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(06/08/95 9:00am)
University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center Director John Glick was recently named president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology during the society's annual meeting in Los Angeles, California. Glick is one of the country's leading cancer specialists, and has been involved in clinical-trials research related to breast cancer, Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, for more than two decades. Glick, who is included in "The Best Doctors of America," a listing of the nation's top medical specialists, is currently a professor of medicine. Glick effectively became President of ASCO on May 23. He said he hopes to accomplish several goals, including increasing funding for clinical research, improving patient/physician communication and supporting translational research. He added that he also hopes to monitor the impact of the changing healthcare environment on clinical practice and patient care. "My commitment to these issues is based on their impact to the community at large and, most importantly, to individual cancer patients and their families," Glick said. "We need to carefully analyze how healthcare reform is affecting both patient care and access to innovative cancer clinical trials," he added. Glick has been a member of numerous editorial boards, including the Journal of Clinical Oncology and Cancer Research. In addition, he is presently a member of the editorial board of Breast Diseases and the advisory board of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology. He has served as chairman of the Subspecialty Board on Medical Oncology of the American board of Internal Medicine. The ASCO is the largest association of cancer researchers and clinicians in the United States. Founded in 1964, the society currently has a membership of more than 9,600. The University Cancer Center is one of only twenty-seven centers designated for comprehensive cancer treatment by the National Cancer Institute. The Associated Press contributed to this article.
(04/20/95 9:00am)
Several University alumni make names for themselves on Capitol Hill On November 9, 1994, the morning after the so-called Republican revolution, professors gripped their lecterns a little more fiercely, and students watched the news with trepidation. While many in the mainstream cheered, academia was bracing for a storm of uncertain magnitude. College and university administrators looked at each other and at their balance sheets, trying to determine how Newt Gingrich's new leadership on Capitol Hill and his party's Contract with America would impact their institutions during the 1996 fiscal year. Now, three months after taking office, the 104th Congress -- dominated by conservatives -- is indeed embroiled in a battle over higher education appropriations. But the University, with five alumni currently serving on Capitol Hill, may have a hidden edge as negotiations continue. Representatives Phil English (R-Pa.), Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.), Benjamin Gilman (R-N.Y.), Joseph McDade (R-Pa.) and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) together constitute a group of lawmakers diverse in both experience and viewpoint, yet all aiming to create change. "They're people who understand the University and they have an affinity for the kind of institution that Penn is," said David Morse, assistant vice president for policy planning and federal relations. "That generally is very beneficial." University President Judith Rodin, agreeing with Morse's assessment, said she receives good, fair advice from alumni legislators. "It's wonderful for us as an institution to have those allies in Congress for our institution," she said. Still, the University is not as well-represented on the Hill as fellow Ivy League universities Columbia, Harvard, Princeton and Yale, according to Morse. Schools like the University of Michigan, Penn State and the University of California system also outrank the University in number of alumni serving in Congress because of their sheer size. Morse added that University alumni serving on Capitol Hill are more aware than their peers about the quality of the University's students, the public service work students and faculty perform, and the regional and national economic implications of the University's activities. "For these people, the learning curve is a lot shorter than it would be if they didn't know us," he said. "Does that give us a comparative advantage relative to other institutions? I don't think a great one, but it helps." Just as University administrators appreciate having sympathetic ears in the halls of power, there seems to be a genuine affection for the University from alumni with offices inside the Beltway -- no matter how long the ink on their diplomas has been dry. "I think the Penn experience for me, particularly the graduate school experience, was very helpful in reshaping the work I was able to accomplish as a legislator," said Fattah, the Congressman from Pennsylvania's second district, which includes West Philadelphia. Fattah participated in the Community Wharton Education Program as an undergraduate and, while serving as a state legislator, completed a master's degree in government administration through the Fels program in 1986. Nonetheless, he claims to have had "a fairly normal experience on campus," even finding time to hang out in Houston Hall's pool room. Although he no longer has much time to play games, Fattah maintains close ties to the University because it falls squarely into his district. In fact, his district office is located near the corner of 41st and Walnut streets, and the University is his landlord. Fattah credits the University with forcing him to learn about computers, despite his initial difficulty with them. He added that he is grateful to Fels faculty members who guided his interest in urban policy. A Philadelphia native, Fattah said his goal is to create a more comprehensive approach to solving the problems of major urban centers, incorporating a significant investment of fiscal and cultural resources and political will. "We just don't have a national commitment to cities," he explained. "That's an effort of my work here in the Congress." The local press has pegged Fattah as "the next Bill Gray," a reference to the former House Majority Whip from Philadelphia who left politics in 1991 to head the United Negro College Fund. Fellow freshman English may also have big shoes to fill, as the first first-term Republican appointed to the House Ways and Means Committee since 1967, when George Bush was in the same position. A 1978 University graduate, English majored in political science and was involved with multiple college-level organizations sponsored by the Republican party during his time on campus. Since graduation, English has been elected to one term as city controller in his hometown of Erie. He has also served as chief of staff to Republican State Sen. Melissa Hart and has assumed various directorships with the State Senate Finance, Transportation and Labor and Industry Committees. Having authored a study of "learn-fare" -- the requirement that families receiving welfare benefits continue their education until they receive high school diplomas -- for the Commonwealth Foundation in 1993, English figured prominently in the House Human Resources Subcommittee's drafting of its welfare reform bill this spring. He has already pushed for legislation to reclassify central Pennsylvania wetlands to "promote economic development, protect land rights and give compensation for landowners at the highest level possible," according to The Meadville Tribune. And on March 20, 1995, The Bond Buyer reported that English is working on a bill designed to "ease curbs on small-issue industrial development bonds." As a Congressional neophyte, English has a supporting role in the Ways and Means Committee -- known as one of the House's most powerful committees because it has near-total control over revenue matters. Conversely, Gilman -- because of his seniority and reputation as a moderate Republican eager to encourage bipartisan cooperation -- has been awarded the chairmanship of the House International Relations Committee. An industrial management major who received his Wharton degree in 1946, as an undergraduate Gilman was a member of the crew team and president of Phi Sigma Delta fraternity, the forerunner of Zeta Beta Tau. "I think my education at Penn in economics and management served me well throughout the years and helped me to be more productive," he said. Gilman also said a newspaper editor in his hometown of Middletown, New York, sparked his interest in politics when the editor encouraged young G.I.'s returning from World War II to reorganize a local Young Republicans Club. "From that point on, I became more and more involved," he said, adding that as he begins his 12th term representing Orange, Rockland, Sullivan and Westchester counties, he is not in favor of term limits. But Gilman said he realizes Congress has definitely become a more intense place to work. "We have so many more problems each and every year than [in] prior years, and there have been so many critical worldwide issues that have taken up our time," Gilman said, citing hunger, drug trafficking, health programs and education as his priorities. With the advent of CNN and C-SPAN, Gilman said Congress is more accessible to the public -- and more likely to be criticized for its failings, instead of lauded for its achievements. Cynicism, particularly among the youngest members of the electorate, is a negative by-product of the constant media attention. "[The] cynical attitude doesn't serve our nation well," Gilman said. "We need young blood and we need young ideas." McDade would not fit Gilman's desire for young blood, though -- having been elected for the first of his 17 terms in 1962. Currently, McDade -- who graduated from the University's Law School -- is the senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, the group in charge of funding the departments, agencies and programs of the federal government each year. Like English, McDade got his political feet wet in city government, serving as Scranton's city solicitor prior to his election to Congress as the representative of Pennsylvania's 10th District, the Scranton and Williamsport areas. His priorities have been defense, alternative energy sources and environmental protection, housing rehabilitation and community economic development. But in May 1992, McDade was indicted on charges of conspiracy, racketeering and taking bribes from defense contractors. His trial is expected to begin soon. Specter's ethics were questioned as well in the fall of 1991, when he indelicately grilled University of Arkansas Law Professor Anita Hill during the Senate Judiciary Committee's confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. But on the whole, Specter -- who squeaked past Democrat Lynn Yeakel to win a third term in 1992 and is now running for President -- is known as a moderate Republican, similar in stance to Gilman. Specter has further shown his willingness to break with his party on controversial issues such as abortion and health care. Specter graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University in 1951, served in the Korean War and then attended Yale Law School. Since his election, he has been a consistent supporter of labor and industry and has introduced legislation designed to combat drugs, crime and terrorism. After working on the Warren Commission and developing the "single-bullet" theory with respect to President John F. Kennedy's assassination in 1964, Specter was elected Assistant District Attorney of Philadelphia. He later served two terms as District Attorney.
(04/12/95 9:00am)
One month before his expected graduation, a Yale University student was expelled from school after being accused of fraudulently accepting $61,475 worth of student grants and loans from the federal government. Lon Grammer, a 25-year-old from Brentwood, Calif., was arrested Thursday by Yale University Police on charges of first-degree larceny. According to Yale Police Sergeant Michael Pattern, Grammer could face between one and 20 years in prison. As a junior, Grammer transferred to Yale from Cuesta Community College in San Luis Obispo, Calif. He is accused of forging and altering several of the documents in his Yale admissions file. Grammer's admissions file at Yale contained two different copies of his transcript, according to police reports. The copy he sent to Yale showed a grade point average of 3.91, while the transcript from Cuesta Community College indicated a 2.07 GPA. In addition, Grammer's file contained several forged letters of recommendations signed by nonexistent Cuesta Community College professors. Norman Pattis, Grammer's attorney, told the Yale Daily News that Grammer would enter a plea of not guilty at his arraignment which was originally scheduled for yesterday. But Grammer was not arraigned and his case received a continuance until April 20. Yale officials declined to comment on the case. Some of Grammer's friends said they were surprised by his arrest, but others felt that there had always been something suspicious about him. The Yale incident is similar to last year's arrest of a man who tried to gain admission to the University Law School using false identification. Jorge Chambergo, who allegedly sought admission to the Law School under an assumed name, was arrested in California in January by United States postal inspectors. A federal grand jury indicted Chambergo on seven counts of mail fraud and one count of attempting to a use a false social security number. Chambergo could face up to 40 years in prison and a $2 million fine. He is accused of altering his name in January 1990 in an attempt to pass off the LSAT scores of another individual, Dae Kyung Seu. And the indictment also charges Chambergo with submitting a financial aid statement with a false birth date. The Yale Daily News contributed to this article.
