Although the two recent attacks on students near Lamont Library are alarming, the University does not plan to restrict access to the Yard or the Houses anytime soon, President Neil L. Rudenstine said yesterday.

"I'm very concerned," Rudenstine said of the safety situation on campus. "This matters to the University as a whole."

He downplayed the seriousness of the armed robbery incidents, however.

"Relatively speaking, I feel that this is a safe environment," he said. "But I'm not a safety expert. I take my advice from [Harvard Police Chief Francis 'Bud' Riley]."

Rudenstine praised Riley's work with the University's police force.

"My own sense is that Chief Riley moved in very forthrightly early on and began developing plans for safety matters," he said.

Citing Riley's experience with municipal police work, Rudenstine said the police chief had formed important working partnerships with the Cambridge Police and even the State Police.

A plan for increased security in the Yard and at the Houses would have to come from College officials, including House masters, he said.

The leader of a student group which deals with safety issues said Rudenstine's reliance on the College administration to act on safety concerns is misguided, however.

"Bureaucracy should not stand in , from page 1the way of students' safety," said Megan L. Peimer '97, the co-president of the Radcliffe Union of Students (RUS) who also serves as head of the group's Harvard-Radcliffe Alliance for Safety Training and Education (HASTE) task force.

Peimer said the circumstances of the two Lamont attacks make the possibility that they were not campus-related more likely. But she stressed the importance of safety awareness despite the circumstances of the individual muggings.

"I think what they do show is that we've been too complacent," she said. "We need greater education of the student body. The police can only do so much."

More mandatory safety training for first-year students and more safety-themed study breaks would help the student body learn to protect themselves better, Peimer said.

"It's really scary how many people aren't aware of the basic steps they can take to increase their chances of avoiding possibly dangerous situations," Peimer said. "I would like the Administration to pay more attention to that."

Peimer is also a student representative to the Student Police Advisory Committee.

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