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(11/15/00 10:00am)
Imagine an athletic shoe with a radar unit in the toe; a video camera in the heel so you can broadcast your wanderings on the Internet in real time; and a unit in the ankle to massage you as you walk.
Karim Rashid calls it the "Smoo" -- or smart shoe -- and it's just one of many futuristic ideas he proposed and discussed in an hour-long lecture yesterday afternoon.
The talk, attended by an audience of more than 50 students and community members, was part of the Penn Humanities Forum Lief Lecture Series on Style. Rashid, born in Egypt, raised in Canada and educated in Italy, is very much a product of and a force in the modern era of globalization and blending of influences and tasks.
He said he aims to produce work that is "of the moment."
"If it's pivotal at the moment, even momentarily, we tend to realize the value of that work later," he said.
Rashid said he believes in "democratic design," which he explained as a design for everyone that is extremely inexpensive and accessible.
One of his ideas involves "organomics," the marriage of the organic and ergonomics -- a blending of low tech and high tech, furniture and technology.
Thus, he designed one room with an interior landscape that is "seamless and soft," with shifting softness and hardness. He envisions a Web site where a customer can specify his needs and wants for the room, and the program will design it and ship the room, ready-made.
Rashid even adds a social twist to his designs. He proposed a scheme for a Giorgio Armani store with very little clothing on display. Instead, the store would hire models in the area to sell the clothes -- and display them.
The store would be arranged around a runway, down which the models would strut, wearing a new outfit every hour, turning shopping into an event. Furthermore, the walls would be arrayed with digital projections of the models in their various outfits and, occasionally, just the clothes themselves.
Jessica Magnitsky, a student at the University of the Arts who specializes in industrial design, said she is disturbed by "how much [Rashid] relies on the technology."
She was referring to another of Rashid's ideas in which a machine does the designing itself.
It is what he calls "hands off" -- completely machine-produced. Today, he said, "craft is really a middle-class leisure activity."
However, Rashid may be ahead of his time. Armani seemed to think so when it rejected his plans for their store as "way beyond their clothing."
(11/06/00 10:00am)
Mother Jones, the great American union activist and early 20th century champion of the working class, would have you believe that she was a born activist, rebellious since her childhood in Cork, Ireland.
Elliott Gorn, a professor of History at Purdue University who has written a biography on Mother Jones entitled Looking for Mother Jones, would have you believe differently.
Gorn spoke about Mother Jones Friday in the first talk in the "Writer's Talk Research" series, sponsored by the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships and Harrison College House.
Gorn, whose book will be published in February by Hill and Wang Inc., explained his research into the life of Mother Jones, as well as Mary Jones, the woman behind the image. The talk took place in front of an audience of about 15 people at the Arch Center on campus.
Gorn explained that the only published biography on Mother Jones, her 1925 autobiography, is littered with false accounts of Jones' history.
Gorn contends that to Mother Jones, who gained fame by organizing the 1914 Colorado Coal Miner's strike, as well as many other worker's movements across the country, "the person doesn't matter, the persona matters. As a biographer, I have to talk about the person as well as the persona."
Some of Gorn's examples of Jones' lies are that in her autobiography, Jones claimed that she was born in 1830 and that her family, leaders of the revolution, immigrated to Canada in 1837.
Gorn explained that his research entailed visiting the Irish
National Archives in Dublin, as well as archives in Toronto and Ontario to deduce that Jones was really born in 1837 and most likely left Ireland during the potato famine in 1847, not 10 years earlier as she claimed.
Gorn also searched Dublin records and found that Jones' accounts of her father's arrest as a rebel in Ireland are not substantiated.
Gorn said he first became interested in writing about Mother Jones in 1987, when he saw many of her speeches being published, but could find no biographies about her other than her own. This is Gorn's first biography.
When discussing his approach to the research, Gorn said that while you "must have ideas that give you a sense of where to go," you also "have to be open-minded."
Gorn added as an example the fact that he wanted to like Mother Jones "unequivocally," but soon into his research he realized that was not possible.
"Did I want to write an biography Mother Jones would approve of? No, she wouldn't approve of anything," he said.
Art Casciato, director of the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships and former house dean of Harrison College House, said the goal of the Writer's Talk series is to "have a more or less constant flow of students, faculty and non-academic people come to the center to speak about how they do the research, why they do the research and what the joys of doing the research are."
Although the turnout was low, the talk was well-received.
College junior Yaran Noti said, "I thought it was good. It was helpful to hear a professor talk about the methods of research. It helped me understand how to approach my research better."
(11/06/00 10:00am)
To the Editor:
These are the mild rantings of a confused and frustrated liberal:
Why is this race so close? Why does half of the population actually think school vouchers are a good idea? Or that we need another Scalia to interpret the Constitution? Or that drilling on virgin land to fuel more toxin-producing, asthma-inducing combustion engines should be the government's solution to high oil prices?
