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(01/07/02 10:00am)
When University President Judith Rodin molds back into her
College Hall chair after a globally tumultuous 2001, she must
re-examine an academic uproar: the proposed abolition of early
decision. After Yale University's president announced last month
that he wants to end the policy and have every Ivy League school
level the playing field with him, Rodin told The New York Times, "It
is a legitimate issue, and a complicated one. It is a discussion we
ought to engage in because it has reached the public agenda."
She's still a fan of the practice, but promises to do a retake this
semester.
(12/06/01 10:00am)
An explosion rocks the cosmic balance -- the ripples sending
aftershocks of tears, pain and loss of hope around the world. A
man, strapped with TNT under his overcoat, waits at the Pearly
Gates for his grand entrance, his access to his dozens of virgins
and his eternal afterlife next to God.
(11/29/01 10:00am)
George Winston
(11/14/01 10:00am)
Save yourself the eight dollars you would've spent seeing Shallow
Hal and go sit on Locust Walk and laugh at fat people. It's basically
the same thing.
(10/25/01 9:00am)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
(10/04/01 9:00am)
Planned Parenthood: This is the largest, most powerful, most
(09/26/01 9:00am)
As a girl, the lure of pop culture publications and teen fashion
magazines didn't escape Vickie Nam.
(08/02/01 9:00am)
At this very moment, I can register to defend our nation in far-flung corners of the
world. I can help elect a President, get married or even buy a handgun. I can kill
myself with cigarettes or Snickers bars or Tylenol. I can jump out of a bridge with
only a rubber band to save me.
(04/25/01 9:00am)
Students around the world with aspirations of scaling the Ivy wall may have to strive a little harder as admission rates hit record lows this year.
Harvard University made the most stringent selections this year, admitting only 10.7 percent of their applicants to next year's class.
Class of 2005 hopefuls also faced tougher odds at Penn, Yale, Cornell, Princeton, Columbia and Brown universities, which all offered acceptances at lower rates than last year.
Dartmouth College, which had seen fewer applicants over the past few years, admitted at a greater rate this year.
Penn accepted a record-low 21.5 percent, or 4,124 of its 19,150 applicants this year. The acceptance rate for regular decision applicants was even lower at 18.2 percent. This is a significant change from last year when Penn admitted 22.9 percent of all applicants and 20 percent of regular decision applicants.
"In the past few years we've been getting a little more selective every year," Penn Dean of Admissions Lee Stetson said.
Harvard, which received 19,009 applications, admitted 2,042 students, making it the most selective of the Ivy League schools. As over half of next year's class was accepted early, the regular decision acceptance rate was 10.6 percent, slightly lower than the overall rate.
With an 11.7 percent acceptance rate, Princeton was the second most selective. It admitted 1,675 of its 14,287 applicants. A little over a third of next year's class was admitted early decision. Princeton's admission rate fell from last year's 12.2 percent.
Yale, Columbia and Brown also had acceptance rates in the teens with 13.5, 14.3 and 15.9 percent, respectively.
Yale admitted 2,000 of 14,809 applicants, for a record-low acceptance rate. This may change, however, if fewer than 66 percent of their admits choose to matriculate.
Columbia offered spots to 2,367 of the 16,557 hopefuls for their class of 2005 and Brown sent acceptances to 2,639 of its 16,602 applicants.
Cornell reduced its acceptance rate by almost five percent to 25.6 from last year's 30.5 percent, as it is trying to control its class size. It admitted 5,512 of its 21,518 applicants.
Dartmouth saw a marked decrease in the number of applicants this year to 9,719 from 10,165 and increased their rate of acceptance to 22.8 percent from 21.4 percent last year. Dartmouth admitted 2,219 of its applicants.
Stetson expects that Penn's final acceptance rate may vary a little, depending upon the rate of matriculation.
Penn's yield of admitted students has been increasing steadily over the past few years and was at 55.5 percent last year.
"What it means is that if it holds, we'll be using a small amount of the students on the wait list," Stetson said.
All students admitted to the Ivy League have until May 1 to make their enrollment decisions.
(04/16/01 9:00am)
I remember exactly where I was on April 20, 1999, when I first heard about the siege and massacre at Columbine High School.
Sitting in my high rise apartment studying for an Econ midterm the next day, I turned on CNN and spent the rest of the day transfixed to the television, watching the images that soon became all too familiar -- the wounded student climbing out a window, the pack of high schoolers running from the school with their hands up above their heads.
