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(01/22/93 10:00am)
When people are wrong, Heidi Gleit has something to say about it. Whether it's a high school English paper, or a study abroad program, the Penn Valley, Penn., native will not take things lying down. The confrontation with the English teacher occurred when Gleit was a sophomore at Lower Merion Township High School. It seems that Gleit came up with a conclusion for a paper, but her teacher didn't agree with it and wanted something completely different. "I didn't want to write that paper. I wrote on a different topic in the end," she said. But Gleit's mother Ruth remembers another part of the story. "We had to have a conference with the principal," she said. Another confrontation occurred when Gleit was in Israel, on a summer-abroad program through Hebrew University. While Gleit was there, she interned at the Jerusalem Post where she wrote an editorial "blasting Hebrew University's one-year program" -- the one she was still a part of. "It caused a lot of friction," she said. But, as her mother put it, Gleit "thinks that everything has to be done the right way, and if you don't agree, that's unfortunate, but it's going to be done." "She's very impatient with people doing things the wrong way," she added. But her roomate Tanya Thampi, a College junior, says the International Relations major is not that way at school. "She's pretty tolerant about everything here," Thampi said. "She's a nice, kind, caring person, jolly and laughing or else full of anger about some injustice." The caring side of Gleit's personality certainly comes through in her relationship with her family, and especially with the youngest of her three sibling, her sister Shoshana. "She's very much the older sister, especially with her younger sister [Shoshana]," Ruth Gleit said. "Her sister adores her. When Heidi moved out it was the most traumatic for her." "She calls me every night before I go to bed," Gleit said. And 10-year-old Shoshana was overflowing with praise for her sister. "She's very nice," Shoshana said. "We go to the park together. She's very caring, she takes care of me." And caring is what Gleit will need as she takes on the Herculean task of helping to oversee the new crop of general assignment reporters this coming year. The incoming associate/city editor will also be responsible for producing the daily wire page and coordinating city coverage. Mostly, Gleit will use her writing skills, which her mother says have always been there. "She's been writing since she could talk. Poetry, writing contests, whatever," Ruth Gleit said. And her dedication is noted at The Daily Pennsylvanian. "Her heart is truly in the paper," said DP incoming Executive Editor Stephen Glass. "She lives, sleeps and eats the DP. She has wanted so hard to succeed at the DP and has worked so hard to do so."
(01/22/93 10:00am)
Dwayne Sye is a man of mystery. "Dwayne is sort of Sphinx-like," said incoming Daily Pennsylvanian Managing Editor Scott Calvert. "You never really know what's going on in his mind." "He lives in a room with no light," said roommate and Engineering sophomore Ken Sable. "He is the king of mind games." And a man with that much mystery must be hiding something, right? Wrong. "I'm trying to think of dirt on Dwayne, but I just don't know any, he's so good," said Kaye Panchula, Sye's advisor at The Valley High School in Michigan. "Dwayne is too good, just a great kid." "There's no dirt on him. There's no embarassing stories," said his brother Tait, a junior at the University of Michigan. "He's kind of blah, he never wants to do anything." Well, that was high school, right? Maybe he's become a party animal at college. Wrong again. "I don't party," Sye said. "I do work, I waste time, [time] just goes away." "He doesn't party," Sable agreed. "But he doesn't do work, he just annoys everybody else when they're trying to work." And although his roommates say they go out drinking, Sye doesn't drink at all, a trait his brother attributes to his stubbornness. "If he doesn't want to do something, he won't do it," Tait said. "He won't drink even though his roommates do. He told me when they play drinking games he does push-ups." The not-so-mysterious Engineering sophomore will have to work now, though, as he takes on the role of design director of the DP. The Swartz Creek, Michigan, native will be responsible for designing layout and graphics for the newspaper. Sye's main passion, according to almost everyone who knows him is sports, specifically the University of Michigan Wolverines, the Detroit Pistons and the Detroit Lions. And he certainly gets passionate about them. "I've never been to a Lions game but [Lions Running Back] Barry Sanders is obviously God," Sye said. And how does he feel about the teams in his new hometown? "The Sixers suck, Philadelphia sports teams suck, the Spectrum sucks," Sye said, obviously not trying to make any friends in the City of Brotherly Love. "The Palestra's alright, but the [Detroit] Palace, now, there's a stadium." Sye, a diminutive 5 foot 6 inches, played basketball in high school. "He's physically not built for it," his father Moozen said. "But he likes it, and his school is small, so he got a chance to play." But all agree that Sye is a great hoops player. "I can jump, I surprise people with how high I can jump," Sye said, and his friends back him up. "He can jump," roommate and College sophomore Steve Goldberg said. "He's really good." Still, Sye's most noticeable quality is his terseness. "Until you get to know him, he's very quiet, he's got a very dry wit," Panchula said. Sye's roommates say that although he may be quiet, that doesn't mean he is sane. "He has a rice cooker, but he says what he makes isn't rice, it's 'porridge,' " Sable said. "He lives by his cordless telephone, his inferior computer, and his chopsticks, which you can't wash with soap." As for the dry wit, the way Sye explained the Penn/Penn State mix-up to his friends pretty much sums it up. It seems that people back home were mixing up the two schools, and everyone thought he was going to the home of the Nittany Lions. "I got a card from my fifth grade teacher, and he said, 'Congratulations, and good luck at Penn State,' " Sye said. "I was so pissed in a funny sort of way, because we all know Penn State sucks." So Sye used his valedictory speech to explain the difference to all of his friends. "I told everybody an easy way to remember where I was going," Sye said. "All you have to do is remember, it's just like in Michigan. The University of Michigan is the good school, and Michigan State is the bad one, the University of Pennsylvania is the good school, and Penn State sucks."
