886 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(06/18/98 9:00am)
Over the last few months, the president and Congress have been debating exactly what to do with tobacco companies. President Clinton wants to raise taxes on a pack of cigarettes by $1.50, while some Republicans think that $1.10 is more reasonable. They all seem to like the idea of beating up on one of America's most hated industries, and a lot of politicians are aware that they can also use this opportunity to look like soft-hearted heroes interested in helping children. The idea of raising cigarette prices in order to discourage teenage smoking is riddled with practical problems. For starters, as the governments of Germany and Canada have already learned the hard way, making cigarettes artificially expensive encourages a black market for cigarettes and leads to more violent crime. A second problem is that as much as liberals like to claim they're looking out for the poor, most of the new tax would be paid by the neediest Americans. According to Senator Ashcroft, even the Republicans' proposed tax hike would cost $17.5 billion a year, and 60 percent would be paid by those earning $30,000 or less a year. But as a Libertarian, I have a much deeper problem with all of the attacks on the tobacco companies. What all of these politicians make painfully clear is that they think that they have a right to regulate what you do with your own life and body. Whether you're dealing with smoking, renting an apartment (and not buying a house), drinking beer, taking a second job or not having children, the politicians want to hit you with a tax penalty. Never mind your personal liberty or the fact that you're not hurting anybody; the politicians think that they have a right to regulate your behavior to the smallest degree. But wait, you might be saying, when you smoke, you are hurting somebody. In 1992, 51 percent of all health care dollars came from the government. Since a majority of our health care system has been socialized, your bad habits hurt other taxpayers through higher Medicare premiums, higher payroll taxes and less money available for Medicaid and veterans' benefits. And government-controlled medicine is exactly the problem. The moment you let the government control your health care, the government immediately thinks it has the right to run your life in order to control health care costs. Under socialized health care, smoking could be disallowed, various "risky" sexual acts could be prohibited (as they already are in many states), potato chips and Taco Bell could be heavily regulated and skiing could be outlawed. Many people, including President Clinton and many ordinary citizens, love the idea of government-controlled health care. It's easy to see why; the health care situation is a mess right now. Private insurance is expensive, and insurance obtained through your employer is often one-size-fits-all. Furthermore, some people with chronic conditions can't change jobs for fear of losing their insurance. Poor people have little access to doctors, and often have to go to emergency rooms in order to get simple conditions treated. How did this all happen? Before World War II, privately held medical insurance was the norm. But during the war, the government tried to cap wages, and so employers had trouble attracting workers. The solution? Employers started offering medical insurance to their workers as extra compensation for work. Meanwhile, income tax rates more than quintupled between 1939 and 1944. Therefore, since employer-provided health insurance was purchased with pretax dollars and didn't count toward the government-imposed wage cap, the employer was tempted to offer very generous health insurance packages. The situation nowadays is even worse: since income taxes have increased even further, an employer's offer of $1,000 worth of insurance could be equivalent to almost $2,000 in extra pay! The upshot of the tax laws is that it is much more economical for an employer to offer an insurance plan than extra salary. This has led to people owning insurance policies that they would never buy with their own money. Insurance plans that pay for small expenses and routine care have become commonplace. If people were able to buy insurance with their own money, many of them (especially wealthier people) would opt only for catastrophic insurance. The result would be lower administrative costs (because not as many small claims would be filed), and since patients would be discouraged from requesting unnecessary services, overall medical costs would be lower. How would privately-purchased insurance discourage people from engaging in risky activities? First, since most medical plans would have deductibles instead of offering first-dollar coverage, consumers would have an added incentive to take care of themselves. But more importantly, like life insurance companies, medical insurance companies are free to give you a significant discount if you're a non-smoker. So while you and your congressman are deciding to what degree the government should be regulating your life, try and remember what got us into this mess in the first place. High taxes and economic intervention caused the health care mess and drove up medical costs. As a result, people got fed up and wanted more government control of medicine. Then they realized that government control of medicine justifies government control of personal habits. And with each new tax that's passed and each new restriction on personal liberty, this country moves further away from the libertarian ideals on which it was founded.
(05/21/98 9:00am)
U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, who has been at the center of controversies ranging from President Clinton's fund-raising scandal to this week's antitrust lawsuits against Microsoft Corp., took time out of her frenzied schedule to address graduates of the University Law School Sunday morning. Reno, the country's top law enforcer since March 1993, was greeted by a standing ovation and a host of camera flashes as she took the podium at the Academy of Music. Her 20-minute speech was peppered with anecdotes from her 35 years of practicing law, advice to this year's graduates and calls for the new attorneys to work toward "a more peaceful society." Reno also drew laughter from the crowd. The 59-year-old Miami native said she could not have imagined as she graduated from Harvard Law School in 1963 "that my nieces and nephews would be having a debate on whether I should be watching Saturday Night Live or not," referring to the NBC comedy-skit show that has lampooned her in such bits as "Janet Reno's Dance Party." In addition, Reno told the story of a woman who recently thanked her for getting her child-support payments -- decades after Reno had done the work. The nation's first female attorney general -- who has faced criticism for her role in such incidents as the April 1993 federal raid on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas -- did not discuss any such controversies. Instead, she explained her positions on overarching legal issues. "Every one of us has the obligation? to be an advocate, to be the sword and shield," Reno said. Reno, who earned her bachelor's degree in 1960 from Cornell University, urged the graduates to examine their actions in the context of the larger community. "We've got to look at the big picture," she said. Before skipping out to head to the graduation ceremony for Syracuse University's School of Law, Reno told of how she cared for her mother, Jane Wood Reno, in her last days, living with her as she died of cancer over a three-year period. During that time, Janet Reno took her mother on a Caribbean cruise and a trek across Canada, among other trips, to give her "best friend" some great experiences before she died in 1992 at age 79. "The fact that she had a happy, long life? is one of the most important things for my life," Reno said. Although welcome, Reno's presence may have been a surprise to some. The University did not announce the selection until last Friday, about "six to eight weeks" after Reno had accepted the invitation, according to Gary Clinton, the Law School's assistant dean for student affairs. Reno's office "told us we couldn't announce it formally until the Friday before the event," citing the possibility of a last-minute cancellation, Clinton said on Tuesday. However, students in the graduating Law class had known about Reno's speech since her acceptance, he added. A U.S. Department of Justice spokesperson did not immediately return a call for comment. Without advance notice, campus periodicals were unable to publicize Reno's expected appearance. The Almanac and last Wednesday's Pennsylvania Current -- both published by the University -- printed schedules of graduation ceremonies and speakers but did not list a speaker for the Law School commencement. But the speech that garnered just as big a reaction -- if not bigger -- from the audience was made by Estela de Llanos, president of the Law School's class of 1998, who spoke shortly before Reno. De Llanos drew laughter and applause with an anecdote about when she first appeared to be headed for the legal profession. At the age of five, she lied to protect her father from an auto mechanic who was charging a high amount for a repair, telling the mechanic he did not tell her father the cost of the job -- even after she witnessed the exchange. "And with that, I became a lawyer," she said. The Santa Monica, Calif., native also recounted her three years at the Law School. "The third year completely blacked out because of all the bars we? [brief pause] had to apply to," de Llanos said, to big laughs. After Reno's speech, the school awarded diplomas to 66 recipients of master of laws degrees, 226 recipients of juris doctor degrees and one recipient of a doctor of juridical science degree.