I remember watching a funeral a few days later for one of the 13 people killed by Dylan Harris and Eric Klebold. I remember the interviews with the
students who were trapped in a closet with their teacher who lay with them bleeding to death, with the parents who lost their children.
It would prove to be, I believed then, the most profound tragedy our generation would know, and a historic moment for our country as a whole.
Two years have passed since the bloodiest school rampage in the nation's history, and it's pretty clear that I was mostly wrong.
School violence has become an almost accepted facet of Americana, an eccentricity of the richest and most powerful country in the world. It's become so common, in fact, that we barely batted an eye at the latest shooting in Gary, Ind., earlier this month.
The massacre has remained a powerful symbol to people in our age bracket -- according to a recent story in The Philadelphia Inquirer, many colleges are thinking about barring applicants from writing their admissions essays on it because it's become so common.
And yes, it's brought newfound introspection and soul-searching to the halls of the nation's high schools, and has increased everyone's sensitivity to even the most benign of threats.
But we have done nothing over the past two years to stop it from happening again and again. It has spurred no one to action.
After the massacre, there was a flurry of activity in Washington by legislators claiming to have been moved by the events in Littleton, Colo. Yet partisanship prevailed and nothing happened, other than blaming the media and our society and everything besides the ease with which Klebold and Harris purchased their weapons.
And then the issue seemed to disappear. Gun control was nearly invisible during the 2000 presidential race. With a pro-gun president and Congress and a Democratic Party scared of alienating any part of the fragile electorate, it seems unlikely that the federal government will take up the issue anytime soon.
We can't say that Columbine didn't change anything. No, it changed our world quite dramatically. Elementary school kids are now suspended for just mentioning the word "gun," and any teen who falls outside the mainstream is automatically suspected of being another Klebold or Harris.
That this is the legacy of Columbine only compounds the tragedy. It means that not only have we failed to make our schools safer -- we've actually taken a step backwards.
We've done nothing to limit guns in this country and are instead making meaningless gestures to make ourselves feel better.
And so the 12 students and one teacher murdered two years ago this week died in vain. And a tragedy that should have been a defining moment of our times, a turning point in American history, was neither.
(04/03/01 9:00am)
A high school student attending a model Congress event at Penn was hit by a car Sunday afternoon while crossing the street near 36th and Chestnut streets.
The student, a 15-year-old girl, was struck by a Chevrolet Celebrity after exiting the Wawa located at the corner of 36th and Chestnut streets.
The driver stopped at the scene of the accident.
The girl was taken to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where she was treated for leg and shoulder injuries, the worst of which was a broken arm. CHOP officials would not say whether she had been released as of last night.
According to University Police officials, the girl was crossing the street against the red light.
Wharton and Engineering senior Ira Hofer, the director of events for the Penn Model Congress, confirmed that the student had been on campus to attend the PMC's Fourth Annual High School Conference, which was held between March 29 and April 1.
"She was one of our delegates who came to the conference," Hofer said. "There are no serious injuries, and we have been in constant contact with her advisor and her parents. We're helping her in any way we can."
Hofer said the accident occurred after the day's conference session had already ended. The girl was preparing to board her school's bus after an advisor had given her permission to go to Wawa.
This incident marks the second time this semester where jaywalking led to an accident.
On January 22, third-year Law School student Jorge Salva was hit by a car near 37th and Spruce streets, near the Quadrangle.
Salva was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was treated for a broken arm.
(03/29/01 10:00am)
Graduate students from around the country flocked to Penn to showcase their work at the third annual Spencer Student Research Symposium last Friday.
The symposium, attended by over 100 Penn students, faculty and guests from other institutions, was sponsored by the Spencer Foundation.
The Spencer Foundation, based in Chicago, awarded a grant to Penn in 1997 to fund student research. According to its leaders, the foundation hopes to "contribute to improving research education and mentoring for doctoral students in schools of education." Currently, Spencer sponsors 16 Penn students in the Graduate School of Education.
Held in Logan, Houston and Williams halls, Friday's event featured 36 presentations that focused on the general theme "Race and Cultural Issues in Urban Communities." Topics ranged from "Learning through the Arts" to "Club Drugs in NYC: Who, Where, What and Just How Much?"