(09/21/92 9:00am)
Mayor Edward Rendell set a 5 p.m. Wednesday deadline for union acceptance of what he called the city's "last, best" contract offer during a press conference Friday morning. "If there is not agreement by 5 p.m. next Wednesday, the city will have no choice but to implement the terms of this contract," Rendell said. Health care coverage was increased and wage increases were added in the new proposal unlike the Mayor's original March 3 contract offer. The four-year contract does not include an initial raise, but calls for a five percent pay increase spanned over the last two years. The contract also offers union members the choice of three managed health care plans, with the city paying for inflationary increases in health care payments. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, District Council 33, the city's blue-collar union, rejected the contract offer Saturday, saying that they were not bound by Rendell's deadline. The executive board of District Council 33 will meet Monday, the Inquirer said, to prepare a counterproposal to Rendell's contract offer. However, the Mayor was firm in his rejection of the negotiation process Friday. "This is the very best that I can do," Rendell said. "If the unions can improve on this offer, if they can propose something that is better, not just from the perspective of their workers, but from the perspective of the taxpayers and better from the perspective of the citizens of this city, I would be willing to listen." Thomas Cronin, leader of District Council 47, the city's white-collar union, told the Inquirer that his team had not yet finished reviewing the offer, and would possibly have a statement ready today. Talks between the City and the unions broke down earlier this summer. The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board issued a special fact-finding order to continue negotiations, but Rendell challenged the legality of the order. While the order was being decided by the state Supreme Court, the unions were barred from striking and the City was barred from implementing the contract offer. The Supreme Court ruled last week that the board did not meet the legal deadline to appoint a fact-finder, freeing Rendell to set the new deadline. Both unions authorized their leaderships last month to call strikes if the leaders deem it neccesary.
(09/04/92 9:00am)
While students are gearing up for school, local politicians will be getting ready for their last big push before the November elections. This spring, all incumbent candidates running for state offices in University City won their party's nominations by a "comfortable margin," a spokesperson from the Philadelphia Board of Elections said. The incumbents, all Democrats, will take on the Republicans in races for the state senate and state assembly. On the national level, incumbent Senator Arlen Specter faces Democrat Lynn Yeakel in a widely publicized senate race. Specter is currently serving second senate term. Before becoming a senator, Specter, a University graduate, serves as District Attorney of Philadelphia and also on the Warren Commission to investigate the assasination of President John Kennedy. The Republican came under fire last summer for his role in the Senate Nomination hearings of the then Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. Yeakel is president of Women's Way, a coalition of organizations which raises funds for women and their families. The Democratic won her first election in the April primary where she defeated Lt. Governor Marc Singel for the nomination. Her campaign focused heavily on women's issues and the need for a national economic plan. This November, all 203 State Assembly seats will be up for re-election. Half of the State Senate seats will be up for re-election. In the 7th Senate District, which includes all University dormitories, incumbent Chaka Fattah faces Republican Lawrence Watson. Fattah, a Wharton graduate, failed in his bid for a U.S. House of Representatives seat as an independent candidate last fall. He was first elected to the State Assembly in 1982 and to the State Senate in 1988. The 186th Assembly District, which includes Hill House, covers the southeast corner of University City. Incumbent Democrat Harold James faces Republican F. Malana Pettite. Hanes, a formere Philadelphia police officer, is running for his third term in the Assembly. The 188th Assembly District is defined by a choppy diagonal line which runs through the middle of campus. The Quadrangle, Stouffer College House, High Rise North, DuBois College House, Graduate Towers and Kings Court/English House are all within the District. In the 188th, Republican George Forrest takes on incumbent Democrat James Roebuck for the Assembly seat. Roebuck, a former Drexel University professor, was first elected to the Assembly in 1984. Democrats Vincent Hughes in the 109th and Frank Oliver in the 195th both ran as unapposed incumbents in the April primary. Hughes will face Republican Edward Howell and Oliver will take on Republican David Thomsen in November.
(12/09/91 10:00am)
The ad offered a Valentine's Day special for the Polo Bay nightclub which stated in fine print that the special was open to couples who "must be of the opposite sex." A group of students and faculty calling itself the Valentine's Day Coalition protested the ad and filed complaints with the Philadelphia Human Relations Coalition against both the DP and the nightclub. The group has since agreed to drop the complaints against the DP, which editors of the paper have maintained are groundless. The apology stated that the DP did not realize that the offensive statement had been included in the ad. "If the fine print at issue had been seen prior to publication, the ad would not have been published containing that language, because it appears to constitute unlawful discrimination based on sexual orientation," the statement read. "The DP regrets that the incident occurred." The statement was part of an agreement made between the DP and the coalition, which states that, among other things, the paper will inform all advertisers that unlawfully discriminatory ads will not be printed and that members of the DP staff will meet with the coalition in the future to continue discussions. Executive Editor Helen Jung said that she is glad the matter is resolved. "It was important to us that we resolve this matter between the coalition and ourselves," Jung said. "We did not want a governmental agency interfering with and limiting our freedom of the press." Coalition member Marc Stein said he was satisfied with the statement. "For the most part I'm really pleased," Stein said. "Once the DP and the Valentine's Day Coalition sat down and talked, we were able to make a great deal of progress. It's really too bad it had to take 10 months." Stein said that the agreement was a positive move. "In terms of the eight-part agreement, the DP apology is really only the first step, and we look forward to the DP fulfilling all of its other promises," Stein said. "I hope that the DP's positive action will lead to greater student awareness of the problems of day-to-day heterosexism at Penn."
(12/06/91 10:00am)
The Faculty Senate Executive Committee failed to reach a consensus Wednesday about the University's racial and sexual harrassment policies during a discussion with President Sheldon Hackney. SEC members discussed the policies with Hackney at their last meeting of the year, but according to Senate Chairperson and Social Work Professor Louise Shoemaker, they still were unable to present a unified view to the administration. "There is real disagreement among the members of SEC because some of us believe really strongly in First Amendment issues," Shoemaker said. "But both sides were represented." She said that some members are afraid that strict codes will inhibit the educational process. "The fear is that the more we codify things, the more we move away from the educational side," Shoemaker said. "The question was raised that even if we do codify some things, whether there should be a statement saying certain actions and words are unacceptable, and whether those actions and words are punishable are two different things." But despite the disagreement, Shoemaker said that the discussion with the administrators was a positive step. "There was a lot of honest give and take," she said. "It was one of the best discussion sessions we've had with the president and the provost." Although Shoemaker said SEC members will try to "influence" Hackney's decision regarding the harrassment codes once they have reached a consensus, "the place it will be brought up is [University Council]." SEC also discussed the conception of the University as a global institution after Provost Michael Aiken gave a speech summarizing the issue, Shoemaker said. "The Provost gave a compelling description of what's happening," Shoemaker said. "There is a definite need to give more encouragement to grass roots programs. A lot of our students study abroad, but many of them go on programs from different schools."
