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(11/03/98 10:00am)
Stouffer College House residents are concerned about the future of their unique residence. Friday's announcement of a $300 million, 10-year-plan to transform the face of campus with massive residential and dining renovations surprised few student leaders around campus -- but many labeled the project as the latest example of Penn's shift away from a focus on academics in favor of new buildings and retail spaces. Students in the only building likely to be entirely demolished in favor of a new facility, meanwhile, reacted angrily to news of the plan, and promised to fight to try to save the building all of them call home. The new plan calls for the renovation of most existing residence and dining halls, the construction of several new residences in Hamilton Village -- or Superblock -- and the likely demolition of the Stouffer Triangle, which includes Stouffer College House, the Stouffer dining hall and a strip of retail shops. By the time the residential improvements and new dormitories are completed, the capacity of campus dorms will increase to about 6,170, an addition of 870 beds over the current total. Several student organizations have been discussing the potential for renovations to the University's dining halls and dorms with administrators for years now. The Undergraduate Assembly, the Tangible Change Committee and the Residential Advisory Board have been some of the primary groups representing students' needs in conversations with Penn officials over the past two years of work on the current set of proposals. Aside from the potential improvements to the physical appearance of the University, some student leaders say the Penn community should be careful that academic improvements not be overlooked in coming years. "What goes on behind the pretty walls and the newly formed buildings is really important to us," said College senior Rachael Goldfarb, who heads the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education. "There are some real opportunities for [academic] innovations that I don't think are fully being taken advantage of at this point. It's being overshadowed by the buildings," she added. Goldfarb refused to specify which issues she believes have been overlooked, but other student leaders agreed that Penn may be guilty of putting academics on the back burner in favor of physical and retail improvements. "I just think since I've been here, much of the emphasis has been on the business side rather than the academic side," said College senior Noah Bilenker, formerly the UA's chairperson. "This is first and foremost a place of higher education," Goldfarb added. "It's a University, not a business." Despite the concerns, many student leaders said they were consulted about the plan and updated as to its progress. UA Chairperson Bill Conway said he knew such a plan was in the works and knew it would be discussed during last Friday's series of Trustees' meetings -- but he didn't know the full extent of the University's plans until yesterday. "I was surprised by some of the details, but I wasn't surprised at the overall plan," said the Wharton junior. A year ago, when the University announced plans to outsource management of its facilities to Trammell Crow Co., an outside real-estate management firm, the UA was up in arms about the plan. The student group claimed that it was not adequately consulted about the plan. This time, Conway said, "it wasn't like a Trammell Crow surprise." But Samara Barend, who was vice-chairperson of the UA last year, said she finds the UA's role this time as "reminiscent of past decisions" where the the body was not often approached for advice. "I'm not sure there was enough consultation," the College senior said, though she did concede that "you could look at [the plan] as a response to accumulated suggestions [from student groups]." But Residential Advisory Board Chairperson Emily Pollack said she is confident that "the real consultation is yet to come." "I've been aware of what's been going on," the College junior said. "I don't know any of the specifics because they don't exist yet." RAB will be encouraging students to join University-wide planning committees gathered to discuss the 10-year plan starting this winter. One of the first committees students may soon be invited to join, Pollack said, will be charged with judging architectural submissions for the design of the new dining, housing and retail facilities. Barend, who is also chairperson of the Tangible Change Committee, said she has been pushing for various improvements to Penn's Dining Services since her freshman year. Last year she created the Dining Advisory Board -- a body made up of students and staff members. Although Barend said students had not been adequately consulted, she recalls reading the details of the new plan with "excitement." "It's definitely going to bring more accessibility to students who are on meal plan," she said. Barend added that the creation of new residences in Hamilton Village and renovations to the three existing high rises will drastically improve "one of the last remaining eyesores on campus." Leaving Home... Again But while the student leaders generally expressed their approval of a plan most of them will not be around to see begun, freshmen living in Stouffer College House, scheduled for a likely demolition in their senior year, reacted angrily to the proposal. "A lot of the freshmen here are pretty much upset because by the time we're seniors we won't have affiliation anymore with the house," said College freshman Nathaniel Herr, a Stouffer resident. Stouffer House Dean Anne Mickle added that the building "is a very unique community that I think will be very hard to recreate." Yesterday, the college house's newsgroup was awash with emails expressing anger, confusion and promises to fight the proposed destruction of the building, which may make way for a more "transparent" dining-only building to provide for a better view of the historic Quad. The new building, which may or may not include retail, is preliminarily slated for completion in 2003. "The general reaction now is trying to get hold of the University before they finalize the decision and convince them that Stouffer should stay," said Wharton junior John Baker, who has lived in Stouffer since last year. Other students said the way in which the plan was announced added to their confusion about the possible destruction of the building. "No one heard that much about this until this appeared in the paper," Herr added. "So no one knows the reasons for this decision."
(10/12/98 9:00am)
Actors and crew members were on hand Saturday to shoot scenes from 'Kimberly' throughout campus. Here's a sneak preview of an upcoming film: She is Kimberly, an expert rower who spends her days on the Schuylkill River. He is Walter, a university professor who spends his days teaching in a building that looks an awful lot like Bennett Hall. Parts of Penn's campus became a backdrop for a feature-length romantic comedy called Kimberly on Saturday, when more than two dozen crew members and actors set up camp along the corner of 34th and Walnut streets. The crew arrived with their sound and film equipment and their make-up and catering trailers at the break of dawn in preparation for a full day of shooting. Kimberly, a low-budget film set in Philadelphia, stars Gabrielle Anwar, best known for her tango with Al Pacino in the 1992 hit Scent of a Woman, and Sean Astin, who played the title role in the 1993 film Rudy. Molly Ringwald, an icon of 1980s teen films, will play a supporting role, though she was not on campus Saturday. Anwar plays Kimberly, a coxswain who meets four men, all young professionals. The men, who have been trying their hand at crew for a while, without much success, are inspired by Anwar to improve. "She is unwittingly thrown into a situation where she ends up coaching four eligible bachelors," the petite, brown-haired Anwar explained. And, although they each promise one another they won't, all four bachelors fall in love with the film's heroine. The plot turns when Kimberly discovers that she's pregnant. One of the four men, Walter -- played by Robert Mailhouse -- is a professor at an unnamed Philadelphia university, and parts of Penn's campus are featured in his scenes. Saturday's crew filmed shots of Walter entering and exiting Bennett Hall, lecturing in the building's Penniman Library and strolling around Locust Walk outside the Fine Arts Library with Kimberly. Other shots featured the exterior of the Psi Upsilon fraternity -- or the Castle -- on 36th Street and Locust Walk. The Penn name or logo will not be used in the final product. Kimberly's creators were considering identifying Walter's university as Penn when they initially asked the University's permission to film the campus, but administrators opposed the idea. Ann Davis, a University spokesperson, said that decision was based on the film's plot. "In this movie, there's a professor who sleeps with a young woman," Davis explained. "We just didn't feel we wanted that person to be representative of a Penn professor." Kimberly Productions, the independent company producing the film, paid the University $1,000 to hire an electrician, a Physical Plant representative and a security guard to assist the film crew. Davis says that financially, the University is breaking even. "It's not something that benefits us directly, but we obviously know that it helps Philadelphia," Davis said, adding that Penn is simply "being a good neighbor" to the rest of the city by appearing in the film. Other recent films to feature the Penn campus include Philadelphia, starring Tom Hanks, which had a scene in the Fine Arts Library, and the science-fiction thriller 12 Monkeys, in which an elephant walked outside Franklin Field for a few seconds. According to the film's location manager, Derrick Loris, choosing Penn's campus was a decision based on a "combination of look, time and money." The 30 days of filming will all be done in Philadelphia, with 10 of those days on Boathouse Row. Kimberly's creators were looking to film at a campus near Center City and at first considered Drexel University. But the film's shooting schedule fit best with Penn's schedule. Kimberly's director, writer and producer, Frederic Golchan -- who is directing for the first time, but recently produced The Associate starring Whoopi Goldberg and Intersection, starring Richard Gere and Sharon Stone -- said he liked Penn's look. "I love the classroom," Golchan said about Penniman Library, adding that there is "good architecture around it." And the Furness Building, which contains the Fine Arts Library, he continued, "looks beautiful." Kimberly will also feature parts of Manayunk, Fairmount Park and South Philadelphia. The scenes filmed at Penn were the first ones on the shooting schedule. When the camera started rolling on Saturday morning, the film's stars were not the only ones in front of it. About 50 people spent the day on the set as extras, walking through the scenes to give the setting a university atmosphere. Most of the extras were not Penn students, though all were college-aged. Many said they were sent down to the set by their agents. Andrew Sugerman, a line producer, said he hopes Kimberly will be in theaters by May or June. It will be distributed by Los Angeles-based Moonstone Entertainment. Several locals have already mistaken Kimberly's crew with the film crew working on The Sixth Sense, starring Bruce Willis, which is also currently being filmed in Philadelphia. "I don't think Philadelphia is used to having more than one film shot at the same time," said Loris. Kimberly is still looking for people of all ages and types to appear as extras in the film. For more information, call Kathy Wickline Casting at (215) 739-9952.
