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(07/02/98 9:00am)
The Daily Bruin LOS ANGELES (U-WIRE) -- University of California Regent Ward Connerly, well known for his crusade against affirmative action, called into question the ethnic studies programs on the University of California campuses, doubting their "educational value." An he plans an inquiry to determine their academic merit. "I want to visit privately with a number of faculty members and have them make the case that this is sound academic curriculum rather than the political correctness mindset.? I'm not convinced," Connerly said in an interview with The San Francisco Chronicle. He also questioned the legality of ethnic graduation ceremonies, noting that such graduation ceremonies serve only to "balkanize" campuses. "Shouldn't graduation day be the one day when all of our students, regardless of their backgrounds, can unite as one community?" he asked. Don Nakanishi, professor and director of the Asian American Studies Center at the University of California at Los Angeles, was "appalled, but not surprised by Mr. Connerly's latest campaign." Nakanishi welcomed Connerly and other regents to come and learn more about the ethnic studies programs at UCLA. "I think they will be impressed by our teaching, research, publications, archival collecting and university-public collaborations, which have been ranked as the finest in the nation and world," Nakanishi said. However, while considering the African American studies program, Connerly charged that such studies are devoid of educational import, having been founded upon the tenets of earlier decades. "All of the infrastructure created back in the 1970s and '80s as a result of black nationalism and the black power movement -- I think we need to re-examine it now," he said. According to the UCLA General Catalog, the African American studies major was originally designed in the late 1960s and early 1970s "to fill a void that existed at UCLA in terms of scholarly and curricular material relevant to the African-American experience." The major meets "a number of academic, personal and social needs" by examining the African American experience in the United States through a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach, ranging from theater to linguistics. Noluthandu Williams, a fourth-year African American and international development studies student and chairperson of the African Student Union, attested to the rigorous academic standards of UCLA's ethnic studies programs. She says the African American studies courses she has taken have been more demanding than many of her other classes. "Thirteen books and three 10-12 page papers, and that is not scholarship?" she asked, referring to an African American literature class. The Cesar E. Chavez Center for Chicana and Chicano Studies program also has high academic expectations. Students apply social, economic, educational, historical and political analysis to Chicana and Chicano studies. The major, as explained in the UCLA General Catalog, "provides students with the language and cross-cultural studies background that enhances their qualifications for positions in schools, governmental organizations and private enterprise." But Connerly remains unconvinced that anything concrete and scholarly is derived from these ethnic studies programs, instead contending that they only serve to perpetuate divisiveness along race lines. He said there should be cause for concern "if students who take these courses emerge more frustrated and more race-conscious than they were when they entered." Williams refuted Connerly's comments, noting that raising the levelof consciousness amongst students is one of the very goals of ethnic studies. She praised the courses not only for their academic value, but also their avoidance of "extremist or sensationalist curriculum" which appeals to students of all backgrounds. Although Connerly criticized the classes because "the only students in them are black and brown," African American studies, as written in the UCLA General Catalog, serves non-African American students by providing them "a broadening of perspectives to take into account more than a singular cultural view." Connerly, indulging in a quest to eliminate race-based features in education, has been reprimanded by Regent William Bagley for "micromanaging" in the university. Several regents at the UC Regents' meeting June 18 and 19 at the University of California at San Francisco also chided Connerly for bringing up the issue of ethnic graduation ceremonies, because they are usually funded by fees that are provided without regard to race. "It's a morass we shouldn't get into," said Regent John Davies. Professor Nakanishi also expressed his concern with Connerly's intrusion on the university's domain. "I really hope that he and the other regents think twice before they try to change, censor, or eliminate classes and degree programs that have been formally approved and regularly evaluated by our academic senate," Nakanishi added.
(05/15/98 9:00am)
Alumnus Jon Huntsman Sr. gave the largest-ever gift to a business school, with no strings attached. Wharton alumnus Jon Huntsman Sr., a philanthropist who made his fortune in part from the plastic foam in fast-food clamshells, has pledged $40 million to his alma mater with no strings attached, Wharton officials announced Tuesday. The gift is the largest single donation ever received by a business school and contributes to a record-breaking fundraising year at Wharton. The school has raised more than $100 million in donations over the last 12 months -- $35 million more than its fiscal year 1998 goal. Penn Vice President for Development Virginia Clark noted that it was "unusual" for the donor of such a substantial gift to place the money under the jurisdiction of administrators. But Huntsman, 60, said he felt "uncomfortable" designating specific uses for the donation, adding that officials are better versed in the financial issues confronting the school. Huntsman's only specification was that the gift be used to advance the school's overarching "strategic priorities," University Board of Trustees Chairperson Roy Vagelos said. The new 300,000-square-foot Wharton building -- set to occupy the current Book Store site at 38th Street and Locust Walk -- has already been pegged as a priority. With a $100 million price tag, and construction on the building scheduled to begin this fall, the Huntsman gift may have come at just the right time. Last month, Taiwanese businessman Chen Fu Koo and his two sons, Chester and Leslie Koo, pledged $10 million to fund planning and construction of the building. Wharton Dean Thomas Gerrity and University President Judith Rodin will consider how the school will spend the Huntsman gift over the next couple of months, Wharton Vice Dean of Executive Education and External Affairs Robert Mittelstaedt noted. Funneling the money into the building is a possibility, he said. Wharton spokesperson Chris Hardwick added that the donation was a "pure gift," noting that there was no stipulation that whatever the gift is used for bear Huntsman's name. Huntsman, who earned an undergraduate degree from Wharton in 1959, is the founder, chairperson and chief executive officer of Huntsman Corp., the largest privately held chemical company in the United States. And he is no stranger to Wharton's Development Office. Last January, the entrepreneur donated $10 million to endow a joint international studies and business degree program between Wharton and the School of Arts and Sciences. The program -- the first of its kind in the country -- combines international studies, foreign language and business education. Huntsman also made a $4.4 million gift in 1993 while co-chairperson of the Campaign for Penn, the University's five-year fundraising effort. And in 1989, he established the Huntsman Center for Global Competition and Leadership, a Wharton research program. Huntsman, who lives in Salt Lake City, has also donated $100 million to establish the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah. "The Huntsman family is truly one of the great 'Penn' families," Rodin said in a statement Tuesday. Huntsman currently holds a position on Wharton's Board of Overseers and served as a University Trustee from 1987 to 1994. His son, Jon Huntsman Jr., is a current Trustee. Huntsman, who came to Penn from his native rural Idaho in the late 1950s, said that his time at the University "set the stage for every moment" in his life. After leaving Penn, Huntsman revolutionized the fast-food industry by adapting polysterene products for the now-familiar clamshell containers that used to house Big Macs and Whoppers. Until the Huntsman gift, the University of Southern California boasted the largest single business school donation, a $35 million gift.