(12/03/91 10:00am)
Female professors at the University receive timely tenure at a higher rate than male professors do, a report issued last month revealed. The report, compiled by the deputy provost's office, lists the number of men and women who were approved and turned down for timely tenure, which occurs after an instructor has been on a tenure track for five years. The report does not include faculty who were hired with tenure or faculty who were granted tenure before five years. Deputy Provost Richard Clelland, whose office has been publishing similar data for the past ten years, said in the report that the study shows that the timely tenure review process is not biased. "The Office of the Deputy Provost began publishing this data series in response to rather heated charges that the internal tenure review process was biased against women," the report states. "After ten years at a time when the timely tenure percentage for women has slightly exceeded that for men, it seems clear that this claim has no substance -- as far as timely tenure is concerned." The report states that questions remain concerning the granting of tenure before five years, the hiring of faculty with tenure, and the proportions of tenured faculty who leave the University. Concern about tenure review arose after former Associate Management Professor Rosalie Tung filed sexual and racial discrimination charges against the University in 1985, claiming that the University denied her tenure because of her race and sex. Faculty were pleased that the research had been done. "It's excellent that the provost has done this analysis," said Biochemistry Professor Phoebe Leboy. "It's a whole lot better then it used to be." But Leboy, a vocal women's activist, agreed that there were still questions to be answered. "It would be very useful to look at other aspects, people brought in from outside with tenure, other people brought up relatively early," Leboy said. "I think it would be very useful and shouldn't be difficult to find early tenure and put those numbers in. It would be a little more difficult to include people brought in from the outside."
(11/27/91 10:00am)
"We're a little ahead of what we expected," said Assistant to the President Linda Hyatt. The charitable campaign is a system that allows University employees to contribute to charities through paycheck deductions. According to Hyatt, faculty and staff have responded well to this year's new method of solicitation. "One of the ways the charitable workplace campaign is different is in the design and solicitation of materials," Hyatt said. "We have had tremendous response indicating that they like this." This year, faculty and staff were given a single book, listing the different charities in alphabetical order, and giving a description of each. Previously, staff had received multiple mailings regarding the separate charities. "From a Penn perspective, just having a single book . . . is wonderful," said Jane Combrinck-Graham, a member of the Committee for a Combined Campaign. In the new campaign, there are seven United Way-sponsored federations and six independent ones, including Bread and Roses Community Fund, United Negro College Fund and Women's Way. A federation is a group that represents various charitable agencies and organizations when soliciting funds. The charitable campaign was redesigned last spring after faculty and staff complained that the only groups they could give money to were the United Way-administrated charities. The Committee for a Combined Campaign was formed last year to ask the University to allow non-United Way charities to be part of the campaign. Staff voted in a referendum this summer to change the campaign design and put all of the charities on an equal basis. The United Way charities have also been reorganized into seven separate funds. These funds group together specific interest groups, although they are still administered under the United Way's umbrella. Combrinck-Graham said she was pleased with the way the reorganization worked out. "The best thing is, it's Penn's campaign, it's not United Way's campaign," Combrinck-Graham said. "It belongs to the workplace."
(11/14/91 10:00am)
Approximately 75 health care union members demonstrated outside the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for two hours yesterday in an attempt "to send a wake up call" to CHOP management. Claiming that the hospital is trying to undermine the union, AFSCME District 1199C President Henry Nicholas called for the removal of "the union-busting" Marriott Corporation, which manages food services and housekeeping for the hospital. "We are here because we believe this hospital is involved in a systematic attack to undermine the union and collective bargaining and we will not stand for it," Nicholas said. The union represents dietary workers, housekeeping, supply aides, skilled maintenance workers and some clerical workers, which constitutes less than 15 percent of CHOP employees, said Pat Rocchi, a spokesperson for CHOP. Protestors claim that Marriott has systematically tried to bust the union but did not state any specific incidents. "Marriott is making it harder for us to work here," said Martha Patterson, a nurse's aide at CHOP who is a member of the executive board of the union. "They came in with the idea that they were going to try to bust the union." But Rocchi said that CHOP was not aware of any union busting attempts by Marriott. "We find it hard to respond to this," Rocchi said. "We were not aware of any specific issues related to union-busting or to the Marriott corporation." The protest consisted of members of the 13,000-member city-wide union, all of whom work at area hospitals. The protest at CHOP was one in a series of protests that took place at area hospitals yesterday, in an effort to strengthen union solidarity for upcoming contract negotiations. According to Nicholas, 86 city hospital contracts will be up for renewal on July 1. Rocchi said yesterday that it was "unfortunate" that the demonstration was held. "It is unfortunate that the union officials do this because we haven't discussed it [with the union] yet," he said. "We have a meeting coming up on [November] 26. We've never even discussed it." The city-wide union is attempting to encourage early contract talks, and is critical of what they see as management's anti-union treatment. "We're going for early contracts for everyone," said Dave Shahade, a union organizer. "This place has been real hard-headed." Nicholas said that the union would attempt to obtain similar contracts at each of the hospitals. Nicholas also said that CHOP has asked Blue Cross/Blue Shield for a quote for its health benefits plan without first discussing benefits with the employees. "We will not let them dictate what health care benefits and wages will be," said Nicholas. "Only members will dictate. We will close them down if necessary."
