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(04/18/00 9:00am)
A near-brawl and inclement weather did not prevent the Quakers from faring well at Villanova this weekend. Although the Penn men's track team might have done very well relative to the competition at Saturday's unscored Villanova Invitational, many Quakers were less than thrilled with their individual efforts. "It was not a particularly competitive meet," junior thrower Ben Williams said. The seven-team field featured Division III schools such as Franklin and Marshall and Haverford, a far cry from the likes of Princeton and Navy whom Penn will oppose at the Heptagonal Championships in mid-May. If the Red and Blue want to search for bright spots from Villanova, though, they need not look too far. The sprinters and middle-distance runners found much success on Jumbo Elliott Track, named after the late Wildcats track star and coach -- not the New York Jets offensive lineman. Penn's most gratifying victory, though, occurred in the 4x400-meter relay, in which controversy loomed large. Senior Craig Douglas, who ran the third leg of the race for the Quakers, was in second place when a Temple runner attempted to illegally pass Douglas on the inside. Douglas responded with an elbow to his opponent, who then countered with a shove of the Penn sprinter. Rather than allowing the scuffle to degenerate into an all-out brawl, Douglas simply shoved back, and with both men somewhat unsettled, he dashed to Sam Burley, who ran Penn's last leg, while the frustrated Temple foe was left in the dust. Some Penn athletes, meanwhile, were able to achieve success while avoiding the trauma that Douglas endured. Shawn Fernandes, one of Penn's top sprinters, won his heat in the 100 dash with a time of 11.05, but several other Penn runners emerged with impressive results as well. Freshman Greg English won his heat in the 800; sophomore Laethe Coleman -- enjoying what he is calling a "breakthrough year" -- won both the 200 and 400; and sophomore Tyler Mullins took first in the 110 high hurdles with a time of 16.19. "I was happy about the way that my race went," Mullins said. The Soquel, Calif., native and others were quick to insert a disclaimer, however. They pointed to Penn's lack of opposition rather than dazzling times that won them many events. One exception to Mullins' theory was Penn's Matt Gioffre. The sophomore distance runner won the 5000-meter race with a time of 15:10.09, a personal best by nearly 25 seconds. Penn also enjoyed success on the field at Villanova. Thrower Matt Pagliasotti, quite possibly the Red and Blue's steadiest and most reliable performer, established a new Penn record in the hammer throw. The senior from Paris, Texas, put forth what would have been a memorable effort even if conditions in Philadelphia had been ideal on Saturday. When an intermittent rain, cold and wind are factored in, that performance is all the more laudable. "Considering the weather conditions, we had a number of good performances," junior sprinter Josh Seeherman said. "It was raining on and off, and it was always cold and muddy," Williams said. In fact, the playing surface was at one point rendered so unsafe as to compel Villanova officials to cancel the high jump event, robbing Penn freshman David Arundel of a likely first-place finish. So, in light of the adverse weather and lesser quality competition, the Quakers had tempered enthusiasm regarding their efforts. "I wasn't satisfied, but I wasn't dissatisfied," Williams said. "On the whole, it was an OK meet."
(04/18/00 9:00am)
The UA realized many of its goals for this year, including an increase in minority membership. The executive members of next year's Undergraduate Assembly have big shoes to fill, judging from the positive reviews of their predecessors' accomplishments. When he entered office last spring, UA Chairman Michael Silver, a College senior, outlined two basic goals for the UA: bringing the body to a higher "level" in terms of effectiveness, outreach to students and campus-wide respect; and making the UA a more unified body. This year's UA has achieved many of those goals, embarking on several major initiatives including a financial aid proposal; a petition for outside basketball courts; and an effort to increase minority membership on the UA and improve relations with the United Minorities Council. "The UA has in the past and will continue to make profound impact as long as there's persistence and consensus -- a unified UA can do great things," Silver said. Still, the body has struggled with internal attendance problems over the past year and has had difficulty reaching out to the campus at large. It also has been criticized for being hesitant to support student causes, most notably the Penn Students Against Sweatshops' nine-day sit-in at College Hall. One of the UA's biggest accomplishments was its financial aid proposal -- which exempts students from having to contribute one year of summer earnings to their tuition, enabling them to engage in public service or an unpaid internship. The proposal has received approval from the administration and may go into effect as soon as this summer. "Financial aid has traditionally been an issue the UA has shied away from," Silver said, adding that the issue has often been perceived as one too large for the UA to handle. Another issue the UA tackled was the need for outdoor basketball facilities. UA members collected 1,100 signatures and drafted a proposal to build outdoor basketball courts on campus. The proposal received approval from the administration and a court will be located on top of the parking garage behind the 1920 Commons dining facility as soon as next fall. Provost Robert Barchi, who has worked extensively with the UA on its major projects, lauded the work that the students have done on both proposals, as well as the UA's efforts to improve student life in general. "They have been very helpful as a wise and considerate sounding board -- making me aware of what students' concerns are," Barchi said. "I take their advice very seriously." Barchi added that the two projects "could not have been possible without UA initiative." The UA also tackled major issues with the help of its fellow student organizations. Realizing the lack of diversity on the UA, the body launched a joint collaborative with the United Minorities Council to encourage more minorities to run for the UA. Those efforts resulted in a marked increase in the number of minority students running and being elected to the UA. Next year's UA will have at least seven minority members. "Definitely from the UA standpoint they've made great strides in working with the minority community," said UMC Chairman Jerome Byam. In a joint project with the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education, the UA worked to propose an extension to New Student Orientation. Starting this fall, NSO will be one week long -- three days longer than usual. "The work we've done in conjunction with them was fantastic," said SCUE Chairman Josh Wilkenfeld, a College junior. "I think it's a model of what collaboration should be." But the UA still has a few projects that haven't been fully completed. The Facilities and West Philadelphia committees have been working with Executive Vice President John Fry to try and bring more retail options to campus, including a late-night video store and a 24-hour greasy spoon diner. These plans are still unfulfilled. Another UA initiative this semester was the UA Visions survey, which sought student opinions on the Penn experience. Members are still compiling the results and hope to present them to the administration by the end of the semester.
(04/18/00 9:00am)
For the first time in five years, Penn students were able to enjoy their Spring Fling concert under the stars. After years of indoor venues, about 6,000 students showed up at Hill Field Friday night for a concert held against the backdrop of a lit Philadelphia skyline. But while the outside setting was universally praised, students had mixed responses to the actual performances, with many saying the music dragged at times and that the line-up was poorly arranged. First on the bill was DJ Young Eller, who pumped up the crowd before co-headlining bands took the stage. The Roots played a pounding energetic set of hip hop, rap and soul, while Ben Folds slowed the night down with their eclectic piano-based ballads. "This concert is a long time coming," College junior Jeff Apostol said. "It is better than last year's acts." But others disagreed. "I have had more lively laxatives than this concert," College freshman Mike Foelster said. Still, Friday's turnout was even better than expected, with close to twice the attendance of last year's concert. According to Engineering junior Kyle Turley, a Social Planning and Events Committee member, 6,000 tickets were sold, which fills Hill Field's capacity. When they took the stage at around 8:30 p.m., the Roots had the crowd up and dancing with their powerful mix of rap and hip hop. The ground vibrated with the heavy base, and many students joined in on the lyrics. The Roots' lead singer interacted with the crowd. For example, when he asked the question, "How many people in Philly love music," he received a thunderous response. "The Roots were good, especially the medley at the end," Wharton junior Oggie Kapetanovic said. The energy level lagged after the Roots left the stage. And during the hour-long lull before Ben Folds Five appeared, many chose to leave the concert altogether. Ben Folds Five -- a guitar-free piano trio, known for their bittersweet love songs with lilting melodies -- played a more mellow set to a considerably smaller audience. After hearing the slow tempo, darker music from that group, many students said they would have preferred the Roots to have ended the show. "I loved the selection of bands," College freshman Andrew Pettit said. "But the order was poorly planned." Pettit added that the excitement and energy level of the crowd would have been built up if the Roots had played after Ben Folds Five. Some, however, were quick to laud the overall performance. College junior Mike Silverstein, co-chairman of the Fling planning committee and a 34th Street editor, said attendance was better than in years past mostly because the headlining bands were so well known. "Even people who weren't big music fans had heard of these groups," Silverstein said. "And each group had their own following as well." Last year, Run DMC and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones headlined the six-hour Fling concert. This year's show -- with two fewer opening bands -- lasted four hours. "It was wonderful," said Engineering senior Ari Jaffess, a member of SPEC's Concerts Committee. "I could not have imagined it going much better."
