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(08/08/91 9:00am)
Even Burger King customers may now have reason to fear a MAC attack, with the recent relocation of automatic teller machines at 40th and Locust streets from inside to outside of the building. The Mellon Bank-operated machines, which had been located inside a vestibule only accesible to users with approved cards, were moved last month to positions on the outside wall of the building. Some students said this week that moving the automatic tellers makes late-night cash stops more risky. "You could control the flow of people who are inside better," said Baba Mantha, a visiting student from New York City. A late-night security guard for University City Associates, the company which owns the building and a subsidiary of the University, agreed, saying that the new positioning is more dangerous. "That's an open invitation to getting robbed," said the guard, who declined to be identified. "People could walk over with a gun." Not all local residents faulted the new positioning, and some said it would provide even more peace-of-mind. "In a way it's more convenient because you don't have to put your card in a reader," said John McLaughlin, who said he has used the machines for the past two years. "They [would-be thieves] will get you either way if they want you." Mellon Bank officials said the decision to move the ATM outside was made to increase safety, and to reduce maintaince and cleaning costs from having "unauthorized" people in the area. "We're concerned about the safety of our customers," said Peter Eglin, a Mellon vice-president. "At this location, we have had problems with unauthorized use of the vestibule." Eglin said the new positioning will make using the machines safer for customers, despite some problems with the outdoors or "through the wall" machines. "The problem with through-the-wall is we want to make them well lit and very visible," Eglin said. He added that while the outdoor machines are less costly due to maintanance that is not required, "to maintain a highly lit, through-the-wall machine can be just as costly."
(08/01/91 9:00am)
After facing the most damaging findings of a federal research cost investigation that shook universities across the nation this year, Stanford University President Donald Kennedy stepped down this week -- just one week after announcing that Stanford would reorganize the way it accounts for its research spending costs. "It is very difficult, I have concluded, for a person identified with a problem to be the spokesperson for its solution," Kennedy said in a statement dated July 28. Kennedy also said that he and the university responded poorly to the early allegations of Stanford's spending improprieties. But he blamed the initial response on inadequate information about the depth of problems in the school's accounting department. "If you had perfect hindsight and if you had perfect information, you would handle any bad situation differently," said Kennedy, who also said he plans to return to teaching biology at the university. The government continues to investigate allegations by U.S. research contract negotiators and auditors that Stanford overbilled Washington as much as $200 million in the 1980s for overhead costs related to research. Overhead includes maintenance and library services, costs which are not associated with any one particular research grant. Stanford's financial woes prompted similar audits at institutions around the nation, including at the University. Last month, federal investigators completed their inquiry at the University, and announced they had found $402,000 in overbillings during 1987. The government has cut more than $18 million from Stanford's annual research budget of about $240 million. The 59-year-old Kennedy, who said he would step down in August 1992 after 12 years as president, was humiliated at a congressional hearing in March. The panel noted that Stanford billed the government for a cedar-lined closet and a shower curtain in his home and for Kennedy's laundry. "The sad truth was he had lost the confidence of just about every faculty member," said William Spicer, an engineering professor and critic of Kennedy. Kennedy joined the Stanford faculty in biological sciences in 1960 and later served as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration for 21/2 years during the Carter administration. Stanford has been beset with other problems this year, including the resignation of a medical professor who said she had been sexually harassed for years and the firing of a computer-science lecturer who bragged about carrying drugs on campus. The Associated Press contributed to this story.
(08/01/91 9:00am)
Students and faculty will soon be able to reach out and touch someone a lot more easily, if the University's Electronic Mail & system is expanded. A newly-formed taskforce & created to examine the possibility of expanding the system, & known as PennNet, met last & week for the first time. The & committee will study the feasi bility of allowing students from all undergraduate schools ac - cess to the University's system. Currently only students in the Engineering School, graduate & students in the Medical and Annenberg schools and most faculty have guaranteed access to the network. "The goal is to explore the feasibility of providing electronic mail and electronic bulletin board access for all Penn undergraduates," said Daniel & Updegrove, the assistant vice & provost for data administration and information resource & planning. "Some faculty and students have called for itthere are some faculty members who believe strongly that E-mail would enhance student-faculty interaction," Updegrove said. PennNet currently allows & those with accounts to send and receive electronic mail via & modem, communicate with & friends or colleagues at universities around the world and log on to databases and libraries at many universities and institutions. Updegrove said that PennNet is now connected to about 1000 similar systems. Updegrove said the committee, which is also made up of officials from each of the four schools and from the Office of Student Life, will first examine the needs of students within the schools, and how much it would cost to service those needs with a new system. He added that students can hope to see results by Fall 1992. "It's more than just providing computers that people can log into and check their mail," Updegrove said. "There's documentation, training, and [assistance] hotlines that would be needed." Ben Goldstein, who came & from Harvey Mudd College in California on July 1 to become the School of Arts and Sciences' Associate Dean for Academic & Computing, said the project & holds many possible benefits for students and faculty. "What E-mail would give five or 10 years down the road is the ability to produce more scholarly work," Goldstein said. "We are in the era of communications it is important for students to be able to communicate among themselves and & with faculty." Updegrove said he looks forward to the presence of "one big electronic university nationwide, where you could do a lot more of your work from wherever you happen to be." He also said that students at the University could feel its impact as soon as they receive a fat envelope from the Admissions Office. "What I imagine is as soon as high school students are accepted, they would get an account," he said. "They could & commmunicate with their faculty advisors, roommates and take care of some of the bureaucracy, before they get to & school."