Nine of the Spencer fellows organized the symposium. According to Raymond Gunn -- a student organizer who also presented -- the goal of this year's symposium was to "bring together as many disciplines as possible... [and] to raise questions on how to go about our research."
Kathy Hall, a member of the Spencer steering committee, agreed, saying that the symposium was about "creating connections across the schools."
Students presented their work in panels across campus. The panels -- organized thematically -- were informal, allowing dialogue with the audience.
The only non-student presenter was keynote speaker Shirley Brice Heath. Heath, a professor of English and linguistics at Stanford, spoke about her ongoing study on how the language of young people changes alongside of larger societal developments, like the move away from the nuclear family.
Heath, in keeping with the theme of the symposium, focused mostly on the methodology of her research. Pointing out the difficulty of an adult "with gray hair" to observe the language of pre-teens and teenagers, Heath explained that she trains kids to gather data themselves. "They are, essentially, partners in this research," she said.
Several audience members came to hear friends share their hard work.
Lauren Scher, a student in the Graduate School of Education wanted both to "see what people are working on in Philadelphia" and support her many colleagues who made presentations.
(03/29/01 10:00am)
Working at the Bada-Bing strip club of HBO's Soprano's -- this clearly presents a problem for a Christian.
This is just one of the dilemmas Father Stephen Siniari wrestled with Thursday night.
In a lecture entitled "The Working Man's Jesus," Siniari gave advice on how to bring God into daily life, specifically into the workplace.
Siniari addressed the audience of about 15 people, mostly his parishioners, as part of the Orthodox Christian Fellowship Distinguished Guest Lecture Series.
In a very casual and intimate setting in the Newman Center, Siniari suggested 11 ways to "bring peace and love for our master into your workplace."
"Don't get fired," Siniari said. "If you're going to be there as a viable witness, you have to be there."
In addition to being the Parish Priest at Saints Peter & Paul Albanian Orthodox Church in Philadelphia, Siniari is also the Pastoral Minister of the city's Covenant House where he works with street youth, especially abandoned and homeless teens, young prostitutes and those in prison.
Many of Siniari's suggestions could be generalized to people of all backgrounds, in all parts of life.
"Let others see you by your actions," said Siniari. "Keep your words at a minimum."
Siniari kept the group entertained for almost two hours as he strayed from the set topic to explore the problems facing Orthodox Christians.
"Nine times out of 10, the Church will hardly help you," Siniari said, adding that he realized the controversy of that statement. "I'm sorry. What we get from the priests is not always practically applicable."
"I think his quote 'We're all toothpaste, just in different tubes,' was a quirky way of really getting his point across -- to love and help everyone you can," said Kristen Webster, a College senior and OCF publicity director.
Siniari is currently preparing a book for publication under a title similar to that of the lecture -- The Working Man's Christ: How to Survive on the Job as a Christian in the Year 2001.
Siniari's lecture was the fifth of the OCF's series this year.
For College freshman Maria Catrickes, it was her first.
After hearing Siniari's lecture, Catrickes, who came only because her great aunt asked her, came to her own conclusion.
"I will definitely buy his book."
(03/22/01 10:00am)
America stands on the brink of recession. This is good, because I have always known that I would graduate in the middle of a recession. In fact, I've been counting on it.
You see, recessions are good for writers, particularly young writers whose parents wish they'd grow up and go to law school. (Hi Mom!)
During boom times, being a writer smacks of communism. After all, why else would one refrain from pursuit of the almighty dollar?
In times of recession, however, writing seems nearly respectable. After all, it's a living. Hell, it's almost an art form. And though its practitioners may not shave regularly, neither does the Class of 2000 since it got laid off last month.
Sometimes, I tell people that I will be working for a paper in Jacksonville this summer. Before the recession began, they processed the whole sentence. I know this because they would say things like "Jacksonville? Where is that?" or "Oh, that sounds like a great job." These are roughly equivalent statements.
Now, all they hear is, "I will be working." It no longer matters that I am not headed for a paper like The New York Times or The New York Times. I have their respect.
I repeat this to myself sometimes as I explain where Jacksonville is located and how it has a professional football team.
The second way in which God rewards writers during recessions is by providing them with things to write about.
Writers, you see, thrive upon tension, emotion and chaos; widespread prosperity smooths over all three.
