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(01/22/93 10:00am)
President Bill Clinton's inauguration was just the beginning. Tomorrow, Kenneth Scott Baer will be inaugurated as editorial page editor of the 109th Board of The Daily Pennsylvanian. Coincidence? You decide. Jerome Baer, father of the incoming editor of the DP's page six, claims his son has demonstrated a political bent since he "tried to start getting a higher allowance." Baer's grandfather has claimed he will be the first Jewish president. Both Clinton and Baer started 1992 at the New Hampshire primaries. Clinton, then a virtual unknown, was starting his bid for the White House, and Baer was there to cover it. Since then, Clinton has become legendary. But you probably don't know about Baer's high school Congressional fellowship and his photograph with Senator Joe Kennedy, Jr. You probably haven't heard about Baer's own bus trip across the United States. These days, Temple law student Dan Orlow describes Baer as "politically astute," a "cross between an old Jewish guy and a menshchy James Carville." Last fall, Baer worked with Orlow on the New Jersey congressional campaign of 1962 University graduate Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky that attracted nationwide attention. "In candor, Kenny is probably one of the smartest young political people I've ever met, and I've worked on Capitol Hill and with senators and blah, blah, blah," Orlow said. "In fact, in candor, I don't know why he's wasting time with the paper because he could be doing much better things than pissing away his time with the student paper." In fact, Baer's academic career has been a constant tug-of-war between politics and the press, studying and socializing. Take his high school resume, for example. Editor-in-chief of his high newspaper. Regional president, United Synagogue Youth. Active on the debate team, moot court and in Boys State. During college, Baer interned with Senator Howard Metzenbaum (D-Ohio). And while working as a DP beat reporter, he even caught Pennsylvania Senator Harris Wofford with his pants down -- in a hotel locker room where the senator awaited election results. When asked about Baer's future, presidential pollster Frank Luntz said the chances are . . . · one in four he'll be a senator, · one in eight he'll be editor of The Washington Post, · one in 20 he will be teaching journalism · one in 100 he'll be married. But to his freshmen roommates in the Quadrangle's Community House, Baer frequently appeared in the guise of "Hugh Hefner, in a bathrobe on a cordless phone," and was ever-smooth with the ladies. According to then-roommate Joshua Penn, things changed quickly when Baer began applying for political internships. Worried about his political viabilty, Baer ditched their freshman-cool Hefner answering machine message for a simple, polished greeting. Baer still believes in a place called Cherry Hill, New Jersey -- that semiurban sprawl, roughly an hour's drive and some traffic circles from Philadelphia, that boasts the world's first indoor shopping mall. His bedroom at home is testament to the fact that he saves everything, from political memorabilia to beer cans to baseball cards. Near the requisite Bruce Springsteen poster, a bulletin board is covered with pithy sayings torn from from quote-of-the-day desk calendars. Plastic cups hold years of his loose change, hinting at his fiscal conservativism. Even the family car couldn't escape his verve to perserve. The '78 Pontiac Catalina -- a bright red eyesore with 168,000 miles -- is affectionately referred to as "the blood clot." But when the warped upholstery on the car's ceiling started to peel away, Kenny diligently stapled it back into place. But when it comes to books and food, Kenny forgoes the junk. He's a voracious reader and a careful eater. Reading The New Republic has clearly shaped his character, along with his courageous battle against the stigma of lactose intolerance "He likes ice cream, but it doesn't like him," his mother, Gloria Baer, said.
(09/04/92 9:00am)
Pennsylvania lawmakers slashed nearly all University funding from the state budget passed this summer, prompting stunned University officials to lobby even harder for state support. The funding cuts amount to a $37 million decrease in aid from last year's appropriation, and could have devastating effects on schools and programs throughout the University. University officials said they were shocked by the cuts. "It is unfortunate that the governor and the House Democrats don't recognize the return on investment they make, and have been making, for almost 90 years," Budget Director Stephen Golding said. "Ultimately, there will be a lot of people who will be hurt economically because of the failure to support Penn." There is still a chance the University could receive some state funding. Lawmakers, now adjourned for the summer, could pass nonpreferred appropriation bills when they return later this month. "Between now and then, believe me, we will be doing a lot of discussing to see if there is still hope," University lobbyist James Shada said in July. The only funding the University received in this year's budget was an appropriation of about $490,000 for the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania's Cancer Center. Gov. Robert Casey signed the 1992-93 budget on the eve of the July 1 deadline mandated by state law. In February, he had proposed the complete cut in funding for the University and other state-aided institutions. Administrators said they designed the University's 1993 budget to help cushion the cuts and protect academics. The University has begun to cut 600 faculty and staff positions and has postponed most building projects, as outlined in plans announced by President Sheldon Hackney in March. The University will also run a $19.5 million deficit. The deficit is designed to absorb a $16.5 million dollar loss in Veterinary School funding -- accounting for over 40 percent of the school's budget -- and $3 million dollars that in the past had been directed to financial aid. At the same time, student tuition and fees will rise 5.9 percent -- the lowest percentage increase since 1974 -- and faculty will, on average, receive a 4.4 percent wage increase. To avoid missing the budget deadline, the state House of Representatives passed a tenatively-approved Senate version of the budget for the governor to sign. The House did not vote on several "nonpreferred" appropriation bills that normally accompany the general fund budget. Funding for the University and other private schools is contained in these bills, and the failure to pass them amounted to a $76 million reduction in state higher education subsidies. The House did forward nonpreferred bills for the state-related schools -- the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania State University, Temple University and Lincoln University -- and for some state museum appropriations. Funding for state-related universities was cut by 3.5 percent. According to the state constitution, all state spending must stop if a budget bill is not passed by the fiscal year deadline each year. When the state legislature missed the deadline by 34 days last year, the Capitol was besieged by angry state workers and welfare recipients whose checks were delayed, and other protesters who threatened to vote the lawmakers out of office. By passing a budget, the Democratic-controlled House avoided a repeat of last year's protests. However, the move also bypassed traditional negotiations between a handful of House and Senate leaders, who negotiate in private to design a budget agreeable to both sides. These lawmakers later said they had expected to partially grant the University's funding requests. Some legislators in the Republican-controlled Senate also complained that the budget bill passed by the House was intended only as a starting point private negotiations when it was passed by the Senate earlier in June. With the $14 billion budget on his desk, Casey exercised his line-item veto power to block one University appropriation included in the general fund budget -- $386,000 directed toward the University Arboretum. Under the University's 1993 budget plan, most building projects will be halted. However, construction of the Institute for Advanced Science and Technolgy, the Biomedical Research Building and the Law School Library, renovations of College Hall and Logan Hall, and design of the Revlon Student Center will continue as scheduled. 'Between now and then, believe me, we will be doing a lot of discussing to see if there is still hope.' James Shada University Lobbyist
(08/06/92 9:00am)
