LETTERS: ECOnference undercovered

To the Editor: The word was out that the University of Pennsylvania was hosting an environmental conference which would not only bring thousands of student activists from all over the country to West Philadelphia, but also world-renowned speakers. Members across the Penn community became involved with ECOnference. Wharton's Environmental Policy and Management program made a contribution and Phi Kappa Psi held a kick-off party at Envy which raised $1,000. The successful weekend with inspirational speeches and educational workshops empowered students to take the knowledge they gained back to their campuses to increase environmental consciousness and enact change. I do not believe that the DP captured the essence of the conference in the front-page article on Wednesday ("Student activists descend on Penn," DP, 10/20/99). It was not the workshops or the speakers which made this conference. It was the feeling of sitting on College Green on Saturday evening surrounded by thousands of like-minded students from around the country. While a picture of College Green Saturday evening would not do ECOnference justice, it is important to note that ECOnference received local and national media attention. If ABC's World News Tonight covered ECOnference 2000, wouldn't you think that the DP would have been aware of its importance and written a more extensive article, perhaps including a picture or more reactions from the "student activists who descended on Penn?" Kristina Rencic College '01 Stop dogging us To the Editor: We are writing in response to Wednesday's article expressing the appreciation of area dog owners for the dog park at 43rd and Spruce streets and requesting that it be maintained in spite of the imminent construction of a K-8 neighborhood school at the site ("A neighborhood park fit for man's best friend," DP, 10/20/99). In the past, the University has allowed residents to use the 43rd and Locust street space for a dog park as a gesture of good will to neighborhood dog owners. This gesture was never intended to give the impression that the University was making a permanent commitment to provide the community with a dog park. It was known from the beginning that a day could come when the dog park would have to give way to some more pressing need for that site, and we believe, as do many others in the community, that that time has come. In response to what residents, neighborhood associations, Penn faculty and staff have identified as the single biggest problem in our neighborhood, Penn is pursuing the goal of building and assisting in the creation of a neighborhood K-8 public school by February 2000. To make this critical and complex mission succeed, we must make some difficult decisions on how to most wisely use our resources. Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate all special interests in the community and still succeed in achieving our ambitious goals for creating, in partnership with the Philadelphia School District, a new innovative public school that will serve as a model for our city. We appreciate, and are sympathetic to, the fact that this initiative will take away an amenity that dog owners have enjoyed, but we truly believe that this is an inconvenience that must be tolerated by a few in order that hundreds of neighborhood children have an excellent new public school to attend. Besides the dog park, these other fine programs will also have to move out of the site: Penn's Children Center, Penn's Infant Center, University City New School, the Bike Repair Workshop and Family Support Services. While the University is unable to assume responsibility for finding an alternate site for a dog park, we do share the view that dog walking in the city generates positive pedestrian traffic and increases the safety and friendliness of the city, provided owners clean up after their pets. The dog owners are encouraged to become part of University City District's planning efforts for amenities in this area. Glenn Bryan Director of City and Commonwealth Relations Thomas Lussenhop Managing Director for Institutional Real Estate