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(01/20/95 10:00am)
That's the news, and we are out of here. Tomorrow night, the DP will inaugurate its 111th Board of Managers and Editors in pomp, circumstance and revelry, retiring current board members to civilian life and marking yet another year in the life of one of the University's longest running traditions. As an independent newspaper with no financial ties to the administration, the DP's perennial goal is to be the advocate for the entire University community -- to insure that whatever happens on campus does not happen in secret. Among the traditions passed from board to board are persistence, accuracy, belligerence and a fervent mistrust of anything done to students without their knowing about it. The 111th Board members were elected to their positions by the outgoing board last fall. Leading the 21-member board will be College junior Charlie Ornstein, who hails from Farmington Hills, Mich. Ornstein, described as "intelligent," "determined," and "nerdy," carries to his position two semesters of reporting and two semesters of editing experience. As executive editor, Ornstein will serve as president andCEO of the corporation and has final authority for all business and news decisions. "I hope to report the news as clearly and objectively as possible, and to provide a forum for discussion on campus," Ornstein said.
(11/12/94 10:00am)
Mayor Ed Rendell has propelled Philadelphia and himself into the national spotlight. The Phillies may not have won the World Series, but Mayor Ed Rendell just might be in a league of his own. From the tip of William Penn's bright red Phillies cap to the bottom of the city's coffers, Rendell has made his presence felt in Philadelphia. But it's not just Philadelphians that have gone out of their way to express their brotherly love of Rendell. In magazines and newspapers around the nation, Rendell has been lauded as the mayor that turned this city around – the person who did what no one else could. But is Philadelphia finally the City on a Hill, that other cities can look to and learn from? While there are those who say the city still has a long way to go, others seem to think Philadelphia's closer than it has ever been before. · When the University alumnus – and former Pi Lambda Phi brother and University student government leader – took office in the fall of 1991, the city was crippled by a $230 million deficit in a $2.3 billion budget. But Philadelphia ended its fiscal year last month not only with its first balanced budget in six years, but also achieved a $3 million surplus thanks to a $112 million reduction in government spending. Aside from the cold, hard numbers, fellow politicos credit Rendell's success to his well-directed drive. "What people appreciate most is that he's done everything he said he would," said Neil Oxman, the media coordinator for Rendell's mayoral campaign. Oxman said that while the City of Philadelphia still has a skyrocketing wage tax, threats of strikes from municipal workers among other problems, Rendell has met them head on. "When you're dealing with a budget deficit of half a billion dollars, every decision is tough. It's very hard to do anything," Oxman said. "He's made tough decisions to keep the city from going bankrupt. "He said he'd get our house back in order, and that's what he's done," Oxman said. "For once, a politician has delivered what he said he's going to stand for." Rendell's press secretary, Kevin Feeley – though hardly an objective source – agrees. "I think the mayor has, from the beginning, told people what he was going to do and then gone ahead and done it," Feeley said. "He said he'd do whatever it took to balance the budget, to make sure that Philadelphia was put back on the road to fiscal recovery, to work with the [City] Council. Having done that, people around the country have begun to notice it." · It's a worst-to-first scenario. A city that has sunk into the depths of debt and hopelessness is resurrected from the urban grit by a personable and powerful savior. This is a publicist's dream – a clear case of good versus evil, with light finally winning out over darkness. And, with this happily-ever-after fairy tale dangling in front of the media, editorialists, columnists and journalists around the country are biting. Last month, City & State magazine named Rendell the Most Valuable Public Official in the nation. USA Today went so far as to say that Rendell's popularity "almost rivals Phillies' first baseman John Kruk's." Even the Toronto Star, with perhaps a mite of sarcasm, credited Rendell with his dignity?after he graciously refused to kiss Blue Jays pitcher Todd Stottlemeyer's butt. Mayors around the country have applauded and emulated Rendell. "The Mayor has a very high opinion of Mayor Rendell," Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's press secretary Jim Williams said. "Mayor Daley considers Ed Rendell an ally and an effective spokesman not only for Philadelphia, but all American cities." Feeley said he believes Rendell follows in the steps of such well known mayors as Boston's Ray Flynn, Los Angeles' Tom Bradley and Detroit's Coleman Young. Newspapers have drawn similar analogies, both to current mayors like Cleveland's Michael White and to New York Mayor-elect Rudolph Giuliani's potential. Rendell has become a media touchstone to gauge the merit of mayors across the country. "He's done terrifically," Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial Page Editor David Boldt said. "I concur with his own analysis of what he's done. He came to the city at a time when it was suffering from a gunshot wound and terminal cancer. He's healed the gunshot wound, and now he's dealing with the cancer. "He's [brought] the city back from the precipice of insolvency, bringing about effective settlements with the unions, balancing the budget and most importantly, communicating to the city a spirit that it can accomplish great things," Boldt said. Media experts credit Rendell and his staffers with press savvy not usually seen in municipal officials. Annenberg School Assistant Dean Phyllis Kaniss, an expert on Philadelphia politics and media, said when it comes to the media, Rendell knows how to play the game. "I think the image of Ed Rendell on his knees cleaning up a City Hall bathroom shows that he understands the power of visuals – the mayor determined to clean up city government," Kaniss said. Kaniss said the media is extremely susceptible to simplistic images, and seizes the opportunity to forward the idea that a city's problems can be solved with strong leadership. But Kaniss said this can be both good and bad. "I think a good image for the mayor is an unquestionable plus for the city, when it comes to encouraging state and federal government to give us money for different types of programs," she said. "On the down side, any public official who is so successful that they can successfully deflect criticism or scrutiny of areas is not so wonderful." · Philadelphia politicians, however, offer a harsher litmus test of Rendell's impact on the