Attorneys on both sides of an ex-Wharton professor's tenure dispute say they are satisfied with a settlement agreement reached in late June and announced last week. Former Associate Management Professor Rosalie Tung was denied tenure in 1985, and eventually filed charges of sexual and racial discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Even though the EEOC's investigation was never completed, Tung, who is Asian, took her seven-year fight with the University as high as the U.S. Supreme Court. She is now a full professor with tenure in the Business Administration Deparment at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada. "With the little trip to the Supreme Court this has taken an unusually long time to resolve," her lawyer, Mary Delano, said Wednesday. As part of the settlement, neither side is admitting any fault or liability in Tung's tenure denial. The University has, however, acknowleged that her tenure hearings "did not result in an adequate review of Professor Tung's performance, qualifications, and credentials," according to a statement agreed to by both parties. In doing so, the University accepted a faculty grievance panel's finding that "certain procedural irregularities" had occurred that "taken collectively result in a flawed review of Dr. Tung's qualifications." General Counsel Shelley Green said Tuesday that acknowledging the "irregularities" is not an admission of guilt, because they may have been unintentional. "Procedural irregularities can be neutral without malicious intention or discrimination," Green said. Both sides refuse to say whether Tung will receive compensation for settling, and have agreed to keep any monetary portion of the settlement confidential. The other terms of the settlement require that Tung dismiss her claim and that the University print a statement acknowledging the flaws in Tung's tenure review. The University published the statement in last week's Summer Pennsylvanian, and must also submit it to The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Academy of International Business Newsletter and The Academy of Management Newsletter. One item that was not discussed in the final settlement is whether Tung would come back to campus. Delano said that she could not remember if the matter had ever been discussed. "So much has been discussed over the years," she said. "At the time that we settled I think it's safe to say that she had no desire to return to the University." But she said that the conflict has had long-term effects on Tung, even though the professor may not have wanted to come back so many years after her tenure denial. "Put yourself in her shoes and imagine you were denied tenure and you thought it was for reasons unrelated to your credentials," she said. Before accepting her current job at Simon Fraser University, Tung also worked at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Delano said the EEOC discrimination case had been stalled for some time, after the lawyer conducting the investigation left the EEOC and the lawyer's supervisor did not work as hard to push the case forward. The delay helped bring about the settlement, according to Delano. "Obviously, the longer a matter drags out for something like this, the harder it becomes for both parties," she said. At one point, the EEOC's investigation reached the Supreme Court, as the agency tried to force the University to turn over Tung's confidential tenure files. The University said it was trying to protect the confidentiality of the tenure review process. In January 1990, the Supreme Court ordered the University to supply the EEOC with the confidential peer reviews of Tung's academic work that are part of the files. The University drew more criticism when it provided redacted copies of the statements, with the authors' names and other identifiable marks erased.
(07/30/92 9:00am)
A former Medical School professor has sued the University, claiming a supervisor intentionally tricked him out of taking a better job elsewhere to keep his research funding at the University. Michael White, a former assistant professor of pharmacology, filed suit in state court in Montgomery County earlier this month. He claims the University's actions have cost him about about $174,000. The lawsuit also names Perry Molinoff, chairperson of the Med School's Pharmacology Department. White claims Perry teased him with offers of tenure to prevent him from taking a better job at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. White says he made an unsuccessful bid for tenure here instead of accepting the job. Meanwhile, the University collected $200,000 in overhead costs on White's $1.7 million research grant from the National Institutes of Health, according to the lawsuit. "Molinoff was only concerned with the appearance of his university budget," the lawsuit says. Molinoff did not return phone messages Wednesday. General Counsel Neil Hamburg said Tuesday that he has seen the lawsuit, but he declined to comment on it. The Med School's Committee on Appointments and Promotions had unanimously approved White's tenure bid in May 1991, the lawsuit says. But according to the lawsuit, the provost's office denied tenure to White late last year, after raising questions over whether there was enough information in his tenure file to evaluate him. White, who specializes in Molecular Biology, now works in the Physiology Department at the Medical College of Pennsylvania. White claims Molinoff was responsible for "a series of intentionally caused procedural irregularities" that negatively impacted his tenure decision. The lawsuit says Molinoff deliberately gave him bad advice while preparing the tenure file, and then misled him into thinking his tenure file was fine. At the same time, Molinoff "intentionally and successfully interfered" with job offers he received University of Cincinnati and the Mayo Clinic in 1989, White says. He was particularly interested in the Mayo Clinic position, which he says offered a $88,000 salary, tenure, free health care and a $360,000 research budget in addition to his grants. White says he received a $51,000 salary at the University, paid toward his health care, and no research budget. In addition to wage differences, White claims additional damages from losing his job here. He claims he lost $96,000 in tuition benefits for his two children, was unable to take a sabatical year he values at $63,000, and was forced to buy a new car worth $15,000 because he used to commute to the University from his Narberth home on SEPTA trains.
(07/30/92 9:00am)
Two men attempted to rob a local restaurant employee at gunpoint Monday and several other local stores and restaurants reported crimes ranging from trespassing to burglary. Two men wearing Halloween masks attempted to rob an employee at gunpoint at the Saladalley restaurant at 4040 Irving Street Monday night. The gun turned out to be a starter pistol, which police recovered nearby. The two men escaped. Police describe both suspects as black males with box haircuts, weighing about 155 pounds and wearing baggy jeans and white sneakers. Last Thursday morning, police caught a suspect who allegedly broke into a house at 3815 Walnut Street though a rear basement window. He was later identified on the 4000 block of Walnut Street and arrested for burglary. No property was missing from the house, but police said the suspect had items stolen from the Burger King restaurant near the arrest site. Burger King has declined to prosecute the case, police added. The Wawa convenience store at 36th and Chestnut will prosecute a man who was arrested for retail theft at the store Friday. The man was allegedly caught shoplifting several bars of soap and a can of tuna fish. In a separate incident, a women was arrested Sunday at 3:30 p.m. and charged with retail theft, after police spotted four sweatshirts and two pairs of jeans in a car parked on the 3400 block of Walnut Street. The woman allegedly stole the sweatshirts from University Sportswear at 3736 Spruce Street. Another man was arrested for burglary after a resident of the Sigma Nu fraternity house at 3819 Walnut spotted him walking out of the house with a chair. The suspect also had an outstanding warrant for defiant trespassing elsewhere, police said. A burglar tampered with the safe in the business offices of WXPN radio over the weekend. The suspect did not succeed in opening the safe, but stole a radio and a pair of sneakers from the offices and is still at large. Just after noon last Wednesday, police arrested a man who was wandering around private offices in Van Pelt Library. He was charged with trespassing and later released. Police recovered a stolen auto Tuesday afternoon on the 3700 block of Chestnut. The blue 1985 Oldsmobile, with temporary Pennsylvania license tags, was left unattended. Police received several unrelated reports of items stolen from automobiles this week. Last Thursday, the owner of a pickup truck parked on the 100 block of South 34th Street reported that a thief broke into the truck and took clothes, shoes, a makeup bag and other items valued at about $400. In an unrelated incident, a suspect, described as a black male last seen wearing an orange shirt and blue jeans, broke into a car on the 3800 block of Sansom last Thursday and took a burgandy-colored portfolio worth about $50. On Monday, the owner of a 1990 Volkswagon reported that the car was broken into while parked on the 3600 block of Spruce Street.
