Year in review 1998 / NOVEMBER

The month started off with news of the announcement that administrators plan to spend $300 million over the next 10 years to renovate every campus dormitory and dining hall, effectively changing the face of campus and enabling the physical layout of the dorms to fit into the new college house system. The plan called for dramatic renovations of all three high rises and the demolition of the Stouffer Triangle. Residents of Stouffer College House, which is scheduled to be torn down in 2001, were upset with the plan to tear down their home, saying that Stouffer is the only house that embodies the ideals of the college house program. November also saw the campus respond to an early-morning, knifepoint assault of a sophomore woman inside a basement bathroom of Steinberg-Dietrich Hall. The victim was able to fight off her attacker and did not sustain any serious physical injuries. A 16-year-old West Philadelphia resident was arrested and charged with attempted murder and attempted rape days later. The incident prompted outcry from across the University, as rumors circulated that security alarms didn't work and guards did not respond to the victim's calls for help. All of those rumors were soon dispelled, though the Undergraduate Assembly and Division of Public Safety continued looking for ways to improve security in buildings open 24 hours a day. As is tradition, November was a big month for politics -- Republicans Sen. Arlen Specter and Gov. Tom Ride both easily won re-election to their respective Pennsylvania posts. Two days later, Philadelphia was named as the host city for the 2000 GOP convention, a huge economic boon for the City of Brotherly Love. In other news, Penn officials happily accepted a $10 million gift from longtime Penn donors Walter and Leonore Annenberg; feminist activist Gloria Steinem spoke to 900 students about her life; and Shelley Green, the University's general counsel since 1982, announced her resignation. And on November 14, the Ivy League football crown returned to Penn when they clinched a tie for the title after beating Harvard and won the title outright the following weekend. Despite warnings from University Police, thousands of students stormed the field following the game for the traditional tearing down of the goal post, which was then ceremoniously tossed into the Schuylkill River. -- Ben Geldon