(03/25/98 10:00am)
The largest-ever dinosaur exhibit is expected to provide a boost to tourism in the city. An immense Tyrannosaurus rex and about 125 other dinosaur re-creations have invaded West Philadelphia. Don't be afraid, though -- the monsters are about to pump some serious money into the city's economy. Two days from now, the Philadelphia Civic Center will open its doors for Dinofest, the largest dinosaur exhibit in the world, featuring lifelike re-creations of dinosaurs from all corners of the world. The month-long exhibit -- which includes a three-day symposium for 100 paleontologists -- is expected to boost the city's overnight tourism and attract half a million people from the Northeast, according to Liz Carey, a spokesperson for the event. Carey, who works for the Academy of Natural Sciences -- which is sponsoring the event -- described Dinofest as an "art show, a scientific symposium and an education initiative." Officials from the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau estimated that the event might provide a $15 million surge in the city's economy, mainly from tourists staying in hotels, eating at restaurants, visiting other city attractions and buying souvenirs. The bureau is working with five area hotels to create attractive package deals combining Dinofest admission with room and restaurant costs, according to Sue Schwenderman, a spokesperson for the office. "We're happy Dinofest is happening during [many people's] spring break because people are thinking of traveling then," Schwenderman said. She also stressed that the bureau is making sure visitors are aware of other Philadelphia attractions -- most notably the new Dinosaur Hall at the Academy -- when they visit Dinofest. "Dinosaurs kind of cut across demographics," Carey noted. Dinofest is not only about dinosaur bones, however. It has a "dinomation" exhibit with robotic dinosaurs spitting out water. Another exhibit, "A Walk Through Time," shows the remnants of prehistoric mammals, including giraffes, elephants, rhinoceroses and human beings, some of which are displayed in battle scenes. One of the highlights of the exhibit is its original art show, which extends for several thousand feet and displays "the most famous works of dinosaur art in the world," according to Ned Gilmore, a specialist from the Academy. Scattered throughout the exhibit are collections of dinosaur eggs, embryos, fossils and amber, as well as China's fabled "feathered dinosaur." The symposium, lasting from April 17 to 19, will feature a keynote speech by prominent Harvard scientist Stephen Jay Gould. It will also feature a $60-a-plate banquet called "Dinofeast," which will serve "prehistoric-type foods." Carey said Dinofest focuses on the idea that "science isn't completely abstract." She has already planned satellite field trips with the Philadelphia school system. Don Wolberg is the man behind these dinosaurs. A paleontologist from New Mexico, Wolberg created the Dinofest concept in 1994, when it premiered in Indianapolis. It made its way to Tempe, Ariz., in 1996. But Dinofest is not a traveling exhibit, Wolberg said, since its components are sent back each time to their owners across the world. Wolberg said teaching children about dinosaurs opens students' minds to the larger world of science. "When most kids in school can't find Canada on a map, and think the language spoken in Latin America is Latin, they all know Tyrannosaurus rex and triceratops," he said. "These are powerful concepts." The Civic Center, located at 34th Street and Civic Center Boulevard, has been closed for two years, but has reopened for flower shows, auto shows and concerts. Recently, it served as a sound stage for the film adaptation of the novel Beloved. Admission to Dinofest -- which will close on April 26 -- is $15 for adults, $10 for children ages 3-12 and free for kids 2 and under.
(03/05/98 10:00am)
Students looking for Jewish service experience and social opportunities in the nation's capital were treated to a panel discussion last night presenting several opportunities for summer internships in Washington D.C. The panel, assembled by PennPac -- Penn's Israeli Public Affairs Committee -- consisted primarily of Washington-based Jewish political organizations. About 20 people attended the event. The six speakers detailed the internship opportunities available for interns in their Washington, D.C., organizations and world-wide affiliates. The speakers also stressed the fact that there are numerous possibilities for interesting internships outside of Washington. "If you don't want to work in D.C., there are various internships available [through International Hillel] throughout the U.S. and Canada," International Hillel representative Janet Berger said. In fact, one of the organizations present did not offer any internships in Washington at all. The Aliyah Center, represented by Gabi Raubichek, deals solely with internship opportunities available in Israel. The organization offers students the option of working in any one of a number of academic, religious and secular environments. PennPac Vice President and College sophomore Imri Eisner --Ewho has participated in several Aliyah programs in the past -- said he recommended the internships highly. "They're phenomenal programs and they connect you to the right organizations," he commented. Out of the six organizations promising similar experiences and opportunities, three offer stipends for their interns ranging from $50 a week to $1,500 for the entire summer. Two Penn students also spoke about their internship experiences. Wharton sophomore Gabe Schiff and Engineering senior Shira Neustein both spoke highly of their experiences in Washington. Neustein boasted of the responsibilities given to her at the organization for which she worked, the Anti-Defamation League. She stressed that the group did not treat her as an ordinary photocopying, envelope-licking intern. Instead, she was able to concentrate on lobbying and legal tracking throughout the summer. Schiff was similarly entrusted with a number of professional responsibilities during his internship with the Capitol Hill Orthodox Union. Working for Senator Alfonse D'Amato (R.-N.Y.), Schiff gained valuable insight into the nature of American politics. In addition to the work experience he acquired while interning, Schiff added that he also had a thriving social life in D.C. "Washington is 50 percent work and 50 percent fun. There are 20,000 students interning in Washington over the summer and the social opportunities available are enormous," he said. Schiff plans to return to Capitol Hill next summer, and recommends the experience to other Penn students. Information on internship opportunities at any of the organizations present at last night's meeting --Ewhich also included representatives from the Jewish Campus Service Corps and the American-Israel Political Action Committee -- is available at Hillel.
