Search Results
Below are your search results. You can also try a Basic Search.
(09/20/94 9:00am)
On the morning of Friday, September 16 at approximately 9:15 a.m., we were walking from the High Rises on our way to Houston Hall when the reality of police brutality revealed itself within our Ivy Fortress. While ascending the Locust Walk Bridge, we noticed a police officer at the top stepping into path of a young man on a slow-moving bike. The young man stopped and the policeman lectured. The officer's insistence on driving home his point -- that riding bikes is not allowed on the Walk between 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Monday thru Friday -- struck us as unusual. In the past, bikers would get off with a short warning to walk their bikes. Today was the first day of strict enforcement of the Locust Walk bike ban, and things would be handled much more aggressively as we would soon see. We continued on our way and a couple of minutes later the young man who had been stopped on the bridge sped past us. We could see another officer at the intersection of 37th Street and Locust Walk, and anticipated the young man being stopped once again. But the biker was riding pretty fast and showed no sign of slowing down. Couldn't he see the officer? Didn't the officer yell "STOP!"? We don't know. We didn't hear the officer yell anything and we were not that far away. Just as the biker was about to pass him, the officer turned to his left, stepped toward the biker and with both hands knocked the young man from his bike. The young man flew to the ground, his long skid slowed only by the friction between his skin and the brick walk. The bike tumbled from beneath him, landing several feet away. We were shocked, speechless, and confused. Did this really just happen? On Locust Walk? Was that actually a University Policeman? While we were both aware of the magnitude of the incident, we felt helpless. We did however, get the officer's name and badge number and the names and numbers of both the victim and another witness. Without even helping the young man up, the officer questioned and lectured him. But the officer's message of safety became lost in his own disregard for the safety of the biker. Is the life of a student on bike less valuable than that of a student on foot while occupying the main artery of our campus? The whole incident leads us to wonder if Officer Newton was aware of the severity of head injuries associated with bike accidents. Was effectively enforcing the bike ban worth risking someone's life? This was at stake in Officer Newton's split second decision, as the biker was visibly not wearing a helmet. We support the bike ban. We also support the use of helmets when biking. This column is not about the bike ban or wearing a helmet. It is about the ways in which University Police Officers choose to enforce all of the rules and regulations of this University. If one officer has the authority to use such a reckless and illegal method to prevent a student from riding his bike, we fear how he or any other officer will take it upon himself to enforce other laws. Until the University responds to this incident with the same outrage we felt when first witnessing it, we will never feel safe on our campus again. Not only do we live in fear of those who seek to hurt us, but now we must be wary of those employed to protect us. The dismissal of Officer Newton from the University Police Department as well as heightened awareness among officers of both their responsibilities and restrictions is the only acceptable response the University can take to this incident. Officer Newton's behavior was nothing short of police brutality and should be treated as such. Jennifer Manion is a junior History major from Provincetown, Massachusetts. Colleen Mastony is a junior Women's Studies and Psychology major from Chester Springs, Pennsylvania.
