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(09/30/91 9:00am)
After a year trying to find the perfect college match, some freshmen and sophomores started another quest for the perfect fraternity match yesterday. And like their search for colleges, reputation has become a key determinant for many. Fraternities tried to attract students with exotic food, live bands and root beer kegs as the Interfraternity Council held its first day of fall rush Sunday, but many decided where to rush even before they knew what was on the menu. College freshman Kirk Davis said he picked houses based on the reputation he had heard from other people. "[I decided] not necessarily on the parties, but on the people in it, if the house is nice, and what they do on campus," Davis said. College freshman Dan Wright said he decided which houses to go to based on what he had heard from upperclassman and on the parties he went to earlier in the semester. "It's more of a reputation kind of thing," said Sigma Chi Rush Chairman Paul Arrouet, a College junior. "We are a very visible house on campus because of volleyball." Having a beach volleyball court next to the house helps, but Arrouet said Sigma Chi's members are its biggest asset. "If you have a lot of influential people and leaders on campus it helps a lot," said Arrouet. Arrouet also said the house itself is a big factor for many people. "A lot guys have said to me they can't live in a dirty house," he said. "I think guys want to live in a house that's clean, respectable and has a good reputation." He added that the fraternity drew over 400 students to their Sunday pizza and volleyball fest, one of their biggest draws in recent history. Engineering freshman Brain Simmons said Phi Delta Theta is the only house he is rushing because it has a nice house and a central location. Simmons said he also picked Phi Delt because he knew several brothers -- another way fraternites attract members. Kappa Alpha Society President Dave Wetzel said they get most of their rushes through personal contacts established before rush even begins. Engineering freshman Ryan Shefftel said he went to houses because either he knew people or had heard they had a reputation of being nice people. He said he stopped in some houses not for their food and entertainment, but simply because he "saw a lot of people and they seemed friendly." Yesterday's events were the first in a month-long process where students can visit different houses and fraternities choose their new members. College freshman Dean DiPileto said, although the first day can be a bit superficial, he met a lot of nice people. "Of course everyone is giving their best impression, but the brothers are very friendly," he said. Bruce Forman, the IFC vice president in charge of rush, said there is no way to gauge how many people rushed, but from speaking to members of other houses it appears the numbers are similar to previous years.
(09/24/91 9:00am)
Stevens, the new dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, has been at the University for 12 years and she is committed to maintaining its rich intellectual life. More importantly, perhaps, Stevens really likes working here. "There really is a sense of this being a practical place," said Stevens last week. "I'm a very practical person. I like the sense of learning as an almost tactile thing that you do. Here, you're not isolated from the world." Sitting at a conference table in 116 College Hall after most of the office staff has gone home, Stevens wondered aloud why students often speak negatively about the University despite what she calls its "great learning environment." "We're not brash as some places are," Stevens said. "We don't go out and pat ourselves on the back the whole time. I think it's time, generally, to go out and blow our horn a bit about how good we really are." Described as a warm person and rigorous scholar by her students and colleagues, Stevens incorporates both those skills into her job as dean. Unlike her predecessor Hugo Sonnenschein, who came from Princeton University, Stevens has 12 years of experience on the University faculty which provides her with the personal contacts and behind-the-scenes insight that will help her maintain contact with faculty and students. Not only was she a faculty member and chairperson of the History and Sociology of Science Department, but she was given a courtesy appointment in the Engineering School and has worked with faculty in the Medical School and the School of Social Work. "I think I have a head start on the role of dean because I have been here," Stevens said. "I have a much better idea of how the University works and how the dean's office appears from the point of view of a chair and the point of view of a faculty member, and I will have to continue to remind myself of that over the next few years." Sonnenschein's departure has raised concerns among faculty that the dean's post is being used as a stepping stone for ambitious administrators. The high turnover of SAS deans has led some to call the position a "revolving door." Of the five deans since the School of Arts and Sciences was created in 1974, only one -- Vartan Gregorian -- held it for more than three years, and he left after five. All of them moved on to higher-level