(09/09/98 9:00am)
Patrick Murphy, the director of Penn's Institute of Contemporary Art for the last eight years, announced yesterday that he will resign his post this fall and return to his native Ireland for a similar position. Murphy will step down in mid-November, but will remain with the 35-year-old ICA -- which helped launch the careers of artists like Andy Warhol -- in an adjunct status until the summer. After that, he will head to Dublin to take a post as the first professional director of exhibitions at the Royal Hibernian Academy, a recently revived and renovated art gallery and school. Murphy explained that a gallery like the ICA, which functions as a temporary exhibition space with constantly changing shows, needs to change its leadership after a certain time. "It's a bittersweet thing for me to leave, really," Murphy said. "I love this organization, but it's time." He likened himself, as the director of the ICA, to the editor of a magazine -- as opposed to an encyclopedia. "And like a magazine, we're highly editorialized," Murphy said. "The editor can't stay too long." Murphy's decision to resign was "entirely his own," according to Interim Provost Michael Wachter. Murphy leaves the ICA after having repaired its previously "shaky" financial situation. The institute had a $200,000 deficit last year. In April, the Provost's Office approved a plan Murphy submitted that will eliminate the ICA's current deficit over a three-year period. The ICA's budget has been reorganized to filter more money into its programming while consequently cutting down on staff. Financial issues aside, various artistic controversies highlighted Murphy's tenure at the ICA. He began his post during the height of the furor surrounding a controversial exhibit of the work of late photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. In 1988, the ICA showed the exhibit, which was denounced as pornographic and homoerotic by some members of Congress. The controversy sparked a long debate about the elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts -- which funds the ICA and many of its artists. Murphy came on board in 1990, just as Congress was tightening its procedure of awarding NEA money to Penn's ICA. "In ways the issue was argued in Washington," Murphy recalled. "But there was a lot of media attention here." A few years later, Murphy exhibited the work of Andres Serrano, whose works of provocative antireligious art -- including the now-famous "Piss Christ" -- were also the focus of several Congressional debates. The institute has a history of taking bold artistic steps. In 1964, a year after it opened, the ICA exhibited the work of the then-unknown Warhol and became the first public space to show his work. Murphy said he is returning to a cultural scene in Ireland that's completely different from what he left behind 10 years ago, describing it as "just a very vibrant situation." The search for Murphy's replacement has not yet begun. Wachter said Penn will seek "someone with exceptional artistic credentials," as well as management and financial experience. Murphy is the only director the ICA has had in its current space at 36th and Sansom streets, which it has occupied since 1991. It had previously been housed in other campus locations.
(09/04/98 9:00am)
This facelift will not go unnoticed. With numerous recently completed construction projects and new facades dotting the streets around Penn, the campus looks a whole lot different than it did when students left it in May. The new Penn Bookstore and Xando coffee house bar in Sansom Common, the renovated Van Pelt Library and the new fitness center in Gimbel Gymnasium may all be celebrating their official openings next week, but their doors have already opened to the campus community. And these new arrivals are definitely being felt. Psychology Professor John Sabini, a 22-year University veteran, said the changes made to Penn's physical campus this summer have been "much more dramatic" than any he's seen in his time here. "It's in a more visible location," Sabini noted, explaining that many of the renovated sites -- which are concentrated along Walnut Street -- fall into the daily path of most undergraduates, particularly College students. For example, Sabini said, construction near the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania "doesn't affect or impact those of us who are in the arts and sciences quadrant." A large, red-and-blue neon marquee marks one of the boldest additions to Walnut Street -- the new Penn Bookstore at the corner of 36th and Walnut streets. With more than 50,000 square feet, the new Barnes & Noble-operated Bookstore is 60 percent larger and offers more products and services than did the old bookstore at the corner of 38th Street and Locust Walk. The store opened its doors on July 15, but its official opening ceremony will be next Thursday. With enough soft background music and shiny decor to give it class and enough magnitude to overwhelm newcomers, the store found many returning students looking quite lost this week. "[This store is] a little more confusing since it's the first day coming back to this, but it's definitely a lot better," said College sophomore Nisha Ninan, who was having considerable difficulty finding a chemistry textbook. As University administrators intended, the new store is also becoming a destination for some of the University's outside neighbors. Colleen Scheibl and her friends, all students at the University of Sciences in Philadelphia (formerly the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science), were browsing through the store this week for art supplies -- which they said their own school's bookstore doesn't stock. The bookstore was the first retailer to open in the $80 million Sansom Common hotel and retail complex. Xando, the late-night coffee bar, opened its doors on August 27. Two more stores -- Urban Outfitters and Parfumerie Douglas Cosmetics -- are expected to open this month, and the approximately 250-room Inn at Penn is set to begin business in the fall of 1999. Another store, City Sports, canceled plans to open in the retail complex, according to the store's management. Further down Walnut Street, a major phase in the multi-phase rehabilitation of Van Pelt Library was finished this summer. The library's first floor is hardly recognizable now with its new main entrance, circulation center and central staircase. An information desk -- a new addition to the facility -- sits right near the entrance. "I think it's welcoming to a patron who's never been here before," said Lynn Ruthrauff, an assistant for circulation services. "[The renovated library] is much better," Ruthrauff added. "The building had seen its day. It was worn out in every way." Over at Gimbel, where work on a new high-tech fitness center has been going on all summer, construction crews are ready for next Tuesday's official opening of the facility. Parts of the first two floors of Gimbel have been transformed into a recreational facility complete with new weight and aerobic equipment, video and audio systems and full air-conditioning. The project cost $1.2 million. Meanwhile this summer, construction advanced further on the Annenberg School for Communication renovations and on the construction of the Perelman Quadrangle. Building crews have been working on the Annenberg School since October to renovate the older section of the building and replace the Annenberg School Theater with a teleconferencing center linked to the Annenberg Public Policy Center in Washington. Part of the two-year, $15 million renovation project will involve making the school's entrance on Walnut Street more visible. The $69 million Perelman Quad project -- designed to create a student center linking Irvine Auditorium with Logan, Houston, Williams and College halls -- saw the completion of Logan Hall this summer. This second-oldest edifice on campus underwent more than seven years of renovations. Construction of the ground-floor art gallery and terrace room was finally completed over the past few months. The building's seminar rooms, classrooms and 277-seat auditorium were finished last winter. For the next week, or maybe even longer, it will be commonplace to find returning students staring wide-eyed -- excited or perhaps even a little startled -- at the new face of what they once thought was familiar turf. If renovations continue at this pace, when the class of 1999 swings back to Penn for its five-year reunion, the place might not be recognizable at all.