Who are these people? Didn't their mothers teach them anything? Why do they have so much money, so many voices? There can't be that many anti-choice, pro-NRA millionaires. And why is a very well-educated, caring, responsive, inspiring, hard-working man struggling to reach the office for which he has been preparing his entire life?
I watch the news. I read the papers. I even listen to NPR, and I still don't know why I will be forced to hold my breath on election night.
(10/18/00 9:00am)
I had just arrived in Vienna after an overnight train from Germany. After checking into a youth hostel, I was finally ready to tour the former capital of the Hapsburg Empire.
Like many Americans, I'd heard plenty about the rise of Austria's scary neo-fascist leader, J”rg Haider, and as an obvious non-European, I was slightly apprehensive about how I would be received by the locals.
Sure enough, while touring the Hapsburg palace grounds, with my beat-up camera in hand, I passed a group of tall young men. One of them noticed me and scoffed, "Look at these little Japanese with their cameras."
Austrian racism at its finest? Not exactly. The group consisted of Americans, and these loving words were said, not in Wienerdeutsch, but in good ol' American English.
And their utterer was of South Asian descent.
I might have been forgiven for not wanting to come across any more Asian Americans after my run-in in Vienna. Instead, this incident reminded me of a sad truth that many students visiting Western Europe have observed: the near absence of non-white Americans traveling there.
True, there are reasons for this relative paucity. For one, non-whites are less well-off socioeconomically and so tend to have less disposable income for luxuries such as travel. Many Americans with family in Latin America, Asia or Africa would rather spend their hard-earned savings visiting relatives.
Furthermore, Europe does not symbolize only "civilization" and "culture." To many -- and not just non-Europeans -- the continent also carries heavy historical baggage: colonialism, slavery, discrimination, persecution and mass murder.
These reasons are understandable, but they alone cannot explain why I could count on one hand the minority Americans I encountered in six weeks across the Atlantic.
Why, then, the overwhelming whiteness of Americans in Europe? Especially when there is so much to learn from countries superficially similar to the U.S. -- such as Britain, France and Germany -- yet with distinct societies and cultures?
I suspect that the answer lies in the insular, American-centered world-view of many educated blacks, Latinos and Asian Americans. Ironically, although the discipline of ethnic studies has devoted increasing attention to "diaspora" issues, few U.S. minority intellectuals have shown much awareness of, let alone curiosity in, minorities in Canada and Western Europe.
By focusing narrowly on conditions in the U.S., these folks reinforce that most ethnocentric of beliefs: that "America is the world." Such arrogance causes them to generalize, assuming that, say, West Indian blacks in Britain or North Africans in France face exactly the same sort of injustices as their counterparts here.
Worse, they miss out on the chance to make real, substantive comparisons between the U.S. and other Western nations, ones that go beyond the usual stereotypical jibes about smells, personal habits or movies.
Sometimes it is Europe that comes out looking worse. Many Americans would be shocked to learn that most countries there do not consider native-born non-Europeans automatic citizens. France, for instance, does not allow children of North African immigrants to apply for citizenship until age 18.
Whereas I once condemned this practice as racist, I now understand that the U.S. is unusual in guaranteeing citizenship to everyone born on its soil.
But the fact is that minority life in Europe often compares favorably with that in the U.S.
Despite the existence of ethnic enclaves -- North African "suburbs" in Paris, Turkish "ghettos" in major German cities, Pakistani neighborhoods in London or Leeds -- I witnessed far more interaction across racial lines than I did back home in Philadelphia. Even in the U.K., with its racial and immigrant tensions, it is not uncommon to find ethnically mixed groups of young men or women, or couples.
In Amsterdam, a city known here mostly for marijuana and '60s-style free love, I felt completely comfortable for the first time I can remember. Never mind that I speak poor Dutch or that I didn't know my way around. None of the passersby, waitresses or punks seemed to care in the least about where I, my half-Surinamese friend or her Chinese-Dutch boyfriend "come from."
Of course, the Netherlands has its social problems, but I would never have believed that there was a place where locals -- white Europeans at that -- were simply not interested in my origins. And I would never have imagined I could have so much fun explaining American politics as a representative of the United States -- not until this summer.
Being in Europe taught me a lot about the U.S. and about myself as an American minority. I hope the gentleman who insulted me in Vienna learned as much from his stay as I did.
(10/09/00 9:00am)
Attempting to correct "fundamental assumptions about welfare and welfare families" in America, Harvard University professor William Julius Wilson spoke to a standing-room-only crowd in Logan Hall on Friday afternoon.
In his hour-long lecture, entitled "Welfare: Children and Families," Wilson discussed the changing face of welfare reform in today's society.
Wilson gave the fourth annual Sackler Lecture, an event sponsored by a Penn alumnus and produced by the Sociology Department.
"The lecture is intended to raise the profile of the social sciences and make people aware of its relevance in all fields," Sociology Department Chairman Doug Massey said.
