Letters to the Editor

Protect the core

To the Editor:

Since my prior letter advocating a decorative fence surrounding Penn's campus in an "I.D. Only" area for Penn students, violent attacks -- some involving guns -- have continued to increase against Penn students on Penn's campus.

It seems even more imperative that the University provide students the choice of an "ID only" campus area, where they can reside, study and attend classes without fear of attack. If they choose to go off campus, they can do so, but for those who choose not to, they should have that option.

If Penn's core campus is secured, students will have the choice -- particularly freshman who may not have the streetsmarts required to avoid incidents -- although it's obvious that not even savvy graduate students or professors are immune from these increased attacks.

I ask anyone reading this letter: Do you lock the doors to your residence at night? Why do you do that? Are you liberal? Conservative? Does it really matter what your political views are? No? Exactly. You do it so that you and your family are safe. Sometimes political correctness has to take a back seat to common sense! Protect Penn's core campus now.

Laurie B. Kazenoff 1982 College alumna

We must reach out

To the Editor:

I think I have forgotten the last time I've read the DP without seeing something about crime on or near our campus.

While this is slightly disconcerting, and while I do admire the administration for quickly looking for resolutions to make students feel safer, I can't help but think that we're focusing on the short-term goal of reducing fear.

We may be able to decrease the crime rate as officers work more, and the grand number of $5 million added to the Division of Public Safety's budget may wow students. However, I believe the long-term answer of assuaging student's fears and increasing security involves getting students involved in the community we often deny and avoid.

The community around us has so many needs, and maybe the reason we have so much crime doesn't stem from not enough security, but from our university-community relations. I am in an academically based community service course that aims to help town-gown relationships. If more students would volunteer at local schools that Penn has established, we would be sharing the wonderful resources we're privileged to have.

If we spent those $5 million on giving to the community, maybe they would feel less hostile toward us.

Instead of guarding our borders, we should focus on extending our resources to help the many communities around us that are broken and need our help.

Leslie Yuan

College Freshman

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