(05/15/98 9:00am)
and Edward Sherwin The University filled a few holes in the new college house system Wednesday as Interim Provost Michael Wachter announced the appointments of two faculty masters and a faculty fellow for the fall. English Professor Emeritus Robert Lucid and School of Social Work Professor Kenwyn Smith will take the helms at Gregory, a combination of Van Pelt and Modern Languages college houses, and Ware College houses, respectively. William Franklin, a research specialist in the Graduate School of Education, will move into the W.E.B. DuBois College House. With these appointments, only the faculty master positions in Stouffer and Community houses remain unfilled, although Wachter said these posts would be filled within the next two weeks. After threatening to resign over the administration's decision not to rehire Assistant Dean in Residence Diana Koros, Political Science Professor Steven Gale re-applied for the faculty master position in Community House. Wachter has not yet decided whether to renew his term. Franklin is the last of 15 faculty fellows to be named under the college house system. His appointment follows that of six other new fellows two weeks ago. "I think what we are doing is really critical for what we want to do with the undergraduate experience," Wachter said, emphasizing the importance of expanded house staffing. Lucid, 67, is no stranger to Penn's residential system, having served as faculty master of Hill College House from 1979 to 1996 and as chairperson of the Residential Faculty Council from 1994-96. He also chaired the Collegiate Planning Board, from which the idea for a comprehensive college house system originated. "Having Lucid back is just spectacular," Wachter said. "He's an exceptional Penn scholar and citizen." During his tenure at Penn, Lucid won both the Lindback and Ira Abrams awards for distinguished teaching, served as chairperson of the English Department and founded the Penn-in-London program. He will be moving into Gregory with his wife Joanne after a two-year absence. He left Hill in 1996 due to macular degeneration, a severe eye condition. Lucid said he hoped to create continuity between the 12 houses in the system and to unite Gregory's two buildings, the former Van Pelt and Modern Languages college houses. Wachter praised Smith, an organizational psychologist, as a "superb teacher" who is an "obvious guy to hold this position." Smith, in his mid 50s, should find students easy to work with because he is used to more heated conflicts that emerge in social welfare settings, Wachter added. The Australian professor will be joined in Ware College House by his wife, Psychology Professor Sara Corse, and his sons, 10-year-old twins Justin and Phillip and a 7-year-old daughter, Kalila. He stressed that accepting the position was a family decision, made only after his wife and children consented. "[Sara and I] both really planned to do this together," he said. "She is enormously talented." Corse, who has worked with drug dependent pregnant women and Smith, who co-founded the Metropolitan AIDS Neighborhood Nutritional Alliance, share a common interest in health and society. And Smith explained that they hope to use their experience to generate more community between Penn students and the neighborhood. Franklin, a specialist in child and adolescent development, comes to DuBois with plenty of experience. He was a residential fellow at California State University at Northridge, where he managed the daily operations of a 760-student dormitory.
(04/23/98 9:00am)
The Latino Coalition's complaints don't recognize ongoing efforts to increase minority presence. Members of the Latino Coalition have made a lot of noise this week about the University's "failure" to address Latino issues. But their concerns, ranging from low representation to high tuition costs, seem to have been made in a vacuum, without reference to the administration's current efforts -- or reality. We are all for increased minority presence and retention. Since the announcement of the Minority Permanence Plan in the fall of 1996, however, the University seems to have been taking steps toward those goals, particularly in the area of Latino representation. The number of incoming Latino students increased by 10 percent between 1996 and 1997. And the University brought in three new Latino professors last fall. Of course, these improvements are just a beginning. The University could always benefit from greater diversity. Additionally, Penn must work to hold on to minority students and ensure that quality minority professors are promoted through the ranks. It is a beginning though -- and an especially gratifying one since the numbers are plummeting elsewhere. The University of California at Berkeley, for instance, admitted only 434 Latino students into the class of 2002, in comparison to 1,045 admitted last year. The drop is due to a state-wide ban on racial preference. The Latino Coalition must recognize that dramatic positive change at Penn will not occur overnight. There is intense competition for bright minority students. And bringing in well-regarded minority professors is not as easy as sending an e-mail and having them show up the next morning. When the two Latino groups walked out of the United Minorities Council meeting last week, they said they thought they would be more successful communicating concerns on their own rather than as part of the umbrella organization. But since their departure from the UMC, the members of the Latino Coalition haven't been able to articulate a game plan for approaching the administration. The group doesn't even have a spokesperson. The UMC may not be the best possible mouthpiece. At least, though, the channels for communication are established. Administrators know how to contact UMC representatives, and they take them seriously. If you'd like to help the University's effort, go back to your high school and encourage minority students to apply. Or join the Admissions Office staff and let prospective students know about the receptive community at Penn.
(04/02/98 10:00am)
Kerry Lobel hopes to change the way homosexuals are treated in society and in politics. "We are in a state of virtual equality where we can see, feel and touch it? but it's not there," the activist told an audience Monday at Houston Hall. Lobel, director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, addressed about a dozen Penn alumni, undergraduates, graduate students and gay activists. The speech -- part of this year's program for the Bisexual Gay Lesbian and Transgender Awareness Days -- marked the 25th anniversary of the task force, a Washington, D.C.-based organization which crusades for gay rights and awareness. Lobel explained that although American society has become much more accepting of gays, it has done very little in the way of establishing legal protections for them. "There has been a tremendous cultural change that has reached every corner of the United States? but politically we're far from where we need to be," she said. Lobel also discussed the importance of the gay movement working to influence legislation at the state and local levels. Several of the students who attended the speech said they felt the program to be very important. "I think there is a strong sense of community here [at Penn]," said one student who requested anonymity. "But before I went to functions the gay students seemed invisible to me." Other students said Penn is slightly conservative when it comes to gay acceptance. "Some students here have a lack of exposure to gays and ignorance in general," said Chris Nguyen, coordinator of the Penn group Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual People in Medicine. "But as they meet people, their attitudes change." For her part, Lobel expressed hope that the gay movement's objectives would eventually be met. "Americans agree with civil rights for gay people," she said. "The challenge is getting politicians to do what the country wants." As for the future of homosexuality, Lobel claimed that one day people will no longer classify each other as "gay" or "straight." A graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles, Lobel has worked with several activist groups, including the Women's Project in Little Rock, Ark., and the Southern California Commission on Battered Women, where she served as executive director. Lobel has also authored several books on AIDS and domestic violence.
(04/02/98 10:00am)
U. Police arrest two men for alleged robbery According to police, Derek Gillard, 35, and Gentry Ware, 22, face charges of robbery, conspiracy and related charges for the incident, during which they allegedly stole $10 in cash from the students. The students were walking on the 3900 block of Spruce Street at about 12:30 a.m. when they were approached from behind by the two men, who brandished a knife and demanded their money. The men fled west after one of the students surrendered a $10 bill, according to police. Shortly after the students alerted University Police, two officers found the men walking near 40th and Market streets, allegedly carrying the knife and the money. The men were positively identified by the students and transported to the Philadelphia Police Department's Southwest Detectives bureau for processing. --Maureen Tkacik U. to award nine with honorary degrees A diverse group of nine people, including Commencement speaker Jimmy Carter, will receive honorary degrees at the May 18 Commencement ceremony. Doctor of Laws recipients will include former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, an advocate for mental health; Federal Reserve Board Chairperson Alan Greenspan and Penn Law School alumnus and emeritus trustee Arlin Adams, a long-time judge on the United States Court of Appeals. Doctors of Science degrees will be awarded to Francis Collins, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health, and College and School of Medicine alumnus Stanley Prusiner, a professor at the University of California at San Francisco and winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Medicine. Harvard Professor Frank Cross and children's book author and illustrator Maurice Sendak will receive Doctors of Humane Letters, while Jessye Norman, a celebrated opera and concert singer, will be awarded a Doctor of Music degree. -- Margie Fishman Computer bug blocks campus Internet use When a bug hits the central computing system of a campus as wired as Penn, the results are not kind to computer users. That is what happened yesterday afternoon as one of the school's network routers crashed, denying thousands in the University community access to e-mail and the Internet. Vice Provost for Information Systems and Computing Jim O'Donnell said the failed computer was one of several responsible for controlling traffic on the network. Students living in Hill House, the Quadrangle and the three high rises all reported problems with their network connections this afternoon. -- Edward Sherwin
(02/13/98 10:00am)
In Nagano, Japan, it would be a bronze. In the United States, the University's No. 3 ranking in total research funding from the National Institutes of Health comes without a medal. Not that Penn officials are complaining. The University's $217 million in NIH funding trailed only Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and the University of Washington system for fiscal year 1997, according to a recent compilation of these statistics. NIH funding, which is generally difficult to get, is considered a benchmark of quality for research institutions. Penn Vice Provost for Research Ralph Amado called the rankings "wonderful." "The faculty are to be greatly applauded for their efforts," Amado said yesterday. "Credit [for the ranking] goes to the individual researchers." The University moved up one spot from last year's fourth-place ranking on the strength of a $31 million increase in NIH funding over fiscal year 1996. The increase was mostly due to a $25 million rise in funding for the Medical School, which jumped from fifth to third in the rankings. Amado attributed the $175.2 million the Medical School received to "the faculty working very, very hard." He also applauded the efforts of William Kelley, dean of the Medical School and head of the Health System. The Nursing School's No. 1 ranking was the highest of any school at Penn. The school moved up one place from last year. Nursing Dean Norma Lang said the climb is "the measurable outcome of recruiting the best faculty and the best students." "[The news] is probably one of the greatest pleasures," Lang said. "It's like getting an A-plus." The Nursing School has steadily climbed in the national rankings, surpassing schools of nursing at the University of Washington and the University of California-San Francisco over the last five years. That climb is a result of the Nursing School's status as a leading center of research, according to Barbara Medoff-Cooper, director of the Center for Nursing Research. She cited research into the impact of hospital restructuring on the quality of patient care, AIDS research and research into home care for the elderly as some of the programs at the Nursing School with high levels of funding. The University has made high rankings in NIH funding a strategic priority, according to Lang. Indeed, University President Judith Rodin described the rankings as another sign that "Penn is really accelerating in terms of its goals." The NIH is the single largest source of research funding at the University, which received a total of $351 million in research funding during fiscal year 1997. Eighty percent of that funding came from the federal government, according to Amado.
