LETTERS: Monday, April 3, 2000

To the Editor: In the article, a Wharton student said, "Education is supposed to be a reflection of a wider world." While I do not dispute the validity of this statement as a general appraisal of the American education system, it must be noted that the University of Pennsylvania prides itself on consisting of only the most intelligent and well suited members, not as being a reflection of the norm. This "requirement" applies as much to faculty members as it does to students. Therefore, from my position of firm opposition to affirmative action, I must question the validity of hiring professors based on heritage rather than intellectual ability. As a student, I would be appalled if I were here solely because of my ethnicity. I would be further disgusted to know that it is not the best possible faculty that is teaching me; regardless of race, only the best should be at Penn. But this University, along with its sister colleges throughout the country, is subject to the aura of racism that hangs over this country. And therefore, as a white student who opposes affirmative action, I am regarded as narrow-minded and wrong. By virtue of this letter, I hope to demonstrate that my position is neither narrow-minded nor incorrect, but rather, a truly informed and concerned opinion aimed at making Penn and the world the best it can be. Dennis Tupper Wharton '03 To the Editor: I am very happy to note that, contrary to what was reported, we actually doubled the number of PennTalks sessions from 15 to 30 in this pilot phase of the project to accommodate the level of excitement and interest of our facilitators, as well as to open up as many opportunities as possible for students to participate. As the PennTalks team discussed with members of the DP staff on February 23, PennTalks sessions are not "focus groups." We aren't trying to bring people together to figure out how to get them to buy things they don't need or what the ending of the next Julia Roberts movie should be. And they certainly are not about preparing a formal report for "the administration." Instead, PennTalks is about creating community through conversation. Sessions are designed to let people share their thoughts on the things that really matter to them. Things like alcohol, race, gender, careers, violence, politics, religion and our University. As the article pointed out, enthusiasm among participants is very high. Thirty-one Penn students have given up a substantial amount of their time to train as facilitators and to lead their peers in meaningful conversations. I encourage all undergraduates to participate in this important pilot project. There is still time to sign up for a session at http:// www.upenn.edu/pnc/penntalks. Let's get talking! William Boltz Associate Director Penn Public Talk Project To the Editor: The position of Special Services director will remain a key senior-level position within the Public Safety Division. The University community, the Philadelphia Criminal Justice System and the Division of Public Safety have changed greatly since the director's position was created in the 1970s. The role of the director has been modified over the years to reflect those changes. The University Police Detective Unit has been enlarged and improved over the past several years, and today it is recognized as one of the best units of its type in the country. Part of that improvement was to increase the competencies of the Special Services investigators and end the artificial distinction between investigators and detectives. The Public Safety Division offers a wider range of proactive competent services to crime victims in the Penn community than ever before. Because of the demands of the University, the Public Safety Division has grown more sophisticated and complex. The Special Services director must be a special person with multiple competencies, empathy for the special circumstances of students and the intimate knowledge needed to navigate confidently through the Philadelphia criminal justice system. For these reasons the search for the best director must be deliberate and thorough. We are working diligently to bring this search to a timely and successful conclusion. Thomas Seamon Vice President for Public Safety To the Editor: The premature death of a person always engenders a lot of discussion from friends, family and members of the community. Unfortunately, this discussion almost always ends with the placing of blame. The death of a Trinity College student was no exception. In her column ("Learning, too late for some," DP, 3/29/00), Ariel Horn discusses the death under the assumption that blame is due, whether it should be at the expense of the college, the friends or a general lack of proper education. While she and many others take these tragedies as an opportunity to grandstand from their personal platforms on the dangers of college life and drugs, I think we should stop looking for answers and accept these deaths as simple tragedies. The death of the student was a horrible accident, and yet he should not be used as a martyr for a cause that we don't know he would have supported. Incidents such as these do not stem from a lack of understanding or the need for more education, as we are ignorant children no longer -- we are all adults. Don Baumann Penn Department of Biology The writer graduated from Trinity College in 1996.