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(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."
(03/07/96 10:00am)
One Engineering student, six students from the School of Nursing and 29 students from the College and Wharton began the spring semester studying abroad in Israel. But nine of the 36 have decided to return to the United States this week as a result of the recent bombings in Israel, according to Office of International Programs Director Joyce Randolph. And a management program for Wharton MBA students, slated to depart for Israel today, was cancelled yesterday due to the number of students who have decided to back out of the trip. Izzedine al Qassam, the military wing of the terrorist organization Hamas, has bombed Israel four times in nine days, claiming the lives of four bombers and 57 others. The most recent bombing occurred Monday in Tel Aviv, killing 14 people -- half of them children. The Nursing students -- all of whom are returning -- will be able to begin classes at Penn after spring break, according to Kristin Davidson, assistant dean for administration in the Nursing School. Randolph explained that Nursing has made "arrangements for the students because they're in a special program." The other three students returning this week will receive a 90 percent tuition refund because Israeli university classes just began this week, according to Randolph. "We're in our eighth week of classes at Penn, so it's virtually impossible for students to return and pick up courses at Penn for credit," she said. The University has been keeping in touch with the abroad students via electronic mail and telephone, Randolph said. But she added that OIP has been relying on Resident Director Ann Killebrew to "channel students' queries" to the office and inform OIP of changes in students' situations. Killebrew, who is pursuing a doctorate degree at Hebrew University, is responsible for advising students academically and personally, Randolph explained. "[Killebrew] has been in regular contact with all the students and we have kept in close contact with her," she said. Nursing junior Becky Cross returned home to California yesterday from Israel. "It just got to be a bit much; four bombings in eight days is kind of a lot to deal with," she said. "And it doesn't seem likes things are getting any better. "I'm sad that Hamas won and that we left," she added. Cross said that all of the Nursing students are already home and that she will be able to receive three credits for the rest of the semester at Penn. Randolph added that OIP staff members telephoned the parents of the overseas students Monday night to discuss University policy on returning early and "to see how the students are." Parents reported that students "are concerned, anxious and distracted, but by and large want to stay," according to Randolph. "In many instances, the parents are much more anxious than the students," she said. "They would like to persuade their children to come home." Randolph said Israeli universities have improved security and instituted special counseling programs for foreign students in response to the bombings. And Annabel Belgaumi, the University's principle study abroad advisor for Israel, left for Turkey yesterday with OIP Assistant Director Geoffrey Gee. They will be meeting Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Professor Everett Rowson there to explore the possibility of a new overseas program, and will then travel to Israel on Sunday, according to Randolph. Despite, the bombings, Randolph said OIP received a record number of study abroad applications "across the board" for the 1996 fall semester. Cross said she is eager to return to Israel, though not soon. "After Monday, I think I was a little bit afraid," Cross said. "You don't know when and you don't know where. "I want to be in Israel -- the people there understand what we went through," she added. "It's very different being an American -- we can leave."
(02/22/96 10:00am)
The University of Pennsylvania Health System received the nation's fifth-largest funding grant from the National Institutes of Health in fiscal year 1995, according to an NIH report issued last week. Johns Hopkins University received the largest amount of NIH funding in the United States with a total grant of $185.4 million. Penn's NIH funding for 1995 totaled $140.5 million, bringing the gap between Penn and Johns Hopkins to $44.8 million. Following Hopkins, schools receiving the highest funding are the University of California at San Francisco, Washington University and Yale University. Penn climbed 11.4 percent this year in NIH grants, moving up from the sixth rank last year, according to Richard Tannen, vice dean for research and research training in the School of Medicine. "To be ranked in the top five for NIH research funding is quite an accomplishment," said William Kelley, CEO of the Health System and dean of the Medical School. Tom Flavin, special projects officer for NIH, added that Penn has the highest annual grant growth rate for NIH funding among the top 10 institutions. Kelley said hospital patients will benefit the most from NIH grants since they have allowed for "cutting edge research at our medical center." "NIH funding helps us to provide our patients with the safest and most effective treatments available anywhere," he added. Penn did receive grants from a number of other medical organizations -- both federal and private -- this year, but even lumped together, they did not equal the money granted by NIH. "NIH is the primary grant institution in the world," said Flavin. "We fund over 50 percent of the grants universities receive." According to Tannen, NIH grants made up 70 to 75 percent of Penn's research funds. Flavin said that Penn received the highest funding in the nation for the areas of Biochemistry/Biophysics and Physiology. Penn also had the highest level of funding for clinical research in Radiology/Radiation Oncology, according to Flavin. Penn's NIH training grant level was first in the nation, he said. According to the NIH report, Penn also had the leading grant level of all Pennsylvania academic medical centers. Other area schools included in the report were the University of Pittsburgh, Thomas Jefferson University and Temple University.