(11/12/91 10:00am)
David Pope was typecast. But if anyone else is considering the jump from academia to prime-time, acting lessons are apparently not necessary. There is is only one qualification that must be met. You have to look "like a professor." "It goes back a year or so," said Louis Brandsdorfer, creative director for Al Paul Lefton and Co., PPL's advertising agency. "For an educational approach . . . we wanted to convince a professor to work with us." Brandsdorfer said an executive in his company lived next door to Materials Science Professor Charles Graham, who recommended Pope for the part. And Brandsdorfer said Pope was perfect. "During our talk, our producer stood up and said, 'He's perfect. He looks like an engineer,' " he said. Pope said the spots discuss a new method of energy transfer in which heat is generated and stored in bricks during non-peak hours and is used during peak hours to save costs. The professor said he has not heard a lot of feedback from members of the University community, primarily because the spots do not run in Philadelphia. According to Brandsdorfer, the spots are on cable television in the central-eastern portion of the state -- the area covered by PPL. "The spots run on local cable in the area and on CNN," Brandsdorfer said. But Pope said that his friends from the suburbs have mentioned the ads to him. "I received a letter from an attorney I know in Scranton," Pope said. "He closed the letter with, 'P.S.: It's difficult to have breakfast in Scranton without seeing your face. You've become a star.' " Brandsdorfer said that Pope seemed nervous at first, but acted like "a natural." "It was great," Brandsdorfer said. "He was perfectly natural. It was done is his office, which is pretty large, but we filled it up with people and equipment. He seemed a little nervous so we let him read it few times. That's what we usually do for people who haven't acted before." "We offered him a recording contract, but he turned us down," he added. Pope said that he was paid "a few hundred dollars," for the ads, but added that he "won't get rich," doing them.
(11/11/91 10:00am)
For those of you who sleep through your 9 a.m. classes, there is an answer. Now you can sleep through them in the privacy of your own home. The Teaching Company, an educational company founded by a former lawyer, is now marketing video and audio tapes of "superstar teachers," some of whom you may know. University History Professors Alan Kors, Thomas Childers and Bruce Kuklick are all featured in the series. Just what are superstar teachers? According to Tom Rollins president of the Teaching Company, superstar teachers are "chosen by the students." "We went through student course evaluations and selected those the students seemed to think were the best," Rollins said. Rollins said he got the idea for the company while he was in law school, after he slept through an important class. "I found 10 hours of class on tape in the law school library," Rollins said. "I thought it would be horrible. Instead it was wonderful." Rollins said the company was doing fairly well, and that most of his sales were on audio tapes. "People buy them to listen to in their cars," Rollins said. Rollins said the tapes range from intellectual history to philosophy. The professors did not seem starstruck by their experience. If anything, they were jaded. Kuklick, who is featured on an audio tape entitled "The Good King: The American Presidency Since the Depression," said the experience was "an awful lot of work." "I lectured for two days straight," Kuklick said. "That's eight 45-minute lectures with a half hour of discussion in between each." And Kors, who has released both an audio and video tape on "The Origin of the American Mind," said condensing his class was "very difficult." "There is no reading," Kuklick said. "In teaching you can assume students have done the reading. This way you have to put in what students would gain if they read primary sources and weave that into a coherent lecture." But Kors said he was pleased to "reach people outside the University." "I've had heartwarming feedback," Kors said. "I find it very rewarding. I very much like the idea that I touch people outside academia." But Kuklick said his colleagues have not been as receptive to the idea. "The faculty think it's kind of a joke," Kuklick said. "They don't appreciate it. The feeling is this is one of the many things I've done that has caused raised eyebrows." While Kuklick said that he "would not want" to hear his tape, Kors said that he had already seen his. "I watched it and thought, 'Who is that aging, overweight, professor on the TV?' The camera is cruel." In addition to Kors and Kuklick, History Professor Thomas Childers has also released an audio tape, entitled, "The History of Hitler's Empire." Childers was not available for comment. And for those of you who couldn't get enough the first time, Kors will be recording a new tape on the European Enlightenment later this month.
(11/07/91 10:00am)
For those of you who sleep through your 9 a.m. classes, there is an answer. Now you can sleep through them in the privacy of your own home. The Teaching Company, an educational company founded by a former lawyer, is now marketing video and audio tapes of "superstar teachers," some of whom you may know. University History Professors Alan Kors, Thomas Childers and Bruce Kuklick are all featured in the series. Just what are superstar teachers? According to Tom Rollins president of the Teaching Company, superstar teachers are "chosen by the students." "We went through student course evaluations and selected those the students seemed to think were the best," Rollins said. Rollins said he got the idea for the company while he was in law school, after he slept through an important class. "I found 10 hours of class on tape in the law school library," Rollins said. "I thought it would be horrible. Instead it was wonderful." Rollins said the company was doing fairly well, and that most of his sales were on audio tapes. "People buy them to listen to in their cars," Rollins said. Rollins said the tapes range from intellectual history to philosophy. The professors did not seem starstruck by their experience. If anything, they were jaded. Kuklick, who is featured on an audio tape entitled "The Good King: The American Presidency since the Depression," said the experience was "an awful lot of work." "I lectured for two days straight," Kuklick said. "That's eight 45-minute lectures with a half hour of discussion in between each." And Kors, who has released both an audio and video tape on "The Origin of the American Mind," said condensing his class was "very difficult." "There is no reading," Kuklick said. "In teaching you can assume students have done the reading. This way you have to put in what students would gain if they read primary sources and weave that into a coherent lecture." But Kors said he was pleased to "reach people outside the University." "I've had heartwarming feedback," Kors said. "I find it very rewarding. I very much like the idea that I touch people outside academia." But Kuklick said his colleagues have not been as receptive to the idea. "The faculty think it's kind of a joke," Kuklick said. "They don't appreciate it. The feeling is this is one of the many things I've done that has caused raised eyebrows." While Kuklick said that he "would not want" to hear his tape, Kors said that he had seen his. "I watched it and thought, 'Who is that aging, overweight, professor on the TV?' The camera is cruel." In addition to Kors and Kuklick, History professor Thomas Childers has also released an audio tape, entitled, "The History of Hitler's Empire." Childers was not available for comment. And for those of you who couldn't get enough the first time, Kors will be recording a new tape on the European Enlightenment later this month.