Consider the last decade. It has been a time of larger business sections and bad feature stories. A time of self-help books atop the bestseller charts. A time whose literary legacy is a British pre-teen with supernatural powers.
Why is this so? Because there are a very limited number of interesting stories that can be written during economic booms.
You can explore the existential emptiness in the heart of every wealthy man, and you can catalogue the rapacious excesses of privileged life.
Ordinarily, it is also possible to write about the fact that some people are rich and some people are poor, and how that makes the poor people angry.
This, however, is not possible at present because all Americans have equal access to credit cards, and therefore those who remain poor must be volunteers of some kind.
To make matters worse, the people of the United States also grew tired of hearing about success. There was simply too much of it to warrant memorialization of individual achievements. An IPO CEO had about the same chance of getting on the news in 1999 as a D.C. murder victim in 1989 -- slim to none.
Thankfully, things are now changing for the better. Success will soon be rare, unemployment will no longer be voluntary and certain Manhattan neighborhoods will once again be lost to civilization.
In response, a select group of writers will spin tales of random acts of kindness and unlikely salvation and the occasional kid whose dreams actually came true.
These stories will be printed and filmed and played on the stage, keeping the American people entertained while they await their next chance to participate in a form of demonstrated financial folly called "options trading."
A much larger group of writers will simultaneously attempt to chronicle America's inner turmoil and despair. Some of these stories will be printed but none will be filmed. Many, however, will be available for viewing "off-off-Broadway."
And then there are the journalists, waiting to chronicle the inevitable weeding of America's corporate garden, the inevitable failure of some social structures and the inevitable resurgence of faith-based alternatives to government (think David Koresh, not John DiIulio).
After a few years of recession, these stories, too, will grow old. Journalists will begin to yearn for prosperity and to fear that they are being ignored.
And then I say let there be prosperity. In moderation. Another 10 years of happiness might just drive me to law school.
(03/09/01 10:00am)
When Katrina Brown finishes writing her screenplay, she's going to send it to Steven Spielberg.
Brown's motivation stems from frustration.
"Every time I watch a horror movie I know how it's going to end," Brown says. "I see there are things missing."
So, Brown has decided to conceive her own horror flick.
But sitting within the walls of West Philadelphia's University City High School, the road to Brown's dreams of screenwriting success looks quite a bit bumpier.
Fortunately for Brown, there is Girl Talk -- a volunteer mentoring program that helps smooth the way to success for inner-city high school females. More than three years ago, a high school English teacher with a vision and a few dedicated Penn students formed the organization, which currently includes five undergraduates and 13 UCHS students.
Now in its fourth year, Girl Talk has evolved from a scantily attended after-school group to a twice weekly full-fledged program. Penn volunteers send students on field trips to Reading Terminal Market, hold photography workshops and offer yoga lessons.
College senior Lauren Sypek, an original member of Girl Talk, recalls the initial hesitation from some UCHS students when she took them rock climbing.
"None of the girls wanted to try to climb the rock wall," says Sypek, Girl Talk's West Philadelphia Improvement Corps Coordinator. "They were very skeptical, afraid of messing up their hair, clothes, nails."
The fundamental goal of Girl Talk remains the same today as at its inception.
Volunteers strive for a safe, women-only environment for high school juniors and seniors to receive academic help, discuss women's issues and just plain chat it up.
Inspired by Girl Talk, several Penn undergraduates last spring started Fellas, a male counterpart. And another Girl Talk program holds sessions at Edison High School in North Philadelphia.
Sypek can still remember the fear and uncertainty she felt entering UCHS the first time.
"When I first walked into that school three years ago, I was completely intimidated." Sypek says. "The space is overwhelming and the students were different from any others I had encountered in my life. I felt like I would have nothing in common with them. I thought they were going to eat me alive."
Indeed, the guarded metal detectors which frame the school's entrance might slightly deter any student educated at a suburban middle class high school.
This atmosphere no longer bothers Sypek, however.
Stationed in a computer lab that also serves as the Girl Talk classroom, she and the other Penn volunteers lead a group through literary discussions, holding casual conversations and even reprimanding the students when necessary.
Sypek admits that volunteering at an inner city high school is not easy.
"The obstacles [the students] face are incredibly large," Sypek says. "It can be disheartening to have a student tell you about an abusive home life or see her drop out of school and not be able to fix their problems for them."