city. In both city and state government, Rendell has both ardent supporters and vocal detractors. City Councilmember Angel Ortiz had nothing but praise for Rendell's impact on Philadelphia's image, but emphasized that Rendell has healed only the city's most superficial wounds. "I think Ed has definitely had a positive effect in the image of the city across the United States, and has been able to give a feeling that the city is dealing with the basic problems," Ortiz said. "But I think the basic problems of poverty and education have to be addressed, and the needs of poor and working people in the city." Ortiz said he believes the hype about new municipal projects along the lines of the new Center City convention center takes attention away from where it ought to be paid. "We have to move our priorities from just concern about who comes into the city to concern about who is living in the city," he said. Fellow Councilmember David Cohen said he believes Rendell "doesn't even know the cities and the neighborhoods exist." "I think that he has been obsessed by how to make Philadelphia an attractive location for hard-line businesses, how to help businesses make money," Cohen said. "His concept of privatization is to try to work with any businessperson or friend that he knows about who can do city work and make a profit out of it for a lesser price to the city." "I think he is being made into some kind of urban hero because he is giving an element of respectability to a very tough policy of saying that human beings have to take care of their own responsibilities and the government owes them nothing," he said. Cohen said he believes the positive coverage Rendell has received in the media is due to the politics of the media itself. "The media loves any government official who says, 'business Yber alles,' " Cohen said. "They worship him for that reason." But Councilmember Thacher Longstreth, a long-time Republican, said Rendell's reputation is well-deserved. Longstreth said he "picked the Wilson Goode administration full of holes without even trying," but has only has praise for Rendell and his co-workers, City Council President John Street and Chief of Staff David L. Cohen. "Those three guys make a triumvirate that have made a lot of things happen," Longstreth said. "We stopped doing a lot of our spending, we increased some of our revenues, we made some contracts with the unions. "He gave the city a class," Longstreth said. "He has a class the way he does things, and the way that he has presented Philadelphia to the rest of the country. He really hasn't made a mistake yet?and this is coming from a Republican." And State Sen. Chaka Fattah said while Philadelphia still has its problems, Rendell has taken it a step closer to solving them. "In this world, I don't think any one person can address all problems," Fattah said. "Now, he's started to focus on more issues – children's service issues, public housing – he's started to focus on some of the social issues in this city." Even Rendell's supporters don't see him as a savior. "It's still true that 60 percent of the children born in Philadelphia are being born to women who aren't married, 50 percent of high school kids are dropping out, jobs are leaving the city at a rate of 1,700 a month and the bureaucracy of the city's government is not and may never be under control," Boldt said. "But I think he's done as much as is humanly possible, and maybe even more. It's a question of whether or not he can keep up the momentum."
(12/08/93 10:00am)
During her days as head of the University's Women's Student Government Association, The Daily Pennsylvanian used to call her President Seitz. And within a month, University alumna Judith Seitz Rodin will likely grace the pages of the DP as President Rodin. Rodin, currently provost at Yale University, was nominated Monday to be the University's seventh president and the first woman president of an Ivy League school. She is likely to be approved by the University's Board of Trustees on December 16. This would not be Rodin's first time as a leader on campus. During the 1960s, she led the WSGA with a strong hand. As Judy Seitz, she changed women's social regulations by abolishing a curfew for senior women and allowing first-year women in men's apartments. In another revolutionary move for the time, the WSGA under Rodin voted to allocate $1,500 to "Project Mississippi," an effort to construct a community center for unemployed workers. While the University prohibited the donation from taking place, Rodin argued that "the project forced [WSGA] to recognize our responsibility to the student [body]." A DP editorial following her announcement praised the WSGA for "leaving its male counterpart behind in the dust." "We congratulate WSGA for its resolute action," the editorial read. "There can be no doubting which student government has the guts around here, and which is in tune with the times. "Perhaps we are not ready for co-ed government after all, when the men are so badly outclassed," it concluded emphatically. Rodin also voiced disappointment that there was no student-run honor system at the University. When one residence assumed responsibility for a dorm-wide honor system, "it?worked out beautifully," Rodin said in 1965. She added that students perceived the administration as "a stumbling block." In addition to her work in student government, Rodin found time while at the University to join the Delta Phi Epsilon sorority and the female honors societies Sphinx and Key, and Mortarboard. Sue Marx, then-Delta Phi Epsilon president, said she lived next to Rodin in their sorority house and remembers admiring her greatly. "She was a very accomplished, involved and achieving person," Marx said of her former hallmate. "Whatever she took on, she excelled at, which is probably a quality she maintains through today." Academically, Rodin majored in psychology, faring quite well. She gained membership in Phi Beta Kappa, Pi Gamma Mu and Sigma Tau Sigma, as well the psychology honor society, Psi Chi. At her Monday press conference, Rodin said Psychology Professor Henry Gleitman's Psychology 1 class sparked her interest in the subject. Gleitman said last night he did not remember Rodin from the class. "I taught many students at two great institutions," Gleitman said, referring to the University and Swarthmore. "If you do that, you will of course get first-rate students. But they would have been first-rate without Henry Gleitman, without a doubt." Gleitman, though, said he still feels proud of Rodin. "You feel proud, and you feel that maybe in some way, you had an effect," he said. Rodin's confirmation would testify to what some have called her exceptionally charismatic leadership. Others might say it fulfills a prophecy. In the University's 1966 yearbook, then-president Gaylord Harnwell wrote a farewell message to that year's graduates, concluding: "We trust that the years ahead for you will be enlightening and successful ones. We also hope that you will return to your University often as alumni and that our concerns will always be your own as well."