(06/01/98 9:00am)
Newton South High School '96 Newton, Mass. Parts of the first two floors of Gimbel Gymnasium will be transformed into a high-tech fitness center -- complete with new weight and aerobic equipment, video and audio systems and full air-conditioning -- by the end of the summer, administrators announced in late April. Students wishing to use the new Gimbel facilities will have to pay a $125-per-year fee -- $190 for faculty and staff -- the same amount the University currently charges to use the fitness room in Hutchinson Gymnasium. The fee will allow access to both facilities. As part of the renovations, the existing sculpture park on Gimbel's first floor will be replaced with a 3,000-square-foot aerobic exercise facility. Four walls of clear glass will surround the large room, which will be equipped with treadmills, bikes, stairclimbers, EFX machines and ergometers. Video monitors will fill a portion of the walls, which will also be lined with audio equipment. The squash courts on the second floor of Gimbel will be demolished to make way for three interconnected workout spaces, which will combine a free weight area with selectorized equipment such as leg press, tricep and pushdown stations. The project will incorporate the facility's existing weight room, and Gimbel's swimming pool and three basketball courts will not be affected by the renovations. The building's existing skylights -- which are currently covered by Gimbel's dropped ceilings -- will be opened up to provide natural lighting for the second floor. Both floors will be carpeted and equipped with card readers to ensure access control. In announcing the plans for the renovated facility, University President Judith Rodin said that she was "incredibly excited" about the project, but stressed that it was simply a "short-term solution to some of the problems we all know exist." Students' reactions to the renovation plans were positive, although some questioned the need to charge a user fee for access of the facility. The plans were announced in tandem with the release of a 1 1/2 year-long study conducted by the Washington, D.C.-based marketing consulting firm Brailsford & Dunlavey, which called for 225,000 square feet of indoor recreation space to be added to the University's current facilities. The report recommends demolishing and rebuilding Gimbel Gymnasium on the west side of campus -- doubling its size to 175,000 square feet -- and tearing down either or both the Levy Tennis Pavilion and Class of 1923 Ice Rink on the campus' east end to make way for a new indoor track and an "east building" to house team-oriented activities. Penn expects the long-term Gimbel renovations or construction and the future facilities developments along the eastern part of campus to add up to $80 to $100 million. Before making the recommendations, the firm used focus groups and e-mail surveys to solicit student, faculty and staff input on Penn's current recreation facilities and prospects for the future. While officials said they generally agreed with the report's conceptual findings, they stressed that they had not definitively accepted them. Additionally, officials noted that the recommendations were not intended to address economic or structural feasibility. Rodin said that while Penn studies its options for developing new athletic training space on and beyond 33rd Street and long-term recreational space in and around Gimbel, there is an urgency to the renovations to the gym on the corner of 37th and Walnut streets. Whether or not Penn ultimately decides to entirely rebuild Gimbel, the facility is likely to see extensive future renovations, which will probably include the addition of an indoor track. The swimming pool in Gimbel's eastern half will remain as is for the time being. Once the long-term construction is completed, however, glass walls along the pool will look on to the Inn at Penn, which is scheduled to be completed in the Sansom Common complex in late 1999. If Gimbel is demolished and a new facility built, its facade will be constructed to mirror Sansom Common's, Rodin said, adding that officials will "come to an understanding to what we will do with the rest of Gimbel" within the next six to eight months.
(06/01/98 9:00am)
As construction wrapped up on a number of Penn projects, facilities improvements began on others. Newton South High School '96 Newton, Mass. The reverberating rhythms of jackhammers and drills became a customary backdrop to the campus' daily sounds in 1997-98 as the University completed several construction projects, while beginning other additional renovations. Among some smaller renovations inside existing buildings and residences, construction was completed or renovations began on several of the University's most prominent buildings, including the Roy and Diana Vagelos Laboratories, Logan Hall, Van Pelt Library, the Annenberg School for Communication and Houston Hall. The Vagelos Labs of the Institute for Advanced Science and Technology were unveiled in November after two years of construction. The building, at 34th Street and Smith Walk, houses two interdisciplinary research centers -- the Institute for Medicine and Engineering and the Center for Excellence in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. Funding for the project came from a $10 million donation by University Board of Trustees Chairperson Roy Vagelos and his wife, Diana. Vagelos, a 1950 College graduate, is the former chairperson and chief executive officer of New Jersey-based Merck & Co., a large pharmaceutical company. Additional funding for the construction came from $27 million in grants from the U.S. Air Force. Another long-awaited project that was unveiled this year was the restored Logan Hall -- the second-oldest edifice on campus, built in 1880 -- which has been undergoing renovations for more than seven years. The building, at 249 S. 36th Street, reopened in mid-January after a lengthy external restoration process and $9.2 million worth of interior renovations. Logan Hall is the first completed step in the $69 million Perelman Quadrangle project, which is designed to create a student center linking Irvine Auditorium with Logan, Houston, Williams and College halls. The project is scheduled to be completed in about two years. The restored building includes a 330-seat auditorium, a terrace room, several classrooms and seminar rooms and a ground-floor art gallery. It now houses the College office along with the History and Sociology of Science, Philosophy, Religious Studies and Classical Studies departments. The Women's Studies program and the Benjamin Franklin Scholars and General Honors offices are also now located at Logan. Also in January, students accustomed to the spacious study areas of the Rosengarten Reserve and the first-floor reference area of the Van Pelt Library found these spaces closed off with plastic tape and temporary partition walls as the library entered the fourth phase of its massive rehabilitation project. Phase IV, the renovation of the facility's main entrance and circulation center, should be finished in August. Phase III of the project -- which saw the addition of new reference facilities and study areas on the library's first floor -- was completed in December, just in time for students to try out some of the new spaces during final exams. The heavy construction work going on in the library over students' heads and under their feet as they studied, however, sparked some concern toward the end of the school year. Several students, for example, said that they feared some of the drilling and demolition work may be releasing carcinogenic asbestos fibers -- dangerous above certain densities -- into the air. Indeed, some asbestos, but not enough to be hazardous, fell from the ceiling into an area in Rosengarten where more than a dozen students were studying January 21. At the time, environmental health officials said the construction posed no danger. Students also complained that the library's temporary early closing hours were leaving them without a place for all-night studying. The library returned to its normal hours in April. Further down Walnut Street at the Annenberg School, construction has been going on since October to renovate the older section of the building and replace the Annenberg School Theater with a teleconferencing center linked to the Annenberg Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. Part of the two-year, $15 million renovation project will involve making the school's entrance on Walnut Street more visible. The Annenberg library and graduate students' offices have been temporarily relocated to 4025 Chestnut Street during the construction. Relocation was a big issue this year for many student government groups, campus organizations and performance art groups based in Houston Hall, as University officials prepared for the historic student union's shutdown in late May by slowly assigning individual groups to new sites. Houston Hall is undergoing renovations to link it to the future Perelman Quad and must remain empty while construction takes place.
(04/29/98 9:00am)
Electrical Engineering Professor Jan Van der Spiegel knows what it's like to be awakened each Sunday morning around 2 a.m. to the sounds of drunken chatter outside his window. In fact, he's had to put up with it for six years. During that time, Van der Spiegel, 47, has served as Ware College House's faculty master, living in a tastefully decorated, art-filled apartment atop the Quadrangle's 37th Street gate. This summer, he will pack up his worldly collections, his cooking utensils and books and move out. Ware's leading faculty resident is just one of a handful of professors who are completing their terms this spring in their respective dormitories and moving on to a home where they will no longer swipe their PennCard to get inside. Stouffer College House Faculty Master Karl Otto, Goldberg House Senior Faculty Resident Kenneth Shropshire and Van Pelt College House Faculty Master Al Filreis will also be finishing their terms this semester and moving out of the dorms. Interim Provost Michael Wachter has not yet announced replacements for the departing faculty, but new faculty masters are expected to be appointed in the coming weeks and will take office on July 1. Under the new college house system this fall -- which will reorganize the University's residences into 12 individual, multi-year houses -- each house will have one resident faculty master and several faculty fellows, as well as graduate and undergraduate students, on staff. Despite the occasional Saturday night "mini-gatherings" outside his window, Van der Spiegel said he will miss the Ware community when he moves back into his Center City house later this summer. "On the other hand, of course, it's going to free up some time for me to do more research and concentrate on my own work," he said. Among Van der Spiegel's achievements at Ware: creating the Ware Outdoors program, a late-August retreat for residents; initiating the William Carlos Williams symposium run by the Ware faculty master; and starting the regular open-house study breaks in Ware faculty apartments. Nursing sophomore Keri Hyde, a two-year Ware resident, said Van der Spiegel's open houses simulate "a family environment almost." "Jan made the best pizza bagels," added Ware resident and College sophomore Kobie Xavier. "And he makes a fabulous chocolate mousse." Breaking bread with the faculty master also seems to be an old tradition at Stouffer, where residents gather at Otto's apartment each Sunday night for "S & M at Karl's" -- which isn't what it sounds like. The 57-year-old German professor explained that the Sunday night event, formerly just "pizza with Karl," got its current name this semester. "I was tired of having pizza all the time," said Otto, who is also undergraduate chairperson of the German Department. He went on to explain that "the basic foods begin either with 'S' or with 'M' each night," such as spaghetti and meatballs. Otto has served as Stouffer's head for 12 years and will move on from there to Berlin, where he will spend a year directing Penn's study-abroad program. He admitted that leaving the house after so long will be "difficult," but he added that "directing a program like that where there's still a lot of contact with students will be a good bridge or a good transition." College sophomore Rob Olson, a Stouffer resident, said he found he can "treat Karl as just another peer." And when asked how he thinks Stouffer will be different without Otto, Olson had some difficulty answering. "I don't think that's a fair question," he said. "I don't think anyone can separate the two." Shropshire, who has headed Goldberg House in the Quadrangle for three years, has lived in a fully occupied apartment during his time in the house. The 43-year-old Legal Studies professor lives in the Quad with his wife and his two children, ages three and four. Shropshire recently gained notoriety for offering an independent study to Penn football star Mitch Marrow late in the fall semester, before reports of Marrow's academic ineligibility forced the Penn football team to forfeit nearly all its 1997 wins. Shropshire, who served as a faculty fellow in DuBois College House for three years during the late 1980s, said his decision to leave the dorm system after his first term as Goldberg master was rooted in "the kids." "We're on the fourth and fifth floors in the 'nipple'," he said. "It was tough to go outside and play. They get more anxious to do that, and that kind of thing got tougher to do." Shropshire added that the presence of his family may have been what caused house events to be located in various parts of the dorm rather than his apartment. "People just assumed that because we were a full-blown family, we didn't want that much traffic in and out," he said, adding that this kind of "respect" also kept the hallways around his apartment noise-free. "I never had to walk out and say, 'Can you hold it down?' " Shropshire said. The Shropshire family is already in the midst of moving out of Goldberg and into their new house in Philadelphia's West Mount Airy section. Filreis, who has been faculty master at Van Pelt for three years, announced to his residents two weeks ago that he and his family will be leaving the house and moving to the 4600 block of Osage Avenue. The English professor, one of the architects of the college house program, explained that he will spend next year on sabbatical, writing a book on the 1950s and spending time with his two young children. Filreis said he is proud of Van Pelt's achievement in piloting most of the existing in-house academic peer advising programs -- which together make up the Wheel program -- such as math, library, information technology and career services advising. Filreis will stay on as director of the University Writing Program and the Kelly Writers House during his sabbatical. Daily Pennsylvanian staff writer Lauren La Cascia contributed to this article.
