Even after Violent Attack, Security Still Unchecked at Philadelphia University Facility

Less than 24 hours after a scissor-wielding stranger tried to sexually assault a Drexel University graduate student on the eighth floor of the Hahnemann University Hospital campus, a second Daily News reporter strolled past security guards unchecked and rode the elevator to the scene of the attack.

"Security here is terrible," said David Hardeski, a third-year medical student from Northeast Philadelphia. "I have never once had my ID checked."

On Wednesday, an unidentified 25-year-old student was approached from behind while she was doing research in the New College Building on 15th Street. The student was able to fight off the assailant but received superficial cuts and bruises. The attacker escaped.

Police are still looking for him.

A Daily News reporter entered the building shortly after the attack and freely roamed the facility.

Yesterday, another Daily News reporter walked down a hallway bustling with students, past a security guard postioned near the bank of elevators, rode the elevator to the eighth floor and wandered uninterrupted.

"The place could be safer," said Barbara Papageorgiou, an 18- year-old student who mentioned that homeless and "weird people" were normal sightings in the area near the school.

Molly Tritt, a spokeswoman for Hahnemann University Hospital, said, "We are looking at the processes for security that are in place and if anything comes of this, we'll take that into consideration.

The Drexel University College of Medicine, which uses the Hahnemann site for reasearch labs and classrooms, offered a brief statement that read, "This incident is distressing to all of us in the University community."