COLUMN: Living in a material world

From Stephanie Cooperman's, "The Velvet Hammer," Fall '98 From Stephanie Cooperman's, "The Velvet Hammer," Fall '98As companies continue to arrive on campus this month to recruit seniors, it is evident that a Penn diploma helps put money in your wallet and stock options in your portfolio. And no one seems to care. It is little wonder that Penn students engage in ostentatious displays of materialism. In a world where cell phones and electronic planners are almost cliched, where the nouveau riche are worshiped as 21st century demigods and money buys political power, status is everything. Americans seem ready to divide the pie, grab their share and eat it publically. But shouldn't Penn -- an institution of higher education and a self-proclaimed bastion of diversity -- avoid the status bias that characterizes our society? Sadly, this doesn't seem to be the case. In the grand tradition of American colleges, the University is only need-blind to a certain point in the admissions process. Here, a bigger donation will get one invited to special receptions during Parents' Weekends and before home football games. And Sansom Common stands as monument to the social class the University wants to be associated with -- a world characterized by upscale perfume stores, an excessive number of coffee shops and designer camping equipment as its symbols. Material status seems to take precedence over academic-based priorities, as well. Who needs a Political Science department when students can buy a lattZ on every corner? Such status-searching leads to two kinds of students: those who follow trends in their attempt to gain as many status symbols as possible and those who turn to scholarship-based associations. But both categories are defined by their relationship to the ever-present term "status." Penn remains the microcosm of a larger world where what you are is not only more important than who you are, it defines who you are. Of course, a diploma from our fair institution is often deemed the "key" to a higher personal status. The image of the Ivy League school with brand-name professors, brand-name courses and brand-name extracurricular activities can only bring to mind the offer of a brand-name job. Employers buy into this assumption when they recruit in droves from Penn's "designer" student body. That isn't to say that status-seeking is always detrimental -- it just depends what kind of status. No one can deny that a top-ranked university benefits from a more selective student body and a more distinguished faculty. But the benefit is not only measured in dollars and cents. Penn students should realize that the true benefit comes from getting a better education. When students leave campus with their diplomas in hand, they will most certainly be carrying the cliched cell phone and electronic planner. They will be striving to become part of the nouveau riche. And they will want to take quite a bit of the American pie to display on the dashboard of their Lexus. But no one will attempt any ostentatious displays of intellectualism. This isn't about intellectual snobbery. It's about teaching students to care about thoughts and ideas. Perhaps that isn't even Penn's job. The admissions brochure didn't necessarily say that reading Kierkegaard and studying Milton Friedman's theories would make anyone a better person. Perhaps material wealth is the only measure of status in today's society. Perhaps it is the only way to announce that one has "made it." But Penn has an obligation to set trends for the wider world and not merely remain its arbitrary tail. It must wag the dog. If the new provost takes an interest in improving academics, if students make concerted efforts to seek knowledge in addition to material wealth and if the University stops building coffee shops, maybe it will be possible to redefine status -- even on Locust Walk. · Velvet Hammer: 2 oz. Vodka 2 oz. White Creme de Cacao 2 oz. Light Cream The mixture is shaken with ice and strained into a cocktail glass. The result is smooth but potent.