(11/07/91 10:00am)
In the wake of the landslide defeats of Republican mayoral candidate Joseph Egan and senatorial candidate Richard Thornburgh, the future of the Republican party in Philadelphia is muddled. Whether there will be a challenge to party boss William Meehan for party leadership, and who the challengers in that struggle might be, are questions that will be answered in the coming months. Egan's loss on Tuesday could reflect directly on Meehan, who selected the city businessman as a compromise mayoral candidate after the death of party nominee Frank Rizzo this summer. The loss also caps a year of defeat for Meehan who in the spring saw his handpicked primary candidate, Ron Castille, lose to the rebellious Rizzo. Now having passed over two likely stronger candidates, Castille and Sam Katz, to replace Rizzo, many are now questioning the party boss's strength. But almost all agree that Meehan, who has been running the Republican party for the past 15 years, will be a tough man to oust. "If Bill wants to go he will go," said Castille. "Nobody will be able to force him out." Many feel that Meehan chose Egan as a means of pulling the Castille and Katz factions of the party together. "You had to pick a person who could please the entire party," said Fran Rizzo, son of the late ex-mayor. And while no one was angered outright by Meehan's choice of Egan, no one was excited by it either, especially not the voters. Garnering only 32 percent of the vote, even the candidate himself seemed surprised at how badly he fared. "I was disappointed. I didn't think I'd do that badly," Egan said in an interview Tuesday night. "I got beaten hard." And Katz said Tuesday night he thought the obvious politicking that went into the choice affected Egan's ability to run. "[Egan] was. . . cramped by the manner that he was chosen and by the manner his campaign was run," he said. But longtime City Council member Thacher Longstreth said that any challenge to Meehan would be "idiotic." "If anyone wants to take over the Republican Party he'd better move to Albuquerque and try it down there," Longstreth said. "Billy's been the leader since I've been in it." But others said this was the time for a change in leadership for the Republican party. "I think the party got a big beating. We lost council races we should have won or been more competitive in," Katz said. "This should have been a great opportunity for the party, but there has been relatively little change. "We've got to be rethinking how we can promote the party, how we can be more effective, and select candidates more openly and reach and include more people," Katz said. But some observers consider Katz's call for improved party leadership to be a sign that he will be the one trying to take over. And, these observers say, a challenge will raise strong opposition. "We Republicans will not forget what Katz did," Longstreth said, referring to Katz's refusal to back out of the GOP mayoral primary once Castille was picked by Meehan, leading to Rizzo's win. When asked if he thought Katz would take control one day, Longstreth vehemently replied, "Not in my party." But if Philadelphia has not seen the last of Meehan, it has also not seen the last of Katz, Castille, and Egan. All three left open the possibility of reentering public life. Castille said that he enjoys public service and that he would consider an "appropriate spot," whether elected or appointed. Katz said that he plans "to remain active" in public life and that he wants "to play a role in achieving things." Egan said that he, too, would keep involved in city politics. "You're gonna hear from Joe Egan again. I will definitely run for office again," he said.
(11/06/91 10:00am)
They began the evening playing music by the Boss. But Joseph Egan didn't leave as the boss last night. Republican mayoral candidate Egan was trounced last night in a hastily assembled run for mayor, garnering only 130,478 votes, or 32 percent, with 98 of Philadelphia's precincts reporting in. Although Egan's advertisements repeatedly portrayed Democrat Edward Rendell as ill-prepared to run the city, when Egan conceded shortly after 10 p.m. last night, he threw his support to the victor. "I want to tell the people of Philadelphia to get behind Ed Rendell because I'm going to get behind Ed Rendell," Egan said in his concession speech. The air at the Center City Benjamin Franklin House was not charged with excitement last night, and there were no impassioned speeches. Rendell's landslide victory over Egan -- who was chosen to run after nominee Frank Rizzo died this summer -- came as a surprise to few. "I'm still very hopeful that he becomes mayor, but realistically I don't think he's going to win," said Wharton and College senior Charles Djou early last night at the downtown ballroom. Egan's late entry into the race was seen by many, including the candidate, as an insurmountable obstacle. "I think the inability to raise money and get the message out hurt me," Egan said in an interview. "There were a series of issues that hurt us. I don't want to make excuses." "There are both advantages and disadvantages in a short campaign," said Ledonna Lee, political consultant for Egan. "After Rizzo won, too many people -- Republicans -- decided to go with Rendell. When Joe was named, people had already decided who to vote for." Fran Rizzo, son of the late former mayor, said that he was impressed with Egan's accomplishments during his short time on the campaign trail. "In 12 weeks he did the impossible," Rizzo said. "Joe Egan did a great job under the circumstances." And though the campaign was short, it took its toll on the candidate and his staff. "The pace was brutal," said Joe Sanchez, press secretary for Egan. "In the last 90 days, I got two days off. I got sick. Joe got sick." Many of Egan's supporters said they saw a bleak future for the city under Democratic leadership. "Philadelphia is a city that's got one foot over the chasm and it's about to lose it's balance," said Carol Coren, Egan's director of issues. "The fall is going to be very long and very deep and I hope not without bottom." Despite the glare of the television lights and the bustle of the reporters, Egan's supporters and friends were quiet throughout the evening. Excitement came from the results of other races, rather than the one for which the people had gathered. People spent much of their time clustered around television screens looking for election results, and they chatted about the Senate race between Democrat Harris Wofford and Republican Richard Thornburgh. The excitement in the room rose temporarily as some well-known politicians, including Republican primary candidates Ron Castille and Sam Katz, entered the room, but the subdued atmosphere returned as they were dragged off to the TV cameras. Both Katz and Castille had served as advisors to Egan after their losses in the primaries. Although many considered Katz a "spoiler" in the spring primary and he was passed over for the Republican nod after Rizzo died, he chaired Egan's campaign. "We came together for the party," Katz said. Staff writer Jeremy Feinstein contributed to this story.
