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(03/21/00 10:00am)
Alcohol at Penn: Change for the better?Alcohol at Penn: Change for the better?Working to fight alcohol abuse At this, the one-year anniversary of the death of Michael Tobin, we, as the outgoing and incoming presidents of the Drug and Alcohol Resource Team, would like to take this opportunity to report on the impact of this event on peer alcohol education. Together, with the administration, former DART President Megan MacDonald created a freshman seminar that dealt with the alcohol issue and other identity formation topics. This seminar, taught by Legal Studies Professor Phil Nichols, attracted 15 freshmen this fall. Recruitment of new DART members took place during the chaotic month of April last year, when alcohol was banned from campus events. A record number of students applied and our membership doubled as a result of the stir surrounding alcohol use. Perhaps Michael Tobin's death spurred a conscious effort by students to show the administration that they did in fact care about alcohol consumption on this campus. Through the protest on College Green and by demonstrating increased interest in DART, the University's primary vehicle of educating undergraduates about alcohol abuse, students took action. This semester, in cooperation with the Office of the Vice Provost for University Life, DART initiated a huge social marketing campaign. Using data collected through last year's Web-based survey, posters and ads reporting that 76 percent of Penn students drink less than once a week have been plastered throughout campus. DART members have seen the immediate effectiveness of this campaign through the recent Greek new member workshops. Many of the 385 students who participated could quote this ad. This month, more than a third of the undergraduate population participated in another Web survey of alcohol use and use perception. This data, following initial processing, supports last year's data and is again providing us with much-needed information regarding alcohol use on campus. We are very excited to have such a large number of Penn students represented in our survey and look forward to continuing our social marketing campaign to reform perceptions of alcohol use. Last spring, DART sponsored and organized a Speak Out featuring then-Senior Class President Sarah Gleit and basketball star Jed Ryan. We plan on continuing this tradition on March 30 at 7:00 p.m. in Logan Hall's Terrace Room with an alcohol forum facilitated by Harris Sokoloff of the Graduate School of Education. Our projects for this year are not yet complete, and we are constantly looking for further ways to improve our organization. We hope to reach a broader portion of the freshman class by participating in the expanded New Student Orientation in the early fall, as well as offering our workshops to upperclassmen. We invite all of those interested in finding out more about DART to come to the alcohol forum on March 30 and to apply for membership by visiting our World Wide Web site (http://dolphin.upenn.edu/~dart) or stopping by the Office of Health Education on Locust Walk to pick up an application. We look forward to another year of change and success.
(03/21/00 10:00am)
Alcohol at Penn: Change for the better Alcohol at Penn: Change for the betterStudents involved in creating alcohol policy In practice, not that much has changed, at least not in a way that would take away our right to make our own choices. The changes have been subtle, and appear to be for the better. Penn administrators haven't forced an incredibly strict policy on us. Rather, they have tried to give us guidelines to help make drinking safer at Penn -- regardless of whether one chooses to drink or not. At the start of this year, I was selected to act as the chairwoman of the Undergraduate Assembly's Alcohol and Other Drug Committee. When I began, I thought I would serve as a watchdog, guarding student interests in the face of this new University policy. Much like most of the student body, the UA thought that the rules were going to forever change the face of Penn's social scene. We felt it was our duty, as the voice of the students, to form a committee dedicated to the rights of the entire student population involving alcohol -- and we did so. We held a forum, we met regularly with the task force and with Stephanie Ives, the alcohol policy coordinator. We were going to make sure students didn't have to worry about undue restrictions on their social lives. Surprisingly, we ended up not having all that much work to do because it turned out that the changes were reasonable and not overbearing. It also turns out that Penn students' view of our drinking habits might be inaccurate. You may have recognized the "Once a week or less" posters around campus and the ads in the DP about the amount of drinking that goes on at Penn. I saw those numbers over winter break and was at first a little shocked. My first reaction was to think, "Maybe not everyone at Penn drinks, but most everyone I know does." After a while of thinking about it, I realized that wasn't true. I know plenty of people who don't drink. I know plenty of people who drink in moderation and I know plenty of people who do this and still have a blast at all of the same parties I attend. The posters just made me think a little harder about how much drinking I was doing when I went out for the night. These ads and posters make me think about what the alcohol policy has done to affect our lives in the past year. Much like Michael Tobin's death, the policy has served as a wake-up call. Working on alcohol-related issues, I have been ready to relate students' major concerns about the new policy to the administration. Not too many have appeared. From my point of view, this means that the administration has done a good job of working with the students to formulate a decent policy. So, we can still have fun -- and isn't that what we were worried about anyway?
(12/02/99 10:00am)
Diarrheal dehydration kills 2.2 million children a year. Seven cents buys enough oral rehydration salts to save a child from dying of diarrheal dehydration. Pneumonia kills more than two million children annually. Twenty-five cents buys the necessary antibiotics to treat pneumonia in one child. Measles kills 880,000 children ever year -- more than war and famine combined. Fourteen cents vaccinates a child against this disease. Student volunteers spoke to children at West Philadelphia schools about how they could help other children and handed out the famous orange "Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF" boxes as part of a month-long education and fundraising campaign. Teachers were provided with free curricular materials to help their students explore children's issues throughout the world. And this year alone, Penn students' efforts raised enough money to save 1,600 children from death by pneumonia. To date, children worldwide have collected more than $100 million. The involved students were members of Penn for UNICEF, a campus organization founded last year that coordinates efforts with the Delaware Valley Chapter of the U.S. Committee for UNICEF -- one of 37 national committees that serve to educate, advocate and fundraise for UNICEF worldwide -- to engage community participation in activities and fundraising. Penn for UNICEF also co-sponsored an on-campus trick-or-treat event with Civic House that teamed up West Philadelphia kids with their tutors. Fraternity and sorority houses hosted face painting, apple bobbing and cookie decorating events for the kids. Everyone had a great time. And on October 30, Penn for UNICEF volunteers made marshmallow spiders with kids at the Please Touch Museum and pasted water tattoos onto kids at the Philadelphia Zoo. We also handed out trick-or-treat information and boxes to the parents. The event was a great success -- the kids had fun and learned about UNICEF projects. These are but a few examples of how Penn for UNICEF strives to reach out to the community. Our philosophy is to show people how even a small effort can bring about change on an international scale. We think globally and act locally. As we all run from class to class, study furiously for midterms and go to non-stop interviews and company presentations, it is a tremendous feeling to stop and realize that the world extends so far beyond the boundaries of Penn campus. It is when a child from West Philadelphia offers his trick-or-treat candy to help the "other poor children who don't have candy" that you realize how easy it is to reach out. When you teach children the value of helping others and when you yourself work hard to help children who could never help themselves, you begin to discover that huge world outside your own and the impact you could have; and many times you smile, knowing that perhaps you have made that world just a little better. Among our most recent events was a coffeehouse on November 19, co-sponsored by Civic House, Delta Upsilon and the Vietnamese Student Association. Several performing arts groups lent their talents to the event, which raised more than $400 for UNICEF -- enough to ensure that thousands of children will live to see adulthood and better their communities. Because UNICEF is financed entirely by volunteer contributions, and operates with a budget that is about 1/10th that of the New York City public school system, the organization needs student help -- and it doesn't take a lot of spare change to change a child's life.