(07/25/91 9:00am)
The replacement for outgoing Nursing School Dean Claire Fagin may not be in place by the beginning of the school year, Nursing officials said this week. Barbara Lowery, the chairperson of the search committee Fagin's replacement, said that the committee has not yet completed their "short list" of candidates for final approval by President Sheldon Hackney and Provost Michael Aiken. "I don't know if we'll have a dean by the beginning of the school year," Lowery said this week. "[The search] is continuing." Fagin announced last summer that she would step down this August 1, to become the president of the National League of Nursing and a member of the faculty. Linda Koons, executive assistant to the provost, said that Fagin will remain on board as dean until the University is able to fill the position. "She would just continue as dean until her replacement is found," Koons said. Fagin was unavailable for comment this week. Lowery said the committee will try to have a new dean "on board by January." "If we find someone by September, that's a reasonable amount of time for someone to give notice [to their employer]," she said. "Hopefully it will be done sooner than that," she added. Lowery said the search committee currently is looking at "a wide range" of candidates for Fagin's post, from both in and outside the University. "We're looking for a good administrator, maybe another [nursing school's] dean or a hospital administrator," Lowery said. She added that "prominent faculty" from other universities are also being considered. Lowery added that the process is proceeding in the same manner as that which named Fagin over a decade ago. Koons said that the final selection will be made by Hackney and Aiken, both of whom are currently on vacation. "The committee comes together with the president and provost with their final list of candidates and the person they want," Koons said. "Then the president and provost meet by themselves and with the person who they decide on, and try to convice them to take the job." Koons said that even once the job offer is made by the Hackney, the new dean is not definite. "Nothing is ever certain until you have a letter from someone saying they will take the job," she said. The School of Arts and Sciences last week named History and Sociology of Science Chairperson Rosemary Stevens as its new dean, ending the five-month search for Hugo Sonnenschein's replacement. In March, Sonnenschein announced that he would leave the University after serving since 1988, to become the provost of Princeton University.
(07/25/91 9:00am)
The University will begin issuing identification numbers and passwords to users of the University-wide computer network PennNet, in an effort to improve its access security, according to Data Communications and Computing Services officials. The new passwords and IDs will be a part of a user verification system, which will track and record users' actions while logged-on to the system, according to Daniel Updegrove, assistant vice provost for data administration and information resource planning. Updegrove said that the network has been victim to some security breaches, but they have not been serious. "We have had some break-ins," he said. "We have no evidence that any damage was done [to the network]." "Penn has no audit trail indicating who called," he said this week. "We have no clean way of identifying who dialed in." He said he doesn't expect the new system to threaten freedom of access among legitimate users, or create a "big brother" environment of monitoring a user's every action. "There is no intention to keep elaborate records of who is doing what and where on the computer network," he said. "All of these are in the interest of open access and scholarly research." William McGill, an operations manager for DCCS, said that the violations are a problem that the University must address. "The basic problem is the non-Penn people using our dial-up modems," he said. "It's a nuisance from the point of view that when non-Penn people use the facilites, it prevents Penn students and faculty from using them." McGill also said that unauthorized system usage is illegal in Pennsylvania, which has some of the strictest laws in the United States governing access to networks. "Anyone who accesses a computer network without authorization is breaking the law," he said. The administrators of PennNet, which is linked to a larger international "network of networks" known as InterNet, currently have no way of determining who logged at particular times, in case breaches are discovered in the system. Updegrove said break-ins on the University's system not only threaten its integrity, but that of the all of the thousands of networks to which it is connected, through InterNet. "We need this password protection to be a good citizen of InterNet," he said. "We will lose our good standing on the InterNet if we have no way of authenticating our users." Updegrove recommended that to prevent violations, current users not adopt common passwords, like their names, out of respect for the damage which could be done by "unscrupulous people" both to the University, and to other schools as well. "People who use computers on PennNet need to be aware that PennNet is on an international network," he said. "They need to maintain some password hygiene."