(04/18/00 9:00am)
Howard Berkowitz has such a high-profile job that he speaks regularly with leaders like Yasser Arafat, Bill Clinton and Jesse Jackson. Yestserday, the national chairman of the Anti-Defamation League took some time off from his schedule to discuss anti-Semitism with about 50 Penn students and staff members. In a talk co-sponsored by Civic House, Penn Hillel and the Greenfield Intercultural Center, Berkowitz discussed, "Making a Difference: Fighting Racism, Anti-Semitism and All Forms of Bigotry." The ADL is a human rights organization formed 87 years ago by a group of Jewish leaders in Chicago in order to protect Jews from discrimination. "I have always been a believer that people should give back to the community," he told the crowd, which included people of varied ethnicities and racial backgrounds. Through the ADL, Berkowitz has worked to promote tolerance and eradicate anti-Semitism. The ADL now works with the NAACP and different Latino and Asian groups. "If there is any racist or bigotrist action, we will speak up and stand together," said Berkowitz, a Wharton graduate. Berkowitz also discussed the Holocaust and its lasting effects. He noted that there were only two countries where 100 percent of the Jews were saved during World War II. "Where people said, 'No, why should we hurt Jews?' the Jewish population was saved," he said. "Stand up and say, 'It cannot happen here.'" A member of the audience then asked about the proposed Holocaust memorial in Berlin. Berkowitz explained that the mayor of Berlin did not want the memorial erected. Berkowitz himself traveled to Berlin in hopes of reasoning with the mayor. "I am an activist," Berkowitz said. "Silence in my opinion is not an answer." In addition, the ADL is currently involved in a highly publicized attempt to get the acquittal of 13 Jews accused of espionage in Iran. Berkowitz said he considered the conditions of the trial to be unfair -- the prosecutors and the judges are the same, there is no jury and the defense attorneys are not allowed to talk to their clients. "If Iran carries this forward, they will be ostracized by the world community," he said. Berkowitz also discussed several educational initiatives the ADL has undertaken to promote tolerance and understanding. In one program, students travel to Washington, D.C. to undergo a tolerance-training program and visit, among other sites, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Several members of the audience later said they were quite impressed by Berkowitz's commitment. "I think he is a phenomenal leader and activist," said Rachel Saifer, a student in the Graduate School of Social Work. "We have a lot we can learn from him." "I think the work of the ADL is some of the most important in the country," added College sophomore Ari Alexander, a Jewish Renaissance Project fellow. "For those of us engaged in such work, it is important for us to hear about what they do."
(04/18/00 9:00am)
The Penn women's crew team lost all four of its races on Saturday at the Orange Challenge Cup against Northeastern and Syracuse. But if you ask the Quakers about their performance, they'll tell you that winning isn't everything -- at least not this past weekend in upstate New York. "We're really happy about the race in general. We were in control the whole way. It was a much better race than at Yale [on April 1]," Penn senior co-captain Loren Berman said. Northeastern was victorious in the varsity eight, junior varsity eight and novice eight, while Syracuse took first place in the varsity four. However, perhaps most importantly for the Red and Blue, all of the Penn boats finished no more than 16 seconds behind the first-place boat. The Quakers entered the regatta two weeks removed from their last competition. As a result, they were physically and mentally refreshed after two weeks of concentrating on refining their own skills. "It was great racing across the board," Penn coach Barb Kirch said. "The two weeks of specific training and conditioning was clearly evident in their racing. The other crews were just faster." Heading into the regatta, the Quakers knew they would be up against solid competition, especially with the Huskies in the water, whose varsity eight remains undefeated. "We knew Northeastern was going to be a strong team. We had a boat meeting the night before, and we planned where we were going to be and that actually ended up happening," Berman said. The racing conditions of the course on Lake Onondaga were far from ideal, which in the end worked against the Red and Blue. "The course was really choppy. We had trouble setting a rhythm through the body of the piece," Penn junior Dara Friedman said. All in all, the Quakers feel that they are back on track after a disappointing loss to the Elis. "At Yale, when they started to move on us, we panicked and didn't react. With Northeastern, we kept our composure and moved right with them," Berman said. "The whole way down, the three boats were jockeying for position." Despite the fact that the Cup remains with Northeastern for the fifth consecutive year, the race results provided a needed confidence boost heading into the prime of the season. "When you're a second away from winning, it shows that we have enough energy and strength to stay with a good team. We're looking forward to beating them at Sprints [in May]," Friedman said. This Saturday, the Quakers hope to continue to improve upon their solid performance at Syracuse in their regatta against Cornell and Rutgers on the Schuylkill. "We're really looking forward to racing Cornell, especially on the home course," Friedman said. Heading into the upcoming weekend, Penn's confidence is on the rise. "There's definitely room for improvement, but now it's a matter of fine-tuning," Berman said. Now at the halfway point of the spring season, the Quakers look to utilize their growing confidence and racing experience to help them race well in May at the Eastern Sprints and NCAA Championships.
(04/18/00 9:00am)
Although they did not bring home the Childs Cup, the members of the Penn men's heavyweight crew team returned home from Carnegie Lake optimistic after a strong performance against the Princeton Tigers. Even the rain could not put a damper on their high spirits and prevent them from enjoying the remainder of Spring Fling weekend. Saturday's race came down to the wire, with both crews fighting hard for the lead from start to finish. In the end, Princeton emerged victorious with a time of 5:44.8, with Penn a close second, clocking in at 5:45.51. Columbia and Temple placed third and fourth, respectively, neither posing a serious threat. Temple was a guest in the regatta. Penn coach Stan Bergman was very pleased with his team's performance. "Our guys did a great job and only lost by about two feet," he said. "All in all, it was a great race and came down to the last couple of strokes." The level of intensity was high right from the start. The Tigers and Quakers raced the entire course without any more than a two-seat margin. "It was thrilling to be in that competitive of a situation, and it was a kick in the balls to lose by only 7/10 of a second," Penn captain Greg Jenemann said. "Technically, it was a great race and gives the team much optimism for the rest of the season, because Princeton is always tough." After a slightly disappointing performance at the San Diego Crew Classic over April's first weekend, the Red and Blue have shown marked improvement, rowing with more confidence and cohesion and, therefore, producing greater boat speed. "We have made so much progress since the Crew Classic two weeks ago," senior Lew Goettner said. "As long as we keep it up at this level and each row up to our potential, we'll be in good shape for the Eastern Sprints." The Quakers look forward to racing the Tigers again in May after such encouraging results this weekend. "It was an incredibly competitive dogfight as the lead shifted back and forth the whole way," junior Keith Sutter said of Saturday's regatta. "It was a great race -- it showed the heart and balls of the whole team." The varsity race was by far the most exciting. The Quakers' second varsity crew finished in third place behind Princeton's second and third varsity boats, while Penn's first and second freshman crews each took second place behind the novice Tigers. The Quakers look to progress further during practice this week as they prepare to race at Columbia with the Lions and Yale this weekend. They will compete for the Blackwell Cup on the Harlem River in New York. After starting off their cup racing season on a high note, the Quakers anticipate an exciting and successful season. The No. 7 Red and Blue also hope to improve in the rankings after coming so close against the No. 4 Tigers. "Neck-and-neck tight races like these are why I love rowing," Goettner said of Saturday's exciting competition. Bergman echoed Goettner's sentiments regarding his team's results. "It was a gutsy performance by our crew," Bergman said. "I hope we will continue to improve and work hard on all levels."