(12/07/93 10:00am)
The President Search Committee's work burst into the spotlight yesterday with the announcement of Yale Provost Judith Rodin's nomination to the University's presidency – but until the press conference, even committee members were in the dark. Most members of the committee and the University community professed they didn't have a clue Rodin had been picked. Even Rodin herself said she did not receive a call from Board of Trustees Chairperson Alvin Shoemaker until 7 p.m. Sunday. "I met with the [Trustees' Executive] Committee until about 5:30 p.m. [Sunday], and went back to my room and changed," she said last night. "I went over to my mother's, and the phone rang – and I was astonished." Shoemaker said Rodin gave her answer over breakfast yesterday morning, and commented that even he was astonished at the fluidity of the process. "I didn't know things would go this smoothly, but the momentum for Judy blew like a steamroller," he said, adding that the Executive Committee of Trustees, to whom the search committee had forwarded its recommendations, chose Rodin unanimously. While the process was over rapidly, members of the search committee said the decision was not as sudden as it appeared. They said the short list of candidates had been whittled down to three people by this weekend, and all three were recommended. "[The Trustee's Executive Committee] needs some leeway, and we gave them that," Nursing Professor and committee member Barbara Lowery said. Other members, though, said the choice was clear. "We knew she was one of the very obvious candidates," Statistics Professor David Hildebrand said. "Every major candidate's materials were gathered in a big looseleaf notebook. Judy Rodin had two notebooks, full of recommendation letters and commentary of all kinds. She was certainly one of the natural candidates from the go." Search committee member and English Professor Houston Baker said the decision process did not speed up over the weekend, but simply came to a conclusion. He said the transition process can begin with the spring semester, easing the administration shift. "[Interim President] Claire Fagin and [Interim Provost] Marvin Lazerson have done a wonderful job," Baker said. "But as with all acting administrations, how long can the honeymoon go on?" While most around the University had speculated an announcement would be made by January, some were taken aback by the swiftness of yesterday's announcement. "I had vast advance notice – three hours," Hildebrand said. And both undergraduates on the Search Committee, College senior Jun Bang and Wharton senior Sharon Molinoff, said they did not know about the choice until yesterday morning. "I think that when they do something like this, they want to make it so that everybody finds out at the same time," said University spokesperson Barbara Beck. "The whole University knew at the same time."
(12/07/93 10:00am)
None have tested HIV-positive, official says The University's free and anonymous AIDS test site, which opened two months ago, is drawing a full schedule of patients from inside and outside the University community. A recent survey conducted of the site yielded good results, according to Evelyn Wiener, the University's HIV-AIDS task force services committee chairperson. Wiener estimated that over 100 people have been tested at the clinic, which is housed at the Dental School at 40th and Irving streets. None have tested positive for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Students comprise 95 percent of the clients using the site, which is co-run by the University's Student Health Services and the Women's Anonymous Test Site of Hahnemann University. But clients in general, Wiener said, have ranged from adolescents to middle-aged people. Graduate students living off campus are the main group going in for tests, she said. Associate Vice Provost for University Life Larry Moneta said the site is living up to expectations. "We hoped it would be used," he said. "I think it's very positive, to the extent that responding to HIV can be positive." Moneta said it is difficult to assess whether or not there are more students wanting to be tested than schedule availability presently allows. "We're getting everybody in roughly within the week that [they] call," he said. "If at any point the demand exceeds the number of hours we have available, we'll expand [the times the site is open.]" Currently, the site is open Thursdays by appointment. In the site survey, Wiener said, students were very satisfied with the site. Among factors they were asked to evaluate were convenience in location, scheduling and their encounter with their counselors. On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being he highest, the majority of responses among 60 students polled by the site revealed high satisfaction, with responses averaging 4.88. Pre-test counseling was rated 4.9, ease of scheduling 4.73, convenience of site 4.75 and privacy of site 4.75. Privacy of the site is an important factor to its clients, who rely on the site's anonymity. Prior to the site's opening, students could get confidential testing for the HIV virus at Student Health. However, when a patient receives confidential testing, Student Health maintains a record of the patient's name and residence. Anonymous testing, by contrast, is a method of testing in which no record of the person's name is maintained.
(12/03/93 10:00am)
Moves to provost's office and CARA TANAMACHI Vice Provost for University Life Kim Morrisson will step down from her post January 1 to become vice provost in the provost's office. Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum, currently the University's associate vice president, will assume the duties of acting vice provost for University life for six months in addition to her current position. The permanent position will be filled by the new president and provost after they are chosen. Interim Provost Marvin Lazerson said Morrisson's move from the post she has held for six years had been discussed for "the last couple months." "My sense is that we needed to have more of a focus on planning and policy, and that [Morrisson] was really the ideal person to do that," Lazerson said. The new position, he said, will "free her up" from day-to-day management and allow her to focus on more long-range planning. "The provost's office has needed for a long time someone who concentrates on policy and planning," Lazerson said. "It's a position that's sorely needed, and [Morrisson] is a master at thinking about these things." Morrisson said she readily accepted Lazerson's offer, and does not feel the move is in any way a demotion. "I think it's more a lateral transfer – a reassignment, in a sense," Morrisson said. "In some ways, I'll still be a part of student life. "The beauty of the job is that it will give me more time to think. [That's] a rare treat." Lazerson said Morrisson will, on assuming the position, immediately begin work on residential planning. "It's especially important [to have Morrisson in the position] to think about what our living/learning programs ought to be like in the future," he said. "[Morrisson] will take that up immediately." In addition, Lazerson said, Morrisson will also "think about ways to bring about the undergraduate schools into closer connection to [the offices of] University life and student life activities." "She remains Vice Provost," he added. "It is a change in focus, drawing upon the experiences she's had in University Life these last six and a half years." Morrisson said she is also interested in teaching a freshman seminar or graduate seminar in English. "One thing I'll miss is working directly with students," she said. "That's been one of the most uplifting parts of the job, and I hope to make up for that." Morrisson, who received a doctorate in English from the University, has held many positions here, including assistant ombudsman, assistant dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and associate vice provost for University life. Executive Assistant to the Provost Linda Koons said Morrisson had told her she was interested in expanding her "portfolio," and possibly becoming the president of a small college or university sometime down the road. "I think that is a long term goal," Morrisson said. "That's always been a dream of mine." McCoullum, who could not be reached for comment last night, has been at the University since 1978, and has been involved in establishing minority permanence and programs. She will be the first African-American woman to hold this position at an Ivy League school.
