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(03/04/92 10:00am)
A federal judge knocked two years off the 17-year sentence of convicted drug trafficker Alexander Moskovits yesterday and restructured the sentence so the former Wharton student will be eligible for parole in four months. Moskovits was convicted on 18 federal drug counts in September 1988 for overseeing the trafficking of 50 kilograms of cocaine, at least 10 kilograms of which were funneled through the University during his four years as an undergraduate. Moskovits was up for resentencing yesterday because U.S. District Court Judge Louis Pollak wiped out Moscovits' 17-year sentence last September, ruling that a previous conviction in Mexico was illegally considered during the original sentencing. Under federal sentencing guidelines that cover second-time offenders, Pollak was forced to give Moskovits a 10-year prison term for cocaine posession on top of a seven-year sentence for conspiracy at his original sentencing in 1988. But because the Mexican conviction was not valid -- Moskovits was not represented by an attorney during crucial parts of his trial -- the former Wharton student was resentenced as a first-time offender at yesterday's three-and-one-half hour hearing. The new sentence includes only a five-year term for posession of cocaine to go along with the seven-year conspiracy sentence. Pollak added a three-year sentence through a separate count. More importantly, however, the time Moskovits must spend in prison before he is eligible for parole was cut in half. Originally, he was forced to wait 10 years, but the new sentence requires only five. Moskovits' attorney William Kunstler had originally sought a seven-year total prison term, through which Moskovits would serve the five and seven year sentences concurrently. But Kunstler said he was pleased with the ruling anyway. "While it seems like only a two year change, it really is an opening for parole," he said after the hearing. "It's not something to sneeze at." Because Moskovits has already served four years and eight months of his sentence, he will be eligible for parole in four months. Kunstler added, however, that he does not feel Moskovits will be released at his first parole hearing. "He won't get it at his first crack, but he might get it at his second crack," the famed civil liberties attorney said. During the afternoon hearing in Judge Pollak's 16th floor courtroom in the federal building on Sixth and Market streets, Kunstler, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristin Hayes and Moskovits were all allowed to present arguments to Pollak. Kunstler went first, and although his statement wandered to touch on Martin Luther King, Jr., The Merchant of Venice, Michael Milken and the Persian Gulf War, he focused on Moskovits' exemplary prison record, submitting numerous commendations from prison officials. "Moskovits' devoted services at no cost to our institution have certainly saved the federal government several thousand dollars," Kunstler said, reading from a letter written by a prison official at Talladega Federal Correctional Institution. "Mr. Moskovits is an asset to our education department." He noted that Moskovits teaches English to Hispanic inmates and translates books for the prison. Giving Moskovits a shorter prison term and longer probation sentence "would give society a chance at a superbly intelligent man," Kunstler concluded. Hayes' presentation was more formal, and she focused on the severity and violent nature of many of the crimes, asking for the sentence to remain the same. "This is a defendant who is a very evil person," Hayes said. "He is more evil than the average drug dealer." "This is a defendant who, while attending the Wharton School, used what he learned to operate an illicit business," she added. "He dealt drugs on a very large scale." Hayes asserted that Moskovits' exemplary prison record is irrelevant because Moskovits must be resentenced as if he were just convicted. "It's just giving him a benefit that other people don't enjoy," Hayes said. Finally, Moskovits himself rose to testify, and after a lengthy discourse on the legal underpinnings of his case, he attempted to show the judge that he felt remorse. "It's very difficult for me to express myself in a public forum," Moskovits said. "I don't like beating my own chest in front of a judge." He also read a poem that included the lines, "I shall begin anew, that is my resolve," "I shall leave all sins behind," and "I shall wear new clothes and a new soul." Pollak's ruling was a mixture of both sides' requests. He acknowledged Hayes' assertion that Moskovits did not seem remorseful for what he had done, but agreed with Kunstler that the 29-year-old's prison record should be taken into account.
(03/04/92 10:00am)
William Kunstler had only one thing to say to Alexander Moskovits as he sat down at the defense table -- repent. "Tell him you want to start over," the wild-haired attorney whispered in the ear of the convicted cocaine trafficker. "Just talk about your remorse and how sorry you are . . . it was a sin of the '80s . . . " And as Moskovits rose to plead for leniency from U.S. District Court Judge Louis Pollak, it seemed that he was about to do just that. "I've waited for this moment for almost five years," the former Wharton student began. But as the burly 29-year-old, clad in a prison-issue beige jump suit and horn-rimmed glasses, continued his testimony, he seemed to change his mind. Instead of repentance, he decided to assail the judge and his former lawyers for the handling of the case. Gripping a small wooden cross in his left hand, Moskovits gave his interpretation of the federal legal code and criminal precedents in other districts. He gave his assessment of the Fifth Amendment and how it should be applied to his case. He moved on to cite letters and exhibits already entered into the record. Kunstler was stunned. He tried to rein in his client. "It's already in the record," he pleaded in a barely audible mumble. "It's already in the record." And when Judge Pollak asked Moskovits to wait a minute while he talked to a clerk, Kunstler gave a brief glance over to prosecutor Kristin Hayes and flipped. "Hayes is smiling," he pleaded with his client in a whispered but adamant voice. "She loves for you to do what you're doing." Indeed, Assistant U.S. Attorney Hayes had already asserted that Moskovits -- despite all the "good time" in prison he spent teaching English to Hispanic inmates, despite all the legal advice he had provided fellow convicts, despite all the effort he put into helping prison officials implement a recreation program at the Taladega Federal Corrections Institution -- had never shown that he was sorry for what he did. "In his five years in jail, he still hasn't realized what he's done wrong," Hayes asserted in front of the judge. "This is someone who was a large-scale, long-term, very violent drug dealer. In September 1988 he didn't realize that. In March of 1992 he still can't realize that." But after a short break, Moskovits continued citing more case law. Kunstler started shaking his head. The man who defended Martin Luther King, Jr., Abbie Hoffman, Malcolm X and Lenny Bruce was becoming desperate. In a last ditch effort, he pulled out a yellow legal pad and wrote out the letters R-E-M-O-R-S-E. He put the pad in front of Moskovits and underlined the word three times. Finally Moskovits gave in. "It's very difficult for me to have a heart-to-heart in a public forum," Moskovits said. "I can only say that I'm terribly sorry, not only because Mr. Kunstler says that's what a defendant should say, but because that is what I feel." And he sat down. Kunstler breathed a sigh of relief and gave his client a congratulatory pat on the head. But for the judge, one line at the end of a lengthy discourse did not seem enough. "I have not seen or heard evidence of remorse," Pollak said as he handed down the new 15-year sentence. "Mr. Mosokovits did tell me he was sorry, but I didn't quite find out what he was sorry for." But both Kunstler and Moskovits seemed relatively happy. After all, with the restructuring of the sentence, the man who ran an operation that imported at least 50 kilograms of cocaine into Philadelphia through the University, the man who allegedly threatened to kill anyone who testified against him, would be eligible for parole in three months. And Kunstler seemed relieved to have it all over with. "He's a tough client," Kunstler said running to the elevator. "Alex is just too intellectual for his own good."