(02/13/96 10:00am)
To the Editor: Let's face it: none of the arts at Penn enjoys unlimited access to modern, well-equipped facilities. The departments of Fine Arts and Music struggle daily with the challenges of maintaining degree-granting programs in buildings that -- as at many universities today -- are crumbling. Fortunately for Penn, the Annenberg School for Communication has space that makes it possible to accept an extraordinarily generous endowment for the purpose of enabling Ivy League graduates to aspire to the highest calling for which their privileged educations prepare them: the betterment of society through enlightened public policy. The first effort of the Annenberg Public Policy Center was a year-long (1994-95) series of conferences on "Women in the Public Sphere" -- not an irrelevant topic at a university where about half of the undergraduates are women. At the Graduate School of Fine Arts, the Annenberg funding was used to assemble 34 of the most prominent women in architecture, a field where women's contributions, as elsewhere, have long been overlooked. The GSFA conference not only gave students -- men and women -- the rare opportunity to design and construct an exciting environment for an event reported by all major publications in the field, but also exposed students (many for the first time) to role models for their own careers. The conference, which was attended by more than 400 people -- mostly students from Penn, Columbia, Harvard, Princeton and as far away as California, Canada and Australia -- also put this university in touch with peer institutions around the world. Moreover, it spawned a book on women's roles in shaping the built environment and a course open to qualifying students throughout the university. Multiply that experience by the number of Penn schools that participated in "Women in the Public Sphere" and you begin to see why the current trade-off, while not ideal, is far from unintelligent or "undeserving." Meanwhile, the Perelman Quad and Addams Fine Arts Hall will provide much improved space for everyone. Patricia Conway Architecture Professor Past Dean, Graduate School of Fine Arts ROTC far from simple To the Editor: I was sorry to read that Paul Lukasiak sees ROTC and its presence on campus as an "issue [that] is simple" ("End ROTC participation," DP, 2/7/96). Unfortunately the issue is not so simple, nor is any issue involving perceived discrimination. He should be intelligent enough to realize that grey areas do exist, otherwise life would be fairly simple, wouldn't it? The Reserve Officers' Training Corps provides far more benefits than any possible harms that may be a result of the federal government's policy regarding homosexuals. It does not in any way promote "the spread of prejudice and hatred." It unites young men and women who have a love of country and yearning to lead others who have that same love. In a day and age where patriotism is something to be snickered at and shunned, it is refreshing and encouraging to find those who are not afraid to serve their country, and do so proudly. Furthermore, since the issue of discrimination comes from government policy, should not the University stop accepting federal grants, Stafford loans and any other form of federal funding? Is this what Lukasiak proposes as well? His flawed logic would seem to lead to this conclusion. ROTC needs to stay on this campus and on other campuses throughout the country if we are to have well-educated and well-trained leaders in the future. Matt Beliveau Army ROTC Wharton '97 n To the Editor: In speaking out against ROTC, Darin Weeks ("ROTC discriminates," DP, 2/8/96) and Paul Lukasiak ("End ROTC participation," DP, 2/7/96) manage to restate the obvious while avoiding larger questions. Weeks and Lukasiak indignantly declare that ROTC, and the military in general, discriminate, but this obvious point is not disputed by Gregory Saybolt and Kevin Osborne ("ROTC students react," DP, 2/5/96), who really make no effort to defend the systemic bias. What is up for debate at Penn is therefore not the policy itself, but rather the most effective location for action against it. As Weeks notes, the military will follow orders: if ordered by the president or by legislation to cease legal discrimination against homosexuals, the military will do so. So far, this order has not been forthcoming from our elected officeholders. It is interesting that none of the anti-ROTC correspondence seems at all concerned with how to end our national policy of discrimination, but instead only with how we at Penn will resolve our local moral problem by pushing ROTC off campus -- out of sight and out of mind. The reason for this is, of course, that the expulsion of ROTC from Penn will do absolutely nothing for the larger agenda: the military and general public would hardly notice an action affecting only about 100 people. Even if all private universities barred ROTC, state schools