(12/02/93 10:00am)
Curbside recycling programs in West Philadelphia have gotten off the ground in the last two weeks, and City Hall officials report high participation. The Mayor's Solid Waste Advisory Committee was told at a recent meeting that recycling tonnage in Philadelphia has practically doubled since West Philadelphia was included in the city's recycling efforts, according to Nick Sanders, a member of the committee. "West Philadelphia was the largest number of households of any addition [to the program so far]," said Sanders, who is president of Spruce Hill Recycling Group. The West Philadelphia area was brought into the city-wide curbside recycling program on November 15, making it possible for residents to recycle metal cans, aluminum cans, glass jars and bottles and newspapers outside their homes. Recycling takes place on the work day before each residence's trash day, every other week. Tom Klein, director of education and promotion for the city's recycling office, said that many, if not all, households are participating in the program. "As far as tonnage, we got as much as 20 tons on our busiest day, and as little as six on our slowest day," Klein said of the program's first week. Regardless of the number of households that actually participate, Klein said, the recycling program ends up saving the city money. "It's cost-effective," he said. "It costs $123 to collect a ton [of recycling] as opposed to $143 to collect and dispose of a ton of trash," he said. David Hochman, president of the Spruce Hill Community Association, said it is too early to gauge the program's effectiveness. "Trucks clearly have been in some places, and haven't been in others," Hochman said. "I have a feeling there's a lot of variation in the neighborhood." Hochman, who lives at 40th and Irving streets, said his own block has been "ignored" for two pickups straight. Sanders, however, said he saw wide participation on his block at 45th and Spruce streets, with the blue buckets distributed by the city in front of every house on the program's first week. But he said the trucks came by much earlier than scheduled during the program's second week, catching the people on his block off guard. "I had to run out with my buckets when I saw them there," he said.
(12/01/93 10:00am)
The University's Regional Science Department may be on its way out the door, but its alumni are moving on up. Luis Donaldo Colosio, who received a master's degree in regional development from the University in 1977, was selected by Mexico's ruling party as its presidential candidate for the 1994 election. The ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, known by its Spanish initials PRI, has not lost an election since 1929, and the selection of Colosio virtually assures his election. Colosio, as president of Mexico, would be responsible for putting the North American Free Trade Agreement into action. Regional Science professor Thomas Reiner, who had Colosio in his class, said his former student had been heading toward a Ph.D. when he "got caught up in more responsible positions in the Mexican political scene." Colosio is currently Mexico's Social Development Secretary, and acts to enforce the country's environmental anti-pollution laws. Reiner said the presidential hopeful was "sort of a lively young man." "He was completely bilingual, and very effective," Reiner said. "We had no idea where he was heading, but I guess one rarely does. "He was a well-qualified and solid student," he added. Colosio's classmate Ed Horn, who currently works in the University's Social Science Data Center, said Colosio was "a pretty nice guy." Horn shared a carrel with Colosio during their time in the Regional Science Department. Horn said Colosio had a good sense of humor and, while he didn't study all the time, seemed to do all right in his classes. "I have to send him a note or something," Horn said. "I haven't seen him for a while. Maybe he's changed, but probably not that much." After his time at the University, Reiner said Colosio went to a research institute in Austria and completed a draft of what Colosio hoped would be a doctoral dissertation. But it was not meant to be, as Colosio pursued his political career in Mexico. Regional Studies Department Chairperson Stephen Gale said while he did not know Colosio personally, he is proud of his department's alumnus. "We are very pleased for him," Gale said. "He was a very popular man in our program, and a really smart guy." Gale said Colosio's selection could have meant great things for the University's Regional Science Department. "It would be nice if we could set up a program between Mexico and the University to study the impacts of NAFTA," he said. "I don't think that will be possible any longer." Gale said the happy news of Colosio's appointment comes at an unusual time, in light of School of Arts and Sciences Dean Rosemary Stevens' recent decision to get rid of the department. "It's sort of paradoxical," he said. "They cancel a department that is responsible for producing, among many other well-known figures, the new president of Mexico. "Paradox is hardly the word," he added with a note of bitterness. "Sinful is more appropriate." Reiner joked that Colosio will be the fourth president to come from the University's Regional Science Department – the other three being presidents of universities in Geneva, Malaysia and India. "Here's an indication of the kind of people who are being educated in the program, and it's being shut down," Reiner said.
(11/23/93 10:00am)
A four-day sit-in at Cornell University's main administration building ended yesterday afternoon with the promise of immediate negotiations between protesters and administrators. "The occupation of the administration building is over as of 3 p.m. this afternoon," Cornell spokesperson Linda Grace-Kobas said yesterday. "The students and administration have reached an agreement." The sit-in began spontaneously on Friday afternoon, when Latino students staged a rally in protest of the vandalism of a Hispanic art exhibit in the Central Arts Quad. The students then took over Day Hall. The exhibit, a piece called "The Castle is Burning" by Los Angeles artist Daniel Martinez, had a swastika and the words "Get the Hell Out" scrawled across it by anonymous vandals earlier in the week. Student protesters in the building, whose numbers varied from 70 to 400, said Friday they were concerned with issues including minority hiring and discrimination at the university and wanted to meet with Cornell President Frank Rhodes. "We'll do anything we have to to get [the administration's] attention," a student demonstrator who would not give his name said Friday night. "If it means sitting in the administration building for a week, we'll do it." When Rhodes returned to Cornell after attending the Penn-Cornell football game here on Saturday, he attempted to meet with the students, but claims they covered their ears so they would not hear him. The building was later sealed off by campus police and telephone lines were cut. While the sit-in remained peaceful throughout, Grace-Kobas said, there was an incident Saturday when 20 students protesting outside rushed the building and tried to enter, injuring two campus police officers. The demonstrators were suspended from the university after the Campus Code of Conduct was read to them at 2 a.m. Monday and they still refused to leave the building. "We know the consequences, we know the cause, we have chosen to stay," said Cliff Albright, one of the protesters. But as the protest drew to a close, campus judicial officers lifted the suspensions. With the evacuation of the building, a press release from the university said, Rhodes and faculty and student leaders immediately began to meet with the student protesters to discuss their concerns. "While I cannot condone the unlawful occupation of a building, it is essential that the entire campus community come to grips with the issues that have been identified," Rhodes said. The Associated Press contributed to this story.
