LETTERS: Tuesday, April 11, 2000

SAS programs in FIJI SAS programs in FIJITo the Editor: It is true that 3619-21 has been temporarily allocated to the School of Arts and Sciences for academic use. However, as was made clear in our committee deliberations, no permanent decision has been made about the long-range use of the building. The University will not make a decision about the ultimate use of the building until at least 2003, when the Beta Chapter might begin to recolonize and the University could potentially consider the chapter's re-recognition. Robert Barchi University Provost The writer wass chairman of the Locust Walk Advisory Committee. To the Editor: I feel I need to reply to your article about University City's new show space, 4040 ("Neighbors say music club one big headache," DP, 3/31/00). I am the manager at the Video Library, located in the same building as and sharing an interior wall with the new club. When I first started working here almost three years ago, Urban Outfitters occupied the space next door. UO was one of the loudest neighbors for which anyone could ever hope. I need to say in 4040's defense that its noise level, while obviously loudest in my store, has never surpassed the noise precedent set by UO -- or by the Penn student parties that have taken place all along this block (several of which I have crashed in the past few years). The big difference between 4040's events and student parties, however, is that on the day after a show at 4040, the entire block is not littered with hundreds of empty plastic cups and broken bottles, the block doesn't reek of stale beer and there is no apparent property damage to the neighboring homes and businesses. Club owner Sean Agnew has been very professional and responsible in addressing any concerns we and the surrounding neighbors may have, and even brought a few to our attention before they arose. I, for one, am glad to have 4040 as a neighbor and a positive force in our community and feel that before anyone complains about them too loudly, they should first examine their own behavior and how they are perceived in the neighborhood. Don Layton To the Editor: Why is it that members of the UA represent a particular school at Penn? Why not allocate seats on the basis of residence? Given a long list of "College" candidates for the UA, I would recognize only a handful at most. Perhaps I have taken a class with one, or another lives in my college house. On the whole, I am voting for people on the basis of very little information and even less knowledge. Make seat allocation based on residence instead. Give "X" number of seats to each of the high rises and give a proportionate number to all of the other houses based on population. In other words, make candidates campaign for votes in an environment where individuals are likely to know them. Really know them. It's a more natural way to conduct campaigns and elections. Members of the UA will obviously form school-based factions when a particular issue affects one school at the University differently than another. It is an expected, natural reaction, and altogether inescapable. Let these factions form naturally, from healthy debate and reasoned positions. Don't institutionalize them, however; let representatives arise from the arenas where they are known best. Eric Lomazoff College '01