could easily fill the gap, and at a cheaper price to the taxpayer. With ROTC off campus, all American citizens at Penn would still be complicit in the discrimination that the law of the land permits in our armed forces. The military is, after all, not some foreign group imported from an alternate reality but a reflection of both the good and bad traits of our society. Instead of focusing on the conveniently located ROTC units, which are unable in any case to alter the federal policy independently, we should use our vote and our voice with our representatives to push for a national change. George Podolin Political Science graduate student Nadel's perceptive analysis To the Editor: I just wanted to applaud the commentary Mike Nadel gave in the DP last week on Judith Rodin ("The greatest star of all," DP, 2/7/96). I always thought there was something wrong with her, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. She always struck me as being rather insubstantial. Nadel's column elegantly articulated everything that's wrong with our current president. Penn students aren't so stupid to think that pretty smiles and waves are going to cut it for being a good president. Only recently has Rodin been trying to make contact with students, but in my opinion her attempts were dismally unsuccessful. You can't get any solid answers from her. Quite the politician. Thank you so much for pointing out all the things you did. Everything's not as bright and sunny as Rodin would lead us to believe from her appearance. Keep up the critical eye and the good work. Gilbert Pajela Engineering '96 Crime reports still available To the editor: The story about changes to the police log book ("U. Police will not log crimes out of territory," DP, 2/9/96) contains an error that may mislead the University community about the availability of crime reports for areas outside the jurisdiction of Penn Police. Contrary to what the article states, crimes that occur outside Penn Police's patrol boundaries have not been printed in Almanac since May 1994. Anyone can find this out through a quick search of Almanac archives on the Penn home page. These reports can be found elsewhere on the World Wide Web, however. Philadelphia Police issues its own crime report that details all major crimes against persons that occur between the Schuylkill River and 49th Street, between Market Street and Woodland Avenue. This report had not been available to the Penn community for a year and a half until Penn Watch began publishing it on our home page last semester. To see the most current Penn and Philadelphia crime reports (and an archive of them from the beginning of last semester), point your Web browser to "http://dolphin.upenn.edu/~pwatch/". Our page also has a robbery report that breaks down robberies on a weekly basis, showing where and when they happen. These services are intended not to scare the Penn community, but rather to help everyone become more informed of what happens in it. Stephen Sanford Penn Watch Vice Chair for Information Management College '96 Chant was light-hearted To the Editor: I am responding to the letter "Unsportsmanlike conduct" (DP, 2/8/96), written by one Jeffrey Greenhouse. In his brilliant composition, Greenhouse whines about the crowd's "cheesesteak" chants during the Penn-Lehigh basketball game last Tuesday night. Hey Greenhouse, don't be a tool! My friends and I sit in the front row, and I can assure you that despite our jocular appeals for free Abner's steaks during a laugher of a game, we (as well as the rest of the crowd) are some of the most loyal and devoted fans the Palestra has ever seen. I resent your naive comments. I know your courseload in the Wharton School has been wearing you down over the last several years, but I think you should lighten up a bit. You should complain about the lack of fan turnout at recent games rather than criticize the real fans for what you believe to be unsupportive behavior. Mike Weinberg Engineering '96 Bias shows in cult article To the Editor: I was very disappointed with the article that appeared in your paper concerning the Greater Philadelphia Church of Christ ("Cult or Personality?," DP, 2/7/96). I have been a member of the GPCC for over two years. I am also a member of the Drexel student newspaper, The Triangle, and have been there for five years. I have learned through working with The Triangle what it takes to write good objective articles. What most concerned me was not that you published negative comments about my church, because I've gotten used to hearing comments taken out of context or from people who really don't know what they are talking about. But for the DP to publish an article written like this one was a mistake. It was very poorly written and one-sided. The writer had enough time to talk to former members and administrators, but only one member of the GPCC was quoted once and referred to one other time. Two members were interviewed for the story, yet only one was mentioned and very little of what he said appeared. Are you trying to create a controversy? Articles written about a "touchy" subject like this should be very fair if the DP is going to print them as news articles. Would you write an article on race relations at Penn and quote only whites on campus? In the future, I hope you would be more fair and actually do research for the articles you print instead of printing opinions of a select few who happen to yell loudest. Francis Wisniewski Drexel University senior