(10/27/97 10:00am)
Last fall, University President Judith Rodin announced financial initiatives for recruitment and retention of underrepresented minorities, but has anything happened since then? One year after University President Judith Rodin announced financial initiatives aimed at increasing the underrepresented minority presence on campus, administrators say they are satisfied with the progress made toward the programs' long-term goals. But students and faculty emphasize the need for more work before the plan can be deemed a success. In the September 1996 Almanac, Rodin outlined four new financial programs designed to enhance the recruitment and retention of underrepresented minority faculty, staff and students: · A central allocation of $1 million a year for the next five years towards recruitment and retention; · A $20 million fundraising effort to create an endowment for recruitment and retention; · An effort to secure $250,000 in foundation funding for faculty and student research on the educational benefits of diversity in a university setting; · And the appointment of a standing faculty member to monitor and report to Rodin on progress made on the other three initiatives. The last initiative was abandoned after African-American and Latino faculty argued that central responsibility for minority recruitment and retention could not be fairly assigned to a single individual. Instead, the faculty recommended that deans, department chairpersons, faculty and students actively take on the responsibility of overseeing the programs. The University is already seeing the direct results of the various efforts. In the past year, the combined number of African-American, Latino and Native-American professors has increased by 24 percent, with the addition of four new black faculty members and three new Latino faculty members on campus. Such progress, Rodin noted, "did not happen by accident." Much of the central allocation of $1 million was used to increase the hiring packages offered to the new faculty, who were also heavily recruited by other universities. The admissions office also received additional funding to use in student recruitment. But despite the efforts, many faculty emphasize that such initiatives are only the first steps toward substantially increasing the minority presence on campus. Legal Studies Professor Kenneth Shropshire, who has been engaged in continual dialogue with Rodin and several other faculty members, characterized the plan as an initiative that will eventually make Penn an attractive place for minorities, drawing top-flight professors and students. But while he applauded this year's increase in the underrepresented minority student and faculty population, Shropshire noted that he is the only tenured black member of the Wharton School's 190-person faculty. "For the number one business school in the nation, that's an abysmal number," he said. Board of Overseers member and Education Professor Margaret Beale Spencer, another faculty member included in the discussions with Rodin, said the meetings have been productive and "moving in the right direction." She expects an agreement on faculty recruitment and retention initiatives within six weeks. But other faculty members said they were discouraged at not having been asked to participate in the talks. Jerry Johnson, tri-chairperson of the African American Association for Faculty, Staff and Administrators, said his organization wasn't included in the discussion or organization stages of the plan. "So we decided to wait and see what was going to happen with the plan," said Johnson, a professor in the Medical School. "I recently asked the provost on what had been done with the [$1 million] to date. I got no answer." Provost Stanley Chodorow said he has discussed minority funding and programming with faculty from the underrepresented minority groups, adding that Johnson was present at several of the meetings and participated in the discussion. "The initiatives are complex and our discussions about them with faculty members are ongoing," Chodorow added. "It is fair to say that our commitment to minority recruitment and retention is substantial. The president and I continue to invite good proposals on how to spend the additional minority recruitment and retention funding that we have committed." Johnson, nonetheless, described the plan as short-sighted and anemic. "One million dollars every year is simply not enough to go around between students and faculty," he said. "If the University takes this issue seriously, it should disengage faculty issues from the student issues." The AAA has also voiced concerns about the plan's grouping of underrepresented minorities into one category. Johnson said this may hide the fact that the number of African Americans may be decreasing while other minority groups may be increasing. "It's not clear," he said. "This could be a redistribution process rather than a supplementary process." Additional controversy surrounding the plan stems from the fact that Asian-American interests are not included. Because Asian Americans constitute approximately 17 percent of the University student body, and 23 percent of undergraduates, the administration does not consider them part of an underrepresented group. But Rodin said that the University also continues to make progress recruiting and retaining Asian Americans. She attributed the arrival this fall of "ten new faculty of Asian decent" to these efforts. But Asian Pacific Student Coalition President Eric Lee, a Wharton senior, said the University needs to "take more care in differentiating individuals of Asian decent and Americans of Asian decent." The Asian-American population is specifically concerned with the recruitment and retention of Asian-American faculty members, not just ones of Asian decent, he said. "It is a feeling that the University conveniently reports numbers on our community in terms of Asian not necessarily Asian American, whereas information from other communities are reported in terms of African American, Latino American and Native American," Lee noted. "This also may be reflective of the resistance that the Asian-American community has faced in being acknowledged as Americans," he added. And Ankor Vora, the South Asian Society's United Minority Council representative, added that when administrators label something a "minority permanence plan," they should address everyone in the minority community. APSC's intention is not to take away from the funding aimed at the underrepresented minorities, but instead to lobby for additional funding for the Asian-American community. "We're trying to expand on the language of the plan," Lee said. "This plan has great potential." Rodin's release of the recruitment and retention plans last year came in part as a response to a national debate over affirmative action. She said she felt the need to "clearly reaffirm this University's strong commitment to diversity as something profoundly educational in itself," adding that the plan was designed to "breathe new life" into the University's efforts to recruit and retain students and faculty from consistently underrepresented groups. While Penn officials said they have fully recognized and supported the importance of diversity in education, other universities throughout the country continue to consider re-examining their affirmative action policies. Since the passing of California's Proposition 209, which outlawed race-based affirmative action in college admissions, only one black student has enrolled in the law school at the University of California at Berkeley. Based on merit alone, the school reported that its number of black students is expected to drop by more than 50 percent and the number of Latinos by 5 to 15 percent, while the number of Asians would rise by 15 to 25 percent. And in a freshman class of 6,500 at the University of Texas this year, only 150 are black -- a drop of 50 percent from last year. Black enrollment had fallen 81 percent in 1996 following a 1995 decision by the state university system's board of regents not to take race into account for college admissions. In response to the debate, Rodin, along with 62 other research university presidents of the American Association of University Schools, signed an August 1997 full-page advertisement in The New York Times urging schools to continue taking race and gender into account in admission decisions.
