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(04/12/99 9:00am)
The "equal opportunity statement" is the coat of arms of the large modern organization. In just one paragraph, a company, school or charity can proclaim its progressive lineage and help shield itself from civil rights lawsuits and perceived reactionary behavior. But Penn does countenance the discriminatory policies of at least one recruiter, providing office space for recruiters from the U.S. Army. On February 28 in this space, I wrote about a lawsuit filed by Vermont Law School students against the U.S. government. The students were suing to overturn the Solomon Amendment, a federal law denying some federal financial aid to students at law schools which forbid the Army from recruiting Judge Advocate Generals. Like Penn Law, Vermont Law is opposed to the military's "don't ask-don't tell" policy prohibiting open homosexuals from serving in the ranks. But also, like most law schools, Vermont Law is not willing to bear the steep price of prohibiting JAG recruiters outright. Hence the lawsuit. In late 1997, Penn Law faced a similar dilemma. Rather than lose financial aid, the Law School capitulated and allowed Army recruiters on campus. In response, many law students launched protests, which received extensive coverage in this newspaper. Law School administrators and faculty promised to review the policy in a year's time. But when the recruitment issue came up again last year, there were no protests and no stories in the Daily Pennsylvanian. Instead, the Law School quietly reached a compromise with the recruiters, asking them to interview law students in the University's Career Services office -- located in the McNeil Building -- rather than its own, located on the Law School campus. The Army accepted and did not press the financial aid issue. For their part, law students active in the movement against Army recruiters see the settlement as better than nothing. "I think the new plan is, true to the law's name, a Solomonic compromise," said third-year law student Jordana Horn, who helped lead the 1997 protest. "The Law School gets to cosmetically maintain the integrity of its anti-discrimination policy but the Solomon Amendment's injustice remains intact." The Army JAG corps also sees the compromise as less than ideal. "Of course we'd prefer to recruit on the Law School campus," said Cpt. Merrilee Durrwachter, who performed JAG interviews in McNeil last fall. "I only interviewed two people last fall, [both in] October," she said. "So that's not a high number of interviews, compared to most schools?. I know [the number of interviews] was higher the year before last year, [when] we used to interview in the Law School library." "We try to accommodate a school's request," she added. "We don't want to force ourselves onto schools' campuses. If the Career Services office won't allow us in, they won't allow us in." But even if both students and recruiters profess satisfaction with the compromise, the Law School's hot-potato strategy toward Army recruiting begs the question: Why have an anti-discrimination policy if it is only going to be honored in the breach? The Army does not legally discriminate. Legally is the operative word. It is also a word that is not found in either the Law School's or Penn's non-discrimination statement. But Penn does accommodate the Army; shouldn't it change its statement to read "legally discriminate?" As it stands, Penn's coat of arms is just so much gloss.
(02/26/99 10:00am)
Late last month, the U.S. military sent recruiters to Vermont Law School. It was the first time in over a decade the Pentagon had tried to lure one of the school's granola-loving, Teva-wearing law students into the services, but try they did. It was a set-up, really, more an attempt to enforce a government policy than to actually sign up students to be "Judge Advocate Generals." You see, ever since the military instituted its infamous "don't ask, don't tell" policy in 1993 -- which requires ejecting open homosexuals from the armed forces -- recruiters have been given less-than-red carpet treatment at many law schools. In response to this protest, Congress in 1997 passed the Solomon Amendment, which denies some federal financial aid to students at schools barring recruiters. For all but a handful of law schools, this penalty has been too steep to bear. In late 1997, Penn's Law School capitulated and allowed recruiters back on campus amid loud protests from students and faculty. The Law School has since reached a compromise with the Pentagon, allowing the recruiters access to its students so long as they recruit from the University's Career Services office rather than the Law School's. This arrangement kept the recruitment visits in line with Penn Law's non-discrimination policy. Vermont Law, a small independent school, had no such option. So when recruiters demanded access last month, three student groups sued the federal government, alleging that the Solomon Amendment is unconstitutional. The dean of Vermont Law, Kinvin Wroth, is contemplating adding his school's name to the list of plaintiffs. He told me that the Solomon Amendment is "an inappropriate use of the spending power to in effect force us to abandon this principled position" of non-discrimination. David Rudovsky, a senior fellow at Penn's Law School, agrees. "I think there is a strong argument to be made that the [Solomon Amendment] does not give the authority to cut off funding as long as some mechanism exists for recruiters to reach students." "Certainly in some situations it is legitimate for the government to withhold funds to uphold a policy," Rudovsky conceded. But withholding financial aid holds the students hostage to an administrative policy. "If the federal government decided by statute to say, 'You know, we want to encourage more men than women to enlist in the military,' [and then] gives a disproportionate amount of scholarship money to men," Rudovsky said, "no court would uphold it." Besides, he argued, "just because a policy is on the books doesn't mean that every attempt to enforce that policy is legitimate." I disagree. Like it or not -- and I don't -- "don't ask, don't tell" is national policy. The federal government has many objectives in awarding financial aid. One of them certainly is to enhance the military's ranks of Judge Advocate Generals. And in a larger sense, insulting the military insults the government the military fights to protect. Will Harris, an expert on constitutional law and a Political Science professor at Penn, agrees. Harris opposes "don't ask, don't tell," and he decries what he calls "the promiscuous attachment of all kinds of obligations that are not germane" to federal funding. Whether it be education policy or highway safety, Harris thinks the federal government too often usurps the power of state governments. But he thinks the ability of the military to recruit at a law school is "actually quite relevant" to whether the government should subsidize that school. "Look, the recruitment process opens up all sorts of legitimate employment prospects for people with legal educations," he said. If the federal government subsidizes those legal educations, it certainly has a right to be one of those prospective employers. If a law school decides to make a political statement by barring recruiters, Harris said, it can do so -- and should be praised for doing so. But to expect taxpayers to continue to subsidize its tuition revenue implies that national policy should cater to its own institutional policy, however noble it may be. Besides, civil disobedience requires sacrifice. Fifteen months ago, a law student -- and former Daily Pennsylvanian executive editor -- outlined in these pages a principled civil disobedience plan. She suggested that every law student donate one week of her (considerable) summer earnings to the school to replace any lost financial aid. Her solution is no longer relevant at Penn, for its moral dilemma was conveniently solved with a dubious "compromise." But if the students at Vermont Law lose their suit, let's hope they decide to put their money where their mouth is.