(10/26/95 9:00am)
From Jamil Smith's "Invisible Man On Assignment," Fall '95 From Jamil Smith's "Invisible Man On Assignment," Fall '95Whenever a few, let alone one million, black men congregate in one place at the same time in America, there's bound to be controversy -- regardless of who organizes the event. The Million Man March, held on the Mall in Washington, D.C., was planned by Minister Farrakhan and former NAACP executive director Benjamin Chavis. Farrakhan and Chavis invited one million black men from around the nation to abandon their everyday routine for a day to come together in Washington for what turned out to be a humble, yet emotional demonstration of the pride of the black American man. It not only accomplished that, but the large celebration of brotherhood has inspired those who attended (and even those who did not) to do things for themselves, their families and their communities that will be universally beneficial. A skeptical observer of the Million Man March might question what the goals of the March were. A cynical person looking on might feel that this was a separatist action spurred on by Minister Farrakhan's message of "divisiveness," as one California man said in a letter to USA Today last week. This is not true -- a simple look at the reactions of many of the men who attended would show that this statement is foolish and uninformed. But I'll get back to that in a minute. Some might assert that the march was an anti-government action and that the location of the demonstration is a confirmation of that. It is certain that the 150,000 men who registered to vote that day would be more than happy to disagree with that opinion. Others might say that this was a political stunt engineered to perfection by Farrakhan and Chavis and that this was their way of asserting their position as top black leaders in the United States. Granted, Farrakhan and Chavis want black people (and others, for that matter) to hear what they have to say. Otherwise, they would not be saying what they do. However, there is no gold medal for being the top black activist of 1995. The important issue is not whether we listen solely to Jesse Jackson, Chavis, Farrakhan, the NAACP, or the Urban League -- what matters is what we all take collectively from their messages and how we employ them to better our lives in this country. Was the march just a very, very large recruitment session for the Nation of Islam? No. There was no recruitment at the march. Those who attended were free to turn their backs on Minister Farrakhan as he delivered his speech while paying attention to others. This fact alone illustrates that deifying Louis Farrakhan was not one of the march's aims. It is undeniable that the organizer of such a massive event as this would be in the spotlight, but this, contrary to the opinions of both officials of the Nation of Islam and dissenters of the march, does not mean that the march was about Minister Farrakhan. It was about the hearts and souls of all black American men and the re-dedication to improvement of communities at the physical, familial, and spiritual levels. Many, including myself, have remarked that messages such as these are so important that it is necessary to look past the messenger (meaning Minister Farrakhan). What we need to do in this case is forget the identity of the messenger altogether. Minister Farrakhan is not a shepherd and black men are not his sheep. A USA Today columnist incorrectly compared the scene of Farrakhan's speech to that of a Hitlerian diatribe. It is appalling that Farrakhan is even compared to the man whose deeds require no repetition. While Louis Farrakhan is depicted (and sometimes justifiably so) as prejudiced and single-minded, the atmosphere of the march was not one of hatred and bitterness, as you would have seen at Third Reich rallies. It was not one of scapegoating and finger-pointing, such as you might see, say, at a Republican convention. It was an atmosphere of brotherly love -- a concept that makes one man's philosophies pale in comparison. The plans that many of the men who attended have made are a testament to the true inspiration of the march. According to USA Today, a tool maker in Dallas said that the march's voter registration drive has inspired him to make a personal commitment to registering others and to join a civil rights organization. A Maryland teacher said that he intends