(09/10/99 9:00am)
But he has never won without a running back who rushed for 1,000 yards. Last season was the most recent example of this phenomenon. Jim Finn rushed for a school record 1,450 yards and the Quakers earned their third set of championship rings under Bagnoli. In 1993 and 1994, Terrance Stokes produced back-to-back 1,000 yard seasons (1,211 and 1,052, respectively). Penn went undefeated both seasons. It seems like a simple equation. This season, Penn will be hard pressed to find that 1,000-yard back. With the graduation of Finn, Bagnoli has moved to a quartet of backs to establish the Quakers ground game. Mike Verille, Kris Ryan, Matt Thomas and Brian Cosmello are all expected to earn a significant portion of the carries this season. Those four players produced eight carries at the college level last year, six of which came when Verille was in a Duke uniform. Quarterback Matt Rader's graduation has been eased by the arrival of Northwestern transfer Gavin Hoffman. But without a clear starter at the tailback position, the 6'6" Hoffman may double-take every time he hands off the football. "Hopefully with the four different pieces, we can find a running game that is effective," Bagnoli said. "I don't think we have any illusions that we can replace Jim Finn with just one kid. We don't have someone that can carry the ball 40 times, catch passes, pick-up blitzes and do everything that we wanted him to do." None of the four is expected to carry the ball 40 times a game like Finn did. None of the four is expected to show the ability to get to the corner on one play and carry five defenders on his back the next, like Finn did. And if all four share playing time, none of the four is expected to rush for 1,000 yards this season. But if the Quakers want to earn another title, they must establish a ground attack, or defenses will feast on the young Hoffman. Without a running game, wide receivers Doug O'Neill and Brandon Carson will have to fend off multiple defensive backs in the field. "There is a definite role that the running game plays in the sense that it is the backbone of this offense, and it has been forever," Verille said. "A good running game just makes an offense tougher. As great as it is to have a guy like Gavin come in and have a lot of receivers come back, we know that if we can't run the ball, we are not going to be successful." Still, the Quakers think they can win with a committee of running backs. Each player brings a different style to the playing field. Verille, like Rader a former Blue Devil, is expected to see the ball more than any back but Ryan. His cutback style of running led to 9.3 yards per carry in high school. In contrast, Ryan is expected simply to run people over. At 6'3" and 235 pounds, the sophomore may be more reminiscent of Finn than the other backs, though he lacks Finn's true speed. In addition to his abilities as a tailback, Ryan should see plenty of snaps as a blocking back. "At the collegiate level you have to expect a certain amount of success from a group of running backs," Ryan said. "We have some pretty decent talent in the backfield. Having a good camp has made us all better. I think we are comfortable within the system and we know what we have to do." The remainder of the carries will fall to Thomas, a sophomore, and three-time letter winner Brian Cosmello. Thomas gained experience as a junior varsity player last season and should contribute this year. Cosmello, a fullback, may be the most important piece of the equation. While Bagnoli says Cosmello will carry the ball more, his greatest asset to the Quakers will still come as a blocking back. "If you put Brian Cosmello in front of anybody, they are going to look good," Verille said. "His blocks can make any back look good." The 6'2" senior has been the starting fullback for 25 consecutive games. And last season Cosmello earned second-team All-Ivy League honors without carrying the ball once. Naturally, much of the burden will fall on the offensive line and Cosmello's ability to pick up a rushing linebacker. But the offensive line is established and deep. Starters Jason Lebron, Mike Bertolino and Carmelo Rubano are all experienced. Barring injury, the holes should open for the running backs. But will the backs hit the holes? The running backs do not have to replace Jim Finn. Bagnoli and the Quakers would welcome such individual excellence but it is unlikely they will find it. But what they do have to replace is Finn's ability to draw the defensive focus away from the passing game. If Ryan, Verille and company can establish the run, Hoffman's transition to the Ivy League will be made easy. If they can't, Bagnoli may have to wait until he finds another 1,000-yard back before earning title number four.
(06/01/99 9:00am)
But a Nov. assault in a University building shocked the campus and prompted new security measures. Newtown High School '97 Newtown, Ct. Despite another year of falling crime on and around campus, the University was shaken last fall by the early morning assault of a female University sophomore in a basement bathroom in the center of campus. In the only major criminal incident on campus this year, the student was assaulted by a knife-wielding man in Steinberg-Dietrich Hall, the main Wharton School building, last November 8, prompting an outcry among students about campus security. Within days, police arrested a 16-year-old West Philadelphia juvenile in connection with the attack. He has been charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, robbery and attempted rape. Although she sustained several cuts, bruises and knife wounds, the victim did not sustain any major physical injuries. Over the past few years, the number of robberies has dropped by more than a third, while thefts are also down significantly. Since 1996, officials from Penn's Division of Public Safety have increased the number of police officers and detectives and moved the department into a new, state-of-the-art headquarters. Since he arrived in September 1995, Vice President for Public Safety Tom Seamon has also overhauled his management team, increased lighting on and around campus, added more emergency blue-light phones and increased campus escort services. Police officials say the more visible police presence on campus has made Penn less of a target for criminals than it has been in the past. "I think that people understand that the University is doing as much as possible," Seamon said last November. "There always can be a horrible incident.? What we try to do is minimize that possibility as much as possible." Despite the declining crime rate, the November assault made some students feel unsafe in University buildings. The incident was the first time in recent memory that a student was assaulted inside a secured University building. Police say the victim was working in Steinberg-Dietrich -- a common late-night studying area that is open 24 hours a day -- and went to use the bathroom at about 2:45 a.m. When the victim was leaving the stall, a man holding a knife faced her. Fearing that he would rape her, the victim tried to fight her attacker, who allegedly banged the student's head repeatedly against the wall and floor and attempted to slit her throat. She sustained multiple cuts and bruises but managed to hit two panic alarms and escape from her assailant. Police believe the attacker gained entry to the building through a side entrance, normally locked at night, that was perhaps propped open by a student so he or she could return later. The front entrance is guarded at night by a security guard. In the days following the assault, friends of the victim and a widely circulated e-mail message said that the first panic alarm she pressed did not work and accused the University Police of failing to respond in a timely manner. But police officials said all the panic alarms in the building were working at the time of the assault and disputed claims that it took several minutes for a security guard to respond. Later, a witness came forward saying that he heard two distinct alarms sound and that a security guard responded very quickly. Partly as a result of the attack and a resolution by the Undergraduate Assembly calling for increased late-night safety measures, Public Safety started requiring students to wear their PennCards in several University buildings after 10 p.m. In April, a 20-year-old Penn junior was raped in her Center City apartment by a man who entered her first-floor apartment through an unlocked window at about 4:40 a.m. while she was sleeping. Philadelphia Police made an arrest in the case two days after the incident. At first, police believed the suspect might be tied to the May 1997 murder of Wharton doctoral student Shannon Schieber, but DNA samples taken from both crime scenes did not match. Schieber was strangled to death in the same downtown neighborhood. Her killer has not been apprehended. And on April 13, a female Wharton graduate student reported that she was attacked by a man in the lobby of Vance Hall at about 5:30 a.m. The 33-year-old student was able to fight off her attacker, sustaining a sprained right arm and bruises, before he fled the scene. The victim did not require hospitalization.