(05/21/98 9:00am)
As a "professional phone psychic," he explained, his job had been to extend the $4-per-minute calls as long as humanly possible. He would make up phony games with tarot cards, predict his caller's luck in life based on the weather, and perform other hocus-pocus to keep the meter ticking. Once, he said, as a caller was about to hang up, he made a last-gasp attempt to keep her on the line. "Why don't you read from the phone book?" Steve asked, in desperation. "I can predict your future by the way you read the names," he said. The caller took the bait, reciting from the white pages for 20 minutes. This is the type of rich detail that reporters dream of peppering their stories with. Steve had a knack for getting these cute anecdotes, and his journalistic star rose quickly. At 25, he had lucrative freelance contracts with Rolling Stone, George, The New York Times Magazine and Harper's (his story about psychic networks appeared in Harper's February issue). His provocative reporting for The New Republic caught the attention of Washington's media elite. Steve's articles seemed like textbook examples of New Journalism -- the narrative-based, creative nonfiction writing pioneered in the 1960s by Tom Wolfe and others. But Steve's articles were more than just New Journalism: They weren't journalism at all. One week ago, he was fired from his job at The New Republic for fabricating events and even entire articles. Last summer, I worked with Steve at The New Republic. I don't know why he did what he did -- no rational person could expect to get away with such a charade forever. He has gone into hiding since his dismissal, which suggests he did not throw away his career deliberately. Whatever his motives, the incident troubles me. Learning that a friend and colleague is a con artist is a bit like learning that a trusted broker has been robbing you: You feel shocked, sad, angry and betrayed. Steve was the toast of the office, always charming colleagues with tales from his latest journalistic adventure. Ironically, he was also the magazine's chief fact checker. While fact-checking my writing, he once admonished me for inverting a quotation I had taken from a politician's speech. I had not changed the meaning of the speaker's words, but Steve insisted I quote the words in the order in which the speaker actually spoke them. At the time, I was impressed that Steve could be creative and also hold himself to such strict ethical standards. What a sucker I was. The story that tripped Steve up, "Hack Heaven," is about a 15-year-old computer hacker named Ian Restil. In Glass' account, published in the March 18 New Republic, Restil broke into the database of a software company named Junkt Micronics and posted the salaries of its executives on its Web site, along with pictures of naked women. Instead of prosecuting the young tyke, executives at Junkt Micronics hired him. None of a long list of people "interviewed" by Glass really exist. Unfortunately for Glass, a reporter at Forbes Digital Tool -- the Web site of Forbes magazine -- tried to follow up on the story. When he could not confirm any of the facts, he called The New Republic's editor, Charles Lane, and threatened to write a story exposing the fraud. Lane did his own investigation. Reaction was swift. Steve was fired, and all his freelance employers dropped their contracts with him. Harper's now questions the veracity of parts of Steve's phone-psychic story, and George has determined that Steve fooled their fact-checkers by fabricating the letterhead of a fictitious company. The New Republic has not completed its review of Steve's 41 articles for the magazine, but a preliminary report shows that at least three other stories were invented out of whole cloth, and many more appear to contain scenes and characters that were invented. But you don't need to confirm all the facts to smell something fishy. In hindsight, many of Steve's stories seem too good to be true -- and not just the recent ones. Why did Steve's colleagues, who pride themselves on their skepticism, fall for his pulp fiction? Trust, I imagine. Of course, there was no reason not to trust Steve. Journalists are wary of being spun by everyone except their fellow journalists. Fortunately, a journalistic con of this magnitude is an anomaly. But just because Steve's hoax is an aberration does not mean it is inconsequential. In the March 2, 1993, DP, Steve himself wrote, "The role of the DP is not to make allies and not to make enemies -- it is to report the truth." Journalists strive to tell the truth, and not just for lack of creative imagination or in order to hew to some shopworn ethical system. They seek the truth because it is what makes journalism distinct, what makes it not just a poor relative of fiction. But the biggest loser in this fiasco may be creative nonfiction -- the "New Journalism" which Steve mimicked. The world of journalism is full of solid, objective news reporting on the one hand and lazy puff profiles of celebrities on the other. But there is a middle ground, in which narrative serves to illustrate ideas and trends. The New Republic -- which loses money -- is one of the few publications dedicated to that middle way. If Steve's forgeries end up hobbling one of the last bastions of serious, creative journalism, I will never forgive him.
(11/19/97 10:00am)
Independent booksellers view competition as a double-edged sword. In the recent debate over whether Penn should help the new Barnes & Noble bookstore adapt to the area -- even at the expense of independent area bookstores -- the gulf between those who favor increased competition and those who prefer the status quo remains as wide as the Schuylkill. The parties disagree on several fundamental issues, including the benefits of competition, the importance of customer service and the proper role of book stores in an academic community. Much of the disagreement stems from the different objectives of the stores' owners. The owners of the independent bookstores claim their small size allows them to build close relationships with customers, enriching the intellectual atmosphere of the University. Officials from the Barnes & Noble-run Book Store, by contrast, say the superstore will aim to provide the convenience of a single location for all course books. The debate intensified last week, when University Council overwhelmingly rejected a recommendation by one of its own advisory boards suggesting that all professors post their reading lists on the Internet. The proposal would have allowed all of the stores to sell books for every University course, rather than just books ordered by certain professors. But the independent bookstore owners argue that they don't have the resources to compete with a store as large as Barnes & Noble, and stress that their value to the community extends far beyond a simple issue of convenience. "It's not just a matter of giving a list of books," House Of Our Own owner Deborah Sanford said. "It's a matter of doing research on the books, which [often] turns up new editions. "The notion that now we just go to the Web and lift off the information is a complete impossibility," Sanford added. Her store does not have the storage capacity to carry books for every University course or the financial resources to pay return fees on large numbers of unsold books, she said. Larger stores have the cash reserves necessary to accommodate the returns. Council's advisory board "meant well," said Penn Book Center owner Achilles Nickles. "But when you think how it would work out, it would probably be a big handicap for us, [because] we're limited by space and by cash flow." Barnes & Noble officials responded that they are not concerned about the ability of the smaller stores to compete with their store, adding that they have no qualms about trying to win over the professors and students who currently patronize the independents. Book Store Director Michael Knezic said his Barnes & Noble employees go "knocking on doors, visiting faculty and talking with deans and administrators" to find out why they haven't submitted book orders to The Book Store. "You're trying to get feedback," Knezic said, to get "a sense of why the order has not been going to the University bookstore -- I mean, we are the University bookstore." The store has no policy limiting its orders to books requested specifically by professors, and is willing to order from any book list it comes across, he added. Price competition already exists in at least two classes. Books for Social Work 601 and 603 are stocked by both House Of Our Own and The Book Store. In both cases, House Our Own offers cheaper prices on new books, while The Book Store offers even cheaper prices on a more limited number of used books. The three books in Social Work 601 total $67.95 at House Of Our Own and $71.70 at The Book Store, which offers them used for $53.75. The five books in Social Work 603 total $96.35 at House Of Our Own and $101.65 at The Book Store, where used-book prices add up to $76.20. But independent book store owners said they consider customer service to be more important than price. "There's an enormous amount of unseen work that goes into [ordering books]," Sanford said. "It even involves tracking individual books for individual students." Knezic responds that although "the personalization may be different because of our size, that doesn't mean the service isn't there." For example, The Book Store provides all its professors with their book order forms from the previous semester. If their order is the same, they need only check a box to reorder the books. And when a book needs to be reordered, the professor is always called, Knezic said. Another advantage cited by the independent store owners is that they keep books on the shelves longer. "We keep our books for the classes for a long time -- close to the end of the term," Nickles said. Book Store officials said their return time depends on the publisher of a specific book and ranges from 30 days to six months after the time of order. Sanford said the University's commitment to seeing the independent stores survive is merely rhetorical. "[University officials] seem to be saying they value these things in the community? [but] I think their commitment to seeing The Book Store succeed is paramount," she said.
(11/14/97 10:00am)
Debate revolves around making book lists open to Barnes & Noble. With its near-unanimous rejection of its own committee's recommendation Wednesday night, University Council demonstrated that attitudes toward the new Barnes & Noble bookstore remain as contentious as ever. Council's bookstore committee recommended last month that instructors be required to post the reading lists for their courses on the World Wide Web -- rather than ordering the books directly from whatever book store they choose -- so every area store could offer the texts for every course. But that drew harsh words from Council members and in recent editions of Almanac, as critics charged that such a requirement would only help Barnes & Noble dominate local stores like House of Our Own or the Penn Book Center by undercutting their prices. And the thought that professors could be forced to divulge their reading lists against their will seemed to some an infringement on academic freedom. "I'm ready to go to the wall for the freedom that faculty enjoy," said Council member Matthew Ruben, a School of Arts and Sciences graduate student. "As an instructor, I [would] never, for one, comply with this policy." Many Council members also questioned the report's explanation for why professors would avoid ordering from Barnes & Noble. Some professors, the report says, order books from the shoestring-budget Campus Text operation in order to "encourage the entrepreneurial spirit of former students," while others "favor friends or their intellectual comrades with their book orders" -- presumably a dig at the left-leaning House of Our Own. "I think I was chilled by a wind from the '50s," Communications Professor Larry Gross said at Wednesday's Council meeting. The report's language "injected a wholly inappropriate and offensive note" into the committee's recommendation, he added. Bookstore committee Chairperson Robert Regan did not address such complaints at the meeting, although he later admitted that the report's phrasing "was probably a rhetorical blunder." The report's substantive recommendations did not fare much better. Regan, an English professor, argued that giving stores equal access to course lists would encourage duplicate book orders, leading to increased competition and lower prices. Currently, "everyone is selling books at list prices," said Regan, adding "that with competition some [books] might sell under list prices." But most at Council believed equal access would only work to the advantage of Barnes & Noble, which can better absorb the costs of book returns. And many faculty warned that dominance by Barnes & Noble would make scholarly books hard to find. "Medieval history would be under the water right now if it depended on commercial collections," History Professor David Ludden said at the meeting, referring to Provost Stanley Chodorow's academic specialty. Bookstore committee member Adam Sherr, the marketing coordinator for Dining Services, stressed that the committee merely hoped to address student and parent requests for all books to be offered by Barnes & Noble. Although the bookstore committee comprises 15 people, only seven were at the meeting last spring where the report was approved, Regan said. One original member, research administrator Susan Passante, resigned in frustration in April. "I never received notification of the meetings in a timely fashion," said Passante, a former bookseller. And no student member attended a meeting -- an omission Regan attributed to the students' negligence, although committee member and College junior Noah Bilenker said he was never informed of the meeting times and was never contacted by Regan. Other members either could not be reached or declined to comment, citing their fear that the report was "controversial."