administrative positions. Because of her long experience at the University, many hope that Stevens will stop the revolving door in its tracks. Music Professor Lawrence Bernstein, who chaired the search committee that selected Stevens, said the committee concentrated on candidates from within the University in the hope that someone with a deep commitment to the school would be most likely to remain here. According to H&SS; Professor Nathan Sivin, a long-time colleague of Stevens, the new dean will not be lured away from her post easily because her ambitions are scholarly rather than administrative. "She is the first dean we've had since I have gotten here that I have any conviction will hold the job for five years," Sivin said last week. Stevens echoed this sentiment. She said although the dean's position has been used as a training ground for administrators in the past, she does not intend to leave the University. "I love this school. I love being part of this faculty," she said. "I see my future here." She added her next career plan is to write another book. The dean's current concerns include reaching SAS's goal of $250 million in donations as part of University's $1 billion fund drive. While Stevens said she sees many uses for the money, the expenditures she suggests are primarily reinforcements of existing priorities such as graduate fellowships, endowed professorships and increased research space. Stevens's commitment to research facilities has made her an advocate of the controversial construction of the future Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. The IAST has drawn fire from people seeking to prevent the demolition of Smith Hall, the proposed building site, and from those afraid that the IAST will conduct weapons research in return for federal Defense Department funds . As both a resident of Smith Hall, a century-old building which houses the H&SS; department, and a former member of the University Committee on Research, Stevens has personal attachments to both sides of the debate. "I think it is a great pity to change the geography, the historic sense of place, of that particular section of campus," she said. "But at the same time, we do need additional research facilities on the campus. I think it's one of those very difficult trade-off situations." The issue of weapons research hinges on the secrecy such research would require, according to Stevens, secrecy which she feels is incompatible with an academic setting and would try to avoid at the University. Stevens's own research has been in the field of health policy. She received a B.A. in English literature from Oxford and a Ph.D. in epidemiology from Yale, where she remained as a professor. Before coming to the University, she taught at Tulane University. Her most recent book, In Sickness and in Wealth, is a study of American hospitals in the 20th century. In the classroom, she has translated her philosophy of learning as a tactile experience into action. For example, last spring she took a graduate H&SS; seminar on an overnight field trip to conduct research in the Rockefeller Archives in Tarrytown, New York. Third-year H&SS; graduate student Jennifer Gunn described Stevens as a rigorously demanding academic who is also warm and accessible to her students. "I like the way she participates in the course and brings her own research into it," said Gunn. "I think that she respects her students and treats us in a very collegial fashion and is very stimulated by the research everyone else is doing." Search Committee Chairperson Bernstein said Stevens's commitment to teaching and innovative scholarship recommended her for the post. Stevens is the first woman dean of SAS. H&SS; professor Sivin said her hiring is an indication that the selection process is less sexist than it was in the past. "It means that we are picking the best dean on the basis of quality and talent, rather than on the basis of gender," he said. "I assume that any process that has put only men into the position may be biased, and I see this as moving away from gender-based choice." Stevens said the atmosphere of academia has changed significantly since she was at Oxford in the late 1950s. She studied in an all-female college there, an experience which she said bolstered her identity as a serious scholar at a time when most potential role models in the field were male. She said she, like most women in her generation, was strongly influenced by the women's movement. While most of her classmates pursued careers but took time off to raise a family, Stevens found the academic work schedule flexible enough to allow her to continue working even while her two adopted children were young. "I took two weeks out, all together," she said. "I'm not very good at doing part-time work. I love working, and I tend always to gravitate to full-time work." Another transformation Stevens has witnessed during her academic tenure is the introduction of computer technology. She said that while she did not learn to type as an undergraduate for fear of being pigeon-holed into a secretarial career, she now word processes and uses computers in her research. She is concerned with helping faculty use new technology, even if it means teaching them techniques their students have grown up with and consider basic.