(04/18/00 9:00am)
Penn missed a good chance to move up in the Ivy League race. The third time was certainly a charm for the Penn men's tennis team on Saturday when it beat Dartmouth in Hanover, N.H. Unfortunately for Penn, there's no adage about a fourth time, as the Quakers fell to Harvard, 1-6, on Sunday in Cambridge, Mass., breaking their three-match Ivy winning streak. Penn (11-9, 3-2 Ivy) began its day against Dartmouth by sweeping all three doubles matches. Although the courts were lined by a large number of Dartmouth students, the Quakers managed to keep their concentration and defeat their opponents. The notable exceptions were at the No. 1 and No. 5 positions, with Fanda Stejskal and Joey Zupan both losing. Stejskal had been favored to win his match, and Zupan suffered his first Ivy League singles defeat this year. However, the rest of the Penn team was able to make up the difference, as the Red and Blue glided past the Big Green 5-2. "Fanda and Joey Zupan lost, but other guys like Rob Pringle and Brian Barki stepped up," Penn coach Gordie Ernst said. "It was a good team victory. We were the favorite for the first time, and we played like it." The Quakers took the momentum from their three-game winning streak to Cambridge, but were unable to manage a win over the Crimson. Penn only won one doubles match at the No. 3 position, with Pringle and Brett Meringoff defeating William Lee and Dalibor Snyder. Penn did not perform well in singles either, with only a singles win by Stejskal in the top spot. Stejskal defeated John Doran, 6-4, 6-1. His win was in stark contrast to the defeat of the previous day, especially since Doran is considered one of the best players in the Ivy League. "I started off really bad. I was told that he played a big game, and I expected him to be like Sampras and for him to kill me," Stejskal said. "I thought I was going to have to play like Agassi to beat him. I was down three-love; I had lost my serve; and then I decided to play my own game and I killed him. "I still think we had a shot at Harvard, and the results sound kind of brutal, but I think it was a lot more even than that." Despite the loss to Harvard, Penn's season so far has shown the Ivy League that the Quakers are not the team they were a year ago. Already 4-2 in the Eastern Intercollegiate Tennis League, Penn has turned the tables on teams like Dartmouth -- the Quakers lost 1-6 at home to the Big Green last year. "The team commitment at the start of the year that they were going to hold each other responsible for missed practices and missed runs and that they were not going to accept mediocre work effort -- that's been the difference," Ernst said. "There were guys last year who brought the whole team down. I got rid of them. Now we have a true team attitude, and we have a true care for the results of the matches. My job is to remind them how bad it felt to lose to these teams last year." Although Penn was unable to defeat Harvard on Sunday, the Quakers will have another chance to prove that they have advanced to the upper echelon of the league when they face Columbia on Friday. "The unfortunate thing is that we went to Harvard with confidence, but we didn't play well. A lot of people went out there and played not to lose instead of playing to win," Ernst said. "Columbia has beaten everyone except us and Princeton, and when we play them we have to play to win. We can do it, and there is no pressure. But we have to play to win."
(04/18/00 9:00am)
The Quakers led after round one, but a blistering Princeton finish put Penn in second place. The Penn's men's golf team finished in second place in the Ivy League Championships held at the Metedeconk Golf Course in Jackson, N.J., this past weekend. The Quakers finished with a three-day total of 904, nine shots behind the victorious Princeton Tigers. "Princeton played as well as they could," Penn junior Todd Golditch said. "No one lost this tournament, they won it -- they deserved it. There is always next year." For Penn senior captain and two-time All-Ivy selection Rob Goldfaden, there is no next year. "We didn't play as well as we would have like to," Goldfaden said. "We definitely could have beaten them." On a high note for Penn, freshman Chad Perman finished in second place overall. Perman shot 73-73-75 to finish only two shots back of Princeton freshman Nat Hoopes. Penn's Kyle Moran finished tied for third with Judd Pritchard of Princeton by shooting 71-77-75. Both Moran and Perman earned first team All-Ivy honors. Quakers freshman Endel Liias finished a respectable 11th, with scores of 77-77-76. Senior captain Goldfaden struggled in rounds one and three with an 81 and 80, respectively. Goldfaden finished in 14th place with a three-round total of 231. Golditch rounded out the Quaker's starting five with a three-round total of 241. After round one of the tournament, the Quakers found themselves in a very fortuitous position -- first place. The Quakers shot a terrific 301 behind Moran's 71. Round two of the championship was also scheduled to be played on Saturday but was delayed due to darkness. "We were in a great position on Saturday when play was stopped," Golditch said. "Rob [Goldfaden] was at four-under par, and Endel [Liias] was already in with a 77." Unfortunately for the Quakers, Princeton pieced together the tournament's best round, a one-over-par 289, behind the steady play of freshman Hoopes. For Goldfaden though, it wasn't the outstanding play of the Tigers that irritated him. "Unfortunately, the darkness broke up a good rhythm that I was in," Goldfaden said. "Obviously there was nothing I could do. It was getting dark, but it would have been nice to finish on Saturday and not wake up early Sunday to be on the course at 8 a.m." The only teams stranded on the course in round two were Dartmouth and the Quakers. Goldfaden played the last three holes in two over par; Moran finished with a 77; and Golditch posted an 81. Before the Quakers began the final round, they had lost their lead and faced a five-shot deficit. The Quakers finished strong with a third-round total of 306, four shots behind long-time rival Princeton. "If someone told me before the tournament that the winner would break 900, I never would believe it," Golditch said. Penn will travel to Princeton, N.J., this weekend to finish off its season at the Princeton Invitational. "It would be nice to beat Princeton at Princeton," Goldfaden said, "But it wouldn't make up for losing the Ivies."
(04/18/00 9:00am)
The Penn men's lightweight crew team was at the banks of the Orchard Beach Lagoon in Pelham, N.Y. -- racing and losing. Every Penn boat finished behind both Yale and host Columbia, with the Elis winning every race. In the varsity eight race, all three teams were within two boat lengths of each other for the first 1,000 meters. A fishing boat located at 1,200 meters created an obstacle for the Penn boat, which had to leave its lane to get around the vessel. This put the Quakers at an unrecoverable distance behind the other teams. Penn protested because of the interference of the fishing boat, but officials did not allow a re-race. The Quakers believe the obstacle played a key factor in their loss. "It completely took us out of the race," Quakers senior captain Ben Goldman said. "It killed our momentum." Besides this obstacle, the Quakers felt that the other teams had an unfair lead at the start of the race. "Columbia started about two boat lengths ahead of us," Penn varsity rower Garrett Cameron said. "It was just a poorly run race." The junior varsity eight boat complained of a similar unfair lead by both Columbia and Yale. "It was as if we weren't even in the race at the start," Penn commodore Michael Smolenski said. "This isn't an excuse [for the loss], but it definitely contributed." The Quakers also attributed their loss to a low stroke rate. According to junior varsity rower Eamon Jordan, this low rate of strokes per minute may be due to the fact that the team is using longer oars than might be optimal. This week, the Quakers are testing shorter oars as well as switching rowers between boats in order to get to the root of their problem. "Our losses make us work harder at practice," Smolenski said. "We want to fix the problems as fast as we can." The Red and Blue have reason to believe that they can turn things around this spring in time for Eastern Sprints on May 21. This past fall, Penn demonstrated an ability to emerge victorious from showdowns against high-quality competition. To begin the autumn season, the Quakers varsity eight defeated both Navy and Rutgers at the Navy Day Regatta on October 10 on the Schuylkill. The Quakers improved throughout the fall and ended on a high note, sweeping their opponents at the Frostbite Regatta on November 13. "We started out slow in the fall," Goldman said. "We're more patient now because we realize that we're building." Next weekend, the Quakers will have the opportunity to evaluate the changes that they make this week in practice when they race at Princeton against the Tigers and the Midshipmen. While the Quakers expect tough competition from both teams, they look forward to a more profitable race than their last three. "I guarantee some boats will win this weekend," Jordan said. "Or at least not finish last."