(01/13/94 10:00am)
Those searching for a University expert who studies anything from the sexual behavior of penguins to tropical vegetation in South America will no longer have to spend hours searching through resumes and books. PennExpertise is making information about University faculty, their research interests and their expertise more accessible than ever before. The University's new database of faculty is available through Gopher to anyone with a PennNet ID. "You can type in a name, department or a keyword, and get a printout of all the pertinent information, " said Janine Corbett, assistant vice provost for research. By simply entering in a faculty member's name, anyone can get a listing of his academic interests, research background and publications, among other things. Almost 50 percent of the standing faculty and research faculty members are currently listed, according to information available on the system. "Corporations' interest in faculty members here will stimulate more sponsored research for the University," said Stuart Watson of the Office of Research Administration."We hope more faculty will see the advantages and then want to sign on." The information used in PennExpertise is owned by Building Expertise in Science and Technology, a division of Cartermill Inc., of Baltimore. BEST is a profit making group which hopes to sell the information to industry and make it available to the University in the meantime. "We charge research driven companies for subscriptions to the service and charge the University modest fees," said Edwin Van Dusen, Cartermill's director of marketing. While helping the University form its own database, BEST is working with over 150 North American research universities to form an international database of faculty, an expanded version of PennExpertise. "We build databases for [the universities'] internal use," said Van Dusen. "It is a tremendous resource to have everyone accessible from the same base." Several University offices have access to this international database already. And, if things run on schedule, the internet server - which will make the international service available through Gopher - will be ready in early February, according to Van Dusen. The cost to the University for such convenience, which has not yet been fully determined, is to this date minimal. "At this point, the only cost has been in personnel [to get the system running at the University]," Watson said. PennExpertise replaces the Faculty Research Interest book, which became quickly outdated after its printing. The book cost several thousand dollars to print and did not include a lot of information about faculty members. Today, the BEST database is expanding with more universities and faculty on-line. Potentially, graduate students will also be able to take advantage of the technology. "We hope to start a file of graduate students so Ph.D. recruiters can come on to find potential employers," Van Dusen said.
(01/11/94 10:00am)
As part of a national trend toward managed health care, the University Health System is moving ahead with its plans to turn the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania into a primary care center. To that end, the system, which encompasses the University Medical Center, acquired the Phoenixville Medical Associates (PMA), a group of 17 primary care physicians and eight subspecialists, effective January 1. PMA is the first of many primary care groups which will be added to the Health System's growing network of primary care physicians and nurses. "By joining the resources of the Health System with the talents and skills of our newest faculty physicians, we have enhanced our ability to provide a full spectrum of health care services to all our patients," William Kelley, Chief Executive Officer of the University Medical Center and Health System, said in a prepared statement. Vice President of the Medical Center and HUP executive director William Pittinger agreed with Kelly. "We're delighted we were able to acquire PMA," Pittinger said. "PMA is the best general practice in the tri-state area and the second largest on the Pennsylvania side." Pittinger said the move is at the heart of a national trend toward managed care in medicine. "We're not yet as fully developed as we should be under the evolution of managed care," he said. The University Health System plans to buy out between 100 and 200 practices of Philadelphia area primary care physicians, according to Health System officials. "Health care is going toward managed care and Washington will accelerate that tendency," said Joel Eisner, president of PMA. "Large groupings of doctors will cover the entire region." The acquisition will offer more training opportunities for University medical students and residents in a community based setting. "Traditional training programs don't give [the experience] like they used to," said Eisner. "We will help them with their training and further research by providing a wider circle of patients." The University is not the only group benefitting from the acquisition, Eisner said. "The University Health System is a world class institution," said Eisner, who has become associate dean of Regional Clinical Development of the Health System. "We are flattered that we are the cornerstone. "Medicine is going toward an integrated health system – a large group of physicians in entire regions which work from one hub," Eisner added. The acquisition will not alter the care of current PMA members, Pittinger said.
(11/11/93 10:00am)
While students from South Asia share much in common, Tuesday night they celebrated and discussed their differences in a forum on religion. "Every religion is represented in South Asia," College sophomore Mika Rao said. "Nowhere else in the world have so many religions been created and existed together." Eight students shared their experiences with agnosticism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Jainism, Islam, Sikhism and Hinduism. Their feelings of acceptance and rejection, strength and uncertainty, are as diverse as their religions. "I was made fun of as a child for wearing a turban," Wharton senior Vikram Chatwal said. "Defending myself all my life has built me a strong character." Chatwal practices Sikhism which prohibits the consumption of meat and alcohol, smoking, premarital sex and cutting one's hair. "We believe God is an omnipotent being," Chatwal said. "If one remains pure all their life they can transcend into a higher form of being." Wharton and College senior Naren Sriniuasan's views were quite different. "Agnostics believe that the existence of an ultimate power is unknown," he said. "The purpose of my existence is personal happiness." Students debated the relationship between culture and religion. "For most Hindus, religion and culture are intertwined," Wharton senior Harsha Krishnappa said. "We can't maintain our culture the same as we can in India, but we won't lose it either." "Culture is a way of life and intertwined with some South Asian religions," Sriniuasan said. "But to me they are mutually exclusive." A practicing Christian also shared his experiences of being rejected by the Indian community. "People have a hard time understanding that Christianity can be applied to any culture without taking away from that culture," Fine Arts graduate student Chick Chand said. Over 35 students attended the forum organized by the political outreach committee of the South Asia Society. "Because political views are personal and religion is the primary personal issue, this enables students to recognize how our own experiences shape our global views," said Rao, the society's outreach vice president.
