Charity campaign extends deadline

Blame it on the ice. That's what the University Comptroller's Office is doing to explain a two-day delay in the release of this year's Penn's Way campaign totals, expected to be announced today. While Comptroller Barbara Murray said she could not release any exact figures until today, she said the campaign has already brought in more money than last year's disappointing drive. That drive fell $58,000 short of its $425,000 goal despite the fact that the deadline for contributions was extended several weeks. The final day for this year's Penn's Way -- the University's annual giving drive which solicits charitable contributions from University employees -- was supposed to be Friday, but because the ice storm closed the University, the deadline was extended until Monday. On Monday, the comptroller's office received several requests from people who wanted to bring their contributions in on Tuesday. And the comptroller's office feared that problems with mail delivery, which was cancelled Friday due to the ice, would mean some contributions would reach the Franklin Building too late to be included in the totals, Murray said. So the deadline was pushed back to yesterday. But yesterday, Murray, who is responsible for tabulating the Penn's Way totals, said she was still hoping to receive contributions by mail. So, the figures are expected to be released at noon today. After finding last year that many employees resented the pressure to give to Penn's Way placed on them by the University, the administration decided not to set a goal for this year's drive. The campaign historically runs from October to January. It uses a team of volunteers to target more than 8,500 employees University-wide. Engineering Dean Gregory Farrington, who is chairperson of this year's Penn's Way campaign, is out of town and could not be reached for comment.