(10/20/97 9:00am)
Penn and Temple University joined forces this weekend to encourage first-generation and low-income undergraduates to pursue graduate degrees. Approximately 80 undergraduate students from across the country attended the two-day conference, which featured a series of workshops at Temple and a graduate school preparation session at Penn. The program was sponsored by the Ronald McNair Scholars Program, which supports institutions that provide selected first-generation and low-income students with additional academic opportunities. The University currently does not maintain a McNair Scholars Program, but Assistant Vice Provost for Graduate Education Karen Lawrence said Penn wanted to help students see "the strengths of the city of Philadelphia." "Scholarship crosses institutional boundaries," Lawrence said. "I think it's a breakthrough that Penn and Temple worked together on this. We don't often do things together, and it's great for students to see the place we live and do research in." Lawrence said that although a large portion of the scholars visiting Penn's campus would inevitably attend other graduate schools, she hoped the conference would generate some applications to University. The conference tackled topics such as the purpose of graduate education, submitting successful graduate applications, funding a graduate education, Graduate Record Exam preparation and the place of people of color and women in academia. Noted faculty from both universities led discussions with the undergraduates, answering their questions and attempting to quell their fears about the academic job market. "When I went to graduate school, I didn't think it was possible to secure a job as part of the collegiate faculty," Vice Provost for Graduate Education Janice Madden said. "But a lot has changed for minorities and women with doctoral degrees." "Every single person here has something to give to the world of academia," she added. Temple University Associate Professor of Curriculum, Instruction and Technology in Education Jayminn Sanford urged participants toE"keep fortified" against people who might question their legitimacy in their field, adding that "you should choose your battles wisely -- if you don't, you will get a stroke." But faculty members remained optimistic about the discrimination McNair Scholars might endure due to their race or sex. Penn English Professor Mark Chiang told how he and his fellow doctoral students at the University of California at Berkeley began the only ethnic studies program in the country because they were interested in learning more about their history. "Keep in mind as you struggle through graduate school, and I know it is a struggle, that you are in demand," Chiang told conference participants. "The mostEexciting academic work in the future will be from people who are marginalized. The old paradigms will be reworked." And Temple Communication Science Professor Aquiles Iglesias -- the only Latino speech pathology department chairperson in the country and the creator of the first bilingual speech pathology program in the United States -- said he enjoyed giving his knowledge and research back to the scientific community, adding that he "loved the academy." Penn School of Arts and Sciences graduate student Akil Khalfani, who helped Madden's office plan the event, said he thought participants "got exactly the message" he hoped the conference would deliver -- the necessities and subsequent rewards of preparing for and attending graduate school. And Lawrence added that the practical information of how to prepare a graduate school application coupled with individual faculty members' experiences provided McNair Scholars with a solid background for their future academic careers. "We hope we provided [participants] with sufficient support," she said.
(09/18/97 9:00am)
Susan Fuhrman, dean of the Graduate School of Education, delivered a spirited speech yesterday on the need to improve the nation's public school system. She discussed a variety of topics in a speech entitled, "Education Reform in the United States: The University Role," to the Association of Women Faculty in Houston Hall's Bodek Lounge. Fuhrman, however, was not as concerned with academic life in the Ivy League as she was with public education in grades K-12. She focused primarily on reforms she said are desperately needed to bring the nation's public schools up to the level of its foreign counterparts. While fourth graders in the United States placed fourth in the world in math, that ranking plummets down to 27th for eighth graders. "In fourth grade we start to repeat what we taught in grades one through four," Fuhrman noted. "We are not keeping up our curriculum -- it is not challenging or focused." Microbiology Professor Yvonne Paterson, who was one of about 30 people in attendance, attributed the state of education in the U.S. to the nation's socioeconomic conditions. "It is a problem of money," she said. "No one wants higher taxes but the schools need more money. It is a real problem, a real dilemma." Fuhrman, meanwhile, advocated a complete restructuring of the nation's school system and described a four-point plan -- based on standards, coordinating policies, accountability and flexibility -- for improving the system. The plan includes a national exam which would test students' knowledge of a core curriculum and would use a set of national standardized texts. Flexibility would allow teachers to use any other materials they choose and to decide how much time to allocate to a given subject. If a specific school enjoyed success, Fuhrman explained, it would receive more federal funding. But if a school were to fall below a minimum level of education, it could lose federal support. Fuhrman, however, did not call this plan infallible, and admitted that standardizing curriculum for states such as California and New York, where students come from many ethnic backgrounds, could be problematic. A universal core curriculum, for example, could be biased against certain ethnic groups, she said. Turning to higher education, Fuhrman questioned the importance Penn and other universities place on Scholastic Assessment Test scores. "By putting an emphasis on the SAT and not achievement tests, colleges are doing a disservice," she said, making note of the fact that the SAT tests aptitude. By emphasizing SAT scores, Fuhrman added, the nation's universities are indicating to students that what really matters is not success in school but how well students perform on tests. She continued, "If we as universities really care about education pre-university, K-12, then we better look at the signals we're giving."
(08/29/97 9:00am)
Armed with four degrees from Harvard and years of experience as a professor in the School of Public Health and Dean of the Faculty of Public Health, Fineberg replaced outgoing Provost Albert Carnsdale on July 1. Carnsdale left Harvard to become Chancellor of the University of California at Los Angeles, a position for which Penn Provost Stanley Chodorow was also considered. Under Fineberg, the number of SPH degree candidates grew from 426 to 764 and the number of faculty increased from 133 to 162, while its budget rose from $38 million to $120 million. He also led a capital campaign which raised more than $125 million over the past four years. Additionally, SPH now offers a doctoral program in health policy and biological sciences in conjunction with the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Fineberg said he looks forward to his new position. "As Provost, I will do all that I can to assist the whole Harvard community in our shared efforts to make a great university even stronger and better prepared for the future," he said. After graduating from Harvard College in 1967, Fineberg received graduate degrees from Harvard Medical School and the university's Kennedy School of Government in 1972. Fineberg's research has focused on the process of health policy development and implementation, the assessment of medical technology and the disemination of medical innovations. -- Shannon Burke Gee elected as Brown's newest president The Brown Corporation unanimously selected Ohio State University President Gordon Gee as Brown University's 17 president at a closed meeting in June. Gee will replace outgoing Brown President and former Penn Provost Vartan Gregorian, who was named President of the Carnegie Corporation of New York -- one of the nation's largest charitable foundations with an endowment of over $1.3 billion -- in January. Gee was selected by a committee consisting of 16-members of the Brown Corporation -- the university's governing body -- with assistance from a 13-member advisory committee of faculty, students and administrators. The committee -- which was chaired by former Brown Chancellor A.O. Way -- chose the 53-year-old Utah native after considering over 165 candidates for the position. "Gordon Gee comes to Brown with an extraordinary record of leadership at one of the nation's premier research universities," Brown Chancellor Artemis Joukowsky said. Joukowsky added that Gee will "assume the presidency at a propitious time in the university's history when Brown's successful capital campaign has renewed endowments for our faculty, student scholarships and libraries and has prepared the university for the challenge of the 21st century." Gee received his bachelor's degree in history from the University of Utah in 1968 before earning a law degree and doctorate in education from Columbia University. After completing his work at Columbia, Gee returned to the University of Utah, where he served as assistant law dean from 1973 to 1974. He spent a year as a judicial fellow and senior staff assistant to the chief justice of the United States Supreme Court before being named associate law dean of the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University. He moved to West Virginia University in 1979, where he served as dean of the College of Law before assuming the presidency in 1981 at the age of 37. He became president of the University of Colorado in 1985 and moved to Ohio State in 1990. Gee arrived at Ohio State when the university was experiencing financial difficulties and facing a significant cut in state funding. He is credited with strengthening the institution through reorganizing and simplifying its structure, adopting strict fiscal discipline and reevaluating its priorities. Gee serves as Chairperson of the Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land-Grant Universities, as well as on the boards of the Truman Scholarship Foundation, Central Ohio United Negro College Fund, and Rhodes Scholarship Selection Committee. -- Shannon Burke