(10/27/97 10:00am)
The "Million Woman March" was a follow-up to the "Million Man March." In one of the largest political protests in the recent history of Philadelphia, at least half a million black women descended on Benjamin Franklin Parkway Saturday as part of the "Million Woman March." The overcast day featured political speeches, socializing and plenty of commerce, with hundreds of souvenir peddlers -- mostly males -- hawking "official" bumper stickers, T-shirts, jewelry and kente cloth. The event was organized by two political activists who were virtually unknown on the national level -- Phile Chionesu, a South Street African craft shop owner, and Asia Coney, a local public housing activist. The two did not solicit corporate sponsorship or the help of well-connected black professionals adept at fundraising. Working out of a West Philadelphia office donated by the city, Chionesu and Coney used a tiny staff, Internet advertising, and word of mouth to attract what they said was a crowd of 1.1 million people. The city put the attendance at 500,000. These estimates make Saturday's gathering close in size to the approximately 1 million people who heard Pope John Paul II speak in the city in 1993. "It was amazing [that the march] was grassroots and there was such a big turnout," said College freshman Kari Coley, who attended the event with friends and family. Unlike Washington's "Million Man March" two years ago, Saturday's protest was not organized by the Nation of Islam -- although Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan endorsed it heartily, and Nation of Islam members provided security for the speakers. "This wasn't conceived of by Farrakhan, it was conceived of by women who lived here," said Philadelphia Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, whose district includes University City. But Saturday's event had its own share of controversy, notably a platform plank calling for independent black schools and the presence of keynote speakers Maxine Waters and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, who are surrounded by accusations of political myth-making and political murder, respectively. U.S. Rep. Waters (D-Calif.) is perhaps best known for her belief that in the 1980s the CIA condoned the sale of crack cocaine in the United States by dealers linked to the Nicaraguan Contras. The CIA-crack cocaine theory began with a widely-publicized series of articles in the San Jose Mercury News in August 1996. Independent investigations by The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times and The Washington Post failed to turn up similar evidence, and the editors of The Mercury News distanced themselves from the story. "More than anything, we want an end to the scourge of drugs in our society," Waters said at the march. "I'm convinced the CIA did play a role." In a combative, sometimes vitriolic speech, Waters accused affirmative-action opponents of racism and demanded that they "stop using race as a wedge issue.? Stop the attacks on my people and my children." Mandela, the former wife of South African President Nelson Mandela, rose to prominence in the African National Congress during the three decades her husband was in jail. She is now being prosecuted for alleged involvement in abductions, torture and at least eight deaths. The crowd took to her instantly, shouting "Winnie! Winnie! Winnie!" when she appeared on stage. "Your very presence today, your unity, your solidity, manifests your power, your strength," Mandela said. Referring to the end of apartheid, she warned, "We rule the day. That doesn't mean that if we rule we cannot make mistakes." But most participants cared more about sisterhood than about politics, and many didn't even mind the inadequate sound system, which left many unable to follow events on the podium. A New Haven, Conn., woman even had a red, black and green business card professionally made just for the march. "Mz. [sic] Arayna D. Dixon" it says, along with her name and address, "The Million Woman March --October 25, 1997." Dixon, who left her house at 2:30 a.m. Saturday with 14 friends, said she came to the event so she could network with new "sisters." As for collegiate representation, New York University brought around 150 students, who left Manhattan at 7 a.m. And although Penn did not organize a formal trip to the event, at least several dozen students attended. "I was surprised and disappointed I was one of the few white women there," College senior Holly Shere said. "I had figured the feminist contingent from Penn would have shown up." Shere added that she "felt comfortable" marching with black women. "I didn't feel unwelcome or anything like that," she said. Both Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King had been listed on the program as late as last Monday, but last week spokespeople for them said that both had refused invitations months ago. The program ended with the reading of a letter sent from Havana by "U. S. political prisoner" Assata Shakur, a former Black Panther who is not related to the late rap artist Tupac Shakur. "I am still being pursued by slaveholders, bounty hunters and bloodhounds," said Shakur, who was convicted in 1977 for being an accomplice to the murder of a New Jersey state trooper. Two years later she escaped from jail and was granted asylum by Cuba.
(10/17/97 9:00am)
After a year in limbo, the building housing the 40th and Walnut Street branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia will likely be demolished. But at the request of the library, the University is helping to find the branch a temporary -- and perhaps permanent -- home. Plans for minor renovations to the building last October were complicated when engineers discovered $4 million in water damage to the building. A year later, many civic leaders feel the building cannot be salvaged. "It looks like they won't [save the building]," said City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, who represents the University City area."It's just not cost-effective enough to [repair]." "I think the library is absolutely set on demolishing [the building]," said Michael Hardy of the Off-Site Library Committee, a community advisory group. "Always the indication we've got is that they'd like to get rid of it." Hardy added that library officials have said a new building would cost about $2 million dollars -- an estimate he called optimistic. Whatever the outcome at 40th and Walnut streets, the immediate challenge is to re-open the library. The University will recommend "temporary as well as permanent locations" by the end of the month, said Jack Shannon, the University's top economic development official. Although Shannon said he has not yet compiled a "short list" of sites, many buildings under consideration are owned by Penn, including the Rotunda next to Burger King on Walnut Street and the former Divinity School Chapel and adjacent dean's house at 42nd and Spruce streets. There are problems, however, with both sites. The Rotunda is being used for student performing arts rehearsal space. And Shannon called the Divinity School too out-of-the-way, although it lies within the library's requested geographic boundaries for a site. The most important feature of any location is that it remain near to the walk-in foot traffic and bus-passenger traffic of Walnut Street, Head Library Administrator Judy Harvey said. "It's so residential once you get beyond those boundaries," she added. Adding to the difficulties is the library's limited funds. At a recent public meeting, library officials announced they had no money to pay rent, since they needed to save for a permanent site. And Harvey concedes the library will not get funding for a permanent site until 2000. "There seems to be talk about putting this building in use for five years, Hardy said. "That's a little more than temporary." But some local residents still advocate a return to a renovated building at 40th and Walnut. One neighborhood leader is skeptical of the library's fatalistic prognosis for the building. "Everything is fixable," said Beth Ann Johnson of Friends of Walnut West. "It costs money -- millions. And the library [system] is not used to spending millions on one building." Whether the building is restored or rebuilt entirely, many residents feel strongly about keeping the library at 40th and Walnut. "People in the community are taking the opinion that if they get a new building, they want it on [the former] site," Hardy said. "[But the library] may very well say, 'Let's find some other facility that we [could convert] that we could lease [permanently].'"
