Penn students air complaints

University Council's annual open forum was held yesterday. University Council held its annual open forum in McClelland Hall yesterday, hearing student complaints on campus issues ranging from Penn's anti-sweatshop policies to building access for disabled students. College sophomore Matthew Grove, a representative of the Penn chapter of United Students Against Sweatshops, spoke first during the forum. He urged Council to support his group's efforts to convince the University to leave the Fair Labor Association -- an anti-sweatshop organization comprised mainly of corporations and universities -- and instead join the Worker Rights Consortium, a newly formed group comprised mainly of human rights organizations. Rodin responded to this request by pointing out that she is scheduled to meet with the student group to discuss the University's licensing policies for Penn logo apparel on December 13. Council then heard from Sigrid Peterson, a graduate student in the Religious Studies Department, who spoke on behalf of Penn Students with Disabilities. Peterson told Council that she addressed the body two years ago about the need to improve access for disabled people in University buildings, only to find that no action has been taken since. She noted that many handicapped-accessible entrances are in loading docks behind buildings. Council Moderator William Harris assured Peterson that the body would deal with her concerns. "There should really be no option about addressing them at this time," he said. Next on the forum's agenda was College senior Hema Sarangapani, chairperson of the Penn Women's Alliance, who spoke about the need for alarm buttons in every University bathroom stall in light of the November 1998 attack of a female student in the Steinberg-Dietrich Hall bathroom. Sarangapani said that Vice President for Public Safety Tom Seamon has not been responsive to her requests for help on this, and other issues, in the past. Seamon defended the University's refusal to install panic alarms in every bathroom on campus, saying that there is no university in the country with such a system, which could result in many false alarms. "Our first goal is to secure the perimeters of all buildings on campus," he said. "We do not have a history of attacks in bathrooms." Council also heard from a representative of the Muslim Students Association who spoke on the lack of a permanent space for Muslim students to carry out their required daily prayers between classes. The forum took place at the end of Council's monthly meeting, which began with University President Judith Rodin addressing the body on campus safety and Y2K preparedness. Rodin noted that many members of the University community have recently expressed concerns about safety on and around campus, despite police statistics that show a decrease in area crimes. Rodin said University Police are aware of campus concerns and have created a "crime-suppression response team" of 10 officers and a sergeant working in addition to regular police operations to be "both reactive and proactive" in combatting crime. In discussing Y2K readiness, Rodin said all "core administrative systems," including those controlling PennCard and payroll operations, are Y2K compliant, as well as most other University systems. But she added that problems may still arise with outside sources such as public utilities. Council, composed of 92 faculty members, staff and students, meets monthly to discuss issues affecting the University community.