(07/18/91 9:00am)
Two University psychology professors are among the top ten contemporary psychologists in the world, according to a recent survey of experts published in the journal of the American Psychology Association. The July 1991 issue of American Psychologist names Martin Seligman and Robert Rescorla to the list, which is topped by Harvard scholar B.F. Skinner, who died last August. "I'm pleased because I work in a field of experimental psychology that is not considered one of the hot areas," Rescorla said this week. "It's good for the field to have that happen." The magazine, which is read primarily by academics, selected the top psychologists by surveying university psychology department chairpersons, who composed four separate "top ten" lists, two detailing the most influential contemporary psychologists and two ranking the most prominent all-time psychologists. The lists were compiled from questionnaires sent to the chairpersons and forms sent to APA Fellows classified with special interests in the history of the field. "Martin Seligman has had an extraordinary impact on the field of abnormal psychology," said department chairperson John Sabini this week. "Some of his work showed that people who assume bad things will happen will be depressed." Sabini said both men, in addition to their research, have taught introductory psychology and other undergraduate courses. "Bob [Rescorla] studies the fundamental processes of learning, the formation of associations in primarily animals other than humans," Sabini said. "That research has led [others] to what may be the first physical manifestation of memory." Both scholars also received their doctoral degrees from the University, and shared graduate advisor Richard Solomon, who has since retired from the University. "Solomon established a tradition of the Penn department being concerned about teaching and undergraduate education at once," Sabini said. "Martin [Seligman] and Bob [Rescorla] are modern representations of this." Rescorla added that the ranking reflects well on the psychology department, and it may even help the University. "It reflects what a lot of people already knew, that the Penn psychology deparment is one of the premier institutes for training grad students," he said. "It probably doesn't hurt having the publicity for attracting grad students." Seligman agreed, saying that he only considers Stanford University's department, which had three names on the list, to be superior to the University's. "It does probably confirm my belief that we are the number two department in the nation," he said this week. "It bodes well for our future." Sabini also said that the two University professors are younger than all of the other psychologists named on the list. He added that that helps ensure the future of the University's impact on the field. "Their input is in fewer seasons than the other people on the list," he said.
(07/18/91 9:00am)
A University Dining Service employee was found dead last week by Philadelphia Police, when the woman's body was pulled from the Schuylkill River near the South Street Bridge. Mary Richards, a 21-year employee of the University, was found July 9 by the Police Marine Unit. "She was very nice," said Dining co-worker Shirley Brown. "She never caused anybody any trouble." According to Philadelphia Police Detective Price Mathis, Medical Examiner's reports show that Richards died from drowning. But Richards' daughter, Basimah Sami, said that family members believe that the tragedy's suspicious circumstances may indicate foul play. Sami said that three days before Richards' body was found, Richard's son was involved in a fight "with seven guys" which left him in critical condition in a local hospital. "The only thing she would say was to let the police handle it," Sami said, adding that Richards believed she knew her son's attackers, as they lived in the same neighborhood -- the Blumberg Projects. "She said she knew it wasn't over," Sami said. And on Sunday night, July 7, Sami said Richards uncharacteristically left her home after dark, possibly in search of the men. She was then found dead two days later. "It's a lot of unanswered questions. I want [police] to take it a little further," Sami said of the incident. "It leads me to believe that there was foul play involved." Price said that police are waiting for further reports from the Medical Examiner's office and may continue with further investigations. He added that the police were not aware of Richards' son's hospitalization, as no police report was ever filed. Hospitality Services Director Don Jacobs said that Richards' influence would be missed by Dining Service workers. He added that she had a special talent with people with handicaps. "She worked well with handicaped people," he said. "I used to remark that she was a kind person." Dining co-worker Brown added that Richards enjoyed working at the University. "She loved her job," she said. "You couldn't take her away."
(07/18/91 9:00am)
Rosemary Stevens, the five-year chairperson of the department of history and sociology of science, was named dean of the School of Arts and Sciences Tuesday, becoming the first woman to hold the position, and the sixth permanent dean in the history of the 17-year-old school. Stevens replaces interim SAS Dean Walter Wales who took over June 1 after Hugo Sonnenschein departed to become provost of Princeton University. "I am very humbled by [the appointment.] There's a lot to do," Stevens said this week. "I think it takes the first year to get adequately educated in the position, because what deans do is listen to lots of different constituencies. Out of this will come of a set of priorities." University officials and students were united in their praise of Stevens, who will be officially installed as new dean September 1. "Rosemary Stevens is distinguished not only for her breadth of knowledge ranging from the history and sociology of medicine to contemporary healthcare, but also for her commitment to students and teaching," said President Sheldon Hackney in a statement. "I am delighted that such a strong and effective leader will head the School at a time when momentum and spirit of cooperative research is high." Chairperson of the search committee, Lawrence Bernstein, said the group looked for a candidate who had "great intellectual breadth" and was "a skilled administrator." The music profesor said the committee was "unanimous" in its support of Stevens. "Professor Stevens is an internationally renowned scholar and one of the prime architects of the field in which she works," he said. "She will be a wonderful dean." Stevens came to the University in 1979 as a professor of history and sociology of science, and has twice held the chair of the department. She has also served as the chairperson of Tulane University's department of health systems mangament from 1976 until 1979. After taking her Bachelor's Degree from Oxford University in English Language and Literature in 1957, Stevens earned a Master of Public Health degree from Yale University in 1963 in hospital adminstration. In 1968, she received her Ph.D also from Yale in the field of epidemiology. Remaining at the Connecticut school, Stevens held various professorships before being named a full professor of public health in 1974, a position she held until 1976. "We couldn't ask for a better dean," said H & SS graduate student Elizabeth Hunt. "I feel a little sorry for the department, but I feel very happy for arts and sciences." Hunt also praised the administration for their selection, calling the move, "a very good sign." "It does look as though they're trying to put women in high-level positions," she said.