(10/09/97 9:00am)
While the controversy over his fundraising practices intensified on Capitol Hill, President Clinton stopped by the CoreStates Center yesterday to curry favor with wealthy Democratic supporters. One step behind the president was Mayor Ed Rendell, who used the opportunity to lobby the Democratic National Committee to award the year 2000 Democratic National Convention to the city. As the two stood side by side before several hundred supporters, Rendell pointed to a nearby sign featuring the logo of the DNC superimposed over the image of the Liberty Bell. "I think the mayor is being less-than-subtle in what he's presenting here tonight," joked DNC Chairperson Steve Grossman. In his address, Clinton praised Rendell as "a wonderful mayor, flack, promoter, arm-twister?" adding that "the last time we had a [Democratic] Convention in Philadelphia, in 1948, it worked out pretty well for us." His face ruddy under the podium lights, the president delivered a policy speech asking the audience to "support [his] efforts for securing a world of peace, freedom and prosperity." Many of those in attendance -- all of whom paid either $25 or $100 -- said they were excited, but not overwhelmed, by Clinton's speech. "I'd say his speech [at the University last] November was a lot better," College senior Alex Ramos said. "Of course, he was campaigning then. Tonight, Philadelphia was campaigning him, if anything." City Councilwoman Janie Blackwell, a Democrat who represents the University City area, was more upbeat about the event. "Even though you come to these [fundraisers] a lot, you still enjoy them," said Blackwell, whose husband, Lucien, is a former U.S. Congressman from Philadelphia who may run for Congress again next year. "There's no substitute for being there in person. [Clinton] is so warm and charismatic." Blackwell acknowledged that a lack of hotel space near the CoreStates Center hurts Philadelphia's bid for the 2000 convention. But building hotels "has been the mayor's whole focus in the last five years," she said. "We have so many hotels on the drawing board -- at least four of five." Comparing the evening to another fundraiser she attended, College sophomore Michele Sacks said the post-election Democratic victory party at the Philadelphia Convention Center last year "felt more like a wedding." "The mayor was doing the macarena" at the victory party, said Sacks, who worked on the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign. Last night's fundraiser, by contrast, attracted "more of a business crowd." College junior Katy O'Neill, a Republican, noted a distinct difference GOP soirees and Clinton's fundraiser, which she described as "more hip." Sacks added that "the band is young, fresh and kind of hip -- no classical music, no ghetto style. It's like Clinton's policies -- very moderate," she said. "Basically, this place is one big metaphor for the administration." But a friend of Sacks saw the event in terms of money, not metaphor. "I can see the policy machine at work," College sophomore Greg Abrams said. "It's just interesting to see what a little money can get you." Many of Clinton's student supporters attended the event because of a reduced $25 student price -- but others came for more selfish reasons. LaSalle freshman Patrick McHugh said he attended solely to earn extra credit for his Political Science class. Peering into the crowd for his eight classmates, who had arrived separately, McHugh admitted, "I don't know much about politics -- I'm just learning." Two other newcomers had an easier time getting into the swing of the event. Gay rights activists Rob Barotte and Jim Colleman don't attend many fundraisers, they said, but a fundraiser for gay rights supporters like Rendell and Clinton is "sort of a special one." Besides, they noted, the event featured perks like "free beer" and "a lot of great-looking men." But the pall cast by the campaign finance hearings in Washington was obvious to some. "I'm sorry that there's also something negative [to the fundraiser]," Blackwell said, "But I guess it's a sign of the times." "I don't believe [Clinton's] done anything wrong," she added. "If you get past [the daily scandal] and look at the whole issue [of campaign finance], that's what we need to [reform]." After his speech, Clinton gave his customary high-fives to fenced-off supporters who had surged toward the podium to touch him. "It's like a rock concert up there," College senior Colton Brown said. "All the girls are screaming and pushing. There's a lot of sweaty palms."
(10/08/97 9:00am)
and Maureen Tkacik Here at Penn, $25 can buy you a lot of things: a smallish bulkpack, an evening on the town, a semester's worth of clean laundry or -- for one night only -- a glimpse of President Clinton. More than 100 Penn students -- some who paid $25, others who volunteered time -- will hear Clinton speak at a fundraiser tonight at the CoreStates Center. Sponsored by the Democratic National Committee and hosted by Mayor Ed Rendell, the event is expected to raise about $500,000 for the debt-ridden DNC, according to Rendell spokesperson Kevin Feeley. Feeley said 500 to 700 people will attend the arena speech by the president for $25 and $100 ticket holders. Additionally, 80 to 100 people will attend a $1,000-a-head reception with Clinton, and a few dozen will pay $10,000 to dine with him. Interestingly, more sorority sisters plan to attend the event than College Democrats, who are sending only a token group. When the $25 tickets became available, Kappa Alpha Theta sister and College senior Rachel Domers pushed the event on the listservs of the Panhellenic Council and individual houses. She organized a group of about 50 people, three-fourths of them sorority members, who will attend the event. Domers heard about the student-rate tickets from her cousin, who works with Rendell. Neither she nor her cousin expected that student interest would be so high. "[Initially] my cousin just wanted me to go," Domers said, adding that the number of interested students jumped after she e-mailed the listservs. In her message -- which was forwarded to The Daily Pennsylvanian -- Domers offered to collect checks and facilitate transportation to the fundraiser, adding that the entire event features "an open bar and open food (not bad, huh?)." "It's been completely overwhelming, the number of people that have contacted me in the last day," Domers said. The interest has exhausted her supply of tickets, she added. The College Democrats, meanwhile, are sending only a small trickle of members to the fundraiser. "It's such a spur of the moment sort of thing," said the organization's president, College senior Aaron Hall. "We expect probably about four or five [students to attend]. I'd be surprised if there were more than 10." "I'm not sure how many people want to pay 25 bucks," he added. The College Democrats found out about the fundraiser only after receiving a plea for DNC volunteers over a listserv for International Relations majors. College senior and International Relations major Allison Price -- who works for the DNC -- had e-mailed the original request for volunteers. "I don't have anything to do with the College Dems," she said. "They just got a copy of one of my e-mails." Through the circulation of her e-mail plea, Price drummed up 50 volunteers for the fundraiser. "Usually I just ask my friends, but [the DNC] needed more volunteers this time," she said, adding that the committee contacts her "whenever the President is in Philadelphia."
(09/29/97 9:00am)
Local activists appeared at the follow-up to April's volunteer Summit. The V.I.P. list may not have been as impressive, but the hundreds of activists at this weekend's Penn-sponsored follow-up to Philadelphia's gala April Volunteer Summit attempted to keep the spirit of community service alive. Local leaders and volunteers spent Friday and Saturday giving speeches in the Annenberg Center's Zellerbach Theatre, strategizing in Williams Hall, and, on one occasion, memorializing Princess Diana for her charitable work. The two-day "Alliance for Youth Summit" began on Friday with a series of motivational speeches by local luminaries such as former U.S. Congressman Bill Gray and Mayor Ed Rendell. Gray, now a minister at Philadelphia's Bright Hope Baptist church, delivered the most powerful speech of the evening. After reminiscing about the volunteer spirit he first encountered as a child in North Philadelphia, he thundered that "mountains are moved by people who pick up one rock at a time." Rendell said Philadelphia children are in "crisis" due to poverty and neglect, and he defended the April summit against a "cynical media" which implied that it was "just a big P.R. event." "Well, were they right? Not at all," he said, citing a simultaneous follow-up summit being held in Montgomery County. "I think this [conference] is going to jump-start us again." Several community activists also spoke at the event. White Dog Cafe owner Judy Wicks told the crowd that she's been giving part-time jobs to local 11th and 12th graders for over a decade, awarding a $1,000 scholarship to one student each year. "Because we're a small business we can't afford too much," Wicks explained later. "I have to put my own kids through college." She added that in "interviewing recent college graduates to work at White Dog, I've noticed an increase in people who do community service." "[Community service] is becoming more a part of the fabric of the country," she said. Wicks has kept a high-profile to promote her model of business volunteerism, representing the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce at the April summit and speaking at Zellerbach over the weekend. Although Wicks and other conference participants networked enthusiastically during the Saturday workshops, enthusiasm waned towards the end of Friday's program. At the end of Rendell's speech, delegates began to steadily file out of Zellerbach while organizations such as Coopers & Lybrand and the Delaware Valley Healthcare Council made presentations to the mayor. By the end of the presentations, fewer than half the delegates remained. Rendell then dedicated a "Commemorative Pledge Book" to the late Princess Diana. "She was a champion of the poor, the disadvantaged, and the disabled around the world," he said. The speech by Jeffrey Lane, who accepted the pledge book on behalf of Diana's official London trust, was the longest of the evening.
