Hackney named speaker for Muhlenberg College
Former Penn President Sheldon Hackney has been selected as the commencement speaker for Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa.
On May 23, Hackney -- who now serves as a History professor at Penn -- will receive an honorary doctorate of humanities from Muhlenberg, and also have the chance to speak to the college's Class of 2004.
Hackney served as provost of Princeton University and president of Tulane University before he became president of Penn -- a post he held from 1981-1993.
Hackney left the University to accept an appointment from President Clinton to serve as chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. He returned to teach at the university in 1997.
-- Molly Petrilla
City 911 system crashes
The city's emergency system crashed for a period of approximately 20 to 40 minutes on Tuesday night. Six hundred officers on duty throughout the city lost their electronic connection to police headquarters at about 9:05 pm.
The malfunction occurred shortly after police in Germantown called for assistance during an attack on an officer.
"Our worst nightmare was experienced last night," said Bob Eddis, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The malfunction forced authorities to adopt a back-up system, communicating through radio dispatchers.
Officials said that they did not know the cause of the problem, nor that of a similar incident two months ago. A future contingency plan has since been established should the malfunction happen again.
-- Elizabeth Thomas
