I want to congratulate Rob Anderson and Mike DeBonis on their centerfold article on the Southwest Quadrangle (“Our campus, our space,” Cover, Sept. 11). It is well written and shows considerable knowledge of architecture. And I laughed out loud when I read, “If God is in the architectural details, Georgetown lost its faith long ago.”
Of course, I am not an objective observer. I have hated architect and University planner Robert A.M. Stern ever since he presented a proposal for a building, called off for lack of funding, west of the ICC but stated that he would not provide easy access to it from the ICC because he disliked the style of the ICC so much that he would do nothing to help its inhabitants! He expressed similarly punitive attitudes about parking, saying that cars should be inconvenienced as much as possible on campus.
The article is also valuable for pointing out the lack of grade-level access. I have complained about this for years, but with no results. Why does one have to go down 10 steps and then up 10 steps to get from the Leavey parking lot to the back door of the ICC? Even I could design a bridge if Stern does not want to. And this is one problem among many.
The University complies with only the minimum of the handicapped-access laws, not with the spirit of the law. If students want some help with the hill, however, they can enter the ICC at the loading dock, take the elevator, and exit at Red Square. Is there any way to use Village C in a similar manner?
As for traffic and pedestrians in the same place, this would be alleviated if the University would finally build the Ring Road that has been long planned. Cars from Reservoir Rd. could enter campus further west, avoiding both frequent traffic jams in front of the hospital and tangles with GUTS buses.
The University should take these problems seriously before it faces accidents and lawsuits.
Dorothy M. Betz, Associate Professor of French