(04/18/00 9:00am)
Penn finished behind the hosts but ahead of Princeton at the three-team meet. The Penn women's track team experienced a wealth of individual highlights en route to a second-place finish at a tri-meet at Yale this past Saturday. The team, which competed against Ivy League rivals Yale and Princeton, had traveled to New Haven with hopes of returning victorious. However, the Quakers fell short and finished 27 points behind Yale with a final total of 62 points. The Quakers reeled in individual victories but were hurt by the lack of points won by the team as a whole. While several team members have been incredibly consistent thus far this spring, the Red and Blue have yet to enjoy a meet where the entire team is clicking on all cylinders. This weekend, the Quakers will resume Ivy League competition in a dual meet against Cornell on Saturday. This meet has added significance for the team members as it is their final competition before the Penn Relays. The team will, however, enjoy a three-week home track advantage for the remainder of the spring season. "[Being on your own track] always gives you extra focus and determination," junior thrower Yinka Orafidiya said. The junior recorded a second-place finish in the hammer throw event with a throw of 40'7". Junior thrower Amy Nichols also tallied second-place points as she set a mark of 133'5" in the discus throw competition. Orafidiya also commented on the team's solid performance in the face of uncooperative weather. "We all could have done better, but we did well under the weather conditions," she said. Saturday's rainy competition did not deter many of Penn's stalwarts. The team was again led this weekend by junior captain Jajuan Gair, who recorded first-place finishes in both the 100-meter hurdles and the 100 dash. Gair managed to set a personal record in the dash with a time of 12.63 seconds, continuing to perform exceptionally. She also shined two weekends ago by taking first-place honors in the 100 high hurdles at the University of Pennsylvania Invitational. A strong performances was logged by junior Bassey Adjah, who recorded second-place finishes in both the 100 hurdles and long jump competitions. The strength of the Quakers jump team was further demonstrated on Saturday as senior captain Ruthie Neuhaus finished second in the triple jump and junior Jen Thompson finished third. Both Quakers recorded jumps of 37'10.75". The team's Most Outstanding Freshman from a year ago, Liz Wittels, continued to excel as she tied a school record in the pole vault. Wittels recorded a mark of 12'0", while junior Ami Desai recorded a second-place finish with a vault of 10'0". Despite the many successes of individual athletes, the Red and Blue will look to improve in this weekend's meet. The women will need to do just that as they get closer to the Heptagonal Championships May 13-14 and to the ECACs two weeks later at Princeton. Though it carries its own significance, this weekend's meet will also be the team's final preparation before Penn Relays, and sophomore Jeraldine Cofie stressed the importance of the upcoming meet. "[This weekend's meet] will be very competitive and a good [indicator] of our preparation before Relays and Heps," Cofie said. Cofie has been another of the team's consistent assets as she ran on the winning 4x400 team this past weekend. The quartet, which has changed legs throughout the season, continues to perform exceptionally well. The relay team has yet to finish any place other than first in outdoor competition. The Red and Blue will not dwell on these past successes, however. And though the team continues to have a positive outlook, the Quakers will need to strive for improvements to better their disappointing sixth-place finish at indoor Heps this past winter and to finish their season on a strong note at home.
(04/18/00 9:00am)
Penn students had a rare opportunity on Sunday to learn about careers in the performing arts directly from alumni who have gone on to reach their dreams of performing professionally. The Performing Arts Career Symposium 2000, presented by the Office of Student Performing Arts along with several campus organizations, brought seven alumni to the Annenberg Center's Studio Theatre. The panelists have distinguished themselves in various careers -- including screenwriting, acting, theater directing and even clowning -- after graduating from Penn. The discussion, moderated by SPA Coordinator Ty Furman, began with the alumni discussing their different experiences at Penn. A common theme among the speakers was their emphasis on extracurricular activities, as most of the alumni participated in some type of theater activity at Penn. For instance, Adam Gerstacov, a 1986 College graduate who now works as a professional clown, said he "ended up becoming really involved with Intuitions" during his time here. Susan Bernfield, the founder of an off-off-Broadway theater, was involved with Penn Players and Quadramics. Paul Provenza, a comedian and actor who has appeared in numerous productions on stage, film and television, then related his unique experience as an undergraduate to the audience. He owns the distinction of being the first Penn student to receive a bachelor's degree in Theater Arts. "There was no Theater Arts department," he told the 10 undergraduates present. "I ended up with the first Theater Arts degree, before they even had a program." Panel members also discussed their lives after Penn -- including the less glamorous parts -- like working odd jobs and sleeping on friends' couches while attempting to make their work known. Provenza gave advice to aspiring performers in the audience. "What's really important is to have something you can call your own," he said, a sentiment echoed by other panel members. "For me, it was stand-up comedy." And Josh Goldsmith, a 1992 College graduate and writer for the CBS comedy The King of Queens, added, "You can't depend on other people for your opportunities." Gerstacov advised students to be familiar with the business aspects of their intended professions, noting that Legal Studies courses were particularly valuable to him. After the panel discussion, the audience members moved upstairs to a reception held in the Annenberg lobby, where they mingled with the guests. "Our alumni [are] amazing. They love doing this?. They love talking to the students," Furman said. Furman added that attendance at the annual event tends to be much higher than it was on Sunday. He said he thought holding the event on Spring Fling weekend contributed to the poor attendance. Provenza said he had been particularly interested in participating in the symposium "because there was nothing like it when I was here." Janet Casamento, a College and Wharton senior who served on the 2000 Symposium Committee, said, "It's really? nice to see alumni who want to come back and give us the benefit of their knowledge."