(02/10/99 10:00am)
After a year of renovations, Van Pelt's first floor is once again a top-notch facility. Unfortunately, Rosengarten Reserve -- a popular late-night study area -- remains in its familiar run-down condition. The vents shake, the bathrooms are disgusting and there are no Ethernet connections nor electric outlets for laptop computers. In short, Rosie is noisy and dirty. According to the University Council Committee on Libraries, "Among 107 academic peer institutions in the Association of Research Libraries? Penn is near the bottom of the list on the percent of those General Expenditures allocated to the library." While the mean expenditures of the average institution were 3.14 percent of their academic budget, Penn only spent 2.16 percent. In order to raise student and faculty awareness as to the lack of attention the University gives to library renovations, the Undergraduate Assembly has passed a "Resolution on Increased Library Spending." The resolution calls for the University to make it a top priority to obtain funding for the necessary Rosengarten Reserve renovations; to focus on raising contributions for renovations to the entire library system; and to help improve the overall physical quality of the library, including modernizing the restroom facilities and ventilation system. Our intention is to let the administration know that library funding is the UA's top priority. Fortunately, Penn has announced plans for improvements to the facility. The plans -- at a relatively low cost of $2 million -- call for six new study rooms and increased seating, as well as new furnishings and computers. In addition, there are plans for a cybercafe, which would enable students to take study breaks without leaving the library. The library has already raised $1 million toward the proposed renovations and the UA does not see raising the remainder of the project costs as an unreasonably arduous task for a University which routinely funds multi-million dollar projects. However, the University does not plan to contribute a single dollar of its $2.8 billion total operating budget toward library renovations. According to Vice Provost and Director of Libraries Paul Mosher, the library system funds all of its own renovations through private donations. The UA recently brought up our concerns regarding library funding to the University Council -- the deliberative body comprised of students, faculty, staff and administrators, that presents recommendations to the President Judith Rodin and Provost Robert Barchi. Increased spending for the library was twice denied a place on Council's agenda. Rather, the Council Steering Committee referred the matter to the Committee on Libraries. Interestingly, that Committee had addressed the same issue a year ago. At the time, the committee highlighted the faults of the current library system, focusing specifically on the dearth of funding for Penn's libraries. The committee went on to say that the findings "appear to contradict the top-ten aspirations of Penn's Agenda for Excellence and there appears to be no indication that the University intends to increase the library's funding." The library system is in the unique position of being responsible for servicing the entire Penn community. Therefore, the UA adamantly believes that the administration should make it one of its top priorities to see that sufficient funds are allocated for improvements to Rosengarten Reserve, as well as for any other future renovations. The UA implores the administration to ensure that Penn students are afforded the opportunity to have access to the best library facilities an Ivy League institution can offer.
(12/15/98 10:00am)
The fall semester has been a very productive one for the Undergraduate Assembly. From student safety to off-campus living, we have strived to tackle the issues that are important to you. As part of our continuing outreach program, the UA has decided to publish a mid-year report to inform the students about what we have accomplished and what issues we will work on next semester. One way we seek to represent students is through the use of surveys. Surveys are an important first step of every project so that we can see what aspects of each issue we should concentrate on. We did surveys on student preferences for future retailers in Sansom Common and the 40th Street area so we can better advocate for retail in these places. Among other things, these surveys have helped us learn that students would like to see a store like Abercrombie & Fitch in Sansom Common and an Italian restaurant in the 40th Street area. We also did a different type of outreach with the landlord survey, where students were asked to rate their off-campus housing. The results will be distributed in January, so that students will be able to make more informed housing decisions for next year. The UA also conducted student safety survey in conjunction with the Division of Public Safety to gather information on where further security efforts should be concentrated. We have also tried to take positive steps in the area of community relations. We co-sponsored "Communiversity Days" with Civic House -- we took 15 middle-schoolers from the area with us around Penn and to our classes for a day. The UA and the Center for Community Partnerships have also planned a symposium for January 13. Students, administrators and community leaders will get together to discuss local concerns. The UA has also done a significant amount of work examining computing facilities at Penn. Our preliminary suggestions to the administration in September earned us the first student seat on the Information Technology Steering Committee, which examines computing facilities across the University. In addition, the UA has done a student survey and looked at the quality of computer labs across campus. At some point next semester, we will release a detailed report of our findings. We also hope to create a guide about computing that will include the attributes of each lab and a rating of all the labs to be distributed next fall. In addition, we are working to address many other student concerns, including: · Several students complained about the fee for use of the Katz Fitness Center in the Gimbel Gymnasium and the need to pay that fee in cash or by check. We worked closely with the Department of Recreation to allow students to place the charge on their bursar bill beginning next fall. · The UA co-sponsored -- along with Civic House and the United Minorites Council -- a symposium for a group of student leaders to discuss minority recruitment issues. · We are working with SEPTA to get more token machines on campus, more service in the University area and better publicized route and timetable information. · In conjunction with Drug and Alcohol Resource Team, we are in the process of creating a poster that contains alcohol awareness information and information about what to do if someone is overly intoxicated. The poster are intended for display in college and greek houses. · Many students complained that they have had a hard time publicizing events, while others complained that too much stuff is taped to the ground on Locust Walk. To combat these problems, the UA worked to get the bulletin board kiosks back on Locust Walk. · Upperclassmen have said that some freshman are losing out on the "freshman experience" by living in the high rises. We will be testing this hypothesis by doing a survey examining how satisfied the average freshman is with their residential experience in the high rises versus their residential experience in the Quadrangle. In addition, we will be further developing our outreach efforts in the spring by having a UA table out on the walk for several hours each week, so come see us and tell us your hopes, dreams, worries and concerns or e-mail us at ua@dolphin.upenn.edu.