Wilson, a former colleague of Massey's at the University of Chicago, has been highly recognized as a distinguished scholar in the field of welfare reform. He has written numerous books that have led to massive changes in the welfare field, and he has worked extensively with President Clinton on welfare legislation.
"It is premature to declare welfare reform a successful experiment," Wilson said. "We still must resolve the problems that will return when we return to normal economic times."
He then noted, "the United States has no comprehensive program to protect the social rights of its citizens."
As a result, he compared the nation unfavorably to Canada and many Western European countries. "Americans are far more concerned with the social obligations of the poor than with their social rights," he added.
Wilson's words extended past University gates. The lecture brought together colleagues of Wilson, alumni, professionals in the welfare field and Penn students.
He also fought through technical difficulties to get his message across. Midway through the lecture, after minutes of fading in and out of the sound system, the professor was forced to pause and change microphones. Still, audio problems notwithstanding, Wilson made it clear that a different type of reform was needed.
"Efforts should be made to facilitate the transition from welfare to work," Wilson said. "Right now, it would not be in the best interest of many welfare recipients to enter the labor market."
Students were largely impressed with the professor's distinctive -- if not controversial -- take on the subject.
"He has a lot of innovative ideas in his work," College senior Jennifer Pettit said. "I've read his books, but I want to hear it from him."
Raising consciousness was Wilson's intention in giving the lecture.
"There are a lot of people here who will become leaders or who will be in the position to address these problems in the near future," Wilson said.
(10/06/00 9:00am)
After 48 years, the carpets are starting to show some wear.
We Swamis have flown around the world, welcome wherever we have gone, be it Cambridge, California or Canada.
We've talked to Elvis impersonators and zookeepers, great running backs and Keith Elias.
Former Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell was one of us. So was University President Judith Rodin. And William Jefferson Clinton, the 42nd president of these United States, had recently agreed to wrap up a turban next season.
For 48 years, the world has looked to us for all the right picks and a dash of humor.
That much will never change.
But it's time to step off our carpets, unwrap our turbans and ditch our magic lamps.
It's a sign of the times and, with a nod to sensitivity, we will ride off into the sunset after Penn trounces Cornell to win the Ivy League title at the end of this season.
But from our initial gathering in 1953, it's been nothing but good times.
Goalposts in the Schuylkill, toast on the turf, you name it --ÿwe've seen it all, and we've seen it coming.
We're not happy to go out, but we realize that we must, and that nothing lasts forever.
So, we will be making some changes as we prepare to hang up the carpets -- our cartoon companion has already found his way to the retirement home.
But for the remainder of the season, we will continue to pick the Ivy League games as the Swamis whom you've always known and loved.
When we come back with "President Bubba" next season to tell you who's going to win each Ancient Eight contest, we'll have a new name, but the same humorous journeys that you've come to expect.
We'll just have a different way to travel around the world on a weekly basis.
And we promise not to offend or humiliate anyone -- except Princeton.
In all of our reminiscing and in all of our planning for the future of pigskin prognostication at Penn, we did not seek out a guest Swami this week. But we didn't have any need to search for one anyway, since we all already knew that our beloved Quakers will beat the living daylights out of Holy Cross tomorrow afternoon in Worcester.
We may not have our turbans next season, but we shall return in some way to tell you who will win each week.
We will always and forever be the Swamis.
(10/04/00 9:00am)
Paul McNamara, vice president for products and platforms at software company Redhat, Inc., came to Penn last night to discuss his company and its new way of looking at software sales.
McNamara was the first speaker in a series sponsored by the Dining Philosophers, Penn's student chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery, an international group for computer science and education.
Redhat produces a version of the Linux operating system. An operating system is the basic software that runs computers, like Microsoft Windows or the MacOS.
Linux is distributed freely under an agreement called the GNU General Public License, which allows others to view the underlying code for the program and modify and even sell the software themselves, provided they in turn make their changes to the software publicly available under the same terms.
The GNU license is an example of an "open source" licensing agreement, one in which the underlying source code for a program is made freely available to anyone who wants it. The system allows users to contribute their work toward the underlying programming of the operating system.
Redhat Linux is the most popular of about a dozen major distributions of various versions of Linux. More than 60 people, mostly Engineering students, filled the Towne Building's Heilmeier Hall for McNamara's presentation, which was directed toward explaining his company's business model and discussing open source software development.
Open source development is superior to standard, proprietary software development because it allows for the collaboration of thousands of people over a wide geographic area on a flexible schedule, McNamara said.
"People in India can effectively participate in real time with people in Canada," McNamara said.
Open source development also allows for a "darwinian effect," where the best of several versions of the same software is selected, McNamara said. It also allows the massive task of writing an operating system, which can consist of more than 25 million lines of programming, to be divided into a large number of small components.
Redhat sells its software in stores for around $50, but since the licensing agreement requires that the software also be made freely available, the entire operating system can be downloaded from thousands of Internet servers and even purchased through other distributors.