(03/31/95 10:00am)
Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) officially threw his hat into the ring yesterday, becoming the fifth Republican officially to declare his candidacy for president of the United States. "I [announce my presidency] humbly, in the presence of the monuments of America's great presidents, especially Abraham Lincoln, the founder of the Republican Party," Specter, a University alumnus, said. Specter, who is Jewish, is generally considered a moderate Republican who believes in abortion rights, a view that separates him from many in his party who are anti-abortion. "There are those in our party who would lead us down a different path, and squander this unique moment in our nation's history by using our political capital to pursue a radical social agenda which would end a women's right to choose and mandate school prayer," Specter said. One of Specter's more controversial views is his proposal for a 20 percent flat tax rate for both individuals and businesses. Specter is entering the presidential arena after a long history of public service. During his political career, Specter played a large role in the Warren Commission, and was Philadelphia's District Attorney for 12 years. More recently, however, Specter came under fire for his role as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and his questioning of Anita Hill during the infamous Clarence Thomas nomination hearings. In addition, Specter's wife, Joan, is a Philadelphia city councilwoman. Reaction to Specter's declaration of his candidacy was mixed among professors and students yesterday. Political Science Professor Marissa Golden said the fact that Specter is a moderate is an asset rather than a liability. "I think he's a longshot because I don't think this country will elect a Jewish president," Golden said. "That is his biggest liability. "[But] I think the press is wrong to discount him as not being a serious candidate," she added. Golden said Specter's largest challenge will be the initial primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire. She speculated that he will not do well in either state and that that could harm him. In addition, Golden said the primaries attract a more extreme voter than the general elections, which could potentially impede Specter's chances. College freshman and College Republicans member Dan Silvers agreed, saying the odds are against Specter in the tough primary season. "I didn't see him as terribly viable, but especially now that Pete Wilson has entered?[Specter] should add something interesting to the debate," he said. Other Republican candidates include Texas Sen. Phil Gramm, former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander, political commentator Pat Buchanan and former Reagan administrator Alan Keyes. Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas and Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar are also expected to enter the race in April. And California Gov. Pete Wilson has announced his plans to enter the fray in May. The Associated Press contributed to this story.
(02/21/95 10:00am)
Although the snowdrifts have barely disappeared from College Green, the University is already preparing for the April visit of an accrediting committee representing the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. According to Susan Shaman, assistant vice president for planning and analysis, the Middle States Association is one of seven regional agencies responsible for insuring the quality of educational institutions in the United States. Located at 3624 Market Street, Middle States also handles evaluations for schools in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, the District of Columbia and, although it is not exactly a mid-atlantic state, Puerto Rico. Middle States evaluations occur once every 10 years. But every five years between these reviews, schools submit intermediate reports that allow the Middle States Association to monitor their progress. In the months before an evaluation is scheduled to occur, schools form internal committees of faculty, students and administrators to carry out a "self-study," Shaman said. The self-study helps to determine the evaluation's focus. The actual evaluation is then completed by a committee of educators whose members are mutually agreed upon by the school that is being evaluated and the Middle States Association. "They want to balance the team," Shaman said, explaining that both experienced and novice evaluators are recruited for each campus visit. Traditionally, evaluators come from institutions located within the school's own region. But because of the University's cosmopolitan reputation and four unique undergraduate schools, members of this spring's visiting committee are coming from across the country, Shaman said. Among those who will be on campus from April 9 through 12 are William Richardson, president of Johns Hopkins University, who will serve as committee chairperson, and Vanderbilt University Provost Thomas Burish, who will serve associate chairperson. Shaman said other committee members have been culled from the faculty of Princeton and Cornell Universities and the University of California at Los Angeles. "We will have some very thoughtful educators on our campus for two days," Shaman said, adding that the University community will be able to use the committee as a "sounding board" with respect to the issue of undergraduate education, the theme of this year's study. Provost Stanley Chodorow said the group will concentrate on progress the Provost's Council on Undergraduate Education will have made by April toward implementing the 21st Century Project on the Undergraduate Experience. "There is no question that the University's accreditation will be reaffirmed, so that self-study that we do and the visit can focus on a topic that is important now," he said. "We will treat the group as a group of experienced academics from peer institutions who can give us an outsider's view of what we are doing or talking about." Shaman echoed Chodorow's sentiments. "Frankly, our accreditation is not in jeopardy," she said. "We want [the committee members] to be engaged and help us to think through something we'll be doing very seriously in the next few years." Chodorow said that during the committee's visit, members will have "the run of the campus and will be able to talk with whomever they wish" -- including informal conversations with students on Locust Walk or in dining halls.
(02/07/95 10:00am)
To the Editor: Apart from being highly illogical, this argument exposes that Mr. Van Haaften (a freshman at the Dental School) is indeed new to this campus. Had he been here longer, he would have known that no Penn student could even conceive of spending their hard-earned money to watch an 0-8(ACC), 10-10(overall) basketball team succeed once again in eroding their image as a basketball powerhouse. Obviously, anyone with a "clue" would choose to watch the Quakers become the first Ivy League team to go three straight seasons undefeated. There are countless reasons as to why the Palestra is regarded as the mecca of college basketball. In addition to being the arena where our men's basketball team continues their historic season by dominating the rest of the Ivy League and maintaining their prominence in the national spotlight, the Palestra has witnessed many greats (like Wilt Chamberlain) begin their journey to stardom, been home to many championship teams, and has hosted more visiting teams, games, and NCAA Tournaments than any other sports arena. Even Rick Pitino brought his 1992 University of Kentucky team to the Palestra and hailed it as a truly unique arena rich in tradition and history. Although we could go on and on with more evidence of the Palestra's significance, we will simply invite Mr. Van Haaften to take a walk to the Palestra and study the plethora of pictures adorning the halls which clearly depict the numerous historical events and people who have graced the arena's court. Actually, we find it quite ironic that Mr. Van Haaften (a University of Michigan alumnus) would also tell the Penn community that we need "to find out what real college basketball is all about" and to get "a real basketball team." Does the score 64-62 mean anything to you, you Big Ten loser? So, Mr. Van Haaften, the next time you attempt to use your deficient Michigan education to attack Penn's basketball heroes and our proud Ivy League tradition, make sure that your aim is true. Until then, stick to mastering simple concepts like "Michigan sucks." Oner Khera College '94 Jovin Lazatin College '94 Not Really Graffiti To the Editor: In Richard L. Ahrens letter to the editor ("Disgraceful," DP 2/3/95), I was called a number of unflattering epithets including "moronic perpetrator" and "drunken freshman." His whiney anger directed toward the so called graffiti in the quad is a bit overzealous considering that the spray paint is actually shaving cream and the drunken freshmen were in fact sober seniors. Had Mr. Ahrens spent more time away from his beloved quadrangle perhaps he would have noted that the incident was all done in good, clean fun on Mischief Night, Oct. 30th. My personal suggestion to Mr. Ahren is that instead of writing scathing letters to the editor and placing blame on random freshmen and the University's Facilities Management, he should do something constructive. If he would like to see "immediate steps" perhaps he should take to the offending "witty inscription" with a bucket of hot water and a good throwing arm. Barring that, he can chill out and wait for the rain to take care of it. Samantha Smith College '95 Be Human To the Editor: In Jeremy Hildreth's rejoinder to his critics ("Haiti -- the Aftermath" DP 1/30/95), he states that he is not a racist. Rather, what he makes clear to all is that he is a sociopath. He writes: "What great camaraderie can you feel with someone you've never met, and how deeply can you care if he or she lives or dies?" This candid statement does much to illustrate how little separates those who vehemently disavow their responsibility to others from those who actually perpetrate the crimes against humanity in Haiti. (Or from those who sell families homes on radioactive landfills, to provide Hildreth -- a real estate major -- with a more proximate example.) Thankfully, the vast majority of us can still identify with strangers by virtue of our shared humanity. Referring to Haiti's recent history, he states naively that, "[We] personally have nothing to do with it?" Unfortunately, we, as U.S. citizens, certainly do, both politically and economically. Hildreth, however, chooses to dismiss any honest attempt to come to terms with the U.S.'s role in the development of the Haitian crisis as guilt-mongering. Karim Tiro History graduate student Dry Up the Supply To the Editor: The vast majority of Americans do not understand the meaning or application of the Second Amendment. The National Rifle Association (NRA) sedulously fosters misinterpretation of the amendment and one must conclude intentionally publishes such misinformation since its highpriced counsel surely knows better. The full text of the Second Amendment reads: "A wellregulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be abridged." The U.S. Supreme Court has spoken on it many times. In United States vs Cruickshank (1876) 92 U.S. 542, the court held that the right of bearing arms for lawful purposes is not a right granted by the Consitution and that the Second Amendment "has no other effect than to restrict the powers of the national government." In United States vs Miller (1939) 307 U.S. 174, the U.S. Supreme Court asserted that, "In interpreting and applying (the Second Amendment), the purpose of the amendment to assure continuation and render possible the effectiveness of the militia must be considered." In Lewis vs U.S. (1980) 445 U.S. 55, the U.S. Supreme Court restated this: "These legislative restrictions on the use of firearms (convicted felon cannot lawfully possess firearms) do not trench upon any constitutionally protected liberties. The Second Amendment guarantees no right to keep and bear a firearm that does not have 'some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia.'" No federal court has ever held that the Second Amendment confers on the individual a right to bear arms. The courts have consistently adopted the "well-regulated militia" interpretation. The amendment is to be read as an assurance that the national government will not interfere with a state's militia. Beyond this, even Congress is not prohibited by the amendment from regulating firearms by the exercise of its interstate commerce powers. See Commonwealth vs Davis (1976) 369 Mass. 886 by a lower court. All legislative measures and city ordinances limiting or banning firearms have been upheld including a Morton Grove, Illinois ordinance prohibiting possession of handguns within municipal boundaries. The California law on assault weapons was upheld through the appeals court level and the NRA has abandoned plans to bring the measure before the Supreme Court. The NRA is aware, of course, that were it to lose an appeal to the highest court, that would put the quietus on its fundamental contention that the Constitution grants the individual the right to bear arms. A ban on assault weapons is not only constituional but studies show it would also be effective. A study done by the Cox Newspaper group analyzed 43,000 gun traces of weapons used in criminal activity in 1988 and 1989. An assault gun was found to be 20 times more likely to be used in a crime than a conventional firearm. While accounting for only 0.5 percent of all guns, assault weapons showed up on 10 percent of all traces. The argument has been made that criminals get their guns illegally, so ashy target legal sales? In 1988 the Oakland California Police Department found that only 12 percent of assault weapons seized in criminal activity were obtained illegally. Fully 88 percent of them were bought legally over the counter. The point is we must dry up the supply as much as possible. Many weapons that begin as legal sales get into criminal hands. Jim Senyszyn Highland Park, N.J.
