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(05/03/95 9:00am)
Sixteen determined runners assembled in the lobby of High Rise East at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, ready to begin a climb -- billed as "450 Steps to Glory" -- up the building's center stairwell to the Rooftop Lounge. Engineering junior Jean-Philippe Gouigoux, a French exchange student from Compiegne, organized this first annual International Program High Rise Stairwell Challenge. Before the race began, he warned participants to "please warm up, because it's very tiring." A runner himself, Gouigoux occasionally completes his daily track workout with a sprint up to his room on the 19th floor. John McDonald, director of the Living Learning International Program, began the race by announcing that the winners would hold the standing world record for this event. The race was run in a time trial format, with runners starting at one minute intervals from the outside door leading into the center staircase. Engineering junior John Blouin won the race with a time of one minute, 49 seconds. Blouin, a member of the track and cross country teams, said he ran up the stairs twice in preparation, but that it only tired him out "for a few minutes." College junior Ayako Tsuzuku brought up the rear with a final time of five minutes and 35 seconds. Tsuzuku, one of the two female participants, said she had "intended to walk up." Although McDonald cautioned that "after 14 floors you start breathing like you're 100 years old," all runners arrived at the top without injury. Of the 16 participants, five were members of the International Program. But McDonald stressed that the event had been open to the entire University community. Blouin and College junior Scarlett Goon, the men's and women's first-place runners, received gift certificates for dinner for two at the New Dehli restaurant. The second and third place runners received gift certificates to Boston Chicken and McDonald's respectively. The event was sponsored by Residential Living, which provided bagels and juice for the contestants. The race was beset by a few problems. McDonald had initially planned to begin the race in front of High Rise North but modified the plan due to the narrow staircases and the potential inconvenience to High Rise East residents. In addition, when McDonald arrived at the Rooftop Lounge at 9 a.m. he found eight people asleep there. The police removed them before the event began. McDonald said he hopes to repeat the event in the fall, with computerized score-keeping and more publicity. Gouigoux said he had tried to organize races in his university and city in France, but had found little support. "This is the result of a French idea, American organization, and international participation," he explained.
(04/24/95 9:00am)
Spring Fling may have started Saturday on this year, but the party in Superblock began Friday afternoon. In celebration of the 25th anniversary of Earth Day, the Penn Environmental Group and the Social Planning and Events Committee held their fourth annual Earth Day concert. Bands Zex Sea and Mariner Nine opened the show, followed by the blues- and gospel-influenced rock of Joan Osbourn. Intermittent rain and cloudy skies did not deter the students who sat, stood or played hacky-sack and frisbee near the stage. Medical school student Dan Levy came with his wife and his six-and-a-half month old son Nicolas. "I'm a fan of Joan Osbourn," he said. "This is the third concert of her's I've seen." The bands were not chosen for their environmental views, although College sophomore Benjamin Hayflick, keyboardist for Zex Sea said that his group was "environmentally aware." Osbourn, who was scheduled to begin performing at approximately 4:30 p.m., arrived 40 minutes late. She began her set by urging everyone to "Plant a tree, recycle and buy fewer things." An acupressure therapist gave free Shiatsu message at the back of the field. The small crowd which gathered in Superblock swelled to almost 90 when Osbourn began to perform. The concert was the culmination of a week of Earth Day events. On Wednesday, Ann Rhodes, a speaker from the Morris Arboretum discussed "25 Years of Environmental Legislation and Danger." Thursday, nearly 20 University bikers and Philadelphia residents participated in the "critical-mass bike ride." "We biked through the city between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. to demonstrate alternative, clean methods of transportation," Wharton and Engineering freshman Peter Chowla said. "We got honked at a lot."