Girl Talk struggles with financial burdens as well. The program, largely supported by private donations, currently receives no funding from the high school.
Despite setbacks, every Monday and Wednesday the women journey two blocks north of Penn's campus to UCHS, armed with snacks and a lesson plan devised earlier in the week.
Recently, the lesson plan offered Girl Talk students a taste of foreign culture. The group invited British University students to the school for a question-and-answer session.
"I was amazed and shocked," says Brown, who is a student in this semester's group. "Not only was I learning about a different area, but I was talking to someone from that area."
Other students were horrified to learn that prices in Britain are higher than in America. Several of the girls decided that they would never live in Britain, under such penny-pinching circumstances.
However, their opinions quickly changed upon discovering that the legal drinking age in that country is only 18.
UCHS junior Dominique Easterling says she enjoyed the eye-opening encounter.
"It was good for us to exchange what happens there and what happens here," Easterling says. "They don't have much violence like guns and drugs."
Easterling's a fan of Girl Talk. Like Brown, she hopes for big things for her future -- dreams she shares with the group.
She hopes to become a famous choreographer someday.
Sypek says that seeing her students realize their dreams is one of the most rewarding aspects of the program.
"I have made invaluable friendships with both UCHS and Penn students though the program and still keep in touch with some past members of the program on both ends," Sypek adds.
Sypek's face brightens as she describes how she wants to attend a former Girl Talk student's graduation ceremony. The student, who had been in a remedial class before joining the program, will leave UCHS at the top of her class.
On a more bittersweet note, Sypek reveals that she recently attended the first birthday party for the child of another Girl Talk alumna in her late teens.
Sypek knows that these milestones are are all part of her own learning experience.
"They are teaching me just as much as I am teaching them."
(02/19/01 10:00am)
After weeks of combing for clues, police have issued warrants for the arrest of two teenagers in connection with the murders of Dartmouth College professors Half and Susanne Zantop.
Robert Tulloch, 17, and James Parker, 16, of Chelsea, Vt., will be charged as adults with first-degree murder, New Hampshire State Police Colonel Gary Sloper announced at a press conference Saturday.
New Hampshire Attorney General Phillip McLaughlin issued a statement yesterday, saying the suspects were spotted at a rest stop in Columbia, N.J., on Saturday and may be headed to California.
The 1987 silver Audi the two were driving was found earlier yesterday at a Sturbridge, Mass., truck stop, 150 miles from the crime scene and two miles from the Connecticut state line. The police are uncertain as to how long the car had been there.
The police have not released information as to why the boys are being linked to the crime.
"Both Tulloch and Parker should be considered armed and dangerous," the Federal Bureau of Investigation posted on its Web site yesterday.
New Hampshire Senior Assistant Attorney General Kelly Ayotte said that the teens allegedly stabbed the victims "multiple times in the head and chest."
Tulloch and Parker left town a few days after the murders to go rock climbing in Colorado, returned a few days later and then disappeared again, according to Casy Purcell, a friend of Tulloch's.
Purcell said Tulloch told him the boys had to return because Tulloch cut his leg on a sap bucket while walking in the woods.
Students at Dartmouth have expressed relief that there has finally been a break in the investigation, which began on January 27, the date of the murders.
"I think everyone really just wants it to come to a conclusion," Dartmouth freshman Joshua Marcuse said. "It has dragged on too long."
Students have also found it discomforting that there seems to be very little relation between the suspects and the victims.
"I was totally shocked. It makes it seems more random, much scarier for us," Dartmouth sophomore Heather Harrington said.
"It'd be more comforting if there was a connection between the murders and the suspect," Dartmouth senior class president Charles Gussow said.
Marcuse said he did not find the police's announcement especially surprising, however.
"The fact of the matter is that they've been keeping everything so quiet that at this point anything would seem random," Marcuse said.
"It's unfortunate that [the suspects] are younger -- it adds to the tragedy," Marcuse added.
Harrington feels that the initial shock over the crimes has worn off and campus life has assumed its normal routine, minus the prevalence of the media satellite trucks on campus.
"People are pretty normal about it now. People feel pretty safe on campus. No one's real worried," she said.
The Zantops, originally from Germany, were well-loved on campus. Students said they were very angered by a Friday story in The Boston Globe, which said the murders may have been the result of an extramarital affiar involving Half Zantop.