(07/23/92 9:00am)
University Police are looking for a suspect in connection with an attempted robbery near 4207 Walnut Street late Sunday night. Three men approached a man in his car and demanded money at gunpoint, according to police reports. The victim managed to temporarily jam one assailant's hand in the car window, and then drove to Walsh's Bar, where he called police at about 11:38 p.m. By the time police responded, the assailants had fled. But just before midnight, police in Powelton spotted two of the perpetrators, and a footchase ensued. As police chased the two men, one was spotted as he tried to hide the gun, but he then escaped. The second man was apprehended, and a gun was confiscated. The suspect who allegedly hid the gun is a black male, about 20 years old, and 6 feet tall with short hair and a thin build. He was last seen wearing a white T-shirt with either the word "STOP" or "SPOT" printed on it. The other suspect at the robbery scene is described as a black male, 5 foot 9 inches tall and heavy set with short hair. He is between 20 to 25 years old and was last seen wearing a net football jersey. Police also arrested a man Friday evening who may be connected to several recent fraternity house burglaries. University Police spotted Darryl Lockman near Locust Walk and 36th Street, and apprehended him based on an outstanding bench warrant. Suspects were also caught in two unrelated auto thefts reported this week. Last Thursday, a Penn Student Agency van disappeared and was reported missing at 4:27 that afternoon. The van was later recovered, after PSA learned that a graduate student had taken the van without permission. The case was referred to the University's Judicial Inquiry Office. Plainclothes police officers witnessed a minor attempting to break into a car between 9 and 10 p.m. Friday on the 4200 block of Sansom Street. After the minor managed to start the car, police moved in to arrest him. In an unrelated incident Sunday afternoon, two robbers mugged a person in an elevator in the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania's Ravdin building, using a sharp object as a weapon. The suspects escaped with $190 in cash. In an unrelated burglary, $2600 worth of video, stereo and telephone equipment was stolen from the Annenberg Center Friday night or Saturday morning.
(07/16/92 9:00am)
A Veterinary School professor has filed notice that he plans to sue the University, claiming sanctions imposed on him by Vet School Dean Edwin Andrews irrepairably damaged his research. A lawsuit would be the latest in Vet School Microbiology Professor Jorge Ferrer's protests against the research suspension, which began after 130 people were inadvertantly exposed to sheep he infected with a leukemia-causing virus. The April 1990 incident, which involved 100 preschoolers, was a public relations headache for the University. General Counsel Shelley Green said Wednesday that University lawyers are aware of the summons notice, which was filed in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas on June 22. She said Ferrer has not filed a complaint. Linda Koons, executive assistant to Provost Michael Aiken, said she did not know if the provost had been informed of Ferrer's pending lawsuit. "I'm just surprised he keeps wanting to push this," Koons said Tuesday. "The rest of us want to go on with our lives." The punishment prevented Ferrer from conducting animal research and from conducting or supervising studies of the virus. The sanctions were imposed in February 1991 and ended in June. "He can go on doing what he does," Koons said. "But I hope he doesn't because he keeps getting us into trouble." Dean Andrews said Wednesday he was not aware of the summons. After the sanctions were imposed, faculty committees twice recommended that the punishment be lifted. Aiken rejected the recommendations both times. "Because of their nature, these punitive sanctions will most likely destroy a research program which, as judged by leading scientist in the field, has made fundamental contributions to leukemia and retro-virus research for more than 25 years," Ferrer said in a statement when the suspension began. That same month, a committee of Vet School officials ruled that Ferrer was principally responsible for the incident, but was not guilty of misconduct or of any violations. The investigating committee found that the 30 New Bolton staff members and 100 preschoolers who came in contact with the sheep were not at risk of contracting cancer. But while Ferrer was not cited for violating research rules, the report did fault him for "lapses of judgment and poor communication." Aiken, however, said the charges were not unfounded and that the committee "made findings of fact that support the dean's sanctions." Last summer, Aiken returned the report to the Faculty Senate Academic Freedom and Responsibility Committee for further review. The committee did not respond again until April -- two months before the sanctions ended -- and did not change the report's opinion that the punishment infringed on Ferrer's academic freedom. But Aiken again refused to lift the suspension. In the April 1990 incident, Ferrer failed to separate 14 lambs innoculated with the cancer-causing HTLV-1 virus from the rest of the flock at the University's New Bolton Center, located in Chester County. Of those exposed, 31 have since been tested for the virus, which is similar to the AIDS virus, HIV, and can only be transmitted through sexual contact, blood transfusions, breast milk or infected needles. All of the tests were negative. The summons, filed against the University, Andrews, Aiken, Vice Provost for Research Barry Cooperman and Vet School Associate Dean Jeffrey Roberts, claims officials wrongfully suspended Ferrer, defamed him and broke his employment contract.
