CAMPUS BRIEFS: Wednesday, November 11, 1998

Two institutions join the fight against cancer The affiliation between Fox Chase Cancer Center and the Temple University Health System was not in response to Penn's announcement, spokespeople from both institutions said, adding that the affiliation has been in the works for a few months. The affiliation -- which is not a merger and will be in effect for 10 years -- will build on an already-successful relationship between the two programs and will expand and enhance their current clinical and academic cancer services. "This new relationship will give us added depth, flexibility and resources to develop clinical programs and conduct clinical trials," said Robert Ozols, senior vice president for medical science at Fox Chase and the new program director for the joint program, in a statement. Penn Health System spokesperson Lori Doyle said Penn officials expected the announcement and do not think the affiliation will directly impact Penn's Cancer Center. Northeast Philadelphia's Fox Chase, like Penn's Cancer Center, is one of the National Cancer Institute's 35 comprehensive cancer centers. -- Naomi Blivaiss New Wharton building tops UC agenda A report on plans for a new, $120 million Wharton School building heads the agenda for today's University Council meeting as the Campus Facilities and Planning Committee presents its 1997-98 year-end report to Council. The proposed building is slated for the present site of University Plaza, the abandoned former home of the Penn bookstore at the corner of 38th and Walnut streets. Officials have thus far refused to make public any blueprints or detailed architectural plans for the Wharton building. The committee's report, published yesterday on the Web site of Almanac, an official University publication, reflects the 14-member group's concerns about their limited involvement in advising University Board of Trustees about the project. Several concerns about the building's architectural plans were also raised. Specifically, the committee emphasizes that Penn administrators should have held multiple meetings with the group about a project of this scope. They also suggested that interested members of the University community should be afforded opportunities to review and discuss plans for major projects. Architecturally, the committee expressed concern about the height of a proposed rotunda for the building, and recommended reducing its size to avoid overshadowing neighboring buildings. Council has not been updated on plans for the building since being briefed by Wharton Dean Thomas Gerrity and Associate Deans Janice Bellace and Scott Douglas in May. -- Binyamin Appelbaum and Jeremy Reiss Penn professor is a guest on ABC's '20/20' Psychology Professor Howard Stevenson was a guest on last Wednesday's 20/20 show on ABC highlighting the special relationship between African American mothers and their sons. Stevenson has done research which showed that this bond is a result of the fact that African American mothers are constantly worrying about their sons -- not because the sons are inherently violent or immoral, but because society sometimes views them as such. Stevenson is currently working on a program to teach hostile African American youths how to control their anger through martial arts and basketball. The program is a five-year project which is being funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. Stevenson and his team of researchers will follow 300 area youths over five years, teaching them martial arts and measuring their anger levels in an attempt to reduce them. Stevenson will use basketball to see how often the kids become angry because he believes that people tend to get emotional and violent on the court. Part of the experiment will be to place the participants in situations that make them angry in order to test their reactions. Stevenson is a tenured faculty member of the Psychology Department and the Graduate School of Education. He is also faculty master of DuBois College House. Volunteers from the house will work with the kids over the course of the program, he said. -- Myrtland Roberts