EDITORIAL: No commitment to change

Penn's suspended lease talks with Stalag 2000 makes us wonder just how committed the University is to change. But the University has suspended talks with Agnew, apparently over concerns that Stalag 2000 would bring the "wrong" type of people to University City. The decision leaves us wondering just what the University meant when it pledged to bring alcohol-free social options to the campus area as part of its commitment to providing students with alternatives to evenings spent consuming alcohol. The Working Group on Alcohol Abuse made the addition of an alcohol-free club to the campus area a top priority. And the working group did so because it knew full well that such a club actually stood a chance of luring students from drinking parties. But instead of implementing this important component of the task force's recommendations, Penn is shying away, hiding behind an insultingly simplistic stereotype of potential clubgoers. The notion that clubs like Stalag 2000 are havens for people more interested in drugs than music is not at all in line with the experiences of those who have attended concerts organized by Agnew. Hundreds of people have e-mailed testimonials to Penn, via Agnew, recounting their own positive experiences at two of Stalag 2000's predecessors. Yesterday, the Social Planning and Events Committee and the Undergraduate Assembly both made much the same point in statements calling for Penn to bring the club to campus. It's very easy to tell students what kinds of alcohol they can serve and until what time they can serve them. Training bartenders and party monitors, threatening to step up enforcement of citation codes and batting around some form of parental notification are also relatively inexpensive. But if all of the sound and fury of the past year is ever to produce something tangible, Penn needs to do more. Bringing Stalag 2000 to campus would be a step in that direction.