(09/25/97 9:00am)
With television news cameras rolling at City Hall yesterday, Mayor Ed Rendell and University President Judith Rodin honored Penn's latest investment -- 34 freshman "Mayor's Scholars" who were awarded a total of $722,501. The students will receive an annual award of an average $20,633, almost entirely in grants. Application for the largely need-based gifts is open to any incoming freshman who graduates from a Philadelphia high school. "We believe the Mayor's Scholarship program is the best scholarship program -- not only in any Ivy League school, but in the nation," Rendell said. The 127 scholars "are pretty much getting a full ride to the University, so it's quite a complete package," said Heather Heard, administrative assistant to Admissions Dean Lee Stetson. They must submit financial aid forms every year, and sometimes awards are adjusted. But as long as a recipient keeps a decent grade point average, scholarship renewal is "pretty automatic," said Mayor's Scholar Alina Khavulya, a College junior who graduated from George Washington High School. The warm reception stood in sharp contrast to the controversy surrounding the program in the early 1990s, when attorneys for the Public Interest Law Center of Pennsylvania sued the University and the city to force them to fund a total of more than 500 Mayor's Scholars, not the 125 that Penn supported at the time. In the lawsuit, PILCO lawyers alleged that a 1977 municipal agreement -- in which the University receives 50 acres of rent-free land from the city in exchange for funding the scholarships -- required the additional scholarships. But in 1993, Common Pleas Court Judge Nelson Diaz ruled that the University fulfilled its obligation to the city with 125 scholarships, although he accused the University of underfunding the awards and labeled the program "a sham in the name of a scholarship." The 1993 court decision ended the University's practice of awarding Mayor's Scholarships to Philadelphia residents who had attended high school outside the city -- a practice which City Councilperson Augusta Clark said had allowed Penn "to look somewhere else when looking for scholarship students." Yesterday, Clark -- a member of the program's selection committee -- praised Rodin's intensified search for qualified candidates, adding that "she's found a bumper crop [of scholars]." And Rodin said the "Mayor's Scholarship program used to be a source of contention between the University and the city, and it isn't any more." For many new Scholars, the program's large tuition subsidy made long-held desires to attend Penn more realistic. College freshman Rita Kubicky -- a graduate of the Philadelphia High School for Girls -- said she had wanted to attend a local school anyway, and the scholarship simply made the choice obvious. Nursing freshman Daniel Smith -- a graduate of the city's Father Judge High School -- used the scholarship to follow in the footsteps of his brother Dennis, a Nursing junior who is himself a Mayor's Scholar. One new recipient will barely leave home. College Freshman Loc Nguyen attended West Philadelphia's University City High School at 47th and Walnut streets. His family lives only 10 blocks from campus. "I was looking for a school close by," Nguyen said, adding that the only other school he considered was Drexel. In his remarks to the new Scholars, Rendell said that "by far the most enjoyable period of my life was the four years I spent at Penn as an undergraduate." But Rendell warned the Scholars that college brings "the need to impose a level of self-discipline on yourself. I must say I didn't always impose that level of self-discipline on myself -- but I tried."
(09/18/97 9:00am)
Wharton Reprographics officials insist they could could handle all the University's bulkpacks. So why do so many professors perfer the more expensive Campus Copy Center? No matter how many times University students have made the semi-annual pilgrimage to Campus Copy Center, it is always an exercise in financial shock as they must once again come to grips with high "bulkpack" prices. But the University runs a lesser-known alternative to Campus Copy -- the non-profit Wharton Reprographics, which takes orders from anyone with a PennCard. Professors give Wharton Reprographics mixed reviews -- some see it as a money-saver, others as an unfriendly and unreliable bureaucracy. "Frankly, I have never heard of Wharton Reprographics," Political Science instructor Scott Silverstone said. "Campus Copy provides efficient and friendly service." But price differences between the two can be substantial. The Daily Pennsylvanian asked Reprographics Assistant Manager Leroy Heartsfield to estimate a Reprographics' price for four randomly chosen Campus Copy bulkpacks -- without knowing the Campus Copy price. Heartsfield said the bulkpack for Political Science 114 -- "Germany After 1945" -- would sell for $32.12. Campus Copy sells the bulkpack for $65. The readings for Political Science 150 -- "International Relations in Theory and Practice" -- would sell for $32.26 at Reprographics. It sells for $60 at Campus Copy. The History 343 bulkpack -- "European Intellectual History, 1780-1870" -- would sell for $16.48 at Reprographics. Campus Copy offers it for $26.73. And the History 211 readings -- "Political Disillusionment" -- would sell for $8.94 at Reprographics. It is $10 at Campus Copy. Heartsfield's estimate excludes the price of Campus Copy's paperboard bulkpack covers. It does, however, include the price of Campus Copy's "spiderbinding," which costs $2 more than Reprographics usual packaging -- shrink-wrap, with holes punched for a three-ring binder. Campus Copy refused to grant the DP an interview or a price list for this article, and it would only give individual bulkpack prices in person. After being approached by the DP, Campus Copy owner Stanley Shapiro said, "I give an interview to [the DP] every year. I've been completely open, and I'm just tired of it." According to DP archives, Shapiro spoke to the DP once in 1995, on a different topic. Why the price difference? Reprographics spokesperson Gerard McCartney attributes it to the efficiency that comes with his firm's large size. "We're the biggest reprographics facility in Delaware Valley," he said. "We just have huge economies of scale." Approximately half of Reprographics' volume is bulkpacks. The rest consists of newsletters such as the Almanac, business cards and reports for clients ranging from student groups, faculty and administrators. Another difference between the prices is taxes. Because it is affiliated with Penn, Reprographics is able to get around charging its customers the 7 percent tax that Campus Copy must charge. In fact, the Campus Copy bulkpack is the only "education-related" product in University City that is taxed. The Penn Book Center and House of Our Own books, for example, are allowed by state law to sell course books without charging tax. Additionally, as a University-owned non-profit outfit, Reprographics does not have to pay copyright fees like Campus Copy. As long as it stays within the bounds of what the law calls "fair use" -- copying, for example, no more than a few chapters from a book -- Reprographics can copy at will. The one exception is business school casebooks, which are written explicitly for business classes and for which Reprographics pays yearly and per-item royalties. The last reason for the price difference is the simplest. Because it is non-profit, Reprographics is able to sell its bulkpacks at cost. All this saves money, but Reprographics' non-profit status, large size and affiliation with the University also gives it a bureaucratic image. "I have very limited experience with Wharton Reprographics," said Folklore and Folklife Chairperson Margaret Mills. The last two or three times she used Reprographics -- a "long time ago," she said -- it botched her order. She said she is pleased with Campus Copy's service and has no incentive to switch back. Her colleague Regina Bendix thinks differently. "The Wharton packs are cheaper, and given how much students pay already in books, and how much their parents or they themselves pay in tuition, room and board, price is a major issue," she said. Although Bendix said she often puts her class material on reserve in Van Pelt Library, when distributing bulkpacks she uses Wharton Reprographics because it's cheaper for her students than Campus Copy Center. "That is what students have told me when I started teaching here, and it was a student who recommended that I inquire with Wharton," she said. But according to Mills, Campus Copy will match Reprographics' price -- if you ask. "Campus Copy doesn't advertise this, but if you want 'Wharton rates' you'll get them," she said. Even without this knowledge, many departments -- especially in the humanities and social sciences -- clearly prefer Campus Copy. "Our whole department uses Campus Copy, just about," said a History Department staff member who requested anonymity. "Their service is better." She explained that Reprographics forces instructors to make the original photocopies of bulkpack material, while Campus Copy is willing to make the first photocopies directly from an instructor's books. Heartsfield said Reprographics will go out of its way for a customer on occasion, but it depends on timing. During peak periods, he said, "[Reprographics] may tell [professors] that it won't be ready when they want unless they help us out a little bit." Indeed, many professors who use Campus Copy praised its convenience. Others said they use it out of habit. History Department Chairperson Linda Lees uses Campus Copy "in part because I pass it on my way home. I've never had anything to do with Wharton Reprographics," she said. She admitted that "since I don't have anything to do with Wharton Reprographics, I don't know their prices." History Professor Thomas Childers feels the same. "I've used Campus Copy for years and years," he said. "They're very accommodating." And although Childers said he didn't know the price of the bulkpack for his History 430 course, he admitted that "it's expensive." Veronica Kent, the Anthropology Department's business administrator, agrees that Campus Copy is "much more reliable," noting that while the department prints its exams at Reprographics, it doesn't trust it for bulkpacks. But another member of her department -- Anthropology Professor Sandra Barnes -- disagrees. When asked why she uses Reprographics, she immediately responded: "price." She explained that she switched from Campus Copy at her students' request "The students have said, 'Please, it's cheaper.' I think they have a right to that," she said. And although she has had minor problems with Reprographics, Barnes said they were "nothing that's killing." But awareness of the price difference varies between professors. "I have a very good relationship" with Campus Copy, said Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Professor Roger Allen. "I've never felt the need to go anywhere else." He said he didn't know if there was a price difference. "I haven't actively done a comparison check." History instructor Denise Davidson, who did her graduate work at the University a few years ago and uses Reprographics, is acutely aware of bulkpack prices. "The last time I had to buy a bulkpack from the Campus Copy Center, it was $120," she said. "I thought that was absolutely outrageous." Reprographics is a bit less customer friendly --"they seemed slightly annoyed with some changes I wanted to make [to a bulkpack]," she said -- but well worth the cheaper price. And Political Science Professor Jack Nagel said he was "not looking for a change because Campus Copy has ideal service from my point of view." "The price is not something we look at so closely," he said. So is Reprographics pushing its price advantage over Campus Copy? No, according to Reprographics' McCartney. "We're not that commercial," he explained. Although Reprographics never turns away business, he said "it's not our goal to drive other people out of business, frankly. We're not looking to zap Campus Copy."