(06/01/98 9:00am)
Bishop Ireton High School '96 Alexandria, Va. As recently as last fall, University police officers, detectives, administrators and technicians arrived for work, took roll call and even inspected fingerprints inside a dilapidated Victorian townhouse on Locust Walk and an annex behind it. But although it was cramped and uncomfortable, the worst part of the 19th century station, officials said, was the distance between it and other public safety facilities. University Police operated out of the house and its annex; Spectaguard security guards worked out of a graduate tower at 37th and Chestnut streets and Weightmann Hall at 33rd and Walnut streets; and victim support and special services were located in a mini-station on South 40th Street. The new headquarters, which consolidates the services of the University's ever-expanding Division of Public Safety under one roof, has been in the works for more than two years. The project was a top priority of Managing Director of Public Safety Tom Seamon, a former Philadelphia Police deputy commissioner who came to Penn in 1995. By October 1996, the University had closed a deal on the warehouse, purchasing it for $1 million. The headquarters are equipped with a high-tech "Penncom" center, a room with multiple dispatchers and surveillance cameras that can view areas all around campus, as well as holding cells and a gym for employees. The headquarters cost $2.5 million and took about 14 months to renovate. Beyond the headquarters' obvious technological and convenience advantages, the location of the new building, west of 40th Street in a diverse neighborhood, makes the Penn Police an asset to the community, administrators believe. Because the location and size of the building give the headquarters increased visibility, it will act as a deterrent to criminal activity in the neighborhood, as well as be a visible service for community members to take advantage of, according to Director of Police Operations Maureen Rush. Indeed, University President Judith Rodin addressed the community directly at the building's gala opening January 27, an event which was replete with community leaders. "This building bespeaks our continued commitment to the community and its safety," she said. Community leaders agreed that the headquarters was an extremely positive addition to the neighborhood. Joe Ruane, who heads the Spruce Hill Community Association, said he felt the station would make the 40th street corridor a more appealing, viable location for retail -- something that could, in turn, spawn foot traffic. "The areas where there's been the greatest amounts of street crime have been on the fringes of campus," said History Department Chairperson Lynn Lees, an officer in Penn Faculty and Staff for Neighborhood Issues. Also soon to be serving the community on the 40th Street business corridor will be a new headquarters for the University City District, a special services district providing security and sidewalk cleanup to the area from the Schuylkill River and 50th Street between about Spring Garden Street and Woodland Avenue. The UCD, created last summer and funded by a number of area institutions and corporations, including Penn, Drexel University, the Philadelphia University of the Sciences --Eformerly the College of Pharmacy and Science -- and Amtrak, will soon be moving to a spot on the 3900 block of Chestnut Street, just down the block from Public Safety headquarters. The building will house a Philadelphia Police substation.
(07/11/96 9:00am)
keeping up with computer technology can help you get your money's worth when upgrading. They call it upgrade fever. Not unlike middle-aged men buying red Ferrari's, people who buy computers want more power, more speed, more storage space, and more bells and whistles (or 32-bit wavetable FM synthesis of bells and whistles, as the case may be) on their computers than they know what to do with. Not that power is bad, mind you. It's just that every six months we feel this intense need to scrap everything we have and start over. Maybe you feel this description doesn't apply to you. Maybe you've been working on a Mac Classic II you've had since high school, or (god forbid) use a dedicated word processor. If you don't fit the category yourself, think of your friend who just got a new Gateway. You know, the Pentium 166 with 32 meg of EDO RAM. Not that this friend has even the slightest idea what EDO RAM is, much less how to use the system to its fullest. Other people you know probably have quad speed, three disc changers from Dell -- which they use to play Allanis CDs -- or laptops with TFT active-matrix color screens to Doom. I, myself, after upgrading at Christmas to a NexGen Nx586 90MHz VLB motherboard, have now decided I need a Cyrix 6x86-P120+ PCI motherboard. This means scrapping my video card and SCSI controller, but it's all the name of progress, right? And what prompted my decision to upgrade? The fact that I can't run Quake. Not exactly a scholarly pursuit. Now, I'll probably be able to assuage some of the cost of a new motherboard and video card by selling off my old equipment at discounted prices to people even further behind me on the technology curve. By now you've figured out why people scrap their whole system every year and buy a new one. What's the difference between PCI and VLB? Why won't my old stuff work? Who cares about the nuances that make up the difference between a Cyrix P166+ and Pentium Pro 200? What you want to do is call up Micron and ask for a good system that fits in your budget. Allocate two grand, and any salesperson will tell the best and newest thing you can get with your money. They'll spare you the grief of deciding whether or not it's worth it to plunk down an extra $50 to get pipeline burst cache. No need to ask whether or not the Diamond Stealth 64 will give you better performance than the Imagine #9 128. They'll box up a system that works and ship it to you. For those who want to avoid the mess entirely, there's Macintosh. Since Apple trimmed down their bloated catalog of system types, choosing a Mac is a no-brainer based on how much money you have. No debating between SCSI and IDE; SCSI is all you get. Wait for USB? Why bother; ADB is already there and working, and has been for years. There's one problem with this approach, aside from the extra costs. Knowing what your system contains, how it works, and what it does for you not only ensures that you'll get what you paid for -- it allows you to prolong the life of your system. If I had opted for a PCI motherboard eight months ago, I wouldn't be spending so much now. In addition to understanding the myriad TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms) of the computer industry, understanding what you need your computer to do is essential. If Word and Excel is all you need, there's no reason to get a Pentium 166. If you plan to play lots of games, trade off processor performance and harddrive space for a speedy graphics adapter and a good sound card. Four years and I've gone through at least two complete systems one piece at a time. Now a whole wave of developments are on the horizon that will probably prompt me to buy a complete system when I graduate in December. ATX motherboards will force me to get a new case, USB will require all new peripherals (keyboard, mouse, joystick, printer, even modem), DVD will replace CD-ROM, and SDRAM will usurp EDO RAM. How can anyone keep up with all this? Actually, it's not that hard once you know the basic stuff. After knowing what RAM is, the difference between DRAM, EDO RAM, SDRAM, VRAM, SRAM, and WRAM become nonessential; they're all just variations on a theme, each slightly different, and sometimes better at different tasks. The same holds true for modem, where speed is the only consideration, and video cards, where other factors come into play. Buses, CPUs, clock speeds, etc. all seem complicated, but again the essentials haven't changed in literally 15 years. The ISA bus debate has decisively ended with PCI, and the only remaining competitor is several years from implementation. Except for the Pentium Pro, the higher the clock rate the faster the machine goes. And the CPUs from Cyrix and AMD are virtually indistinguishable from Intel's chips to the end user. Find out what you've got under the hood. Figure out what simple and inexpensive things can be done to tweak system performance. Decide whether or not you really need a new machine, or what you want out of one if you're buying for the first time. Doing so puts power in your hands, and will give you more bang for your buck. Whatever you do, don't just by the fastest, most expensive thing your friends or sales rep recommends, and don't feel your system is useless because it's outdated. Take control of your system, and run it instead of letting it run you.