(07/11/91 9:00am)
Despite a decline in the enrollment of black students, the level of minorities in the class of 1995 will hold even with last year's 32 percent mark, according to figures released this week by Undergraduate Admissions Dean Lee Stetson. The totals reflect a boost in the number of international students choosing the University, Stetson said, as international students will make up 11.3 percent of the incoming class, up from last year's 9.1 percent rating. "I think we are probably near the top in the Ivy League," Stetson said this week. "We have a very broad-based international recruitment program." He added that now that the University has passed the 10 percent mark that he hopes each future class will maintain that level. "The [applicant] pool supports that number," he said. The number of black freshmen fell this year, however, down from 146 in the class of 1994 to only 113 in the incoming crop of Quakers, Stetson added The yield of black students, or percent of accepted students who decided to enroll at the University, also fell, from 43 percent last year to 37 percent. "If the yield had held up, we would have been closer to last year's levels. There seems to be a movement of students toward state schools and predominantly black schools," Stetson said. "It was a combination of things that seemed to influence the process." Pippa Porter, the director of minority recruiting, said the uncertainty of the economic situation may also have discouraged some black students from considering the University. "Students are looking at a wider variety of schools," she said. "Cost is a major factor. A lot of students said they were directed by their parents to look at schools with smaller price tags." Stetson said admissions officers are already developing new programs to target more qualified black students for the class of 1996, including bringing students and high school counselors to campus earlier in the year, and participating in ten more minority college fairs around the nation. "I am sobered by the decrease in the number of black students in the class," he said. "It is a competitive world we're in, especially for the best students in the country." Porter agreed, saying admissions officers would work hard next year to bring more qualified black students to campus. Students from every state except West Virginia, Idaho, South Dakota and Wyoming are represented in the class, Stetson said, and combined with the large number of international students in the class, Stetson called the new freshmen "the most diverse class we have had." 12 percent of all entering freshmen, who this year averaged in the 96th percentile of their high school classes, are legacies or the children of alumni, Stetson said. He added that the University admitted about 60 percent of all legacies who applied. "I think that though we are in a difficult market, with the demographics against us, we still have one of our strongest classes in every way," Stetson said. The University's admission rate, which hit 47 percent this year, is one of several important statistics calculated by admissions officials, Stetson said, adding that the two point jump in overall yield from 49.3 to 51.6 is an encouraging sign for the process of selecting next year's class. "My hope is that we have plateaued, and we will be able to build a larger pool," he said. "Indications are positive for next year." Stetson said he looked for the University's admissions rate to "move into the 30s in the next three to five years."