(09/05/91 9:00am)
It was an experiment involving a 2400-year-old play, a couple thousand lunches, 140 faculty members and 2200 students attending their first University class. And according to professors, administrators and students, the University's experimental assignment of Bacchae as summer reading for all incoming students was a success. The 85-page play by Euripides, which was mailed to students in July and reviewed in small group sessions led by faculty Tuesday, was assigned as a common intellectual experience for new students, according to Vice Provost for University Life Kim Morrisson, who led one of the sessions. Morrisson said the close contact with professors in the discussions was intended to introduce students to the intellectual resources of the University. Alice Kelley, English Department Undergraduate Chairperson, said she thought the discussion of Bacchae was a good supplement to Orientation Week activities. "I like the idea of their doing something like this in addition to [talks about] how to cope at the University," said Kelley, who also led a discussion. The Bacchae experiment is a merging of two independent ideas, according to Kent Peterman, a College administrator who helped organize the project. Peterman said faculty associated with the student residences had been searching for a way to engage new students in an intellectual activity when, at the same time, the Theatre Arts program proposed staging Bacchae along with workshops about the use of masks and other elements of Greek theater. Bacchae is also part of the curricula of 15 courses in the College, and students taking those courses will be able to participate in the workshops. Peterman said the play was selected for practical reasons as much as for its content, but he added that it addresses many controversial issues that are currently being debated at University. "I don't think anyone intended this, but it turned out it was an ideal text because it was a classical text, but it spoke to the debate about classical values," he said. Euripides' work addresses themes of gender relations, war, religious diversity and acceptance of foreign values, among others. Religious Studies Professor Stephen Dunning, who led a session and who also teaches Bacchae in one of his classes, said discussion of the play let him bring up these issues. "I don't think the freshmen coming in are in a position to appreciate the cleverness of the choice [of the play]," Dunning said. "Not many are aware of the debates over the issues of politically correct study. The genius of the choice is that it is part of the canonical tradition, but it is also a scathing attack on that very tradition." In Kelley's group, the discussion focused on the play's literary aspects and on several abstract religious ideas until she brought up parallels to modern issues. She said although administrators provided study questions for professors, she felt no pressure to address a specific agenda. "It was clear that we could do what we wanted with the discussion," she said. Opinions of the play varied among a group of freshmen hanging out in a dorm room earlier this week. Although several had not read it or read it at the last minute, most thought the play was a fair assignment. College freshman Eileen Everly said she was used to summer reading assignments from high school and felt Bacchae was neither too long nor too difficult. "I got the book in July and I decided, 'I like this book,' " said Everly, who highlighted her copy and took reading notes. "I thought the idea of discussing it in small groups was a good way to make it not intimidating." Other students were less enthusiastic, saying they did not like Greek plays or that the play was too gory. The students commented on Bacchae's relevance to modern times, and the play sparked a discussion of sexism which culminated in Everly reading a dramatic condemnation of male violence. Several professors said they were pleasantly surprised by the number of students who came to the sessions and by the quality of their participation. In Kelley's section, for example, only one student skipped the section, and of the 15 who attended, about ten participated in the discussion. The sessions were mandatory, and students were given an additional incentive for attending: the dining commons barred them from lunch service, but bag lunches were provided at the sessions. Faculty also reacted enthusiastically to the play. The 140 professors who volunteered to lead discussions came from across the University, including the Medical and Engineering schools. Faculty attended training sessions for discussion leaders last week, dissected their views on the play, and shared teaching tips with those unaccustomed to instructing undergraduates, but some also gathered over the summer to chat about it informally. Pharmacology Chairperson Perry Molinoff, for example, invited several members of his department to discuss the play with his wife, who has a doctorate degree in English.
(05/30/91 9:00am)
By the end of the summer -- in a period of just over a year -- a clean sweep of the deans from all four undergraduate schools will have taken place, if all goes according to schedule. Last summer, Dean Gregory Farrington took the helm of the Engineering School while Dean Thomas Gerrity stepped in to fill the shoes of ex-Wharton Dean Russell Palmer. This summer, School of Arts and Sciences Dean Hugo Sonnenschein will leave to assume his new post as Princeton's provost, while Nursing Dean Claire Fagin will step down from her position to become president of the National League of Nursing and a member of the faculty. However, permanent replacements have yet to be named for either of these posts. Lawrence Bernstein, head of the SAS dean search committee, previously indicated his committee would step up its search after the end of finals, and there are now some indications the group will be meeting with President Sheldon Hackney to discuss its progress. "We keep hearing rumors, but that's all we've heard," said Linda Koons, executive assistant to the provost. Koons said the provost also met with the Nursing dean search committee several weeks ago, but said nothing new has been heard since. But word on the Nursing committee's progress is still at least two to three weeks away. Meanwhile, SAS Associate Dean Walter Wales will take the helm of SAS as Acting Dean on Saturday. Wales said yesterday that he has not received any timetable for the new dean's selection, but is interested in finding out how long his term as acting dean will last in order to plan for the fall. "I was given little indication at all," Wales said yesterday. The continuing debate over whether the school should choose its new dean from the University community or from the outside may be a factor in the search's progress. To some extent, Farrington and Gerrity demonstrate the differences between internal and external selection. Prior to their selection, Farrington had eleven years experience at the University, while Gerrity was appointed from his private sector post at Index Group, an information consulting firm. Both deans' short tenures have been relatively uneventful, although Farrington's previous University experience may have made his transition somewhat easier. "I think the first year is always difficult because there are so many things you have to learn so quickly," Koons said. "I think in that way it might have been easier for Farrington than Gerrity, but then it might be easier not knowing because you don't have any presumptions."