(07/16/92 9:00am)
A former Veterinary School professor who filed a sex discrimination case against the University will return to the Vet School, under the terms of an out-of-court settlement announced this week. Veterinary Cancer researcher Ann Jeglum -- forced out of her Vet School office in February 1990 following two tenure denials -- will be welcomed back as an adjunct professor, according to Assistant General Counsel Elizabeth O'Brien. "The University is pleased to announce that Dr. Jeglum . . . will assume a five-year position as adjunct professor at the Veterinary School," a statement issued by the University said. Jeglum would not immediately comment this week, saying she first needed to consult with her lawyer. O'Brien said Tuesday that both Jeglum and the University have agreed not to discuss other terms of the settlement, and that neither side is admitting any wrongdoing or liabilty. Vet School Dean Edwin Andrews declined to comment Wednesday. Provost Michael Aiken is in Great Britain and could not be reached for comment. Jeglum was denied tenure in 1987 and 1989. She filed suit against the University in December, after the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled that her charges of sexual discrimination might have merit. The lawsuit claimed that sexual discrimination prevented her from receiving tenure or earning wages comparable to men in her department. Jeglum sought lost wages, benefits and expenses for both the alleged tenure denial and wage discrimination. She also demanded tenure retroactive to 1989, the time of her tenure denial. O'Brien said that Jeglum will not receive tenure and that the adjunct professorship is not a tenure-track position. Before filing the suit, Jeglum also went through internal University channels by filing a grievance. After a three-person faculty panel held a series of fact-finding hearings, they returned their confidential recommendations to Provost Michael Aiken. Aiken did not reverse Jeglum's tenure denial. In the federal lawsuit, Jeglum also sued the Vet School and three current and past Vet School administrators. Vet School Dean Edwin Andrews, former Veterinary Medicine chairperson Kenneth Bovee and recently-resigned Veterinary Medicine chairperson Darrell Biery were named individually as well as in their positions at the Vet School. Jeglum left her office in the Clinical Studies division of the Veterinary Hospital nearly a year and a half ago, and now works in a West Chester veterinary clinic and lab. While at the University, Jeglum worked in the Vet School's Small Animal Hospital and researched treatments for certain forms of cancer in dogs.
(07/09/92 9:00am)
Thane Scott calls it charity. Two weeks ago, the lawyer for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology presented the school's opening argument as part of a trial in which the U.S. government charges that MIT and the eight Ivy League schools conspired to set tuition prices. The Ivies settled with the goverment, leaving MIT to fend for itself in the two-week trial. In his opening argument, MIT's lawyer said that the so-called Overlap schools operated in the "charitable world" rather than the competitive business environment. In this "charitable community," current antitrust laws shouldn't apply, he argued. Charity, charity, charity, charity, charity. He repeated the word over and over. And although he represented MIT, his opinions probably reflect every school in the Ivy League. At the very least, the schools agree adamantly that the Overlap Group was the right thing to do. According to Scott, the Overlap schools were simply a "group of charities who were acting cooperatively to meet the need of the neediest of our communities." "This is the function of charities," he said. "They exist to meet need." Perhaps. But I'm sure students everywhere who receive financial aid were surprised to learn they were charity cases. More than surprised -- even a bit offended, perhaps. Or a lot offended. You see, these would-be charity cases don't look at themselves as such. They consider themselves among the best students these schools could get their hands on. And they are right. Describing financial aid as a form of charity is garbage. And I use that word charitably. When I think of charity I think of giving ten bucks to the United Way rather than blowing it on a dozen Milky Way bars and a hoagie at Subway. It's altruistic. It involves giving up something I want for others and perhaps receive some satisfaction in return. The schools in the Overlap Group, however, receive far more than satisfaction for offering need-based financial aid. It's a necessity that helps them compete in both scholarship and prestige. Consequently, it isn't a selfless form of charity. Of course, Overlap schools weren't forced to offer financial aid, and they did not always offer it to guarantee that everyone qualified to attend could afford to attend. It's been my impression that at one time, Ivy League schools operated under more of a "If you have to ask, you can't afford it" system. In other words, there wasn't much in the way of grants and work study money for most students, since most students were the sons of fairly well-to-do families. Yet somewhere along the way, outside pressure -- or a change of heart -- changed all that. First of all, people realized that the list of the top however-many students in the country was not necessarily the same list at the top students in the country who were able to pay. In other words, just because a student could not afford to attend an Ivy League school did not preclude that student from getting higher S.A.T. scores and better grades than the people who could afford it. That being the case, schools may have concluded that making it possible for all qualified students to attend -- regardless of financial considerations -- leads to a higher-quality student body. And it stood to reason that better students would have a better chance of achieving fame and fortune later on, which would only add to the school's prestige. Meanwhile, the better students made for a better intellectual atmosphere on campus. Secondly, schools may have had another reason for offering need-based financial aid. They may have noticed that the ability of students to pay varied widely depending on gender, or religion, or ethnic or racial background. Consequently, the schools were almost exclusively made up of non-minority students. This homogeneity -- this consistency among the student body -- meant students and professors were exposed to somewhat narrow perspectives and a limited learning environment. Of course, these reasons haven't changed much. It is still true that the best students aren't always the ones most able to pay, and that those students who are least able to pay are often minority members. Providing need-based financial aid improves schools. It attracts better students. Broadens the curriculum. Enlivens the intellectual atmosphere on campus. Exposes everyone to new perspectives and different ways of thinking. Enhances a school's prestige now, and probably in the future as well. Providing need-based financial aid is hardly a form of charity. Rather, it's a necessity. Without it, a school couldn't realistically -- or idealistically -- hope to compete with other schools that offer it. It's one of those things that even when a school can't afford it, it can't afford to do without it. The court can decide the merits of MIT's defense of why schools met to discuss financial aid. MIT argues that the meetings made financial aid offices more efficient and less wasteful. I simply say that if schools were not efficient, they would be letting themselves down. When it comes to financial aid -- largely a self-imposed duty -- they would be negligent not to spread the scarce money around as fairly as possible. So how could it be considered charity? Someday perhaps, schools will be rolling in dough, and every student will be rich anyway so that no one will need financial aid. Then we can throw scholarship money at anyone who wants it. That would be charity. Or would it? It wouldn't contribute to the campus like more professors, new laboratory equipment, improved buildings and better research funding would. It would be charity, but it would cease to be for the best cause. Many of the other things schools spend money on would suddenly be better causes, or else the school could lower tuition. Financial aid would become selfless, but pretty stupid. But for now -- and way, way, way into the forseeable future -- students receiving need-based financial aid are an equally good cause. They simply are not charity cases. Which isn't to say that aren't grateful. But while these students may feel lucky to be at these schools, the schools should start feeling lucky to have them here.