(02/03/95 10:00am)
Fritz Gramkowski takes kites to the extreme Just after the sun began to disappear behind the bare trees, and K-Mart's lights fluttered across the highway from the New Jersey field, it happened. Fritz slanted his gaze up through his wire rimmed glasses, scratched one of his fuzzy sideburns and glowed. Although it wasn't dark yet, the sun had set enough to remove the serendipitous January warmth from last Friday's afternoon. Only the crisp coldness of the winter remained. But you could tell it wasn't the sting in the air was that was exhilarating Engineering junior Fritz Gramkowski -- it was the 10 square meters of kite that he was about to bring to life. "This is the big one," he said. Seconds later and 100 feet above the ground, wind filled the green, blue and yellow banana-shaped kite --"the big one." In the center of the field, Fritz, in his black biker helmet and windbreaker, was turning around and around to untwist the angel-hair-like kite lines. Holding two handles connected by a rope behind his back, Fritz used his whole body to control the kite -- pulling hard with the right side of his upper body to move the kite right and with his left side to move it left. His efforts could have appeared to be part of a battle, but when he quickly harnessed the wind's power, it was obvious that if this was a battle, it would be a slaughter. Then Fritz slid into his oversized, tricycle-like buggy and the kite powered him across the field at about 15 miles per hour. Francis "Fritz" Gramkowski is a material science major and a brother in Pi Lamda Phi fraternity. And he has also been internationally recognized in Buggy Newz, The Official Organ of The Buggy Pilots as one of the "hottest buggy pilots" in the United States. According to Corey Jensen, the creator, author and distributor of the newsletter, kite buggying is not yet officially a sport so it doesn't have a specific ranking system. "Right now it's only recreation," he said. "But [Fritz] is widely acknowledged by other pilots." Fritz and his buggies have appeared briefly on SportsChannel and in publications such as Eastern League News. Last year at a kite festival in Wildwood, New Jersey -- near Fritz's hometown of Haddonfield -- the Associated Press took his picture and newspapers across the world printed it. Receiving these clips from friends in Philadelphia, California and Ontario, Canada didn't shock Fritz. After all, he will appear on the Discovery Channel's Beyond 2000 in March. "I kind of realized I was better than the other guys," he said. "But when you see it in print, I realized I better go out and go buggying." But when the captions beneath his photo promoted more than kites, Fritz just had to laugh. Although his name was not beneath this buggying image, in Japan the picture was used as a sushi advertisement. According to the second edition of Peter Lynn's Buggies Boats and Peels, State-of-the-Art Kite Traction and Owner's Manual, Englishman George Pocock's 19th century carriage-pulling kites were the first example of kite-powered transportation. Throughout the past 200 years, ambitious kite flyers have undoubtedly tinkered with the idea of kite power. A kite entrepreneur and manufacturer, Lynn describes in his manual an early example of kite-powered transportation utilizing a bicycle on a playground. Lynn then sailed into the 1990 Thai International Kite Festival with his model of a kite buggy. Fran Gramkowski, Fritz's father and the owner of High Fly Kites, bought the prototype. And for Fritz, that is where it all began. Fritz grew up flying kites with his family. His father organized some of the first big stunt competitions, so Fritz started flying kites at four or five years old. But until his father brought home the kite buggy, Fritz chose to surf rather than fly kites, he said. "I started to loose interest and then my dad got me a kite buggy," he said. "You could do more than just pull it around. It's real low so it seems like your butt's only three inches from the ground. It's like sailing but you go a lot faster." Soon after he became involved buggying, Fritz's skill impressed Lynn. Since then, Lynn has provided him with the expensive kite buggying equipment, and Fritz has reciprocated by offering feedback on prototypes, ideas for equipment and promoting the sport. The three-wheeled buggy, which costs about $450, is a completely detachable stainless steel cart weighing about eight kilograms. The massive kites look like parachutes, but are made of rip-stop polyester fiber. The fiber is similar to sail material, but differs in its air-tight coating. "The fabric is expensive because the kites have to be sewn by hand," Fritz said. "The lines have to be within a quarter of an inch or the angle or the kite is not right." Kite lines, which are made of a high density polyethylene fiber called Spectra, can be anywhere from 75 to 250 feet long. Spectra, a type of plastic, has a low melting point. So if the line caught someone's arm, the contact heat would break the line, preventing serious burns. But don't assume that means the lines are weak. Although they look fragile, they can support up to 300 pounds of strain. Buggying has lured Fritz to Florida, Hawaii, Thailand, New Zealand, England and France -- just to name a few locales. His said his favorite moments, though, are more a result of the beauty and companionship than the miles travelled. "It was July in a dry lake in California and 10 of us just found each other," he said. "The desert is really beautiful because you have all the mountains and stuff. We were buggying around and we watched the sun set." Although the strong winds will let a buggy pilot cruise in a dry lake at up to 50 miles per hour, it's not the power of the wind that challenges his skill, but the friendly competition, Fritz said. "When you fly with someone else, you try to one-up them," he said. "You try to fly a bigger kite, go faster -- that's how you figure out new tricks. "Someone does something to you and you have to figure out something to do back," he added. "It's more fun to buggy with other guys." Fran Gramkowski, however, told another story about Fritz's buggying companions. "He brought a girl from Penn down to the shore," he said. "And he can put two buggy's together and can take one buggy to the end of the ocean. He whipped the girl into the ocean, he stayed dry the whole time and she would get all wet. "The little kids idolize him at the beach," Fritz's father added. "He takes them all for rides." While he is in Philadelphia, Fritz said he just buggies and studies. "It's pretty much what I do now," he said. "It's the most important thing to me now. "I don't know if I'm going to be an engineer or a kite flyer," he said. "Not just flying though, I'd have to start making them or selling them out of a store." Fritz's mother, Mary Gramkowski, who is a nurse at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, said if flying kites makes Fritz content, she will be happy to say her son was a kite buggier. "I think it would be great," she said. "I want my kids to he happy. If that's what he wants to do then that's great. He and his father, they'll get on the phone and talk about graphite spars. He has a good time. He'll talk your ear off about it, but he has a good time." After a some prodding, Fritz admitted that he does do something besides buggying. "I play Doom," he said, describing the interactive computer game. "Actually, I have most of the grad students and a few material science guys playing. Their productivity is about to go down. We hang around the lounge and that's what we're doing most of the time. [Professors] don't really like that. "I apologized to them after I showed them how to play," he added. But when it comes to kite flying, Fritz makes no apologies. Is "the big one" hard to control ? "No," he said, as the 10 meter kite forced him to leap over his buggy, like he was running in the air.
(01/17/95 10:00am)
Jorge Chambergo, the man who allegedly sought admission to the Penn Law School under an assumed name, was arrested in California last month by United States postal inspectors. According to U.S. Attorney Michael Schwartz, Chambergo will return to Philadelphia for a January 31 identification hearing. A date for the criminal trial will be set in February, he said. In November, a federal grand jury indicted Chambergo on seven counts of mail fraud and one count of attempting to use a false social security number. If convicted, Chambergo could face up to 40 years in prison and a two million dollar fine. The federal indictment charges that Chambergo applied to the Law School under the falsified name of "Dae Jorge Seu Chambergo" in December 1989. Chambergo is accused of altering his name in January 1990 in an attempt to pass off the the LSAT scores of another man, Dae Kyung Seu, as his own. The indictment also states that Chambergo submitted a financial aid statement with a false birth date. In addition, it charges that Chambergo arranged for letters of recommendation from Yale University and the Concerned Citizens of Queens written for Seu to be sent to the Law School under Chambergo's name. Although the relationship between the two men is unclear, Law School Dean of Students Gary Clinton said he believes Chambergo and Seu were classmates at Yale. According to Clinton, the Law School expelled Chambergo and notified the U.S. attorney's office after he attempted to remove the "Dae Seu" from his name and change his illicit social security number back to his legitimate one. Both Schwartz and Clinton said that such incidents, while not unheard of, are rare. "I have never had a false social security number case before," said Schwartz.
(11/30/94 10:00am)
Provost Stanley Chodorow and French Ambassador Jacques Andreant signed an agreement yesterday naming the University's French Institute of Culture and Technology one of six Centers of Excellence for the study of France in the United States. Other schools so designated were the Universities of Chicago and California at Berkeley, and Harvard, Princeton and Johns Hopkins Universities, said Institute Director Barry Cooperman. The University will receive a $55,000 grant from the French government for the coming year to increase academic contact between the two countries, he added. Chodorow said the University will match that money and engage in fund-raising efforts on behalf of the Institute as well. "We're trying to finalize plans to sponsor students at Penn [who want to spend] three months at French companies this summer [as interns]," Cooperman said, referring to the type of programming that may be funded by the new appropriation. Eventually, the Institute might also serve as a repository for Internet communications, including live broadcasts from French radio. Chodorow said that as a Center of Excellence, people affiliated with the Institute will have "entree" in France, making it easier for faculty and students to develop relationships and cultivate research opportunities with colleagues overseas. The Institute, started with the assistance of the French government, has existed for more than two years, Cooperman said. "[The] reason for going into it was [that] it was a very tangible manifestation of our desire to internationalize the experience for faculty and students," he added. According to Chodorow, the Institute performs many functions on campus such as facilitating student and faculty exchanges, hosting conferences, promoting teaching and research on France and the French language, and creating connections to France throughout the Delaware Valley. The Institute is unique because it emphasizes science and technology in addition to the traditional history, literature and culture. "Nearly half of the faculty at Penn express an interest in France or have some contact with French institutions," Chodorow said. "France, probably among all foreign countries, has the greatest interest among our students and faculty," Cooperman said. "If you're thinking in terms of a University which is looking outward, to expand its international contacts, clearly France is the country of choice." In January, the Institute will be the first site outside of France to participate in a worldwide conference honoring the centennial of the Pasteur Institute, he added. Joint U.S.-French meetings covering topics like gene therapy and health care are also on the Institute's agenda for the coming year. "It's very interesting to see how societies combat these different problems," he said.