(10/30/91 10:00am)
A $200,000 crystal ball that was stolen from the University Museum almost three years ago was recovered by the FBI yesterday. The 55-pound ball was recovered along with a $30,000 bronze statuette of the Egyptian god Osirus that was swiped at the same time. The crystal ball -- which was perhaps the most renowned artifact in the museum and is the second largest of its kind in the world -- is not yet in the University's posession, but University Museum spokesperson Pam Kosty said late last night the ball will be shown to the public at a press conference at the FBI's Philadelphia headquarters this morning. According to Philadelphia Police Lieutenant Richard Eite, a University Museum volunteer saw the bronze statuette Thursday at a garage sale on the 2400 block of South Street. Because the volunteer was unsure if the statue was the same one, she called two other museum workers to come look at the piece, who then verified that the statue was the one stolen. According to Eite, the man who was running the sale said he had bought the statue for $30 on October 12 from a "trash picker" who was hocking the art piece on an "old wooden table" on the 2300 block of Gray's Ferry Avenue. It is unclear whether the finding of the statue led the FBI to the crystal ball, and neither Kosty or Eite had information on the discovery. But a report on WCAU-TV last night said that the ball was found in a pawn shop. The ball and the statue were stolen from the museum on November 11, 1988. Before the ball disappeared, it was the museum's most popular artifact, sitting prominently in the building's third floor rotunda. It served as both the literal and symbolic centerpiece of the museum's Chinese exhibit, and was the prize of one of the nation's most famous collections of Buddhist art. At 10 inches in diameter, the crystal ball is second in size only to one displayed at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. In the months following the incident, the museum offered a $10,000 reward for any information leading to the recovery of the lost artifacts, but it is not known if the reward was still being offered or if anyone had claimed it. The FBI had spearheaded the investigation since the pieces' disappearance. They had been placed on the National Stolen Art file, and FBI agents in Philadelphia and several other regional offices had participated in the search. The theft was the first in a string of three major art thefts in Philadelphia during November 1988. A Sri Lankan mask was swiped from the University Museum ten days after the ball and statue were stolen, and a priceless statue was stolen from the Rodin Museum four days later. The Rodin piece was recovered several months later, but it is unclear if the mask was ever found. The theft of the ball and statue had impact beyond their material value at the time of the incident. "[The ball] was my favorite object in the museum," University Museum Director Robert Dyson said at the time of the crime. "There's total dismay and sadness. It's like a wake around here."
(10/10/91 9:00am)
It was a mess. First, the University Council's new moderator almost cut off all discussion on kicking ROTC off campus before anyone had said anything. Then, the Locust Walk Committee chair was cut off halfway through his presentation and told he had just one minute left to summarize a year's-worth of work. Finally, members of the Council were left with all of 60 seconds to discuss what the character of campus will be in the next 30 years. Needless to say, Council members, who are often prone to lengthy discourses, were a mite upset. "I am outraged that the rules designed to encourage discussion were used to stifle it," said undergraduate representative You-Lee Kim. In a continuing attempt to bring order to what at times were almost chaotic meetings, members of Council have set rules to limit the occasional ramblings of overzealous student leaders and verbose professors. But yesterday they seemed to have gone too far. Yesterday's Council meeting marked the debut of a new moderator, Law School Professor Elizabeth Warren, and a new parlimentarian, University Archivist Mark Lloyd. Both were given strict orders by Council's Steering Committee to stick to the rules. And stick they did. The meeting was almost constantly punctuated by Warren's warnings that time was running out or that comments were out of order or that a motion had to be made before anyone could discuss an issue. And at times, even she seemed at a loss for words. "What are we supposed to do now?" an exasperated Warren asked the 35-member body when Biochemistry Professor Emeritus Adelaide Delluva asked to speak. The move to bring more order to monthly meetings of University Council began over two years ago when debates about the freshman diversity awareness seminars broke down into chaotic shouting matches rather than orderly meetings. After both faculty and students complained they could not be heard, President Hackney gave up his role as chair of Council to a moderator and stricter parlimentary procedures were followed. "Until several years ago, there were a number of moderators, then there was a hiatus," said Statistics Professor David Hildebrand, who served as the first moderator after Hackney. "Then they got some crazy Stat professor to do it." Although much of Council members' frustration was taken out on moderator Warren, Hildebrand said she is not at fault. "The moderator is the traffic cop who follows the instructions of the Steering Committee," he said. "As the ex-moderator I felt considerable sympathy for her . . . I would hope that we don't turn this into a growl-at-the-moderator sort of situation." Hildebrand, who is chair-elect of the Faculty Senate, said the Steering Committee will probably discuss the strict rules at its next meeting. But Locust Walk Committee Co-Chairperson David Pope said the problems with Council's procedure may be more enlightening than frustrating. "We looked as stupid as we are," the material sciences professor said.
(10/08/91 9:00am)
A bill requiring campus police departments to release a complete daily crime blotter will be introduced to the state senate by the end of next week, the bill's sponsor said yesterday. The bill would strictly prohibit screening the names of students charged with committing a crime against another student -- a practice the bill's advocates say is commonplace at colleges and universities across the state. If passed, the bill would also require the University to change the way it handles inquiries about campus crime. Currently, students cannot see daily crime reports and names of students charged with crimes on campus. In addition, University Police do not release full descriptions of suspects in answering questions about crimes. Many schools, including the University, justify withholding crime reports, claiming either that disclosure violates federal laws or that, because they are not public institutions, the reports are not public records. State Sen. Richard Tilghman (R-Bryn Mawr) said yesterday the bill will be introduced in the next ten days, adding the bill would have been introduced sooner had the capital's computer systems not been shut down for a few weeks. He said the bill is not "terribly radical" and that its "time has come." "I can't imagine a great groundswell of opinion against it," the state senator said. But he would not predict whether the bill would become law. It is not known yet whether or not the University will lobby against the bill. Assistant Vice President for Commonwealth Relations James Shada, one of the University's lobbyists in Harrisburg, was not available for comment yesterday. The Massachusetts bill was written and spearheaded by Harvard Crimson editor Joshua Gerstein, and Spiegel said yesterday that after learning of Gerstein's success, he decided to push for a similar law in Pennsylvania. "Several student newspapers around the state, including ours, have had problems getting information on crime to students because campus police claim their records are not public," Spiegel said. "A situation in which the police control what information goes out to the students is very dangerous." He added that Security On Campus -- which was founded by Constance and Howard Clery in 1986 after their daughter Jeanne was brutally raped and murdered in her dormitory as an undergraduate at Lehigh University -- convinced Tilghman to sponsor the bill. Howard Clery, who serves as president of Security On Campus, said he is pleased Tilghman is introducing the bill, adding he is certain it will pass because of the success the Massachusetts bill had. "[In Massachusetts] lobbyists tried to fight it, but they were . . . hounded by the student press and the Boston press," said Clery, whose group lobbies for free access to crime reports nationwide. Once introduced, the bill would be sent to a committee -- either the Judicial Committee or the Education Committee, Tilghman said, by the president pro tempore of the state Senate. The committee would then study the legislation, suggest modifications and then vote on whether or not to send the vote to the entire state Senate floor. Tilghman added he does not yet have a sponsor for the bill in the state House of Representatives and said he did not know when the bill would be introduced to the House.