(11/23/93 10:00am)
Agents could arrest outside bars A bill in the state legislature would increase the powers of Liquor Control Enforcement officers to enforce restrictions on alcohol consumption if it passes an upcoming vote in the state Senate. The bill, sponsored by local Rep. James Roebuck and 19 other representatives, would allow officers to arrest underage drinkers outside of drinking establishments and for behavior such as disorderly conduct. Currently, LCE officers can make arrests only for violations of the liquor code that occur inside those establishments. The bill, House Bill 553, recently passed the state House of Representatives and now faces a vote in the state Senate, which reconvenes today. While the bill would directly affect the University and other college campuses, Roebuck said this is not the bill's primary intent. "I think what it does provide for is strengthening of enforcement of liquor laws," Roebuck said. "It's not really specifically designed [to affect a college campus,] but there is that possibility." Roebuck said the bill's more immediate aim is to affect the city's current problem of "stop and go's," smaller establishments where many say it is relatively easy for minors to purchase liquor. Liquor Control Enforcement District Office Commander Sgt. John Lyle said the bill would "add police powers to LCE officers who only had the power to enforce laws relative to the liquor code." "This bill provides [officers] with a number of different tools to protect themselves," Lyle said. According to Lyle, LCE officers currently do not have the authority to make arrests for anything outside the liquor code. The new legislation, however, would give them immediate powers of arrest. "They never had those powers before," Lyle said. "If you came out of a bar, and they saw someone beating up on you, they would have had to contact the police. Now?they could do it on their own." Lyle said while such legislation has been proposed in the past, passage of this bill would be "a major change." "Our powers would extend outside the walls of that licensed establishment," he said. "This would give us powers to arrest for a lot of other violations that also occur in fraternities and sororities as well." Interfraternity Council president-elect Hayden Horowitz said he believes fraternities will conduct themselves so as to not be affected by this law. "It's my hope that fraternities are throwing smarter parties," said Horowitz, a College junior. "They're being better supervised, better on the whole, and that reduces our risk and liability."
(11/23/93 10:00am)
The tranquility in the Furness Building was shattered 30 years ago yesterday, when a student ran in breathless, shouting that the president had been shot. While that November 22 must have started off looking much the same way it did yesterday, it ended in chaos as President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in what is still remembered as the modern shot heard 'round the world. At the University, life's ordinary routines were brutally shocked out of day-to-day circumstance. Art History Professor Malcolm Campbell had just walked into Furness's slide library, when a student ran in, saying, "The President has been shot." Someone found an old battered radio, he recalled yesterday, and faculty and students gathered around. "We were stunned – just stunned," Campbell said. "It was?it was very difficult to frame your ideas and make any kind of statement. People were struck dumb." On exiting the library, Campbell said, he found "a real pall settled over the campus." "It was a kind of shattering experience," he recollected. "The radio just kept repeating, 'The president is shot, the president is shot.' Nobody knew what to do." Other professors were out of the country at the time, making their memories perhaps even stranger. Emeritus Economics Professor Lawrence Klein said he was working at a university in Japan, and it was Saturday morning there when he heard the news. "The nephew of one of our hosts came to me with a [Japanese-English] dictionary," he said. "He kept looking and pointing at the word, 'assassin.' "We found a short-wave radio, and listened that way," Klein said. "But it was such a shock – and it felt isolated." Microbiology Professor Helen Davies and her late husband, Robert, were in London delivering papers at a meeting. "We were eating in a restaurant, and some people came over who had heard our voices and knew we were American," she said. "They said, 'Your president has been assassinated' – and it was devastating, absolutely devastating." Davies said the assassination is an especially clear-cut memory because, for her and many other Americans, it marked the turning of time. "During that period, we almost got used to assassinations – Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X," she said. "You know, you almost learned to expect it. "I never see a picture of a president in a large gathering without getting very frightened that something will happen to that person," she added. "I think the horror of that moment was so intense because this was the first assassination that most people had ever faced." Campbell agreed. "Lyndon Johnson coming in moved the time clock?it shifted," he said. "The image that Kennedy had evoked was almost mystical. We certainly knew the lights in Camelot had gone out, whatever else had happened." Assistant History Professor Thomas Sugrue, who teaches a class on the 60s, said that while he is "bored of the hype over the Kennedy assassination," he feels that to some extent it is indicative of an era. "It's indicative of the endurance of the Kennedy myth – the American public's desire to peg all of its hopes about the country's history on one powerful individual," he said. "But people project their wishes about where they think America should have gone on the figure of JFK. "And it's easy to do that. When someone dies young and tragically, it's easy to project all your wishes and fantasies on them."
(11/23/93 10:00am)
Outgoing New York Mayor David Dinkins was appointed yesterday as a senior research scholar at Columbia University's newly created Institute for Research in African-American studies. His appointment is just the latest affirmation of the field's growing popularity in the ivory tower. "African-American studies is being more and more accepted as a legitimate field of study," the University's director of Afro-American studies John Roberts said. "It is on the move." With this has come a scramble to hire more African-American studies faculty members, at the expense of other universities. One of the most recent tremors in the academic world has been Harvard University's acquisition of Princeton University's race-relations and religion scholar Cornel West. West, author of the critically-acclaimed book, Race Matters, was lured to Harvard to serve in a joint appointment in Afro-American Studies and the Divinity School. Harvard, like many other schools, is looking for more professors to further the development of its African-American studies programs. Last year, the University lost two of its own to Harvard when Senior U.S. District Judge and Law School Professor Leon Higginbotham and his wife, Associate History Professor Evelyn Higginbotham, accepted jobs in Cambridge. Evelyn Higginbotham, who is now doing research at the National Humanities Center in North Carolina before assuming her Harvard post as a professor of African-American religious studies, said she did not consider Harvard's hiring tactics a "professor raid." "If you're trying to build a good department, you want to look for people who you think are good," she said. "They are trying to identify good people – in Cornel's case, extraordinary people – to attract students. "That was definitely the mandate that [Black Studies program director Henry Louis Gates] took upon himself when he came to Harvard," she added. Gates, who himself was a recruit from Duke University, has taken this mandate seriously, and is gleaning stars from the African-American studies firmament across the nation. "It's not like these schools are being raided," Evelyn Higginbotham was quick to point out. "These people are at the top of their profession." Harvard has voiced its intent to keep searching for new professors. Next on the list, sources say, is a new African-American history professor. Black professors at the University, whether experts in African-American studies or not, have received many offers from other universities. Sociology Professor Elijah Anderson said he has recently received offers from Yale University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but has turned both down. Anderson said he sees the professor shifts as "not necessarily a black and white thing." "I think this is not peculiar," Anderson said. "People want to bring in people who can contribute something to their mission. This is what universities do when they want to add to their sparkle." And Roberts said the University is currently engaged in some overtures of its own. "There are a couple of searches going on that should bring new African-American studies professors into the University," Roberts said. While he would not discuss details, Roberts said the University is currently looking for an English professor and a history professor to add to the ranks of African American studies, and that there is a "pretty good chance" both will be filled within the year. "It's a good program here at this point in time," he said. "I think we could always use more professors."
