CAMPUS BRIEFS: Thursday, June 24, 1999

New SAS degree to be offered through GSE The program will be a collaborative effort by the Chemistry Department, the Graduate School of Education and local secondary school teachers and administrators. Chemistry Department Chairperson Hai-Lung Dai, who made the presentation to the Trustees' Academic Policy Committee, said a nationwide trend indicates that many high school students have inadequate backgrounds in the sciences. Those that do have a good science foundation, Dai said, are generally from abroad. "To teach science in high school these days, you only need an education degree, which is heavy in pedagogical courses, not content," Dai said. The plans for the program call for an entering class of around 10 students each year, with 10 required courses -- eight in Chemistry and two courses taught by Graduate School of Education faculty members. SAS will review the program -- which is the sixth new masters degree that the School has proposed in the past three years -- within the next three years, the resolution said. -- Eric Tucker Trustees approve new Cancer Biology Dept. The University Trustees approved a resolution Friday calling for the creation of a department of Cancer Biology in the Medical School. The department will emphasize the "basic biological issues" associated with cancer and will operate in association with the soon-to-be created Abramson Family Center Research Institute, according to the proposal. At the Trustees' Academic Policy meeting, Medical School Senior Vice Dean Richard Tannen said a unique discipline -- one that "doesn't really absolutely fit into other departments"-- explores the biological growth of cancer cells. "There is widespread recognition by the research community of the increasing importance of cancer as a model system in which to study a broad spectrum of basic, biological issues," the proposal said. The proposed department would provide for a more comprehensive and consolidated study of cancer biology within the Medical School. The proposal has already received sound endorsement from various academic and administrative bodies in the Medical School, including the Standing Committee of Department Chairs and Directors of Centers and Institutes; the System Implementation Group and the Health System Trustee Executive Committee. -- E.T. H.S. student-leaders attend U. program Fifty high school students from across the nation will travel to Penn this summer to participate in the Wharton School's Leadership in the Business World program. The four-week program will run from June 26 to July 23 and is designed to introduce high school students to issues affecting the business world in the upcoming century. Participating students will attend classes, workshops and class trips that will give them both knowledge and experience in the business world. According to a Web site on the program, the program will "expose students to the major risk factors impacting the development of business leadership for the 21st century." Students will be housed at Bryn Mawr College but attend classes at the Wharton School on Penn's campus. The total program costs $4,000 per student, with financial aid available for participating students. Some of the classes offered during the program include Marketing, Managerial Economics, Accounting and Computers. Students will also take trips to the Rittenhouse Hotel, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange and other sites in Philadelphia. And extracurricular activities during evening and weekend hours will allow the participating students to take recreational trips or receive instruction in sports such as tennis and golf. -- Karlene Hanko