(04/17/00 9:00am)
Although he entered to the lighthearted tune of the Dave Matthews Band's "Ants Marching," Arizona Sen. John McCain took on a more serious tone on Friday when he addressed almost 500 Gen-Xers. The former Republican presidential candidate spoke on a variety of topics -- including his pet issue, campaign finance reform -- at the Penn Tower Hotel Friday morning, kicking off the We the People 2000 convention. The national convention featured a weekend of events designed to work against the stereotype of young voter apathy by teaching adults aged 18 to 35 how to get politically involved -- an issue McCain confronted immediately during his speech. "I care because you are the future of America," McCain said to the approximately 500 delegates gathered in Philadelphia for the convention. The senator, who has become one of the most popular politicians in the country since his unexpectedly strong challenge to Texas Gov. George W. Bush for the Republican presidential nomination, noted that only a small percentage of 18- to 35-year-olds voted in the 1996 presidential election. He expressed his disappointment in the inability of American government to captivate young people. "That shames me as a person who believes that public service is the noblest of all professions," he said. McCain spent about 20 minutes telling those assembled about his motivations for running for the Republican nomination for president, his experiences on the campaign trail and his own political beliefs. "We started a campaign based on reform," he explained. "The gateway to [reform], my friends, is campaign finance reform." Then McCain opened the floor for the remaining 45 minutes to questions from the audience. McCain was asked to tackle questions about everything from legalizing marijuana to health care reform to immigration policy. Delegates also inquired about the senator's future political plans, including whether he would buck the GOP. "The Republican Party is my home," McCain said when asked whether he would run for president on the independent ticket. "We fought an honest fight and I'm proud of it." Finally, McCain addressed his possible endorsement of Bush, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. McCain said he would wait until a scheduled May 9 meeting with the governor to make a final decision, although he indicated he would most likely come out with strong support for Bush. The We the People 2000 convention, sponsored by the Foundation for Individual Responsibility and Social Trust, attracted about 500 people in the 18-to-35 age range for three days of speeches, community service events and political workshops. On Friday, after McCain spoke, delegates attended theme sessions on American government. The afternoon seminars were followed by an evening speech by Jason Nastke, the 20-year-old mayor of Valatie, N.Y. Nastke was introduced to delegates by University President Judith Rodin. Saturday was devoted to more workshops, but also featured the presentation of the Generational Action Plan -- a document that has been the work-in-progress of FIRST conventions for three years -- designed to give young people ideas for how to become more politically active in their communities. Capping off the weekend, the delegates -- who represented 40 of the 50 states -- attended a series of strategy workshops.
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Penn had not beaten Cornell or princeton in its seniors' careers. Heading into this weekend, Penn seniors Michelle Zaptin, Suzanne Arbogast and Kari Dennis had never been able to defeat either Princeton or Cornell in their collegiate softball careers. In fact, it had been eight and five years, respectively, since the Quakers had been able to muster up wins against these two Ivy powerhouses. But in the final homestand of the season and the last in the career of Penn's three graduating seniors, the Quakers came away with dramatic come-from-behind victories over both Princeton and Cornell, recording two splits and picking up their first two Ivy League wins on the season. "I'm quite proud of my team," Penn coach Carol Kashow said. "Both of our wins were come-from-behind victories. We faced adversity, but that didn't stop us. We're growing up a little and maturing." The Quakers' success began on Friday afternoon at Warren Field when they squared off against Princeton. Penn (13-24-1, 2-6 Ivy League) scored three times in the sixth inning to erase a 1-0 deficit and come away with a 3-1 victory over the Tigers (17-19, 6-2). The game was scoreless through the first four innings as pitchers Penn freshman Becky Ranta and Princeton senior Sarah Peterman cruised. The Tigers, who had not lost an Ivy League game prior to this weekend, drew first blood in the fifth with an RBI single from second baseman Mackenzie Forsythe. But Penn fought right back in the bottom of the sixth. Sophomore left fielder Clarisa Apostol led off the inning with a walk, which was followed by a bunt single from freshman shortstop Crista Farrell. Sophomore third baseman Jen Moore then tied the game with an RBI single to right before the Quakers took the lead after freshman designated player Heidi Albrecht and right fielder Deb Kowalchuk were hit by pitches in consecutive at-bats. Moore scored and made the score 3-1 after an error by Princeton shortstop Kim Veenstra. Ranta, who gave up one run on five hits, got the complete game victory to give the Quakers their first win over Princeton in 16 games. "When the catcher caught the last out of the game, that is something that can never be taken away from you," Kashow said. "For the kids, it's a huge thing." The strong play and the excitement, however, did not carry over into the second game against the Tigers. Princeton sophomore pitcher Brie Galicinao completely shut down Penn, as she tossed her first career perfect game and carried the Orange and Black to an 8-0 victory. The clear-cut MVP of the game, Galicinao was not only perfect on the mound, but was also impressive at the plate, going 3-for-3 and scoring a pair of runs. The Red and Blue returned to action yesterday against defending Ivy League champion Cornell. But the Quakers once again showed that they were undaunted by the competition, as they picked up a come-from-behind, extra-inning 5-4 win in the opener. Penn trailed 4-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning before scoring twice to send the game into extra innings, capped off by a Moore sacrifice fly. The Quakers then got the victory with two outs in the bottom of the 10th when Apostol singled home freshman catcher Dani Landolt. Ranta got her second win in three days as she pitched all 10 innings, improving to 9-9 while recording her team-high 11th complete game. But the Quakers once again could not keep the momentum rolling as they were shut out by Cornell freshman Andrea Carrol, who tossed a six-hitter to lead the Big Red to a 7-0 whitewash in the nightcap. The doubleheader against the Big Red was, in fact, nearly a spitting image of the twin bill against Princeton. In both cases, Penn picked up dramatic wins over teams they have historically struggled against in the opener before getting shut out in the nightcap. "We're sort of like a butterfly coming out of a caterpillar," Kashow said. "We're starting to grow, emerge and show our wings." The victories were especially important for Penn's three seniors, who played in their final game at Warren Field yesterday. "My four years have gone by really fast, and I'm sad that this is the last game that we'll ever play here," senior captain Zaptin said. "But it felt really good to beat Princeton Friday, and taking one from Cornell is very exciting."
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In its first home Ivy weekend of the season, the Penn women's tennis team had little trouble overpowering Dartmouth, 7-2, on Friday. But the Quakers' three-match Ivy winning streak ended when they fell to Harvard in a tough 5-4 battle the next day. Though the Ivy League title is pretty much out of the picture for the Red and Blue (10-11, 3-2 Ivy League) -- as Princeton, which beat the Quakers 6-3, is currently undefeated -- Penn coach Michael Dowd believes that regardless of scores, his team's performance is as good as ever. "We played very well this weekend, particularly in singles," Dowd said. "We fought very hard. I don't think we can win the title, but we could finish at two or at least three." Saturday's matches against Harvard were held at the Levy Pavilion because of the rain, and even though Penn played well in singles, the Quakers' top players did not come away with wins in the close matches. At No. 1 singles, the Crimson's Sanja Bajin had a killer backhand and got into seemingly endless baseline rallies with Penn's Lenka Beranova. Bajin eventually took the match, 6-2, 6-3. At No. 2 singles, Penn's Anastasia Pozdniakova fell to Harvard's Vedica Jain, 7-5, in the first set. Pozdniakova came back and took the second set 6-3 before Jain overpowered her 6-1 in the third and final set. "When somebody's just better than you, there's nothing you can do about it," Pozdniakova said. "You just have to take it as it is." Penn's Shubha Srinivasan, Jolene Sloat and Rochelle Raiss had little trouble winning at Nos. 3, 5 and 6 singles, respectively against Harvard. When Penn was up 3-2 in singles, Louani Bascara faced the Crimson's Jennie Timoney in a three-setter that lasted nearly three hours before Timoney finished the match off, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. The Harvard players, who had been cheering feverishly for Timoney in that last singles match, seemed to gain momentum from her win. Though Penn's Elana Gold and Srinivasan overcame their opponents, 8-1, at No. 3 doubles, the Crimson's 8-3, 8-0 wins on the first two doubles courts secured the win. "That match could have gone either way very easily," Harvard coach Gordon Graham said. "Any of those three-setters could have gone either way. Penn's tough. That Louani, what a competitor. Penn's got a good team, and we were lucky to win." Penn started the weekend off on a better note at the Lott Courts by easily taking five of the six singles matches against the Big Green. Most Quakers in the singles lineup quickly took the lead in their matches, never to look back. At No. 1 singles, Beranova easily overpowered Dartmouth's Rebecca Dirksen, 6-0, 6-2. The Big Green's Sarita Yardi gave Pozdniakova trouble at No. 2 singles, though. Yardi was up at the net almost every point, and she had no trouble executing nearly impossible-to-get drop shots and thunderous smashes at the net. Yardi took Pozdniakova, 6-2, 6-3. Srinivasan, Bascara, Sloat and Raiss all dominated their matches at Nos. 3, 4, 5 and 6 singles, respectively. After singles, Dartmouth had already lost the match, but they still fought hard in doubles. After being up 4-1 at No. 1 doubles, the Penn duo of senior co-captain Gold and Beranova dropped a few games to Dartmouth's Dirksen and Allison Taff, bringing the score to a close 5-4. Gold took control whenever she was at the net, though, smacking the ball at her opponents' feet or smashing the ball right between them. The Penn duo ultimately took the match, 8-4. "Dartmouth is known for their doubles," Gold said. "They have good hands at the net and good chemistry with each other." At No. 2 doubles, Pozdniakova and Bascara fell behind, 2-1. The Quakers fought their way back to 7-7 against the Big Green's Yardi and Caroline Bashleben, but the Dartmouth pair eventually took the match, 9-8. Srinivasan and Sloat fended off the net-happy Dartmouth duo of Courtney Smalley and Carolyn Roth at No. 3 doubles and took the match, 8-6. "Penn came out to play today," Dartmouth coach Jennifer Callen said of Friday's match. "They were very competitive and played tough from the beginning to the end. They never let up."