(07/03/91 9:00am)
While many thrill to the rockets' red glare of fireworks this Independence Day, some on campus will instead pause to remember bombs bursting in air over Iraq earlier this year. Members of the groups said Monday that the event was planned because they are "appalled" by what they consider to be blind patriotism fueled by victory in the Gulf war. "We felt that people are missing the point here," said Travis Parchman, a member of the Delaware Valley Student group and Youth Act for Peace and Justice. "The day that we celebrate our independence on July 4 shouldn't just be the day to celebrate that we kicked butt." David Gibson, staff coordinator for the event and a member of Act for Peace in the Middle East, said there is another reason for the event. "It should be fun," he said. Calling the event "the only true alternative to military victory parades" televised nationally recently, Gibson said he hopes over 500 participants to turn out for the festival. He added that everyone is welcome regardless of their political opinions on the Gulf war or "whatever side you came down on on the military," but indicated the event would include some of the lingering debate over the war and its effects. "We feel that either way, there should be more attention given to the victims," Gibson said. "And a victory parade is sort of in bad taste." "We have to temper our celebrations with the injustice that we have foisted on other people in the world," Parchman said. But Parchman also indicated he expects the event to receive a warm reception at the University. "It seems like an appropriate place to create an alternative celebration," he explained. Scheduled performers at the event include Neo Pseudo, Joseph Parsons with Karen Lynn, Soweto Soul, Weasel Stick and Beth Williams. Organizers said they are planning a barbecue as well as providing vegetarian entrees. The festival will run from 10 a.m. to 12 midnight Thursday on College Green. 'The day that we celebrate our independence on July 4 shouldn't just be the day to celebrate that we kicked butt.' Travis Parchman Member of Delaware Valley Student and Youth Act for Peace and Justice
(07/03/91 9:00am)
While many thrill to the rockets' red glare of fireworks this Independence Day, some on campus will instead pause to remember bombs bursting in air over Iraq earlier this year. Members of the groups said Monday that the event was planned because they are "appalled" by what they consider to be blind patriotism fueled by victory in the Gulf war. "We felt that people are missing the point here," said Travis Parchman, a member of the Delaware Valley Student group and Youth Act for Peace and Justice. "The day that we celebrate our independence on July 4 shouldn't just be the day to celebrate that we kicked butt." David Gibson, staff coordinator for the event and a member of Act for Peace in the Middle East, said there is another reason for the event. "It should be fun," he said. Calling the event "the only true alternative to military victory parades" televised nationally recently, Gibson said he hopes over 500 participants to turn out for the festival. He added that everyone is welcome regardless of their political opinions on the Gulf war or "whatever side you came down on on the military," but indicated the event would include some of the lingering debate over the war and its effects. "We feel that either way, there should be more attention given to the victims," Gibson said. "And a victory parade is sort of in bad taste." "We have to temper our celebrations with the injustice that we have foisted on other people in the world," Parchman said. But Parchman also indicated he expects the event to receive a warm reception at the University. "It seems like an appropriate place to create an alternative celebration," he explained. Scheduled performers at the event include Neo Pseudo, Joseph Parsons with Karen Lynn, Soweto Soul, Weasel Stick and Beth Williams. Organizers said they are planning a barbecue as well as providing vegetarian entrees. The festival will run from 10 a.m. to 12 midnight Thursday on College Green.
(07/03/91 9:00am)
The Psi Upsilon fraternity will not try to prevent the University from implementing its Community Service program planned for the fraternity's former chapter house, known as the Castle, according to Psi U attorneys. "We have no plans to oppose the use of the house as planned by the University, at least at this point," Psi U attorney John Ledwith said yesterday. "They have essentially affirmed the punishment given by the University, but they only reviewed the procedures used by the University to see if they were fair," Ledwith said. "It's very possible that the Supreme Court could reverse the lower and. . . we could return to campus." The University will file a response to Psi U's recent request "shortly," according to University General Counsel Shelley Green. In May, the Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed the University's right to punish the fraternity for an incident two years ago involving Psi U's kidnapping of a member of another fraternity. After the University's Judicial Inquiry Officer determined that the fraternity bore collective responsibility for the incident, the University imposed one of its strictest sanctions on Psi U, kicking the fraternity out of its center campus chapter house and revoking its recognition indefinitely, with no chance to apply for re-recognition until 1993. Green said the motion will explain to the court why it should not grant the appeal, by explaining that lower courts were correct in their rulings. "We think the lower courts were exaclty correct," Green said this week. "We will file a document that [says] the court concluded properly." Green also said the University will argue that legal precedent already exists for the case. "We think the matter has been correctly decided to this point. We think the issues are well-settled," she added. "The courts were following precedents. They were very much in accord with the mainstream of law." According to Psi U's petition, its case does present issues which have never been addressed by the Supreme Court, and thus should be heard. The petition, submitted by Ledwith two weeks ago, contends that the Supreme Court "has never addressed the issue regarding the standard for a fair disciplinary hearing at a university. . . [and] has never determined whether the concept of punishment pursuant to a theory of 'collective responsibility'is constitutional." The fraternity's petition also claims that "the Superior Court erred by drawing numerous conclusions of fact which were unsupported by the record and the trial court opinion."
(07/03/91 9:00am)
The Council of Ivy Group Presidents, chaired by University President Sheldon Hackney, decided last week to end the League's 35-year ban on freshman participation on varsity football squads effective in the fall of 1993. In a related move, the group also scaled back the number of openings for football players in each school's freshman class from 50 to 35, "in order to reduce the number of students recruited to play football, and to better integrate freshmen into existing football programs," according to a statement released this week by the group. The changes, agreed to in principle at the group's June 25 meeting, must still be ratified in December by the group in order to take effect. "[The action] continues the strong tradition of Ivy League football operating within our accepted admissions standards and without awarding athletic financial aid," Hackney said in a statement. "Although our institutions are different in many ways, we have acted to preserve our common academic and athletic principles." The agreements may also effect the way some admissions decisions are reached across the League. "It will have more of an effect on smaller schools," said Undergradute Admissions Dean Lee Stetson this week. "It will have a negligible influence on us." Stetson said the new policy may however have an effect on the make-up of the school's class each year, possibly shifting some spots away from student-athletes. "It will allow us to reduce the number of spots designated for student-athletes," he said. "We would like to leave as many of the spots in the class open to students of various kinds of abilities." But Stetson said he was unsure how those new spots would be delegated, with the decision to be made after consultation with Athletic Department officials. "The other option would be to adjust for students of more minority backgrounds, or for international or geographic distribution," he said, adding that the policy "could [also] mean other female student-athletes would be more fully recruited." None of these decisions have yet been reached, Stetson said, adding that the Group agreements will have to be analyzed further before their full effects will be determined. "I don't see it as a negative or a positive," he said of the impact on admissions. "I just see it as a change." The Council's decision promises to have a drastic effect on Ivy League football programs. Please see story in Summer Sports, back page. The Chronicle of Higher Education contributed to this story.