(04/24/98 9:00am)
Penn students and staff applauded the decision to renovate Gimbel. The weight stacks on the leg-press machines at Gimbel Gymnasium made their usual loud "clink" yesterday as University students and staff went through the motions of their daily work-out rituals. Although no one there objected to the changes that will soon transform the room and other parts of the gym into a high-tech fitness center, some students questioned the need to charge a fee for access to the new facility. Around campus, many students hailed the University's decision to renovate two floors of Gimbel to create new exercise spaces. The fitness center will house new weight and aerobic equipment, video and audio systems and full air-conditioning by the end of the summer. Preliminary work on the $1.2 million-project will begin next week. The renovation plans were released Wednesday in tandem with a report based on a 1 1/2-year study by the Washington, D.C., consulting firm Brailsford & Dunlavey. The report recommended tearing down and rebuilding Gimbel and creating a new recreation facility to replace either or both the Class of 1923 Ice Rink and the Levy Tennis Pavilion. Students and staff said they were pleased with the renovation plans, which they said would create a much-needed new exercise space. "I would definitely go to Gimbel if it were renovated," said College sophomore Catherine Zorc, a member of the women's club field hockey team. "And if we'd go as a team, that would be perfect." Chris Burrell, who staffs the front security desk at both Gimbel and Hutchinson Gymnasium, said he will no longer have to tell prospective University recruits to "check out Hutch" when they visit Gimbel and ask to see the cardiovascular equipment. And Undergraduate Assembly Chairperson Bill Conway, a College sophomore, said he is "quite pleased" with the University's plans. The UA presented a resolution signed by members of the student body to the administration in mid-February, demanding the University comply with the Brailsford & Dunlavey recommendations and construct a permanent recreation facility on the Gimbel site. While Conway said he is pleased with the Gimbel renovation plans, he added that since the UA petition had called for a "permanent" solution -- not a "temporary" one -- the UA "needs to keep on the administration" for a long-term space solution. University President Judith Rodin said Wednesday that plans for the long-term future of Gimbel may be released "within the next six to eight months." But several members of the University community, including School of Social Work graduate student and Gimbel regular Justine Moraff, said yesterday that the University's decision to charge students to use the new equipment was "kind of lame." Students wishing to use the new Gimbel facilities will have to pay a $125-per-year fee -- or $50 per semester plus $25 for the summer -- the same amount the University currently charges to use the fitness room in Hutch. Faculty and staff members will pay $190 per year or $70 for a semester. The fee will allow access to both facilities. "I don't know if I think that's right," Moraff said. "I think it should be included in the tuition." And Conway said he believes there "shouldn't be a fee at all." "But I'm glad that they haven't raised the fee despite the fact that they're adding these new facilities," he added. Other students said they would not mind paying to use the new fitness space. In fact, the report found that a majority of students would be willing to pay up to $200 a semester for better facilities. University City Nautilus Manager Bob Stern said that even he would not argue that "a University of this size needs a work-out facility." But Stern did say that a project like this could hurt business at the health club, located on 40th and Locust streets. Still, he said the club would not change membership costs to meet the added competition. "There's no way we can drop our prices," he said. "There's no way we can afford to. We can't meet our [overhead costs]. These are all expenses Penn doesn't have." University City Nautilus charges the approximately 1,500 Penn students and staff it serves each year a membership fee of $479 for a full calendar year. Per-semester fees change daily, according to when the membership is purchased, and can range from about $35 to $200.
(04/23/98 9:00am)
Parts of the first two floors of Gimbel Gymnasium will be transformed into a high-tech fitness center -- complete with new weight and aerobic equipment, video and audio systems and full air-conditioning -- by the end of the summer, administrators announced yesterday. Preliminary work on the $1.2 million project, which has already received a $500,000 donation from Penn parents Ellen and Howard Katz, will begin next week, officials said. Students, faculty and staff wishing to use the new Gimbel facilities will have to pay a $125-per-year fee, the same amount the University currently charges to use the fitness room in Hutchinson Gymnasium. The fee will allow access to both facilities. As part of the renovations, the existing sculpture park on Gimbel's first floor will be replaced with a 3,000-square-foot aerobic exercise facility. Four walls of clear glass will surround the large room, which will be equipped with treadmills, bikes, stairclimbers, EFX machines and ergometers. Video monitors will fill a portion of the walls, which will also be lined with audio equipment. The squash courts on the second floor of Gimbel will be demolished to make way for three interconnected workout spaces, which will combine a free weight area with selectorized equipment such as leg press, tricep and pushdown stations. The project will incorporate the facility's existing weight room, and Gimbel's swimming pool and three basketball courts will not be affected by the renovations. The building's existing skylights --Ewhich are currently covered by Gimbel's dropped ceilings -- will be opened up to provide natural lighting for the second floor. Both floors will be carpeted and equipped with card readers to ensure access control. University President Judith Rodin said that she was "incredibly excited" about the project, but stressed that it was simply a "short-term" solution to "some of the problems we all know exist." The plans were announced in tandem with the release of a 1 1/2 year-long study conducted by the marketing consulting firm Brailsford & Dunlavey, which called for 225,000 square feet of indoor recreation space to be added to the University's current facilities. Rodin explained that administrators are using the conceptual findings of the firm's report as the foundations for what will eventually be a long-term recreation and athletic facilities overhaul on both the west and the east sides of Penn's campus. But she noted that the University had not yet accepted the report's central findings --Ethe need to completely demolish and rebuild an expanded facility on Gimbel's current site, as well as to build a large new facility on the east end of campus. Indeed, Athletics Director Steve Bilsky said that "Gimbel is not a bad building," adding that it has "potential" to be to meet the needs of the campus community if renovated properly. Nevertheless, while Penn studies its options for developing new athletic training space on and beyond 33rd Street and long-term recreational space in and around Gimbel, there is an urgency for the renovations to the gym on the corner of 37th and Walnut streets, Rodin said. The Katz family recognized this need, Rodin noted, and their donation will allow the project to begin immediately. The family will be directly involved in fundraising for the rest of the money, she added. Whether or not Penn ultimately decides to entirely rebuild Gimbel, the facility is likely to see extensive future renovations, which will probably include the addition of an indoor track and juice bar. The swimming pool in Gimbel's eastern half will remain as is for the time being. Once the long-term construction is completed, however, glass walls along the pool will look onto the Inn at Penn, which is scheduled to be completed in the Sansom Common complex in late 1999. If Gimbel is demolished and a new facility built, its facade will be constructed to mirror Sansom Common's, Rodin said. And although administrators said they had not yet finalized plans for whether to demolish Gimbel or simply renovate it, Rodin said "we will come to an understanding to what we will do with the rest of Gimbel" within the next six to eight months. Penn expects the long-term Gimbel renovations or construction and the future facilities developments along the eastern part of campus -- construction that could perhaps replace the Class of 1923 Ice Rink or the Levy Tennis Pavilion, among other sites, with a second indoor track and additional basketball courts -- will add up to $80 to 100 million. No discussion has yet begun about the future of Hutchinson Gymnasium on 33rd Street, and although administrators expect Hutch usage to "fall off dramatically" after the Gimbel renovations are completed, that facility should remain available to students in the "short run," Rodin said. Rodin emphasized the importance of the new project, especially since the campus has clearly lacked sufficient fitness facilities for years. "I work out a lot," she added, "and I think it's really important, and so it has disappointed me that we haven't had the right kinds of facilities."