McNamara said that even though Redhat sells "a bazillion copies" of the boxed version of its software, the company makes most of its money through training and specialized programming and support, mainly for large corporate customers.
The company announced a program two weeks ago called Redhat Network that allows Redhat to manage and support its corporate companies' computers remotely over the Internet.
(10/03/00 9:00am)
Guzzling multiple bottles of Snapple at Wawa, especially during all-nighters and midterms, is a venerable campus tradition.
But during lunchtime yesterday, Penn students only had to follow the loud music to the new Houston Hall to try new flavors of the popular beverage and grab freebies.
Penn was the 22nd of 30 campuses to host the "Refresh Your Natural Resources" fall tour, which aims to introduce Snapple's new "Elements" line of drinks to college students around the nation.
Six of the 10 creatively named drinks -- such as Sky, Moon and Gravity -- were available at the gathering. The beverages contain no preservatives and are made with herbs like ginseng, kava kava and gingko biloba for health purposes.
The Gainesville, Fla.-based band Big Sky, on tour for the third consecutive year, headlined the gathering. Most of the 40 students and hospital staff members who attended the hour-long event were drawn by the music, though most wound up staying for the free drinks as well.
"I was working in Irvine when I heard them play," said Melanie Donnly, an employee of Facilities Services. "I like their music, and even though I haven't heard it before, I would buy it."
College freshman Ethan Fixell offered a different take, however.
"They sound too much like Dave Matthews on a bad acid trip," he said.
The band's merchandise was on sale and some individuals got free, autographed shirts from the lead singer, who threw them down to the bystanders.
"The students were very nice to us," said Allen Ashton, bassist for Big Sky. "The University has an exceptional campus, and we look forward to exploring it tomorrow."
The concert was timed to coincide with the grand opening of Houston Market. According to Art Gough of the Canada Dry Delaware Valley franchise, which distributes Snapple in the Philadelphia area, "Penn happens to be one of our largest accounts. We're looking to target the 18-to-25-year-old market."
However, although organizers were satisfied with the turnout, the event attracted only a modest crowd because of the noon-1 p.m. lunch hour and classes.
Still, those who did come seemed to enjoy themselves.
"People love the music, they love the event. They especially like the fact that they don't have to sign up for anything," according to Natalie Cohen, an organizer of the tour who works for Snapple.
In addition to the drinks, the Snapple team handed out free CDs containing a mix of tracks, as well as branded shirts and stickers.
(08/31/00 9:00am)
Oggie Kapetanovic's first season in the Red and Blue will be his only one.
Kapetanovic, who transferred to Penn from Brown after his sophomore season, was forced to sit out the Quakers' entire 1998-99 season due to NCAA regulations, and thus had one year of eligibility remaining after this past year.
"I've been thinking about graduating and going overseas and playing ball there, because I want to play ball," Kapetanovic told The Daily Pennsylvanian in April. "I feel like if I stayed here, I'd get similar time to what I got this year."
Kapetanovic graduated from Wharton this summer after taking six classes last spring and three during the first summer session. A Yugoslav native, Kapetanovic had been playing for an AAU-level team in Sarajevo, his father's birthplace. He is now trying to land with a team in Europe and was unavailable for comment.
Kapetanovic's dual citizenship in Yugoslavia and Canada will allow any European pro team that picks him up to circumvent the "two Americans per team" rule, and his 6'10", 235-pound frame should be an additional help in attracting attention.
While Kapetanovic started last season's opener in the Preseason NIT against Kentucky, he averaged only 12.9 minutes per game on the year. The forward scored just 3.6 points and grabbed 2.9 rebounds per contest last season.
Penn coach Fran Dunphy found out about his forward's decision when Kapetanovic left a message on Dunphy's voicemail in late July.
"Oggie chose to go overseas, and I wish him the best," Dunphy said.
However, the coach, who said that Kapetanovic never sought his advice on the matter, thinks that his former player should have thought a little harder about staying.
"My recommendation would have been for him to come back," Dunphy said. "I understand it a little bit, sort of. Do I agree? No, I don't agree with what he's doing. My whole thought process is I hope he doesn't regret not playing another year of collegiate basketball."
Responding to the lack of playing time to which Kapetanovic alluded in April, Dunphy said that nothing was set in stone and that Kapetanovic -- who got most of his minutes backing up senior center Geoff Owens and sophomore forward Ugonna Onyekwe -- could very well have seen more action in the upcoming season had he elected to stay.
"He said that he didn't get enough playing time and that he wanted to play," Dunphy said. "Well, Geoff and Ugonna were healthy all last year. If they don't stay healthy this year or if Oggie stepped up his game, he could've gotten to play more [next season].
(08/03/00 9:00am)
This weekend is Caribana in Toronto. Two full weeks of events culminate in a big parade on Saturday. Over a million people are expected to attend and it is near impossible to find a hotel room in the city.
