PSA alive and well
To the Editor: Different establishments do fill different niches. Otherwise, competition would render the others null and void. But in this world of Whartonites and University administrators, the choice to close the Quad commissary had a tad bit more history than just a simple decision to eliminate one more business on campus, a student-run one at that. This would have been my fourth year managing the Quad commissary. But from the beginning of the winter semester last year, I knew that I could never run the Quad commissary as a senior. It was going to be a kamikaze semester and I would go out with a bang. The last days of the commissary would be filled with strife between University administrators and Fritos-loving, Arizona Green Tea-guzzling students. Instead, no one knew we closed last semester and only about 800 students, who signed a petition, knew that a trash center would be the next reincarnation of the commissary. Yes, the Quad commissary closed last semester. But contrary to what it sounded like in a Daily Pennsylvanian editorial ("More options, not fewer," 10/19/00), Peg Lacey was not responsible for its closure. The closure was planned ever since Housing expected to make renovations for the Quadrangle. Situated where an underground passageway connects the outside world with the the lower Quad, the commissary became a choice location for a trash collection center. Don't cry for us though. Penn Student Agencies has found a new place to reinvent itself. I met with University officials concerning the future of PSA activities with the closure of our beloved commissary. And unlike the characterization of a cruel bureaucracy that "just doesn't get it," the person I met in Business Services responded to our concerns by getting us a cafe to manage. So, the PSA Cafe at Williams Hall does not replace the niche left by the Quad commissary, but at least there are some lone bastions where student-run projects do exist -- and to think, through the aid of the University. Our niche is the starving student demographic that just wants a decent bite to eat, the same one I have been catering to in the Quad for the past three years. We're different than Bon Appetit; we're Penn Student Agencies.Chris Tenggardjaja College '01
A third option
To the Editor: With the upcoming presidential election upon us, it is very easy to forget that there are congressional races going on as well. Many pro-choice Pennsylvanians will happily go out and vote Democratic for U.S. Senate race without realizing that the Democrat is anti-choice. In fact, all the senatorial candidates except one are anti-choice. John Featherman, a Libertarian, is the only pro-choice candidate in that race. In the congressional race, Democrat Chaka Fattah represents Center City, West Philly and some surrounding areas. He has no Republican challenger this time, yet Libertarian Ken Krawchuk is running against him in order to challenge his outrageous congressional spending habits. On Tuesday, October 24, at 7:30 p.m. in Houston Hall 217, the Penn Libertarians will be hosting a brief forum for both these candidates. Everyone is welcome to attend.Liz Lai Engineering Grad '01
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