(05/29/97 9:00am)
Commencement speakers and honorary degree practices vary among Ivies As some of the oldest universities in the country, each of the Ivy League schools has it's own Commencement traditions. Penn is one of only three Ivies that invites an outside speaker to give the principal Commencement address. Harvard University lured Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to speak at its 346th Commencement on June 5. Penn's speaker selection committee also invited Albright -- who is the first female Secretary of State and the highest-ranking woman in the U.S. government -- to speak at Commencement, but she had to decline due to scheduling conflicts. Harvard officials noted that her address will mark the 50th anniversary of former Secretary of State George Marshall's 1947 Commencement address at Harvard, in which he announced the Marshall Plan. Harvard does not announce honorary degree recipients before the commencement ceremony. Finnish Prime Minister and 1964 Dartmouth graduate Paavo Lipponen will be the speaker at Dartmouth's 227th Commencement. Lipponen will also receive an honorary degree at the ceremony -- scheduled for June 8. Other honorary degree-winners include Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Edward Albee, distinguished writer Sir V.S. Naipaul, Princeton historian Nell Painter, former New Hampshire Governor Walter Peterson, Smith College President Ruth Simmons, National Institutes of Health Director and Nobel laureate Harold Varmus and Harvard sociologist William Wilson. While outside speakers do not customarily give the Commencement address at the other Ivies, they often speak at other events. Brown University held its 229th Commencement on Monday. In keeping with school tradition, two students delivered the main speeches at the actual Commencement ceremony. But author and broadcast journalist Bill Moyers spoke at Brown's Baccalaureate on Sunday. Moyers was among the 10 honorary degree recipients this year. Other honorary degrees went to historian Joyce Oldham Appleby of the University of California, Los Angeles, 1973 physics Nobel prize recipient Leo Esaki, IBM chief executive officer Louis Gerstner Jr., former assistant secretary of state Richard Holbrooke, author and illustrator David Macaulay, educator Lorraine Monroe, Brown trustee Augustus White III and Taco Inc. Chief executive officer John Hazen White. Columbia University also did not have an outside speaker at its May 15 Commencement. In accordance with tradition, Columbia President George Rupp was the principle speaker at the university's 242nd Commencement. But Columbia did award seven honorary degrees. Recipients included U.S. Senator Mark Hatfield, former Russian foreign minister Andrei Kozyrev, dental expert Irwin Mendel, composer and musician Wynton Marsalis, United Nations refugees commissioner Sadako Ogata, Yale Near Eastern languages professor Franz Rosenthal and mathematical physicist Edward Witten. The university's Medal for Excellence went to 1976 Barnard College graduate Helene Gayle, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cornell University President Hunter Rowlings III was the principle speaker at the school's 129th Commencement on Sunday. However, television personality Beatrice Berry -- host of the nationally-syndicated "Beatrice Berry Show" talk show -- addressed members of the Cornell class of 1997 at Saturday's Senior Convocation. Yale University also held its Commencement exercises on Monday. Because Yale President Richard Levin gives the Commencement and Baccalaureate addresses, visiting dignitaries traditionally speak at Class Day. According to Yale senior and class secretary Shane Macelhiney, the class of 1997 wanted the Class Day speaker to be a former Yale undergraduate who is not an actor or a politician. The class council invited 1955 Yale graduate David McCullogh to speak during Sunday's Class Day festivities. McCullogh is the best-selling biographer of Harry Truman, a Pulitzer Prize-winner, president of the Society of American Historians and narrator of the acclaimed Ken Burns Civil War documentary. Yale's honorary degree recipients included actress Jodie Foster, President Mary Robinson of Ireland, molecular pharmacologist Alfred Gilman, peace champion Carlos Belo, coach and teacher Eddie Robinson, dancer and choreographer Judith Jamison, chemist and environmental advocate Mario Molina, author and illustrator Maurice Sandak, business and civic leader Roberto Goizueta. The president of Princeton University customarily gives the Commencement address. Princeton officials explained that the school broke with tradition last year, inviting President Bill Clinton to speak as part its 250th anniversary celebration. But this year, Princeton President Harold Shapiro will once again give the Commencement address at his school's June 5 ceremony. Princeton also does not release the names of honorary degree recipients until Commencement.
(05/22/97 9:00am)
Entertainer discusses value of opportunity, eight honorary degrees awarded Despite oppressive eighty degree temperatures, family and friends of graduates from the University's 12 schools gathered at Franklin Field Monday morning for the 241st commencement ceremony. Excited graduates -- topped in caps decorated with everything from slinkies to stuffed animals -- flocked into the stadium to take their seats, waving to the approximately 20,000 audience members who gathered to celebrate their achievement. Commencement speaker Bill Cosby -- who received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University in 1990 -- agreed that the weather was stifling. "Eighteen years of school and you think this is something special -- to sit in the sun and pass out," he said. Cosby's speech -- which began with his famous Fat Albert greeting -- evoked laughter and applause from the crowd when he chided the graduates for their "C" grades and financial insecurity. But the tone of Cosby's speech became serious when he recalled a trip he and his wife took to South Africa's Robber Island. During the trip, Cosby talked to political prisoners who had to ask permission for a sip of water or to go to the bathroom. Under strict supervision of South African authorities, they had to hide the fact they were teaching other prisoners to read. After listening to the stories, Cosby said he and his wife wanted to know if the prisoners sought revenge once they were free. "And the answer, ladies and gentlemen, was 'no, we didn't have time to worry about revenge because we had goals,'" he said. Cosby urged the graduating class to set their own goals. "You don't have time for revenge, and you don't have time for anger," he said. "The United States of America was not founded on giving a gift to every person, except one -- opportunity." Cosby told graduates that if they were born in America, they might not know the full meaning of the word, "as the immigrant who drives a cab or the immigrant who picks trash does." "But work your own opportunity," he concluded. University President Judith Rodin welcomed those in attendance and thanked the reunion classes of 1947 and 1972 for their generous contributions to the University. She added that the founders of the University would be astonished if they could see the class of 1997. "And I'm not referring to the nose rings or rollerblades," Rodin said. She commented on the vast knowledge the graduates have accumulated in courses ranging from cognitive neuroscience to American modernism, urging students to "remember your academic heritage?be proud of it." Rodin also conferred honorary degrees on eight recipients, including four Penn alumni. Classical archeologist Charles Williams II obtained a doctorate from the University in 1978 and received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree for opening up important new perspectives on the role of Corinth in the growth of Greek civilization through his archeological and scholarly work. Another Doctor of Humane Letters degree went to 1956 Nursing graduate Shirley Sears Chater for her efforts in higher education and public service. She has served as a nurse, President of Texas Woman's University and the Commissioner of Social Security. William Danforth received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree for his contributions to higher education. He began as a professor at Washington University in St. Louis and became chancellor of the school in record time, bringing the school to national preeminence. He also founded the The Danforth Foundation, which has supported initiatives to enrich and improve education for over 30 years. Another honorary Doctor of Laws degree went to French diplomat Simone Veil. A Holocaust survivor, Veil has served as French Minister of Health and Minister of State and became the first elected president of the European Parliament in 1979. An honorary Doctor of Laws degree also went to Richard Posner, a scholar of law and economics who is currently serving as chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He has written nine books, including Economic Analysis of Law, which helped expand the law-and-economics movement to all aspects of American legal education and law. Louis Sokoloff -- a 1946 graduate of the School of Medicine -- received an honorary Doctor of Science degree. Internationally revered for his work in cerebral medicine, Sokoloff has charted the chemical changes that provide the brain with energy and mapped their relation to cerebral functions in normal and pathological conditions. Another honorary Doctor of Science Degree went to Ahmed H. Zewail, who received a doctorate from the School of Arts and Sciences in 1974. A chemistry professor at the California Institute of Technology, Zewail is renowned for his path-breaking work in laser chemistry. And Gary Graffman was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Music. The piano prodigy entered The Curtis Institute of Music at age seven and began teaching at there in 1979. He become its director soon after and played an integral role in the Penn-Curtis Exchange. The ceremony concluded with the deans of the different schools presenting their graduates to Rodin, who officially confirmed their degrees.