(02/21/96 10:00am)
Temple's legendary matchup zone was certainly nothing new to the Quakers, but as usual they couldn't solve it John Chaney is not one for surprises. The legendary Temple coach would probably even give you his playbook if you asked nicely. Chaney doesn't win with trick plays or anything that can remotely be described as flashy. His strategy is as predictable as the loosened tie and the angry scowl. Chaney dares opponents to beat his Owls at the basics. Try to beat the Temple match-up zone. Try to speed up the pace of the game. Try, just try, to score 70 points. Last night was no different than the past 14 Penn-Temple matchups. Quakers coach Fran Dunphy knew exactly what Chaney was going to chalk up, as did 7,364 fans who filled the Palestra bleachers. But it didn't matter. The Owls held the Quakers to just 18 first-half points and only 42 for the game. And Chaney didn't even have to turn to page two of his playbook. The Temple defense was at its best in the first half yesterday -- and that's pretty good considering the Owls have already knocked off then-No. 1 Kansas and then-No. 2 Villanova earlier in the season. Temple guards Levan Alston, Huey Futch and Lynard Steward somehow managed to rotate around to double-up the Quakers perimeter players before the pass even got to the open man. Going down low to Tim Krug or Paul Romanczuk was equally impossible. The Owls zone shut off every passing lane to the low post, forcing Penn to fire up 20 first-half treys. All of the Quakers' usual scoring avenues were shut off. Even swingman Ira Bowman was held in check. Temple never allowed Bowman to penetrate to the hoop. Penn's leading scorer was held to just four points -- all within the last minute and a half of the game when the outcome was already decided. Penn managed just 10 shots inside the three-point arc during the first 20 minutes of action. A Donald Moxley finger roll and two Krug layups were the only two-pointers scored by the Quakers in the half. No surprises. Just basic Chaney. But there was one change to script. Temple has dominated Penn in the past with strong guard play. From Mark Macon to Eddie Jones and Aaron McKie to Rick Brunson last year, the Owls always seemed to have an outside player who could take over a game if need be. But the star of yesterday's game was 6-foot-10 center Marc Jackson, who bullied Krug and Romanczuk in the paint for much of the first half. Jackson scored 10 points before intermission -- all within five feet of the basket. With his Quakers down by 14 points, Dunphy made some long overdue adjustments at the break. In the second half, Jackson had two, sometimes three, Penn bodies draped over his 275-pound body every time the ball was lobbed down low. Penn held Jackson to just two field goals in the second half. With Jackson tangled up and outside shots not falling, the Owls merely treaded water for the rest of the game, holding off a late Penn run to win, 53-42. Shooting 36.2 percent from the floor would kill most teams, but Temple only needed 43 points for the victory. "I've been here four years," Owls forward Derrick Battie said. "And all four years, I've heard Coach say, 'You guys just can't shoot.' Even when Aaron and Eddie were here, I used to hear him say, 'You guys just can't shoot.' I've been hearing that for four years." And after we're all long graduated, John Chaney will still be stomping on the sidelines, complaining about his team's performance. The tie will be down to his navel, the sweat drenched through his white shirt. John Chaney will probably never change -- and neither will his playbook.
(02/12/96 10:00am)
48-game league winning streak in 54-53 thriller HANOVER, N.H. -- After Garett Kreitz's desperation chuck from halfcourt, following Ira Bowman's missed free throw, fell well short of the hoop, the Quakers' undoing was completed. It has been a long time since the Quakers had this much turmoil surrounding the program. After Paul Chambers graduated following the 1991-92 campaign, the starting lineup would consist of Jerome Allen, Eric Moore, Barry Pierce, Shawn Trice and Matt Maloney, with the rare Andy Baratta fill-in -- a starting five which lasted through the 1993-94 season. After a monumental win over Nebraska and a second-round loss to Florida in the 1994 NCAA tournament, Pierce graduated, and Scott Kegler stepped comfortably in as the small forward last season. Through three undefeated Ancient Eight seasons, Penn lost nary a key player for more than a few games. Compared to the relative consistency of the past, this year's lineup looks like utter chaos. Since the preseason exhibition game against Russian Select in November, the Quakers have seen six different starting lineups comprised of 11 different players. Penn coach Fran Dunphy began the season experimenting. But by the time the Quakers opened Ivy League play against Princeton on January 6, it appeared Dunphy had settled on Garett Kreitz, Donald Moxley, Tim Krug, Ira Bowman and Nat Graham as the starting five. By then, not one but two players -- senior Bill Guthrie and sophomore Vigor Kapetanovic -- who had each started at least one game, hung up their uniforms for academic reasons. When added to starting point guard Jamie Lyren's season-ending injury in early December, the number of one-time starters lost for the season climbed to three. But then Graham's unexpected departure in the final week of January -- which he attributed to losing his love of basketball -- brought the Quakers bon voyage crew to four. And that number does not even include sophomore long-range threat George Zaninovich, who was originally slated to start at shooting guard before leaving the team in the preseason for personal reasons. Add to that the Jed Ryan-Sigma Chi sideshow -- a controversy that not only distracted the team, but left the Quakers another man short against La Salle -- and suddenly half the bench was lined with players who were in junior varsity uniforms only a month before. Now that the streak is broken and the much-anticipated loss is finally in the books, perhaps there is a positive that will come out of all of the turmoil. For six straight games, the starting five has been the same five faces, and will probably remain that way throughout the rest of the season. There are no more foreseeable shakeups likely to come. Furthermore, any team who loses all five starters to graduation and still sits atop the Ivy League deserves a lot of credit -- especially when coupled with preseason predictions of the crash of the Penn dynasty. With other teams in the Ivy League boosting their programs, basketball gurus predicted an all-out war this year for the Ivy title between four potential candidates. With this in mind, an undefeated season was probably an unfair expectation from the start. The schedule could not be more conducive to a loss, as both Princeton and Dartmouth -- Penn's top two challengers -- would host the Quakers before the streak would hit 50 games. Playing on the road and battling boisterous crowds is never easy to do, especially when the competition is more competitive than past Ivy League fare. Penn has not lost focus of its ultimate goal -- the NCAA tournament berth that goes free of charge to the Ivy champ. Although Quakers co-captain Tim Krug may have had a tremendous scowl on his face trying to downplay the streak in the press conference after the loss, he did make a point by saying the streak was a load placed on the team's back, thanks to media hype. With that load finally lifted and roles finally being established, the Quakers can stop worrying about when The Streak will end and start remembering how it began.
