Letters to the Editor

Top rate security

To the Editor:

I try to be as intelligent as possible in my discourse. But after reading Monday's Letter to the Editor ("Losing Faith," DP, 1/23/06), only one word comes to mind: stupid.

The security at the University of Pennsylvania is already top rate.

Penn employs identification checks at almost every building, has security stalk the streets and utilizes amnesty services for students who get too trashed to help themselves.

The majority of crime that happens around the University of Pennsylvania is actually not on campus but is part of the crime wave that is sweeping the greater Philadelphia region.

Creating an ID-only gated community from 40th to 33rd streets would be stupid since it would not answer the problem of crime. It would only make travel for students, staff, faculty and, God forbid, the people who live in the vicinity that much more frustrating.

Perhaps students should just fess up to the reality that they live in city -- a particularly big city -- where crime happens and where there is more to life than your class at noon.

Russell Armstrong

Wharton senior

Major differences

To the Editor:

As the faculty administrators of the programs featured in Tuesday's DP, we were astonished by some unexpected statements made by the reporters

It seems that the reporters did not understand the difference between "joint" degree programs (Fisher and Huntsman programs), "dual" degree programs (which many students do on their own), and a "joint program" (the Vagelos program, which confers a single degree).

The important point is that the Fisher, Huntsman and Vagelos programs all embody the spirit of the Penn Compact in that they seek to integrate knowledge across disciplines.

We are confused as to why the reporter wrote that the Fisher Program and the Huntsman Program are "in limbo." Why these joint programs should be "in limbo" at a time when President Gutmann has underscored the virtue of interdisciplinary work escapes us.

Although any program may change over time, both programs continue to flourish because they have identified areas where disciplines intersect and which attract continuing student interest.

For over 25 years, students have wanted to combine business with technology. For over a decade, students have wanted to pursue an integrated curriculum in business and in language and international studies.

Most recently, the Vagelos Program has responded to those students interested in both life sciences and business.

We applaud the spirit of the Penn Compact. And, with our students, we will continue to examine our programs' course requirements to ensure that our students receive a rigorous, integrated, interdisciplinary education.

Roger Allen, Janice Bellace, William HamiltonHuntsman and Management and Technology administrators

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