Susanne Zantop, 55, was chairwoman of the German Studies Department and Half Zantop, 62, was a professor of Earth Sciences.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
(02/09/01 10:00am)
Gabrielle Weber, a theatre major, is used to rigorous auditions.
But the College senior's audition for MTV's "Wanna Be a VJ" was a different type of intensity.
Standing in front of a large crowd of teeny-boppers in December at the MTV studios in Manhattan, Weber was asked the first thing she would do as a guy.
"I'd scratch my balls," Weber responded. "They always do that and I guess I would want to know why."
Weber, a slight young woman with large, almond eyes, has always wanted to be famous, and she might just get her chance.
An aspiring actress, Weber tried out for the contest on a whim, saying that "it was not a serious audition. I went as a joke."
Yet this joke turned into something big, as Weber made the callback to appear as one of the final contestants on the show -- a contest aired on national television.
In fact, if she wins five days in a row, beating out three other contestants in a battle of musical wits and charisma, Weber will attain the prize as the newest rookie on Team MTV. The winner of the "Wanna Be a VJ" contest -- determined by call-in viewers -- gets a year-long position as a host at the network.
"I think it would be fun to get to travel all over the place, to host weird shows and to meet cool people and talented artists," Weber said.
Weber said that she doesn't know how many final contestants there are or when the contest will be aired, explaining MTV will call her with that information later.
Growing up in southeastern Virginia and traveling every weekend to Manhattan with her artist mother, Weber has always thirsted for life in the spotlight as either an actress or a photographer.
"I want to be one of those well-known people that are known for being talented," Weber said. "In both photography and in acting, fame is the ultimate sign of success. I want to be successful, and fame is a sign of that."
Yet Weber has no intentions of using the opportunity as what she calls a "stepping stone to a serious acting career." She went on to say that it would "almost hurt me... because it would discredit me."
Weber, a self-described woman with "lots of weird characteristics" who likes "lots of different things" -- including a wide variety of music from trance to hip-hop to top 40 -- would "try to target college people who need a music channel" if she were to win.
"There's a big age gap between those who watch MTV and those who watch VH1," Weber said.
As a pre-teen who looked up to Kennedy -- the curly-haired and extroverted former MTV veejay -- Weber stopped watching the channel when "it started to suck because they stopped playing music and showing Real World and Road Rules 24 hours a day."
"College students want to hear more music," Weber added. "Not just Britney Spears."
Yet when asked about Spears' popularity amongst fraternity boys nation-wide, Weber joked that they like her "only when she's naked, but I don't think they want to admit to that."
So what made this Penn student stand out from the throng of wannabes?
"I think judging by the way I acted in the audition they picked me for the male audience because we had to do a commercial and the guy interviewing me was really hot and I was flirting with him. But I wouldn't want to act like that on the show because I wouldn't want to alienate the female audience," Weber said.
But even if she doesn't win, Weber values the experience.
"I felt really relieved because [as an actress] you could audition professionally for ten years, but now at least I know what it's like to get that phone call and know the feeling that they want to use you," she added.
(01/25/01 10:00am)
Our collective ambivalence toward Roe v. Wade started with the decision on January 23, 1973, and reflected our own uncertain treatment of sexuality and of women. Nearly 30 years later, Roe's anniversary still provokes a look at how far we have come and how far we have to go.
In 1996, 1.37 million abortions were performed in the United States, a decrease from the approximately 1.61 million in 1990. Both sides of the debate on the issue took credit for this decrease.
Today, more women are using highly effective contraception than ever before. But more women find that, when needed, there are few available places to get an abortion. Some women have no abortion provider in their entire county of residence.
Physicians, clinics and hospitals cite harassment by anti-choice groups among other difficulties in providing a full spectrum of medical services to women, according to the Alan Guttmacher Institute.
Although the aging of baby boomers partially explains the decrease in abortion, most of the drop is from the decrease in unintended pregnancy related to the use of better contraception. Teens began using long-acting injectable contraception such as Depo-Provera, not available before 1992.
Pro-lifers in support of the Equity in Prescription Insurance Coverage Act -- which mandates insurance coverage of contraception -- have proof of reduction in abortion from improved contraception use.
Furthermore, violence that shuts down providers stops the provision of contraception as well -- a dubious victory. And sadly, Pennsylvania has a long history of provider violence.