(03/24/95 10:00am)
Internet surfers are flooding the University's modem lines with a rising wave of calls. And this summer, in order to meet the students' continually growing demand, Data Communications and Computing Services will establish a faster modem pool with a higher ratio of modems to users, according to Dan Updegrove, executive director of DCCS. DCCS will augment the current set of 300 modems with 100 new modems and phone lines, he added. Approximately 60 of these will be set aside for a new modem pool which will run at 28,800 bits per second -- double the speed at which the regular modem pool now runs. The number of modems ultimately assigned to each pool will depend on how many people sign up for the faster service -- which will cost $200 per year. The slower pool will still be available to students and faculty at no charge, Updegrove said. The new modems will be connected at 14,400 bps but will all be switched to a 28,800 bps setting over the summer. Faster modems will gradually take the place of all the 14,400 bps modems in the regular pool, according to George McKenna, director of Network Operations and Engineering. This switch will also reduce the amount of air-conditioning needed to keep the modems from over heating. The new modems are one-fourth the size of the old modems, require less power and therefore generate less heat, he added. Updegrove said DCCS has added 60 modems each semester for the last four semesters. Despite this, students wishing to connect to PennNet often have to wait while their modems redial five or six times. Approximately 900 people dial PennNet each hour, and a modem becomes free every 4 or 5 seconds, according to Updegrove. The addition of this modem pool is just one of the changes DCCS is making to facilitate Internet access for the University community. In September, Dubois House, Hill House, Mayer Hall, Stouffer Triangle and Van Pelt House will be wired for ResNet, allowing more students to access PennNet using an ethernet card, bypassing the modem pools altogether. Updegrove urged students who will live in ResNet buildings next year to buy and use an Ethernet card. Students who need help obtaining or installing Ethernet software -- which is available at no extra charge -- should call the PennNet Help desk. "I used to use a modem, but then I put away childish things," said Engineering junior Meng Weng Wong, an Internet expert, adding that the slowest ethernet card is 350 times faster than the fastest modem. DCCS is also in the preliminary stages of discussion with Wade and Comcast Cable companies, which may one day provide the equivalent of Ethernet access, via television networks, to students and faculty off-campus. In the future, University students may also have wireless access to the Internet. Receivers at high altitudes --such as the tops of buildings -- would relay signals between the Internet and personal computers.
(01/31/95 10:00am)
The auditorium of the Christian Association resounded with the voices of over 150 people singing the black spiritual "Wade in the Water." With a message of hope, this song introduced "Coming Out to God," a panel discussion of Christian perspectives on being gay, lesbian, and bisexual. Reverend Beverly Dale, executive director of the Christian Association, said the purpose of Sunday's discussion was not to discuss homosexuality as a choice or as sin, but rather to "acknowledge and celebrate God's love and acceptance of us just as we are." The three panelists responded to questions posed by the moderator, Susan Minasian. All agreed that the question of how to be a gay, lesbian, or bisexual Christian was flawed because they could not exist any other way. "I really have very little choice. God called me to the priesthood," said Reverend Andrew Barasda, an Episcopal priest. "I am indeed a priest who happens to be gay." Reverend Cheryl Harrell, the first ordained, openly lesbian priest in the Boston metropolitan area described her experience in a similar way. "I believe the spirit of Christ has claimed me," she said. Elias Farajaje-Jones, who describes himself as a "two-spirit queer identified bisexual man, anarchist guerrilla theologian, AIDS terrorist, writer, and tenured associate professor at the Howard University School of Divinity" said,"we all live along a fluid, constantly moving, spiral continuum of sexual identity." The speakers also described what they hoped their legacies will one day be. Barasda said he hopes others will feel comfortable with who they are. Laughter erupted when Farajaje-Jones said he expects a "collective sigh of relief" after he dies. In a more serious vein, he added that he hopes the day will come when historically black denominations will ordain gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered or questioning clergy. Following the responses to the moderator's questions, all participants observed a moment of silence. The panel then took questions from the audience. Questions dealt with the biblical view of homosexuality, Farajaje-Jones' experiences as the only outwardly gay professor at Howard and the place of transgendered people in Christianity. After the question and answer period, the participants formed a circle around the perimeter of the room. Holding hands, they sang "Wade in the Water" again and listened to a reading from the prophet Amos. They continued discussion in small groups. The audience consisted almost entirely of adults from the local community. "We saw a need for role models," Dale said. "It is possible to be Christian and also gay, lesbian, or bisexual." The event was co-sponsored by the Asbury Campus Ministry at Drexel University, Program for Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Community at University of Pennsylvania, Interfaith Working Group for the Fight the Right Network, and Parents, Family, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.