(09/10/97 9:00am)
Finding movies in Philadelphia should be a lot easier next year, following United Artists' announcement yesterday of plans to build two 10-screen theaters and expand its Riverview Plaza theater complex by the end of next year. But the plan -- which proposes to increase the number of screens at the Riverview from 11 to 17 while building 300,000 square feet of restaurants and retail across the street from it -- may pose serious competition to a similar, partially city-funded project at Penn's Landing. The Riverview -- located at 1400 S. Delaware Avenue -- is popular with many Penn students because of its wide selection of movies. The Penn's Landing project -- which is a favorite of Mayor Ed Rendell -- contains plans for a large mall and 24-screen AMC theatre complex by 2000. But while the Penn's Landing project will receive $30 million from the city to build a parking garage, it may be threatened by the UA complex's earlier opening date. James Cuorato, executive vice president of the Penn's Landing Corp., denied that the UA complex would be competition for his project, but admitted "that our developer will take [UA's 26 new screens] into consideration" while deciding on the amount of theaters for the Penn's Landing development. And Cuorato stressed that while he doesn't "know whether they'll adjust the number [of screens]," he promised there would be "over 20" in the Penn's Landing project. The expanded Riverview complex -- which is being built by the UA and Tower Investments -- will abut more than 100,000 feet of pre-existing,Tower-owned retail. The new theaters will include "large wall-to-wall screens," "comfortable high-back rocker chairs," and "stadium seating allowing for unobstructed sight lines from every seat," according to a UA release. Cuorato stressed that he will not receive the tax subsidy unless his project is completed, and doubted the UA project could be built with only private funds. "We should wait and see if they really make it happen that way," he said. The Penn's Landing proposal features 500,000 to 600,000 square feet of shops, restaurants, and "special attractions" -- which may include an interactive tourist's guide to Philadelphia as well as Steven Spielberg's high-tech Gameworks arcade. Additionally, Cuorato said he was attempting to attract stores such as F.A.O. Schwartz, Niketown and a Virgin Megastore to Penn's Landing. The top-level of the mall may also feature a public park and a new amphitheater, as well as two ice skating rinks. Rendell visited Las Vegas last week to view the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace, a successful mall run by the leasing company for Penn's Landing Corp., the Simon DeBartolo Group, Inc. At the time, Rendell said he wanted to transplant the Forum Shop's community-oriented entertainments without the Vegas glam.
(06/01/97 9:00am)
Madison, N.J. Interim School of Arts and Sciences Dean Walter Wales and College of Arts and Sciences Dean Robert Rescorla have pledged to serve beyond their terms -- ending officially July 1 -- until their successors are appointed. Originally the SAS search committee had aimed to secure a new dean by July, but according to Sociology Chairperson Douglas Massey, a member of the committee, University President Judith Rodin might not approve a replacement for Wales until September. And because the SAS dean is typically responsible for selecting a new College dean, that appointment has also been delayed. Massey said the timing of former SAS Dean Rosemary Stevens' surprise resignation last September put the search committee at a disadvantage. Additionally, while Rodin had hoped to establish a search committee by the end of September, the process was delayed because the University Council's Committee on Committees, which chooses the members of other University committees, had not yet elected its members when Stevens resigned. The search got off to an even later start. Massey said the committee is currently in the process of finalizing a list of about half a dozen candidates for Rodin to examine. Wales, a Physics professor, and Rescorla, a Psychology professor, both said they are eager to return to teaching and research. "I felt it was my responsibility to [serve as interim dean] when I was asked, but I will certainly not be unhappy to see it end," Wales said. Although he plans to teach two classes in the fall, Wales -- who is serving his second appointment as interim dean -- said he realizes "someone has to answer the phone" in the dean's office. "I hope I would not be asked again," he added. Rescorla, who taught a course this semester, said he looks forward to plunging back into his teaching full force, although he would be willing to stay on until November or December if necessary. "Events don't always turn out the way you like," he said. Despite the delays, Massey said the candidates for SAS dean are "ideal." "Penn has a great reputation as an institution and has competitive advantages" over other schools, he said. The committee has considered professors from both inside and outside of the University. "[I am] looking for someone to forcefully represent the school's interest to the provost and president and deans," Massey said. Fundraising ability is also an important criterion for the job, given SAS's current budget deficit and low endowment. "I think it's clear that the Development Office would be greatly aided by stability in the dean's office," Wales said. With Stevens' short tenure -- she served only five years -- matched by several of her predecessors, the selection committee has been trying to gauge candidate's commitment to the job. "Clearly we want a dean who will be around for a full term," Massey said. "But no one can predict the future."
(06/01/97 9:00am)
Madison, New Jersey In accordance with the Academic Agenda for Excellence emphasizing interdisciplinary study, the University approved several new inter-school minors, a joint degree program and several submatriculation programs over the past year. A minor in Asian American Studies, established last fall, was the first in the series of new programs. Courses in the minor include "Topics in Asian American History," "Writing about the Indian American Experience" and "Topics in Literature: Theorizing Identity in Asian American Literature." Several other programs were approved to begin this fall. Among these is an inter-school minor in Legal Studies and History, offered jointly between the School of Arts and Sciences and the Wharton School. The minor, which aims to expose students to multiple points of view about law and public policy, consists of eight courses -- four from Wharton and four from SAS. These include Legal Studies 101 and a full-year course called "History of American Law." Legal Studies Chairperson Richard Shell stressed that the minor is not to be constructed as a "part-time program." It would better suit the interests of students who wish to pursue careers in government, journalism, business or international affairs, he said. Shell expects that many undergraduates heading for a career in law will find it useful to take one or two legal studies courses during their undergraduate studies, but the four-credit requirement for the minor is probably excessive as students will take similar courses in law school. Also beginning this fall is an inter-disciplinary program in Health Care Management, designed to combine the biological, pharmacological and nutritional knowledge of a Nursing education with the business skills of a Wharton education. Students in the new program will take Nursing's science and clinical components, the basic business component in Wharton and two classes designed for the joint degree. They may also have to take summer classes, in addition to a fifth-year of school, in order to complete the degree. SAS also announced it will allow its students to receive minors in Engineering beginning in the fall, enabling College of Arts and Sciences students to explore any facet of Engineering, from bioengineering to biotechnology to computer science. In addition to the minors, a joint degree program between Wharton and the Law School and two new submatriculation programs will be offered in the fall. The joint degree program will allow undergraduates to graduate from both Wharton and the Law School within six years. Participants in the program would receive a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Wharton, and then a Juris Doctor degree from the Law School. Wharton students will be able to apply to submatriculate into the Law School in the first term of their senior year, even if they have not yet received their undergraduate degree, according to Wharton Undergraduate Dean Richard Herring. Students who are accepted will devote their senior year to the Law School curriculum. Herring explained that this will enable undergraduates to adjust to the intense atmosphere of the first-year Law program. After their first year in the Law School, students will have two years to complete the necessary courses for both their undergraduate Wharton degree and their Law degree. Also new this fall are submatriculation programs in Biotechnology and Environmental Studies. The Biotechnology program will combine the resources of the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences in "the first truly joint program between the two schools," according to Engineering Professor Daniel Hammer. The program will incorporate courses in biochemistry, computer science, genetics and statistics, which will be divided into three parallel tracks -- Basic Biotechnology, Engineering Biotechnology and Computational Biology/Bioinformatics. The Environmental Studies submatriculation program will include courses in Geology, Chemistry, History, Law and Political Science. Additionally, students will develop a professional concentration intended to facilitate their entrance into a company, think tank or governmental organization.