(11/04/91 10:00am)
It's that time of the year for high school seniors. All over the country, seniors are frantically trying to think of answers to questions like, "If you could spend an evening with any person, living, deceased or fictional, whom would you choose and why?" And students are up to their ears in guide books, rankings and lists, trying to find the school, the one that's perfect for them, the one that will make their life complete. But some are wondering, just where do these books come from? Who makes up the lists, and decides which schools go where? And how accurate are these things anyway? Administrators, consultants and guidance counselors alike say college guides such as The Fiske Guide to the Colleges, 1992 and Barron's Top 50: An Inside Guide to America's Best Colleges are useful, but all agree that they are "completely subjective." "They are very subjective, some less than others, but there are always judgements to be made," said Fred Brooks, an admissions officer at the State University of New York at Binghamton. "Certainly Mr. Fiske would agree that he's making judgements based on experience. I think most students and parents realize they're getting opinion." "They're vehicles that sell books," said Leonard Krivy, an educational consultant. Wendy Robbins, who works for an educational consulting firm called College Information Services, breaks guide books into two kinds, descriptive and prescriptive. "Descriptive guides give statistics and things like that, while the prescriptive guides are telling you in many ways about life at the school," Robbins said. Robbins, and many others, said that while the statistics in most books are updated every year, some information, including the prescriptive essays, is often very out of date. "I'm very concerned about accuracy," Robbins said. "Sometimes one says 30 percent [of students] leave campus on the weekend, another says 15 percent. One uses them carefully, because half [of the information] is obsolete by the time it reaches the press. You can read through '89, '90, '91 versions and there is little difference." For example both the current Barron's and Fiske discuss the University's football team, describing it as a powerhouse that still dominates the league. The Fiske Guide says that "manic loyalists now sleep outdoors for days in order to purchase season tickets." One wonders if these writers have gone to Penn State by mistake. But Carolyn Horne, project editor for Barron's defends the guide, saying that the books are relatively accurate. Horne said that when the rights to the book were bought by Barron's from another publisher, some editing was necessary. "The book has essays written by former students and statistics on the schools," Horne said. "We updated statistics and edited copy, here and there, depending on whether it needed it." However, Horne said that the publishing company did not check the descriptions of student life. "We used info from the '89 to '90 profiles and certain statistics, but it was up to the person writing the article to make sure it's accurate," Horne said. "And I don't think things like the football team are that important." · While some students rely very little on the guides, others become attached to them, touring schools and attending meetings with the books firmly in hand. "I was visiting a high school last fall in New York City and there was a young man sitting with a college guide book on his lap under a table, hiding it from me," said Sally Osann, an associate dean of admissions. "He was asking questions straight out of the book and I had read this book. For instance, the book had said that our Poli Sci Department was weak, and he asked me 'How good is the Political Science Department at Penn?' I wanted to answer, 'Why don't you just ask the guy who wrote the book?' " However, some people think that bringing the books to schools can be useful. "I try to have a guidebook with me while visiting schools," said Terrie Ballak, a guidance counselor at Brentwood High School in Brentwood, California. "I read them overall and then try to see how accurate they are. It's a good test." But while almost everyone involved in the admissions process agrees that students do not, and should not, use the only the guides in deciding what school to attend, many students use the books as a means of choosing schools to apply to. "Students definitely use them to decide where to apply," said Ballak. "I recommend that students use them as starting place, but I caution that these are opinions, and to use more than one source. If there is a negative comment, students cling to that comment. A lot [of the guides] try to show both sides, but the negative aspect sticks out more." But while negative reviews hurt schools, positive ones can make admissions soar. After SUNY Binghamton was listed as a "Public Ivy" by a book in 1985, applications rose considerably, according to Brooks. "I think what it does is encourage people to look at a school more carefully," Brooks said. "It's another way to get information out to the public. Since these people are respected, it leads people to look more carefully at the school." "For our kids, it validates that they're making a good decision," said Ballak. "If a school they're interested in does well, perhaps a regional school they haven't heard much about, it validates their decision." The big attention-getter for schools is something every admissions officer dreads. The rankings. Admissions officers have a "love-hate relationship" with the annual ranking of schools by U.S. News and World Report, according Richard Fuller, director of admissions at John's Hopkins University in Baltimore. "They are a very poor barometer of whether a school is a good match. People give them too much credence," Fuller said. "On the other hand, we're much more pleased to be included then not. We moved up this year [from 14 to 11], and that will help us in terms of attractiveness, and appeasing current students and alumni." Admissions officers, consultants and guidance counselors all agreed that the rankings are "arbitrary." "They're so arbitrary, it's based on what they decide is important, not necessarily someone else's criteria," Fuller said. "Last year they reported statistics [on faculty student ratios] incorrectly." "They're only for the purpose of selling magazines, and they're going to get in even more," Robbins added. "I'm always reluctant when people rely on a quick easy list. A school like Cornell, one year it's nine, now 13. Come on." And educators agreed that the rankings are often used incorrectly, by both students and schools. "There are schools more on the margin that use the rankings, schools more in middle field. They put things like 'In 1988 we were ranked number five,' when they're not even on the list anymore. It does happen," Fuller said. And educators also complain that students place too much importance on the "prestige factor" in the rankings. "They're helpful in putting things in order," Krivy said. "But the mere fact that schools are ranked in that order is not the most important factor. People think prestige makes you stand out, but that's a lot of bull." "I [used] the rankings," said Jessica O'Connell, senior at Brentwood High School. "I guess I'm a pretty good student. I rank how I feel about myself as student on how those books rank the schools."
(11/01/91 10:00am)
A small fire broke out last night in an apartment at Hamilton Court Apartments, located between 39th and Spruce Streets. The fire broke out in the kitchen of room 401C, and was contained to that apartment, Fire Chief John McGuire said last night. "The report was called in at 10:44 p.m. and was under control in 16 minutes," McGuire said. "The fire was contained in the kitchen of the apartment." Trucks from Battalion 11 had to break down locked gates to reach the apartment windows because the guard on duty did not have a key to open them, McGuire said. "We tried to get the gate open but we had no success," the fire chief said. "We had to break the gate down. I guess that's forcible entry." According to McGuire, the apartments do not have an automatic smoke detector, and the alarm was pulled by neighboring residents. "We smelled smoke and we came over and started knocking on the door," said neighbor David Edwards, a fourth-year Drexel student. "No one answered, and [my roommate] grabbed the fire extinguisher and broke the door down. My other roommate pulled the fire alarm and I called the fire department." McGuire said "it's very possible" that the lack of smoke detectors could constitute a fire code violation, but added that he was unsure of the codes for Hamilton Court buildings. But University City Housing manager Diane Tarbuck said that she did not believe that any codes had been violated. "My understanding is that the heat detectors were the only thing necessary," Tarbuck said last night. "We will be inspecting here tomorrow with the fire marshal." The scene in the parking lot outside the fire was almost festive, as students in Halloween costumes milled around, waiting to return to alarm-interrupted parties. From an unevacuated building, someone began playing We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel and Burning Down the House by the Talking Heads toward the throng. But once inside, the residents of 401C were stunned by the damage. "This is a disaster," whispered Kenan Turnacioglu, a second-year graduate student. "Our whole kitchen is ruined." Turnacioglu looked at the charred walls, sopping wet floor and ruined carpet and then turned and went into the living room to check on their pet fish, which his roommates worried might have boiled due to the heat. The fish survived. "Oh my God, all are groceries are gone," exclaimed College senior Sujay Parik. "$100 of groceries, and the cabinets are all gone." It was not immediately clear what had caused the fire. According to UCH's Tarbuck, the fire department believes it was caused by a burner on the stove or by a frying pan. But Turnacioglu said that he "finds that hard to believe." "We ate dinner at 6:30, and we were here until ten," Turnacioglu said. "We didn't smell a thing."