(09/05/91 9:00am)
A former Wharton student serving a 17-year jail term for drug trafficking could be released from prison later this month when a federal judge reconsiders his sentence. Alexander Moskovits was convicted on 18 federal drug counts in 1988 for overseeing the trafficking of 10 kilograms of high-quality cocaine over a four-year period while he was an undergraduate at the University. But U.S. District Court Judge Louis Pollak vacated Moskovits's sentence last month because a previous conviction in Mexico was illegally considered during his sentencing. "The judge ruled that the Mexican proceeding lacked fundamental fairness in that he was not represented by counsel at a crucial stage of the proceeding," Moskovits's lawyer, prominent civil-liberties attorney William Kunstler, said Tuesday. Because of the Mexican conviction, Moskovits was originally sentenced by Pollak as a second-time offender. At his original sentencing on September 7, 1988, the prosecution continually stressed his previous conviction, stating it was a reason to substantially lengthen his prison term. "He didn't learn his lesson," Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristin Hayes said at the hearing. And Pollak, in handing down the sentence, said that the Mexican conviction weighed heavily on his decision. "In some respects, Mr. Moskovits's offenses are more egregious as he . . . has already been convicted of a crime," Pollak said. Kunstler said that as a first-time offender, Moskovits will probably get his prison term reduced to either seven or 12 years at the September 24 hearing. And Moskovits, in a telephone interview from the Philadelphia Detention Center, said that if his sentence is reduced to seven years, he is likely to be released because he has already served three-and-a-half years and has been awarded substantial extra time served for good behavior. "With the good-time allocation, I've almost served a seven year sentence," Moskovits said last week. "Even if he knocks it down to six or seven years, I'm home." Moskovits, who was born in Brazil, said he was awarded extra time for translating records from Spanish into English for the government. "He has saved thousands of dollars for the prison system," Kunstler said. "He has has an exemplary prison record." Prosecuter Hayes did not return telephone messages left at her office yesterday. Moskovits's 1988 conviction carried with it a mandatory sentence of five years, which was doubled to 10 years because he was a second-time offender. Another seven-year term was added to the mandatory sentence by Pollak. Kunstler said the judge will pare the 10-year term back to five years, and added that he will ask Pollak to allow Moskovits to serve the additional seven years concurrently. But Moskovits said he hopes Pollak will throw out the seven-year term altogether. He claimed that the additional seven years were added largely because he was a second-time offender. Moskovits said last semester he raised the issue of the illegal procedures at the Mexican hearing with his old lawyer, Robert Simeone, during the original sentencing, but said that Simeone "just let it slip in." Moskovits was arrested in the summer of 1987 after 4.4 kilograms of cocaine found in a Williams Hall mail room were linked to him. During his trial, he was also linked to multi-kilogram shipments to Psi Upsilon fraternity, which used to be located in the Castle, and to the Quadrangle mail room. At a bail hearing in 1987, his ex-girlfriend testified the Wharton student once riddled a warehouse with a machine gun and told her that he would kill anyone who testified against him.
(01/17/91 10:00am)
NEW YORK -- A New York Supreme Court jury found Wharton junior Christopher Clemente guilty on all nine drug and weapons charges last night after deliberating for almost five hours. Both Clemente and co-defendant Leah Bundy, who was convicted on identical charges, now face a minimum of 25 years to life in prison. Judge Richard Lowe allowed the two to remain free until sentencing, which was set for February 28. One of Clemente's attorneys, Ronald Kuby, said last night the defense will appeal the verdict. He added, however, that Lowe indicated the Wharton junior would not be released on bail pending a decision on the appeal. Clemente's home phone number in the Bronx has been changed, and he could not be reached for comment last night. The nine man, three woman jury came back with the verdict just before 8 p.m. after an intense day in Lowe's downtown Manhattan court room. Both sides presented emotional closing arguments that lasted throughout the morning, and Lowe spent over two hours in the afternoon giving the jury its charge. The courtroom was two-thirds full with newspaper reporters and spectators, including Clemente's mother Barbara Jenkins, who remained deadly silent during the morning summations, which lasted over three hours. In his closing arguments, Assistant District Attorney Maxwell Wiley asserted that Clemente and Bundy were part of a drug operation that may have inclued several other people, including Clemente's brother Henry. He argued that the defense's arguments that the two were in the apartment for romantic reasons was mere speculation based on no facts. "They were not in the wrong place at the wrong time," Wiley said with the most emotion he has shown throughout the seven-day trial. "They were not the victim of chance or bad judgement. They were where they wanted to be." "You heard that Christopher Clemente is a law abiding citizen," the assistant DA said, referring to character witnesses from the University. "I ask you [the jury], as law abiding citizens, if you would spend even a minute at that apartment. That is a place you run from." Clemente's attorney, famed civil liberties attorney William Kunstler, argued that evidence showed the apartment did not belong to Clemente. He also stated that the drugs or weapons were not tested for fingerprints and could be linked to Clemente. Kunstler, who was the first to deliver a closing argument, said that the apartment, drugs and weapons belonged to someone else, possibly Clemente's brother Henry, and that the two were only there for a romantic encounter. "The issue is not whether he used bad judgement by using an aparment to find a moment of love and peace," he argued. "You have him alone with a young attractive girl. You have an apartment that was used for a tryst." Kunstler argued that his interpretation of the night's events was just as valid as the prosecution's. He asserted that if two inferences are of equal validity, law mandates the jury find in favor of the scenario that points to innocence. Kuby said last night that he and Kunstler were extremely upset by the verdict. "Both Bill and I are shocked and disappointed, but it's a sign of the times," the ponytailed attorney said. "The callous disregard that the jury showed for the life of Christopher Clemente is the same callous disregard that we are seeing for life in the Persian Gulf." Clemente was arrested the night of January 9, 1990 in a Harlem apartment by police who were responding to a call of a man shot. Clemente threw 2000 crack vials into an alley, and cut his hands while struggling desperately to rip away a locked window gate so he could flee, Wiley said. In the apartment, police found 214 vials of crack cocaine, several large chunks of crack, $11,000 in cash and a loaded MAC-11 machine pistol. In addition to the over 2000 vials of crack, poice say a 9mm pistol and a scale were dropped out of the apartment window. Kunstler and Bundy's lawyer, Gail Davis, said in closing arguments that if their clients had been in control of the apartment and its contents, they would have had a key for the window gate. They would also have known about the guns hidden behind a radiator and in a closet and would have tried to throw them out.