(03/04/98 10:00am)
A lawsuit filed by a black woman and longtime University employee accusing Penn of discrimination after she was fired in 1996 ended last week when the two sides finalized a settlement. The University did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement, which allowed Sylvia Canada -- who had worked at Penn since 1970, first as a secretary and then in various positions in the Division of Public Safety -- to become an administrative assistant for the division. In the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in July 1996, Canada alleged that she was fired in February 1996 from her position as a staff assistant because of her race. Canada, 48, also accused Penn of ignoring her application for the position of director of Victim Support and Special Services, among other jobs. The University denied all of the allegations against it in its response to the complaint, and said she was not qualified for the other positions which were available when she was laid off. Both sides said they were "satisfied" with the arrangement. Canada said yesterday that "we can both live with" the agreement. And University General Counsel Shelley Green stressed that Penn did not admit liability in the settlement. "We're happy we were able to resolve the matter," she said. "Everyone is quite satisfied." According to court documents, the two sides worked out a tentative settlement in January 1997 in which Canada was hired as administrative assistant to Director of Special Services Susan Hawkins. Canada returned to work in that position on January 6, 1997 after an 11-month absence. She has been there ever since. Although the two sides were originally supposed to finalize the agreement six months later, both parties agreed to extend the timetable several times until last week when they decided to make the settlement permanent. Canada first came to the University as a secretary in the Mathematics Department, where she worked for seven years. In 1978, she graduated from the Philadelphia Police Academy and was appointed to the University Police force. According to the original complaint, Canada was involved in an incident in 1981 in which a fellow officer refused to back her up at the scene of a crime. The officer, Dan Forsyth, then allegedly assaulted Canada. Forsyth was dismissed because of the attack, but the complaint alleged that the incident "engendered serious dislike for Ms. Canada among many white male police officers," including Lt. Joseph Weaver, who became Canada's supervisor in 1993. The lawsuit also named as co-defendants Weaver and Managing Director of Public Safety Thomas Seamon. After Weaver became Canada's superior, the complaint says, her responsibilities were "seriously diminished," and Weaver ignored her requests for additional assignments. In February 1996, Seamon told her she was being laid off because of an organizational restructuring. The suit said this was simply a pretense to get rid of her.
(02/12/98 10:00am)
Jim Litke, Commentary The Olympics are in an uproar because a drug test turned up trace amounts of marijuana in a 26-year-old Canadian snowboarder named Ross Rebagliati. And because he's from the Great White North, and because he had a gold medal the International Olympic Committee could take back -- and wrongly did -- all of a sudden he's Ben Johnson? Un-unh. Or as the snowboarders themselves might add: No way, never, never, un-un-unhh. We are not saying laugh this off. Or that Rebagliati should be viewed as victim or hero, and especially not as a cause celebre. He violated the rules and got caught. But -- and this is a very important distinction -- he didn't cheat. And so Rebagliati didn't need to lose his gold medal, either, when a reprimand -- a remedy also available to the IOC -- would have been enough. An arbitration panel, acting on an appeal from the Canadian Olympic Committee, still has a chance to overturn the IOC's decision and restore his medal. But this episode probably has cost Rebagliati a chunk of his career and it may yet cost him much more. Even though there is nothing to suggest he smoked marijuana since arriving at the Olympics, according to a report, the local police plan to ask the IOC for his test results. In Japan, a conviction for marijuana possession can mean up to seven years in prison. That would be the only real tragedy in this whole overblown affair. The Johnson comparison, wrong-headed as it is in almost every way, does have some instructional value. The Canadian sprinter was caught taking stanozolol, an anabolic steroid that helps build muscle mass. And those were not trace amounts the lab caught him storing. And most important, the drug definitely had something to do with Johnson covering 100 meters at the 1988 Seoul Olympics in a world-record 9.79 seconds, a clocking erased from the record books and one that no sprinter has been able to touch, even a decade later. The amount of marijuana in Rebagliati's system would not spill off the head of a pin. It was 17.8 nanograms per milliliter, an amount so insignificant it almost makes his story about ingesting the marijuana as second-hand smoke believable. And let's be completely clear about the bottom line: The only possible way smoking marijuana would have done Rebagliati any good is if he'd been competing in halfpipe instead of giant slalom. Because in halfpipe (insert your own joke here) at least you get marks for artistry. You don't think the higher-ups at the IOC and the international ski federation, who are only too happy to count the new money that snowboarding is bringing in, wink at this kind of thing? Think again. The ski federation actually has an allowable limit for trace amounts of marijuana in its own drug tests. It's 15 nanograms per milliliter. The IOC, however, has a stated zero-nanogram, zero-tolerance policy. But in this instance, the decision to strip Rebagliati of his medal, as opposed to simply reprimanding him, barely had enough support to pass. IOC director general Francois Carrard said the vote was 3-2, with two members abstaining. Two things apparently swayed the IOC panel. One was the recommendation of a medical commission, itself divided by a 13-12 vote, that some action be taken. The other was that Rebagliati exceeded ski federation limits by 2.8 nanograms per milliliter, which wouldn't spill over the point of that same pin. All kinds of dire predictions and guesses are being made about how this event, however it plays out, will hurt snowboarding and chase away the corporate sponsors who jumped in with both feet hoping for a cut of the action. The answer is not at all. When all those clothing and equipment manufacturers looked out on the slopes where snowboarders gathered a decade ago, they didn't see Olympians or pot-heads, only people who could become customers for decades. It's hard to imagine either new sponsors or old ones being too shocked to learn that some number of snowboarders kick back at night with a joint instead of a cognac -- the drug of choice among some of their elders. Nobody cared about that until now. That's the sad, almost funny thing about all this: Rebagliati said he knew snowboarding had really hit the big time when the drug testers began showing up at meets. His mistake was thinking they were interested only in finding the cheats.