(02/08/96 10:00am)
The magic number is down to two. Should Penn push The Streak to the half-century mark (by no means a sure thing against two tough opponents on the road) the question people will ask is just how historic an accomplishment is it. In truth, 50 straight wins is so obviously remarkable that its place in history need not be the subject of an entire debate. Just how can we appreciate the absolute impressiveness of what coach Fran Dunphy's program has accomplished? Saying the Quakers have won 50 league games in a row sounds good, but does it really capture the sheer longevity of The Streak? Three straight perfect Ivy seasons is great, but it just seems so understated. Maybe this will work better: Let's try to appreciate this achievement by taking a look at just how much things have changed since The Streak began. Let's flash back to March 7, 1992. No current Quaker was on the Penn roster. Ira Bowman was a freshman point guard at Providence, Grand Rapids Mackers guard Matt Maloney was just getting ready to transfer out of Vanderbilt to Penn and the NBA was just a twinkle in the eye of a freshman Quakers guard named Jerome Allen. · Already eliminated from Ivy title contention, Penn was preparing for a meaningless season finale at Cornell. The previous evening, March 6, Columbia had topped the Quakers, 71-66, killing Penn's hopes for a possible NIT bid. With the game tied at 56 and a little over three minutes to play, the Lions' Russ Steward drilled a three-point shot that essentially decided the game, as Columbia hung on to win at the free-throw line. · On campus, the only connection either Judith Rodin and Steve Bilsky had to Penn were as prominent alums. Squeeze and Blues Traveler were rumored to be coming to Spring Fling. The third floor of Speakman in the Quad was seriously flooded when a student set off a sprinkler head. Carney's Pub, a bar at 3608 Chestnut Street, was prohibited by the University from showing an erotic dance act. Gymnastics won its second-straight Ivy League title. Wrestling began its rise from mediocrity under coach Roger Reina by finishing seventh of 14 teams at the EIWAs. Having yet to sink into the abyss from which it is only now climbing out, the men's swimming team finished a solid eighth out of 17 teams at the season-ending Easterns. · Princeton would top the second-place Quakers by three games to clinch its fourth-consecutive Ivy League men's basketball title and NCAA Tournament berth. But Tigers coach Pete Carril would suffer his fourth-straight first-round disappointment 13 days later against Syracuse, as the Orangemen gutted out a 51-43 win. · The college basketball regular season ended that weekend with the major conference tournaments and the NCAAs yet to come. Top-ranked Duke was poised to win its second-straight national title, while a group of freshmen calling itself the Fab Five was just hoping to make some noise for Michigan. The All-American team just announced was laden with future NBA stars: Duke's Christian Laettner, LSU's Shaquille O'Neal, Ohio State's Jim Jackson, USC's Harold Miner and Georgetown's Alonzo Mourning. · Some things just don't change. The Chicago Bulls were already well ahead of the rest of the NBA field and were zeroing on their second-straight championship. Michael Jordan would win his second straight MVP award. The Lakers were managing to stay above .500 in their first season without HIV-infected Magic Johnson. · Looking beyond sports, Bob Kerrey had just dropped out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, leaving Paul Tsongas, Tom Harkin, Jerry Brown and Bill Clinton to fight for the bid. It didn't really matter, since George Bush, still basking in the euphoria of the Persian Gulf victory a year before, was a sure bet to get re-elected in November. Some things really don't change. As the campaigns heated up, Hillary Clinton had to defend against allegations of unethical actions. Gov. Clinton of Arkansas was charged to have improperly funneled state money to his wife's law firm. · The Silence of the Lambs was about to sweep all the major awards at the 1991 Oscars. The Cosby Show and Johnny Carson were still fixtures on NBC. In Ithaca, N.Y., that March 7 night, the Quakers set The Streak in motion, blitzing Cornell, 92-79, behind 31 points from prize freshman Allen (who, somehow, would go on to finish only second to Princeton's Rick Hielscher in the Ivy League Rookie of the Year voting). Penn's Ivy record was 9-5, a major improvement. Said Dunphy after the win: "We played well and accomplished a great deal for our program. Hopefully we'll keep that going in the future." You could say he got his wish.
(11/08/94 10:00am)
From Charlotte Druckman "Putting It Bluntly," Fall '94 Of course, this year, in an attempt to become more sensitive to the feelings of siblings or cousins and to show the folks how p.c. the campus is, the administration has unveiled a new label "family weekend," to replace the ever-popular "parents' weekend." This year, "family weekend" takes on yet another function along with its new name -- it marks the end of fraternity rush and the extension of bids to the future brothers of the Greek system. Now, parents will be glad they came down to Penn for one of two reasons; either to give a fond farewell to the son they will lose to the next five months of pledging, or to provide a shoulder to cry on for the bidless child. "Family weekend" is beneficial to the rushees because it forces them to get out and do something with their parents instead of sitting in their rooms in a tizzy, worrying about their futures in the great social circle we like to call Greek Life. One of my friends explained to me, that in a nutshell, our parents come here so that they can see "how we live," and observe us in our college environment. While this may be the case, what our parents are actually viewing is not a true slice of college life, but rather a skewed version, custom-made to render college a series of well-planned meals combined with a 'civilized' football game, some optional lectures (guaranteed to have our parents hounding us about our futures -- or lack thereof) and Locust Walk in its autumn splendor. It all starts this Friday when parents are invited to sit in on their children's classes. Little do the parents know, this may be the first time all year that little Tony has bothered to show up for that 10 a.m. French class on Friday. The truth is, it is not easy for many parents to make it here on time for most of our Friday classes -- if we have any, and frankly, most of these classes are over before 2:00 pm. So, although the concept of permitting parents to sit in on classes is a nifty one, it's rather like inviting someone to come sunbathe at your country home on a rainy day. And it's a shame that everyone's parents can't see what classes are like and how we are learning, because it is supposedly towards this educational end they are paying $25,000 a year. When all else fails, there's always the football game -- that tradition steeped in Penn pride where everyone gathers together to chat and watch our men in red and blue "put the ball across the line." Come on, students know what really goes on at a football game. You get drunk with a bunch of your friends, paint your faces red and blue, and shout curses in the middle of a garbled cheer that celebrates a Penn touchdown. But, our parents get a drastically different image when their children are on their best behavior and have to sit with Mom and Dad. In fact, the only "legitimate" action of student life that parents can glimpse at the game, is toast throwing. That's when they find out where their tuition money is really going -- to pay for a machine that picks up toast. It must be really encouraging for our parents to know that instead of doing our work we're making toast. The football game is merely an activity to fill the time between lunch and dinner. Meals are essential to "family weekend." First there is the dilemma of where to take the crew and whether or not to make eating a social event and invite your friends and their parents to come along too. Dining is either filled with superficial schmoozing between parents who wish their children could have met different friends so they wouldn't have to sit with "these people" in the first place. Or, if one opts to eat with one's parents alone, one embarks on a pleasant discussion about one's grades. Please note, at this time, students are in the midst of midterms or have just gotten back their first tests of the year and do not wish to discuss the possibility that they are "up the creek without a paddle" with their parents. If you have to take a midterm or write a ten-page research paper, then you know you have more important things to do than chill with your parents. Maybe our parents think that when they take us home at 10 p.m. on Saturday, we will sit down to do some work. Why else do we have such noticeable circles under our eyes the next morning? It is basically a given that students do not go into much detail about what goes on "after dark" with their parents, and while most parents may have some idea in the back of their minds (a leftover from their own college days) some might actually be clueless and there is certainly no need to enlighten them. Okay, although our parents may not be getting an accurate picture of college life, they are able to see that their children are happy (despite the fact their daughter lives lives in a 7' by 13' cubicle with mice). At the bottom of it, in our heart of hearts, we know how much we miss our parents and how great it feels to have them taking care of us for two days -- even if we feel smothered and have to put our social lives on hold. Charlotte Druckman is a sophomore English major from New York City. Putting It Bluntly appears alternate Tuesdays.