(02/19/91 10:00am)
NASA scientist Peter Patton will become the University's Vice Provost for Information Systems and Computing, the University announced this week. Patton, described as a "world-class" computer master and scholar, will take office April 1, replacing Acting Vice Provost Ronald Arenson. Paul Kleindorfer, chairperson of the search committee that helped choose Patton, said last night he was pleased with the committee's selection. He said the committee picked Patton from a field of more than 150 candidates through a process that took over two years. The Decision Science professor added that Patton is "someone who is really going to bring to Penn a personal dimension, one of scholar and wit." Patton could not be reached for comment last night. The vice provost for computing position became vacant in November 1988, when then-Vice Provost David Stonehill accepted a position in President Bush's Executive Office as head of the Information Systems Resource Management Department. Arenson, a radiology professor in the Medical School, has served as acting vice provost since 1989. Provost Michael Aiken said last year that the administration would have liked Arenson to take the position full-time, but the professor has decided to return to his research. Aiken, who chose Patton in consultation with other top administrators, said last night Patton "is a man of immense experience in computers and wide-ranging interests -- a person everyone will like when they meet him." Patton is the founder of the Minnesota Supercomputer Institute. He has served as chief scientist and director of the National Technology Transfer Center in West Virginia, which is funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration since 1988. Patton's career has been highlighted by a 12-year stint as director of the University of Minnesota Computer Center. He has also spent many years studying ways to apply computers to studies of the ancient world. He is the author or editor of five books and over 80 articles. He holds European Community and U.S. patents on a computer method for the generation of COBOL programs for business applications. Patton received his bachelor's degree in engineering and applied physics from Harvard University in 1957. He earned his masters in mathematics from Kansas University in 1959, followed by a doctorate in aerospace engineering from Germany's University of Stuttgart. He is "very bright and very energetic," Arenson said, "the experienced kind of leader that will identify with the faculty's need for computers." Kleindorfer said he expects Patton will also draw money to the University. "Patton has shown himself to be a very innovative, entrepreneuring fellow," Kleindorfer said.
(02/14/91 10:00am)
The Beatles may have been right when they warned you "can't buy me love," but some students certainly are going to try today, the most romantic day of the year. Some will use the traditional Valentine's Day route. "I bought [my girlfriend] chocolates, flowers and a present, and I'll take her out to a nice quiet restaurant," Engineering sophomore Max Weise said. Some will be more elaborate. "I'm going to take [my girlfriend] to a fancy restaurant for a night in town, maybe even a carriage ride," Wharton senior Michael Silvera said. But for some, Valentine's Day is not complete without . . . well . . . as one female student put it "a nice quiet dinner, and hot, steamy sex afterwards." "I'm going to buy 20 condoms for this weekend when I go to see my girlfriend," said another student who, obviously, did not want to be identified. There are those, however, still in search of love. "I'll send like a dozen roses to eight or 10 girls . . and then I'll see what happens," said a Wharton sophomore. And then there are others for whom love is only a secondary concern on Valentine's Day. "I'll have to stay in because I have a midterm on Friday," said Wharton freshman Miriam Olivera. But for many, Valentine's Day still means buying that someone special that special something. And that means laying out bucks for the four C's -- candy, chocolate, cards and, of course, condoms. "The past week has been really ridiculous . . hectic," said Erica Marks, a cashier at Houston Hall's Cards & Gifts. "I would say [we have] about three to four times the usual business." Marks said the biggest sellers are humorous cards by the Shoebox company, with small boxes of candy to go with them. "[Chocolate and card] sales are more than we expected," said the manager of CVS at 39th and Walnut streets. "[Condom sales] are the highest they've ever been." According to Frank Morales, night assistant manager of the WaWa at 36th and Chestnut streets, the store has sold almost all of its cards -- more than 100 -- and flower sales have also been good. "People come and get two or three packs of condoms at a time," added Morales. "We had to refill twice this week." And many campus groups are also looking to capitalize on the Valentine's Day spending spree. The Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and the Society of Black Engineers is raising funds by delivering balloons and candy. Delta Sigma Theta sold about 30 balloon and candy packages, while the SBE sold about 50 balloon-grams. "[We did] really, really well. We reached capacity," said College sophomore Kiera Reilly. She said PSA sold 430 care packages and had to turn down 20 other orders. Even the The Daily Pennsylvanian cashed in on Valentine's Day. It sold more than 440 ads, which appear on four pages in today's paper. "It's the most we've sold in a year since I can remember," DP Business Manager Michael Gaviser said yesterday.