(04/21/98 9:00am)
But the Community House head said he would demand real control over the running of the popular Quad dorm. While Community House Assistant Dean in Residence Diana Koros is searching the newspapers this week for a new job and a new place to live, house Faculty Master Stephen Gale said yesterday that he has decided to reapply for his position. Gale, who is in his mid-50s, had threatened to resign last week after Koros, a 35-year-old doctoral student --Ewho has managed the Quadrangle's Community House residence for the last four years -- learned three weeks ago that she did not make the cut in the house dean selection process and would not be returning to Community House under the new position. Housing officials, faculty members and students involved in selecting this fall's 12 house deans -- positions in the new college house system that will replace the current assistant deans in residence and administrative fellows -- decided to eliminate Koros from the candidate pool for the position. Gale, a Political Science professor who has overseen the house for four years, said last week that the University was succeeding in "pushing" him out of the house. He added that he might resign and believes that Koros' dismissal was meant as a personal slight against him. In discussions late last week, however, Interim Provost Michael Wachter discouraged him from resigning, Gale said yesterday. Wachter said he "did not ask Professor Gale to resign, although he did submit a resignation last Thursday which he withdrew on Friday." Gale, whose term as faculty master is up for renewal this month, said he will proceed with his reappointment application, but "only if I'm actually running the house." Residents and staff in Community House said they were shocked and outraged last week about the Koros decision, claiming that Koros was given no explanation for her dismissal. Members of the committee screening the house dean candidate pool refused to comment last week on issues related to Koros' employment, citing them as confidential. But even after meeting with Wachter, Gale claimed that despite the residential plan's commitment to maintaining strong, independent college houses, he "literally" has "no say whatsoever" in the future of his house. For example, Gale said Wachter gave him a green light earlier this month to appoint an additional residential faculty fellow for next year after Gale demonstrated that the language professor -- whose name he would not disclose -- could join his staff with no additional costs to the house. Last Thursday, however, Gail said that Wachter withdrew his support for the new appointment, explaining that Art History Professor David Brownlee, who is in charge of college house implementation, disapproved. Brownlee said yesterday that the number of faculty fellows in a college house was established in the planning process of the college house system and published in the October 1997 report. The plan, calling for the organization of the University's residences into 12 individual, multi-year college houses with added programming and staff, was announced that month. "The number is fixed, of course, by the available budget and accommodations," Brownlee said. "These things are difficult to change, and they certainly cannot be changed at the last minute." But Gale disagreed, claiming the issue of cost is irrelevant in this case. "It has nothing to do with fixed numbers in this case," Gale said. "I found a zero-cost way of bringing in another faculty member." He said he offered to give the new faculty fellow his apartment in the house and take a smaller one for himself. Despite his complaints, Gale said he will submit his final paperwork for his application for reappointment to Wachter's office today. He said he realized "nothing would be solved" by resigning now from his faculty master post. Gale is still holding his breath, however, until he's assured that he is given control in running the house. "It isn't faculty that's running these houses -- that's for sure," he said. "The only decision I can make is who to invite to dinner to give a talk or what time the computer lab is open," Gale added. Outgoing Ware College House Faculty Master Jan Van der Spiegel, an Engineering professor, said that in his house, "the final decision is the house master's." Van der Spiegel added that he appointed all of his faculty fellows, following the recommendations of his residents. No approval by the provost was necessary. Meanwhile, Koros is working on finding another job that will put her in direct contact with students, and she is also trying to finish the last two chapters of her doctoral dissertation. Koros said she has an attorney, but does not yet know whether she will take her case to court. She hopes she won't have to. "It's not a nice process," Koros said. "Paula Jones can tell you that."
(04/16/98 9:00am)
Expressing shock and outrage, students and resident advisers in the Quadrangle's Community House launched a campaign yesterday to protest the University's refusal to rehire their assistant dean in residence, Diana Koros. The students bought three days' worth of advertisements in this week's Daily Pennsylvanian. The ads, which first appeared yesterday, warn prospective members of the Class of 2002 about the University's "steps to eliminate the Community House program." A group calling itself the Penn Coalition to Save Community House is coordinating the effort. According to Ted Coons, an RA in Community House, the group formed two weeks ago after learning that Koros will not be given the new house dean position, which is replacing the ADR title in the college houses. The ad cited Koros' dismissal, as well as Interim Provost Michael Wachter's delay in re-appointing current Faculty Master Stephen Gale, a Regional Science professor, for this fall. It also criticized the new college house plan. This fall, the University will organize its residences into 12 multi-year college houses with added programming and staff -- including more than 100 graduate associates, some of whom will replace the current RAs. Coons said the ads are designed to draw the attention of Director of Academic Programs and Residence Life Chris Dennis and Residential Faculty Council Chairperson Al Filreis, as well as Wachter and University President Judith Rodin. "I don't really know what is going to happen in result of the ad," said Coons, an Engineering and Wharton senior. "That's why we're running them -- to see what happens." Dennis called the ad "misleading" and said he is "far from bringing down any program." "I believe Community House, like all of the 12 houses, will be a very forward-looking and creative environment next year," Dennis said. Coons said the approximately $500 spent on the ads is coming from house residents and RAs. The group is also encouraging residents to write letters to top officials. Coons said he doesn't expect housing officials to reverse their decision. But "if anything, we'll get some satisfaction that at least we tried to get our point across that what Diana has done has been exceptional and there's no reason why she shouldn't continue to be an ADR," Coons said. Daily Pennsylvanian staff reporter Ben Geldon contributed to this article.
(04/14/98 9:00am)
Community House Asst. Dean Diana Koros was not selected to return. Residents and staff members of Community House in the Quadrangle have been rallying in support of their assistant dean in residence, Diana Koros, after finding out last week that Koros will not have her contract renewed this fall. Housing officials, faculty members and students involved in selecting this fall's 12 new house deans -- positions in the college house system that will replace the current administrative fellows and assistant deans in residence -- decided to eliminate Koros from the candidate pool for the positions. The house dean position, which has been revamped slightly under the new system, will involve coordinating academic programming and support services for house residents Out of a pool of more than 100 applicants for the 12 house dean positions, about 25 were chosen earlier this month to move on to the next stage of the selection process. All seven of the current assistant deans and administrative fellows were in the initial candidate pool. Six of the assistant deans made the next cut. Koros was the only one who did not. Engineering Professor David Pope, who heads the house dean central screening committee, refused to comment on whether the six had advanced to the next level of the selection process, but several students within the residential system confirmed that all had advanced except for Koros. Koros could not be reached for comment last night. Resident advisers in Community House, who have been discussing the matter with Koros and with each other throughout the last week, said the decision to dismiss Koros -- who has worked with the house for four years -- is unfair. They claim housing officials failed to provide a valid reason for letting her go. "The decision to not have her continue the process further seems to me like it works against getting the best person for the job or, in this case, keeping the best person in the job," said College senior Ben Hammer, an RA in Community House. College senior Ivy Wong, also an RA in the house, said Koros told her staff that no reasons regarding her qualifications for the job were cited when housing officials announced that they would not renew her contract. "They didn't give her a clear reason why they didn't give her a job or let her try for a new position," Wong said. But Pope stressed that "the same criteria were used for all of the candidates." "We were absolutely meticulous about asking the same kind of questions and using the same kind of criteria in evaluating all of the candidates," he said. Academic Programs and Residence Life Director Chris Dennis said University policy prevented him from commenting on the circumstances of Koros' contract. But RAs close to Koros said University officials were looking at more than Koros' qualifications when deciding not to renew her contract. "I feel like this is some sort of political move on the part of the administration that might be related to more than just her," said College senior Sara Osborn, a Community House RA. "The house is extremely independent from the bulk of residential living." For example, Osborn said Koros opposed bringing graduate associates -- who would replace some of the RAs -- into next fall's house since graduate students are "far removed" from the freshman experience. "She fought to have more RAs put in instead of GAs, because that would definitely be more conducive to students here," Osborn recalled. "She was totally ignored, and she lost her job." Wong added that she thinks a "major personal conflict at the top" was used "as an excuse not to renew [Koros'] contract." "Which I think is ridiculous," she added. "It's hard enough finding competent people at this University." Pope explained that selection of viable house dean candidates was based "very much in their ability and interest in their advising," as well as "their interest and enthusiasm for the whole academic and in-house programs." Community House staff members claimed that Koros -- who is currently working toward her doctoral degree -- has certainly fulfilled her job description in past years. "She definitely has -- plus more," Osborn said. "All the students that live under her are extraordinarily happy as freshmen," she said, adding that Koros' presence, along with her two children, her dog and an au pair create a "homey environment" in the dormitory. Pope stressed that there was "no doubt that not all existing [assistant deans] were recommended" for the new positions. "I can understand how people in the houses that they come from would be upset by that," he added. In discussing the situation informally over the last week, Community House residents and staff have decided to individually send out letters to administrators and local newspapers advocating keeping Koros in her present position. Community House will house 486 students this fall.