(12/07/90 10:00am)
Six people were injured yesterday afternoon when a driver plowed into a pedestrian and four cars along 40th Street between Chestnut and Walnut streets, police said. Police said a 48-year-old man was arrested in connection with the incident and is being charged with drunk driving. Philadelphia Police Officer Larry Fadgen, who was stopped at the traffic light on 40th and Chestnut streets when the accident occured, said the driver, whose name he would not release, came out of Fidelity Bank on the corner, got into a white sedan and drove up onto the curb, hitting a female pedestrian. She was later transported to a hospital by paramedics. Fadgen said he followed the car down 40th Street toward Walnut Street as the driver ran into four other cars. He added that no one in the four cars was seriously injured, but one woman was visibly shaken and dazed when paramedics escorted her from her car to an emergency medical vehicle. According to eyewitnesses, the white sedan hit the woman's car at 40th and Sansom streets, spinning it 180 degrees before it came to a rest. One eyewitness, who did not give his name, said that it appeared the driver did not brake at all as he proceeded down 40th Street, and was only stopped when he ran into a red Ford Thunderbird at Walnut Street. "If he could have gotten past that car, he would have," the man said. "It looked like he was trying to drive [but] his brakes were broken." Another witness, WXPN employee Ellie Hidalgo, said she was making a phone call at a pay phone at 40th and Chestnut streets when she heard people start to scream. She said the white car was going fast and its wheels were screeching as it drove. Scores of people lined the streets as dozens of police officers milled about the scene. Police blocked off Chestnut Street for over an hour, forcing huge snarls in rush-hour traffic. Three paramedic units responded to the incident. The driver of the white sedan, whom police handcuffed, appeared to be unable to keep his balance as police transported him to a police van. University Police officials said that they did not know if anyone injured in the incident was affiliated with the University.
(12/07/90 10:00am)
In a struggle to find a medium between a "vague" racial harassment policy now in place and a "narrow" alternative proposed by President Sheldon Hackney, College junior Jeffrey Jacobson submitted his own racial harassment policy to Hackney yesterday. Jacobson, who is co-chairperson of the University Council's Safety and Security Committee, said yesterday that he got the idea for his own draft at Monday's forum to discuss the policy's revisions. "I went to the forum and I heard what the students were saying to President Hackney," Jacobson said. "He kept saying over and over again to put [their ideas] in a policy." At the forum, Hackney's proposed revisions to the policy were severely attacked for what critics claim is wording that would make it impossible for victims to prove that they have been racially harassed. Jacobson said his draft is a "hybrid" of the current policy, Hackney's proposal and "a little of my own ideas." "The idea is that the old policy is too vague," he said. "But the new [proposal] is way too narrow." Hackney released his preliminary revisions to the two-year-old policy in early October, following a nationwide trend on college campuses toward removing limits on free speech. He was responding to concern raised by University Council after last year's Michigan Supreme Court ruling that the University of Michigan's harassment poilicy -- which is almost identical to the University's current code -- was "unconstitutionally vague." In the place of a definition of harassment, Jacobson's policy sets up a series of three "tests" to determine whether speech or actions are harassing. If an incident fails two of the three tests, then it would be deemed harassing. The first test, called the "Speaker/Actor Identifiablity Test," states that the University should not allow people to disseminate offensive material anonymously. "To pass this test, offensive speech or actions must originate from an easily identifiable source," the proposal states. "A public speech or a signed document are examples of easily identifiable sources that meet the rigors of this test." The second test, dubbed the "Educational Mission Test," says that any speech that adds to the University's stated educational mission in its "broadest possible definition," should not automatically be considered harassing. The final test is called the "Informed Intent Test." This states that a person or group must be "aware of the negative response that his or her activities generate or have generated," in order for harassment to take place. Past Faculty Senate Chairperson Robert Davies, who evaluated the proposal for Jacobson, said yesterday he thinks the draft "has merit" and should be used as a reference for Hackney when he formulates a new policy. "I think this is certainly one that should be considered carefully when the final one is put together," Davies said. "He's put a lot of thought into it." Jacobson said he has submitted the proposal to the Almanac which has agreed to publish the document in its issue next week. Hackney could not be reached yesterday for comment on the proposed policy, but has solicited ideas from the entire University community throughout the process.
(12/06/90 10:00am)
Expressing its concern about the "erosion of the academic calendars," the Faculty Senate Executive Committee yesterday unanimously called on the administration to examine the effect of secular and religious holidays on classes. Faculty Senate Chairperson Almarin Phillips said last night after SEC's monthly meeting that the faculty are concerned that "two days off here, two days off there [for] students wanting to go skiing" were cutting into time allocated for teaching. He did not say if any specific breaks or holidays are considered primary targets of the study. SEC also charged its own Committee on the Faculty to study the issue and report back to the full body within a year. Phillips said the resolution came from a suggestion by Provost Michael Aiken, who attended yesterday's SEC meeting. Phillips said it is not unusual for the provost to bring up an issue for SEC to act upon. Wharton junior David Kaufman, treasurer of the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education, said his organzation would be interested in looking into the subject. But he emphasized that most vacations during the school year are necessary. "Students do need time to take it easy and get a break from classes," Kaufman said. He noted that SCUE got the administration to institute Fall Break years ago after numerous students complained about the lack of a vacation period until Thanksgiving. In other SEC business yesterday, Provost Aiken, at the invitation of SEC, held discussions with the committee about various campus issues. Phillips said faculty members talked to the provost about long-range academic planning, campus facilities, the faculty salary policy and administrative mechanisms to keep professors informed of University policy decisions. Phillips called the talks "very informal," adding that SEC has also invited President Sheldon Hackney to attend meetings to hold similar discussions. At last month's SEC meeting, Phillips announced that he may step down from the committee examining the diversification of Locust Walk because of Hackney's charge to the committee. The charge prevents the committee from discussing removing fraternities from the Walk. Phillips said last night that he has made no further decisions concerning whether he will resign from the committee, but added that he still feels "discomfort" serving on a committee with such a narrow charge.
(12/04/90 10:00am)
The trial was originally scheduled for last week, but Delaware County District Attorney Jay Mattera said yesterday that the judge agreed to postpone the trial at the request of the lawyer for Arnold Butcher, the alleged gunman. Butcher's attorney, Spiros Angelos, did not return a call seeking comment yesterday. Mattera said that Angelos requested the delay so he would have time to find expert medical testimony on his contention that Robertson's death was the result of medical malpractice and not the shooting. According to Eileen Courtney, the attorney for defendant Michael Shaw, Angelos has filed a motion claiming that paramedics and officials at Sacred Heart Hospital failed to transfer Robertson to a trauma center for treatment despite his mortal wound, and are therefore responsible for his death. She said the motion calls for murder charges to be dropped against Butcher. Courtney said she has filed a motion asking that murder charges be dropped against her client as well. She said that Shaw agreed to side with Butcher in a fight against Robertson, but did not know Butcher would slay the Engineering freshman. "He entered into a conspiracy to fight, not to kill someone," she said. The motion would leave Shaw charged only with simple assault. She emphasized that the autopsy showed that Robertson suffered no other serious injuries than the shot allegedly fired by Butcher. John Williamson, the lawyer for the third defendant, Dwight Townsend, did not return a call seeking comment yesterday. Courtney said that he has filed no motion of his own and she expects that he will "piggyback" on her motions. Butcher, Townsend and Shaw were arrested in the spring in connection with Robertson's shooting death. The Engineering freshman was murdered in his hometown of Chester over winter break. According to news and police reports, Shaw and Townsend fought with Robertson and his brother, Paul, after Butcher objected to Paul's talking with a woman in a local restaurant. Butcher allegedly fired at both brothers, hitting only the 18-year-old freshman, who was struggling with Townsend on the floor. All three pled innocent to first degree murder and related charges in August. Courtney said defense attorneys have not decided if they will request a jury trial.