(02/05/91 10:00am)
The trial of three Deleware County men charged in the January 1990 murder of an Engineering freshman has been postponed until next week, court officials said yesterday. The trial had been scheduled for January 7, but Delaware County Assistant District Attorney Jay Mattera said yesterday that the judge agreed to grant a continuance until February 13 at the request of the defense. The three defendants, Arnold Butcher, Michael Shaw and Dwight Townsend, all residents of Chester, were arrested in the spring in connection with the shooting death of Engineering freshman Tyrone Robertson over the 1989-90 winter break. 21-year-old Butcher is accused of being the gunman. Mattera said yesterday that the defense requested a continuance because they needed more time to conduct further investigations. The defense attorney for Shaw, John Williamson, said yesterday that the Butcher's lawyer, Spiros Angelos, asked for the delay because they needed a doctor to testify. The trial was originally scheduled for November, but Angelos got a delay so he would have time to find expert testimony on his contention that Robertson's death was the result of medical malpractice and not the shooting. Williamson said that he did not know if Angelos' search for a doctor was connected with his malpractice defense. Angelos could not be reached for comment yesterday. According to news and police reports, Shaw and Townsend got into a fight with Robertson and his brother, Paul, after Butcher objected to Paul's talking with a woman in a local restaurant. Butcher alledgedly fired at both brothers, hitting only the 18-year-old freshman. All three defendants pled innocent to first degree murder and related charges last August. Mattera said the defense will probably ask for a jury trial.
(01/23/91 10:00am)
For a man who has been known to lead great elk into stampedes in the Grand Tetons, leading the Wharton School may at last provide Dean Thomas Gerrity with a challenge. Jim Champe, a longtime friend of Gerrity's and the chairman of the consulting firm, Index Group, said Gerrity has always "enjoyed physical challenges." Champe said Gerrity's adventurous side led him to the Grand Tetons. Gerrity, Champe said, ignored warnings and decided to approach a herd of elk. "We caused a stampede," Champe said. He explained that Gerrity was also "a good wrestler as an undergraduate," at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has run the Boston Marathon several times. Gerrity also excelled in academics at MIT. Upon receiving his degree in electrical engineering, Gerrity was named a Rhodes Scholar and matriculated at Oxford University. Champe said he also thought Gerrity found little to challenge him at the British university -- so little that his skiing improved greatly in his years there, Champe said. Gerrity took the helm of the school in September, replacing former dean Russell Palmer, who many in the school thought had brought it new levels of prestige. Mickey Tarnepol, a Wharton alumnus who participated in the search for the new dean, said the committee was impressed and excited with the selection of Gerrity. Tarnepol said they found him "nothing short of fabulous," and expected him to "bring a tremendous insight into the needs of all the constituencies. "An awful lot of the infrastructure which had been started by Dean Palmer," would be built upon by Gerrity, Tarnepol said. "In terms of managing them and working with them, [that] will be done by Tom Gerrity." Gerrity said he was also excited by the appointment and the new challenges the deanship will bring. "I'd like to see us develop similar levels of strength in fields that are integrative and problem-directed, like entrepreneurship," Gerrity said. Champe said that he thought the new dean would bring a "humanist" approach to the school. "I think he is dedicated and will build renaissance people," Tarnepol added. "People who are going to be able to face the problems and opportunities" they will face. Gerrity came to the school via the information consulting firm Index Group, which he started and ran for several years. But Gerrity said that every fall he "felt the stirrings of coming [back] to the university. "I always planned a return [to academia] at some point," Gerrity said. "It couldn't be a more exciting time to be in management right now." Gerrity displayed an almost child-like giddiness as he talked about the future of his field. "I just salivate at the possibility of doing teaching and research," he explained, hoping to return to the classroom in as soon as three years. Gerrity's field of study in the past has included the interaction of organizational behavior and information and cognitive psychology. Apparently, others have been drawn to this excitement which Gerrity shows. Tarnepol recalled receiving a letter from an alum who found Gerrity's "dynamism infectious" at a recent alumni reception with the dean. Gerrity said that he just wants to get to work at being dean. "In terms of style, I like the word partnership," he said. "Its overused, but its healthy. Partnership amongst alumni, the school, and its students."
