Dear Editor:

As reported by The Daily Pennsylvanian, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board has announced they are placing a wine vending machine for use by students over the age of 21 in the Fresh Grocer supermarket that serves the University of Pennsylvania community. Published on the same day in the school newspaper is an article noting that Penn is the 16th most dangerous campus in the country. Are we to assume the alcohol beverage industry represented by the PLCB will make the campus safer with the addition of a wine vending machine?The day before Fresh Grocer received a permit to obtain a wine vending machine, the PLCB issued a press release touting the nearly $1 million in grant money it awarded to local communities and college/university campuses to fight underage and dangerous drinking among Pennsylvania's youth. The placement of a wine vending machine at the University of Penn's Fresh Grocer makes a cynical joke of the PLCB/industry hypocritical alcohol education/prevention programs.Will the students at Penn State and Pitt Universities, in addition to all the statewide community colleges, be offered the same campus amenity of their own wine vending machine?Sincerely,David Wanamaker, presidentMichael Dusak,vice president,Independent State Store Union (ISSU)