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Charleston Thompson paraded in front of the Kappa Sigma fraternity house Thursday in full Hugh Hefner attire -- silk robe, pipe and leopard-print slippers. Soon after, Thompson pulled off the robe to reveal a hot-pink Speedo. But the demonstration was for a good cause -- the College sophomore was participating in the third annual Kappa Sigma fraternity date auction. Hundreds of people crowded the lawn of the house and spilled out onto Locust Walk to watch 14 men and 15 women get auctioned off to the highest bidders. And both the dates and the bidders said the experience was well worth it. "He's worth every penny," said College freshman Yngrid Gonzalez, who paid $80 for a date with Thompson and a gift certificate to Johnny Valentines'. "He's that hot." Bidders were required to pay an entry fee of $1, plus whatever amount of money they bid. The date auction brought in about $3,500, with the highest bid being $350. All proceeds went to the American Red Cross. "I came to help out charity but, more importantly, to bid on some beautiful ladies," College freshman Mike Mittelman said. The auctionees came out of the Kappa Sig house one at a time, strutting their stuff and dancing to the blasting music. Among the men auctioned off were College senior and Quakers basketball star Michael Jordan ($95) and Queer Student Alliance president and Engineering junior Kurt Klinger ($60). And the women who came out for the auction included Check One president and College sophomore Desiree Strickland ($290) and Kappa Alpha Theta president Sonali Chakravorti ($90). "Everyone told me you have to get really crazy, but I didn't want to so I just dressed up," said Chakravorti, a Wharton junior, who was wearing rabbit ears and a furry collar. "Now nobody's dressed up and I feel stupid." But the crowd's response to Chakravorti was very positive. "It's for charity, it's fun, even though I already have a tuxedo -- and Sonali's a cool girl," said Wharton junior Mark Hodgson, who paid $90 for a date with Chakravorti and a free tuxedo rental. The major prizes this year included dinner with College senior Leah Bills at Brasserie Perrier ($150) and dinner for 10 at Marrakesh with College senior Uttara Patel ($350). And Wharton senior Ryan Robinson, who came out with a red rose in his teeth, fetched $100. "It's a really good cause," said College sophomore Mary Ferrer, who "won" her best friend Robinson. "The American Red Cross is an exceptional charity."
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As Penn students went about the task of cleaning up after a weekend of non-stop partying yesterday, University Police spent Sunday taking the toll of what they say was one of the least disruptive Spring Fling weekends in recent history. Over the course of the three-day event, six students received disorderly conduct citations and six were sent to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania with alcohol-related illnesses. The most serious incidents of the weekend took place early Friday and Saturday mornings when police broke up parties on the 3900 block of Baltimore Avenue and at the Zeta Psi fraternity house. "Crime-wise, we did very well," University Police Chief Maureen Rush said. "Ninety-nine percent of the students had a great time and understood what it takes to stay within the limits of the law." Rush added that the majority of the disorderly conduct citations were distributed early Friday morning, after University Police officers broke up a string of parties on the 3900 block of Baltimore Avenue at around 12:30 a.m. "[The partygoers] were spilling out into the highway and it was starting to become a large block party on Baltimore," she said. "With the volume of people, it was becoming very dangerous and there were some serious fire and crowd control issues." According to several students who were present at the time, University Police began by asking students to vacate the residences, then forced them to move eastward on Baltimore Avenue. "As far as I know, at first they just told people to vacate the houses," Engineering junior and Baltimore Avenue resident Ben Williams said. "They weren't forceful at first. Then as more time passed, they just started throwing people out of houses." "I think it was an awfully large reaction to a non-existent problem," he said. Rush said the students who received disorderly conduct citations did so for failure to cooperate with University Police officers trying to control the crowds. "The issue on the 3900 block of Baltimore is that it's almost all student housing, and when every house is having a party, it's total chaos," she said. "The officers found that [at 12:30 a.m.] it was to the point where it could have escalated into a dangerous situation for everyone involved." "For the most part, when it was time to close parties down, most people were cooperative," Rush added. The other serious incident of the weekend took place early Saturday morning, when police officers and University Alcohol Policy Coordinator Stephanie Ives broke up a party taking place at the Zeta Psi fraternity house at 3337 Walnut Street. Police stormed the house at 2 a.m., ending the party and forcing the nearly 600 people in attendance to vacate the house. Fraternity leaders say that although the party was approved earlier by Ives and no alcohol was served, the police likely intervened because of the presence of outside alcohol on the premises. "I'm upset because the police gave the fraternity no opportunity to close the party," Zeta Psi President and Wharton junior Mark Hodgson said. "They used scare tactics even though our party was non-alcoholic, and Stephanie [Ives'] justification was that there was alcohol there because there was about 60 cans of beer around the house." "If we were serving beer, wouldn't there be more than 60 cans at a 600-person party?" Hodgson added. According to Rush, the party was shut down because of capacity issues and complaints from neighbors. "Approximately 400 to 600 people were in the place," Rush said. "It was overcrowded and that was why it was shut down -- it was just so loud." Few other serious incidents marred the weekend. The 18 students who received citations from the state Liquor Control Enforcement bureau and Penn Police is similar to the number in recent years. Of the six students sent to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, none were believed to be in serious condition. "I thought people generally tried to have a good time and not interfere with others' quality of life," Rush said. "And I think for the most part people were amenable to the things we had to do."