(07/02/92 9:00am)
More than 500 workers at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia hit picket lines along 34th Street and Civic Center Boulevard at midnight yesterday, protesting for wage and benefit increases as their contracts with the hospital expired. Because the strikers blocked ambulances, patients and non-striking workers from entering the hospital, Common Pleas Court Judge John J. Poserina issued an injunction early Wednesday requiring most protesters to back off from the entrances. By yesterday afternoon, well over 100 people -- more than a fifth of the potential strikers -- were arrested for violating the injuction, police said. Among those arrested was local union president Henry Nicholas. Police brought buses to the scene in the event mass arrests became necessary, and a heightened hospital security force guarded the doors and videotaped demonstrators. "We are running at 100 percent," Hospital spokesperson Pat Rocchi said yesterday morning. "We have not been turning away patients." At midnight, members of District Council 1199C of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Workers blocked entrance doors and driveways to the hospital and summarized their demands in chants such as "No contract, no work." Others drove by along the street, waving flags and protest signs. A surgical resident who attempted to enter a parking garage behind CHOP yesterday morning was alledgly surrounded by picketers. Two demonstrators reportedly claim they were injured when a striking worker alledgely broke the resident's car window with a brick, and the resident reacted by accelerating. According to Rocchi, the resident -- who was on his first day of rotation at CHOP -- was treated at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania for minor injuries and released. He reportedly knows the name of the alledged brick thrower and plans a civil suit, Rocchi said. In another incident, demonstrators threw a rock and broke glass in one of the doors along the 34th Street entrance to the hospital. Also, Rochhi said two children transported to CHOP's emergency room early yesterday were directed to other hospitals because demonstrators refused to allow ambulances into the hospital. CHOP has hired temporary replacement workers to handle the housekeeping and food service duties of the striking workers, and also reassigned non-striking workers to cover for the strikers. "We were prepared for this," Rocchi said. Demonstrators also seemed prepared. One striker said early Wednesday morning that he was impressed by the picket-line turnout and said he even enjoyed chanting and protesting, but that he hoped to be back at work soon under a new and improved contract. "My little ones have got to eat," said Gene Davis, a Linen Services employee. He then made reference to the hospital. "The little ones in there need us," he said. The 523 striking union workers currently demand a 15 percent wage increase over three years, a 7.2 percent increase in contributions to the union's health and welfare fund and a half-percent increase for a union training fund. Negotiations broke off before the strike and relations between the two parties are strained, but both sides were expected to return to the bargaining table soon. Over 300 members of District Council 1199C at Osteopathic Medical Center also went on strike Wednesday morning when their contracts expired. Nine other hospitals and 15 nursing homes in the Philadelphia area successfully reached agreements with workers before contracts expired.
(07/02/92 9:00am)
They received four times what they asked for -- and it made the Fraternity and Sorority Advisory Board anything but happy. In May, the Greek judicial board recommended that the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity should receive a one semester suspension for recent hazing violations. But last month, Vice Provost for University Life Kim Morrisson rejected the recommendation and opted for a two-year -- or four-semester -- suspension. Morrisson also placed all current PiKA brothers on early alumni status and prohibited them from living in the fraternity's house on the 3900 block of Spruce Street. Two student members of the FSAB said this week that Morrisson's decision undermined the board's work. "In a sense it makes you question whether the FSAB has any authority and whether the University takes you seriously," student member Vicki Johnson said. Johnson, a sister in Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority who graduated from Wharton in May, said Morrisson "went beyond the call of duty" in rejecting the board's consensus recommendation. Rachel Wagman, the board's non-Greek student representative, also expressed dismay over Morrisson's rejection of a recommendation she said the board had spent so much time on. "I was surprised. My guess is that everyone else was too," the College senior said. "We spent quite a bit of time one night and we were really trying to be fair. "It was just disheartening after all that work that she didn't use our recommendation," Wagman continued. But while Morrisson increased the recommended punishment, she accepted the FSAB's findings of facts in the case. During a May hearing, the board found PiKA collectively responsible for planning unauthorized pledge trips, holding pledge meetings at forbidden times and covering each other with paint after initiation. The board also found PiKA officers guilty of not taking action when the chapter president learned some pledges "were engaging in frequent use of marijuana." PiKA was already on probation during the alleged incidents. In 1990, the house received probation for bringing a sick horse to the fraternity's house as a prank and for staging a fake hold-up in a subway station that police believed was real. It was the board members themselves who rejected the agreement's clause that further violations would result in "an immediate suspension for a period of no less than two years." Morrisson has said she was simply following terms of the agreement. But both Johnson and Wagman said the board was aware of the probation agreement when it made its recommendation. "It was taken into consideration," Johnson said. "We recommended the suspension to have something in keeping with the actual agreement, but we didn't feel PiKA should just be disintegrated off the entire campus, so to speak." "They did have a history of -- not problems, but incidents," Wagman explained. "This wasn't something that just happened. There was a history." But board members said they opted for leniency because they perceived PiKA was making efforts toward improvement. Johnson said the suspension will do more harm than good. "They're going to miss out on being able to perpetuate these ideas." Johnson. "Basically they're going to have to start from ground zero." Johnson noted that she missed graduation festivities while the board wrangled over their recommendation for eleven hours, during a meeting from 5:30 p.m. on May 13 to 4:30 a.m. on May 14. "It was in the middle of my senior week. I missed a complete day and night," Johnson said. "We literally nitpicked over that whole thing." "If I had known she was going to do that, I could have gone out on my senior week," she said. According to Wagman, the disappointment over the decision was not strictly personal inconvenience. "I feel badly because I know guys in PiKA and they are really nice guys," she said. The FSAB includes two faculty members, three members of the Interfraternity Alumni Council and three University students, including two fraternity or sorority members. David Freedman, the fraternity student representative, was travelling and could not be reached for comment this week.