(02/12/98 10:00am)
Men's track to celebrate Valentine's Day at BU Penn's men track team is no stranger to the Terriers arena. Just two weeks ago it was the site where the two-mile relay team recorded the best time in the East. This weekend's meet will be Penn's last before Princeton hosts the Heptagonals in two weeks. Last weekend Penn competed in the Delaware Invitational, a meet highlighted by the performance of Stan Anderson. Anderson won both the high jump and long jump, with distances of 2.06 meters and 15.01 meters, respectively. Other Quakers to finish first in Newark, Del., were John Linhart and Lucas Deines. Linhart won the pole vault with a 5.13 meter vault while Deines won the 35-lb. weight with a throw of 18.00 meters. -- Zac Costello Tiger is oldest player on women's hockey team PRINCETON, N.J. (U-WIRE) --Former Princeton women's hockey head coach Lisa Brown-Miller exemplifies dedication, representing the United States at the Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, as the oldest member of the American team. Still undefeated in the Olympic debut of women's hockey, Brown-Miller and her teammates are expected to secure a berth in the gold-medal game against rival Canada. The team has already soundly defeated China, 5-0, and Sweden, 7-1. But the road to Nagano and the chance for Olympic gold required Brown-Miller to live a life singularly devoted to her sport, placing both her professional and personal lives on hold. A member of the National team since its inception in 1990, the 31-year-old forward from Michigan gave up her coaching position at Princeton to train full-time, and eventually won a position on the Olympic team. Between coaching Princeton and training, little time remains to spend with her husband of three years. Because of Brown-Miller's sacrifice and passion for the sport, she was a role model for her young Tiger players. She came to Princeton in 1991 after an outstanding collegiate career at Providence College.
(11/20/97 10:00am)
Squash is a relatively unknown sport in the United States. Many of the students on Penn's campus probably don't even know their school has a varsity women's squash team. They will soon, if the 13 members of this year's team have anything to do with it. The Quakers' are hoping that a first-place finish this season will change that. They don't just mean the Ivy championship either. The Red and Blue are fighting for the No. 1 ranking in the country. Now that should open some eyes. Last year, the Quakers finished the season a decent 7-2, 3-2 in the Ivy League, good enough for a national ranking of third. With three All-Americans on the team in Jessica DiMauro, Katie Patrick and Dana Lipson, the Quakers feel they have a chance at more. "We're ready to go," Quakers captain Lindsay Moss said. "We're going to go out there and kick some ass!" The key to the Quakers' success may be the performance of four freshmen who will start in the middle of the lineup. Penn coach Demer Holleran, the 1997 national champion in her own right, has confidence that they can get the job done. "Our four freshmen are very competitive people," Holleran said. "They are good athletes and they're used to winning. That's a great thing they bring to the team. I don't feel like we are as young a team as we are in age." "Between three and seven is where the freshmen play," Penn captain and No. 1 player DiMauro added. "We have got to win those spots." The two biggest challenges Penn faces are Harvard and Princeton, which finished first and second, respectively, in the league and the country last season. Holleran is already focused on these matches, the first of which isn't until the last weekend in January. "We think that Princeton will beat Harvard, but with the way we match up, they will be equally hard," Holleran said. The Quakers' are glad they are not facing their biggest rivals until after the semester break. Injuries to DiMauro, Megan Fuller and Lauren Patrizio have limited their practice time and training. Although women's squash has deep roots in the Ivy League sport, having been played at Penn since 1970, there are only 28 schools nationwide that compete on the intercollegiate level. While the level of participation in the U.S. is relatively low, there are 120 countries world-wide that play competitive squash. The Quakers are fortunate to have experience on the international level. The team consists of two players from Canada, DiMauro and Patrick, who fill the top two spots in the lineup. In addition, Helen Bamber hails from Zimbabwe, and Rina Borromeo, also a Quakers tennis player, from the Philippines. The final piece of the puzzle is Holleran who will be manning the helm for her sixth season. "I think she is definitely the best coach in women's squash," DiMauro said. "She is so determined to win and knows how to win as a player. She has no problem passing that on to the team." Motivation certainly isn't a problem for the Quakers. After a loss in a preseason scrimmage against Princeton, emotions were running wild. "A girl on their team came up to me and said, 'Hey, maybe next time'," DiMauro said. "I just looked at her and thought, 'We're going to kill you'."
(11/18/97 10:00am)
With her sweet and grandmotherly nature, English Professor Phyllis Rackin may not seem like an award-winning scholar of Shakespeare and other Renaissance drama. In recognition befitting her stature, the spring 1997 edition of Shakespeare in the Classroom recently named Rackin one of the top 25 "master teachers of Shakespeare in the U.S., Britain and Canada for the past 125 years." The list was compiled by polling various literary authorities around the world. In her typically modest fashion, Rackin, who has taught General Honors and graduate-level courses since the early 1960s, chalked up the award to the mere "luck of the draw." The beginnings of Rackin's career are distinctly low-key. Needing to fulfill a teaching requirement, she one day ran into the English undergraduate chairperson, who nonchalantly asked, "How much do you know about a man named Shakespeare?" The not-so-innocent question resulted in Rackin spending her winter break holed up with dozens of texts, plays and studies to prepare herself to teach. The labor continued throughout the semester as Rackin "stayed barely a week ahead of the students." By that time, Rackin realized that teaching Shakespeare was "something she loved doing." She was fortunately "invited to keep doing it." Rackin's avowed goal as an educator is to free Shakespeare from the somber connotations his name evokes. "The plays were written to be performed and must be studied in that context," she explained. Her teaching eventually spurred a desire to write, which was temporarily satiated in her 1990 book Stages of History. The book deals with the philosophical issues of history and explores the question, "What happens when you put history on the stage?" Her next foray into writing was prompted by a friend and Women's Studies scholar. After initially thinking that "there was nothing of interest for Women's Studies," Rackin eventually asked, "Well, why not?" The fruition of her ensuing study was the recently published Engendering a Nation: A Feminist Account of Shakespeare's English Histories, which she co-authored. Rackin also found time in the early 1990s to serve as president of the Shakespeare Association of North America. "It consisted of endless meetings," she mused. Referring to her book and other accomplishments, English Professor and longtime colleague Rebecca Bushnell called Rackin "an important feminist voice in the University." English Undergraduate Chairperson Elisa New added, "I admire Phyllis Rackin lavishly." During her several decades at the University, Rackin has seen undergraduate teaching "improve enormously." She has undoubtedly played a vital role in that improvement. Teaching for so long has allowed Rackin to keep her "fingers on the pulse of time" by serving as a mentor to diverse generations. Along with her many years at the University has come both experience and praise. More important than any award, however, is her family -- and more specifically her grandson. "He's just adorable," she gleefully proclaimed.