(04/13/98 9:00am)
Lights are also being put up outside College Hall and the Furness Building. Locust Walk is going to look a whole lot brighter beginning next month. Construction workers began digging up routes in the grass along the campus thoroughfare in March, creating the foundation for what will be a new set of street lamps and floodlights. The project is set for completion by mid-May, in time for Commencement. Lighting up the Walk from College Green to 38th Street is the third phase of the University's multi-phased campus lighting master plan. The lighting project's first phase, which was completed last fall, consisted of installing floodlights at the tops of the high rises to brighten up Superblock, illuminating the Dental School and adding street lights to the Hamilton Village shopping center's storefronts along 40th Street. Phase two of the project lit Smith Walk, the athletic buildings around Franklin Field and the University Museum. The current phase includes the lighting of Locust Walk and the illumination of the Furness Building and College Hall. Until now, 12-foot tall street lamps have lined Locust Walk in a "zig-zag" pattern, according to Vice President for Facilities Services and Contract Management Omar Blaik. Starting next month, the lights along the Walk will stand in a "soldiering" pattern, with the lamps facing one another. "We won't have any dark or not-well-lit spots on any of the walkways," Blaik said, explaining that this formation allows the lamps to illuminate a wider area. He added that Penn's lighting plans resemble the lighting currently along Walnut and Locust streets in Center City. The lamps being installed on the Walk will be three feet taller than the existing lamps and will maintain a higher wattage, or greater intensity, of light. Existing lamps will not be discarded but reconstructed to include the three-foot extension in height and the new antique-looking light fixture on top. Lamps along secondary walkways -- including those leading from Locust Walk -- will have a different appearance. They will be taller and have a light fixture hanging down from a hook on the lamp post. Blaik said he hopes more lighting will bring students out into the streets and walkways of the campus at night. He noted that the Center City District, a quasi-governmental organization that uses a tax on local businesses to improve the area, was "able to transform the street life by having better illumination and revamping many of the retailers." As a safety precaution, workers are doing the digging along Locust Walk by hand in order to prevent any damage to the utilities underground. Normally, heavy machinery is used for such projects, Blaik said. In addition, the lack of loud noise means a more peaceful walk to class or afternoon on College Green. The digging around the Green is mostly completed, and construction crews will be moving farther west along the Walk this week. The lamp posts themselves, said Blaik, will be erected two weeks from now. The next phase of the lighting project, which will begin in the fall, will light up Hamilton Walk and the Medical School area, both located behind the Quadrangle. The University's campus lighting master plan is the result of a study conducted by lighting consultants last year who submitted recommendations on how to "stimulate use of the campus after dark and improve public safety and security." Although the cost of the project was not immediately available to The Daily Pennsylvanian, Blaik said it is being funded through a deal Penn made last year with the MBNA Corp. to put the University's name on MBNA America Bank credit cards and allow funds to be transferred from the credit card to student Penn-Cards.
(04/10/98 9:00am)
Officials haven't finalized a decision about whether the house should go to a sorority or the University. It looks like there won't be any word on the future of the former Phi Sigma Kappa house for a while -- at least until May, according to administrators. Members of the fraternity received word from their national organization Monday that their chapter would be suspended due to risk-management violations, as well as pornographic material linked to the chapter's Web page. The 11 brothers inhabiting the house on 3615 Locust Walk were told that they would have to vacate the house within hours, but a last-minute University decision granted them permission to remain in the house until the end of the semester. Scott Reikofski, director of Penn's Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, said no discussions are currently taking place on the future use of the house. "We're going to see what shape [the house is] in when they get out," he said, noting that several factions of the University -- "from the Provost's Office on down" -- will take part in the discussion at the close of the school year. Reikofski said it is still unclear whether the house will go to another fraternity or sorority or be used to compensate for the University's current "space crunch." He added that this week, administrators are focused on keeping the house intact with the brothers still there. Jeanne Fritsch, executive secretary for the vice provost for university life, said University lawyers are currently handling the liability issues related to the Penn-owned house to "make sure the kids are safe and nothing slips through the cracks." Because the Penn chapter's charter has been suspended, the house is no longer insured by the Indianapolis-based national Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity. Reikofski said that if the house does remain in the Greek system, he would "like to see a sorority go into it." According to Nursing junior Kristin Giaquinta, president of Chi Omega, her sorority would be the likely candidate. "Chi O has been next in line for a house on Locust Walk for a long time," Giaquinta said. But she added that no one from OFSA has yet to approach her about the Phi Sig house. Giaquinta said she is aware that the house needs many structural renovations, and if the sorority were to move in, it would not be for another year. Panhellenic Council President Janelle Brodsky would only say that OFSA keeps a list of chapters looking to move. She said Chi O has recently grown to more than 100 members and currently has one of the "smaller" houses -- located on the 3900 block of Spruce Street. Brodsky, a College and Engineering junior, added that the Delta Delta Delta sorority is also "very interested" in finding a new house. Tri-Delt, currently the only sorority on Locust Walk, is vacating its house at 3539 Locust Walk this summer to make way for the recently recolonized Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity, which owns the house. Many Tri-Delt sisters also live in a house on 40th and Spruce streets. "Now they're down to one house, and that house is not ideal for their needs," Brodsky said, adding that the house must soon undergo costly renovations. Still, Giaquinta said she doubts the University will want to keep the Locust Walk property within the Greek system permanently.