(07/02/92 9:00am)
The University will receive almost no state funding for the upcoming fiscal year, based on state budget bills signed by Gov. Robert Casey late Tuesday. The funding cut amounts to a $37.6 million decrease in aid compared to last year's appropriation, and could have devastating effects on schools and programs throughout the University. The only funding the University received in this year's budget was an appropriation of about $490,000 for the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania's Cancer Center. University officials expressed shock over the action yesterday. "It is unfortunate that the governor and the House Democrats don't recognize the return on investment they make, and have been making, for almost 90 years," Budget Director Stephen Golding said yesterday. "Ultimately, there will be a lot of people who will be hurt economically because of the failure to support Penn." According to plans announced by President Sheldon Hackney in March, the University will now run a $19.5 million deficit, cut 600 faculty and staff positions and postpone most building projects to compensate for the complete loss of state funding. The $19.5 million deficit is designed to absorb a $16.5 million dollar loss in Veterinary School funding -- which accounts for over 40 percent of the school's budget -- and $3 million dollars that in the past had been directed to financial aid. At the same time, student tuition and fees will rise 5.9 percent -- the lowest percentage increase since 1974 -- and faculty will, on average, receive a 4.4 percent wage increase. According to University lobbyist James Shada, the final outcome of the budget came as a complete surprise. "The budget negotiators were working for weeks and into early Friday night, at least from what we heard . . . things were going well," Shada said. "Suddenly things were not going well and negotiations did not resume for the weekend." To avoid missing a state mandated July 1 budget deadline, the state House of Representatives bypassed negotiators Monday, passing a tenatively-approved $14 billion Senate budget bill and forwarding it to Casey for his signature. "I was stunned," Shada said. "That thing moved so fast . . . really, it was biased before we knew what happened." The House did not vote on several "nonpreferred" appropriation bills that normally accompany the general fund budget. Funding for the University and other private colleges and universities is contained in these bills, and the failure to pass them amounted to a $76 million decrease in state higher education subsidies. The House did forward nonpreferred bills for the state-related schools -- the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania State University, Temple University and Lincoln University -- and for some state museum appropriations. Funding for state-related universities was cut by 3.5 percent. With the bills on his desk, Casey exercised his line-item veto power to block one University appropriation included in the general fund budget -- $386,000 directed toward the University Arboretum. According to the state constitution, all state spending must stop if a budget bill is not passed by the fiscal year deadline each year. When the state legislature missed the deadline by 34 days last year, the Capitol was besieged by angry state workers and welfare recipients whose checks were delayed, and other protesters who threatened to vote the lawmakers out of office. There is still a chance the University could receive some state funding. Lawmakers, now adjourned for the summer, could still pass nonpreferred appropriation bills when they return in mid-September. "Between now and then, believe me, we will be doing a lot of discussing to see if there is still hope," Shada said. In his budget address one hour before the midnight deadline Wednesday, Casey admitted the budget has "serious deficiencies" which he urged lawmakers to fix when they return. However, Casey pointed only to inadequate funding for police departments, prisons, welfare and social programs, without mentioning higher education. In February, Casey himself proposed the complete cut in funding for the University and other state-aided institutions. Administrators said they designed the University's 1993 budget to help cushion the cuts and protect academics. Under the 1993 budget plan, most building projects will be halted. However, construction of the Institute for Advanced Science and Technolgy, the Biomedical Research Building and the Law School Library, renovations of College Hall and Logan Hall, and design of the Revlon Student Center will continue as scheduled. Other contingency plans in the University's 1993 fiscal year budget could also have a wide-ranging impact: · The central administration will cut $4.1 million from its own budget. · All undergraduate and graduate schools will collectively reduce their budgets by $1 million. · New initiatives in the Veterinary School valued at $900,000 will not be established. · The Provost's Subvention Pool, which funds numerous campus-wide programs to improve the quality of scholarship and teaching, will be reduced by $4.1 million. · $4.4 million the University had retained from last year's $37.6 million state appropriation will be used to cover losses. · $1.4 million the University had requested from the state to cover inflationary increases will not be budgeted. · The Dental and Medical schools will be expected to absorb their losses of $1.1 million and $4.6 million, respectively. · The Dental School may also end dental clinic services to West Philadelphia families.
(06/25/92 9:00am)
The looming threat of an Amtrak rail strike at 12:01 a.m. Friday has forced the University to make contingency plans in the event of a walkout, and left hundreds of University employees wondering how they will get to work tomorrow. Labor unions in contract talks with the rail service originally threatened to strike at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. But when the deadline arrived, the three unions still negotiating with Amtrak agreed to postponed the strike for at least 48 hours. A strike would create severe headaches for employees who normally commute, and could conjest local streets as personnel are forced to drive to the University and find places to park. Faculty, staff and administrators who normally commute to West Philadelphia via Amtrak trains would not be the only employees affected. Because several SEPTA regional rail lines use Amtrak train tracks, many of these trains would be shut down in the event of a strike. New Jersey Transit service would also be affected. A walkout would close both 30th Street Station and Suburban Station. University officials have made some contingency plans in the event of a walkout, and are urging all employees "to make transportation plans in advance of the strike emergency." In a memo circulated this week, William Holland, vice president for Human Resources, and Steven Murray, associate vice president for Business Services, suggested that departments set aside bulletin board space to organize employee car pools. Holland and Murray also suggested that administrators adjust work hours to help employees avoid commutes during snarled rush hour traffic, or on overcrowded buses and packed SEPTA vehicles. Although administrators are being asked to make allowances for employees who are late because of the commuting snafu, the memo said that "business will continue as usual" and unauthorized absences will count as lost time.
(06/18/92 9:00am)
A former Veterinary School professor's sex discrimination case against the University will not go to trial and both parties will instead agree to an undisclosed settlement, attorneys in the case said this week. But the former professor, veterinary cancer researcher Ann Jeglum, would say little Tuesday about her ongoing negotiations with the University over issues surrounding her tenure denials in 1987 and 1989. "There's been some signing of stuff," she said simply. The University attorney handling the case, Assistant General Counsel Elizabeth O'Brien, agreed that discussions were nearly complete and said the University would have a statement on the case by early next week. "We've virtually concluded the settlement," she said. Jeglum's attorney, Jeffrey Smith, said yesterday morning that discussions with O'Brien planned for yesterday afternoon might be all that logistically stood between them and a settlement. But both Smith and O'Brien downplayed the influence of a motion filed in Philadelphia's U.S. District Court last month by the judge assigned to Jeglum's lawsuit against the University. In the motion, Judge James Giles said that by today, Jeglum must demonstrate why her case should not be dismissed because she has not followed up on it. "It hasn't been an issue so far," O'Brien said, saying that it had no effect on the timetable for discussions. Smith did suggest that the motion to dismiss provided some motivation, but that its effect was mostly psychological. "It's provided an impetus," Smith said. "[But] any time you set a bar up, lawyers attempt to jump over it or go under it. It draws a line in the sand." Jeglum filed suit against the University in December, after the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled that her charges of sexual discrimination might have merit. The lawsuit claims that sexual discrimination prevented Jeglum from receiving tenure or earning comparable wages to men in her department. Before filing the suit, Jeglum also went through internal University channels by filing a grievance. After a three-person faculty panel held a series of fact-finding hearings, they returned their confidential recommendations to Provost Michael Aiken. Aiken did not subsequently reverse Jeglum's tenure denial. In the federal lawsuit, Jeglum also named the Vet School and three current and past Vet School administrators as defendents along with the University. Vet School Dean Edwin Andrews, former Veterinary Medicine chairperson Kenneth Bovee and recently-resigned Veterinary Medicine chairperson Darrell Biery are named individually as well as in their positions at the Vet School. In the lawsuit, Jeglum seeks lost wages, benefits and expenses due to both her alleged tenure denial and wage discrimination while at the University. She also seeks tenure retroactive to 1989, the time of her tenure denial. Jeglum left her office in the Clinical Studies division of the Veterinary Hospital nearly a year and a half ago, and now works in a West Chester veterinary clinic and lab. While at the University, Jeglum worked in the Vet School's Small Animal Hospital and researched treatments for certain forms of cancer in dogs.