(10/25/91 9:00am)
Faculty may have to pay more of their health bills if recommendations in a report submitted to the provost are adopted. Currently, the University pays 100 percent of health costs incurred by faculty members. The issue of how much faculty pay, commonly known as a co-payment, led professors to strike at Temple University last year, and faculty leaders said this week that the issue could be devisive at the University. "I expect there will be a lot of flack," said Finance Professor Morris Mendelson, a member of the provost's Task Force on Retirement which completed the report this summer. "A lot of people are going to object. It's going to be a divided faculty." The report, which was issued to the provost July 29, states that "health care, life insurance and dental care premium payments should be changed to incorporate a gentle step-wise escalation of faculty contributions." The recommendation comes from committee concerns that health care costs are increasing while the faculty pool ages, leading to hardships in meeting health care costs unless "some adjustments are made." According to the report's introduction, the task force was designed to examine problems created by a 1986 federal law which bans mandatory retirement ages. Despite a postponement for faculty at educational institutions, the University must drop its mandatory retirement age of 70 by 1994. The report also calls for an unspecified reduction in the amount of money the University contributes to faculty pensions. Currently, the University contributes nine percent of faculty salaries towards pension accounts. Hemetology Professor Peter Cassileth, chairperson of the committee, said yesterday that the president, provost and Faculty Senate Executive Committee have reviewed the report. Neither the president nor the provost was available for comment. Cassileth said the task force recommended that the University look into reducing costs for pensions because "retirement costs are becoming extraordinary." And Mendelson said he does not expect that section of the report to be a problem with faculty because it could not apply retroactively. The report determined that even if retirement age were "uncapped," fewer than 20 to 25 percent of the faculty will remain on staff past age 70. According to the task force's study, the additional faculty will result in a $535,000 increase in salaries. However, the task force's model did not include inflation adjustments or faculty benefits costs. The report also cites a study done by the Administrative Working Group and by committee member Susan Shaman, who is also director of Research and Planning Analysis, which estimates the costs of uncapped retirement totaling between $1 and $2 million. Shaman's report states that the effects of retirement uncapping will not be harmful to the tenure system, "except for a few schools, departments or graduate groups."
(10/21/91 9:00am)
Student members of the committee reviewing the University's Judicial Charter said their opinions were "completely bypassed" in a recently-released plan that fails to split the role of the Judicial Inquiry Officer. "I thought our views were disenfranchised," Elizabeth Hunt, a graduate student and a member of the committee, said. "To get four student representatives with such varying opinions to agree shows how deeply the students felt." The committee, one of three commissioned by the provost to examine different aspects of the University's judicial system, issued a preliminary report last spring. In the initial report, student committee members issued a minority opinion, saying that the JIO could be "intimidating." They proposed splitting or "bifurcating" the role of the JIO into a "prosecutional" JIO and a "settlement" JIO. The three reports were re-released last week after revisions by an oversight committee. The oversight committee amended the reports to ensure that they were consistent with one another, said David Pope, chairperson of the oversight committee. But the new version of the Judicial Charter does not contain a split JIO. "I was really disappointed the report doesn't contain it," said College senior Ken Tercyak, a member of both the Judicial Charter and oversight committee. "Dr. Pope was open to discussing the proposal. It came down to a split in the decision between what the students wanted, and what the faculty wanted, and I think that document represents what the faculty wanted." Students also questioned whether the Judicial Charter review committee's decision was made fairly. "My recollection is that the first time we took a vote on whether we should include [the split JIO], the vote was not just the four students for, and everyone against," Hunt said. The graduate student leader said after initial vote, Judicial Charter review committee Chairperson Stephen Burbank took extra votes in an attempt to get more committee members to side against the split. "After the vote was taken [Burbank] didn't seem very happy, and he talked to us and then called the question again," she added. "This time, we lost one non-student advocate. He talked some more, and called the vote a third time, and that time just the students [voted for it], and then Dr. Burbank was satisfied." "He said, by way of pacifying us, the oversight committee would look into it," Hunt said. But Burbank said the decision had been made fairly. "My committee voted not to bifurcate that position," Burbank said. "That was intensely unpopular with the student members, and they lobbied heavily with the oversight committee to have that changed, and the committee made the decision not to." Susan Garfinkel, a member of the oversight committee and former chairperson of the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly, said the oversight committee debated the proposal and decided to exclude it. "The version now proposed [came about through] a process of negotiation, and this is what the committee finally agreed on," Garfinkel said. "Some people still disagreed. It was a compromise rather than consensus." "As a student, I'm very concerned that people are not unduly intimidated by an all-powerful JIO and concerned that their rights are not infringed upon," Garfinkel said. However, she added that she also saw the faculty members' point of view. "I also came to see that many present problems have more to do with students taking advantage of the system," Garfinkel said. "People who were particularly upset where students had violated the system and because of technicalities they got away with it." Mitch Winston, chairperson of the Undergraduate Assembly, said yesterday that although the UA has not yet discussed the issue, he anticipates they will come down against the decision. "The UA is definitely planning on acting on this," Winston said. "We're in the process of drawing up a resolution for the next meeting. We definitely noticed it and we definitely plan on acting on it."