to place "renewed emphasis on 'life skills' " in his classroom, emphasizing "simple, but important lessons." A cosmetologist in St. Louis has returned home and begun the establishment of Lov-A-Nation, which will provide a positive alternative to life on the street. An Emory student wants to meet with the campus' support group for black men and recommend a monthly community service project. A Los Angeles banker plans to get involved with the Big Brother/Big Sister program in his area and join efforts to better city services in his neighborhood. An Oklahoma social worker wants to simply change the manner in which he "approaches everyday life." Do those men sound like the audience of a Hitlerian diatribe? It is ludicrous to assert that Minister Farrakhan wants to unite black people in an attempt to annihilate another group of people as Hitler did with his fellow Germans. One cannot compare the two. However, 20 years in America has taught me that such assertions are neither a surprise nor uncommon. As I said before, I do not lend credence to Farrakhan's "bloodsucker" label of Jewish men and women. I am neither a formal supporter of the present-day Nation nor of Farrakhan. However, his efforts helped to illustrate that it is possible, through cultural unification, to better ourselves as black men. This message, while not necessarily universal, was very relevant. It was never racist and certainly never Hitlerian. If you place that horrible label on the event because of the presence of Minister Farrakhan, you must also place it on Maya Angelou, Stevie Wonder and Rosa Parks, who also took their turns at the podium during the march. Would you be willing to do that? Louis Farrakhan is not Adolf Hitler. On the 16th of October, one million black men in Washington showed us why.
(10/26/95 9:00am)
From Jamil Smith's "Invisible Man On Assignment," Fall '95 From Jamil Smith's "Invisible Man On Assignment," Fall '95 Whenever a few, let alone one million, black men congregate in one place at the same time in America, there's bound to be controversy -- regardless of who organizes the event. The Million Man March, held on the Mall in Washington, D.C., was planned by Minister Farrakhan and former NAACP executive director Benjamin Chavis. Farrakhan and Chavis invited one million black men from around the nation to abandon their everyday routine for a day to come together in Washington for what turned out to be a humble, yet emotional demonstration of the pride of the black American man. It not only accomplished that, but the large celebration of brotherhood has inspired those who attended (and even those who did not) to do things for themselves, their families and their communities that will be universally beneficial. A skeptical observer of the Million Man March might question what the goals of the March were. A cynical person looking on might feel that this was a separatist action spurred on by Minister Farrakhan's message of "divisiveness," as one California man said in a letter to USA Today last week. This is not true -- a simple look at the reactions of many of the men who attended would show that this statement is foolish and uninformed. But I'll get back to that in a minute. Some might assert that the march was an anti-government action and that the location of the demonstration is a confirmation of that. It is certain that the 150,000 men who registered to vote that day would be more than happy to disagree with that opinion. Others might say that this was a political stunt engineered to perfection by Farrakhan and Chavis and that this was their way of asserting their position as top black leaders in the United States. Granted, Farrakhan and Chavis want black people (and others, for that matter) to hear what they have to say. Otherwise, they would not be saying what they do. However, there is no gold medal for being the top black activist of 1995. The important issue is not whether we listen solely to Jesse Jackson, Chavis, Farrakhan, the NAACP, or the Urban League -- what matters is what we all take collectively from their messages and how we employ them to better our lives in this country. Was the march just a very, very large recruitment session for the Nation of Islam? No. There was no recruitment at the march. Those who attended were free to turn their backs on Minister Farrakhan as he delivered his speech while paying attention to others. This fact alone illustrates that deifying Louis Farrakhan was not one of the march's aims. It is undeniable that the organizer of such a massive event as this would be in the spotlight, but this, contrary to the opinions of both officials of the Nation of Islam and dissenters of the march, does not mean that the march was about Minister Farrakhan. It was about the hearts and souls of all black American men and the re-dedication to improvement of communities at the physical, familial, and spiritual levels. Many, including myself, have remarked that