(05/29/97 9:00am)
It's sad but true -- I have been a summer-school SEPTA slave, and lived to tell. But before you drown me in your pity, let me tell you a tale of triumph. In the summer of 1995, I lived in Swarthmore Borough and took summer classes at Penn. I stayed in a first-floor studio apartment with a view of the Swarthmore train station, about 150 yards away. Unfortunately, my proximity to the station meant I became complacent about making the train on time. About a minute or two before the train's scheduled arrival, I would dash out my door, sprinting toward the "safety bush." The safety bush was a shrub next to the road. If I reached this marker before my train appeared from around the bend, I knew I was close enough to make it and would slow to a walk. The safety bush was important; since the train ran only once an hour, I would miss class if I didn't clear it before my train appeared. I tried to give myself a greater margin of error for important classes. For my economics final I took the extraordinary step of taking the train arriving two hours before the test began -- leaving myself an insurance train. As usual, I nearly missed this train. Dashing through the apartment door, I found myself trapped: The front walk -- and the only opening in the ring of hedges surrounding the apartment -- was blocked by a rented trailer. Damn movers! Two-minutes till the train. Instinctively, I charged the ring of hedges like a bull at Pamplona. Head down, I bulldozed into my apartment's landscaping at full speed. Everything went? green. D'oh! I had made it only halfway through. I ingloriously wormed my way forward until I fell onto the sidewalk, jumped up, and sprinted for the all-important safety bush. I crossed into the safe area just as my train appeared in the distance. Catching my breath on the train, I thought the ordeal was finished. It was just beginning. After two-and-a-half stations the train abruptly stopped. No big deal, I thought -- probably just a signal problem. Five minutes passed. Fifteen. Thirty. The conductor announced that a live power line was covering the tracks, and a PECO crew would have to fix it before the train could move. Great. Now both of Philadelphia's legal monopolies were imperiling my grade in -- of all things -- economics. Forty-five minutes since we had stopped and still no progress. I had wanted to walk to a pay phone and call a cab, but I was told it is illegal to exit a train between stations. After a delay of sixty minutes, the train finally began to roll -- backward. We stopped at the nearest station and were allowed to exit while the train waited. I started to panic. I called a cab, but only one taxi company serves that part of Delaware County. Its drivers are famous for taking their own sweet time arriving -- if they stoop to respond at all. The conductor announced the train was reboarding, though he wasn't sure if the wire had been fixed. The exam was 45 minutes away. I made a quick decision and boarded the train, trusting SEPTA more than the cab company. Presuming we traveled on schedule, I figured I would make it to the exam with a few minutes to spare. But we stopped again; the wire was still down. I started to hyperventilate. I paced up and down the isle, receiving dismissive glances from the jaded passengers. "What'sa matter, son?" the conductor finally asked. "You got to go to the bathroom or something?" I told him my plight, and he said he'd see what he could do. The exam was in thirty minutes. Twenty-five minutes. I lost hope and started to sulk. At T-minus twenty minutes, we moved forward. But I was indifferent. Without a miracle, I would be late. "This is now an express train!" the conductor bellowed, parting the waters between me and the Promised Land. "Next stop -- University City." I was saved. A few minutes later the train glided into University City Station. I was sprinting down Spruce Street even before the train had stopped. I dashed in front of cars, thinking only, "Williams Hall, Williams Hall, Williams Hall." I arrived just as the instructor began to hand out exam booklets. In retrospect, the conductor probably was not the savior I took him to be. Given the trains backed up behind us, he probably would have made the train an express one anyway. But I like to think he took pity on a small, powerless summer-school student and SEPTA slave. Blessed are the meek.
(05/29/97 9:00am)
It's sad but true -- I have been a summer-school SEPTA slave, and lived to tell. But before you drown me in your pity, let me tell you a tale of triumph. In the summer of 1995, I lived in Swarthmore Borough and took summer classes at Penn. I stayed in a first-floor studio apartment with a view of the Swarthmore train station, about 150 yards away. Unfortunately, my proximity to the station meant I became complacent about making the train on time. About a minute or two before the train's scheduled arrival, I would dash out my door, sprinting toward the "safety bush." The safety bush was a shrub next to the road. If I reached this marker before my train appeared from around the bend, I knew I was close enough to make it and would slow to a walk. The safety bush was important; since the train ran only once an hour, I would miss class if I didn't clear it before my train appeared. I tried to give myself a greater margin of error for important classes. For my economics final I took the extraordinary step of taking the train arriving two hours before the test began -- leaving myself an insurance train. As usual, I nearly missed this train. Dashing through the apartment door, I found myself trapped: The front walk -- and the only opening in the ring of hedges surrounding the apartment -- was blocked by a rented trailer. Damn movers! Two-minutes till the train. Instinctively, I charged the ring of hedges like a bull at Pamplona. Head down, I bulldozed into my apartment's landscaping at full speed. Everything went? green. D'oh! I had made it only halfway through. I ingloriously wormed my way forward until I fell onto the sidewalk, jumped up, and sprinted for the all-important safety bush. I crossed into the safe area just as my train appeared in the distance. Catching my breath on the train, I thought the ordeal was finished. It was just beginning. After two-and-a-half stations the train abruptly stopped. No big deal, I thought -- probably just a signal problem. Five minutes passed. Fifteen. Thirty. The conductor announced that a live power line was covering the tracks, and a PECO crew would have to fix it before the train could move. Great. Now both of Philadelphia's legal monopolies were imperiling my grade in -- of all things -- economics. Forty-five minutes since we had stopped and still no progress. I had wanted to walk to a pay phone and call a cab, but I was told it is illegal to exit a train between stations. After a delay of sixty minutes, the train finally began to roll -- backward. We stopped at the nearest station and were allowed to exit while the train waited. I started to panic. I called a cab, but only one taxi company serves that part of Delaware County. Its drivers are famous for taking their own sweet time arriving -- if they stoop to respond at all. The conductor announced the train was reboarding, though he wasn't sure if the wire had been fixed. The exam was 45 minutes away. I made a quick decision and boarded the train, trusting SEPTA more than the cab company. Presuming we traveled on schedule, I figured I would make it to the exam with a few minutes to spare. But we stopped again; the wire was still down. I started to hyperventilate. I paced up and down the isle, receiving dismissive glances from the jaded passengers. "What'sa matter, son?" the conductor finally asked. "You got to go to the bathroom or something?" I told him my plight, and he said he'd see what he could do. The exam was in thirty minutes. Twenty-five minutes. I lost hope and started to sulk. At T-minus twenty minutes, we moved forward. But I was indifferent. Without a miracle, I would be late. "This is now an express train!" the conductor bellowed, parting the waters between me and the Promised Land. "Next stop -- University City." I was saved. A few minutes later the train glided into University City Station. I was sprinting down Spruce Street even before the train had stopped. I dashed in front of cars, thinking only, "Williams Hall, Williams Hall, Williams Hall." I arrived just as the instructor began to hand out exam booklets. In retrospect, the conductor probably was not the savior I took him to be. Given the trains backed up behind us, he probably would have made the train an express one anyway. But I like to think he took pity on a small, powerless summer-school student and SEPTA slave. Blessed are the meek.