(04/09/98 9:00am)
Next year, 5.1 percent more upperclassmen will live on-campus. If numbers are any indication, the college house system is an early success -- at least according to housing officials. Compared with recent years, more upperclassmen have chosen to live in campus dormitories this fall, an increase administrators link to the plan to reorganize residences into 12 multi-year houses with added staff and academic support. But many students claim they based their housing decisions on convenience, not the residential changes. According to Associate Vice President for Campus Services Larry Moneta, 2,889 students have signed room contracts, up 5.1 percent from the 2,750 students who signed contracts last year. At this time last year, housing officials told the The Daily Pennsylvanian that 2,876 students had applied for rooms. Moneta said he was not sure why the tallies were different. In 1996-97, 2,752 students applied to live on campus, while in 1995-96, 2,836 students did. The residences for next year, so far, have a 55 percent occupancy, whereas last year they were 51 percent full at this time, according to Moneta. "Add to that the transfer [students] and [incoming first-year students] and we're at full occupancy," Moneta said. He added there are 2,370 vacancies in the system right now, while the average freshman class has 2,350 people. There are about 200 students on a waiting list for rooms at this time, Moneta said. He explained that in the high rises there are fewer rooms available for next year than in the past because many rooms are being reserved for incoming first-year students and for staff housing. Moneta said that although there are currently smaller occupancy rates for this fall's high rises than in past years, a comparison would be "inaccurate." Apart from the dozens of apartments being reserved for freshmen and faculty members, a number of current students who would have applied to live in the high rises as upperclassmen in past years are choosing to move into traditionally first-year residences -- such as the Quadrangle and Hill House -- rather than the high rises this fall. Moneta said the overall rise in occupancy numbers could be attributed to some of the marketing initiatives conducted by housing officials or to the renovation of certain residences. But mostly, he credited the new college house system, saying the correlation between the high figures and the plan "just jumps right out." "Overall, it's a very positive sign that the college house system has in fact supported upperclass student interest in remaining in residences," Moneta said. Moneta admitted that the rise in numbers was a surprise for him, since he had expected the numbers to "stay flat." "I expected as many people who were attracted to the house system to be nervous about it," he said. "In reality, I'm delighted that more students have selected to see the college house opportunity as something more advantageous for them." At the same time, however, many students said that they based their housing decisions for next year on convenience, not on the new residential plan. "I personally can't live without the Ethernet connected to my computer," Wharton junior Catherine Chan said. She added that she and her friends did not consider the new college house plan when deciding to sign up for rooms in High Rise East. "We figured it's not going to be that big a deal for us," she said. "It did not figure into our decision." College junior Serena Yang is also moving into HRE this fall. More specifically, she's chosen to live in the new Ancient Studies/University Museum residential program on the building's 14th floor. "I would still have chosen to live in the high rises if there was no program," Yang said. "It's more convenient." Anthony Gill, a College freshman, said the college house system is not a draw for people to move into dormitories this year, but it could become one in the future. "If it works the way the administration thinks it will -- if the houses really develop their own personality and own character -- then I think it could be a really great thing," Gill said. College freshman Heather Roberts, who currently lives in King's Court/English House and will be moving into High Rise North in the fall, said she doesn't look forward to seeing mixed-year housing for freshmen. "I think it's kind of stupid, because I like the idea of having all the freshmen together," Roberts said. "It was much more comforting to know you're with a bunch of people who also have no clue. I wouldn't want to live my first year in a building with juniors and seniors." Students living in the high rises this fall will note a change in the layout of some of the rooms on their floor. The corner, 3-bedroom apartment -- with the suffix "07" -- on each floor will be adjoined to part of the one-bedroom apartment next door to make a 4-bedroom suite. The one-bedroom apartment will become a one-room efficiency -- a large bedroom with a kitchen in it -- to be occupied by a graduate associate. Moneta said the new room configuration is receiving "lots of very positive response." "Our students really like large community options," he said. "If we had 10-bedroom suites, we could fill them all."
(04/07/98 9:00am)
The eviction of the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity from its house at 3615 Locust Walk yesterday afternoon was not the first time a fraternity was kicked off the Walk. In fact, it is the fourth such occurrence this decade alone. In May 1990, the Psi Upsilon fraternity was evicted from the Castle at 36th Street and Locust Walk as punishment for kidnapping a member of the Delta Psi fraternity that January. The members of the 99-year-old Psi Upsilon were held collectively responsible for kidnapping William O'Flanagan, a brother in Delta Psi, which is better known as Saint Anthony's. O'Flanagan was abducted from his off-campus apartment, handcuffed to a pole and subjected to racial slurs for about two and a half hours. A report later released by Penn said O'Flanagan was afraid of suffering serious bodily injury, including death, during the incident. None of the 22 brothers the Judicial Inquiry Office charged in the incident were expelled from Penn, although two left on their own will. The Castle's vacancy -- which was eventually filled by the Community Service Living-Learning Program -- figured centrally in the University's discussion of diversifying the Walk. Psi U will return to the Castle this fall. In November 1992, the Theta Xi fraternity was evicted from its house at 37th Street and Locust Walk because of excessive vandalism to the property. Members of the fraternity claimed they were not solely responsible for its damage, and blamed Penn for the bad conditions of the house. In 1996, the Women's Center -- which had been housed in Houston Hall -- moved to Theta Xi's building, now known as the Locust House. In June 1994, the Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity lost its charter with its national organization because it failed to meet certain standards of operations. Like the current eviction, the Phi Kap eviction was handled completely within the fraternity, with the University playing no role. The organization temporarily leased the house on 3539 Locust Walk to the Delta Delta Delta sorority, the first and only sorority on the Walk. The 148-year-old Phi Kap chapter recolonized in February 1997, however, and will be moving back into the house this fall.
(04/02/98 10:00am)
The University believes it can best cater to the needs of Penn students. Two weeks have passed since the University made its decision not to outsource Dining Services and administrators are already discussing plans to revamp the current facilities and improve meal plan options. Although Penn will continue to operate its dining halls, it signed a letter of intent with the Menlo Park, Calif.-based Bon Appetit Management Co. to operate food services facilities in the Perelman Quadrangle, serve as a consultant in restructuring Dining and act as the University's primary caterer. There would have been no financial advantage to outsourcing Dining, Associate Vice President for Campus Services Larry Moneta said. Hospitality Services Director Don Jacobs added that the decision was made so that Dining "could more closely attune to the objectives of the college houses." He said the main factor was figuring out exactly what students want. "I think Penn has a tradition of being more responsive," he said, comparing the school to Harvard, Yale and Princeton universities. "I absolutely truly don't believe that any outside entity could understand the Penn objective other than people that work at Penn," he added. Jacobs claimed there is "no connection" between the University's decision not to outsource Dining and the plans to renovate the facilities, noting that "we'd renovate either way." In the last 17 months, administrators have travelled to several universities around the country, touring various dining facilities and studying different food service options. Plans to renovate Penn's facilities "began in the midst of the dining study," Moneta said. He added that one of the things administrators learned during their research is that "environment is very much a factor in people's perceptions of quality." The University plans to renovate each of the four dining halls in the next four to five years, according to Associate Vice President for Business Services Marie Witt. One goal is to implement an "open-kitchen, display cooking process," Witt said. Moneta described a dining hall model with a "very different" environment from the one Penn currently maintains. The future dining halls will have open grills and a visible food preparation process, with the chefs conducting "restaurant-style" cooking demonstrations. Moneta could not offer a timeframe for when the renovations would begin, but said he would "love to do something within the next 18 months." Jacobs added that the weekend meal plan "experiment" -- which made its debut this fall -- is going to change. Dining had expected to have 700 students "on contract" at this point but only has 500, he said. Moneta confirmed that Dining will continue to operate during the weekends but will split the meal plan options into three sets: a set of weekday plans, a set of weekend plans and a set of both. "With the advent of Penn Cash there will be more options, so you don't feel like you have to get all the meals at Dining," Jacobs said. Penn Cash could likely be used in the new Houston Hall food service facilities once renovations to connect the building to College, Logan and Williams halls and Irvine Auditorium are completed as part of the Perelman Quad project. There will be no "fast food" -- such as the existing Subway or Burger King -- in the new Houston Hall, according to Bon Appetit Chief Executive Officer Fidele Bauccio. Bauccio said his company's seasonal, restaurant-oriented food options will accommodate the needs of all students, including vegetarians and vegans. The firm will be conducting focus groups and "getting to know the community" on campus beginning this summer. But first, University administrators are looking toward a more immediate goal -- hiring a managing director for food services. This "food service guru," as Jacobs labeled the position, would serve as a liaison between Dining, Bon Appetit and Trammel Crow Co., the Dallas-based firm which took over Penn's facilities management yesterday.