(11/14/97 10:00am)
With snow on the horizon, the Penn men's fencing team is bundling up and heading across the mountains to Penn State for its only preseason meet before a climactic battle with Princeton to start the season off. This weekend's meet is not team-orientated; individuals will be playing one another for personal glory. This meet is unique in that it falls within the preseason and will not count on the team's, or individual's, season record. This weekend, along with the sparring matches in practice, will settle Penn's starting lineup for the big Princeton meet in three weeks. Penn coach Dave Micahnik is using this meet to give some of his key freshmen a chance at intercollegiate play. "We did not specifically set out to take freshmen, but certainly a certain number will come," Micahnik said. "It is to give them some action so that they can get some early season development. And to get them into the field of combat." The Quakers are heading out west with 13 men, four foils, five epees and four sabres to battle future competitors from the East Coast, but also others from the Midwest and possibly as far as Canada. At this meet in prior years Penn has met individuals or teams from Rutgers, Princeton, Columbia, St. John's and Yale. This gives the Quakers a good chance to scope the competition, both old names, and new recruits. "This is a dry run on tournament competition. It is almost a dress rehearsal for our road meets," Micahnik said. The men are going in with little pressure. This meet to them is truly a warm up. They are going for experience and some variety in competition.
(11/10/97 10:00am)
After years of apathy and shrinking membership, Penn's chapter of the Acacia fraternity is starting over with a "clean slate." The University recently threatened to shut down the fraternity's Franklin chapter, which had dwindled to a single member, according to Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Director Scott Reikofski. The fraternity has been plagued by low membership in the past few years as brothers went abroad or simply deactivated, Reikofski said. And past brothers did not do enough to recruit new members before they graduated, allowing the chapter to "slowly fall apart," according to Mike Keating, director of chapter services at the Acacia International Headquarters in Indianapolis, Ind. Keating -- who travels across the country as self-described "problem solver" for Acacia chapters -- has been on campus for the past few weeks recruiting sophomore and junior men to re-establish the chapter as an active Greek organization. University policy bars Greek organizations from recruiting freshmen until the spring semester. Last Wednesday, Keating and Acacia Communications Director Jim Katsaounis offered an information session to give interested men an opportunity to find out what membership in the chapter would entail. Additionally, they have advertised in The Daily Pennsylvanian, posted flyers and disseminated e-mails via an OFSA listserv. According to Katsaounis, the chapter will be built on academics and community service. It will have "no tolerance" for members who do not try to abide by these ideals, he said. Although the chapter is not being rechartered, Keating said his goals in the rebuilding process parallel those of founding a new chapter. "It's impossible to change the mentality of old members," he said. "We're starting at the bottom, with new membership and new membership education." Katsaounis added that "starting from scratch" rather than building on the current chapter will allow pledges to base their membership on the fraternity's ideals instead of the "traditional garbage" like hazing usually associated with fraternities. About 25 men have already expressed serious interest in the fraternity, said Keating, who will return to campus in January to start the pledging process. He said he is looking for about 15-20 members who are "motivated in establishing a fraternity" and keeping it alive. The Franklin chapter was chartered in 1906, making it one of the oldest Acacia chapters in the United States, Keating said. Acacia currently has 45 chapters across the United States and Canada.
(10/28/97 10:00am)
The Penn men's cross country and track runner has lived and competed all over the world. Penn men's cross country runner Paolo Frescura is easily the most successful homeless guy on campus. He has lived in Italy, France, Canada and now the United States, and with a little luck, the senior captain has the potential to visit even more countries next year on the professional running circuit. Frescura lived in Italy as a child before eventually attending high school in Toronto. His parents moved to France less than a year before he came to Penn. He is fluent in French, English and Italian, and he is currently trying to teach himself Spanish. His European parents and Canadian high school years have produced a unique person who does not really fit any one stereotype. But that has not stopped his teammates from constantly making fun of his interesting word choice, quirks and behavior. One incident occurred in Chicago the weekend of the Wolf and Kettle Invitational about a month ago. The Quakers were eating at an Italian restaurant, and there was a man walking around the room taking requests with his accordion. While his teammates wanted to hear Frank Sinatra, Frescura asked for obscure operas that were foreign to everyone, including the musician. Another anecdote comes from housemates and fellow cross country runners Matt Blodgett and Jason Greene. "The first day he moved in, I came downstairs and found him mopping the kitchen floor in shorts, a 'wifebeater,' Oakleys and rubber gloves," said Blodgett. "He's always doing weird, unexplainable things like that." Like many Canadians, Frescura is a huge ice hockey fan, which has added an interesting twist to practices. He frequently "jerseys" people, which is a hockey move in which he pulls a teammate's shirt over his head. But despite frequent taunts of "Canuck," "Eurosport" and "Eh," Frescura's teammates all respect and admire his ability and work ethic. "He's probably the most inspiring person I've ever seen race out of everybody, even Olympic people," sophomore Scott Clayton said. "When we're on the track, it's like his home." His teammates' respect extends to fear and awe among his opponents. "Half our league is scared to death of him," Penn coach Charlie Powell said. "There was a rumor someone started, more a joke than anything else, that was taken seriously. It's become the legend of Paolo." Part of this legend comes from his eccentric behavior at the starting line before a race, where he "shouts and screams, and gets all psyched up -- just like that," Blodgett said. "He scares the shit out of other people because they don't know what's going on." Frescura's intensity is so extreme, he had to sit out three consecutive track seasons due to recurring injuries to his shins. He was also sidelined for three races this year by a hip injury. "His attitude is if 10 miles is good and 20 is better, then 30 is awesome," Powell said. "But there are certain laws of science you just can't break no matter how much you want it." Part of Frescura's desire comes from his grandfather, who was a runner at the Italian national level in the 1930s. "He pulls out his leather track spikes with nails on the bottom and shows me his scars from being spiked," Frescura said. "My goal is to set a new family record, and he's been bugging the hell out of me." Frescura has made a habit of setting seemingly unrealistic goals and then making them come true through work and perseverance. At last year's 1,500-meter race at the Heptagonal Championships, Frescura announced months in advance that he was going to win. And win he did, cutting his time from three minutes, 55 seconds to 3:47 in only a year. "His biggest strength is a great deal of desire and courage in racing," Powell said. "He is the type of person who says he's going to do something and then goes and does it. Frescura's goals for this track season include trips to the NCAAs, the Canadian Nationals, and the Commonwealth Games over the summer. Powell believes Frescura should be among the top 10 Canadian runners by the end of this year. That would get him "carded," which would put him on an international list and lead to professional races in Europe. "The talent is there if we can keep him healthy," Powell said. Despite all of his interesting mannerisms and foreign characteristics, there was no end to the praise Frescura received from his coach and teammates. He may not have a home yet, but Paolo Frescura definitely has a bright future ahead of him.