(07/27/00 9:00am)
While city officials are putting the last minute touches on the First Union Center, several hundred activists have flocked to West Philadelphia for preparations of a different sort.
(07/27/00 9:00am)
Oggie Kapetanovic's first season in the Red and Blue will be his only one.
(06/29/00 9:00am)
Penn freshman thrower Julie Siebert-Johnson placed fourth in last Friday's Junior National Track and Field Championships in Denton, Tex.
(06/22/00 9:00am)
As a freshman thrower on the Penn women's track team, Julie Siebert-Johnson wasted little time in making an impression.
(04/21/00 9:00am)
From Daniel Septimus', "I Know My Last Name is Septimus," Fall '00 From Daniel Septimus', "I Know My Last Name is Septimus," Fall '00Last week, the media buzzed with reports about preparations for the massive anti-globalization rallies that brought Washington, D.C., to a standstill last weekend. A number of demonstrations were planned to protest the policies of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which critics accuse of keeping the Third World mired in poverty.From Daniel Septimus', "I Know My Last Name is Septimus," Fall '00Last week, the media buzzed with reports about preparations for the massive anti-globalization rallies that brought Washington, D.C., to a standstill last weekend. A number of demonstrations were planned to protest the policies of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which critics accuse of keeping the Third World mired in poverty. In the days leading up to the April 16 IMF-World Bank meetings, I watched on TV as my fellow students, from universities across the United States and Canada, prepared to head down to D.C.From Daniel Septimus', "I Know My Last Name is Septimus," Fall '00Last week, the media buzzed with reports about preparations for the massive anti-globalization rallies that brought Washington, D.C., to a standstill last weekend. A number of demonstrations were planned to protest the policies of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which critics accuse of keeping the Third World mired in poverty. In the days leading up to the April 16 IMF-World Bank meetings, I watched on TV as my fellow students, from universities across the United States and Canada, prepared to head down to D.C. And I, too, packed my bags.From Daniel Septimus', "I Know My Last Name is Septimus," Fall '00Last week, the media buzzed with reports about preparations for the massive anti-globalization rallies that brought Washington, D.C., to a standstill last weekend. A number of demonstrations were planned to protest the policies of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which critics accuse of keeping the Third World mired in poverty. In the days leading up to the April 16 IMF-World Bank meetings, I watched on TV as my fellow students, from universities across the United States and Canada, prepared to head down to D.C. And I, too, packed my bags. So, with excitement, anticipation and a bit of uncertainty, I put my backpack on my shoulders and headed to the Quad for Spring Fling.From Daniel Septimus', "I Know My Last Name is Septimus," Fall '00Last week, the media buzzed with reports about preparations for the massive anti-globalization rallies that brought Washington, D.C., to a standstill last weekend. A number of demonstrations were planned to protest the policies of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which critics accuse of keeping the Third World mired in poverty. In the days leading up to the April 16 IMF-World Bank meetings, I watched on TV as my fellow students, from universities across the United States and Canada, prepared to head down to D.C. And I, too, packed my bags. So, with excitement, anticipation and a bit of uncertainty, I put my backpack on my shoulders and headed to the Quad for Spring Fling. Yeah, that's right, I didn't go down to our nation's capital to roast the economic leaders of the free world -- instead, I stood behind a house on Baltimore Avenue and watched a pig roast over a pit of charcoal. Indeed, this is not a new phenomenon. While I have a deep respect for attempts to facilitate social change through direct action, I usually find myself absent from this sort of activism. Interestingly, each time I neglect the political outlet, I question whether I would have done the same thing a generation ago. What role would I have played in the 1960s? Would I have participated in the marches for civil rights? Would I have rallied to put an end to the Vietnam War? I'd like to think that I would have. I find myself disappointed by the fact that I wasn't able to partake in the social revolutions and political plights of our parents' generation. Let's face it, our parents lived during a cooler time and no one is ever going to let us live it down. It's absolutely impossible to hear about any protest or large outdoor concert without references to anti-Vietnam rallies and Woodstock. And, given the enormity of the anti-Vietnam campaign and the revolutionary nature of Woodstock, the events of our generation are fated to be less extraordinary in comparison. However, this belief that the 1960s established the paradigm for activism can be detrimental. My reluctance to participate in protests like those against the IMF and World Bank is a good example of this. I admire the passionate anti-war demonstrations of the Vietnam era -- they changed and defined a generation. But because of that, anything less exciting and monumental seems too inferior and marginal to warrant my interest and commitment. This needs to change. Our generation's issues are very different from the issues which haunted our parents. The Vietnam War was a very immediate and real concern for college-age students in the '60s -- they were the ones going to the front lines. No matter how much we are concerned about AIDS in Africa, we cannot possibly relate to the issue in the same way. Perhaps demonstrations and rallies are not the best way to get in touch with the issues that confront us. We must become attuned to what makes our generation unique -- and not define ourselves in terms of the 1960s. We have to realize our relationship to the challenges that confront our world and rethink how we go about addressing these issues. This is easier said than done. As a generation, we're not quite sure what makes us unique or what's important to us. In fact, it can be argued that we're the first generation to not have to care about anything because our parents' generation deconstructed "isms" and abolished military conscription. This gives us more freedom and potential opportunities, but it can also leave us empty -- fated to construct our identities and meaning from the rubble that remains. I do not suggest that we abandon political demonstrations entirely -- or outdoor concerts for that matter -- but living in the past is making our present stale. A group of neo-hippies chanting, "The people united can never be defeated," does not appeal to most members of our peer group. But that makes sense -- it is a relic of a time passed. It's time for us -- as a generation -- to become aware of the things that are important to us and find ways of confronting these issues and asserting our unique character in new and innovative ways.