(01/16/91 10:00am)
Assistant to the President William Epstein, who has been with the University for over four years, will leave the University this month for a post in a local engineering company. Epstein, who has worked in the president's office since 1987, will become Director of Government Affairs for Roy F. Weston, Inc., a West Chester-based environmental engineering company. Epstein is the private company's first full-time government liaison. The 1987 Wharton alumnus directed government and press relations for President Sheldon Hackney, and assisted the president with his community service work in West Philadelphia. Epstein, who has started work at Weston, said yesterday that he will empty his office within the next two weeks. Over the two weeks, Epstein, who graduated from Wharton's graduate program, will split his time between Weston and the University. Hackney said he may reorganize his office before hiring Epstein's replacement. He said he is looking for someone who understands community affairs. Before joining the University, Epstein spent several years with Congressman William Gray in Washington, D.C., experience which he says will help him on his new venture. Epstein's time spent on Capitol Hill appealed to Hackney when the president was searching for an assistant four years ago. "He understands issues quickly and understands how the world outside the University works," Hackney said, adding that Epstein's knowledge of national and city politics made a "great contribution" to the University. Epstein said he has always planned to move to the private sector to make use of his Wharton education. In his new position, Epstein will help various department heads in their dealings with the government and will monitor federal legislation for Weston, which does much of its environmental work for government clients. But Epstein said he plans to remain involved with the University. "I've come to admire and enjoy the issues and the people I've come to work with," Epstein said. "It was a very challenging and enjoyable position." Assistant Vice President of Policy Planning David Morse, who has worked with Epstein since the beginning of his short stay in the president's office, said last night that Epstein's "sensitivity" and "thoughtfulness" made him a success at the University. "Bill was very effective and very helpful and someone who could understand both the nature of the outside community and how the University functions and sees itself," Morse said. Morse added that Epstein's new position at Weston is a "very good move for him."
(09/25/90 9:00am)
At the start of his senior year in 1987, Jeff Solomon had no idea what he wanted to do with his life. He wasn't even sure what skills he had to offer. "I woke up and realized that it was time to get serious about getting a job," said Solomon, who majored in economics in the College. "I didn't know what I wanted to do and I really didn't know too much about the jobs out there." Today, Solomon is a personal investment analyst for Peter Cohen, who was the former chairperson of Shearson, Lehman, Hutton. Cohen is a man with a lot of money to invest. Just as Solomon was unsure of what awaited him in the working world after graduation, many seniors starting their job searches wonder if they will ever find a job. And like Solomon, they usually end up with a good one. But economists predict that in the next decade some college students will have a harder time finding jobs after graduation than members of Solomon's class did. Graduates with technical degrees can expect to find good jobs waiting for them, but liberal arts graduates will have to compete against one another for a limited number of new positions, a recent national survey of hiring trends predicted. But career counselors, recruiters and alumni interviewed last week said that even as the job market for college graduates becomes more competitive nationwide, graduates from the University -- regardless of their major -- will be well positioned. A survey of 1989 graduates from the College, which included responses from about half of the class, showed that School of Arts and Sciences graduates took more than 70 different types of jobs in nearly 50 different industries. Of those who responded to the survey, starting salaries for SAS grads ranged from $10,400 to $37,000 with a class average of $22,514. They took jobs across the nation and around the world with the highest concentrations in the Northeast, Washington, D.C. and California. Approximately 32 percent of the graduates who responded to the survey decided to attend graduate school. However, eight percent were still seeking full-time employment at the time of the survey -- several months after graduation. "We do phenomenally well," said Peggy Curchack, Career Planning and Placement Service assistant director for the College. "My measure is that students here have access to a range of jobs, not that we merely do well in one area." Even with the job market for liberal arts graduates becoming tighter, Curchack said that liberal arts students from the University still have an edge. "The education you get here and the support we give you make it highly likely that you can land the job you want," Curchack said. "All of you who come out of premier institutions will be desired whether or not there is a fall-off in employment for people who are less privileged," she added. Solomon's journey from confused senior to successful member of the working world may offer insight to University students now contemplating life after college. The first thing Solomon did was to put