Council Meeting Coverage

At last Wednesday's University Council meeting there was a presentation on this year's budget which will be included in next week's issue.

Omar Blaik, vice president for facilities, gave a report on the recent campus developments in terms of the Campus Development Plan (Almanac February 27, 2001). He noted that street improvements have included trees: 350 have been planted with more to come, as well as new bike and parking lanes along Spruce Street, new lighting and street repaving. The new banner program provides a visually consistent identity as it announces Penn events. He said the city is pleased with the environmental impact of the additional trees around campus.

Another aspect of the plan to be implemented is public open spaces on campus which include the extension of Woodland Walk through Hill Field which Mr. Blaik described as "a welcome intervention" making Penn seem closer to Center City. A new open space for concerts and other performances is University Square--the former parking spaces adjacent to the Franklin Building and the Annex--which is expected to be complete by commencement weekend. The 300-space parking lot to the east of the Left Bank has been seeded to be a new green space.

There are several buildings currently under construction at various stages of completion: the new PreK-8 Penn-assisted School is to be done in July, Wharton's Huntsman Hall is expected to finished this August, Engineering's Levine Hall is slated for December, Pottruck Fitness Center is currently ahead of schedule and it is expected that significant portions of it will be ready for use by September. The Dental School's Schattner Center is about 80% complete. The cinema at 40th Street received approval from the Trustees for the additional funding to complete that project.

Mr. Blaik also noted that the History Department is back in College Hall although part of the building has not yet been renovated.

VPUL Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum discussed the numerous positive interactions between diverse groups on campus in response to last year's Pluralism Committee which made recommendations (Almanac October 2, 2001). She said that the collaborative events have "altered perceptions and experiences" and have increased in quantity dramatically since last year. She thanked the representatives of the various student organizations at Council for their efforts. The UMC Chair then thanked the faculty and staff for their support of these events.