(11/08/94 10:00am)
From Charlotte Druckman's "Putting It Bluntly," Fall '94 Of course, this year, in an attempt to become more sensitive to the feelings of siblings or cousins and to show the folks how p.c. the campus is, the administration has unveiled a new label "family weekend," to replace the ever-popular "parents' weekend." This year, "family weekend" takes on yet another function along with its new name -- it marks the end of fraternity rush and the extension of bids to the future brothers of the Greek system. Now, parents will be glad they came down to Penn for one of two reasons; either to give a fond farewell to the son they will lose to the next five months of pledging, or to provide a shoulder to cry on for the bidless child. "Family weekend" is beneficial to the rushees because it forces them to get out and do something with their parents instead of sitting in their rooms in a tizzy, worrying about their futures in the great social circle we like to call Greek Life. One of my friends explained to me, that in a nutshell, our parents come here so that they can see "how we live," and observe us in our college environment. While this may be the case, what our parents are actually viewing is not a true slice of college life, but rather a skewed version, custom-made to render college a series of well-planned meals combined with a 'civilized' football game, some optional lectures (guaranteed to have our parents hounding us about our futures -- or lack thereof) and Locust Walk in its autumn splendor. It all starts this Friday when parents are invited to sit in on their children's classes. Little do the parents know, this may be the first time all year that little Tony has bothered to show up for that 10 a.m. French class on Friday. The truth is, it is not easy for many parents to make it here on time for most of our Friday classes -- if we have any, and frankly, most of these classes are over before 2:00 pm. So, although the concept of permitting parents to sit in on classes is a nifty one, it's rather like inviting someone to come sunbathe at your country home on a rainy day. And it's a shame that everyone's parents can't see what classes are like and how we are learning, because it is supposedly towards this educational end they are paying $25,000 a year. When all else fails, there's always the football game -- that tradition steeped in Penn pride where everyone gathers together to chat and watch our men in red and blue "put the ball across the line." Come on, students know what really goes on at a football game. You get drunk with a bunch of your friends, paint your faces red and blue, and shout curses in the middle of a garbled cheer that celebrates a Penn touchdown. But, our parents get a drastically different image when their children are on their best behavior and have to sit with Mom and Dad. In fact, the only "legitimate" action of student life that parents can glimpse at the game, is toast throwing. That's when they find out where their tuition money is really going -- to pay for a machine that picks up toast. It must be really encouraging for our parents to know that instead of doing our work we're making toast. The football game is merely an activity to fill the time between lunch and dinner. Meals are essential to "family weekend." First there is the dilemma of where to take the crew and whether or not to make eating a social event and invite your friends and their parents to come along too. Dining is either filled with superficial schmoozing between parents who wish their children could have met different friends so they wouldn't have to sit with "these people" in the first place. Or, if one opts to eat with one's parents alone, one embarks on a pleasant discussion about one's grades. Please note, at this time, students are in the midst of midterms or have just gotten back their first tests of the year and do not wish to discuss the possibility that they are "up the creek without a paddle" with their parents. If you have to take a midterm or write a ten-page research paper, then you know you have more important things to do than chill with your parents. Maybe our parents think that when they take us home at 10 p.m. on Saturday, we will sit down to do some work. Why else do we have such noticeable circles under our eyes the next morning? It is basically a given that students do not go into much detail about what goes on "after dark" with their parents, and while most parents may have some idea in the back of their minds (a leftover from their own college days) some might actually be clueless and there is certainly no need to enlighten them. Okay, although our parents may not be getting an accurate picture of college life, they are able to see that their children are happy (despite the fact their daughter lives lives in a 7' by 13' cubicle with mice). At the bottom of it, in our heart of hearts, we know how much we miss our parents and how great it feels to have them taking care of us for two days -- even if we feel smothered and have to put our social lives on hold. Charlotte Druckman is a sophomore English major from New York City. Putting It Bluntly appears alternate Tuesdays.
(06/30/94 9:00am)
Harriton High '92 Philadelphia, Pa. Students and staff members affiliated with the Women's Center flooded the Editorial Page of the Daily Pennsylvanian with guest columns and letters to the editor, voicing their opinions for and against the Center's move. The tension between foes and fans of the Center's relocation mounted in April during a panel discussion about the proposed move which was sponsored by the Spruce Street House of the Quad. Red and Blue Editor-in-chief Christopher Robbins, a college junior, introduced his stance against the proposed move at the panel by suggesting that the Center "compromise" on the issue. For the benefit of students who do not want the Center on the Walk, Robbins said some space should be allocated in the house for either a cafe or a coffee house, which "every student wants." He said that unlike the Center, a cafe would be a place where "all students could meet." Panel member Debra Pickett, a College senior and member of the Penn Women's Alliance leadership team, spoke on behalf of the Center, saying that not all of the space in Theta Xi has been assigned to the Center. This was confirmed by plans for the Theta Xi house made public in March by McCoullum. Robbins disputed whether the Center should exist at all, because "it only represents a few radical women on campus." College sophomore Ann Tracey, who also spoke against the Center's move, said as a feminist, she believes the Center equates women with weakness. Former Daily Pennsylvanian columnist and Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Alliance co-Chairperson Stephen Houghton, a College junior, questioned Robbins about his beliefs. "Since you believe the Women's Center is an admission of weakness for women, do you believe having an African American Resource Center, the [Program for the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Community at Penn] and the [Greenfield Intercultural Center] means that these groups are inferior?" "I am in favor of abolishing all of those programs," Robbins replied. Robbins also co-directed a phone survey, sponsored by the Red and Blue and three other campus organizations, which questioned approximately 380 students about their feelings concerning the relocation of the Center earlier that month. The purpose of the poll was to "ascertain the will and view of the [University] community" about the Center's move, he said. The poll consisted of five questions which explored both the caller's personal contact with the Women's Center, and his or her attitude about its relocation to Locust Walk. The last question in the survey, "Would you prefer having the Theta Xi fraternity become a coffee house or cafe or a Women's Center?" prompted several students to label the poll biased. Pickett said the question contained "glaring factual errors," because all of the space, according to McCoullum's plans, has not been designated for the sole use of the Center. College junior Peter Spiers, president of the Penn Political Union -- another group which co-sponsored the poll -- said he too did not like the fact that the poll made students choose between the Center and a cafe. He said his organization originally decided to sponsor the poll because, "it's always a beneficial thing to allow students to voice their opinions on issues." Robbins, however, said the poll was purely "scientific." Members of the Black Student League expressed their discontent with Robbins at the panel discussion for misinforming a DP reporter that the BSL co-sponsored the poll. In a letter to the editor printed in the DP, BSL President Robyn Kent, a College junior, and eight other BSL members wrote that they withdrew their participation in the poll after discovering that the questions were "orchestrated to achieve a predetermined conclusion." After withdrawing from the polling project, Robbins "threatened the BSL with negative publicity and political backlash," the letter continued.