(06/20/91 9:00am)
In last month's decision, the Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed the University's right to punish the fraternity, and said the punishment that was given was fair. Last year, the Psi U fraternity was found by the University's Judicial Inquiry Officer to bear collective responsibility for the kidnapping of a member of another fraternity. The University imposed one of its strictest sanctions, kicking the fraternity out of its center campus chapter house (known as the "Castle") and revoking its recognition indefinitely. "They did file a petition for an allowance of appeal with the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania," said Frank Roth, the University's associate general counsel. "They had an appeal of right to the Superior Court -- this time they have to ask permission." If the appeal is granted, he explained, the University would have to look forward to a whole new round of court proceedings. "There would be a [new] briefing schedule and then you're talking months, a long time," he said. For the Court to accept the petition, Roth said the fraternity will have to raise a "particularly important issue, or a novel issue for litigation, [for which] no case law has been established." According to the fraternity's petition, the Supreme Court "has never addressed the issue regarding the standard for a fair disciplinary hearing at a university?[and] has never determined whether the concept of punishment pursuant to a theory of 'collective responsibility' is constitutional." The petition, submitted by Psi U attorney John Ledwith, also claims that "the Superior Court erred by drawing numerous conclusions of fact which were unsupported by the record and the trial court opinion." Roth said plans for the community service living-learning project planned for the "Castle" next year, will proceed, unless the fraternity asks the court to postpone the plan. Psi U made such a request during its appeal to the Superior court, but judges denied the motion. Vice Provost for University Life Kim Morrisson, who is named in the suit filed by Psi U against the University, said that renovations and programs planned for the fall are underway. "I think the existing order stands," she said yesterday. "I believe the lower court and the Superior Court have upheld the University's right to proceed."
(06/13/91 9:00am)
While some may decry the University's recent rising admissions percentages, high school seniors seem to be ignoring the hype. This year, the University's yield, the percentage which measures the number of seniors who will enroll in the fall out of those who are who were offered admission, hit 51.6 percent, more than a two point increase from last year's 49.3 rating, according to Admissions Dean Lee Stetson. Universities across the Ivy League this week reported yields ranging from 45.4 percent at Columbia University to 75 percent at Harvard University. While most schools' rates climbed this year, Yale University's yield fell "a couple of points" to 57 percent, according to Stewart Moritz, an assistant director of admissions at the Connecticut school. Since some seniors who have accepted offers of admission may change their minds and not attend the University, these figures are not yet final, Stetson said. But he added that he is "encouraged" by the increase so far this year. "We were pleasantly surprised," he said. "We're heartened by the response." Not expecting such a jump in yield, Stetson said that admissions officers were hoping to at least hold even with last year's level, as high schoolers responded to the increasing financial burden which a private education brings. "The difference in the [college] marketplace is that cost is a greater factor and is making state universities more attractive," he said. "That meant that we might have seen a softening of the numbers." Moritz pointed to this factor as causing Yale's declining yield. "It's probably down a little bit because of the financial situation," he said. "If things look a little better financially next year, I think we'll do a little bit better." Several admission officers stressed the importance of the recently released figures, in comparison to the much-ballyhooed acceptance rates. A university's enrollment yield is a major statistic in determining how many students to accept the following year, Moritz said, adding that because the enrollment yield determines the number of students admitted, it is in many ways a more important figure than the admissions rate. "The perspective goes well beyond admit rate," Stetson said. "It's also whether [accepted students] choose you or not. The real measure of a class is who arrives." Dartmouth College's Dean of Admissions Alfred Quirk agreed, adding that the quality of the class can be affected by the ability of a school to convince admitted students to enroll. "If a student has four good acceptances, and if you get one of four, you're doing pretty well," he said. "Whether we like it or not, that's where we're going to be for a couple of years." Stetson said that the new figures can be viewed as an "encouraging" sign for the University's future admissions. "We were cautious about this year," he said. "The fact that it not only stayed the same, [but] that we are showing an increase, is encouraging."