(03/31/98 10:00am)
Calling it "the coolest" renovation project the University has proposed in years, Associate Vice President for Campus Services Larry Moneta announced yesterday that an indoor, Olympic-size swimming pool would be constructed in the basement of High Rise South this summer, replacing the building's Rathskellar Lounge. The idea for building a pool -- which is scheduled for completion by early September -- aligns with plans Moneta announced in January to create a fitness center in the rooftop lounge of HRS. The fitness center will be completed by the end of the summer. "Now we'll be able to call Harrison House a true 'fitness center'," Moneta said. "Without having a pool in there to go along with the aerobic and cardiovascular facilities, we'd just be cheating." Residential Advisory Board Chairperson Emily Pollack said the pool project is an example of "true collaboration" between students and administrators on a major University plan. The College sophomore said the idea for the pool came out of a series of RAB discussions on making better use of the high rise rooftop and Rathskeller lounges. "Our high rise improvement plans began last fall with putting big potted plants in front of each high rise entrance," Pollack said. "When we saw how successful that was in improving the quality of life in the high rises, we decided to go for bigger plans." Pollack added that "when the administration approved our idea for a fitness center, we decided 'what the hey, let's build a pool!'." Moneta said that these plans are "just a hint of what I have in mind" for his 10-year residential renovations plan -- which, he said, will be released in its entirety later this spring. Meanwhile, administrators and faculty members involved in the creation and implementation of the college house plan, announced in October, say the pool project fits with their vision. The college house plan calls to organize the University's residences into 12 multi-year college houses with individualized themes, as well as added staff, programming and academic support. Residential Faculty Council Chairperson Al Filreis, an English professor, hailed the pool idea. "I think it's very exciting that Harrison house will be developing its profile as the 'fitness college house' so early in the game," Filreis said. "When we first announced the college house plan, we assumed it would take the high rise college houses at least two years to start developing individualistic themes. I'd have to say that I'm pleasantly surprised." Most students said they are pleased with the University's proposal. Some said the walk to Gimbel Gymnasium to use the indoor pool is "too long" or "tiring." "There are all these times when I want to go swimming to exercise or feel refreshed, but then I think about making the long haul to Gimbel and I just change my mind," College junior Lizzie Ahss said. Other students raised concerns about safety issues. "I feel unsafe walking off campus with wet hair," Engineering freshman Rebecca Jeuvenal said. "It's ridiculous for the University to expect us to leave Locust Walk and trek down Walnut during the day, when there are no Spectaguards around, just so we can go exercise. There should be an alternative option." Students also complained about the conditions of the Gimbel pool. One student, College senior John La Bombard, said he has refused to return to the pool ever since a piece of "strange-looking matter" hit him once while he was swimming. "I'm just glad it didn't hit my penis," La Bombard noted. Money to fund the $700,000 project will be donated by 1986 Wharton graduate John Hugh-Butts, who developed gangrene in his rear during his years at Penn from what he described as "a lack of physical activity." "I would spend my winter evenings sitting at my desk for hours at a time when I lived in the high rises," Hugh-Butts said. "I had no motivation to walk the length of campus in the freezing cold just to find a place to work out. I don't want any more students to have to suffer the dark winters without a pool in their dorms." Hugh-Butts said he will consider donating money for indoor pools in the other 11 college houses, under one condition: "I will provide further funds only if the pools will be named after my wife, Rosebud."
(03/30/98 10:00am)
Although the problem is nothing new, it may pose a health risk to students. They're furry, small and sneaky -- and they find their late-night snacks in the same place students do. Mice have been frequently spotted scurrying around the floors and shelves of the Penn Student Agencies' residential commissaries in recent weeks. Student managers and employees claim they've been taking the same preventative measures for years now -- without reducing the number of mice in the facilities. Mice and rats are responsible for the spread of a large number of diseases, which can be transmitted through food that comes into contact with a mouse's saliva, urine or feces. An effort four years ago by the Physical Plant Department -- now called Facilities Services -- successfully rid the Quadrangle commissary of its mouse population. Since then, mice have returned to the four PSA mini-grocery stores in the Quad and the high rises. Quad Commissary Manager Chris Tenggardjaja, a College freshman, confirmed that there are mice in his store right now. "As long as I've been a manager of the Quad [store], there's always been mice here," said Tenggardjaja, who has led the store all year. College senior John Lee, a cashier at the High Rise South commissary, said he has seen mice "running by really quickly" in his store. "They're always eating the chips and coming into the candy box," Lee said. "Maybe they like Caramellos. They seem to really like that one for some reason or another." According to PSA Food Services Director Adrienne Kardosh, a Wharton junior, the four commissaries take measures to prevent any customer from purchasing a product that has been eaten by a mouse. "We have professional exterminators that come in," Kardosh said. "We have traps that, although they should not be seen by customers, are in the stores. And any product that looks like it may have been touched by a mouse is immediately removed from the store." Kardosh added that the mice do not pose "a huge infestation problem," noting that there is no new "mouse issue." "It's definitely not an increasing problem, and it's definitely not plateaued," she said. "In the time that I've been a student here at Penn, I've known that the trend has basically gone downward, that the stores are getting cleaner, that there are fewer problems." Tenggardjaja confirmed that there are traps set in his commissary, though only in the back room of the store. Food that appears to have been tampered with is thrown away and the store undergoes a daily sweeping and mopping, he added. "All managers are told to take the same stand against it," he said. "We call the exterminator as often as needed, put out traps and clean the store." Al Zuino, associate director of operations in residential maintenance, said the exterminators under his supervision use glue traps in the commissaries rather than chemical treatments, explaining that the latter would be unsafe in an environment where students spend so much time. He added that his maintenance records indicate that there were two requests for an exterminator for the Quad commissary in 1997 and two so far in 1998. Zuino did not immediately have numbers available for requests from the high rise stores. Zuino also stressed that the commissaries need to store their packaged goods in a way that keeps "stock off the floor, is not so cluttered" and allows traps to be "placed properly." He said that his office will be contacting PSA in the coming days about "preventative measures." In 1994, an infestation of mice in the Quad commissary was successfully eliminated in just three weeks by Physical Plant workers who responded to student concerns. Workers installed a new locking device on the front door, removed old supplies and filled holes in the walls that could have allowed mice inside. Kardosh said the presence of mice is "all due to locations." All stores are located in their buildings' basements -- and the high rise commissaries are bordered by trash rooms. Noting that since the commissaries in the high rises are not completely surrounded by four walls, she said mice from the trash room next door "can conceivably crawl through the gate and get in." Employees of both the Pit at Hill College House and the Oasis at King's Court/English House -- mini grocery stores that are not run by PSA -- said they are not aware of a mouse population and do not lay traps in their stores. The Pit is located deep in Hill's basement, and the Oasis is on KC/EH's ground floor. Kardosh said the only long-term means of eliminating mice from the stores that she can think of is changing the location of the stores. But she added that the University -- which has been "very supportive of the commissaries" -- is "constrained" by its limited amount of available space.
(03/30/98 10:00am)
Sometimes the pursuit of a summer job or an internship can't wait until morning. That unfortunate reality is what prompted Career Planning and Placement Services to create a new academic advising program that will link students to CPPS from their residences. The program has been piloted in Van Pelt College House since January. The initiative becomes the fifth "spoke" of the Wheel project -- an effort to bring student-led academic services to all Penn dormitories -- joining residential advising programs in writing, math, library and information technology. As the University's dormitories are organized into 12 college houses this fall, students will be able to see more of these advising initiatives taking effect in their halls. The idea for the career services pilot program -- the latest advising initiative -- was conceived last fall by the CPPS staff to make career-planning services more accessible to students. A student "liaison" will be based at each college house to teach the residents how to use CPPS' services, including its various on-line tools and computer programs, according to CPPS Director Pat Rose. Rose stressed that student liaisons will not be delivering career advice directly. "That's not what this is," Rose explained. "We will be putting a liaison in each college house to help students understand how to use our services. The services themselves are provided [in CPPS] centrally." The program will enter its second phase this fall, Rose said, when four more houses -- DuBois College House and the three high rises -- will obtain in-house career services advisers. CPPS plans to have a student liaison in all 12 college houses by fall 1999, she added. CPPS chose College senior Camille Henry two months ago to be its first liaison in Van Pelt's pilot program. Henry, who has lived in Van Pelt since her sophomore year, said she spends up to 10 hours a week sending out regular e-mails to her housemates informing them of CPPS activities and directing residents' questions to the appropriate CPPS counselor or Web site. She added that she does much of her advising in the hallway and late at night. "One particular night I was helping a couple people who wanted to find out about internships, and it was midnight -- a time when they wouldn't have been able to contact a CPPS counselor," Henry said. "I was able to show them what resources there were on the CPPS homepage right there in their own room." Her job is "not just a matter of passing on information," and Henry stressed that a good adviser must be aggressive and proactive. Indeed, she has tried to be just that in the past two months. In February, Henry organized a workshop for pre-law residents in Van Pelt, with the help of Van Pelt Graduate Fellow Malia Brink, a Law School student. Following the workshop, Brink took several of the residents along with her to class. Henry also led several Van Pelt residents, mostly freshmen, through CPPS in late January to familiarize them with the facilities. She said the program is succeeding in Van Pelt because the house is "relatively small," so she knows many people and residents have an easy time approaching her with questions. Future CPPS advisers working in the larger houses, namely the high rises, will have a harder time unless they are "pretty proactive," Henry predicted.