(11/27/90 10:00am)
At least one member of the University's teaching staff was forced to leave the University after sexually harassing an undergraduate, according to an Ombudsman report to be released today. The study, the first ever of its kind, states that a total of 87 allegations of sexual and racial harassment were filed during the 1989-90 academic year against faculty, students and staff. It says that the "most serious cases" involved sexual harassment by "members of the teaching staff of undergraduates who were their students." It also states that sanctions in these cases included salary freezes, letters of reprimand, and at least one "departure from the University." It does not specify if the individual or individuals were forced to leave or left voluntarily. Ombudsman Daniel Perlmutter declined to comment on the report last night. Associate Finance Professor Susan Wachter, who was ombudsman last year, said last night that she could not say anything about the departure beyond what was in the report. The report shows that 22 faculty members were charged with violations of the sexual and racial harassment policies, but does not state how many were found guilty of the allegations. It is not clear whether any of the cases are still under investigation. The report, to be printed in today's Almanac, states that approximately half of alleged harassment incidents were racial and half were sexual. It also says that there were three charges of ethnic harassment and four relating to sexual orientation. According to Assistant to the President Nicholas Constan, the report was compiled so that there will be a record of the number of complaints each year. He said the specific charges are not included because some may be unsubstantiated. Constan said it is difficult to judge the impact of the numbers since there is no previous report for comparison. He added, however, that the reports will play an important role in the future when trends will become evident. "I like that this sort of reporting will be done so we can come up with some comparisons later," he said. According to the report, the administration requested in May that academic officers and resource center directors report all allegations to the Ombudsman for compiling. Former Ombudsman Wachter said that the racial and sexual harassment policies, formally enacted in December 1988, mandate the annual report. The report states that of the 87 charges between July 1, 1989 and June 30, 1990, 12 are currently being investigated, 23 have been deemed unfounded, 25 were resolved and one went to a formal grievance procedure. It also says that 26 complainants did not want their allegations investigated. The most complaints, 60, were filed by staff, and students filed less than half that amount. Only one faculty complaint was reported. Only six of the complaints were against students, the report states, while 59 were against staff and 22 against faculty.
(11/27/90 10:00am)
Excerpts from several universities' racial harassment policies will be included in a six-page supplement to today's Almanac. The documents are designed to give background for debate on revising the University's policy. Last semester, University Council called on President Sheldon Hackney to revamp the racial harassment policy in light of a Michigan court ruling that a similar University of Michigan policy was too vague and therefore unconstitutional. In October, Hackney presented a proposal for changes in the document, which narrowed the definition of racial harassment. The draft met with intense criticism at Council's October meeting from students and faculty who claimed the proposed policy would not prevent discrimination. The dissent prompted Hackney to extend the time frame for debate over the issue. The report in today's Almanac includes Michigan's revised harassment policy; Stanford University's policy, which was revised this summer and resembles Hackney's October proposal; and policies from the Universities of California and Texas. It also includes an excerpt from a 1942 Supreme Court ruling on free speech, a 1989 article by a University of Hawaii law professor on "racist speech," and two recent articles by University professors on the topic. The University's current racial harassment policy and Hackney's proposed changes are also published in the report. Hackney said at this month's Council meeting that the documents would be used to facilitate debate on the policy, and invited members of the University community to discuss the documents at a December 3 forum.
(11/20/90 10:00am)
Sitting on the bed in his second-floor Van Pelt College House room, Wharton junior Christopher Clemente looks very different from the man who emerged from the Mannhattan Detention House seven months ago. Clemente's smile has lost its weariness since March 26, and his wire-rimmed glasses and blue and green striped crewneck are a far cry from the worn blue jacket and dirty white shirt he wore the day he was released from jail. The campus atmosphere, galvanized by Clemente's arrest in a Harlem apartment on felony drug and weapons charges, has also become less strained. Last semester such notables as civil rights activist Kwame Toure -- formerly Stokely Carmichael -- and renowned defense attorney William Kunstler led protests on Clemente's behalf at President Sheldon Hackney's house, on College Green and in Provost Michael Aiken's office. Reporters from local newpapers and television stations to ABC News' Primetime Live descended on campus to cover the controversy. And hundreds of students rallied around Clemente, collecting over $15,000 to help bail him out of jail. They charged that administrators -- who suspended Clemente from campus for four weeks, saying he threatened campus order -- mistreated the Wharton sophomore. But When Clemente came back to the University this fall, the case had slipped from the forefront of people's minds. The Wharton junior said Saturday that he felt "awkward" returning to campus in September, and had prepared for the worst. But there were no more protests and no more controversy. Clemente said he did not even get one sidelong glance while walking down Locust Walk. Within two weeks, he was feeling at home again. "Everyone at the University has been very supportive," he said, adding that campus officials helped him register for classes and secure his financial aid when he arrived. American Civilization graduate student Andrew Miller, Clemente's Van Pelt graduate fellow, said yesterday that at the beginning of the semester, he heard stories of students turning and staring at the Wharton junior when his name was read off roll sheets in class. But Clemente said he paid little attention to stares and has tried to focus on his studies. He said he has found it easier to put his case out of his mind than he originally thought it would be. "I do think about it sometimes, but I try not to dwell on it," he said. "I have other things to worry about. I worry about tests. I worry about sleeping." And although he may have changed since the day he was released from jail, Clemente said he is the same person who left the University in December for what started as winter break but what turned into a five-month leave of absence, 11 weeks of which were spent in New York jails. Clemente seems almost to forget that he faces trial on nine felony drugs and weapons charges in January. Miller said that he was "shocked" at the way Clemente has made a transition back to school, adding that he rarely hears the Wharton junior talk of his case. In March, Clemente criticized the University's handling of his situation, but he said this weekend that he holds no grudges against the administration. Ronald Kuby, one of Clemente's lawyers who spoke out against the administration last semester, said Friday that the the campus community has treated his client well. "The sense I get from Chris is that people on campus are respecting his right to privacy," Kuby said. "They're showing their support by treating him like a decent human being." Clemente said he has fully recovered from the multiple stab wounds he suffered while he was being held at Riker's Island prison complex and has started lifting weights again. "I'm trying to get my body back in shape," he said. The Wharton junior said it has become easier to push his case out of his mind as time has passed. He added that he often does not pay attention to the legal wranglings surrounding the case in New York, saying that he learns about most developments from The Daily Pennsylvanian. As his January trial approaches, Clemente said he tries not think about the possibility he will not be back at the University in the spring. Right now, he said, he has more immediate concerns. "I'm a fin major, but I don't like fin," he said.