Allegheny Reproductive Health of Pittsburgh and Hillcrest Women's Medical Center of York both suffered arson attacks. And on September 29, 1993, Planned Parenthood of Lancaster suffered an arson attack resulting in $130,000 in damage.
Nationally, 1,700 acts of violence swept the nation against abortion providers between 1977 and 1994.
Now, women are facing the appointment of an attorney general who is a deep foe of Roe. John Ashcroft will be charged with upholding Clinton-era provider protection legislation. Ashcroft's long and reactionary opposition to choice does not bode well for clinic protection, although the former Missouri senator and governor claims that he will uphold the law.
Ashcroft may be slyly referring to the possible stacking of the U.S. Supreme Court against Roe, which, although upheld in Planned Parenthood v. Casey (a case originating from Pennsylvania opposition to abortion), could easily be overturned by a conservative Supreme Court.
Unfortunately, college-age women are among those most likely to suffer the assault on Roe, especially those living in Pennsylvania. Fifty-two percent of all U.S. women getting abortions are younger than 25 years old.
Pennsylvania is among the top two states with the least abortion provider facilities in metropolitan areas, along with Texas, which leads the nation. Altoona, Beaver County, Erie, Johnstown, Lancaster, Sharon, State College and Williamsport provide little or no abortion services at all.
Meanwhile, the Commonwealth has dragged its feet in enrollment for the Children Health Insurance Plan, a program which provides health insurance to uninsured children.
It is up to the state to publicize and organize CHIP enrollment, but enrollment in the Pennsylvania program lagged when other states boasted burgeoning rosters.
Yet the data is suggestive that to reduce abortion, women must not view parenthood as impossibly expensive. Two-thirds of women in large-scale studies who get an abortion report that they cannot afford a child. Half say that they do not want to be single parents or are having problems with a husband or partner.
Problems with a partner traditionally may include alcohol, drug abuse and domestic violence. Pro-lifers support the decrease of abortion by supporting legislation such as the Violence Against Women Act.
Support of legislation that guarantees every U.S. citizen a treatment bed for drug or alcohol addiction will have an impact on the segment of women having abortions who fear for the safety and well-being of a child in their household. Will compassionate conservatives lead the charge?
Compassionate conservatism becomes an oxymoron when the second item on the agenda of the new administration is tax cuts. With tax cuts there is no room for EPICC, no increases in VAWA, CHIP, treatment beds or stepped-up prosecution of pro-life violence.
With massive tax cuts, compassionate conservatism becomes the buzzword in a cheap trick, the only item in an inaugural address that barely managed to awake cheers from an audience dozing in icy rain.
During this 27th anniversary week of Roe v. Wade, it may be that women are still scapegoats in a ploy wielding sanctimony without substance for easy, responsibility-free votes. Happy anniversary.
(11/30/00 10:00am)
Police have caught the man believed to be responsible for two robberies just off campus in the past three weeks.
Philadelphia Police arrested the man, whose name has not yet been released, on Monday, after he robbed a University student on 33rd and Powelton streets.
The suspect is in custody for the latest robbery, but police must obtain a warrant before they can continue to hold him for the two previous incidents, Penn Det. Supervisor William Danks said yesterday.
"We have identified the perpetrator and we have a warrant pending," Danks said.
He said police expect to have the warrant within the next week.
Penn Police believe the man took part in the robbery of a male University employee on the 100 block of South 32nd Street and a male University student on the 100 block of South 45th Street.
In the first robbery, the employee was walking north on 32nd Street at about 10 p.m on November 13 when he saw two men descend the stairwell next to the Left Bank construction site.
The men stopped the employee and demanded his money. The employee handed the two men $185 from his wallet, and the men fled.
One of the suspects was described as African American, between 18 and 25 years old, 5'6" to 5'9" tall, with a medium build, a dark complexion and short black hair. The other man was described as African American, around 20 years old, 5'10" tall, with a thin build, a dark complexion and bushy black hair.
In the second robbery, a University student was approached by two men on the 100 block of South 45th Street on November 14 at about 6 p.m. One of the men said he had a gun, but the weapon was never displayed.
The student gave the men his backpack, which contained his wallet and watch. The two men then fled.
The two men were described as African American, in their late teens or early 20s. Both were wearing dark clothing at the time.
(11/16/00 10:00am)
Robbery may be tied to several others