(11/22/93 10:00am)
Claim discrimination against Latinos While the Quakers and the Big Red battled it out on Franklin Field Saturday, a battle of different proportions was raging high above Cayuga's waters. About 300 Cornell University students began a spontaneous sit-in at the school's main administration building Friday afternoon following a rally on campus, a student leader who would not give his name said. As of last night, about 70 students, led by the campus' Latin American Students Association, continued to occupy Day Hall on the Ithaca, N.Y., campus. They object to Cornell's "outright discriminatory practices" against Latino students and faculty, the student leader said. Among the problems cited by the protesters are obscene phone calls to Latino students, vandalism of a Hispanic cultural art exhibition in the Central Arts Quad, and what protesters said is a lack of minority representation among Cornell's faculty and student populations. Protesters said Friday that they occupied the building when they were not allowed to have a meeting with Cornell President Frank Rhodes. Rhodes attempted to meet with the students at 1 a.m. Sunday morning, when he returned to Ithaca after watching Saturday's Penn-Cornell football game. But, according to a university press release, demonstration leaders refused to allow Rhodes to talk to the students. Rhodes said he would be willing to discuss their concerns, provided they ended their occupation of the building. Last night, Rhodes said he was deeply involved in negotiations with the protesters. "I have been to the building to talk, and we are continuing to talk [right now]," he said. Linda Grace-Kobis, a Cornell University Police spokeswoman, said from inside the building that the demands of the protesters have been "fluid." They are requesting "more recognition of their history, culture, literature and language," she said. According to the university police, two campus police officers were injured as a result of the group's demonstration. In addition, telephone lines and fax lines into Day Hall were cut off by the university, Grace-Kobis said. Here at the University, the question of minority representation both on the faculty and among the student body have been provocative ones. In February 1992, the issue of Latino representation came to a head when then-Latin American History Professor Dain Borges was denied tenure, in a move that many said would jeopardize the future of Latin American studies at the University. A protest that year against the University's hiring and recruitment practices on College Green drew approximately 60 students. Latino leaders at the University said last night that while they had not been aware of the Cornell sit-in, they sympathized with the reasons behind the demonstration. "I definitely don't believe there are enough Latinos in either the faculty or the student body [at the University]," Asociacion Cultural de Estudiantes Latino Americanos President Lissette Monge said. "There is a lot of untapped potential that we don't really recruit." Monge said that something similar to the Cornell demonstration could very well happen at the University. "We probably should do something like that here," College junior Monge said. "We could really make a difference, if we were to all act together." Daily Pennsylvanian Staff Writer Daniel Gingiss contributed to this story.
(11/19/93 10:00am)
If the national media is a mighty tide, Interim President Claire Fagin's announcement Monday on the University's Racial Harassment Policy created a big splash. Editorial writers, civil rights leaders and columnists from around the nation have recently had a lot to say when it comes to the University. This week will be no exception, as Fagin's decision is leading to a new wave of coverage and commentary. Fagin announced that the University's current policy, which prohibits racial and ethnic epithets among other abusive terms, will cease to exist as of June 30 and a new one is being developed in its stead. Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial Page Editor David Boldt said he thinks Fagin's decision was "great." "I think she's doing the right thing, with a recognition that she has to cover her political flanks," Boldt said. "It's a good and brave thing which will be seen by everyone as moving in a positive direction. "She provided the University with a tremendous service, even beyond the undefeated football team," he joked. The Inquirer's editorial yesterday gave the University "two cheers" for the decision to "dump the hate-speech code." The third cheer, however, was absent because "a new [racial harassment] guide" may be constructed. "And whether it will say in plain English that censorship in the pursuit of civility is no virtue remains to be seen," the editorial said. Village Voice columnist Nat Hentoff, however, gives the University no cheers, calling the decision "stupid." "That's asking for a couple more water buffaloes," Hentoff said. "They should just throw out the damn code. "You're supposed to educate at a university," he said. "If there is a problem with offensive speech, you talk about it and evaluate it." Hentoff said headlines stating Fagin had "dumped" the policy were inaccurate. "What they're doing, I assume, is going under the assumption that since [the racial harassment policy is] being dropped on June 30, it has [already] been dropped," he said. "Which is not necessarily the case." American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania Executive Director Deborah Leavy said in a press release that the ACLU is "cautious" about the University's plan for the policy. "We're glad that Penn has recognized that its hate-speech code didn't work," Leavy said. "But the answer is not a new, improved hate-speech code. "The university should stop trying to punish speech, thoughts or ideas." Editorial interest in the University was piqued last spring. The controversial "water buffalo" case, combined with the seizure of a press run of The Daily Pennsylvanian and former President Sheldon Hackney's nomination to the chairmanship of the National Endowment for the Humanities, all helped to thrust the campus into the national spotlight. To combat the possibility of bad press, Fagin took what University Trustee Leonard Lauder called a "proactive" stance with the media. During her first weeks in office, she met with the editorial boards of a number of major newspapers. According to University spokesperson Barbara Beck, press releases regarding this week's announcement by Fagin were sent to 12 papers and radio and television stations.