(11/19/90 10:00am)
Wharton junior Christopher Clemente is scheduled to stand trial on felony drugs and weapons charges January 7, almost one year to the day after he was arrested in a Harlem apartment. At a hearing on Friday, New York Supreme Court Judge Richard Lowe also stood by his earlier decision to disqualify only one item of evidence against Clemente. Last month, Clemente's attorneys, Ronald Kuby and William Kunstler, asked that the judge reconsider their motion for suppression of a total of six items which are key to the prosection's case. They said the judge's September ruling was filled with inaccuracies about undisputed facts. The decision stated that a 14-ounce bag of cocaine, the largest single quantity of drugs found by police in the apartment, was seized illegally because it was not in plain view. Kuby criticized Lowe for not changing his decision, saying that the ruling failed to deal with the issues raised. "It's like litigating in front of a moron," Kuby said. "It's like talking to a wall." He added that he would consider using the ruling to support an appeal if Clemente is convicted on any of the nine felony drug and weapons charges he faces. The New York lawyer added that he believes even District Attorney Max Wiley was uncomfortable with the way Lowe has handled the evidence, but a New York DA's office spokesperson said Friday that she had not spoken to Wiley about the hearing and could not comment on it. At the January trial, which attorneys said will probably last less than a week, Clemente will face nine felony drug and weapons charges and one misdemeanor drug charge. Three of the charges carry a maximum sentence of up to life imprisonment. The charges stem from Clemente's January 9 arrest in a Harlem apartment. Other than the 14 ounces of powdered cocaine, police say they confiscated over 200 vials of crack cocaine, a loaded M-11 gun and a drug ledger in the apartment. An additional 2000 vials of crack and a loaded semi-automatic machine pistol were thrown out of an apartment window just after officers surrounded the building, police said. The defense attorneys have argued that these six pieces of evidence are inadmissible, charging that they were seized illegally. They said that since police were originally responding to a report of a shooting, the emergency condition under which they searched the apartment only allowed officers to conduct a "quick sweep" to ensure that no gunman or shooting victim were in the rooms. Kuby has said that despite the evidence against Clemente, he is confident that the Wharton junior will be cleared of all charges.
(11/19/90 10:00am)
When the federal government asks a landscape architecture professor to prove that his grant will not be used for anything obscene, you know things are getting serious. Since the controversy over federal arts funding erupted last year over a University-sponsored exhibit, the government has been looking at ways to ensure that taxpayers' dollars are not used for offensive artwork. And its long arm has reached into some unexpected places. Earlier this year, James Corner, an assistant professor of landscape architecture and regional planning, was asked to sign a voluminous document pledging that his aerial photographs of landscaping were not "obscene or indecent." He signed the document, but said that if he were a painter or a sculptor involved with "artistically explorative works," he might have chosen differently. Corner, whose project was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, is one of countless artists across the nation who has felt the heat of a fire kindled by the University-sponsored photography exhibit last year. But the aftermath of controversy surrounding the Robert Mapplethorpe photography exhibit, organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art, has affected dozens of people at the University. And most say that while they have not experienced direct censorship, they have been torn by a political struggle in which they must compromise their principles or lose funding. The University, led by President Sheldon Hackney, has vehemently supported the ICA throughout the 17-month ordeal, and has spoken out against the NEA restrictions. Nonetheless, University artists who depend on NEA grants to fuel their research find themselves at the mercy of the new NEA rules. · In 1988, the NEA-sponsored ICA exhibit, entitled Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Moment, was displayed in Meyerson Hall with little notice. The show then went on a cross-country tour which led to countless protests and counter-protests, the indictment of a Cincinnati museum director and a restrictive amendment to the NEA appropriations bill. In July 1989, the Mapplethorpe exhibit passed through the nation's capital, where Senator Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) stumbled onto it and was shocked by some of the works -- particularly ones depicting homoerotic acts and naked children. Upon learning that taxpayers, through the NEA, had funded the show, Helms pointed to it -- along with an Andres Serrano exhibit which included a photo entitled "Piss Christ" -- to pass an amendment restricting Endowment funding. For more than a year, all NEA grant recipients, like Corner, had to sign the pledge swearing off obscenity. The debate over the now-weakened amendment thrust the ICA and the University, under Hackney's vocal leadership, into the national spotlight to fight against what critics termed "government-sponsored censorship." And since then, the ICA has been the target of struggles over NEA funding. The NEA appropriations bill said that any grants requested by the ICA must be posted on Capitol Hill for 30 days before consideration because of its role in the Mapplethorpe exhibit. And this summer, the National Council for the Arts, which oversees the NEA, turned down two of three grants despite previous approval by peer panels. ICA director Patrick Murphy said that the rejection, which was later reversed, was based on the grants' content but was meant as a punishment to the museum. "The feeling was that to give a grant to the Mappelthorpe museum would be an affront to Congress," Murphy said. According to David Morse, who handles the University's federal relations, the ICA receives the majority of the approximately $500,000 the University gets from the NEA annually. Other groups at the University which receive NEA grants, including the Morris Arboretum, the University Museum and the Graduate School of Fine Arts, have not been as prominent in the funding debate, but officials said last week the restrictions loom in the minds of all grant recipients. For most of its 25-year history, the NEA, which gives money to about 20 percent of all applicants, was widely praised by the arts community for its accomplishments, and it helped numerous well-known artists get their first break. But the fallout from the controversy surrounding the ICA's Mapplethorpe exhibit has changed everything, according to Murphy. "The NEA has severed themselves from their main constituency, the arts community, by trying to serve the political community," Murphy said last week. "There is a mistrust in the NEA and it will take years to build confidence in that agency again." "The atmosphere of the arts has suffered, but we may not know the repercussions for a number of years," he added. Officials from other University divisions that receive grants agreed with Murphy last week, saying free expression must be paramount in artistic endeavors and that the NEA obscenity amendment has hurt that principle. The University Museum recieves NEA grants for some exhibitions and for storage and conservation of artifacts. "The Museum feels strongly that we have a right for the free expression of ideas," said Museum associate director Gregory Posssehl, who received an NEA grant for conservation of South Asian artifacts. "If NEA policies should run counter to these ideas . . . if we were asked to sign it [an obscenity pledge], we wouldn't." The Graduate School of Fine Arts also gets NEA grants for educational programs, exhibits and research. "I think it's an abhorrent thing and a classically political thing to do," said William Braham, director of the school's research center, through which most of the school's grants come. "I fully agree with the University's decision to go attack congress." Braham said many grants professors get from the NEA, although small, are important seed grants, which are often essential to projects and can not be turned down easily as a form of protest. "It's a thing you would like to object to but not with your own money," he said. · Assistant Vice President for Policy Planning Morse, who keeps a close eye on the NEA for the University, noted that by and large it has been art institutions, rather than colleges and universities, that have lead the fight against the restrictions. The University, however, has played a unique role in the controversy, he said. "For the most part, the ball has been carried by arts community rather than higher education," Morse said. "But among higher education, we have become a leader." Morse gave much of the credit for bringing the University to the forefront of the fight to Hackney, who has been one of the most vocal individuals in the press and on Capitol Hill pushing against the restrictions. A former head of a local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, Hackney has championed freedom of expression since his days as a fledgling provost at Princeton University in the early 1970s. Whether over the campus visit two years ago by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan or the current debate over the racial harassment policy, Hackney has always asserted open expression as one of his overiding principles. So, as he wrote in the July edition of Academe magazine, "when my summer of dicontentment was destroyed last August, first by the decision of the Corcoran Gallery not to exhibit the Mapplethorpe show, then by the Helms amendment to the NEA appropriation bill, I had a relatively easy time sorting though the issues and reaching a decision." Hackney said last week that because of the University's role in the NEA debate, he felt compelled to join the fray in September 1989, when he wrote a strongly worded criticism of Helms in The Chronicle of Higher Education. In addition to dismay over actions against the ICA, Hackney said he spoke out because he was afraid that government regulation of expression, once