messages such as these are so important that it is necessary to look past the messenger (meaning Minister Farrakhan). What we need to do in this case is forget the identity of the messenger altogether. Minister Farrakhan is not a shepherd and black men are not his sheep. A USA Today columnist incorrectly compared the scene of Farrakhan's speech to that of a Hitlerian diatribe. It is appalling that Farrakhan is even compared to the man whose deeds require no repetition. While Louis Farrakhan is depicted (and sometimes justifiably so) as prejudiced and single-minded, the atmosphere of the march was not one of hatred and bitterness, as you would have seen at Third Reich rallies. It was not one of scapegoating and finger-pointing, such as you might see, say, at a Republican convention. It was an atmosphere of brotherly love -- a concept that makes one man's philosophies pale in comparison. The plans that many of the men who attended have made are a testament to the true inspiration of the march. According to USA Today, a tool maker in Dallas said that the march's voter registration drive has inspired him to make a personal commitment to registering others and to join a civil rights organization. A Maryland teacher said that he intends to place "renewed emphasis on 'life skills' " in his classroom, emphasizing "simple, but important lessons." A cosmetologist in St. Louis has returned home and begun the establishment of Lov-A-Nation, which will provide a positive alternative to life on the street. An Emory student wants to meet with the campus' support group for black men and recommend a monthly community service project. A Los Angeles banker plans to get involved with the Big Brother/Big Sister program in his area and join efforts to better city services in his neighborhood. An Oklahoma social worker wants to simply change the manner in which he "approaches everyday life." Do those men sound like the audience of a Hitlerian diatribe? It is ludicrous to assert that Minister Farrakhan wants to unite black people in an attempt to annihilate another group of people as Hitler did with his fellow Germans. One cannot compare the two. However, 20 years in America has taught me that such assertions are neither a surprise nor uncommon. As I said before, I do not lend credence to Farrakhan's "bloodsucker" label of Jewish men and women. I am neither a formal supporter of the present-day Nation nor of Farrakhan. However, his efforts helped to illustrate that it is possible, through cultural unification, to better ourselves as black men. This message, while not necessarily universal, was very relevant. It was never racist and certainly never Hitlerian. If you place that horrible label on the event because of the presence of Minister Farrakhan, you must also place it on Maya Angelou, Stevie Wonder and Rosa Parks, who also took their turns at the podium during the march. Would you be willing to do that? Louis Farrakhan is not Adolf Hitler. On the 16th of October, one million black men in Washington showed us why.
(10/02/95 9:00am)
The School of Arts and Sciences and the Wharton School of Business kicked off their joint colloquium series Friday with speaker Stephen Haggard, a professor in the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies at the University of California-San Diego. In his speech entitled "The Political Context of Business and Development in East Asia and Latin America," Haggard examined the economic and political impact of the emergence of these regions as world powers. Haggard discussed the reasons for dramatic economic reform in the two regions and the economic and political effects of these changes. "The '80s economy was unkind to developing nations," Haggard told his audience of more than 50. But Haggard acknowledged that the economy of the '80s had varying effects on South America and East Asia. "The economic shocks of the '80s put more pressure on Latin America than Asia to make reforms," he said. Haggard also discussed the different underlying political systems of the two regions. He explained that while the United States confronts two major powers in East Asia -- Japan and China -- it faces no major opponents in the West. Haggard is currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and has served as a consultant to the World Bank, the Agency for International Development and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. He is also the author of Pathways from the Periphery, which compares the development strategies of newly industrialized countries in East Asia and Latin America. Haggard is also currently working on two new publications -- "The Political Economy of Democratic Transitions" and "Developing Nations and the Politics of Global Integration." The colloquium was established to offer opportunities to both schools to examine shared intellectual interests, according to event organizers. The event was held in Lauder-Fischer Hall Friday at noon.