(11/16/94 10:00am)
From Darin Smith's "The Balding Of?, Fall '94 It was a poem of joyous anticipation of a new era, not only in the White House, but in the collective soul of the American people. It looked forward to a genuine zeitgeist of kind and gentle sentiment, a resurrection of government of, by, and for all the people. Ms. Angelou had great expectations, and she has been let down. Morning is broken. It's nightfall in America. As evidenced by last Tuesday's election returns, the American people have turned away from the Man from Hope, toward the men of fear. Fear has driven the campaigns in 1994. Fear has established its own platform, its own party line. And fear is winning. Fear singled out Mark Singel as a sissy on crime because he had enough faith in human nature to actually perform his assigned duties on the parole board, and to have opposed the death penalty early in his career, though he no longer does. Fear said that criminals should not be given a second chance. Mark Singel lost his bid for the Pennsylvania governorship. Fear branded longtime New York governor Mario Cuomo a pushover on social issues because, for all his charismatic and inspiring rhetoric during his tenure, the plight of the poor and sick and old and oppressed had not improved. Even with his liberal allocation of public resources, the government was seen as impotent in its attempt to catalyze social change -- a big Hoover vac that sucks up individuals' money to no avail. Mario Cuomo lost his bid for reelection. Fear passed a referendum in California that would deny social services, education, and all but emergency health care to illegal aliens, because the voters of that recession-weary state were disgusted by the idea of their hard-earned dollars being spent to help non-Americans to pursue the American dream. The proponents of the bill are now heading to Texas and Florida to campaign for more majority rule magic in those similarly-burdened states. Fear has returned the Republican party to the majority in both the House and the Senate for the first time since Ike and Mamie graced the Rose Garden. Fear has pumped new life into the just-recently-dismissable NRA lobbies, because people want their semiautomatic weapons readily available to protect their loved ones and loved things. Fear has sponsored a "Contract with America" that would allow people to rest more easily at night with the knowledge that defense spending has been increased. Fear has turned the Bush clan into the equal and opposite reaction force to the Kennedys of old. At this moment in America, there really are many valid reasons to be fearful. Crime is indeed a big problem, both in urban and rural areas, and warrants great attention. The welfare system arguably has perpetuated the lifestyle of dependence for some of its recipients, creating a cycle of resentment between the haves and the have-nots. Fear, however, is a poor foundation for public policy. The sensory experience of fear triggers a "fight or flight" reaction that is instinctual but irrational. Public policy should be based on reason and fact and aimed at the furtherance of the common good, rather than on some subconscious mechanism to protect one's own hide. The California proposition, for instance, was inspired by the fear that American jobs were being taken away and that masses of people were living it up on the average Joe's taxes. It is designed to make the United States a less promising Promised Land, and it may do so, but not enough to make coming here less attractive than staying there. What it could foreseeably accomplish, however, is to create huge problems of homelessness, disease, and crime by denying the services that combat these ills. All of which could cost the taxpayers even more dollars and worry. There are genuine problems in this country, problems that may someday be eradicated, but probably won't. Blaming an ambitious administration for not solving them all, and returning to policies and politics that couldn't solve them two years ago is likely not going to work. The voting public, however, seems to be sending a message to the Clinton camp that says, "Thank you for your time, but we're afraid we're no longer interested in your proactive, hopeful ideology. We won't be needing your services much longer." It is not President Clinton's fault that the hopeful spirit of 1993 has become the cynicism and terror of 1994. His first two years in office have, by objective standards been legislatively productive, moreso than any President in several decades. He simply has not completely restored our faith in government's ability to make everyone's life better -- nothing short of that will be considered a success. Darin Smith is records supervisor at the University's Financial Aid Office and a 1993 graduate of the University. The Balding Of... appears alternate Wednesdays.
(11/01/94 10:00am)
Graduate students in the humanities are finding many ofGraduate students in the humanities are finding many ofdoors in the academic job market are closed at every turn Several years ago, when School of Arts and Sciences graduate students began their studies at the University, they expected a slew of faculty positions to open up when they received their doctoral degrees. Today, those students are searching for jobs in universities, but some are finding that positions are not as abundant as they once thought. Due to budgetary constraints, colleges and universities across the country are not creating new positions and in many cases, are not replacing retiring faculty. Vice Provost for Graduate Studies Janice Madden said University students in the humanities and social sciences are not immune to this growing trend. "The job market has gotten more difficult in the last few years," she said. "There clearly are fewer academic appointments being made at the moment." According to Walter Licht, former graduate chair of the History Department, the general feeling today is that the job market for history doctoral graduates is not a very good one. "I'm afraid right now," he said. "There's a lot of pessimism about the job market." Licht said the number of applications for doctoral candidates at the University began to increase in 1987 from about 150 to 400. This occurred, he added, as the result of predictions that faculty positions would be opening up in the near future. Unfortunately for students, however, the anticipated jobs have not become available. And cost has played a major role in this "Positions are not being filled," Licht said. "You've seen deans being very cost-conscious." Nevertheless, the outlook for the University's History doctoral students is not hopeless. Susan Schulten, a fifth-year History graduate student, said she would like to finish her dissertation and get a job in academe simultaneously. She said the situation this year is better than in recent years, though. "This year, I'm more encouraged than I have been in past years," Schulten said, adding that being at an institution with a good reputation helps. Licht echoed her sentiments, saying, "Even in bad times, Penn students do well." Marc Stein, a sixth-year History graduate student who hopes to receive his doctorate in December, was less sanguine about the overall situation. "I think the job market has been terrible for years," said Stein, who said he has some confidence in his future because he has already published an article and signed a book contract. "I don't see any signs that it's improving." Students in other fields are also concerned about a future they thought would almost surely include a university faculty position. George Justice, an English graduate student, hopes to receive his doctoral degree in December after six–and-a-half years at the University. Justice said universities tend to blame the economy for the problems students face when trying to find faculty positions. But, the problems are more a result of the structure of universities, he said. "Because of the hierarchical system, top-name professors are paid too much to teach too little, and most teaching therefore devolves upon very lowly-paid graduate students," Justice said. He added that the structure "needs revolutionary change, with an emphasis on undergraduate education." Nancy Bentley, associate professor of English, pointed out that the number of faculty within English departments across the country is not growing. "The departments are not expanding their faculty," she said. "If anything, they're shrinking them in English departments." Vicky Mahaffey, graduate chairperson of the English department, seemed to agree. "The market this year is a little better than it was last year, but significantly worse than it was two or three years ago," Mahaffey said. Similarly in political science, the market is not a particularly open one. James Hentz, a Political Science graduate student who will defend his dissertation in June and would like to find a tenure–track position at a university, said many University Political Science graduates tend to look for work in academe. This, he said, is due to the fact that the department tends to concentrate on theory. Hentz characterized the market for doctoral students in political science as "extremely tight at this point." "It's a very specific market," he said. "They look for very particular expertise in fields and subfields, so you're looking for a niche that you can fill at a university you would like to go to." Hentz pointed out that the pressure now facing graduate students is similar to that faced by professors seeking tenure. "You have to publish, you have to be out there disseminating your ideas," he said. "If you don't, you won't get a job." Mary Heiberger, who works with SAS graduates students as associate director of Career Planning and Placement Services, mentioned this as well. "Now," she said, "graduate students going on the market have publications," whereas in the past this was less common. "It's almost routine." She said students are now getting the same results as in the past, but with greater effort. One discipline, art history, has not fallen victim to the trend, however. According to Art History graduate advisor David Brownlee, his department "didn't go through the steep decline most humanities departments faced about 20 years ago." He said this decline was the result of the drying-up of what he called "space race funding" -- money given to schools during the period of competition between the United States and the Soviet Union in exploring space. "We didn't have as much of a boom before, or as much of a loss afterward," Brownlee said. Madden pointed out the financial constraints faced by many state schools are a reason jobs are not being created as quickly as in the past. But, private universities, traditionally immune from such difficulties, are feeling the crunch too. One state system, in particular -- the University of California -- has had a disproportionate impact on the hiring situation, Mahaffey said. "California is too significant a part of the market to be taken out without a huge effect" on the entire system, Mahaffey said. Schulten, a native Californian, said UC not only froze all hiring, but forced many to retire early because of California's struggling economy. The History student pointed out, though, that each of the UC campuses has an opening this year for a history professor, which might be a sign that more positions will open up in the future. CPPS's Heiberger said a recent legal change is a contributing factor to the lack of positions. "Until recently, faculty members were exempted from the federal law against age discrimination, and universities could require their tenured faculty members to retire," Heiberger said. This, she said, is one cause of the lack of positions. "Short-run," she said, "many professors are staying in their jobs, so a source of vacancy is not occurring as quickly." Some graduate students fear that they might become "floaters" -- doctoral graduates who get hired by colleges and universities for one-year adjunct positions -- but cannot get secure positions. Such people "float" from school to school in search of secure faculty spots and the benefits that come with them. According to Justice, who hopes to finish his dissertation in December, "The floater situation is something we're all scared of." And Schulten said it is "the biggest fear of everyone -- that they'll keep getting one-year jobs." Greg Buchanan, a seventh-year psychology graduate student, said he knows a few floaters. "I know a couple of people who are now on their third academic program in three, four years," he said. Stein said he believes the floater phenomenon is a result of universities' trying to reduce costs, and feels this is in the interests of neither undergraduate nor graduate students. "Universities are saving money and undermining undergraduate education by turning to part-time faculty," he said. The situation, however, may not be as bad as some people think. Heiberger offered this caveat: "Horror stories tend to circulate and the reality is often better than that. "While the market is getting tighter and more difficult, people are still getting academic jobs," she said, noting that within specific disciplines, job prospects vary. Steve Benfell, a fourth-year Political Science graduate student, said this phenomenon happens in this discipline. "At least in part, it depends on what field you're in, what subfield you're in," he said. For instance, Benfell is studying Japanese politics, which he calls "up-and-coming." Heiberger said there may just be a "time lag" right now, and perhaps retirements are just being delayed. Or maybe other unforeseeable future developments, such as an increase in the government's emphasis on education, will alter the situation. Overall, she said, "it's very hard for people to predict" what will happen. Madden was hopeful about the future, although she said she realized that would not mean much to students currently searching for jobs. "I think 10 years from now there will be jobs, but that's not much consolation if you can't find one now," she said.