(10/17/91 9:00am)
Newly-proposed changes in the University's judicial system do not include splitting the Judicial Inquiry Officer's job in two, despite the urging of several student groups. The Undergraduate Assembly and the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly called in the spring of 1990 for the University to create a "prosecutional" JIO and a "settlement" JIO. At the time, students said the system makes it uncomfortable for students to negotiate settlements with the same person who could use any admissions of guilt in prosecuting them. The students' request came as three Provost's committees began reviewing the judicial system, the Code of Academic Integrity and the University's Open Expression regulations. An oversight committee reviewing the work of the other three committees released its recommendations for revising the policies this week. The proposals include minor changes in the Code of Academic Integrity and Open Expression policy and reject the request for breaking up the JIO. "The only controversial aspect of my committees work [was splitting the JIO]," Stephen Burbank, a law professor and chair of the committee on the judicial system, said yesterday. "It split along faculty-student lines. It was a question of whether the JIO should continue to settle cases and be the prosecutor [in those cases]. The students wanted splitting, and the faculty were not in favor. We're not splitting it." The introduction to the report released this week states that the changes "made the document acceptable to the student members who had vigorously objected to the previous version." But, student committee member Elizabeth Hunt said last night she did not agree with the changes. "Professor [David] Pope [chairperson of the Oversight Committee] is saying that the changes take care of the question of splitting the JIO," said Hunt. "This does not make the document acceptable to me, and furthermore they didn't ask me. I still feel the students were short-changed." The report, printed in this week's Almanac, is still open to comment and change. It will eventually go before University Council for approval. The non-binding report also eliminates what Burbank said was a never-used procedure that allows students charged in the judicial system to opt to go to the Vice Provost of University Life instead of the JIO. The other changes in the judicial system make revealing information on pending cases a punishable offense. The report added that any person who leaks information could be charged by the University. The committee also suggested that the judicial system be reviewed by the Provost every five years. The report by the Committee on the Code of Academic Integrity contains three major changes from the one released in April 1990 -- it adds policies on confidentiality and reports that are virtually identical to those sections in the judicial charter; it specifically tells students they can go to the Ombudsman instead of the JIO; and emphasizes that the Code of Academic Integrity is distinct from the judicial charter. The report gives a specific list of actions which are regarded as violations of the code. According to Pope those are the only things which constitute violations, and anything not on the list is not a violation. The report also recommends that professors be allowed to punish cheating by the grade given in a class. "The instructor now has the explicit option of awarding a punitive grade based on cheating," Pope said. "The respondent can appeal but the faculty always has final say in awarding grades." The report also explicitly states the sanctions for violations. Only one major change was made to the Guidelines on Open Expression, Pope said. In the section which defines where and when the policy applies, a clarification of "University location was added." The addition reads: " 'University location' designates: 1) The campus of the University; 2) Any location owned, leased, or used by the University, when used by members of the University community; and 3) Areas immediately adjacent thereto." The only other changes were modifications of the language used in the report, Pope said.
(10/17/91 9:00am)
A proposed change in the University's judicial system could allow the University to punish students or faculty who discuss pending cases. The University's judicial proceedings have always been confidential, but there was never any system for punishing people for breaking confidentiality. The new proposed policy states that only the person accused in the case can make the issue public, and disclosure by others "shall constitute a violation of University rules and subject the individual to the appropriate procedures for dealing with such violations." According to the code, the person who files charges, or anyone else involved in the case, would face penalties if he or she went public with information on the case. "This is going to put a bite in it," said Stephen Burbank, the chairperson of the committee proposing the changes. Faculty who worked on the plan said yesterday that the intent of the revision is to prevent leaks and to protect confidential information about students from being released. "Breaches of confidentiality are a violation of University rules. If you leak, you're liable," Burbank said. Though the person charged is technically allowed to discuss a case, "that is discouraged," Burbank said. David Pope, chairperson of the oversight committee, emphasized that the intent of the committee was to protect the rights of the accused. "We don't want people who are privy to certain information to be trumpeting around campus that someone has been accused," Pope said. Pope said that while it would be fine to reveal that charges had been filed, the intent of the committee was to prevent revealing the name of the person against whom charges were filed. "The main concern we have is that once things go before a hearing court or honor court or when the JIO is given information by individuals, that no one leaks that information," Pope said. History Professor Alan Kors, perhaps the most vocal free-speech advocate on campus in recent years, said that he sees the need for the confidentiality, but that students' rights need to be protected. "It seems an admirable goal to prevent leaks, but one has to do that in a way not to preclude other legal rights," Kors said yesterday. "This has to be consistent with other rights . . . This also includes the right of a free press to report by its own choice information that comes into its possession." Mark Goodman, the executive director of the Student Press Law Center in Washington, D.C., said yesterday that administrators at other university have attempted to prosecute student journalists for printing information on judicial cases. "It's crazy to think they have the right to control what the newspaper wants to publish," Goodman said. Pope said under the new code, a reporter or editor could be brought up on charges by the JIO, or be asked to reveal who had leaked the information so that that person could be brought up on charges. "I suspect it would happen and I suspect that the editor would refuse to say who had told him," Pope said. But Pope said while he personally does not think this is how the code should be applied, it can be interpreted that way. "I personally wouldn't want to charge the editor, but there would be people who would want to charge the editor with violations." SPLC's Goodman said at Southern Methodist University, the student newspaper published a story about judicial proceedings and the administrators began a judicial case against the editor. "Defenders of the editor came out of the woodwork," Goodman said. But Goodman said he had never heard of challenges to such university rules going to court and predicted that most are resolved when there is a public outcry against the university suppressing freedom of the press. "I think it is disgraceful for any institution, especially the University of Pennsylvania, which has such a long and esteemed reputation, to take a notion that is contrary to press freedom in this country," Goodman said. According to the University's policy, all information concerning judicial cases must remain confidential under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, which is commonly known as FERPA or the Buckley Amendment. FERPA states that colleges and university cannot release "education records" of a student without permission from the student or his family. But over the summer at the University of Georgia, the student newspaper The Red and Black filed suit against the school, claiming that judicial records are not "education records" and therefore are not covered by FERPA. Reporters at the Red and Black tried to attend a hearing of the school's Organizational Court, which was holding hearings on alleged hazing at two fraternities. The schools lawyers said they could not attend the meetings, citing FERPA.