(04/11/97 9:00am)
A federal appeals court voted to uphold California's controversial Proposition 209 -- which outlawed racial and gender-based preferences in public institutions -- shielding a similar ban in the University of California system from being overturned. A panel of three judges on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that the the measure does not violate the United States Civil Rights Act of 1964. Judges Diarmuid O'Scannlain and Edward Levy of Portland, Ore., and Judge Andrew Kleinfield of Fairbanks, Alaska, overturned Judge Thelton Henderson's December injunction against implementing the proposition. Before the ruling, UC Regents opposed to the system's ban on affirmative action had said that if 209 were overturned, they would try to reverse the UC policy as well. UC President Richard Atkinson issued a statement after the ruling explaining that it would have no effect on the UC system, since the eight UC schools have already implemented an affirmative action ban. But UC Regent Ward Connerly -- who spearheaded the system's affirmative action ban -- said the ruling will ensure that such preferences will not be reinstated. "I think this is a glorious day for the people of California," Connerly said in a written release. "This decision reaffirms the proposition that all Americans should be treated equally and should not be getting special considerations." Many civil rights groups, however, expressed anger at the ruling. Mark Rosenbaum, legal director for the Southern California chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, described the decision as a "grave disappointment." "The court's ruling is obviously and dramatically incompatible with decades of mainstream Supreme Court decisions guaranteeing women and minorities equal participation in the political process and equal opportunities in education, employment and contracting," he said. Rosenbaum said the ACLU will ask for a rehearing of the decision within the next two weeks. Eleven judges from the Ninth Circuit will then hear the case, and the losing side will be able to appeal the decision to the United States Supreme Court --Ewhere many legal experts think the case will ultimately be decided. But California Attorney General Dan Lungren stressed that the decision is not likely to be overturned. "Even though we expected this matter ultimately to be decided by the Supreme Court, today's ruling should lead to the implementation of Proposition 209," he said in a written statement. Several people at UC expressed concern that the ruling will deter black and Latino students from applying to schools in the system. "[Upholding the affirmative action ban] strengthens the perception that is in effect presently, that underrepresented minorities are not wanted by the university and feel estranged by our state," Regent Richard Russell said. And Chris Scanlan, a first-year law student at UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law, said the decision will reduce the diversity which attracts students to Berkeley. "There were plenty of white students who came here because of the diversity, like me," he added.
(04/10/97 9:00am)
From Delia Vallejo's, "Journey to Aztlan," Fall '97 From Delia Vallejo's, "Journey to Aztlan," Fall '97If you are stranded on a deserted island, who would you rather have with you -- a lawyer or a farm worker?" is a question Dolores Huerta posed to the audience in her keynote address during Festival Latino de Penn. Huerta is currently secretary-treasurer of the United Farm Workers of America, a labor union she co-founded with the late Cesar Chavez. The union is currently working diligently to organize workers of the strawberry fields in California. Her speech made us aware of the abuse that occurs in the fields of California's $22 billion agribusiness. Labor unions -- the enemy of capitalism, right? Wrong. They are the protector of the worker who does not have a voice when he or she stands alone. It is so easy to condemn that which may result in lower profits for business, but for one minute, let's put ourselves in the shoes of a farm worker. Imagine working in the sun for 12 hours, constantly stooped over short strawberry plants. Would you be able to bear the abuses of not having clean drinking water and bathrooms in the fields? How about living on $8,000 a year without job security or health insurance? This $650 million-a-year business is controlled by only a few corporations. They thrive on the sweat of 20,000 workers who often ruin their backs while picking the strawberries -- making the corporations rich. Furthermore, strawberry pickers' average hourly wage has actually fallen in real terms from $9 an hour to only $6 an hour, while production and profits in the strawberry industry have grown. Why would fair compensation be a problem? Certainly, the workers should not take such abuses, but when one doesn't have a choice since one needs to feed one's family, there is not much else to do. An estimated 60 percent of berry pickers are immigrants; they become an easy target of labor exploitation because often they do not speak English and are simply trying to survive. Constant threats from growers discourage union organization, so the workers have no protection from mistreatment. People like Huerta and the hundreds of organizers, seek to stop those abuses. A campaign called "Five Cents for Fairness" is currently underway all over the country. It asks supermarkets not to purchase non-union strawberries even if they have to charge an additional five cents per basket to cover the additional costs of paying higher wages to farm workers. So if you have to pay an additional penny for your pint of strawberries at Pathmark, know that it probably means someone across the country is able to drink clean water or maybe go to the doctor if they are ill. Thinking about the plight of farm workers in California makes me wonder about what exactly is social justice. Is it ensuring everyone is treated equally and taking advantage of people with less power does not occur? Well then, social justice definitely does not exist in the strawberry fields of sunny California. Labor unions seek to mobilize the farm workers so they may exercise power as a collective voice. The UFW seeks to organize peacefully, yet they are often met with violence and threats from the growers. Messages such as "Asegure su trabajo, vote NO a la union," -- "Secure your job, vote no to the union" -- are prevalent in the fields. And I thought there was freedom in the United States. As consumers, we have the power to impact the strawberry industry, or any other business that exploits human beings, by not buying from them. If profits are what drives the growers to treat people so inhumanely, then perhaps it will be profits that will make them give the farm workers the rights they deserve when they notice that we are not buying from them. Boycotts and demonstrations in California may work, but people are often met with violence. By taking action at the consumer level, perhaps no one will have to get hurt. We may think California is really far away from us, especially the strawberry fields that we simply cannot relate to. But, as Huerta said, "farm workers are not ever far away. They are with us every time we sit down to eat." Social justice -- I define it as people having the right to be treated as humans and compensated fairly for a hard day's work.
(02/06/97 10:00am)
From Delia Vallejo's, "Journey to Aztian's, Fall '97 From Delia Vallejo's, "Journey to Aztian's, Fall '97 My friend is dying. Some people call my friend Affirmative Action, while others, who don't like him very much, call him "preferential treatment," or worse, "reverse discrimination." My friend is dying of a cancer called Proposition 209. Affirmative Action simply provides an opportunity. An opportunity to dream, to have, or to live that would otherwise not be within reach for many people. Proposition 209, deceptively named the "California Civil Rights Initiative," was approved on November 5, 1996. It bans programs based on race or sex in public education, employment and contracting. If this legislation is enacted, I foresee the end of other Affirmative Action programs across the country. Programs such as INROADS which provides minority college students with summer internships, and LEAD which provides minority high school students with a summer on a college campus would be eliminated. Proposition 209 is currently tied up in courts since many civil rights groups have filed suits against it. And hopefully, it will not be enacted. The progress the United States has made in ending racial and gender discrimination may come to an abrupt halt if Affirmative Action programs disappear. Opponents of Affirmative Action pierced the gates of the 10 most elite institutions through alumni preferences than the combined number of all African Americans and Latinos entering through Affirmative Action. Preferential treatment is embedded in all of society's institutions. Affirmative Action only intends to offer opportunities to those qualified people who would not have been "preferentially treated" otherwise. How does a child, living in an impoverished neighborhood, find his or her way out? This child is likely to not know anyone who went to college, and instead of worrying about homework, he or she worries about avoiding violence on the streets. There is one, and only one, way out for this child -- an education. Affirmative Action programs target the millions of children who lack opportunities and should not be eliminated. So, lack of opportunity is a question of economics -- not of race or gender, right? Wrong. Although minorities, specifically Latinos and African Americans, do suffer disproportionately from the social ills of living below the poverty line in the United States, Affirmative Action programs based solely on socio-economic conditions are not enough because discrimination is ever-present in today's society. Just ask senior management at Texaco. We need Affirmative Action to ensure people of all races and genders are not denied a fair chance. In the State of the Union address two days ago, President Bill Clinton said, "My fellow Americans, we must never believe that diversity is a weakness -- it is our greatest strength. People on every continent can look at us and see the reflection of their own greatness, as long as we give all of our citizens, whatever their background, an opportunity to achieve their greatness. We are not there yet?" I believe that as well. Let's always remember Affirmative Action is a way of affirming the value of diversity. Proposition 209 is a sad regression of a great country. Without taking proactive steps to recruit and retain women and people of color, our society will remain stratified along gender and racial lines. Affirmative Action programs work to counteract both past and present discrimination against women and people of color. Thus, Proposition 209 will only be needed when equality of opportunity exists in our society. Unfortunately, that is not the case today. Don't let Affirmative Action die. If we, as a nation, value equality and fairness, which these kinds of programs seek to ensure, then we all benefit. As the campaign for Proposition 209 spreads across the country, read the legislation, but read between the lines. And imagine a country where opportunity is not present for everyone. Is that a better place to live? Not really. Think about the possible repercussions of eliminating outreach, recruitment and training programs for disadvantaged minorities. And imagine the elimination of campus women's centers, ethnic and gender studies, or ethnic and gender focused recruitment and retention programs at universities. This is Affirmative Action, our friend who makes life easier for many people. In many cases, he provides the possibility of a better life.