(10/27/94 9:00am)
Kappa Delta Phi, an Asian American sorority recognized by the University last semester, will sponsor its first rush event today at 9 p.m. in the Castle. The first event will be an information session to introduce perspective students to the current nine members. The purpose of the sorority and its history will also be discussed. The University chapter of Kappa Delta Phi is the first to be recognized on the East coast. The first chapter was founded in February, 1990 at the University of California at Berkeley. Although the sorority is not under the umbrella of a University Greek organization, it has applied to the Bicultural Inter-Greek Council for recognition. Women interested in Asian American interests and community service are encouraged to attend. --Jill Tanen The Medical Center's newest state-of-the-art patient care facility, the Jonathan Evans Rhoads Pavilion, will be dedicated this afternoon. The nine-story $69 million pavilion located at 36th street and Hamilton Walk will have five floors equipped with inpatient care services for the Medical, Surgical and Oncology departments at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Three floors will be used for the diagnosis and treatment of outpatients from other departments. One of the special features of the pavilion is the 17-ton magnetic resonance imaging unit located in the basement, one of only four such powerful units in the world. "The building was designed and conceived in putting patient-family care first and foremost in every consideration and every decision," said HUP Executive Director Wilbur Pittinger. University President Judith Rodin and Medical School Dean William Kelley will be keynote speakers at the ribbon cutting ceremony, scheduled for 2 p.m. in the courtyard adjacent to the Rhoads Pavilion. --Scott Glassman
(10/25/94 9:00am)
Associate Regional Science Professor Daniel Vining is upset about how he was portrayed in an article published in the October issue of Rolling Stone magazine. And he is not alone. Other professors have expressed similar objections to what they have described as the accusatory tone of the article entitled "Academia's Dirty Secret: Professors of Hate." The article focused on the research of individuals who have accepted money from the Pioneer Fund, an allegedly racist foundation that has been accused of espousing eugenics. According to the article, Vining ranks as the ninth largest recipient of fund money, having received a total of $197,750 between 1971 and 1992. Still, he said the article deliberately tried to make him look racist. "That was its purpose," Vining said. "[But] I don't think that I am a prejudiced man." Vining claims the story's author, Adam Miller, reported false information about his research and life in addition to describing events that never took place during an interview he had with Miller over the summer. According to Miller, Vining believes that IQ scores reflect intelligence and that intelligence is largely inherited. Vining said this is an inaccurate characterization. "I have never taken an IQ test myself so I don't know [what it reflects]," Vining said in an interview. "Academic intelligence maybe." Miller wrote that Vining has amounted evidence that more intelligent people have fewer children. Eugenicists believe that this is responsible for the progressive decrease in intelligence of the human population. "[Vining] proposes that lowering the birth rates of the United States' poor, who he suggests are less intelligent than the country's rich, would help reverse the theoretical slide of intelligence," Miller wrote. Vining does not acknowledge ever having stated this. In an interview last week, Miller said he acquired information about Vining's beliefs from a number of articles he has written on eugenics. "Daniel Vining is certainly free to deny having written the things he has written and deny having said the things he has said, but despite his denials, he has written them and said them," Miller added. Miller said that during the interview he handed Vining photographs from a Nazi eugenics film and an excerpt written by Garrett Hardin, a professor emeritus of biological sciences at the University of California at Santa Barbara. In a letter to Miller and the editor of Rolling Stone, Vining contends that none of this occurred. "[Miller] never showed me an 'excerpt' from Garrett Hardin's work," Vining wrote. "I would need my reading glasses to read it, anyway, and I never put them on in [his] presence." Vining added that he never saw or held any articles or photographs. Former Chairperson of the Regional Sciences Department Stephen Gale, one of Miller's sources of information about Vining, also said he was displeased with the article. Miller quoted Gale as saying "I'm not going to tell you whether Dan is a prejudiced man. He may be." "Those two comments were made very far apart and in very different contexts," Gale said. Gale also objected to how Miller presented his statement that Vining's stroke, which left him paralyzed, was "an act of God." "I rarely use an expression of that type," Gale said. "Even if it did sound like me, it was totally out of context. "I wouldn't have said that [Vining's stroke] was an act of retribution," he added. Other professors quoted in the article have also criticized Miller's journalistic integrity. "It is pretty obvious that Adam Miller was out to get us all, to make us look bad," said Michael Levin, a philosophy professor at the City College of New York. Levin said he has argued that there are racial differences in intelligence and that these differences are genetic. Another recipient of Pioneer Fund money, University of Delaware Educational Studies Professor Linda Gottfredson, expressed disgust at the way in which the article was written. "I thought it was particularly cruel when it dealt with Dr. Vining," Gottfredson said. "It is the most vicious piece I've seen written about Pioneer Fund grantees. "It shows a reckless disregard of truth," she added. Rolling Stone Publicity Director Maureen Coakley defended the magazine's standards. "We totally stand by our stories," Coakley said. "We wouldn't have printed it if it weren't true." Vining said he did not plan to accept further funding from the foundation and that he "would have rather not been involved with it." Still, this is not the first time that a faculty member has charged Rolling Stone with disregarding the accuracy of what it has written. In 1993, Microbiology Professor Hilary Koprowski sued the magazine for libel after it published an article suggesting that he was responsible for creating the AIDS virus. The magazine cites Koprowski's large-scale testing of an oral polio vaccine in Africa in the late 1950s as the cause of the disease's spread.
(08/04/94 9:00am)
Summer Times Staff Writer The crowd arrived with smiles, freshly laundered clothing and high expectations. They left with expressions of disbelief, mud-caked shoes and sweat dripping in all directions. So was the before and after sight at Monday's Lollapalooza festival at FDR Park in Philadelphia, an all-day affair featuring music, vendors of all types and exotic foods. And while the 45,000 people who flocked to the site couldn't possibly have expected to witness arguably the decade's best one-day showcase of music, they seemed chipper enough to respond to just about anything remotely entertaining. On Monday, however, they didn't need to search much further than the concert stages. Most bands present at the show, on both the main and second stages, captivated their audiences, leading fans into several mosh pits, crowd-surfing and general good humor. The opening bands, Japan's Boredoms and California's L7, were exciting enough to make the crowd forget the steady downpour of rain and the subsequent muddy terrain that were present for the first few hours of the afternoon. And second stage (read: less financially secure) bands drew much of the crowd away from the supposedly more established main stage artists. The most notable second stage band, Luscious Jackson, incessantly screamed into the microphones, "Nick! Shut up over there!" referring to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, who were on the main stage. The shows best performances, however, belonged to the co-headliners: New York's Beastie Boys and Chicago's Smashing Pumpkins. The three members of the Beastie Boys, Mike Diamond (a.k.a. Mike D), Adam Horovitz (a.k.a. Ad Rock), and Adam Yauch (a.k.a MCA), gave the most energetic performance of the day. Parading around the stage with unabating fury, stamina and glee, the trio blasted its way through an hour-plus set which consisted mostly of songs from their recent album, Ill Communication and their 1992 multi-platinum smash, Check Your Head. Smashing Pumpkins soon followed, thanks to unbelievably reliable stage crews who changed stage equipment within an unprecedented fifteen minutes between bands; but the Pumpkins did nothing before one of the most emotional showcases in rock 'n roll history. The "illustrious" Courtney Love, as Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha called her, performed two songs from her band Hole's recent album, Live Through This. Love, the widow of the late Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, made her first Lollapalooza appearance and played one of only a few shows since the death of her husband. Further, her performance was un-announced -- not even the concert staff had an idea of what took place. In fact, one security guard was overheard saying, "Who the hell is this?" And that is why it was so remarkable -- she has apparently taken a great step in overcoming the grief of losing not only her husband, but also her friend and bandmate, Kristen Pfaff, who died last month. The crowd sensed this and seemed to appreciate the woman for her strength and courage. As the "Love"-ly songstress walked onto the stage, the crowd continued its meaningless between-band banter, not yet realizing who was about to perform. But when she addressed the crowd with "Hello. I'm Courtney. Could I play a few songs for you?", the crowd erupted into a frenzy –– most likely the largest cheer of the day. But then, as she stroked the first chords to the Hole song "Miss World," the crowd nearly fell silent, out of respect for the musician on stage, and for the one musician mostly responsible for Lollapalooza's longevity, Cobain himself. After two songs, Love asked for a moment of silence for her husband and then left the stage. When all was said and done, while people were dragging their exhausted feet and bodies to their cars, most people could be heard talking about Love, but could only say "wow" or "I can't believe Courtney Love played." But Love's performance wasn't the only Nirvana facet of the day. The cheers for Love were matched only by those that greeted Nirvana's hit "All Apologies" as it was played over the sound system just minutes before The Breeders were about to perform. As the opening notes pervaded the relatively silent park -- no bands were performing on either stage at that time -- a deafening scream filled the area and attendees didn't so much sing as scream along with Cobain, perhaps as an homage to the man that meant so much to modern rock and gave so much to his fans. And it was ironic that the song was played before The Breeders hit the stage –– they were the opening band on Nirvana's final tour last fall. But Kelley Deal, singer and guitarist for The Breeders said backstage at Lollapalooza that Cobain was not exactly glorious off the stage or away from the TV set. It appears his well-known heroin addiction was more severe than he led on to the fans. "He [was] always kind of pre-occupied -- He was a junkie," Deal said. "Junkies spend most of their time looking for drugs, doing drugs, and crashing." But Lollapalooza is certainly more than a Kurt Cobain remembrance. In actuality, the festival is what it claims to be –– a showcase of various forms of world culture, music and opinion. The problem is that the concert does not attract people from diverse walks of life -- it was overwhelmingly a suburban, white middle-class crowd which attended this show, just like every show in Lollapalooza's four-year existence. Still, the people who do show up are treated to a circus of fun. And the bands appear to have just as much, if not more, fun than the fans. "It's like band camp," said Deal who, somewhat modestly, stated that the tour in general was "fine." The food vendors ranged from Australian Barbeque to Chicken Jambalaya to simple pizza and hot dogs. Booths were set up to sell clothing from around the globe and one was even selling several types of bongs and other marijuana paraphernalia. The essence of Lollapalooza was best exemplified by a group of Tibetan monks, though. The group serves in the Dalai Lama's personal monastery and often tours with concerts, voicing complaints about Chinese oppression in Tibet. Still, Tenzen Jampa, one of the monks visiting the United States for the first time, "like[s] music of all forms, especially Beastie Boys," and thinks the band is "cool." Lollapalooza is, to an extent, a small-scale "travelling version of Woodstock," as Woodstock Producer John Roberts said yesterday, and well-worth the $30 ticket price. And, finally, it's just a fun way to kill time. And killing time is where music began.
