The events of Sept. 11 changed the way the nation addresses security, and the University was no exception.
In the year since the attacks, Penn officials have heightened security measures on campus -- and have tried to keep those measures from interfering with everyday University life.
Penn Police say they looked at several areas or situations where security needed to be improved, including access to campus, special events planning, emergency planning and emergency evacuation drill procedures.
"We looked at a lot of those situations... and we fine-tuned a couple things to ensure safety and meet the expectations of everybody," Penn Police Chief Tom Rambo said.
The principal measures taken to restrict access to campus centered around vehicles on Locust Walk. Last September, the Division of Public Safety decided to close the Walk to any non-emergency vehicles, although University vehicles are now again allowed.
In addition to eliminating the presence of unattended vehicles, safety officials felt the restrictions would increase pedestrian safety and decrease damages that excessive traffic caused on Locust Walk.
"Access to Locust Walk has been limited and is extremely controlled," Rambo said of the past year.
Additional measures are also now taken at large events like sporting events and the many notable speakers that come to campus, both of which draw substantial crowds.
"We took precautions for large gatherings, precautions which are pretty standard throughout the country," Rambo explained.
The campus mail service also received attention in the wake of the terrorist attacks.
"We worked closely [to ensure] the safe delivery of mail, but with an eye towards security, particularly in light of the anthrax scares," Penn Police Chief Maureen Rush said.
Another security issue that both the nation and the campus faced were identification cards. While the country was debating whether Americans should be required to wear ID tags, Penn officials considered increased PennCard visibility.
The committee that was charged with assessing Penn's ID policy suggested, although would not mandate, that all Penn-Card holders wear their IDs around campus.
In the end, due largely to resistance on the part of students, the proposed mandatory policy was rejected.
"I would feel more unsafe having to have my PennCard visible," College senior Vanessa Krebs said.
Rambo noted some changes have been made, though, to ID policy.
"A universal policy has not been [instituted] throughout the entire university, although certain areas have made ID requirements," he said.
According to Rambo, public safety officials also thought it was important that students' lives not be seriously disrupted by additional security measures, especially in light of the devastation they had already faced.
"It's a time when you want to make sure everybody is safe and secure, but you also want to minimize the impact on people's daily lives and their freedom of movement," he said.
These efforts were successful, according to several Penn students.
"I think most of the changes were subtle security policy changes that don't effect anyone directly," College junior Sahm Contractor said.
And according to Public Safety officials, Sept. 11 caused at least one positive change.
"I think everyone is more aware of their surroundings as a result of September 11," Rambo said. "And that's very helpful to us that people are looking for things."
That awareness was apparent particularly during last year's many anthrax scares, when the department received numerous phone calls about suspicious packages and powders. While none of these calls proved serious, the department was glad that people were more aware of these dangers.
Although Rambo says that "many [campus security procedures] were well-established" before the attacks, officials continue to examine campus safety.
"It's an ongoing process," he said. "You never say, 'OK, we're secure.'"