(02/04/97 10:00am)
Over 1,300 high school students from across the United States gathered in Philadelphia this weekend to discuss economic development, world health and the environment as part of the University's 13th-annual Ivy League Model United Nations Conference. The conference -- hosted by the University's International Affairs Association -- lasted Thursday through Sunday in the Wyndham Franklin Plaza Hotel. The conference drew more participants than any previous ILMUNC, placing Penn alongside Harvard and Georgetown as host of one of the three largest model UN conferences in the nation. The annual conference is organized and run entirely by Penn students. Conferences such as ILMUNC simulate the workings of the real UN and give high school students an inside look at the proceedings and policies of the international affairs organization. And while this year's conference participants came from as far away as California and Michigan to learn first-hand about international policy-making, they also used the event to learn about the University. Conference organizers seized the opportunity of having some of the nation's brightest high school students in one hotel by working with the University's Admissions Office to create the Penn Program. Throughout the weekend, University students distributed admissions information and conducted campus tours for the participants. "[The conference] was absolutely a great promo for the school," said College junior Ned Nurick, an ILMUNC staff member. A new Distinguished Scholars Program also brought several prominent University professors to the conference to address the participants on various issues of international world order. "The kids loved them," College sophomore Melissa James said. "I think some of the professors may have convinced them to apply to Penn." James -- who interacted with many of the young delegates in the sessions she chaired -- also noted that Penn's crime problems were not on anyone's mind that weekend. The participants she spoke with said they loved the campus, the atmosphere and being in a city. "The students didn't seem to know about the crime problem," James said. "It is known that in a big city there will be crime. None of the people who talked about wanting to go to Penn seemed to care about crime as an issue at all." Members of the International Affairs Association said they hope many of the young delegates will one day end up at Penn and in the Association. Engineering and Wharton senior Saikat Chaudhuri, chief of staff for the conference, said overall the participants had a "sincere interest" in international relations. "They are part of a group that does not just believe in the news anymore," Chaudhuri said. "They want to know how things actually work." Each high school taking part in the conference is assigned a country several months beforehand and each student acts as a delegate of that country. Those students are then responsible for researching the current issues of their given country so they are prepared to defend their stance on issues at the conference. As in the real UN, the conference is divided into several issue-based committees, each of which produces resolutions written, negotiated and passed by the delegates. The committees focus on such topics as economics and justice. The event's staff of 165 Penn students -- which ran the conference and chaired the committees -- was led by a Secretariat comprised of College juniors Jamie Hine, Vicki Hooper and Chaudhuri. James and College juniors Shalini Ramasunder, Robin Kawakami, Jennifer Taylor and Allan Alicuben also held positions resembling those of the real UN Secretariat. Members of the International Affairs Association could relate to the enthusiasm and accomplishments of the ILMUNC participants. Penn's ILMUNC was rated Top Model UN Conference in 1996 by the faculty advisors of the high schools involved -- and sends an award-winning delegation to college-level Model UN conferences across the world itself. The University's delegation has won the title of Best Delegation in most of the conferences it attended in recent years, according to Chaudhuri, and last spring it beat out the world's best universities at an international conference held in Amsterdam.
(10/22/96 9:00am)
Regnets consider tying salary to peer review ratings, ending guaranteed employment Proposed revisions to the University of Minnesota's tenure system have sparked harsh criticism from faculty at universities nationwide -- including Penn. Although Minnesota officials have backed off on some of the most extreme proposals, they are still considering several drastic measures. The proposed changes include the ability for administrators to lay off professors whose departments have been eliminated -- and provisions for disciplinary action, such as pay reductions for grave misconduct. One of the proposals that has garnered the harshest words from professors nationwide is a post-tenure review process. Minnesota officials are considering two recommendations. One would permit the school's administration to guide the review process, while the other would be faculty-driven and would allow faculty members to improve their performance before pay is reduced. Faculty members and the Board of Regents at Minnesota have struggled with tenure reform for more than a year. But the changes they are considering have drawn severe objections from many university professors who fear academic freedom could be constrained. In a letter to the chairperson of the Minnesota's Board of Regents, Penn Faculty Senate chairperson Peter Kuriloff, expressed the unanimous "profound opposition" of Penn's Faculty Senate Executive Committee to Minnesota's proposed tenure revisions. Calling the proposals an "assault on the basic elements of the traditional tenure system," the education professor encouraged the Regents to reconsider their actions. "The tenure system maintains the secure conditions for freedom of scholarly, scientific inquiry that are the very foundation of American universities' long-standing success," Kuriloff said in the letter. "Without such unfettered freedom, it is impossible to imagine many people taking the kinds of intellectual risks that are required to maintain our competitive advantage in research and scholarship." Kuriloff added that the Faculty Senate views American higher education as the best in the world and that the tenure system contributes to its strength. "Yet the Regents' proposals would effectively destroy tenure -- and the benefits it confers to our society -- by diluting the conditions of tenure through salary reductions, suspensions and performance reviews," he said. While tenure reform is necessary, Kuriloff told The Daily Pennsylvanian, Minnesota administrators have gone too far. Kuriloff said he supports a post-tenure peer review system to ensure that professors stay "active and alert" in terms of their teaching and research. Officials from several other institutions -- including the University of California at Berkeley and Florida State University -- and educational organizations like the American Association of University Professors have also spurned Minnesota's proposed tenure revisions. At Berkeley, officials passed "The Motion on Minnesota's Threat to Tenure" in April, condemning the university's actions. And the American Association of University Professors has taken an active role in keeping the tenure revisions to a minimum. AAUP staffer Jack Nightingale, who is currently in Minnesota for the third time to assist the faculty during the reform process, said many of the proposed revisions run contrary to the notions of academic freedom. "There have been a number of proposals that have been floated at the university," he said. "Many of those are in violation of AAUP policy." According to Nightingale, the faculty senates of Indiana University and the University of Michigan have also sent letters of opposition to Minnesota officials. And he said the reforms have even received international attention -- the Canadian Association of University Teachers has expressed concern about the proposals. "There are attacks being made to tenure and we need to be responsive to those attacks," said Nightingale, adding that professors must have the freedom to teach and do research without worrying about the consequences of their actions. Despite these criticisms, Minnesota's top administrators, including President Nils Hasselmo, have continued to advocate some sort of tenure reform -- partially for financial reasons. Supporters of reforming the university's tenure system cite the closing of the school's Waseca, Minn., campus in 1991 as a reason for the changes. While 13 tenured professors who taught at that campus took advantage of a retirement package offered by the university, 20 others had to be reassigned to positions at other university campuses -- some of which were created solely for the sake of reassignment. Under one of the proposed revisions, administrators would not be required to relocate professors in similar situations, but rather could fire them and provide them with one year's pay and health benefits. Kuriloff said in an interview that if Minnesota's tenure reform becomes a precedent, it could diminish higher education in the United States. He added, however, that the reforms would probably have few effects on private schools. "The risks to great private research universities are slim because they're very insulated," Kuriloff said. "They tend to understand the values of tenure better and don't have legislatures to influence them. "The loss of the University of Minnesota would be a tragedy to higher education," Kuriloff added. "Penn and all these other places would swoop in and raid the university of all its top people." Like the critics from across the nation, the majority of students at Minnesota have expressed support for more limited tenure revisions -- and are hopeful that the dispute will be resolved quickly. "The university's had a long history of academic freedom," Minnesota sophomore Christopher Johnson said. "The reforms are going to make it really hard for the school to recruit and keep professors -- and it could diminish the university."
