Campus is crazy for committees

By CARA TANAMACHI A committee was not formed to help write this article. Neither was a panel, a task force or a blue ribbon commission. But lately, it seems that's about the only time a University group hasn't been formed to analyze an issue and make various recommendations all in the name of getting something done. Enough committees and panels have been formed in recent months to confuse the most ardent of bureaucrats so here's an official what's what and who's who list: ·Commission on Strengthening the Community Commissioned by: Interim President Claire Fagin and former President Sheldon Hackney. Chairperson: University Trustee Gloria Chisum. Purpose: To evaluate University "core community values," including diversity, free speech and civility; to look at race relations and all "inter-person" relations on campus. Report Deadline: Preliminary report expected in January. Final report due March 31, 1994. ·Consultative Committee for the Selection of a President Commissioned by: the University's Board of Trustees. Chairperson: Alvin Shoemaker, chairperson of the Board of Trustees. Purpose: To recommend to the Board of Trustees three people for the position of president. It is the Board's job to decide which candidate will be president. Deadline: No official deadline. Shoemaker has said that he hopes to find a new president by the end of the school year. ·Judicial Inquiry Office Evaluation Committee Commissioned by: Interim President Claire Fagin and Interim Provost Marvin Lazerson. Purpose: To evaluate JIO procedures. The committee has yet to be formed, but Fagin said she expects the committee to start working sometime this semester. ·Public Safety Task Force Commissioned by: University Police Commissioner John Kuprevich and Vice Provost for University Life Kim Morrisson. Purpose: To evaluate the actions of the University Police during the April 15 theft of nearly 14,000 copies of The Daily Pennsylvanian. What they found: The committee gave their report to the VPUL's office in July. They found that the DP theft was a violation of the University's Open Expression Guidelines, but not a crime. They said University Police officers should not have arrested students but instead should have called Open Expression Monitors to the scene to regulate the protest activity. This committee did not analyze the actions of the students involved in the paper theft. The JIO is currently deciding whether or not the students' actions merit disciplinary action. ·ROTC Evaluation Committee Commissioned by: Interim President Claire Fagin and Interim Provost Marvin Lazerson. Purpose: To decide how to reconcile President Clinton's "don't ask, don't tell" policy with the University's non-discrimination policy. Lazerson has yet to announce who is on the committee. Deadline: Fagin said in July that the committee will likely have a year to analyze the problem.