No. 3 September 13, 1994 - University of Pennsylvania

No Time for CoolThis is a letter in reaction to, and an invitationto discuss, the murder of Al-MoezAlimohamed.We know that when something makesus terrifically angry we very often need towait and cool off before reacting. But I don’twant to be cool in reacting to the murder ofAl-Moez Alimohamed. Cooling off meansforgetting about it, resuming business asusual. Cooling off means consigning thisman to crime statistics. Cooling off meansshrugging and saying, “That’s the way thingsare nowadays. What can we do?”But we all need to actively face violencearound Penn (and not only around Penn). Itis changing us for the worse. You can seeand hear it every day.A woman I ride with on a van to Penn:“I would never take public transportation towork—it’s just not safe.” I wanted to arguewith her, but I’ve been hassled for money onthe subway. A man was killed a few monthsago at my stop at 37th and Spruce. So I said,weakly, it’s OK if you travel at rush hour.A co-worker who has moved to thesuburbs with his children because “My kidscould get killed in a West Philly school.”My roommate robbed at knifepoint at ourdoorstep when we used to live in West Philly(yes—I’ve fled with my family also): “I waslucky.” He left it understood, quite rationally,that he meant that he wasn’t killed, but withme also thinking he was insane.The man who took my ticket at the 40thStreet movie theater just before it went outof business telling me that the theater wasn’tdoing well financially, and “There is also aproblem with these kids—you know.”An employee at the Italian Bistro—nowclosed—saying that, yeah, there were financialproblems, but it was also the crimein the area. We know about crime drivingother neighborhood stores away, but crimein a restaurant? Pretty ridiculous, except ofcourse that Salad Alley and Boccie (remoteplaces obviously not safe) were robbed atgunpoint (shots in the air were fired so thepatrons would know the punks were serious).And yeah, someone was shot (was it stabbed?who can remember?) outside Allegro Pizzaa couple of months back, which can hardlycompete with all the shootings, studentsincluded, around McDonald’s.My memory fails me. When was the CGSstudent robbed, raped and shot by a man whoabducted her when she was getting into hercar way out at 34th and Chestnut? Was thatjust last year? These things blur together. Howmany years ago was the student stabbed todeath in Grad Towers during Thanksgivingbreak? I think it was the same year I gotpunched in the chest by a homeless man forsaying “sorry” when he asked for change.“You’re not sorry,” he said. Would it havehelped if I told him I volunteered at a homelessshelter?Yeah, my memory for these things, andSpeaking Outwill to deny, is pretty strong. That’s why Isometimes clip things out of newspapers,like the headline in the D.P. March 21, 1994,“Seven students robbed at gunpoint”—overone weekend. It’s these kinds of things thatcounter the nonsense that one West Phillyresident, in denial, tells me: “the perceptionof crime around here is much worse than thereality.” A superior view, don’t you think? Let’snot be hustled by all this false perception.I wonder how the University communitywould have thought of seven gunpoint robberiesover one weekend thirty years ago. Youknow, back before the escort shuttle service.My own wife, who works as a socialworker in the worst parts of North Philly,saying about Al-Moez, “It was 11:30, heshouldn’t have been out so late.” 11:30late? For a grad student? How much didthis make him culpable for what happenedto him? Will we be soon saying, “He livedpast 42nd Street; he should have knownbetter. And it was after 5 p.m.”Please, let us not normalize ourselves tothis insanity. We are losing our freedom, oursense of community, our trust, our development,and sometimes our health or very lives.And the lives of our loved ones. What are wedoing about it?—Barry Kirzner, W ’85Computer Specialist, Wharton AccountingFrom the PresidentBarry Kirzner’s letter eloquently expressedthe anger and dismay that we allfeel about the tragic murder of Al-MoezAlimohamed. This terrible incident troublesus deeply. His death was a tragedy, not justfor his family and friends, but for the entirePenn community. We have all been touchedby it because, as Mr. Kirzner said, Al-Moezcould have been any one of us. And despitethe best efforts of so many people at Penn, andthe cooperation of their counterparts with thecity, there is no quick solution to the problemsof random violence in our community.There are things we have done. We respondedimmediately by meeting with theleadership of the city government and thepolice department. We requested increaseduniformed patrols on all shifts. The 18thprecinct, which is the area that surroundsthe University, has as a result escalated thenumber of both foot patrols and tacticalsquads. In addition, I have directed oursenior management team to conduct a fullreview and develop a master plan for publicsafety at Penn, about which we will all hearmore in the weeks ahead.We can and must make the safety of ourstudents, faculty and staff the paramountresponsibility of Penn’s leadership. I want toassure Mr. Kirzner and all of you that I acceptthat obligation. The Penn community mustbe assured that we will continue to increaseour resources, our vigilance and our efforts topromote safety. This is not the place to enumerateall that is being done—though the factthat Penn’s public safety budget increased 30percent over the past three years and that morethan 80 police personnel are assigned to patrolthe University community around the clockshould serve not to make us complacent but asevidence of the serious efforts underway. Letus also be mindful of the fact that collaborativeefforts of Penn, other institutions and individualsto revitalize the economic well-being ofthe area are underway, and Penn is committedto these initiatives. We will also be taking avigorous look at the scope and dimensionsof these and other possible activities over thenext several months.Finally, we must continue to talk openlyabout this issue. Mr. Kirzner’s blunt letter waspainful. But what has happened and what wefeel is deep pain. As a parent with a familywho will all be living and working in WestPhiladelphia I share these feelings, even as Ihave made my commitment to this communitythat is so important to Penn. Let us not hidefrom these problems, or deceive ourselvesabout their complexity, or deny the emotionsthat have been evoked. And let us continueto do all within our power to make the Penncommunity as safe as possible for all of us.Nothing is more important than securityat Penn, for without a sense of well-being,an academic community cannot flourish.— Judith Rodin, PresidentThe following was received too late toallow the President time to respond in thisissue, but she expects to address thequestions here next week.—Ed.‘‘A Greater Urgency”Dear President Rodin:The fatal shooting of Al-Moez Alimohamedin the 4700 block of Pine Streetcalls urgent attention to the reason PFSNIwas established two years ago—to makethe revitalization of West Philadelphia, andUniversity City in particular, the highestpriority of the University of Pennsylvania.Mr. Alimohamed’s violent death illustratestragically the highly dangerous conditions ofthe neighborhoods west of 40th Street, conditionsthat spill onto the Penn campus withalarming regularity and diminish the spirit,confidence, and vitality of the University.More police cars, escort vans, and blue-lighttelephones—while undeniably necessaryunder current conditions—are not the answerto University City’s security problems. Thesolution, we believe, lies in investment—adecisive, strategic financial involvement andengagement of academic resources to assistthe revitalization of West Philadelphia. Thatthe West Philadelphia youths who have beencharged in the murder of Mr. Alimohamedare residents of an area outside the traditionalboundaries of University City underscores, inour judgment, the need for a major communityrevitalization effort that includes, but extendswell beyond, the University’s immediategeographic area. (continued next page)Speaking Out welcomes reader contributions. Short timely letters on Unviersity issues can be acceptedThursday noon for the following Tuesday’s issue, subject to right-of-reply guidlines.Advance notice of intention to submit is appreciated.—Ed.Almanac September 13, 1994