused on what committee members viewed as a lack of consultation on plans for the new Wharton School building to be built on the former University Bookstore site at 38th Street and Locust Walk. The discussion was originally scheduled for last month's meeting, which was canceled because of what University Secretary Rosemary McManus called a lack of agenda items. It was the first Council meeting in six years to be canceled. Rodin said that demolition of the Bookstore site and construction of the new facility would not begin until next summer, not the spring, as outgoing Wharton School Dean Thomas Gerrity said in October. Council, composed of 92 faculty, staff and students, meets monthly to talk about major issues facing the University community and to make recommendations.