(11/05/93 10:00am)
The door is wide open for African Americans interested in medicine and medical research, HUP cardiologist Edward Cooper told a group of graduate students Tuesday afternoon. "You're going to find that being a minority will help," said Cooper, a past president of the American Heart Association. "Only three percent of the doctors in America are African-American. Representing 12 percent of the population, we do four times as much work." Cooper's speech was part of the Pathfinder in Medical Research lunch series. The series allows students to hear successful minority professionals talk about their education and research experiences. Cooper, speaking in the John Morgan Building, said there are many opportunities for young minority students who are prepared and willing to persevere. "It is our responsibility to show young the way and get the points across to people to stay in school, study hard and strive for excellence," Cooper said. "It breaks my heart to see the young not moving in now that the gates are open." Cooper himself has been instrumental in opening those gates. He was the first black staff person at HUP and the first black president of the heart association. Cooper's research centered on "determinants of prognosis" in stroke patients. His work in publicizing the importance of strokes to the medical world played a key role in qualifying him for high-ranking positions in medicine, including the presidency of the heart association. In 1964, when he was chairperson of the National Black Medical Association, there were 160,000 African Americans in college, Cooper said. Today he said that number has risen to over 1.3 million. "We have made so much progress – even though all you hear about are crime and dope and teenage tragedies," Cooper said. Roslyn March-Amegadzie, a research assistant in the biochemistry and physics departments, praised Cooper's "nice, upbeat talk." "It's nice to hear someone whose experience we can understand and relate to," she said.
(09/28/93 9:00am)
Lamda Phi Epsilon, a national fraternity for Asian Americans that was organized at the University last semester, has been recognized by the Interfraternity Council and will officially participate in this year's rush. And two national Asian-American sororities, Kappa Delta Phi and Sigma Omicron Theta, will send representatives to campus at the end of the semester to investigate starting chapters at the University. Lambda Phi Epsilon is the nation's fastest growing minority fraternity with over 2,000 active brothers in the United States, according to rush chairman and College sophomore Kalvin Lee. The University's chapter is the first on the East Coast, he added. LPE President Jacob Hsu said that like other minority fraternities and sororities on campus, LPE aims to bring together Asian-American students. "Our experience as Asian Americans gives us a different perspective in making social change," he said. The group wants to preserve the traditional definition of a Greek as being "a complete person who lives in the community." Hsu also said that the LPE wants to avoid being stereotyped as either a social or a service fraternity, he said. Hsu, a Wharton sophomore, said, "We are a brotherhood and as a brotherhood we've decided to work for social change through service." Members recently participated in the opening of the Asian-American Social Service Center for the Greater Philadelphia Area, the first of its kind for this community. LPE plans to contribute money and time toward programs teaching basic survival skills, drug rehabilitation and proper nutrition to Asian Americans of all ages. "Some of the people don't even know how to use the telephone," Hsu said. "By being a part of this I feel we will achieve real social change." LPE members also plan to work with Habitat for Humanity, Upward Bound and several other community projects. Within the University community they plan to organize and unify other Asian Americans on campus, Lee said. "We also hope to provide some of the political representation on campus which Asian Americans are currently lacking, a unifying voice to address the concerns of all Asian Americans," Lee said.