(06/18/92 9:00am)
Police arrested a man who ap - proached a young girl Monday af - ternoon on the 3700 block of Locust Walk and demanded $1.00 -- but then proceeded to spray her with mace. The female minor escaped the incident uninjured, and soon turned the tables on her aggressor by tell - ing two nearby University police of - ficers what had happened, accord - ing to the police. The two officers caught up with the suspect, who then tried to spray them with mace. But they managed to arrest him, and later recovered a Rambo-style knife and another & four-and-a-half inch knife from his boot. He was charged with aggra - vated assault. "It was a really good arrest," Uni - versity Police Lieutenant Susan & Holmes said. "I'm pleased to see this young woman had the presence of mind to report this incident so soon." Two female University graduates were the victims of simple assaults last Wednesday. One occurred on the 200 block of South 45th Street at 1:00 p.m., and the other occurred on the 4400 block of Locust at 6:31 p.m. The woman in the afternoon as - sault suffered minor bruises and had allegedly been attacked by the suspect before. Both victims identi - fied the same person as their al - leged attacker. In an unrelated incident reported at 9:54 p.m. Saturday, three sus - pects brandishing a black revolver and driving in a blue car ap - proached a male student walking near 37th and Spruce streets. He fled from the attempted gunpoint robbery without injury, however, & and the car drove away eastbound. In another unrelated incident, a beige 1989 Ford Tempo was discov - ered stolen from University parking lot #1 shortly past midnight on Fri - day. The car was reportedly stolen sometime between 7:00 a.m. and & midnight last Thursday. In an unrelated incident at 12:26 p.m. Monday, a woman living at & 4600 Spruce filed an indecent expo - sure complaint against a neighbor who exposed himself to her while screaming obscenities. In an unrelated incident at 4:58 p.m. that same day, a suspect held up a trolley driver shortly before the trolley was to arrive at the 36th and Sansom streets stop of the Green Line. The suspect fled along the tracks. At 9:42 last Thursday in an unre - lated incident, a male not affiliated with the University on the 39th & block of Walnut was held up at gun - point. The suspect demanded his MAC automatic teller machine & card. In an unrelated incident at 12:37 a.m. Saturday morning, a male stu - dent on the 4000 block of Spruce Street was hit during a strong arm robbery and had his wallet and Uni - versity identification stolen. A campus safety aid and a civilian in the area later helped identify the suspect, who was subsequently ar - rested. The wallet was not & recovered. Intruders also forced their way in to several University buildings this week. In one incident Friday, an intruder set off intrusion alarms in the David Rittenhouse Laborato - ries. Police responded, but were un - able to determine if anything was stolen. In an unrelated incident early & Tuesday morning, a man was spot - ted walking down 34th and Mora - vian streets with a computer at 2:38 a.m. Police traced the computer & back to the University's Admissions Office, where a window had been broken to gain entry. In an unrelated incident at 6:54 p.m. Friday, a male suspect at - tempted to steal seven Polo-style shirts from the Gap clothing store in the Shops at Penn at 3423 Walnut Street. The suspect was ap - prehended at the 36th and Sansom subway stop, with the clothing val - ued at $171.50. At 2:34 a.m. Tuesday, a burglar in an unrelated incident stole a bicy - cle from the Theta Xi fraternity & house at 3643 Locust Walk.
(06/11/92 9:00am)
The University ranks fourth out of all U.S. colleges and universities in the amount of money it receives in voluntary contributions and gifts, according to a report issued this month by the Council for Aid to Education. Between July 1990 and June 1991, the University received & $143,384,123 in contributions from a variety of sources, including & alumni, individuals, corporations, & foundations and other groups. The University was outpaced & only by Harvard University, Stan - ford University and Cornell Univer - sity -- which respectively hold the top three slots -- in overall giving. Rick Nahm, senior vice president of development and planning, said that the University's fourth place finish is important in a historical sense. "What's important about Penn, & putting this in perspective, is that we've been [number] four two con - sective years," Nahm said yester - day. The University ranked fifth & three years ago, but traditionally held spots between tenth and twen - tieth in the rankings. "Clearly the Campaign for Penn that we're in the middle of has had an impact on our ranking relative to the pack," he said. The University began its current capital campaign in the fall of 1989, and at this point is far ahead of schedule in securing a goal of $1 billion in donations within half a decade. Nahm emphasized that despite the University's high placement in the fundraising survey, it is difficult to make comparisons with other & schools. The primary goal of fun - draising, he said, is to increase the amount of total donations each & year. "We're very pleased to be num - ber four," he said. "We don't pay much attention to rank because & each institution has its own & constituency." "You can't live or die by those numbers because the important & thing is that we received $142 mil - lion and that's the largest amount the University has ever received," he added. Nahm said the rankings can be volatile, since one or more large corporate donations or publicity ab - out a new fundraising campaign in a given year could bridge the small gaps between two positions. The survey also ranked the & amount of support schools received strictly from corporations. The Uni - versity placed 19th, with $20,273,166 -- or one-seventh -- of its voluntary funding supplied by outside firms. Nahm said that while University fundraisers have made efforts to increase corporate support, this & subranking is even more volatile because of the economic factors af - fecting corporations. Cornell, for example, ranked & third, with one-quarter of its total voluntary support supplied by cor - porations. Top-ranking Harvard, & however, ranked 15th -- firms sup - plied just one-eighth of that univer - sity's total voluntary support. Nahm said that due to the na - tional recession, many schools have lost ground in obtaining corporate donations. Schools in the Midwest and on the Pacific Coast remain successful in this area, though, be - cause the recession has had less of an effect on local industries in those regions. According to the report, U.S. col - leges and universities received gifts of $10.2 billion between July 1990 and June 1991, an increase of $400 million from the year before. How - ever, the increased giving was out - paced by inflation by one percent, leading to a net decline. The top ten schools in the survey all received over $100 million in & gifts each: Harvard, $196 million; Stanford, $181 million; Cornell, $177 million; the University, $143 million; Yale University, $132 million; the University of Wisconsin at Madison, $128 million; Columbia University, $128 million; the University of Cali - fornia at Berkeley, $118 million; & Duke University, $114 million; and the Massachusetts Institute of & Technology, $110 million.