(02/10/94 10:00am)
It was March 1993 and the women coaches at the University felt it was time to take action. "I think the women coaches have a number of issues they have been dealing with individually in their programs," Penn Senior Associate Athletic Director Carolyn Schlie-Femovich said. "[They] collectively got together and sent us a really clear message about what they felt was important. Definitely, salary equity was top on their list. They wanted to make sure they were compensated in an equitable fashion." Schlie-Femovich said, however, they did not threaten to sue. "I hope it wouldn't get to that point," she said. "But I think they're keeping our feet to the fire to make sure that we're moving as quickly as possible." Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 requires equal opportunities for the under-represented sex in academic programs with federal funding, which predominantly applies to women. "You achieve gender equity when the coach or athlete in one program would gladly trade places with a coach or athlete in a comparable other-sex program," Schlie-Femovich said. "So if it's a male tennis player, he would gladly trade places with a women's tennis player. If it's a female soccer player, she would trade places with a male soccer player." Taken word for word from the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but limited to education, Section 901 of Title IX reads: "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." Litigation concerning women's intercollegiate athletics based on Title IX began in the late 1970s with little success. Athletic Departments successfully argued that because they do not directly get federal funding, the law should not apply to them. But after the Civil Rights Act of 1987, the courts took an institutional approach, ruling that all programs or activities within a university receiving Federal funds, regardless of whether or not the individual department directly receives those funds, comes under the jurisdiction of Title IX. The result has been a glut of cases springing up throughout the nation, with many universities settling disputes out of court. In May 1991, Brown University decided to drop its women's gymnastics and volleyball programs, along with men's golf and water polo. In April 1992, the two women's teams filed a class-action lawsuit, alleging gender discrimination in violation of Title IX. Brown decided to engage in a costly legal battle. In December, Senior U.S. District Judge Raymond J. Pettine issued a preliminary injunction, ordering Brown to re-establish the two teams and not cut any other women's squads. Brown appealed, but the First Circuit court agreed with the ruling. The case will go to trial next month. Cornell University took the opposite approach, reinstating its women's gymnastics and fencing teams rather than spending a fortune in legal costs to defend itself against gender-based discrimination claims. The two cases, as well as many others, deal primarily with participation rates, defined as the male-to-female ratio of athletes compared to the percentage of men and women in the university's general population. At Penn, 57 percent of the student body is male and 43 percent female, while athletes are 68 percent male and 32 percent female. Of the 30 varsity sports, 16 are for men, 14 for women. The 11-percent disparity between the University as a whole and the athletic teams in itself is not a violation of Title IX. As long as the University shows growth in women's participation and a willingness to grant new teams to women displaying a genuine interest, the University is in compliance, Schlie-Femovich said. That was the case two years ago when women's soccer was promoted from club status to a varsity sport. Last month, the head coaching position, which had been part-time, was made full-time. "In women's soccer we had a demonstrated interest by the athletes," Schlie-Femovich said. "Over a period of years as a club program they showed their interest and commitment. We heard through admissions there was a lot of inquiry about women's soccer. We ultimately added it. By law, that's something we should have done." She added that if a university has shown a history of willingness to cooperate in making participation rate more reflective of the university's population, then they are in compliance with Title IX. "We're not equal on our numbers here at Penn, but we've shown that history, and we're certainly not turning anybody away," Schlie-Femovich said. Title IX also protects a women's team from being cut if the participation rate in all athletics for women is less than the percentage of women students at the university. "Because Cornell had fewer women's participation opportunities on the whole than they had for men, they agreed to put them back before it came to court," Schlie-Femovich said. "Brown went to court where they lost the case involving gymnastics, and then was told they had to restore the program. It's still being appealed, interestingly enough. That's why the participation opportunity seems to be a big catch point right now, a very hot topic." The hot topic at the University is salary equity, which is based on Title VII. As in any other workplace, many women coaches are concerned that their salaries may not be at the same level as their male counterparts -- even though they feel they perform the same work. Schlie-Femovich said the University is addressing the inequity issue. "We're in the midst of a thorough compensation review, addressing all of our full-time coaching positions to make sure that we have a system [which is] fair and equitable," she said. One setback in gender equity involving salaries occurred in January, when a federal appeals court refused to hear the sex discrimination case against former Penn women's basketball coach Marianne Stanley. Stanley sued the University of Southern California because the salary offered by USC Athletic Director Mike Garrett was below that of men's coach George Raveling. Stanley had a higher winning percentage than Raveling, but Raveling was being paid more and had several perks in addition to his base salary. Judge Arthur Alarcon ruled in favor of USC, citing "significant differences in job pressure, the level of responsibility, and in marketing and revenue-producing qualifications and performance." The ruling left many outraged. Penn women's basketball coach Julie Soriero said if expected revenue or fan attendance figures are not spelled out in the coaches' contracts, then they should be paid equal pay for equal work. "As a women's basketball coach, there is a reality out there that says we don't generate a billion dollars from our NCAA tournament, but then that should be a very clearly defined job expectation for men," she said. "If there's no actual spelled-out difference then they're doing the exact same work, [and] there shouldn't be a difference in their salaries." In addition to program cuts and salary disputes, scholarships and the disproportionate amount of spending on men have received a great deal of attention. But while those issues have received the bulk of the attention, coaches at the University and across the nation are fighting for other, less-obvious things as well. "[We] looked at things, like how we handled equipment, how we assigned fields, access to weight rooms, how trainers get assigned, secretarial support, and have been working on addressing a number of those issues to put us more in line with where we think we need to be," Schlie-Femovich said. She added that the Athletic Department has identified a special pool of dollars for women coaches to draw from for special recruiting needs if their dollars are not sufficient for their program. "There are some inequities that exist at Penn and I think the administration has made some attempt to examine them and in some cases to rectify them," Soriero said. "There are still inequities that exist, and there's probably still things that need to be changed." Schlie-Femovich said achieving gender equity is a difficult and complicated issue that is continually evolving. "Gender equity is something you're always working on and striving toward because we're in a very dynamic environment where things change constantly," Schlie-Femovich said. "I think we are certainly doing the right things to move us in the right direction."