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N.Y. Mets skipper Bobby Valentine made some controversial remarks at a talk at Penn last week. His remarks were then posted on the Web. A casual afternoon talk with Penn students on the business of baseball last Wednesday turned into a potentially job-threatening nightmare for New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine over the weekend. By Friday morning -- after one of the students at the talk posted some of the controversial manager's comments on the Mets' World Wide Web site -- Valentine was smeared all over the back pages of the New York tabloids. Students at the talk spent the weekend answering calls from reporters seeking to confirm the Web account of the talk and to track down rumors about the existence of a video of the event. Once the remarks became public, Valentine made several attempts to pressure campus media outlets not to release audio or video footage of the event. UTV-13 President and General Manager Eric Gordon, confirming the existence of a video, said yesterday that the student-run television station taped the event. Though he would not say whether UTV-13 has possession of the video, he said that Wharton Wide World of Sports, which sponsored the talk, had told him they wanted the tape. "At first they were concerned with what we were doing with the tape," said Gordon, a College junior. Then, Gordon said, the group requested that any copies of the tape be given to them. The Wharton club declined to comment last night. On Friday, Valentine directly contacted the Daily Pennsylvanian reporter who covered the talk and asked that her audio tape not be released. According to that tape, Valentine was critical of several past and present Mets players -- including outfielders Rickey Henderson and Derek Bell, and former Met Bobby Bonilla -- as well as of the team's management. Valentine sprinkled his potentially inflammatory statements with remarks like, "I'm willing to handle all those questions as long as this isn't going to be seen on 20/20." In the audio tape, Valentine is heard saying that Bonilla "found something, and he lost something" this year after being signed by the Atlanta Braves. "He found his stroke, and he lost 45 pounds. That makes a big difference," Valentine said. "To lose 45 pounds, there has to be a commitment, and there seems to be a commitment this year, interestingly enough, because he's without a contract this year." Valentine was also critical of his team's failure to sign Japanese reliever Kazuhiro Sasaki over the winter. Sasaki signed with the Seattle Mariners. "I was a proponent during the offseason to say, 'Let's boost our bullpen,'" Valentine said. "I thought that if we can sign this kid Sasaki, who's a free agent, it would have cost us no talent, just a little money, and we would have one heck of a baseball team right now?. But the group who makes the decisions decides that wasn't a good idea." Valentine did not directly speak against Bell, acquired by the Mets over the winter, although several in attendance at the talk felt that Bell was the $5 million player the Mets manager alluded to when speaking of young outfielder Benny Agbayani. "Benny's in that situation where some would say if he was given 600 at-bats, he would have a lot more production than someone else that's making $5 million and getting 600 at-bats," Valentine said. Valentine was also not directly critical of Henderson, as the student who posted to the Mets' Web site originally asserted. Several in attendance agreed that Valentine's comments about Henderson were in jest. According to notes of the DP reporter who covered Valentine's talk, when asked how he deals with a player such as Henderson, the Mets manager gave a tongue-in-cheek response. "I don't," Valentine said, according to the notes. "I just ignore him as much as I can. Seriously, the personality of Rickey? it's the same personality that we all have, probably that he's always had?. I try not to change his personality but to get him to play as hard as he can every day he goes out there." Valentine, who had earlier praised some of his ballplayers for being "worldly in their ventures," is heard on the tape relating a story about Henderson. Valentine was reading The Wall Street Journal on the team bus when Henderson boarded. "[Henderson] said, 'Hey, Bobby, what are you reading?' I said, 'The Wall Street Journal.' And he said, 'You mind if I look at the sports page when you finish?'" Valentine said, provoking laughter from the audience. "Worldly, he's worldly." Valentine also spoke of stadium plans for the Mets and the New York Yankees. Prefacing his statements with, "This would get me in a lot of trouble with my owner," Valentine advocated "one building for two teams." "I don't think there's any way the City of New York and the public [are] going to co-venture two buildings in excess of a billion dollars each for these rich kids that run around with baseballs and rich owners that make a lot of money," Valentine said. The DP's audio tape did not record the entire speech, and the consensus of several students there was that many of Valentine's remarks were in jest. Some of the tabloid reports, they say, were taken out of context. After initial reports of the event surfaced on Thursday, Mets General Manager Steve Phillips -- with whom Valentine has a famously contentious relationship -- made an unscheduled trip to Pittsburgh to discuss the event with Valentine. Though Valentine's job has been anything but secure for months, the Mets said over the weekend that the remarks made at Wharton were not a fireable offense. "Steve and Bobby have talked," Mets spokesman Jay Horowitz said last night. "Steve has heard Bobby's side and what happened or didn't happen, and we're prepared at this time to close the door and move on." Valentine could not be reached for comment last night. "Brad34," the student who posted the comments on the Mets' Web site, said in an e-mail last night that he regrets his postings. "Believe me, I never had the intention of creating such a stir," the student said. "I just wanted to share some of my interpretations with some lunatics on a baseball board. This has just gotten way out of hand, and every party involved has certainly been adversely affected."
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Despite a fast start, the Quakers fell on the road to No. 9 Dartmouth. Going into its game with No. 9 Dartmouth on Saturday, the Penn women's lacrosse team knew it would be in for a long afternoon. But after a quarter of the game had been played, the Quakers (5-5, 1-4 Ivy League) found themselves very much even with the Big Green (8-1, 5-0). Two early goals by sophomore Traci Marabella and a tally by freshman Christy Bennett kept Penn close at 4-3 with 14 minutes left in the first half. The Quakers, however, ultimately could not keep up with the defending Ivy champs, and the home squad pulled away to a 10-4 lead at the break and to an 18-7 victory. All-Americans Jacque Weitzel and Kate Graw combined for five of the Big Green's goals in a 6-1 run late in the first half that broke the game open. "They're just a better team, and they should have beaten us. But I don't think they should have beaten us that badly. I would say they should have beaten us maybe by five or six goals, but I don't think it should have been 11 goals," Penn coach Karin Brower said. "Midfield transition, they doubled real hard and were really aggressive. And then their attackers are just stronger and more physical and go to goal harder than anyone we've seen." Still, the margin was a far cry from last year's blowout at Franklin Field, when the Big Green blitzed Penn by a 20-2 count. Marabella, the Red and Blue's leading scorer did her best to match the Big Green on the scoreboard, tallying four goals, but it was not enough to keep the Quakers hopes alive. The sophomore took a blow to the head early in the first half that required stitches after the game, but stayed on the field after sustaining the injury. "I thought Traci had her best game of the season. She was much better this game, and she had five shots on goal and scored four. She hustled much more in the midfield and came up with the turnovers," Brower said. Penn also received a first-half goal from Crissy Book and a late score from Kate Murray. But Dartmouth goalie Sarah Hughes was able to save 13 shots, and the Big Green offense rolled along, scoring five of the first six goals of the second frame. The Quakers, however, were unable to generate a consistent attack, constantly stymied by not having possession of the ball. "The thing that bothered me was that we didn't have possession that much. Dartmouth would bring the ball down and pass it around for a while and then move it into the middle for a shot," said Penn senior Brooke Jenkins, who noted that the Quakers were unable to follow this same pattern when they brought the ball up. "We forced some turnovers, but they're solid with the ball." With the loss, the Quakers have fallen in three consecutive games, dropping to just 1-4 in Ivy play. And while Penn knew that Dartmouth would be one of its tougher opponents, it was looking to possibly surprise the Big Green powerhouse. But once again, the Quakers defense struggled at times. Though Penn received strong defensive play from Bennett -- who held Weitzel in check for most of the game -- and Whitney Horton, the Quakers were hampered by the need to go with a goalie by committee system. In Wednesday's 15-11 loss at Rutgers, freshman Alaina Harper started in net for Penn and was replaced by junior Christian Stover at the break. Against Dartmouth, the opposite took place, with Stover recording six first-half saves against 10 goals allowed and Harper notching four second-half saves against eight goals. "We had some defensive errors and just didn't communicate too well on defense, and we didn't save a lot of balls," Brower said. "Christian had six saves and 10 goals against, and you can't stay in with that. Both Christian and Alaina have been playing about the same. If one of them goes in and plays great, they'll stay in. "But right now we seem to have to change because we need to try something else. We just need to come up with more saves -- that's the biggest thing." The road doesn't get any easier for the Quakers from here, as the team travels to the other preseason favorite in the Ivies -- No. 2 Princeton -- for a game on Wednesday afternoon. Penn is still optimistic about its chances in that game, but it is an optimism tempered by the Red and Blue's play in Hanover, N.H., over the weekend. "For our team, it's a learning experience," Brower said. "We played better than we've been playing. [But] if we want to get to be at that level of Princeton and Dartmouth, there are definitely individual things that we need to do."
