Issue date: 12/6/07 Section: Opinion

As this semester draws to a close, it's evident that Penn's administrators are trying hard to get through the "perfect storm" of crime.

And while the semester did include the glamorous launch of an ambitious capital campaign, along with an exciting eastward expansion effort, those successes haven't been able to gloss over the disturbing assortment of incidents that have dented Penn's reputation and campus life.

We started out with Stetson's resignation. The administration's handling of that matter cast a shadow over Penn's supposed commitment to openness.

This was followed by a series of even more embarrassing events involving members of the Penn community, including Economics professor Rafael Robb's guilty plea to bludgeoning his wife to death and Penn alum Edward Anderton's arrest for identity-theft.

As if that wasn't enough, crime reared its ugly head once again.

Clubs at the corner of 38th and Chestnut streets saw two shootings within a month, leaving two dead and a police officer injured. A security guard exposed himself to a student, and two would-be robbers recently attacked another student with mace.

Perhaps the most serious of all the incidents was the sexual assault of a female student in her off-campus apartment, which sent shockwaves through the Penn community.

And let's not forget the three students who have been arrested or indicted within the past two weeks: Engineering junior Ryan Goldstein, for using another student's account to help launch a 50,000-computer attack; senior Diexia Wang, for stalking female students to steal their undergarments; and Wharton junior Jason Myers, for stealing Xboxes, game controllers, CDs and other items from 10 different rooms in Harnwell.

That's not very encouraging.

Students are starting to get a little worried. The wave of crimes and arrests has significantly decreased the quality of life here on campus. While there's no easy solution, it's going to take more than a couple of cheery campaign statements from administrators to address the problem effectively.

Here's to hoping that the next semester brings some fairer winds to campus.

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