(10/10/97 9:00am)
Before partaking on our fall break, we Swamis crossed the country lines to find our engineer of the week. That's right, tomorrow our very own Quakers take on the Lehigh Engineers, perhaps the team with the worst nickname in all of college football. As we Swamis prepare for the trek to Bethlehem, an explanation was needed for why being an engineer is so great. We Swamis found the answer to this question very difficult to find. Our celestial carpet tour began in Silicon Valley, the site of the headquarters of The Engineers' Club. After coming up dry in the earthquake state we received a contact in Alberta, Canada, of all places -- not exactly pigskin heaven. After passing our carpet through customs we visited Dan Bobyn, an engineer in Alberta. With glee, he claimed, "I'm the typical pocket protector having nerd who sits in his basement," and is therefore unable to help us. He did, however, recommend an engineer who attended the University of Alberta who is currently at CalTech. So, back to earthquake central we went. Luckily, our carpet made it into Peter Adams' lab at CalTech, as he enlightened us on the perks of engineerdom. "The best part about being an engineer is doing research," said Dork No. 2. Peter has loved problem solving ever since his days in Canada when he studied physics. "The most interesting things about physics are low temperature physics, solid state theory and lab experiments." Thanks, Pete for telling us why engineering is the bomb. In his days at college, he never knew an engineering student that played football. Perhaps, they were too busy figuring out how our magic carpet defies the laws of gravity. Despite his love for engineering, he predicts Penn over his compadres at Lehigh. In the two intra-Ivy League games, he likes the road warriors, Princeton and Harvard over Brown and Cornell, respectively. As a current employee of CalTech, he holds the utmost respect for the Ivy League. The theory of relativity told him that the four Ivies will win their showdown against the Patriot League. His final calculations said that Dartmouth would defeat Fordham, Columbia would beat Holy Cross, and Yale would miraculously defeat the Bison of Bucknell. Hey, Lehigh, you'll never be Mountain Hawks to us.
(09/18/97 9:00am)
The Penn men's tennis team is traveling to the suburbs of Philadelphia this weekend for the Swarthmore Invitational, a meet which they will use as a warm-up for the season. Because there are many new faces on the team, this event will be used primarily for practice and as a tryout for the team. In addition to Swarthmore, Temple, Yale, Connecticut, Kenyon College and Providence will also compete. This year's Penn team has a "good solid group of freshmen," according to Penn coach Gene Miller. Both Eric Sobotka (Jamaica Estates, N.Y.) and Joseph Zupan (Los Angeles, Calif.) were nationally ranked in the top 80 in the boys' 18-and-under group. Oliver Varban (Willowdale, Ont.) was ranked No. 10 in Canada. Sobotka, Zupan, Varban and the other new Quakers are looking forward to this weekend's competition to secure spots on the team and to start the season with a good place in the tournament.
(08/29/97 9:00am)
Adam Strunk and Sonam (Sandy) Henderson were in the quadruple sculls boat which took the gold medal for the United States. The host team, Israel, took second place in the race followed by Canada. Henderson was also in the double sculls which took the bronze. Robert Blumhof was the coxswain of the four-with-coxswain boat which took the gold for the United States. Overall, the U.S. won six of the possible seven gold medals in rowing. Strunk and Blumhof were members of Penn's heavyweight crew, and both graduated in this past spring. Henderson was a member of the freshman lightweight crew this past year. The Maccabbiah Games are the third-largest sporting competition in the world, the the Olympics first and the Pan Asian games second. -- Contributed by Adam Strunk
(07/31/97 9:00am)
Adam Strunk and Sonam (Sandy) Henderson were in the Quadruple Sculls boat which took the gold medal for the United States. The host team, Israel, took second place in the race followed by Canada. Henderson was also in the Double Sculls which took the bronze. Robert Blumhof was the coxswain of the Four with Coxswain boat which took the gold for the United States. Overall, the United States won six of the possible seven gold medals in rowing. Strunk and Blumhof were members of Penn's heavyweight crew, and both graduated in this past spring. Henderson was a member of the freshman lightweight crew this past year. The Maccabbiah Games are the third largest sporting competition in the world, the the Olympics first and the Pan Asian games second. -- Contributed by Adam Strunk
(06/26/97 9:00am)
This past year, the men's track and field team won both the indoor and outdoor Heptagonal Championships. Penn hopes to repeat next year, but also hopes to do much better at the IC4A Championships against the best track and field competitors in the east. The Quakers also want to send more than one representative -- this year's was sophomore Robin Martin -- to the NCAA Championships next year. The incoming freshman class, the class of 2001, is expected to provide new strength and speed in the strides into the 21st century. This year's recruits include several young men who will be looking to improve upon already impressive high school performances. The additions for the 1997-98 year are the types of athletes that the team hopes will push it to new heights. "It's a smaller group in total numbers than we've had in the past, although I think the quality of the group overall is as good if not better than any other group we've had," assistant track and field coach Nathan Taylor said. The new Quakers who will be most likely to make an immediate impact are two hurdlers -- Eldron Blackwell and Mike Aguillar. Blackwell comes from Yoakum in Texas, the most competitive track and field state in the country, according to Taylor. Blackwell has run the 110-meter hurdles in 14.0 seconds and this year was a state finalist in that event. Physically, he is just 17 years old, so the coaches expect that he may mature after his arrival at Penn. Aguillar's recruitment took an interesting turn for Penn's track and field staff. Like Blackwell, he runs both the 110-meter hurdles and the 400-meter hurdles. The Quakers had been interested in him primarily for the 400-meter hurdles, but in his senior year, the young man from Lakewood, NJ, improved so dramatically in the shorter event that he is now among the top 25 hurdlers at the 110-meter event. "We've got two guys who could have an immediate impact in both the highs and the intermediate [hurdles]," Taylor said. "We have two other guys that I think are really national caliber," he added. The first, Bryan Kovalsky, was the Connecticut state runner-up in the two-mile run. His two-mile time is the fastest of any recruit in "seven or eight years," Taylor thought. In addition to helping the track and field team, it is anticipated that Kovalsky will be a strong finisher for the men's cross-country team. He may have more difficulty in the transition from high school to college track because the two-mile race is not a distance at which collegians compete. The other national-caliber athlete is Kyle Turley, whom Taylor described as "a mountain of a guy." His best event is the hammer throw, at which the six foot four inch, 280-pounder recorded the third farthest throw indoors of all scholastic competitors last year. Taylor believes that Turley could flourish in the field events because Turley's frame may not be completely developed physically yet. These four recruits, while most promising, are not the only young athletes that are expected to make the Quakers better next year. Jeff Beadle, one of the nation's top 20 discus throwers, will have an opportunity to help Penn immediately. Last year, the Quakers had difficulty scoring points with their discus throwers. In other field events, Seth Beaver and Charlie O'Connell are both expected to be competitive in the javelin. O'Connell is contemplating playing football as well. Luke Stokes will be a freshman who could earn points -- he has already pole-vaulted 15 feet six inches while at Edison (Calif.) High School. Among this talented class of recruits there are several runners who, in their first year at Penn, may aid the Quakers. Andrew Girardin was the New England 800-meter run champion last year and has run a 1:54 in that race before. There are some sleepers in the group as well. Michael Wise comes to Philadelphia from Colorado as one of a few fast quarter-milers. He ran his home meets and trained on a grass track at Fountain High School. Damon Hamilton is another quarter-miler, but he may make a bigger impact in the shorter sprints. Darryl Olczak, from St. Thomas, Canada, is coming off of an injury and could replace Penn's departed senior captain Greg Davis in some of the shorter sprints. "We're pleased to have these guys," Taylor said. "It's a good group."