(04/10/00 9:00am)
[NOTE: This article appeared in the annual joke issue.] One week after announcing that he may not return to the Penn men's basketball team for the 2000-01 season, forward Oggie Kapetanovic has signed with a professional team in Pakistan. The 6'10" Kapetanovic, who will be the tallest player in the history of Pakistani basketball, believes that he will receive much more playing time in Pakistan than he would if he decided to remain at Penn for another season. "I mean, Dunph says that I'm an important part of the team, but I don't play. You know what I'm saying?" Kapetanovic said. "And the guys who play my position are coming back next year, so where will I get my time? You know what I'm saying? I wanna play. I don't want to be a sub. You know what I'm saying? At Penn, I'm just a sub. I don't wanna be a sub. You know what I'm saying?" Kapetanovic, who is taking six classes this semester and three over the summer in order to graduate early, had originally hoped to play for a European team. Since he is a dual citizen of Yugoslavia and Canada, Kapetanovic is not subject to the limit of two American players per team that is a rule in most European leagues. Originally, he wanted to sign with one of the top leagues in Italy, Greece or Turkey. After exploring his options, however, Kapetanovic found the best option coming from the Karachi Nehrujackets in Pakistan. "We are very pleased to be signing Oggie. Very pleased," Karachi coach Vikramjit Balasubramaniam said. "Very, very pleased." Kapetanovic signed a three-year deal worth 60 camels and a lovely wife with the Nehrujackets. The only other offer he received was from a team in Iceland for $10,000 and a bike. "We wish Oggie the best of luck in whatever he does," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "We'd like to see him come back to Penn, but we respect what he wants to do." This past season, Kapetanovic averaged 12.9 minutes per game, scoring 3.9 points and pulling down 2.6 rebounds per contest for the Quakers. Frustrated by his lack of playing time, Kapetanovic began to think about his future during the middle of this past season. He informed Dunphy of his decision to play overseas during a meeting last week. "I just want to play, and if I stayed here, I wouldn't play," Kapetanovic said. "You know what I'm saying?" Kapetanovic will likely get a significant amount of time in Pakistan, especially because most of the league's players are under six feet tall. Many have also never played basketball before. "Oggie shall be a star for us," Balasubramaniam said. "He will block many, many shots." This year, Kapetanovic blocked just two shots, both of which came in the Quakers' 68-58 season-ending loss to Illinois in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Kapetanovic, who transferred to Penn after spending his first two seasons at Brown, is expected to make an immediate impact for Karachi next season. In a recent pick-up game against other players in the Pakistani league, Kapetanovic scored 63 points, while recording 27 rebounds, 19 blocks and 11 assists and leading his team to a 91-6 victory over the Islamabad Cricketeers. "It definitely beats being a sub for Owens or Ugonna," Kapetanovic said. "You know what I'm saying?"