(09/06/96 9:00am)
Falling two places from last year, the University ranks 13th in this year's U.S. News and World Report's annual college survey. The newest ranking, in the September 16 issue, on sale Monday, puts Penn seventh in the Ivy League, ahead of only Cornell University. Columbia University, which was ranked below Penn last year, jumped four spots to number 11. The 13th slot disappointed administrators, who had hoped Penn might jump into the top 10 for the first time ever. For the first time in six years, U.S. News did not place Harvard University in the number one position. Yale University took over the top slot, followed by Princeton University and then Harvard. U.S. News bases its rankings on many criteria, including academic reputation, student selectivity, acceptance rate and test scores. The University received an overall score of 95.2 out of 100. The University's position steadily rose until this year, ranking 16th in 1993, 12th in 1994, and 11th in 1995. University President Judith Rodin said she questions the accuracy of the ratings. "Some institutions in our category are private, some public, some are small by university standards, others much larger than Penn," she added. "There is no question that this ranking, and other like it, are comparing apples to oranges in many respects." Admissions Dean Lee Stetson is out of town recruiting students, and no other Admissions representative would comment on the ratings. But Rodin said she did not think than the decline in rank will affect the number of applicants to the University. "We are comparing the finest teaching and research institutions in the United States -- if not the world -- in this group," she said. "We will continue to attract the ablest undergraduates and graduate students in the nation and the world." The University's overall score improved from 94.4 last year to 95.2 this year, despite the fall in rank. And U.S. News reported the University rose in academic reputation from 14 last year to 11 this year. Rodin said it surprised her that the University of California at Berkeley, "arguably one of the finest institutions in the world," was ranked 27th. Swarthmore College, Amherst College and Williams College respectively ranked as the top three liberal arts colleges. And the best regional schools are Villanova University in the North, the University of Richmond in the South, Creighton University in the Midwest and Trinity University in the West.
(05/30/96 9:00am)
Last week the Class of 1988, along with thousands of other alumni from various years, gathered on campus to reminisce, celebrate and unite as University of Pennsylvania graduates. But one man who also returned to visit, said he spent the week fighting off ghosts from the past. The man -- who should have been parading with the 1988 graduates -- is Peter Laska. "While walking around Penn I have done a lot of double takes and seen many ghosts," Laska said. "So many things here remind me of ROTC and my time as a student. It has been painful." With his ten-year-old saga, Laska is putting the University's anti-discrimination policy to the test. At the age of 15, he applied to Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps because he possessed a desire to fly. Laska, the youngest of eleven children, said he did not want to burden his parents. His NROTC involvement brought Laska to the University in 1984. He said he thrived on the academic environment at the University and excelled in the NROTC program. Laska said he was even urged by a marine officer instructor to become one of the elite "marine option" midshipmen. "I really enjoyed being involved with the Navy at the beginning of my career at Penn -- but I went through a lot of changes," he said. "The intense academic environment here fueled my quest for self-knowledge." Laska began to question his sexuality after a few years, and at the end of his sophomore year admitted to himself that he was a homosexual. He said his realization brought an entire new set of challenges upon him. He explained his junior year was the most difficult because he felt "ostracized" by his peers. Laska said the harsh treatment climaxed the summer after his junior year during the Career Orientation Training for Midshipmen. Hundreds of ROTC students were gathered into a conference room for a program, and the news was being shown on television while they waited for the beginning of the presentation. Laska said that a segment about the spreading of AIDS appeared on the show. "I will always remember one of my officers loudly proclaiming 'Hurray for AIDS,'" he said. "At that moment, I felt completely appalled and alone." Throughout the next year, Laska says he was subjected to cruel and systematic harassment and intimidation -- which still affects his present life. "The military has always discriminated," he said. "And nothing has changed to stop that. The whole situation turned into a vicious cycle." At the beginning of his junior year Laska said he was a healthy individual, but by December he was treated for severe depression. He says it was a result to the Navy's harassment. In January, Laska informed the NROTC that he was leaving because of the Navy's discriminatory practices regarding homosexuals. The next five years of Laska's life were occupied with struggles with the persistent Navy. They denied receiving his letter concerning the discrimination, charged him for all of his education, making it impossible for him to finance his last year at the University. Ultimately, the balance on his bursar's bill prevented Laska from receiving his last few credits. He says the University would not help him clear the unfair debt. The military tried everything from tracking Laska to California to threatening his parents, he added. "After years I finally realized how to deal with the military -- with the public spotlight," Laska explained. "The Navy is like a bunch of cockroaches that scurry for cover the minute the lights are turned on." For the past five years, University Provost Stanley Chodorow has struggled with the ROTC about its discrimination, but finally announced in May that the program will stay on campus and continue to receive University funds. The University attempted to negotiate with the Pentagon to redefine its relationship with ROTC since Penn's anti-discrimination policy conflicts with the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding homosexuals. The Navy ROTC totally refused to reform its program. "It is very disconcerting that absolutely nothing has changed with ROTC throughout all these years," Laska said. "Penn has had many opportunities to change the policy." Many others, such as Bob Schoenberg, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Center at Penn, have said that they are "deeply disappointed" by the University's decision to allow ROTC to remain on campus. Laska wants the University to adopt a policy that would require ROTC to train any qualified person, homo- or heterosexual. Then, he says, the military could choose who they wish to represent the United States. "I don't see how the military could overlook their best and brightest people," he said. "I still believe I could have made a good Naval officer." "We have undertaken to guarantee that such students [homosexuals in ROTC] will be able to continue at Penn," said the Provost in response to the University Council and various committee reports in his negotiations with the United States Defense Department. "The actions of ROTC with respect to its members for that reason and other reasons should not affect the ability of students in the program to continue in our program, and we intend to make certain that is the case." Laska and Schoenberg both commended Chodorow's attempt to look into whether the University might be able to withhold certain privileges from ROTC students and faculty without breaching its contract with the military. Associate Provost Barbara Lowery is also involved with Laska's situation. Even though she does not acknowledge that the University participated in his persecution, Lowery wrote a letter to Laska offering him support to finally finish his college degree. But the support does not include any money offers, yet. According to Laska, several other schools, such as Dartmouth, have effectively dealt with ROTC's discrimination by requiring the military to accept all qualified applicants. Laska said despite the many negative affects of his ROTC experience, he feels the experience has made him a stronger person. "The best skill that any student could acquire during their time at Penn, is the ability to question everything that you think you know," he said. "The only reason I am here today is because I did not believe the people who forced answers on me. I guess I really got a lot out of Penn."