(09/14/95 9:00am)
Study evaluated nearly 300 schools Following close on the heels of last week's 11th-place undergraduate ranking in U.S. News and World Report, the University's graduate program received a ninth-place overall ranking yesterday by the prestigious National Research Council. The University of California at Berkeley, followed by Stanford, Harvard and Princeton universities filled the survey's top four slots. Nineteen of the University's doctoral programs were ranked among the top 10 in their respective fields -- led by physiology, which was ranked third out of 135 programs. The bioengineering, linguistics and French language and literature programs also ranked in the top five of their fields. The study evaluated the quality of academics and faculty of graduate programs in 41 fields at 274 universities across the nation. University President Judith Rodin said the rankings accurately reflect the quality of the University's programs. "It confirms what we know -- that Penn has outstanding graduate programs," she said. "We will continue to increase the prestige of all of our wonderful graduate programs." Dwight Jaggard, associate dean for graduate education and research in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, said he is "absolutely delighted" with the results. "Over 25 percent of our programs were rated in the top 10 and all but one of our programs were rated in the top 25," he said. Jaggard added that the numbers "speak to our excellent faculty and student body and our stellar department." The University's bioengineering program was ranked first in the country in program visibility. University programs in chemical engineering, biomedical engineering and materials science were all ranked in the top 10. Eleven programs in the School of Arts and Sciences were ranked in the top 10 -- including art history, anthropology, English, economics, music, psychology, sociology, Spanish and Portuguese. In addition, English and religious studies were ranked number one in faculty honors and awards, followed by linguistics and music. Janice Madden, vice provost for graduate education, said she would have liked to "see some of the programs rated higher," but said that the administration is satisfied with the results. Still, she said several graduate programs, including philosophy and mathematics, should have received higher ratings. SAS Graduate Studies Associate Dean Walter Licht said in a statement that "these results are all the more laudatory because of our highly talented faculty." "Many of our programs have far fewer faculty than other programs in the same field," he said. "Because of their smaller size, some of our programs specialize in subfields and are widely recognized as being among the best in their field in those specializations." The National Research Council is an independent organization chartered by Congress. Published Monday, its four-year, 740-page study is entitled "Research-Doctorate Programs in the United States." The study was last conducted in 1982. Unlike other studies, NRC's rankings do not account for criteria such as tuition value for money. Each program was evaluated by 100 to 200 faculty members who the research universities identified as active scholars in the field.
(06/30/95 9:00am)
Fox Chapel High School '93 Pittsburgh, Pa. Although her on-campus responsibilities kept University President Judith Rodin's appointment book full during her inaugural year, Rodin was also hard at work off campus, traveling frequently to keep the University's coffers full. At least once a month, Rodin met with elected officials in Harrisburg and Washington to discuss the University's funding for the 1996 fiscal year -- a hot issue in the months following last November's sweeping Republican electoral victories. Like most research institutions, the University receives reimbursement from the federal government for the indirect costs of basic research, including the construction of laboratory facilities and the payment of support staff. However, during the debate over President Clinton's proposed budget, the Republican congressional leadership made clear its belief that the costs of higher education in the United States are spiraling out of control. As a result, budget cuts are expected to be directed toward both indirect cost payments and federal financial aid, especially for graduate students. In April, Rodin traveled to Harrisburg to testify before the State Senate Appropriations Committee. She hoped to secure $50 million for the University for the upcoming academic year, up from about $35 million this year. The increase was requested to stabilize tuition at the Veterinary School, which is the only one of its kind in the state, and to guarantee financial aid availability for state residents, according to Carol Scheman, the University's vice president for government, community and public affairs. However, state representatives pushed Rodin to reveal her $350,000 salary during her testimony, and questioned the merits of providing an institution as rich as the University with 40 percent more state aid than it has received in the past. Rodin said she was pleased with the answers she offered lawmakers during the hour-long hearing, adding that she expected their "tough and probing" questions and felt they did not treat her more harshly than they did representatives of other Pennsylvania schools. During January and February, Rodin participated in the deliberations of Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge's Keystone Commission, a coalition of civic leaders culled from across the state to advise Ridge on issues of policy reform. Rodin also served on President Clinton's White House safety panel, which recently recommended turning the stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House into a pedestrian thoroughfare similar to the University's Locust Walk. Scheman and Rodin's new chief of staff, Stephen Schutt, were both Washington insiders before coming to the University. Scheman was deputy commissioner for external affairs at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, while Schutt served as chief of staff for former Sen. Harris Wofford (D - Pa.). Apart from political travels, this year Rodin attended fundraising functions in California, New York, Florida and Texas. She characterized her off-campus jaunts as necessary for the University, and said she tries to be away from campus no more than 20 percent of an average semester. "In a sense, my schedule reflects the University's priorities," Rodin said.