(11/11/93 10:00am)
The University has paid the City of Philadelphia approximately $80,000 in dorm fees for this year, marking the first time in 20 years the University has complied with the city law. "For the first time in the history of mankind, the University of Pennsylvania has purchased residential housing licenses," said Bennett Levin, commissioner of the Department of Licenses and Inspections. The fee, which the University will now pay annually to the city, covers the licenses on residential units owned on campus – from dormitories to certain University-owned fraternities and sororities. The fees range from $175 for the Kappa Alpha Society at 3803 Locust to $10,000 each for the Graduate Towers and the Quadrangle. Fees are based on $25 per living-unit in each building. In total, the University is required to pay $7,500 for 23 fraternity and sorority houses and $71,850 for dormitories. Housing licenses, as required by Philadelphia law, allow the city to inventory and inspect properties, Levin said. "It enables us to keep inventory and know what we have to inspect," he said. "It also enables us, when people do not renew the license, to see whether [residences] have been abandoned?to control squatting in the city." Inspections of University residences and fraternities and sororities will take place in the near future, Levin said. "We have received some complaints about the conditions in the High Rise[s]," Levin said. "Those will be addressed." The fee is being paid for the first time, Levin said, partially because the University was threatened with a violation that would revoke its right to its residences – and partially because the University sought an ordinance for utility work on campus. City Council would not grant that ordinance until the University complied with the law, he said. "I think the University finally came to the realization that the department was serious, and had the support of City Council and the Mayor," Levin said. In September, the Department of Licenses and Inspections claimed the University owed the city $1.6 million dollars in back fees for its residences. However, the University contended it was not responsible for paying a city occupancy fee – which is required as part of a 20-year-old city ordinance that mandates charges of $25 per living unit in multi-tenant city housing – but has agreed to pay from this year onward. "The issue of retroactive fees is still unresolved," University Director of City and Commonwealth Relations Paul Cribbins said. "It just has not been resolved, and we haven't had anything scheduled."
(11/09/93 10:00am)
and PETER MORRISON With every great victory comes a price. In the case of the Quakers' decisive win over the Princeton Tigers on Saturday, the price tag could reach up to $20,000. As the rowdy Quaker faithful stormed the field and tore out the west goal posts, dumping them in the Schuylkill River, they also uprooted a considerable sum from the University's pocketbook. Depending on the extent of the damage, Associate Athletic Director Elton Cochran-Fikes said, it will cost the University anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000. "We're still trying to determine the full extent of the damage," Cochran-Fikes said. "The people who initially installed [the goal posts] are going to look at it and make an assessment." Larry Lauchle, director of supportive services for athletics, said Clark Construction, the company that installed goal posts, will be at Franklin Field tomorrow to examine the damage. Lauchle said he was surprised when the fans' jubilation became a spree of destruction Saturday afternoon. "When I was in the stands, I was thinking how nice it was that they're all going out there to congratulate the players," Lauchle said. "All of a sudden, somebody made a right-hand turn and started going for the goal posts, and I was saying to myself, 'uh-oh'." Lauchle said it is fortunate the goal posts are steel rather than aluminum. "We changed the goal posts from all aluminum to steel, which, as people could see Saturday, bent very slowly," he said. "Steel will bend, where aluminum will just crack and break." Cochran-Fikes said if the University cannot obtain new goal posts by the next home football game against Cornell University on November 20, temporary goal posts with removable wheels will be used. "We conduct all practices with temporary goal posts," Cochran-Fikes said. "The major difference is that temporary goal posts are portable and have two posts, while permanent ones have one boost neck post in the center." The foundation of the goal posts never came out of the ground on Saturday, which could require more work than merely installing new goal posts. "We have to have the engineer come down and take a look at the field," Lauchle said. "Hopefully we won't have to dig the whole thing out with a jackhammer and take up the field. It requires a lot of work." Vice President of Facilities and Management Arthur Gravina said he is not worried about a possible fine from a city disgruntled by goal posts floating down the Schuylkill. "To my knowledge, these kinds of things are not considered toxic waste, so we have never been fined for [throwing goal posts in the river]," Gravina said. "It is not something that happens every year. Our concern is the safety of everyone, and luckily, no one was hurt."
(11/04/93 10:00am)
Leslie Wood is leaving the restaurant business – and she's not looking back. "I used to be in banking, so for me to make a radical career change is not an unusual thing," Wood, owner of Boccie and Saladalley, said last night. "It'll probably be distribution, consulting, or staying at home?I need a break." That break begins when the two popular campus restaurants serve their last crowds Sunday night, marking the end of an era for many University students. Wood said the two restaurants' imminent bankruptcy filing saddens her, especially after spending seven years working at 4040 Locust Street. "Certainly, it's difficult for me," Wood said, sitting on a bar stool amidst a busy crowd. "We may have turnover in terms of students who work here, but there's a lot of longevity here. I feel a sense of responsibility to these people." While the crowd may have been busy last night – and Wood and other employees only expect the crowd to grow in the final days – the two restaurants have suffered from the perception of the surrounding area. "There's been a rise in the crime rate that's been sensationalistic," Wood said. "A lot of adults from the Main Line aren't going to come in town to get a pizza anymore. "It's just a combination of a lot of little things," she said. Filing for bankruptcy will change not only Wood's life, but will have an impact on a number of University students as well. Boccie and Saladalley were packed for a Wednesday night, as students flocked to get their last supper while they could. College senior Sarma Melngailis was crushed when she heard the news of the closings – and almost didn't believe it. "It put a huge damper on my day," Melngailis said. "My first thought was, it's too early in the year for the [Daily Pennsylvanian] joke issue." "I told her to call the RAPLine," dinner companion Wharton junior Mike Graves said consolingly. Graves and Melngailis, with plates of Saladalley's salad bar pickings piled on the table, said they will really miss the restaurants. "It's the cheapest meal around, and it's all you can eat," Graves added. "If these two restaurants failed, I don't really see what could do better." Other Saladalley and Boccie patrons ventured guesses as to what should be the next business in the Warehouse property. "I was trying to think with some friends about what should be here next," College senior Michael Gorelick said as he waited to pay his Boccie tab. "Maybe TGIFriday's?" "It'll probably be another Kentucky Fried Chicken," Wharton senior Nicole Jacoby guessed. "I just don't want more fast food." Boccie and Saladalley, many customers said, will be missed for their unique cuisine. "There aren't many places to get something to eat that's healthy and low-priced," College senior Barbara Cohen said. But some customers weren't as heartbroken. "I'll miss the salad bar, but it's not a very big deal," Engineering junior Alexander Tsagamilis said with a shrug. "I've come here a few times. It's a cute place, but so?"