together a resume listing his education and work experience, which included working for his father, working for the Admissions Office and working at a summer camp. Through CPPS and on his own, Solomon sent out well over 100 resumes and came up with about 50 interviews, many with investment banks. He received several offers, and took a trainee position with Shearson because he "found he really liked the people there" and because "they seemed to take an interest" in him. His starting salary was $30,000 plus a $15,000 year-end bonus. Over the next two years, Solomon received an education on how the business world really works. "People coming out of school have to realize they're not there to take the world by storm," Solomon said. "We're told we are the cream of the crop, but when you come out you don't know anything. You spend a lot of time listening and learning, and because you are the low man on the totem pole, you spend a lot of time doing grunt work." Solomon quickly proved himself, and met Cohen while working on the restructuring of Shearson when it was repurchased by American Express. David Stone, one of Solomon's former classmates, advised students contemplating life in the real world to "go and find out what you want to do and go and do it -- no matter how unlikely it seems to be." Stone majored in English and Communications, and landed a theater production job on Broadway. "Going into theater is about the hardest thing you can do because there are no jobs," Stone said recently. "I lucked out and worked very hard, and I am in a very good position right now." Stone got his break by working as an intern at Jujamcyn Theaters, a company that owns five theaters on Broadway. Jujamcyn had no permanent jobs to offer Stone when he graduated, but they did refer him to several other production companies, including the one where he eventually found a job. · Debbie Aitken graduated from the University with an electrical engineering degree in 1988, and took a job with Motorola, Inc. Aitken said her communications skills and wide range of extracurricular activities were a big selling point to potential employers. "It's very helpful if you are an engineer who can also talk and do management-type things," Aitken said. "Being involved in different clubs and athletic pursuits are very helpful. When I went to interview, I didn't have a very good GPA, but I had a lot of activities." Donna Kahn Patkin, CPPS assistant director for Engineering, said that internship experience is also very important for engineers. Kahn Patkin said one reason why University engineering graduates are desired by employers is the fact that so many of them have taken liberal arts and business coursework. Employers also like the University's unique interdisciplinary programs such as Management and Technology, she said. University Engineering graduates were offered an average starting salary of $31,243 in 1989, up 6.6 percent from 1988, a CPPS survey found. University chemical engineering grads had the highest average starting salaries at $33,666. Civil engineering graduates were offered an average starting salary of $31,840, which beat the national average for civil engineers by more than $5000. Reflecting strong demand for engineers, the average number of job offers per student increased to 3.4, up from 2.5 in 1988. · Deadra Gibbons graduated from Wharton in 1987 with a concentration in accounting. She said that she found a job easily because accountants are always in demand and because she had internship experience with Chase Manhattan Bank. Gibbons took a job with Ernst and Young, a "big-eight" accounting firm, and received a starting salary of $30,000 a year. After working there for two years, she was hired away by one of the company's clients, American Express, to be a senior accountant in their general corporate accounting department. "Wharton does prepare you for the outside world," Gibbons said. Like Gibbons, Wharton students looking for jobs in the next decade will not have a very hard time finding them, said Ken Oyer, a CPPS advisor for Wharton students. "The one thing that is good about the Wharton degree is that the concentrations don't lock you out of certain fields," Oyer said. "The name recognition is also an advantage. Wharton grads are very well known. The alumns are out there. They're the leaders of corporations." Oyer said certain specialties such as investment banking and consulting are becoming more competitive, however. In 1989, Wharton graduates were offered an average starting salary of $29,637, up 6 percent from 1988 and up 31.1 percent from 1985, a CPPS survey found. · Nurses are the one group of graduates who are almost assured a job. "Right now because of the nursing shortage, nursing is very lucrative," said Lyn Escobar, a 1989 Nursing graduate now working at the New York University Medical Center. "You can find a job right off the street." "Coming from Penn, everybody knows it's a great school," Escobar added. "You really don't need a resume. You just fill out the employer's application. You look for the benefits -- who will pay for your master's [degree]. I'm doing flex-time right now. I'm only working three days a week, 12-hour shifts. A lot of my friends envy me because I have a lot of time off." A CPPS survey of 1989 Nursing graduates showed that only one nurse out of 47 respondents had not found a job straight out of school. The graduates starting salaries averaged $30,030, but CPPS Director Patricia Rose predicted that nurses' starting salaries would soon climb higher than even that of Engineering graduates.