started, would find its way into other fields. "It seemed to me that if the same principal were applied, all sorts of government grants would have some sort of prior restraint attached to them," the president said last week. He added that he has been to Washington several times to lobby against restrictions, and officials from all over the University's art community praised Hackney for his efforts last week. ICA director Murphy said Hackney has been "very supportive of what we've been doing." Murphy added that his organization has not shifted its focus because of the NEA controversy. "Our reason for existing is the presentation to our constituency of art we believe in," Murphy said. "Art will sometimes affirm and sometimes challenge the values within our society." He said that his museum, which organizes funding for artists' exhibits, receives more works which deal with sexual issues than it did before the controversy. Approximately 40 percent of each project is funded by NEA grants, Murphy said. The ICA director said that the museum will continue to apply for NEA grants -- they sent in three new ones last month -- and will hope that the NEA will behave as it was originally intended. "We're dealing with a system of government that has the maturity to fund projects that may be critical of their society," Murphy noted. "Stalin funded the arts, but only the arts that expoused Stalin's policies." · Last month, Congress re-authorized the Endowment without the obscenity amendment, but University officials said it is a mixed blessing. As part of a hard-fought compromise, the clause was replaced with a statement requiring works to meet "general standards of decency and respect for the diverse beliefs and values of the American public" to receive grants. Hackney said he felt the new legislation is a success of sorts. "It has come out as well as one could hope," he said. But Murphy noted that while courts around the country have set legal limits on what can be considered obscene, the "new language of decency" has no such guidelines and may prove problematic. Indeed, just last week virtually the entire NEA literary publishing peer review panel resigned over the decency issue. The mass recognition -- nine of the 11 board members quit -- may signal a renewed debate on the issue. "Fortunately we're in a position where we no longer have the obsenity language," Morse said. "But nobody knows exactly how they plan on interpreting this new set of criteria." Murphy said that although the NEA may never return to its former status, he believes that if the Endowment lays low and avoids further controversy it may be able to get its work done. "My feeling would be that the NEA should get on with its job," he said.
(11/16/90 10:00am)
The committee examining ways to diversify Locust Walk got down to nuts and bolts for the first time at yesterday's meeting, discussing an architect's suggestions on changing the campus's main artery. The meeting, which members said was a "give and take" of ideas, included suggestions ranging from moving students into College Hall to changing the University Chaplain's house into a student residence. The report of the architectural firm of Venturi, Scott, Brown and Associates -- which came to campus this summer at the request of President Sheldon Hackney -- was the springboard for discussion. The firm's report details how to best use Walk space and buildings and how to broaden the center of campus beyond Locust Walk. The report, entitled "Preliminary Thoughts of Locust Walk," is confidential and has been released to only Walk committee members. At last night's two-hour meeting, the committee's third, two representatives of the architectural firm met with the group to discuss in detail the proposals laid out in the report. Members' reviews of the archictects' report were mixed. They said last night that in the preliminary discussions, they addressed the proposals' strengths and weaknesses and threw out some of their own ideas as well. Several members would not discuss the report's specific details, citing its confidentiality. "Some suggestions were seen as good ideas and some were seen as bad ideas," said committee member Susan Garfinkel, chairperson of the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly. Undergraduate Assembly Chairperson Duchess Harris said last night that the entire focus of the report was faulty, saying that by trying to broaden the "heart of campus," the report skirts the issue of Locust Walk itself. "It addressed a certain point of making another area of campus desirable so that Locust Walk would not be the focus [of campus] anymore," Harris said. "It evaded the whole issue at hand." She added that many of the architects' proposals and committee discussion -- including that of using College Hall and the University's Chaplain's home -- also skirted the issue of Locust Walk. "They [those involved in diversifying the Walk] are doing their best not to deal with the 'real' Walk," the College senior said. "If we're not going to move fraternities, let's at least not move the University Chaplain." But other committee members praised the broadening of the scope, saying the report opened more options to be considered. "The area beyond the [38th Street] bridge is still the center of campus," Interfraternity Council President Bret Kinsella said last night. "It's within the charge of the committee." "[The report] opened one's mind and took away some limits on what you could do," Black InterGreek Council Chairperson Kathryn Williams said after the meeting. "Maybe we need to change the entire University plan so the Walk is not the center of campus." She added that the clearing of Houston Hall for the planned Revlon Center and new buildings north of Walnut Street will provide opportunities for the campus to turn its focus from the Walk. Many members said the report enabled the committee to look at the Walk from a different perspective, saying that an outsider's views were very helpful. "They [the architects] were much more creative and open-minded than I would have been," Walk committee Co-chairperson David Pope said last night. Pope said a subcommittee of five members was established at the meeting to "brainstorm ideas of what would be an ideal pluralistic community." The material science and engineering professor added that the next committee meeting will be held on November 29.
(11/15/90 10:00am)
In a mostly collegial and particularly philosophical discussion, University Council examined the recently released Faust Report yesterday, with most members giving the study high grades. At the urging of History Professor Drew Faust, whose committee produced the campus life report, yesterday's discussion centered on the study's examination of the "invisibility" of staff members on campus. Council members also focused on how to achieve the report's vision of a "plural" community. The report details a community in which individuals from different cultural backgrounds "maintain their separate identities, yet come together in a community enriched by both its members' differences and their similarities." The study, commissioned by the president two years ago, also takes a strong stand against fraternities, urging that their relocation be considered in the diversification of Locust Walk. At Faust's urging, Council members largely ignored fraternities in their discussions. In introducing the report, Faust said the study found that the campus population has changed dramatically in recent years but that "the University has not entirely caught up with these changes." Council members spent most of the time discussing the report's focus on A-3 staff members, praising the report for bringing up a rarely discussed issue. Faust set the tone of the discussion stating that the "level of incivility towards staff is beyond many of your imagination." Past Faculty Senate Chairperson Robert Davies agreed with Faust's assessment, saying that the staff's grievance process against faculty and students needs to be simplified and strengthened. Graduate and Professional Student Assembly representative Andrew Miller said staff contributions are generally not solicited or valued, adding that most appointments of staff members to University committees, including Council, have not been made yet. He said the head of A-3 staff government recently lost his job, leading many staff members to be afraid of speaking out on issues or grievances. On the issue of pluralism, all members who spoke praised the report's vision of campus, but some questioned whether it was realistic. Graduate student representative Michael Goldstein pointed to ethnic strife in Eastern Europe and other parts of the globe as well as race tensions in the U.S., arguing that nowhere has a society ever achieved true pluralism. President Sheldon Hackney agreed with Goldstein's point, suggesting that the U.S. has probably achieved pluralism better than any other country, but added that he hopes the University could set an example for others to follow. Although some members of the Council predicted a heated debate over the issue of diversifying Locust Walk -- especially with regard to fraternities -- the issue was only raised at the end of the meeting, primarily by observers who were not Council members. Two members of the Progressive Student Alliance chastized Hackney for his decision to forbid the consideration of removing Locust Walk fraternities, saying the stance is against the values set forth in the Faust Report. Hackney reiterated his stance and the reasons behind it, saying that the process would be too divisive and would ruin campus unity. Some Council members, incuding Finance Professor Emeritus Jean Crockett and Undergraduate Assembly representative Daniel Singer, pressed Hackney to turn the Castle into a multi-cultural living and learning center, but the president said he would wait until the Walk committee makes a recommendation on the building before he makes a decision. Hackney said early this semester that the Castle house would be filled by January, but Morrisson said in October that it is not likely to be occupied next semester. In other business, the president said he will have racial harassment policies of other universities published in the Almanac in order to facilitate further discussion over the University's policy, which is currently under revision. Hackney added that he will sponsor a forum on the policy on December 3 for all members of the University community to discuss the issue.