(04/10/00 9:00am)
[NOTE: This article appeared in the annual joke issue.] Ariel, we're after you To the Editor: After coming upon Ariel Horn's column, "Spring break in the 'burbs" (The Daily Pennsylvanian, 3/22/00) as I was rummaging through a garbage can outside of Wawa, I was shocked and appalled at Ms. Horn's flippant disregard for the feelings and emotions of squirrels. My name is Sparky, and I am a squirrel who has been living on Penn's campus for five years. Never in my whole squirrel life have I ever seen a column speak so cruelly about her relationship with squirrels like myself. This is the second time Ms. Horn has made reference about hurting squirrels; a column last semester mentioned kicking them and last month's column mentioned "pelting large rocks" at them. I implore Ms. Horn to stop promoting such violent behavior toward squirrels. We may be small and furry with rabies, but words still hurt, as do the rocks that she regularly tosses at us in between classes. Sticks and stones do break our bones. Sparky furioussquirrel@hotmail.com To the Editor: As college students are certainly aware, tremendous breakthroughs have occurred in recent years regarding technology. One such capability present in the world today is "mind-control technology." This is why I believe so many sons of prominent leaders have no trouble getting elected today. Politicians and prominent citizens are using mind-control technology to get their sons placed in elected office. This is why former CIA Director and President George Bush has had no trouble getting two of his sons elected to high office. Also, Al Gore has had the same benefits given to him by his former Senator Daddy. As I suspect George Bush told his two sons, "As long as you can keep your hair combed, no one will ever suspect you are shitheads. I will make you both national leaders!" Please consider assisting me as I attempt to overcome burdens of persecution and censorship in America. I truly wish all college students well. Joe Kinney Plainfield, Ind. To the Editor: I think your paper is good but it would be better if you had more articles relating to horses. Horses are magnificent animals and I think that we take them for granted. They have multiple uses: you can ride them, show them and use them to perform tasks. In this "modern" world we live in, people forget that horses have feelings to. So in conclusion I think that there should definitly be a section dedicated to the glory of horse. Amanda Devon Rutgers University To the Editor: I religiously read the DP online here in Canada; I enjoy staying up-to-date on campus activities, as well as reading the opinion columns. However, I've applied for a much-coveted spot in the Class of 2004 and, thanks to your over-zealous coverage of Penn's admissions ("Record number of applicants apply to Class of 2004," DP, 3/9/00) I'm suffering from massive heart palpitations! In the future -- for the sake of the hypo-confident applicant (who faces tougher competition each year) -- please try to tone down Dean Stetson's overt enthusiasm for wait lists and sky-high SAT scores! Giselle DeGrandis Toronto, Ontario
(04/06/00 9:00am)
Blending the academic and the absurd, Jed Rasula, a professor at York College in Canada, and Steven McCaffrey, a professor at Canada's Queens University, presented their co-edited publication, Imagining Language, on Tuesday night at the Kelly Writers House. The two took turns reading their poetry, describing the anthology's production and explaining their theories of language to the 25 Penn students, staff and Philadelphia residents in attendance. The anthology, which was released 1 1/2 years ago to widespread academic acclaim, is a collection of language experiments from the last 3,000 years. Rasula described the work as "a huge gathering of empirical data about language." Since its release, the anthology has become a popular tool for exploring language theory -- the relationship between language and meaning -- and for teaching language all across academia. The authors said their book's success can be attributed to the wide range of subjects it addresses. Indeed, the anthology combines sociology, linguistics, literature and phenomenology in an exhaustive examination of the way in which language has evolved over time. "There was a really positive response from inside the institution, largely because it resists being pigeon-holed," McCaffrey said. "This was a project that could not be aimed at any one constituency." But, despite the project's breadth and intellectual focus, the work is considered approachable by its readers -- as are its editors. In their readings and published works, both authors maintain a degree of playfulness. "The distinction between something either serious and world-building or something humorous is not such an important one in a lot of our work," Rasula said. "A lot of this reflects things that happen by accident with language, and that can be funny." Rasula said the notion for the project developed when he was working for Ripley's Believe It or Not -- a company best known for its wax museums around the world -- on extraordinary uses of language, which perhaps set a precedent for the tone the work would later take. Though the audience laughed occasionally and seemed to appreciate many of the authors' absurd examples, the presentation did not lose its academic focus. The lighthearted and amusing aspects of the presentation, such as the poems of meaningless mutterings and nasal noises, were generally illustrative of more theoretical and serious notions on language. McCaffrey said their work on imaginative languages is celebrated for encouraging a re-introduction to language, one that could soon bear serious academic fruit. "Randomness in language can precipitate a completely different, and sometimes more productive and enlightening, relationship with language," McCaffrey explained.
