CAMPUS BRIEFS: Thursday, June 11, 1998

Former Chief Clisby loses job with UPPD Today, he is on unemployment. According to Managing Director of Public Safety Tom Seamon, Clisby's current post -- director of police administration -- was eliminated in a restructuring of the Public Safety Division last month. Seamon declined to comment further, noting that "internal personnel matters are confidential." Clisby could not be reached for comment. Formerly a lieutenant on the force, Clisby was named director of police and security patrol operations -- for which he was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the University Police -- in March 1994. When the department was restructured in January 1996, the hands-on work of dealing with patrol cops and detectives was assigned to Director of Police Operations Maureen Rush. Clisby was left to handle the force's administrative, communications and long-term development projects in his current post. Clisby's brief tenure as the University's top cop was riddled with a number of high-profile incidents for the department. In October 1995, two University Police officers were dismissed for allegedly participating in assaults on two homeless men behind the Civic Center while on duty September 16. One of those officers, Thomas McDade, also was charged with felony aggravated assault for breaking the jaw of Drexel University alumnus Gregory Peifer that same day. In November 1995, Clisby met with controversy when several University Police officers accused him of trying to keep officers from testifying in court cases in order to avoid having to pay officers for their testimony. Nevertheless, several police officers reported being surprised by the administrative shift. "I was surprised," one officer said. "It took everyone by surprise." -- Edward Sherwin Health problems afflict Specter after bypass Healthcare is still at the top of the agenda for U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) after he had fluid removed from his lungs twice this week following last week's successful heart bypass surgery. Specter, 68, was diagnosed with aspiration pneumonia on Tuesday morning by doctors at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. According to a release from his office, Specter is breathing on his own, but with assistance from a ventilator. Doctors performed bronchoscopies on the 1951 University alumnus on both Sunday and Monday. The procedure, which involves removing excess fluid from around the heart and lungs to improve the patient's breathing, is common after heart surgeries. Specter checked himself into the hospital last Saturday, complaining of chest pains. He underwent surgery two days later to bypass two blocked arteries. This is not the first time health concerns have plagued Specter. He had a benign tumor removed from his brain in 1993, and once again in 1996 Specter is currently seeking to become the first four-term senator in Pennsylvania history. Having easily won his party's nomination May 19, he faces Democratic nominee William Lloyd in the November election. -- E.S. Bochetto formalizes candidacy for mayor Pennsylvania Boxing Commissioner George Bochetto announced his candidacy for Philadelphia mayor yesterday, vowing to radically change the city so that it will "have a future as great as its historic past." Bochetto, a Republican, hopes to win the 1999 mayoral election on a platform calling for more police officers, reforming schools and lowering taxes, including eliminating the city's wage tax. "My plan will create an environment which will draw wage-earning families back into Philadelphia and stop the rush of homeowners and taxpayers moving out," Bochetto said in a written statement. Also an attorney, Bochetto has been in the news lately for seeking to disqualify other potential mayoral candidates -- including City Council President John Street -- from the race based on their raising of campaign money while serving in city government. Current Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell is ineligible to run for office again because of the position's two-term limit. -- Ginny Dorsey Jacobs retires as head of Hospitality Services Dining Services is about to lose it's heart, according secretary Betty Calter. And that heart is Don Jacobs, executive director of the soon-to-be defunct Hospitality Services. After 24 years at the University, the 65-year-old will say farewell at his retirement party next Wednesday. Although the University opted not to outsource Dining in April, it did sign a letter of intent with Bon Appetit Management Co. The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company will operate food service facilities in the Perelman Quadrangle, consult in restructuring Dining and act as the University's primary caterer, thereby ousting Hospitality Services. The University is currently conducting a search for a managing director for food services to replace Jacobs. The director will serve as a liaison between Dining, Bon Appetit and Trammel Crow Co., the Dallas-based firm which took over Penn's facilities management April 1. Jacobs said he'll be sorry to leave, although he joked he has the necessary requirements for retirement: "old and rich." "There's an old saying that you'll leave when you're not having fun anymore," Jacobs explained. "Well, I'm still having fun." And because Jacobs is not one to covet the limelight or to differentiate between "boss" and "employee," he will share his party next week with four dining union members who are also retiring. "He went to the bookstore and order bowls for [the retiring union workers]," Calter said. "It's just the kind of person he is -- he treats his employees like family." Jacobs downplayed any extraordinary actions, noting that it was only natural to insist that the University honor his "colleagues." "I would feel uncomfortable having a party honoring only me," Jacobs said. "There are four others leaving with me and they've all been here longer than I have." Although Jacobs will be missed, he said he is looking forward to the new challenges of retirement, such as learning to play golf. "I like golf, I just have to figure out whether I'm good at it," he said. Jacobs, who is married with three children -- one of whom is a Wharton graduate -- said he will spend some time at his retirement home in Kiawah Island, S.C. -- G.D.