(11/19/93 10:00am)
Tomorrow, Pennsylvania and Cornell will write a new chapter in their century-old history November 18, 1893 was a typical Philadelphia day. The rain drizzled and the cold could be felt down to one's bones. One would never expect this gloomy day in November would end up to be the first meeting of what would become a long lasting relationship that is still around today. For 100 years ago, at the Manheim Cricket Club in Germantown, in front of 4,000 people, the University of Pennsylvania and the Cornell University football teams battled on the gridiron for the first time. Tomorrow, 100 years and over 3,000 points later, the Quakers and the Big Red will wrap up a century of sports history at Franklin Field. But many aspects of the game have changed over the years. The football is no longer made of pigskin. The first half does not last 45 minutes and the second half 25 minutes. Touchdowns are no longer worth four points and field goals worth five. There are no leather helmets without face masks. The forward pass is now an integral aspect of any team's offense. But, throughout the history of this series, one element of the Penn-Cornell game that has transcended the years of wars and depressions, that has remained even after the formation of the Ivy League, is the spirit of traditional rivalry between these two teams. And, as the players take the field tomorrow, not only will this spirit be evident as the Quakers once again have to overcome the Big Red (the series stands with Penn on top, 55-39-5, yet is tied 37-37-4 since 1914) to record an undefeated season and an Ivy League championship, but the spirit of all of the past Penn-Cornell games, all of the memories and the ghosts of past players who once walked on the field, will also emerge. · It is difficult for today's Penn student to realize the magnanimous role that this University played in the history of football. College football had begun in 1873 with Harvard, Yale and Princeton leading the nation. Penn entered the realm of football three years later. By the time Penn played Cornell for the first time in 1893, the Quakers had established themselves as quite a football powerhouse. Penn took that first game 50-0 and won the next seven of the series until Cornell finally posted its first Quaker defeat in 1901. But the true tradition of the Penn-Cornell game did not come until game three of the series on November 28, 1895. That day the two teams met on what became the traditional yearly game day – Thanksgiving Day. From then on, Cornell came to Franklin Field almost every Thanksgiving until 1965. Yet, this holiday game arrangement was not set in stone. Before 1893, the Quakers had no set Thanksgiving Day opponent. But 1893 was the year of the "graduate dispute." Yale and Princeton had yet to develop professional schools, but Penn, as well as Harvard, began to drift towards the "graduate" ideal in the 1890's. There had not yet been rules set as to how many years a student could play football, so a university such as Penn attracted many players who had already played four years at another school. Princeton and Yale wanted to create regulations on player eligibility – and Penn did not. Thus, between 1895 and 1924, neither Princeton nor Yale could be persuaded to venture to Philadelphia to play the Quakers. In 1905, Harvard also took the same route as Princeton and Yale. Yet Cornell, who was very much interested in creating a graduate program in Ithaca, decided it would be a great idea to play Penn every fourth Thursday in November. Legend has it that this "contract" was never written out, but at the end of each game, each school's athletic directors would simply shake hands and say "see ya next year." And year after year (except for 1918, when Cornell suspended its football program during World War I), history was made. One of the first memorable games occurred in 1898. As usual, the weather that day was not at its best. As Penn's four-time All-American guard T. Truxton Hare once said, "It began to sleet, and finally it snowed. The field was covered with ice and snow. A howling gale was blowing down the field and the temperature fell far below the freezing point." But at halftime, the Quakers, being the home team, had a slight advantage – they could change into dry clothes. Penn triumphed 12-6. In 1902, the Quakers were touted as heavy underdogs, as they had already lost four other games that season. At halftime, Penn trailed by 11 points, but Cornell's team captain made a grave mistake in suggesting that the second half of the game be shortened by 10 minutes to lessen the pain that the Big Red would inflict on the Quakers. Penn not only refused the offer, but they stormed the field holding Cornell to only 15 yards in the second half while scoring two touchdowns to win the game 12-11. In 1938, the game ended in a 0-0 tie in what the Cornell Daily Sun called "the sleet, snow and slush of probably the coldest Thanksgiving Day that Old Philadelphia has ever experienced." From the late 1930's until the inception of the Ivy League in 1956, the Penn-Cornell game was the hottest ticket in town. During the George Munger coaching era, Penn led the nation in attendance in nine of these years, often packing almost 80,000 fans into Franklin Field. Anthony "Skip" Minisi (1944, 1946-7), Penn's two time all-American and Hall of Famer, looks back on his games against Cornell with great fondness. Minisi was the hero of Penn's 21-0 defeat over Cornell in 1947, capping off Penn's undefeated 7-0-1 season. "We were consistently in the top-10 when I played," Minisi said recently. "We played Michigan, Army, Navy, which were in the top five in those years, and we played Virginia, Duke. We played a national schedule. "We had excellent football teams and we were a big attraction in Philadelphia. We used to have 80,000 people in those stands. Then, professional football was really nothing and very few people went to pro-games. We were the only game in town." Penn All-American Bernie Lemonick (1948-50), the Master of Ceremonies for this weekend's festivities, remembers how the Quakers "would run out on the field and everybody would be singing and yelling and you could feel the goose bumps on the back of your neck. "It was a marvelous thing, not only for the University, but for the city. This was a religion for the people who came out and watched. I mean, Saturday was Franklin Field day," he said. Yet Lemonick, like Penn alumnus Francis "Reds" Bagnell, never had the pleasure of defeating the Big Red. "Circumstances are such that you lose games and you win games," Bagnell said. "You always like to [beat] one of your worthy opponents like Cornell. They had a great football team in the days that we played. The games were all close. It's unfortunate. I don't like to talk about it very much." But part of the reason why these players never posted a win over Cornell may have been because of the weather. In 1950, while the rest of the Northeast cancelled or postponed their games because of a baby hurricane, Penn and Cornell played on in 65-mile-an-hour winds. And while 12,000 fans still showed up, Penn faltered 13-6. But even though there was not a victory, Lemonick still remembers the excitement of playing in a nationally-televised game. "We had television that came in from New York," Lemonick said. "We were the only team in the United States that could be piped around the United States as a TV team. So we were known on the West Coast as we were known on the East Coast." "It was not unusual to play California and to walk down the street and be known by the people out there," Lemonick added. "I mean, we were not just locals, we were nationals." In 1956, the era of Penn's national football dominance came to a close with the creation of the Ivy League. But in 1959 came Penn's first Ivy League championship with its victory over Cornell. Penn was tied with Dartmouth for the Ivy title. In the last game of the season, the Quakers were losing 13-0 in the third quarter, but behind the arm of George Koval, Penn prevailed 28-13. "We had to beat Cornell the last game of the year to win the championship," said Koval, who is currently deputy vice provost for University life. "So it was the biggest game of the year at that point and personally, I had a half-decent day." The creation of the Ivy League caused national interest in the Penn-Cornell game to diminish, for better players chose athletic scholarship schools while at the same time professional football became more prominent. But while a televised Thanksgiving Day game became a remembrance of the past, the rivalry between the two teams carried on. Aside from the formation of the Ivies, another hallmark in the history of this great rivalry came in 1964. After playing the game for 71 years in the Quakers' "City of Brotherly Love," the Penn-Cornell game moved to Cornell's Schoellkopf Field. The loss of home field advantage greatly affected Penn, as it fell 33-0. At the same time, the matchup was no longer reserved for the last game of each team's season. Penn would travel to Ithaca in October of every even year, and Cornell would drive to Philadelphia in November of every odd year – an agreement which basically lasted until 1988. Watching a Penn-Cornell game while carving a turkey was a memory of the past. · For the next memorable Penn victory, one must skip quite a few years to 1986. Both teams entered Cornell's Schoellkopf Field for the season's final game tied atop the Ivy League standings with perfect 6-0 Ivy records. Penn fell behind early but captured the lead by the end of the first quarter. At the half, Penn had widened its lead to 17-7 and held on to win the game 31-21. The win gave Penn a 10-0 season, its first undefeated, untied season since 1904. In 1989, the two schools tried to re-create the Thanksgiving Day tradition when ESPN televised the match-up. But aside from the fact that the game had to be played at 10 a.m. so as not to interfere with other more nationally-important games, the Philadelphia weather once again showed its true colors as it snowed – and snowed hard. The game was played before a practically empty Franklin Field. But, tomorrow, the spirit, enthusiasm and atmosphere of the Penn-Cornell rivalry will once again envelope Franklin Field. Tomorrow, Penn will once again have to overcome Cornell to record a 10-0 season. And once again, tomorrow, as the The Franklin Field Illustrated wrote in 1932, "[Tomorrow] we feel that while we are encountering a stern foe on Franklin Field, we are also entertaining one of our best and oldest friends."
(11/17/93 10:00am)
With the possible exception of Greco-Roman wrestling, fencing is the world's most popular sport invented by the ancient Greeks. Bearing that in mind, a group of 21 individuals representing Penn will look to stab and jab its way to a successful season. The Penn men's fencing team had mixed results last season – while both the sabre and epee teams placed second in the NCAA tournament, the foil team was not quite so fortunate. This season the results should be similar, although the epee unit may not be as strong as last season. "The sabre team should be the best in the country," said senior captain Evan Glanz, a past all-American and all-Ivy competitor. "Other than that, we will have to see, especially with the epee group. Last season, the sabres and epees carried the team. This year, it will probably just be the sabres." Glanz, who was an all-American his first two years and missed last year by one point, does not intend to denigrate the epee crew, though. Senior Tamir Bloom is an all-American fighter who competes on the United States national fencing team. Freshman Alexandre Edelman won the under-19 fencing division at the California State Games and placed second at the Temple Open. Freshman Edward Cleaver placed in the 9-16 bracket at the Temple Open, which is a pre-season individual practice event. "Our sabre team looks to be our strength," Quaker coach Dave Micahnik said. "We're looking for some of our experience to filter down to our younger guys. We hope that the younger guys will gain some additional ability and experience to make our team more competitive." Last year's foil team featured two freshman, a junior and a senior, all of whom return to try and foil their opponents this season. They met with mixed results last season, but the added experience should help. "The foil team was not fantastic last year, but they should be better due to their added experience," Glanz said. "This team has an interesting mix of younger players and experienced veterans," Micahnik said. "There are a few freshman who will compete for positions on this team. After that, it will be up to the older guys to teach the younger ones how to be the best." Either way, the Penn team looks to compete for the Ivy League title. There is a power vacuum at the top of the league, and Penn looks to fill it. Traditionally, Columbia has been the powerhouse, with Penn, Princeton and Yale nipping at the Lions' heels. Neither Dartmouth nor Cornell field fencing units, so in the six-team league, it is virtually anybody's game, although Brown has never been close to winning a title. But the Quakers believe that the league is wide open because the Lion dynasty will be weaker because of graduation. "Columbia was great last year, but they lost half of their team," sophomore sabre George Kalmer said. "They are always tough, and so is Penn State, but both will be weaker because they lost some key team members." Coincidentally, the next competition for the Quakers will be at Penn State on November 20-21 in yet another preseason individual meet. Penn looks to the preseason meets as confidence-builders that will guide it through this season. Lofty personal goals abound on this team, which features a core of talented athletes. Kalmer was an all-American last season, and both he and Glanz look to continue their brilliant performances this season. "Personally, I want to be an all-American again," Glanz said. "I'd also like to go through the Ivy League season undefeated and be on the first team of the all-Ivy squad." But Glanz will not allow personal accolades, of which he has received many, obstruct the team's goals. His first concern is the success of the entire Penn squad. "This is probably not the best team Penn has ever fielded," Glanz said. "But we'll be competitive. When the foil and epee teams gain the much-needed experience, Penn will be in a position to dominate."