(06/01/97 9:00am)
Carondelet High School's Kristen Gorden fell on the track just five meters from the finish line. Melville, N.Y. The name may not stir any reaction, as she did not have the same impact that John Muir High School's (Pasadena, Calif.) Obea Moore, Arkansas' Seneca Lassiter or Central Pell's (Ontario, Canada) high-jumping Mark Boswell did on the faithful Franklin Field fans. However, the race she ran was second-to-none. Those in attendance will remember Gorden's race, but not for the reason that she or any of her teammates would hope. The High School Girls' Distance Medley Championships of America is a unique race. It provides high school coaches with the opportunity to put the best runners at four different events together in one race. The first leg of the race is 1,200 meters, while the second runner runs only once around the track, a distance of 400 meters. The third runner runs 800 meters while the anchor leg is a grueling 1,600 meters. Gorden, a senior at Carondelet High School in southern California, ran the anchor leg for her team. It was the only race she competed in at the Relays, and with her team earning a top qualifying time, they were considered one of the pre-race favorites. Sophomore Meghan Andrade did not get out to the lead that Carondelet coach Helen Lehman-Winters would have liked. The team was in last place when Andrade passed the baton to teammate Kerri Bock-Willmes. Willmes, a sprinter, had trouble catching the pack in only one lap, and left that responsibility to her teammates. For team co-captain Kelly Piatenesi, things only got worse. She ran the slowest 800 meters of anyone in the race, and by the time Gorden got the baton, she was more than 13 seconds off of the lead. "We got off to the worst start I've seen our team get out to," Lehman-Winters said. "I knew Kristen could run a sub-4:50 anchor leg, but it didn't seem that even that would be enough to catch up." Gorden seemed to ignore the pace set by the pack and came out sprinting. It would have been impossible for her to keep up the speed she started out at for the full 1,600 meters, but as she finished the first two laps, she had caught the pack and began to make her assault at the leaders with a steady speed. She moved from 11th place to second in the last two laps. The insurmountable lead that Columbia High School (N.J.) built up had vanished. "Kristen was running so fast that I thought she was going to collapse after the second lap," teammate Kelly Piatenesi said. "She was so determined to make up the time that we lost." It wasn't until the backstretch of the last lap that she challenged Columbia's Dara Crocker for the lead. "I could hear her coming up on me," Crocker said. "I could tell by the crowd that [Gorden] was right behind me, so I had to push that much more." As Crocker pushed, so did Gorden. The crowd rose to its feet as the two battled neck-and-neck down the home stretch. It appeared as though everyone had underestimated Gorden's ability to keep her early pace. With 15 meters to go, the race would have been too close to call. However, with only five meters left, Gorden ran out of gas, fell to the track, and dropped the baton. Crocker coasted to the victory. Gorden appeared stunned that her legs had given out, and crossed the finish line in fourth place without the baton, resulting in an automatic disqualification. Gorden ran the best unofficial split in high school history, with a 4:49.9. She ran 12 seconds faster than any other competitor over the 1,600 meters stretch, but it had not counted. Carondelet was disqualified, Gorden's time was never recorded, and the team would return home with nothing to show for its miraculous comeback. "The way we finished was so disappointing," said Lehman-Winters. "I feel so bad for Kristen because she wanted to win so badly. She really did run the greatest race I've ever seen." Even an hour after the race was over, Gorden sat crying in the paddock area. Her coach and teammates tried to console her, but she could not stop. In the back of her mind, Gorden knew she was only five meters short of completing the greatest race of her life and maybe even the Relays, but that wasn't why she was crying. She knew that even though her teammates raced poorly, she could have saved it for them. While Kristen Gorden may have fallen short of the finish line and the greatest comeback of the 103rd Penn Relays, she did not fall short of the crowd's her coach's, her teammates', or even her own expectations, because she could have given up, and she didn't.