(11/03/93 10:00am)
and GABRIELE MARCOTTI The Human Rights League, a group that wants to retain Section II of the Racial Harassment Policy, is conducting a petition drive and letter- writing campaign asking Interim President Claire Fagin not to suspend the so-called "speech code." "We were only out [on Locust Walk] for a few hours, and we got 300 signatures," Human Rights League founder Rashad Ibrahim said, adding that the group plans to continue to collect signatures at least through the weekend. The group wants members of the University community to sign both a petition and a form letter asking Fagin to retain the whole Racial Harassment Policy. Ibrahim said the petition and letters will be presented to Fagin sometime after this weekend. "I am convinced that the Racial Harassment Policy, as currently enacted at the University of Pennsylvania, does not prohibit anything beyond acts of racial intolerance designed solely to torment and degrade members of the University community," the letter reads. "Moreover, I am certain that the policy does not inhibit the free exchange of scholarly ideas throughout the University, since it merely restricts certain behavior intended only to inflict direct injury. "Indeed, I believe the policy enriches the University community by promoting decency and mutual respect," it continues. Ibrahim, an Undergraduate Assembly representative, and other Human Rights League members talked to students on the Walk yesterday, answering questions and asking for signatures. "There's more to it than this imagined threat to freedom of speech," Ibrahim, a Wharton senior, told a group of passersby. "It's about race." While the Human Rights League is a UA work group, UA Chairperson Seth Hamalian said the petition initiative has not been sponsored by the UA. "But the nature of what he's doing is something the UA supports in terms of gathering student support and helping to inform students on some of the issues," Hamalian said. "I would sign it." But Fagin said last night she does not know if the petition "will be helpful one way or the other." "Of course I will be interested in the petition – nothing is ever too late – but I'm really in the process of developing options," Fagin said. "There are huge numbers of people signing similar petitions on the other side," she said. "There is no consensus possible on this issue." But Fagin's remarks seemed to indicate a tipping of the scales. "There's a large silent group of mixed races who don't think this policy is worth anything," she said. "There is an extremely large group that believes it has a chilling effect, and there is a group that feels it should not be suspended. "This is such a highly divisive issue, it's taken me longer [to think about it] than I thought it would."
(11/03/93 10:00am)
Anonymous protesters at the University of Maryland stole over 10,000 copies of the student newspaper Monday, claiming its coverage was racist. "We want to press criminal charges when the people are found, and they will be found," Diamondback Editor-in-Chief Drew Weaver said. In place of the missing copies of The Diamondback were anonymous computer-generated notes reading: "Due to its racist nature, The Diamondback will not be available today?Read a book." No one claimed responsibility, but two witnesses saw two women removing bundles of the newspaper. Campus police are currently investigating. The Diamondback incident bears a number of similarities to the April 15 seizure and destruction of nearly 14,000 copies of The Daily Pennsylvanian by a group of black students. Weaver said the protest most likely came from a general perception of the paper rather than any particular article or column. "I think the problems have been the same that they've been with other newspapers in the nation – you've got to have a diverse staff to cover all the issues," Weaver said. But Weaver said the composition of his staff is as diverse as the university, with African Americans comprising 10 percent of the paper's editors. The university condemned the paper confiscation. "The University strongly disapproves of the removal and apparent destruction of issues of The Diamondback," a statement from Maryland's President William Kirwan read. "Freedom of expression is a fundamental value in our society and one deeply held in the university community. "The university is unequivocal in its support of the First Amendment right of freedom of speech – even if such speech is offensive to some persons," the statement continued. "Although The Diamondback is an independent newspaper and the university does not influence nor defend its content, we vigorously defend the right of The Diamondback or any other publication to publish what its editorial board chooses." Weaver said he was encouraged by the administration's strong stand on the issue. "We really expect our administration not to be as spineless as Penn's," Weaver said. "It's a shame people are getting away with this. It's what free speech is all about." And the paper's attorney, Lee Levine, said he was encouraged by the university's stance on the issue. "Thus far, the university's administration has been extremely cooperative and supportive of The Diamondback," Levine said. "We're rowing in the same direction." Levine, who also serves as the attorney for The Daily Pennsylvanian, said there were key differences between the Maryland theft and the incident at the University. "The administration at Maryland has taken a firm stand against the taking of the papers, which did not happen at Penn," Levine said. "The university police are cooperating with [the paper], which also did not happen at Penn." Levine said procedures against students who took the papers could go on simultaneously in criminal and university judicial proceedings. The Diamondback is free, but page two of every issue says that each copy costs 50 cents "when taken in quantities of 50 or more." Over 30 instances of newspaper theft have occurred at college campuses across the country since the beginning of the 1992 school year, according to the Washington-based Student Press Law Center.
(11/03/93 10:00am)
Boccie and Saladalley, two popular campus restaurants located in The Warehouse at 4040 Locust Street, will close Sunday after the company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Friday. "I did everything I could for as long as I could to avoid taking this step, when I ran out of alternatives," Boccie/Saladalley President Mike Cullina said last night. Cullina said the two co-owned restaurants have been struggling and carrying debts from unsuccessful expansion in the mid-1980s. "In the last two years, there has been a significant downfall in business, both in downtown Philadelphia and at Penn," Cullina said. Saladalley locations in Ardmore and at Temple University will continue to operate. Cullina said he is "very sad" about the impending closing of the restaurants, which have played a part in campus life for 15 years. "I appreciate the patronage of the Penn community for all these years," he said. "I'm sorry it can't go on." Cullina said the fate of the restaurants' space at 4040 Locust Street will be determined by the landlord, who he said is "from Hong Kong" and is unaffiliated with the University. Many Boccie and Saladalley employees expressed surprise about the impending closing, which was announced to some employees for the first time yesterday. Boccie and Saladalley shift manager William Moore said he got a call on his answering machine telling him that as of Sunday, he would be out of a job. Moore said he had been optimistic, hoping the dwindling business would pick up after the winter. "There was talk about closing, but I didn't think it was going to happen so soon," Moore said. "It sort of came as a shock to everyone." "I'm unemployed," College senior and Saladalley employee Marty Newburger said despondently. Cullina said all employees' wages will be paid in full. The restaurants' immediate neighbors also voiced disappointment with the announcement. "Unfortunately, I've heard they've had to go under," Video Library Manager Jennifer Weinik said. "I wasn't completely surprised, because I knew they were having trouble." Weinik said the restaurants helped her business, and the video store helped theirs. "We both pull from each other," she said of the restaurants' proximity. "It certainly hasn't hurt."
