GUEST COLUMNIST: Penn's student union woes

Everyone knows the enormous value of Houston Hall. Of course it was the first student union, but when you have been a student here long enough, the idea of something being the first of its kind begins to wear off. It's the usefulness of the things inside, as well as its overwhelming Ivyness that makes it so popular. Houston Hall's vast number of resources makes it difficult to live without. It held the offices of nearly every student group. It also had places to get a quick meal between classes. I myself enjoyed the delicacies of that Burger King a few too many times. Houston Hall also provided big meeting rooms for all student groups as well as a useful space for many performing arts groups with its auditorium. But most importantly, it provided a place to merely hang out when you had a half-hour or so to spare. While the Perelman Quadrangle is under construction, the offices of student groups have been basically spread all over campus. However, this patchwork approach has largely alleviated the problem of office space for student groups. For example, all of the branches of student government groups will be in the carriage house between the WXPN building and the big white building that was the old police station by High Rise North. This old police station, which will become Civic House, will be home to many community service groups, most notably the former Program for Student Community Involvement. The offices of many other groups will be held in the Rotunda at 40th and Walnut. As for performing arts space, a year ago the University leased the Iron Gate Theatre at 37th and Chestnut, which has seemed to fulfill most of the needs for performance space, but this still remains a major problem. Although it is difficult to duplicate Houston Hall's wealth of meeting room space, the University has procured the rest of the building where the Iron Gate Theatre is, which has many large rooms that can be used for meeting space. The University has also selected some specific dates in conjunction with the Sheraton, where students may use the meeting rooms there free of charge. By far the most critical element cushioning the loss of Houston Hall will be Sansom Common. It appears that it will be able to fill the many of the needs the closing of Houston Hall will create. Toward the end of the school year, the Undergraduate Assembly took a survey asking students what they wanted us to advocate to go into Sansom Common. The survey results were not surprising. The top four requests for additional retail to go into Sansom Common were Structure, J. Crew, Express and Abercrombie. Although the Gap is right down the street and Urban Outfitters is slated to move into Sansom Common already, the survey indicated that there is still an additional need for clothing stores. Fry was not surprised by this and agreed that there still is a need in this area. The fifth highest request was for Tower Records; however, the new bookstore will have 2,500 square feet of space for music. The sixth highest request was for a Body Shop, but Perfumerie Douglas, which is also already scheduled to go into Sansom Common, should fill that void. As far as a restaurant for Sansom Common, the most highly requested item was by far TGIFridays. A TGIFridays would obviously do very well in Sansom Common, with its somewhat upscale nature on a campus where students are starved for places to merely hang out. Fry felt that the University's plans for an internationally-themed restaurant/bar are better in keeping with the character of Sansom Common. He stressed that he doesn't want Sansom Common to be like everywhere else. We want that to be our edge. As far as providing a place to hang out, Sansom Common is as conveniently located as Houston Hall. The Barnes and Noble will have 100-seat cafe, and a Xando will also grace the new retail center. Not only will Sansom Common be able to replace most aspects of Houston Hall, but rather it seems students may not go back once the Perelman Quad is finished.

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