(09/24/90 9:00am)
Donna Smith spent her undergraduate years at Wharton learning about advertising, consumer research and how to match products with consumer demand. Now, four years after graduation, Smith checks ID cards and gives out lock-out keys as a front desk clerk at High Rise East. "I didn't start thinking about life after college until senior year," Smith said recently. "I was really slow. I put my resume into the book in Career Planning and Placement, but I got no interviews." By the time Smith found the job at the HRE desk, she had been unemployed for eight months. "I was in really bad financial shape and needed the money," the 1986 graduate said. "I find myself in a bit of a bind." Smith's case is extreme -- most college graduates find jobs requiring the skills they perfected in school when they enter the workforce. But in the next decade, thousands of graduates will be forced to join Smith in the ranks of the under-employed -- workers with more education than their jobs require -- if forecasts of a bleak economy and an oversupply of college graduates are accurate. In the 1980s, fortune smiled on college graduates. Starting salaries were up and seniors were lured by tales of easy money to be made on Wall Street, in Washington and in Hollywood. Now the boom years are over and the economic forecast is hazy. New workers, including fresh graduates, will be hardest hit if the economy takes a downturn and employers tighten belts. Already, college graduates are feeling the pinch. Employers hired 13.3 percent fewer workers in 1989 than in the previous year, according to Patrick Scheetz, author of a Michigan State University study titled Recruiting Trends 1989-90. "1990 was the most competitve market since 1982-83 when we had a recession," Scheetz said last week. And at least one economist is predicting that the oversupply of college graduates will grow. Jon Sargent, an economist with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, predicted that in the next decade, approximately 1.5 million college graduates -- eight percent of the total number of graduates entering the labor force -- will have to take jobs that only require a high school education. The picture could become even bleaker if the economy worsens. "There are a lot of if's that are looming very large," said Victor Lindquist, dean of placement at Northwestern University. "What impact will the Gulf Crisis have on the economy? If the budget isn't brought into line, and if the perception of an uncertain economy is out there, and if the Fed doesn't drop interest rates, and if there is an increase in the rate of inflation, what impact is this going to have on hiring?" "If you're going into the tank, you're not going to hire new people," Lindquist added. John Rae, director of capital markets recruiting for Merrill Lynch in New York, agreed. "If anything this industry, Wall Street, is certainly on the downside, if not in a recession," Rae said. "I think the next couple of years are going to be difficult. I don't see firms expanding their recruiting efforts, if anything they'll be flat or down. I think that's true of the Northeast in general." But Career Planning and Placement Service Director Patricia Rose said the gloomy predictions will not hold true for University graduates. "Even if in the short-term employers decide to hire fewer students, I'm still bullish on the 90s," Rose said. "In all my conversations with employers, I'm being told the same thing, 'We need more students like yours.' " The job outlook for new graduates differs according to specialty. The demand for graduates with technical degrees will continue to be high, but liberal arts graduates may find themselves in an increasingly competitive job market. The Michigan State study, which traced the hiring needs of 479 employers of new college graduates, found that this year, three to five liberal arts graduates will compete for every new job requiring a degree. To beat the competition and land a job, liberal arts graduates will have to put more effort into their job searches and cast their nets wider than graduates in technical fields, career plannning experts said. "Liberal arts grads have to ask themselves, 'What do I want to do? What skills do I have?' " said CPPS Director Rose. On the other hand, new graduates with degrees in fields like nursing, engineering, computer science, mathematics and accounting, should have no trouble finding jobs in their fields. There are one or two new jobs per graduate in these fields, Scheetz said. Starting salary trends also show a split between graduates with technical degrees and liberal arts majors. Starting salaries in the health care professions are skyrocketing, according to the July 1990 Salary Survey conducted by the College Placement Council. Between September 1989 and July 1990, average starting salary offers to graduates entering the health fields have risen 10.3 percent to $26,206. Meanwhile, graduates in all engineering fields are also benefitting. For example, average starting salary offers to chemical engineers rose 6.5 percent to $35,084. But starting salaries for most liberal arts graduates have remained steady or increased only slightly over the last year, according to this year's Salary Survey. The average starting salary for foreign language graduates showed the biggest gain, rising 9.6 percent to $23,157. History majors suffered the biggest drop in their average starting salaries with a 3.4 percent decrease from $23,384 to $22,558.