(06/06/91 9:00am)
The University's contract with one of the largest unions on campus ran out last Friday, but officials on both sides were able to avert any problems by concluding a new agreement before time ran out. Local 835, whose membership includes physical plant, mail service workers and parking attendants, numbers about 240 on campus, making it the one of the largest campus labor organizations. New Vice President for Human Resources Barry Stupine, who officially took over his post on Monday, said the new three-year agreement was also ratified by the union's members on Friday. "It's a good contract for the employees and for the University," he said this week, declining to detail the agreement's specifics. Jack Heuer, the University's labor relations manager said that he was not surprised that the contract was successfully negotiated and ratified. "We have a very good relationship with our unions because there are no surprises," he said. "We bargain at the table -- we don't bargain through any other medium." Union leaders were unavailable for comment this week. Three more of the University's six union contracts will expire over the summer, Heuer added. On July 1, the University's agreement with the union which counts librarians as its members will expire and on August 1, the contracts with the University's housekeepers and Police Force will end. Members of the University Police will vote July 2 on their "bargaining unit," possibly changing or eliminating union affiliation entirely, Stupine said. Three years ago, campus police officers held a 45-day walk-out after their contract expired and before a new agreement with the University could be reached, forcing supervisors and officer workers to take 12-hour shifts six days a week and effectively paralyzing the University's security force. Stupine got right to work, settling a new three-year contract with one of the University's largest unions. Please see story on page 6. 'We have a very good relationship with our unions because there are no surprises. We bargain at the table -- we don't bargain through any other medium. ' Jack Heuer Manager of Labor Relations
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Butterfield, who as vice president oversaw the second largest workforce in Philadelphia, announced in April that she was resigning this year to take a similar position at Stanford University. Stupine will hold both positions until the committee charged with finding a new vice president completes its work. "Human resources is a very well-run machine that's run by very competent people," Stupine said this week of his new position. "We're trying to operate Human Resources as kind of a cabinet situation, with the major decisions being made by me and the four directors. That seems to be working." Senior Vice President Marna Whittington said this week that before Butterfield's departure, Stupine worked in Human Resources to learn its operations and meet his new staff. "One of the reasons for having a transition period was to make sure Barry was up to speed on all of the major issues," she said, adding that the routine work of the department is continuing without a lapse. "We're still hiring people and we're still doing employee benefits," she said. Stupine added "their positions are being carried on very well by the directors and managers." The search for Butterfield's permanent replacement is continuing, officials said, with the first round of seven interviews already having been conducted. "We're in the preliminary part of the search," said Kemel Dawkins, who is the chairperson of the search committee and director of project management for the University. "They all bring a wealth of human resource experience." "We will be starting the second round in the next weeks," Whittington added of the search, which is considering candidates from both in and outside the University. "I would like to have somebody selected and here by September 1." Stupine, who Whittington said was selected on Butterfield's recommendation, has not applied for the permanent position, but will be performing both his duties as director of VHUP and vice president until the replacement is found. "I wouldn't expect that it would be more than three or four months," before the new vice president is found, he said. "I have delegated certain responsibilities to my assistants." Whittington said that she hopes picking an interim replacement from the academic ranks of the University will improve communication and understanding between the two "sides" of the institution. "We've tried to make sure the administrative side of the house has an academic perspective on things," she said. "This seemed like a good opportunity to bring an academic perspective to this side of the house and to let the academic side know some of our challenges and frustrations." "Hopefully it will be a good experience for both of us," she said. Stupine also noted that the experience may provide some unexpected exercise as well, as his schedule has him commuting between his 38th and Spruce Street VHUP office and his new 3401 Walnut Street vice president's office several times a day. "I'm probably going to lose some weight this summer," he said.
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The recent Supreme Court case restricting abortion counseling is "a major concern" to the University, according to Medical Center officials. It will effectively force the University to choose between some of the federal funding it receives and the ability to legally provide abortion counseling. The recent Supreme Court decision on Rust v. Sullivan prohibits a facility which receives Title X federal funds from counseling, referring or discussing abortion with its clients. "The funds provide comprehensive care," said FPCSP spokesperson Susan Grambs last week. "It includes 'options counseling,' pregnancy counseling, Pap smears and counseling on the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases." Supreme Court spokesperson Kathy Arberg said last week that the University has until June 17 to decide and implement its policy on whether to continue to allow abortion to be discussed in the Medical Center's clinics. According to Grambs, the Medical Center is currently a key player in pregnancy options counseling in Philadelphia. "The loss of any organization would hurt the women of Philadelphia," Grambs said. "The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania family planning clinic provides a vital health service." Carol Tracey, director of the Women's Law Project, said last week that the ruling allows abortion discussion, counseling or referals only in organizations that are physically and financially seperate from any organization that receives Title X grants. Several University officials said last week that while the aspects of the counseling services that the Medical Center provides are in jeopardy, Student Health Services' health education section will not be effected. "Student Health [Services] is not a part of the Medical Center, it reports to the Provost," said Elizabeth Berryman, staff counsel for the Medical Center. Berryman explained that Student Health doesn't receive any Title X grants and she doubted that it would be effected. Berryman added that the final decision will be made through the obstetrics and gynocology department, on advice from the Medical Center's legal counsel. Student Health Director Marjeanne Collins agreed, saying that she does not "anticipate the decision to directly effect us. Our funding comes from the Vice Provost for University Life." "[Student Health is] a free standing clinic," said Susan Villari, SHS's director of health education. Student Health is "part of the University, not part of the hospital," she said.