(06/01/97 9:00am)
Carondelet High School's Kristen Gorden fell on the track just five meters from the finish line. Melville, N.Y. The name may not stir any reaction, as she did not have the same impact that John Muir High School's (Pasadena, Calif.) Obea Moore, Arkansas' Seneca Lassiter or Central Pell's (Ontario, Canada) high-jumping Mark Boswell did on the faithful Franklin Field fans. However, the race she ran was second-to-none. Those in attendance will remember Gorden's race, but not for the reason that she or any of her teammates would hope. The High School Girls' Distance Medley Championships of America is a unique race. It provides high school coaches with the opportunity to put the best runners at four different events together in one race. The first leg of the race is 1,200 meters, while the second runner runs only once around the track, a distance of 400 meters. The third runner runs 800 meters while the anchor leg is a grueling 1,600 meters. Gorden, a senior at Carondelet High School in southern California, ran the anchor leg for her team. It was the only race she competed in at the Relays, and with her team earning a top qualifying time, they were considered one of the pre-race favorites. Sophomore Meghan Andrade did not get out to the lead that Carondelet coach Helen Lehman-Winters would have liked. The team was in last place when Andrade passed the baton to teammate Kerri Bock-Willmes. Willmes, a sprinter, had trouble catching the pack in only one lap, and left that responsibility to her teammates. For team co-captain Kelly Piatenesi, things only got worse. She ran the slowest 800 meters of anyone in the race, and by the time Gorden got the baton, she was more than 13 seconds off of the lead. "We got off to the worst start I've seen our team get out to," Lehman-Winters said. "I knew Kristen could run a sub-4:50 anchor leg, but it didn't seem that even that would be enough to catch up." Gorden seemed to ignore the pace set by the pack and came out sprinting. It would have been impossible for her to keep up the speed she started out at for the full 1,600 meters, but as she finished the first two laps, she had caught the pack and began to make her assault at the leaders with a steady speed. She moved from 11th place to second in the last two laps. The insurmountable lead that Columbia High School (N.J.) built up had vanished. "Kristen was running so fast that I thought she was going to collapse after the second lap," teammate Kelly Piatenesi said. "She was so determined to make up the time that we lost." It wasn't until the backstretch of the last lap that she challenged Columbia's Dara Crocker for the lead. "I could hear her coming up on me," Crocker said. "I could tell by the crowd that [Gorden] was right behind me, so I had to push that much more." As Crocker pushed, so did Gorden. The crowd rose to its feet as the two battled neck-and-neck down the home stretch. It appeared as though everyone had underestimated Gorden's ability to keep her early pace. With 15 meters to go, the race would have been too close to call. However, with only five meters left, Gorden ran out of gas, fell to the track, and dropped the baton. Crocker coasted to the victory. Gorden appeared stunned that her legs had given out, and crossed the finish line in fourth place without the baton, resulting in an automatic disqualification. Gorden ran the best unofficial split in high school history, with a 4:49.9. She ran 12 seconds faster than any other competitor over the 1,600 meters stretch, but it had not counted. Carondelet was disqualified, Gorden's time was never recorded, and the team would return home with nothing to show for its miraculous comeback. "The way we finished was so disappointing," said Lehman-Winters. "I feel so bad for Kristen because she wanted to win so badly. She really did run the greatest race I've ever seen." Even an hour after the race was over, Gorden sat crying in the paddock area. Her coach and teammates tried to console her, but she could not stop. In the back of her mind, Gorden knew she was only five meters short of completing the greatest race of her life and maybe even the Relays, but that wasn't why she was crying. She knew that even though her teammates raced poorly, she could have saved it for them. While Kristen Gorden may have fallen short of the finish line and the greatest comeback of the 103rd Penn Relays, she did not fall short of the crowd's her coach's, her teammates', or even her own expectations, because she could have given up, and she didn't.
(04/30/97 9:00am)
Carondelet's Gorden fell just five meters short of the spectacular. There were broken records, comebacks, thrilling finishes, heroics, great triumphs, painful losses and many memorable races in last weekend's Penn Relays. However, the best overall performance will soon be forgotten, never having been reflected in the record books or even in the official results. But Kristen Gorden will never forget. The name may not stir any reaction, as she did not have the same impact that John Muir High School's (Pasadena, Calif.) Obea Moore, Arkansas' Seneca Lassiter or Central Pell's (Ontario, Canada) high-jumping Mark Boswell did on the faithful Franklin Field fans. However, the race she ran was second-to-none. Those in attendance will remember Gorden's race, but not for the reason that she or any of her teammates would hope. The High School Girls' Distance Medley Championships of America is a unique race. It provides high school coaches with the opportunity to put the best runners at four different events together in one race. The first leg of the race is 1,200 meters, while the second runner runs only once around the track, a distance of 400 meters. The third runner runs 800 meters while the anchor leg is a grueling 1,600 meters. Gorden, a senior at Carondelet High School in southern California, ran the anchor leg for her team. It was the only race she competed in at the Relays, and with her team earning a top qualifying time, they were considered one of the pre-race favorites. Sophomore Meghan Andrade did not get out to the lead that Carondelet coach Helen Lehman-Winters would have liked. The team was in last place when Andrade passed the baton to teammate Kerri Bock-Willmes. Willmes, a sprinter, had trouble catching the pack in only one lap, and left that responsibility to her teammates. For team co-captain Kelly Piatenesi, things only got worse. She ran the slowest 800 meters of anyone in the race, and by the time Gorden got the baton, she was more than 13 seconds off of the lead. "We got off to the worst start I've seen our team get out to," Lehman-Winters said. "I knew Kristen could run a sub-4:50 anchor leg, but it didn't seem that even that would be enough to catch up." Gorden seemed to ignore the pace set by the pack and came out sprinting. It would have been impossible for her to keep up the speed she started out at for the full 1,600 meters, but as she finished the first two laps, she had caught the pack and began to make her assault at the leaders with a steady speed. She moved from 11th place to second in the last two laps. The insurmountable lead that Columbia High School (N.J.) built up had vanished. "Kristen was running so fast that I thought she was going to collapse after the second lap," teammate Kelly Piatenesi said. "She was so determined to make up the time that we lost." It wasn't until the backstretch of the last lap that she challenged Columbia's Dara Crocker for the lead. "I could hear her coming up on me," Crocker said. "I could tell by the crowd that [Gorden] was right behind me, so I had to push that much more." As Crocker pushed, so did Gorden. The crowd rose to its feet as the two battled neck-and-neck down the home stretch. It appeared as though everyone had underestimated Gorden's ability to keep her early pace. With 15 meters to go, the race would have been too close to call. However, with only five meters left, Gorden ran out of gas, fell to the track, and dropped the baton. Crocker coasted to the victory. Gorden appeared stunned that her legs had given out, and crossed the finish line in fourth place without the baton, resulting in an automatic disqualification. Gorden ran the best unofficial split in high school history, with a 4:49.9. She ran 12 seconds faster than any other competitor over the 1,600 meters stretch, but it had not counted. Carondelet was disqualified, Gorden's time was never recorded, and the team would return home with nothing to show for its miraculous comeback. "The way we finished was so disappointing," said Lehman-Winters. "I feel so bad for Kristen because she wanted to win so badly. She really did run the greatest race I've ever seen." Even an hour after the race was over, Gorden sat crying in the paddock area. Her coach and teammates tried to console her, but she could not stop. In the back of her mind, Gorden knew she was only five meters short of completing the greatest race of her life and maybe even the Relays, but that wasn't why she was crying. She knew that even though her teammates raced poorly, she could have saved it for them. While Kristen Gorden may have fallen short of the finish line and the greatest comeback of the 103rd Penn Relays, she did not fall short of the crowd's her coach's, her teammates', or even her own expectations, because she could have given up, and she didn't.
