LETTTERS: Access to Rosengarten problem for handicapped

To the Editor: Equipment has been installed that would allow people with disabilities affecting their ability to open the doors to Rosengarten Reserve to access the library by swiping their PennCARDs. Rosengarten Reserve may be officially open, but this equipment has not been activated, so at the moment, Rosengarten Reserve is only open on a discriminatory basis. And independent entry to Rosengarten Reserve when Van Pelt is closed is only possible for able-bodied persons. People with mobility disabilities have repeatedly sought to participate in the broad consultations on the library renovations. Their input, however, has routinely been ignored and devalued, despite the fact that they have sought nothing more -- and sometimes far less -- than national law has mandated. Thus, the quoted remarks of Vice Provost Paul Mosher should be amended ("Officials reopen newly renovated Rosengarten," The Daily Pennsylvanian, 9/10/99). I read the University as intending to make Rosengarten Reserve "the best center for learning for" able-bodied "students anywhere in the world." Is this what Penn stands for? Sigrid Peterson Ph.D. Candidate Religious Studies Dept. Where's the love? To the Editor: On Saturday morning, as I was jogging, I encountered the "LOVE" statue. It was coated in toilet paper and vomit. I cleaned up much of it but I am not writing for this reason. I am writing because even if people hear about the vandalism, they may not see its full implications. They might simply say "vandalism is bad" and leave it at that. The tragedy here is not the act but the psychological factors that caused it. The perpetrators must have enjoyed it. It must have seemed pretty cool. What type of person would dub a totally destructive act "pretty cool"? Also, what about the other people this morning? Why did no one before me take three minutes to clean up some of the mess? Most of it could have been cleaned up even without dealing with the vomit. My issue is not with the people but with the system, a system that produces anti-good people, people that destroy to gain social acceptance and people that feel no need, desire or duty to undo vandalism. You can put a thousand cameras on a thousand lamp posts to deter crimes but this will not alter people's mentalities. Vandalism is a symptom of a deeper problem and should not be written off. Geoffrey Anders Wharton '02