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Penn swept Saturday's doubleheader with Cornell and split Sunday's, but fell a game back in the Gehrig Division. While the fans of the Penn baseball team enjoyed the bliss of the official opening of the new stadium at Murphy Field this weekend, the Quakers themselves quietly went about the business of winning. With a doubleheader sweep of Cornell on Saturday afternoon at the Penn Baseball Stadium at Murphy Field and a split in the twin bill yesterday, Penn improved to 17-14 overall and 7-5 in the Ancient Eight. But while the Quakers were able to take three of four games from the Big Red to open their Lou Gehrig Division play in the Ivy League, they fell one game behind Princeton, which swept its two weekend doubleheaders with Columbia. However, with two doubleheaders at Old Nassau this coming Friday and Saturday, Penn is not concerned about the division standings -- yet. "We're in a position where we're pretty much in control of our own destiny," Penn hurler Mike Mattern said. "We're going to go there and play them four games. And if we walk out of there with three or four of them, then it's to our advantage. We just have to play well there. "The one game isn't really that much of a big deal. It'd be nice to be tied or ahead a game, but we're right in the middle of things right now." The highlight of the weekend was undoubtedly Mattern's gem in the opening game of Saturday's doubleheader. As a steady drizzle fell -- interrupted only by spurts of heavy rain -- Mattern mastered the Big Red, allowing no hits or runs through the first five innings of the seven-inning contest. But in the sixth, as dreams of a no-hitter danced through the heads of the 377 wet souls in attendance, Cornell pinch hitter Vince Santo punched an opposite-field single through the right side of the infield to end Mattern's bid. "I left the pitch up, and the kid hit it into the outfield," Mattern said. "It was my own fault." But Mattern did not allow another hit the rest of the way and the Quakers won, 4-0. "I was throwing the ball real well. It was probably the best I've felt all year," Mattern said. "[A no-hitter] would've been nice, but I don't think you can get disappointed." In the second game of the day, the Quakers jumped out to an early 4-1 lead as the rain subsided and never looked back, completing the sweep of the doubleheader, 6-2. While impressive freshman pitcher Ben Otero could not match Mattern's line from earlier in the day, he did receive the same decision -- a win -- and improved his record to 3-2. As he has been several times this season, Otero was solid, giving up only two runs on seven hits in seven innings of work. Cornell fell apart in the bottom of the third, allowing the Quakers to score all the runs they would need. With runners on second and third following an error, Cornell pitcher John Osgood served up a wild pitch as Penn center fielder Andrew McCreery was at the plate, allowing Glen Ambrosius to score and Jeff Gregorio to go to third. Gregorio then scored on McCreery's groundout to advance Penn's lead to 4-1. In yesterday's first game, the Quakers -- as they have many times this season -- were not able to hold their opponent in late innings. In the seventh and final frame, Cornell shortstop Mike Nemeth singled in pinch runner John Mills from second, putting the Big Red up 4-3. Cornell also added an insurance run in that inning, taking a 5-3 lead that the Quakers neither overcame nor dented in their last licks. The two-run seventh spoiled what had been an otherwise splendid outing for Penn pitcher Mark Lacerenza, who fell to 1-4. "It seems that Mark is kind of snakebit in games like that," Mattern said. "We don't really give him run support like some of the other pitchers get. He's had some tough losses like that." In the nightcap, the Penn bats exploded late to provide the Quakers with a 10-2 blowout victory and an exclamation point on a successful weekend. The Big Red pushed a run across the board in the top of the first, as Erik Rico's one-out single drove in center fielder Justin Irizarry. The 1-0 score held up until the fourth, when the Quakers tallied a run of their own. In the bottom of the sixth, Penn scored seven runs, more than was needed to put Cornell away. The inning featured RBI doubles off the bats of Kevin McCabe and Ambrosius. Catcher Ralph Vasami chimed in with a two-RBI single.
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From music acts in the Quad to a pancake breakfast, students enjoyed the weekend's activities. The clouds parted to reveal a shining sun Friday morning, heralding the beginning of Penn's 28th annual Spring Fling. And although the sun did not last the entire weekend, the bright rays were definitely a good Fling omen. In a sea of sunglasses and capri pants, students flooded the Quadrangle in the afternoon hours, anxious to discover what Fling 2000 had in store for them. The theme for this year's fling was "Fling Me Baby One More Time," alluding to the ubiquitous Britney Spears hit. And the light-hearted spirit of the teen pop star certainly seemed to be in the air. "I love the sun, that is all I have to say," College freshman Lisa Snyder exclaimed. Students took advantage of the warm temperature, and spent time sunning themselves on the green in Lower Quad, eating funnel cake and barbeque chicken from the vendors and listening to the performing musical groups. In Upper Quad, students donned huge sumo wrestling costumes, painted their hair wacky colors and climbed a giant inflatable mountain. Over the two-day event, Jon Herrmann, chairman of the Social Planning and Events Committee, estimated that between 7,000 and 10,000 people passed through the Quad gates to partake in the festivities. For freshmen, last weekend marked their inaugural Fling experience. With rumors of past Flings and the highest expectations swirling in their minds, the reviews were largely positive. "It was weird to have a carnival in your dorm," said Frank Wang, an Engineering freshman. "But it is also very cool." The festival did not live up to everyone's expectations, however. After experiencing the campus-wide party herself, College freshman Jasmine Orders said, "Fling is all hype." Still, some students kept going strong on Saturday despite the unwelcome dark clouds and rain that overshadowed the Quad. "It is our last Fling," College senior Bart Riley said. "Locusts and frogs couldn't keep me away." Though the bands and entertainment performed as planned, the turnout for Saturday morning and early afternoon was weaker than on Friday. During band K-Floor's performance in Lower Quad in the early afternoon on Saturday, the band's lead singer beckoned sleepy-eyed students out of their dorm rooms to join them in the rain. "Why don't you all come out of your bedrooms and party with us?" he asked. "It's a little rainy outside but we're having a great time." The rain let up for a bit though, just in time for Mask and Wig's traditional closing show on Saturday afternoon. The biggest crowd of the day -- about 3,000 people -- assembled, filling almost all of the Lower Quad. Mask and Wig entertained the crowd with their customary satirical blend of song and dance. Since last year's nudity was such a big hit, three members of the group decided to bear it all once again this year. The group was forced by SPEC to cut their show short, however, because of some scheduling difficulties encountered during the day. The group was forced to take the stage half an hour later than originally scheduled. The crowd begged for one last song, and the group was happy to oblige with their signature "Tuition" -- a takeoff on the well-known Fiddler on the Roof theme. Fling Co-Chairman Michael Silverstein commented that the scheduling problems were unfortunate, and although they were some initial hard feelings on the part of Mask and Wig, the difficulty was resolved. "In the heat of the moment they were angry, they wanted to perform," said Silverstein, who is also a 34th Street editor. Saturday night, after things had long since quieted in the Quad, throngs headed over to Hamilton Village for a Hawaiian-themed carnival complete with free food, carnival-style games and novelty attractions. The turnout for the evening's activity was record-setting according to Silverstein. Christina Chiew, a College sophomore and Fling carnival chairwoman, estimated that between 2,000 and 3,000 people were in attendance. As part of the University's plan to provide non-alcoholic social options for students, there was a great deal more emphasis placed on this year's carnival planning, Silverstein said. And drawing Spring Fling weekend to a close was a midnight pancake breakfast at the Class of 1920 Commons. Hundreds of students turned out from midnight until 3 a.m. to grab a tasty late-night snack before calling it a night.