(05/16/97 9:00am)
Interim School of Arts and Sciences Dean Walter Wales and College of Arts and Sciences Dean Robert Rescorla have pledged to serve beyond their terms -- ending officially July 1 -- until their successors are appointed. Originally the SAS search committee had aimed to secure a new dean by July, but according to Sociology Chairperson Douglas Massey, a member of the committee, University President Judith Rodin might not approve a replacement for Wales until September. And because the SAS dean is typically responsible for selecting a new College dean, that appointment has also been delayed. Massey said the timing of former SAS Dean Rosemary Stevens' surprise resignation last September put the search committee at a disadvantage. "Our dean resigned after Labor Day without forewarning," he explained. "Other schools had their search committees set up in September, while Penn began searching in December." Additionally, while Rodin had hoped to establish a search committee by the end of September, the process was delayed because the University Council's Committee on Committees, which chooses the members of other University committees, had not yet elected its members when Stevens resigned. Massey said the committee is currently in the process of finalizing a list of about half a dozen candidates for Rodin to examine. Wales, a Physics professor, and Rescorla, a Psychology professor, both said they are eager to return to teaching and research. "I felt it was my responsibility to [serve as interim dean] when I was asked, but I will certainly not be unhappy to see it end," Wales said. Although he plans to teach two classes in the fall, Wales -- who is serving his second appointment as interim dean -- said he realizes "someone has to answer the phone" in the dean's office. "I hope I would not be asked again," he added. Rescorla, who taught a course this semester, said he looks forward to plunging back into his teaching full force, although he would be willing to stay on until November or December if necessary. "Events don't always turn out the way you like," he said. Despite the delays, Massey said the candidates for SAS dean are "ideal." "Penn has a great reputation as an institution and has competitive advantages" over other schools, he said. The committee has considered professors from both inside and outside of the University. "[I am] looking for someone to forcefully represent the school's interest to the provost and president and deans," Massey said. Fundraising ability is also an important criterion for the job, given SAS's current budget deficit and low endowment. "I think it's clear that the Development Office would be greatly aided by stability in the dean's office," Wales said. With Stevens' short tenure -- she served only five years -- matched by several of her predecessors, the selection committee has been trying to gauge candidate's commitment to the job. "Clearly we want a dean who will be around for a full term," Massey said. "But no one can predict the future."
(04/30/97 9:00am)
Behind closed doors they plot -- knock down the Civic Center and build a new hospital; destroy Franklin Field and rebuild it on Walnut Street near the Schuylkill River. These were among the more radical solutions a group of City Planning graduate students proposed to Barbara Kaplan, director of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. But a second group from the Studio 701 class assigned to create a plan for development of the eastern edge of campus produced a potentially feasible plan to transform the University into "Penn on the Schuylkill" -- a waterfront community like Harvard. "I didn't invite the president," joked Anthony Tomazinis, chairperson of the City Planning Department. "That's all right -- we can show her all this," said James Kise, a City Planning instructor. But beyond the joking, the project took its cue from University President Judith Rodin's stated desire to "go east." "As President Rodin has said, 'It's going to be enhancement to the west and expansion to the east'," City Planning student Brennan Pang said. City Planning student Heather Gazen added that her group's proposal is "long-term development." A highlight of the plan includes new graduate housing on the current Navy training facility on the east side of the Schuylkill. "This would be privately developed but intended for student use," Gazen said. "It would be apartment complexes that could house families." The students designed plans for a new pedestrian-friendly South Street Bridge that would link the housing to the top of a 400-car, 2-level parking garage just north of the current University City SEPTA station. Surrounding the SEPTA station and the top of the garage would be "open air markets" with lots of green space -- part of an uninterrupted "door" from the heart of campus to the Schuylkill, "opened up" by the demolition of Hutchinson Gymnasium. But most new construction would take place near Walnut Street near the Schuylkill. The Studio 701 group envisions a new recreation center -- to replace Hutchinson Gymnasium -- on the south side of Walnut Street. To create a residential feel for the east side of campus, a new undergraduate quadrangle dorm would be built, providing a clientele for both the recreational arena and the shops near the parking garage and the SEPTA station. "Finding extra academic residences and common areas is what long-term planning needs," Gazen said. She said the new graduate housing would help to bring graduate students west from Center City. "The first step is to improve the housing that already exists in the West Philadelphia area," Kaplan remarked.
(04/30/97 9:00am)
The federal government tweaked the University recently, denying two established programs decades-old subsidies, throwing one of the programs into limbo. The U.S. Education Department unexpectedly denied the Middle East Center a grant amounting to 50 percent of the Center's income, leaving the Center's future at the whim of a deficit-ridden School of Arts and Sciences. The Middle East Center -- which coordinates lectures, courses and study abroad for dozens of departments -- had received these "Title VI" subsidies since the the Center's inception in 1965. In a less-surprising move, the DOE denied money to the Lauder Institute of Management and International Studies, causing a 15 percent drop in income. The Lauder Institute -- which provides a dual master's-MBA degree and emphasizes foreign languages and study abroad -- had received the three-year renewable grant since the Institute's founding in 1986. Although rejected Title VI applications include commentary from the three academic reviewers hired by the DOE, neither center would discuss DOE's comments, which are not public record. But representatives from the Lauder Institute would say that a $10 million gift last year from co-founder Leonard Lauder provides adequate compensation for the loss. "Given the generosity of Leonard Lauder, [the rejection] won't affect our programs," said Lauder Director Stephen Kobrin, a management professor. The Middle East Center is not so lucky. "We will basically be working on a reduced budget," said Center Director Everett Rowson, an associate professor of Arabic, Asian and Middle East Studies. "This is a major and unexpected setback, and we've got to look to the future." He added that "our essential strength is our Middle East faculty, and that will remain intact" because it is hired by the University, not the Center. Rowson said he is confident SAS can help fill the Center's funding gap, and that he has been negotiating with Interim SAS Dean Walter Wales "in the course of this week." But Wales said he is focusing on larger issues -- like balancing the SAS budget. "At this point in time we're focusing mostly on next year's school budget," he said. "I haven't focused attention on the Middle East Center." "If [Center] funding is restored, I assume it will come from Arts and Sciences resources, which are in relatively limited supply," Wales added. Any decision on the Center would "certainly not come in the next couple of weeks," he said. The average Title VI "National Resource Center" grant was $157,440 in fiscal year 1996, according to the DOE's International Education and Graduate Programs Service. Both the Lauder Institute and the Middle East Center had also received several Title VI "Foreign Language Fellowships," which average $8,000, plus tuition and fees. The African Studies Center, Center for East Asia Studies and South Asia Center all received Title VI grants, with the new East Asia Center receiving its first grant and the recently established African Studies Center seeing a one-third increase in funding, along with three new fellowships. Many administrators and faculty insisted there was "no correlation" between the loss of Middle East Center funding and the increase in money for other area studies. "There is an immensely rigorous and complex set of criteria," said African Studies Center Director Sandra Barnes, an Anthropology professor. Barnes said the DOE told her that the only decline in grants nationally was for Eastern Europe Studies. Professor of Asia and Middle East Studies Roger Allen, who is associated with both centers, agreed that the DOE doesn't favor certain area studies, but he blamed the University for letting the Middle East Center become mediocre according to national standards. "There's a big push in African Studies and a big push in East Asian Studies" at the University, he said, resulting in relative neglect of Middle East Studies. "Other universities have expanded their Middle East programs and now have a national profile we don't have," Allen added. "Penn now comes up a bit short." He said it is "quite possible" that the financial crisis could deteriorate the Center enough to prevent it from ever competing for a Title VI grant again. Politics does play a part in the Lauder Institute decision, he added. "There is an anti-elitist tilt through the whole thing," Allen said. "It is public knowledge that they got a $10 million grant from Leonard Lauder." Regardless, faculty, administrators and students took the Lauder Institute's loss with equanimity. "It's a blip on the screen," second-year Lauder student David Saef said. "The feeling among the business community is that Lauder is doing cutting-edge work." But second-year Lauder student Ed Wilson said "the quality of teaching in the rest of the [non-Lauder] graduate department is better." "That's one thing that has frustrated a lot of Lauder students," Wilson said. "The level of teaching is not up to par with the rest of the University."