(11/11/93 10:00am)
The gangster, one of Hollywood's favorite cinematic subjects, has steadily evolved over the years into the modern-day "gangsta," film expert Todd Boyd told an Annenberg School audience Tuesday night. Boyd, a professor of critical studies at the University of Southern California, traced that evolution through film and music following a screening of the Hughes Brothers' film, Menace II Society. Since the 1912 filming of Musketeers of Pig Alley by D.W. Griffith and continuing through the 1930s with Scarface, Little Caesar and Public Enemy, Boyd said gangsters have been portrayed as whites who recently immigrated to the United States. With the production of Godfather I and II in the 1970s, this trend began to change, as Michael Corleone, the main character of those movies, becomes fully assimilated into American culture. Fundamental twists in the gangster trend began in 1988, with the production of Dennis Hopper's Colors, in which Hollywood introduced the African-American or Latino "gangsta," Boyd said. The increased attention given to inner-city gang life in Menace II Society – and in John Singleton's Boyz N The Hood – was accompanied by a parallel shift toward rap music by the mainstream, Boyd said. To illustrate this point, Boyd named artists such as Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and NWA, who rose to prominence on the pop charts with hard-edged lyrics and forceful rhythms centered on the violence and hopelessness of ghetto life. The "gangsta" lifestyle, a reflection of contemporary culture "operating at multiple levels," also reveals the importance of the "reality discourse" in American society, Boyd said. The explosion of television talk shows, which encourage the telling of personal narratives, is indicative of both the desire for authenticity and the blurring of the line between reality and fiction apparent in America today, he said. The "gangsta" influence is also felt in literature, Boyd said with a reference to Monster, a Los Angeles Crips gang member's autobiographical account. This "popular text" is linked to the new direction of movies and music with "gangsta" themes, he said. However, Boyd said he thinks that recently there has been an overall decrease in African-American creativity in that arena. "These [movies] are probably the highlight of the genre," he stated. "The problem is they came two years too late ? Hollywood likes to recycle this idea." Boyd also cited the redundancy of copycat musical groups trying to replicate the success of artists such as En Vogue and Boyz II Men as evidence for this view of variations on a theme. Following the screening – which was sponsored by the Center for the Study of Black Literature and Culture at the University – center director Houston Baker, Village Voice film critic Greg Tate and center staff member Ed Guerrero joined Boyd in a discussion of the issues the film raised.
(11/09/93 10:00am)
Ivy League students enrolled in the Reserve Officers Training Corps must adhere to a military policy that excludes gay men, lesbians, and bi-sexuals from their organization. The same students must also adhere to Ivy League school policies which prohibit discrimination against minorities, including homosexuals. At issue for Ivy League ROTC units is how to resolve the direct conflict between the various schools' non-discriminatory policies and the military's ban on homosexuals. ROTC units have been unable to comply with non-discriminatory policies because U.S. military policy bans "persons who engage in homosexual conduct" from active duty. Following much campus debate, Ivy League schools – who have not already voted to discontinue their ROTC units – are reconsidering their current programs. But the decision administrators face is a tough one. Each school faces the dilemma of continuing to allow ROTC to violate non-discrimination policies or eliminating a program that provides student scholarships and the student body with additional diversity. Many administrators hoped President Bill Clinton would end the controversy by upholding his campaign promise to terminate the military's ban on homosexuals. But Clinton's "don't ask, don't tell" policy has only complicated the situation. When coupled with inconsistent court decisions, the ROTC debate has mushroomed into a campus controversy. In recent years, 13 cases have been brought to court regarding the ban on homosexuals and none has produced a solution. If the courts had determined that the military's policy is unconstitutional, the ROTC debate would end. However, the courts have never agreed on the constitutionality of the military's policy. For example, Keith Meinhold, a petty officer who was discharged because of his sexual orientation, challenged the policy in a California court. Federal Judge Terry Hatter ruled the military's policy did not comply with the Constitution's equal protection clause and called for Meinhold's reinstatement. However, the case of Joe Steffan, a student who was discharged from the naval academy before he graduated because he was homosexual, ended with a very different verdict. In the Steffan case, Judge Oliver Gasch said the ban was a " rational measure" to prevent HIV transmission in the military. The final outcome of the case is still uncertain since Steffan has appealed the ruling to the Washington, D.C. Court of Appeals. Thus divided, the court system has forced Ivy League administrators to grapple with the controversy. Some schools are currently considering discontinuing their programs and have formed special committees to report on the issue. In 1991, Dartmouth College's trustees voted to discontinue the program by April 1993 if the military did not change its policy. This date has since been pushed back to next April so the policies in Washington can be made more clear. Next spring, the trustees will decide if the military's policy meets their guidelines and will decide the fate of the program. "I know there have been conversations on campus about this issue," Associate Dean of Students Barbara Strohbehn said yesterday. "The program is existing as it was before and it is waiting for the decision of the trustees." At Columbia, the university removed ROTC in the 1960s in response to student demands during the Vietnam War, said Cathy Croft, executive director for campus programs. Although the school has not had a unit for decades, the ROTC would not be welcome at Columbia today. "Clearly we would not want any program that discriminates," Croft said. Cornell University has a particularly unique situation regarding ROTC. Cornell is a land grant college of New York and one of the requirements of state institutions is military instruction. Therefore, the college must have ROTC units. But Cornell policy prohibits discrimination against students on the basis of their sexual orientation. The school has tried to clearly distinguish between the school's policy and the military's policy in hopes of keeping both sides of the debate happy, Cornell administrators say. "I think we've tried to make it clear that we separate the policies of our university [from those of ROTC]," said Larry Palmer, vice president for academic programs and campus affairs. Palmer notes that the ROTC is accepted on campus with a "bit of discomfort." He also said university representatives wrote to the Department of Defense two years ago to inform the department of conflicts between state law, military policy, and school rules. ROTC leaders maintain that they are taking undeserved criticism for a policy that they had no part in formulating. They have said they are simply following the policy set down by the president of the United States. "We are not here to purposely discriminate," said Capt. Steve Jones, ROTC enrollment officer at Cornell. "But there is a Defense Department policy." "We have nothing to do with it," Dartmouth ROTC Sgt. Terry Damm agreed. "It's the president's policy and we obey it." Like Cornell, Princeton University has also decided not to terminate its ROTC program and therefore, its relationship with the military. In 1990, following the submission of a report by a special committee looking into the ROTC dilemma, Princeton President Harold Shapiro issued a statement to the Princeton community stating "that the presence of Army ROTC at Princeton is on balance a positive thing and should be preserved." The statement said Princeton needed to better define its relationship with ROTC. Associate Secretary Ann Haliday said Friday that the relationship between Princeton and ROTC is that ROTC is an outside organization and is not a part of Princeton University. "ROTC is considered a recruiting organization who discriminates based on sexual orientation," she said. "The special committee recommended that we make clear the distinction between the university and the outside organization ROTC." But University Assistant Director of Student Life Programming Robert Schoenberg is skeptical of this Princeton policy decision. "I wonder if it's true," he said. "Does ROTC pay Princeton rent? Does it pay for utilities in the buildings it inhabits? Does it pay for advertising? My suspicion is [Princeton] subsidizes ROTC on campus. It is certainly true here [at the University]." Some Princeton faculty members are also cynical of the relationship the school has with the organization. The Princeton faculty senate passed a resolution last Monday calling for the removal of the ROTC from Princeton by June 30, 1994 "unless all regulations restricting the speech of gay men, lesbians, and bi-sexuals are repealed..." Princeton alumni like Erik Markeset are also agitating to remove the unit from campus. When Markeset entered Princeton, the school did not offer an ROTC program. Markeset helped bring a unit to campus and commanded the unit in his senior year. As an officer on active duty, he earned a Meritorious Service Medal and two Commendation Medals. But now Markeset wants the unit discontinued at Princeton because the military discriminates against homosexuals. And as a gay man, Markeset has been agitating for a change in the military's policy. Critics of ROTC cite Markeset as an example that someone who is gay can perform the same duties as someone who is heterosexual. Harvard University is also in the process of reviewing its relationship with ROTC. But Harvard's program is unique because it does not exist on Harvard's campus. Students wanting to participate in ROTC must do so through the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Harvard subsidizes MIT's program so that Harvard students may participate. But Harvard is in the process of deciding whether or not to withdraw its funding because the program at MIT does not adhere to Harvard's non-discrimination policy. A committee has been established at Harvard to "review the situation," said Harvard Dean of Students Fred Jewett. He said Harvard's president, Neil Rudenstine, will report to the faculty on the status of the program sometime this month. "We felt it would be wrong in the long run to continue to directly support something that countered university policy," Jewett said. "Should [Harvard] financially support the program is the question." He added that the university did not want to make a decision before the "situation in Washington is more clear." Even if the military implements the "don't ask, don't tell" policy and makes its language more understandable, some experts have said it is not a practical policy. Furthermore, experts have raised questions about Clinton's policy in regards to ROTC because it prevents a student from speaking freely in class. "If a student speaks about his sexual orientation in a class," Schoenberg said, "does that constitute 'telling?'" "The 'don't ask, don't tell' policy does not meet the criteria of non-discrimination," he added. So as Washington continues to struggle with a question that will affect almost every university and college across the country, students, administrators and faculty members will be focused on President Clinton as they play a waiting game that could determine the future of ROTC.
(04/15/93 9:00am)
Bell bottoms, platform shoes, polyester and music. That's what Quaker Notes will be serving up tonight to kick off Spring Fling. The Flinging Divas are bringing the 1970s back with style. The University's only all-female a capella singing group has been working overtime, road-tripping and performing at competitions. Recently recognized as one of the best a capella groups in the nation, they are still battling relative anonymity at home. "Our reputation has really been expanding across the country, but not at Penn," laments College Senior and Quaker Notes president Kate Spencer. "Even people who have heard of us and want to see us end up missing our shows." In February the Quaker Notes placed third in the Road to Carnegie Competition. The group competed against female a capella groups from across the United States, and with the honor came requests to perform as far away as the University of California at Berkeley. Flinging Divas promises to bring the group's wealth of talent back to the University stage. The Quaker Notes will open with a short set of 70s songs and then relinquish the stage to the Amherst DQ's and the Columbia Kingsmen. The University's 14-women a capella group will finish the evening with a full-length set of music ranging from the Supremes to Yes to the Eurythmics, featuring the Quaker Notes' signature strong baselines and soulful sound. Not even the lack of Student Activities Council funding has put a damper on "Flinging Divas." The Quaker Notes, who expect to break even on the performance, had to pay for costumes with their own money. According to musical director and College and Wharton senior Janice Kim, those costumes were part of the reason for the retro theme. "They wanted to wear 70's clothing," said Kim. Flinging Divas plays tonight only at 8:30 p.m. in the Christian Association.