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The money, which will be given if the state legislature approves the departments proposed budget, would be used for two research projects. "Pharmacokinetics of extra-label drugs in food animals," one of the projects, is to reveive $69,413 in state funding. The second project, called "withdrawel time for extra-label use of gentamicin in dairy cattle" will receive $83,480 in state money. State agriculutre secretary Boyd E. Wolf said that the universities and the research which they perform have been and will continue to be important to the state's farm business. "Research is crucial to agriculture, and our commitment to it will help farmers meet tomorrow's challenges to Pennsylvania's leading industry," he said in a statement. "Our universities have helped farmers protect consumers, animals, investments and the environment while increasing production."
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The financial aid that the University and other Ivy League schools offer will no longer be distributed as fairly to those in need, according to administrators at several Ivy League institutions. This comes after the Ivy Overlap Group's recent aquiescence to a Justice Department demand that it cease its annual meeting on aid and tuition. "The function of the Overlap meeting in the past was to make each institution have the best information available for estimating the need of each student," said President Sheldon Hackney last Friday. "Without it, some institutions will be offering financial aid in excess of each individual's need." "I think it's a danger that some awards will be less accurate than they had been," said Cornell University's Director of Financial Aid Don Saleh. Justice Department officials stress however, that their decision was not intended to decrease the effectiveness of financial aid awards, but to ensure compliance with federal anti-trust laws to promote price competition within the League, thereby decreasing tuition. "It was a conspiracy to fix the amount of money that families pay to attend a school," said Department spokesperson Gina Talamona. "So basically the cartel denied the family's right to compare prices among the schools." Hackney said the federal agency's claim that universities should be bound by the same anti-trust laws that govern businesses was unfounded, and that students will ultimately suffer because of it. "The Justice Department said we ought to be competing in price with other institutions," he said. "We like to compete in quality." Princeton University's Vice President and Secretary Thomas Wright agreed, saying that the annual meetings served an important function. "There [will be] less exchange of information," he said. "There is no question that [the meetings] increased the accuracy of the information on which the [aid] decisions were based. Some of us fear and suspect over time the consent decree will have a significant effect." But Wright added this week that the decision could be overturned if schools press for "legislative relief," by lobbying Congress to stipulate in law that the allocation of financial aid is not subject to anti-trust laws. Administrators at several universities, including the University's provost Michael Aiken, said this was an option that was being considered. "We must now look to the Congress to recognize the importance of allowing colleges to cooperate in maintaining need-based financial aid programs," said a statement released earlier this week by Columbia University. "And we will seek appropriate legislative action to permit such cooperation." Hackney also said that the move may make rising college freshmen inclined to choose their university based on which has the lowest tuition, rather than which would be their best match, as has been encouraged in the past. "We wanted students to choose their university on some other basis than price," he said. "[The decision] may result in less happy students, and maybe less well-educated ones." And Hackney said he fears that without the past system of aid distribution, the numbers of financially disadvantaged students in universities may be decreased. "The Justice Department system clearly heads in a direction we had wanted to avoid," he added. "It would threaten economic diversity." But other Ivy administrators said that unlike the University, economic diversity will not be threatened at their schools, even though the tuition may rise. "I don't look for it to change anything that we were already doing," said Thomas Soybel, Dartmouth College's assistant college counsel. "Dartmouth has indicated that it will continue to award financial aid on the basis of need." Hackney said that going into litigation against the government "just wasn't worth it," as the University had already spent $400,000 in the two-year process to collect the information which was used in the investigation. He predicted litigation "would have taken two or three years." Other Ivy Group administrators said their schools spent similar amounts to supply the information in compliance with the Justice Department probe, ranging from Brown's expenditure of $250,000 to Princeton's outlay of $750,000. And Soybel said despite the Group's "strong" case, going into court against the government could have been a gamble. "Litigation is always a risk," he said. "With a jury trial, either side can win." Several of the administrators said they are relieved that the investigation has ended. "We did reluctantly decide to sign the consent agreement," Hackney told the Executive Committee of the University Trustees last week. "The process is finally over."