(11/14/90 10:00am)
The three-story brick rowhouse on 55th and Jefferson streets reeked of human feces and urine. Its windows were covered with plastic bags, and from three yards away only blackness could be seen through the doorless entryway. "I'm not sure what we've got here," said paramedic Joe DiFacesco with a little more hesitation and a little more uncertainty than he probably wanted to reveal. Armed only with a flashlight in his right hand and an EKG machine in his left, DiFacesco put his head through the doorway and shined a beam of light across the entryway. It revealed rotting wood and a collapsed stairway, but no people. "Hello?" he asked with a look on his face that said he wasn't sure if he wanted to hear an answer. It was nothing new for DiFacesco. He and partner Art Alleyna face similar situations several times every night they staff Medic Nine, the advanced life-support vehicle based in the firehouse at 56th and Chestnut streets. The firehouse is one of the busiest in the city, but despite increased violent crime in West Philadelphia, the two say they see the same things today that they've always seen. "We see it all," said Alleyna with a knowing smile. He went on matter-of-factly about stabbings, shootings and assaults. But for a team that considers a 15-minute respite between calls a lucky break, this Friday night was slow. By 4:30 a.m., they got the chance to save only two, maybe three lives. They heard about a couple of trauma cases in the neighborhood, but didn't handle any. "Usually you get the knife and gun club out on Friday night," said a firefighter from Squirt 57 -- the fire engine that accompanies Medic Nine in the cavernous garage. Alleyna told of heroin addicts, saved from drug-induced seizures, who get violently angry after they regain consciousness. "You just blew his $50 high," he explained. "I know medics who've gotten guns in their faces, but I've been spared that so far," DiFacesco added. Fortunately, this stop on a rainy Friday night was not one of those times. On a couch in one of the rank, collapsing rooms, a homeless man was complaining of chest pains. After giving him the once-over and calming another homeless man, the paramedics got back into their "piece" and headed back to the station. "They do all kinds of weird stuff around here," said Alleyna with another knowing smile. DiFacesco, a short, stocky and energetic 23-year-old, gave a chuckle as he sat at the station's cluttered table. By 4:30 a.m., his eyes were glazed over and a little bloodshot and the smiles that came easily when he got on duty at 6 p.m. were a little harder to muster up. MTV on the firehouse's cable-equipted television was the only thing keeping Alleyna, a tall and stocky 28-year-old, on this side of dreamland. The two often shrugged off the burnout factor, saying the four days on, four days off work schedule keeps them fresh. But the looks on their faces showed fatigue even on this slow night. And they still had almost four hours to go. Both have been stationed at the West Philadelphia firehouse for about a year and call the job rewarding and thankless at the same time. DiFacesco said that sometimes people swear and throw things at them after the paramedics say they can't transport them to the hospital because their ailment isn't life-threatening. But there was nothing like that for Medic Nine Friday night, and Alleyna and DiFacesco almost apologized for the lack of action. They seemed to have forgotten about the 58-year-old woman they saved from heart failure two hours ago. And the stroke victim -- found over seven hours ago almost totally naked and staring into nothingness -- they diagnosed in a manner of seconds and rushed to Lanenau Hospital. And the 53-year-old woman they found face-down writhing on the ground in a pile of laundry and dirty plates around midnight. She was a diabetic whose blood-sugar level had dropped from a normal of 120 to a mere 20. Her stunned daughter stood staring as the paramedics wrestled the woman onto her back, diagnosed her, and inserted an I.V. into her left arm. "Believe it or not, we're trying to help you," DiFacesco told the squirming woman as he pulled a two-inch needle out of his bag. "Okay hon, its wake-up time." "This is going to be fun," Alleyna said as DiFacesco slowly injected the sugar water into her right arm. The woman struggled briefly. Ten seconds later she is sitting up, answering questions and looking for her shoes. "Who's the mayor of Philadelphia?" DiFacesco asks. "Goode," she answers. "Miracle workers," Alleyna says with his knowing smile.
(11/14/90 10:00am)
University Council is scheduled to spend almost all of today's meeting discussing the recently released Faust Report, which focuses on long-term campus life issues. The campus life report, commissioned by the president almost two years ago, details a "plural" campus community in which individuals from different cultural backgrounds "maintain their separate identities, yet come together in a community enriched by both its members' differences and their similarities." The report takes a strong stand against fraternities, saying that "fraternities are widely viewed as a significant obstacle to the growth of pluralistic attitudes on campus." The report urges that fraternity relocation be considered in the diversification of Locust Walk. In President Sheldon Hackney's charge to the committee examining ways to diversify the Walk, he ruled out the possibility of removing fraternities from the campus's main artery. Graduate and Professional Students Assembly Chairperson Susan Garfinkel said last night that she hopes Council discussion of the report does not center on fraternity debate. "I think people all recognize that there is a great deal of important issues in all aspects of the document and want to discuss them," Garfinkel said. But Undergraduate Assembly Chairperson Duchess Harris said last night that she expects discussion to focus on Walk fraternities. "I think it's going to be quite messy," Harris said. She said the Faust Report, coupled with the 1987 Berg Report -- which states that fraternities are the site of many incidents of harassment and discrimination -- will give opponents to Hackney's Walk committee charge substantial ammunition to fight with. But she added that she thinks "Hackney won't budge" on the issue, which could lead to a "pretty heated" debate. Both Harris and Garfinkel praised the report as a whole, calling it "well written" and "persuasive." "If we were grading it, we'd give it an A," Garfinkel said, adding that she would like Council to discuss the report's findings that staff members are often ignored. In other business, Council Steering Committee Chairperson Almarin Phillips said that at this afternoon's meeting, Hackney will announce the procedure he will use to revise the racial harassment policy. Hackney's original revisions, released in October, were met with strong opposition at last month's Council meeting. Phillips, who also chairs the Faculty Sentate, said he believes they will be discussed again at the December meeting of Council. Harris said debate over the name of the Oriental Studies Department might be discussed even though it is not on the Council agenda. Today's meeting will be at 4 p.m. in Vance Hall's Hoover Lounge.
