EDITORIAL: Home sweet home

The Sheraton is only oneThe Sheraton is only onepiece of a master plan forThe Sheraton is only onepiece of a master plan forfuture campus facilities andThe Sheraton is only onepiece of a master plan forfuture campus facilities andresidences-but it's a goodThe Sheraton is only onepiece of a master plan forfuture campus facilities andresidences-but it's a goodstart.The Sheraton is only onepiece of a master plan forfuture campus facilities andresidences-but it's a goodstart._____________________________ The answer has become clear this week, with the revelation that the Sheraton will be used as temporary housing for students displaced in the next few years during dormitory renovations. We are impressed that the University has hired an outside firm to objectively evaluate the current condition of campus residences, and to report on what work each building requires. We are equally pleased that administrators, recognizing the importance of keeping residences livable because they are such a crucial part of the collegiate experience, has committed itself to carrying out needed improvement projects and to keeping students comfortable while they occur. University City will still need a hotel for visiting students, parents and professors, though -- especially if the Penn Tower reverts to office space for HUP physicians and rooms for patients and their families awaiting treatment. Placing a new inn of some type next to the new Barnes & Noble at 36th and Walnut streets would make sense. It would bring people into the new hub of campus, making the area safer with additional pedestrian traffic. But there's more to the eventual construction of a new hotel than just its location. As administrators plan for the future, however, they need to clearly articulate an overarching philosophy for campus expansion, a clear set of goals, priorities and supporting reasoning similar to those University President Judith Rodin has just released on the academic front. Residences and facilities on this campus are in need of a facelift, as most are early 1960s vintage and starting to show their age. The University is beginning to warm up to this fact, and realistically preparing for inconveniences it may cause in the years ahead.

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