(06/09/92 9:00am)
Union leaders of workers on strike against the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia said Tuesday evening that a settlement agreement with the hospital could be reached within days. The striking workers of District Council 1199C planned to hold a general membership yesterday evening to look at a new proposal over wages and benefits for the 523 housekeeping and hospital service employees. They have been on strike since 12:01 a.m. July 1, when their contract expired. An additional 10 protesters were arrested Tuesday night for violating court-ordered injunctions restricting protests outside the hospital's entrances along 34th Street and Civic Center Boulevard. On Monday, 38 union members were arrested and later released when they held a prayer vigil outside the hospital. Approximately 133 strikers were arrested last Wednesday when the strike began. The hospital received an injunction early that morning to limit the number of strikers outside entrances to the hospital, after strikers blocked ambulances and workers from entering the building. Additional injunctions obtained by the hospital during the week now regulate strikers' behavior on the picket lines, including a ruling which forbids picketers from drinking alcoholic beverages. Union leaders oppose the injunctions, saying the hospital jumped the gun in hiring temporary replacement workers almost two weeks ago to fill employees' jobs in the event of a strike. Union attorney Gail Lopez-Henriquez also said additional security officers were hired for the hospital from an Ohio company not licensed to operate in Pennsylvania. The security workers have guarded hospital doors and videotaped protesters. The hospital has used some of the videotape footage as evidence in support of additional injunctions against the protesters. Although details of the new contract proposal were not immediately available, workers originally demanded a 15 percent wage increase over the next three years, plus a 7.2 percent increase in contributions to the union's health and welfare fund and a half-percent increase for a union training fund. Among those arrested Tuesday was Thomas Paine Cronin, District Council 47 president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. His union is currently battling with the city, and decided to support CHOP workers and march in picket lines Tuesday. The same union picketing outside CHOP is also on strike against Center City's Osteopathic Medical Center. Union leaders did not say whether an agreement would be reached soon between Osteopathic Hospital and over 300 employees there. Nine other hospitals and 15 nursing homes in the Philadelphia area successfully reached agreements with workers before contracts expired at midnight on July 1, potentially avoiding strikes similar to those now taking place at CHOP and Osteopathic. The Associated Press contributed to this article.
(06/09/92 9:00am)
Three men forced a female employee walking along 41st and Pine streets Sunday afternoon to take them to her house and allow them to ransack it, police said Tuesday. The three men -- all described as between 17 and 20 years old, wearing white T-shirts and shorts -- spent about ten minutes burglarizing the house before leaving. The woman reported the incident to Victim Support Service, police said. In an unrelated incident, a male resident of the Delta Psi fraternity house at 3637 Locust Walk surprised an intruder ransacking his room last Saturday, and was in turn surprised when the burglar turned a handgun on him and ordered him to fill a duffle bag with personal belongings, police said. According to the victim, the assailant then forced him to carry the bag from the house -- commonly known as Saint Anthony's -- and walk with the robber to 40th and Powelton streets, where the assailant took the bag and fled. The victim was unharmed.
(06/04/92 9:00am)
After claiming for months that the University caused him "mental, physical and financial injuries" when it took action against his alleged campaign of harassment and vandalism last year, College senior Stanley Schuldiner agreed to dismiss his lawsuit against the University last month. The lawsuit stemmed from an incident over a year and a half ago in which Schuldiner, then a College sophomore, allegedly asked his roommate to take his Physics 150 final exam for him in December 1990. The roommate said he thought Schuldiner was just kidding, and jokingly agreed to take the test. Schuldiner, however, was apparently not kidding. After failing the exam, he embarked on an alleged campaign of vengeance against his roommate and others. The campaign included ordering his roommate more than 30 unwanted magazine subscriptions, using PARIS to drop several of his roommate's classes, disconnecting his telephone line and even depositing human feces and urine outside the dormitory door of his roommate. After the University forced Schuldiner to vacate his High Rise North room in an attempt to stop the alleged bad behavior, Schuldiner claimed in court that the University left him homeless and subsequently caused him to become sick. The University, however, said that Schuldiner was offered alternative housing and counterclaimed that he caused $448.50 in vandalism damages after he started the alleged harassment. In November, Muncipal Court Judge Edward Mekel ruled against both Schuldiner and the University, arguing that Schuldiner's own actions contributed to his misfortunes and that the University could not prove that Schuldiner was responsible for any of the vandalism. The dispute was scheduled to enter arbitration this week, but Associate General Counsel Frank Roth said Tuesday that both Schuldiner and the University had agreed to dismiss the court case. Roth said that the matter will now be handled internally, including any claim the University might continue to make for $448.50 in vandalism charges. Assistant Judicial Inquiry Officer Robin Read would not comment Tuesday on whether the JIO's officer was still handling the case. But according to the Registrar's Office, Schuldiner is still listed as a student at the University and is scheduled to graduate with the Class of 1993. Schuldiner, who is home at least for the summer, is travelling and could not be reached for comment this week, his mother said.
(05/28/92 9:00am)
He may pack the sunscreen and rack up thousands of frequent flyer miles, but for Provost Michael Aiken, this trip is strictly business. The provost leaves today on a whirlwind two-week trip which will take him half way around the world to Korea. He will meet both with officials at other universities, and alumni and trustees from the University. "The purpose of the trip to Korea is two-fold," Executive Assistant to the Provost Linda Koons said Tuesday. "One is the exchange program, and the other is to meet with alumni there." While overseas, Aiken will visit Korea's Yonsei University and Seoul National University. He will also meet with the country's minister of education to explore the possibility of student and faculty exchange programs. But even half way around the world, Aiken will visit with many alumni during the course of his trek. He is scheduled to meet with the Korean ambassador to the United States, a University alum, and the president of Wang Computer in Korea, a College graduate as well. The trip will be complemented by additional stops in Hawaii, California and Washington to meet with other alumni. On the way to Korea, Aiken will stop in San Francisco to meet with both University alumni and trustees. The provost will then return via Hawaii and Seattle, where he will visit the Penn Alumni Club of Washington. According to Koons, Aiken prefers to stay on campus and tackle administrative tasks here, rather than travel. But she said administrators increasingly recognize the need for both international educational opportunities, and for strong alumni ties -- similar to peer schools such as Harvard and Princeton -- which can aid the University in several ways, most notably in the area of "development," or fund raising. Recently, for example, the provost visited St. Petersburg University in the newly-formed Commonwealth of Independent States, also to investigate the possibility of exchange programs. "I couldn't believe it," Koons said. "Two trips in the space of six weeks."