(04/05/00 9:00am)
Unhappy with his playing time with the Quakers, forward Oggie Kapetanovic is hoping to play in Europe next season. Penn men's basketball player Oggie Kapetanovic has recently indicated that he may not return for the 2000-01 season. Citing frustration over playing time, Kapetanovic informed Penn coach Fran Dunphy of his feelings during a meeting last week. "I've been thinking about graduating and going overseas and playing ball there, because I want to play ball," said Kapetanovic, who has one year of eligibility remaining. "I feel like if I stayed here, I'd get similar time to what I got this year." Kapetanovic averaged 12.9 minutes per game this season, scoring 3.9 points and pulling down 2.6 rebounds per contest. A Wharton student, Kapetanovic is taking six classes this semester. If he is able to find a roster spot on a European team, he will take three summer classes in order to graduate early and begin playing next season. He plans to attend a camp in May in order to see what options are open to him. If Kapetanovic is unable to land in a good European league, he will return to Penn next year. "Our hope is that Oggie will come back, but that is obviously up to him," Dunphy said. Kapetanovic, a 6'10" forward/center, started in Penn's first game of the season, a 67-51 loss to Kentucky on November 17. For the rest of the season, however, he came off the bench to back up center Geoff Owens and forward Ugonna Onyekwe. Owens, who will petition the Ivy League for a fifth year of eligibility after missing his sophomore season with a medical condition, and Onyekwe, the '99-00 Ivy League Rookie of the Year, will both be returning to the Quakers' frontcourt next season. Kapetanovic sees little opportunity to get more playing time. "This year, there were some games when I played 19, 20 minutes a game, but it wasn't regular," Kapetanovic said. "I felt my playing time was based more on whether Owens or Ugonna was playing bad or in foul trouble. "I felt like I was just a sub. I want to play ball, and I want to play a lot." This past season, one which saw the Quakers win their second straight Ivy League title, was Kapetanovic's first playing for Penn. After beginning his career at Brown -- where he averaged 6.9 points while starting 20 of 26 games as a sophomore -- he transferred to Penn prior to the '98-99 academic year. Per NCAA rules, he was required to sit out a season. Midway through this past season, Kapetanovic became frustrated with his situation at Penn and decided to register for six classes, thus keeping his options open. "I started thinking about it in the beginning of February, right before the deadline for classes," Kapetanovic said. "I didn't tell any of the coaches then, because I thought it would be selfish of me to say something in the middle of the season." Last week, however, Rosemarie Burnett, the Penn Athletic Department's academic coordinator, noticed Kapetanovic's unusually heavy course load. Dunphy called him in for a meeting to discuss it. It was then that the coach first learned of Kapetanovic's intentions. Kapetanovic also met with Compliance Coordinator D. Elton Cochran-Fikes to discuss his future. As long as he does not make an agreement with an agent or sign a contract with a professional team, Kapetanovic will be eligible to play for Penn next season. In exploring his chances to play overseas, though, he will have an advantage over many other players seeking similar opportunities. Since he is a dual citizen of Canada and Yugoslavia, Kapetanovic will not be subject to the limit of two American players per team that is a rule in most European leagues. Dunphy said that he will do whatever he can to help Kapetanovic find a place to play next season, but the coach hopes that Kapetanovic will change his mind about returning to the Quakers. "I would love to see him play [for Penn]," Dunphy said. "But I will respect whatever he wants to do."
(03/31/00 10:00am)
The Quakers are hoping that their string of victories since returning from spring break continues. After competing against five nationally ranked teams over spring break and breezing by Boston College and Rutgers last week with landslide victories of 7-2 and 9-0, respectively, the Penn women's tennis team is plenty warmed-up for its Ivy season. Tomorrow the Quakers will head to New Jersey to challenge powerhouse Princeton, the consensus favorite to win the Ivy title this year. Penn opened last year's Ivy season by edging the Tigers, 5-4. That win was the Quakers' first in a nearly flawless Ivy season. The Red and Blue overpowered every Ivy team except Harvard -- which ultimately captured the Ivy title following Penn's disappointing 1-8 loss. After the Quakers took a second-place Ivy finish last year, Penn coach Michael Dowd created a tougher schedule for the Quakers this spring -- including Fresno State, Georgia Tech and No. 1 Stanford -- to better prepare the Quakers for this year's Ivy schedule. "It has definitely helped to see such a high level of competition," Penn senior and co-captain Elana Gold said. "[Princeton's] not nearly as good as a lot of the teams we've played so far." Penn junior Shubha Srinivasan believes that beginning the Ivy season by facing one of the tougher teams will prove helpful to the Quakers. "Last year our match with Princeton gave us a lot of confidence," she said. "It helps to get Princeton out of the way." However, beating Princeton this spring may be even more difficult than it was last April. In October, the Quakers fell to the Tigers, 5-1, when they faced them at the ECAC Championships. In addition, at Penn's Cissie Leary Invitational -- an individual competition held in September -- Princeton freshman phenomenon Kavitha Krishnamurthy swept Penn's Anastasia Pozdniakova, 6-0, 6-0, on her way to winning the tournament. Krishnamurthy is currently ranked No. 20 in the nation. Over the fall and winter, the Canadian native had a 22-match winning streak, during which she won six tournaments -- including the Georgia Invitational and the ITA Eastern Regionals. It has not yet been determined whether Krishnamurthy will compete on Saturday, as she has been spending time in Canada visiting a sick relative and has not played in the last few Princeton matches. Tough players and all, Srinivasan notes that the Tigers' recent record has not been very daunting at all. In its last match, Princeton edged Boston College -- a team Penn recently clobbered, 7-2 -- by a mere point. The Tigers took a hard, 7-2 fall to UC-Irvine on March 14, and barely squeaked by Loyola Marymount, 5-4, a few days later. Gold believes that since Penn faced Princeton in the fall, the currently 8-8 Quakers have improved in winning key points and doubles matches. "A lot of matches come down to doubles," she said. "I think we'll be ready to take it if the match comes down to three-all in singles." Dowd also believes the Quakers are ready to take on Princeton. "We've played a much tougher level of competition than Princeton," he said. "We're hitting the ball cleanly, and we're very confident. We're playing much better than we did in the fall, and if our emotions are in the right place, we have a very good chance to beat this team."