(02/09/94 10:00am)
From Rob Faunce's "With Bells On," ' From Rob Faunce's "With Bells On," 'Now for something different. I'm going to try my hand at storytelling while making social criticism. Envision Schererazade dating Voltaire in my mind. Cut to the end. It's nearly dawn, and I'm numb with exhilaration. I finally understood that "Fuck the system" mentality that eluded me in high school. My heart pulsed with young blood, rebellious blood. I had the highest form of pride and respect for our age group. We are the movers and the shakers, the ones who get things done. We are Generation X, hear us roar. We fight inhumanity and bad hair. Of course it was at about this moment of ideological bliss that reality (and Katie Couric) woke me from my rapture and I screamed over Willard Scott's hair piece, "My God! I'm not a slacker, I'm just a complacent whiner! Help me, lords of acid, help me..." When was the last time you went to a protest? For that matter, when was the last time you COMPLAINED about something more substantial than the food at Stouffer? I have a theory on this. We are Ivy Leaguers, and we thus look down on everyone who isn't -- this includes Brown, Cornell, and Columbia, who make us look like Oxford on the Schuylkill. As a result, we tend to be "dignified" about the ways we protest. Taking over a building would be vulgar; boycotting classes would be uncivilized. In short, we're snobs. In fairness, we're nice snobs. Our ignorance stems not from malice but from this benign posture of politesse that allows us to keep our hands clean. We've become our parents without blinking a lash, and we're too ignorant to notice! The joke is on us, peer groupies: our groovy train docked at Wesleyan. It's not too late for us, though. Disillusionment is an ugly concept (and word), but there is clichZd hope for the future in our buried past. When I was a wee lad, idealism ran free. Within the realm of my imagination, I solved innumerable social ills. You feed the hungry, I'll clothe the fashionably disastrous. It always ended happily, with communal cooperation to terminate world problems. Picture "Hands Across America" while singing "We Are the World." You know what I mean. There were many lessons in our collective childhood that we have forgotten with the passage of adolescence. "Beavis and Butthead" are a fine, if twisted, example of this. Ignoring their famed feeble-mindedness for just a moment, Beavis and Butthead are modern, self-sufficient children. They see things without complication; they live without the presence of parental or authoritative figures. They do whatever they damn well please. They do what they think is just. Granted, they are a poor example of what is just, but apply the lesson to ourselves, and we can affect change much faster than commissioning reports on strengthening the community. Please! Actions get results, not reactionary fluffernutter like that report. She has no talent, but Mariah Carey said it best when she uttered the line: "If you believe in yourself enough to know what you want, then you're gonna make it happen." We need to stop accepting everything; we need to terminate our resignation to our parent's fate. Find your sandbox ideals; find your preoccupation with fire, and burn to your heart's desire. Call me a flaming liberal, but let's torch the commission report and strengthen the community with some heart instead of our mouths. Our children will thank us. Rob Faunce is a freshman undeclared major from Manchester, New Hampshire. With Bells On appears alternate Wednesdays.
(03/03/92 10:00am)
Some capital campaign donors may wait to see how much money, if any, the University receives from the state this year before deciding how to direct their pledges, administrators said last month. Otherwise, the University's billion-dollar capital campaign is not expected to fluctuate greatly during upcoming legislative debates to determine whether the University will retain $37 million in state funding, they added. "It is really to early to tell what will happen," said Rick Nahm, senior vice president for planning and development. "If there is a change it would occur once it is determined definitely what the appropriations are." Last month, Gov. Robert Casey proposed eliminating all of the University's state appropriations in his budget proposal. The General Assembly will now debate and revise the proposal before returning it to Casey for his signature this spring. Among the proposals, the governor suggested eliminating all state aid to the Veterinary School, an amount equalling 40 percent of its operating budget. Nahm noted, however, that the University updates donors of the budget situation. "Some people want to wait and see what is going to happen," Nahm added. "If the money is cut, you may see people rallying with gifts to restore it." "The rallying could particularly be seen in the Vet School or with financial aid," Nahm said. "Or you may see people putting their money in other areas of the University." Executive Vice President Marna Whittington said last month she believes donors know that the University is a "quality institution" and will continue to give. "The jury is out," Whittington said. "They may be waiting until we get through the appropriation issue." The capital campaign is divided into several smaller parts. Many donors request their money be placed one of these specific areas, such as financial aid or facilities. Nahm said that when the governor proposed halving the University's state appropriation last year, donors also watched to see how the University would eventually fare. He added the campaign was not affected greatly either way because the University retained $37 million in state funding. Budget Director Stephen Golding said last month that preserving the academic core will be the highest priority in the University's upcoming plan to deal with the potential cuts. The University's five-year $1 billion campaign is several months ahead of schedule and has raised 64 percent of its goal as of this summer.
(11/07/91 10:00am)
Sharing their insecurities, ambitions and successes, a group of minority students invited freshmen to experience a new and personal dimension of multiculturalism in a panel discussion Sunday in the High Rise East Rooftop Lounge. Wharton and College junior Martin Muoto, a resident advisor in HRE who organized the forum, began by explaining how the program was designed to bring the issue of diversity to an individual level. Though representing a diverse cross-section of the University, the panelists expressed many of the same conflicts and pressures as other minorities on campus. Inter-group hostility, misuderstanding, isolation and faculty members' lowered expectations for minorities were some of the common themes the panelists discussed as important factors shaping their college experience. Panel members included Engineering sophomore and Latino Students Association secretary Tania Caceres, Black Student League member and College sophomore Kaplan Mobray, College senior Robin Wood of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Alliance, and Engineering and College junior Alex Haidas, president of the Greek Club. Separatism was one issue that was common among the panelists' points of discussion and even aroused debate among those attending the forum. "I believe that DuBois House, the residence primarily for Afro-American students, is a very positive living experience for students," Mobray said. "It highlights a sense of culture that many students miss by going to predominantly white high schools." "Somehow when you see a table of 12 white students eating together, it is considered perfectly normal," Mobray added. "When 12 black students sit together at a table, it's separatism." Another theme in the discussion was the often presumed lowered standards of minority students. Many students said the stereotypes of minorities as beneficiaries of affirmative action quotas and sports recruiter's influence are ever-present on campus. "Sometimes you feel like nothing more and nothing less than an international student," Haidas said. "People think that the admissions officer looks at an application and says, 'Oh, he's from Greece, we'll take him. We need people from Europe.' " "People assume you must play a sport and that you don't belong here," Mobray added. "I believe teachers very often share this low expectation of blacks, but how can you expect people to excel if you don't expect the high standards that you expect from others?" Wood said that even her mother thought that her sex and race gave her an added advantage when applying. But once she arrived at the University she said she realized she was admitted based on her merits. "Once I got here I realized that we all got in here by our own initiative and you must believe in yourself and your abilities," she said. Following the panelists speeches, students at the forum raised questions on topics such as the controversy over the production of a yearbook for only black students, the positives and negatives of quotas in admissions, and inter-racial dating. Students at the forum said that they found it interesting and informative. "It was very worthwhile to hear what everyone had to say," said freshman Carrie Angoff. "However, I wish more people made the effort to come and take the time to listen to different people's opinion."
(04/08/91 9:00am)
Ending a 30 month nationwide search, the University appointed former University of California at Berkeley administrator Selimo Rael as the new vice president of finance. The post was vacated in 1988 when Marna Whittington was promoted after the death of then-Senior Vice President Helen O'Bannon. The original search for Whittington's replacement was called off last summer after administrators failed to reach a consensus on whom to appoint. A new search for the position, however, began 10 months ago and has culminated in the naming of Rael, currently the associate vice chancellor of financial and business services at Berkeley. Administrators said last year that there was no pressing need to fill the position, saying that Whittington and others in the financial affairs division are able to complete the duties. But Whittington said yesterday that it is a crucial time for the University now that its state budget has been cut by nearly $19 million and that the University could not cope with the amount of work. "We've been limping along," she said, adding that Rael is just the person to help the University deal with its financial crisis. "I am enthusiastic about moving to the East Coast and look forward to the new challenges, both personally and professionally, that this opportunity presents," he added. Rael's appointment is not a further increase in the number of administrators, Whittington said, adding "this position has always been there." "We have reduced the number of positions in the office of the vice president during the past year," she added. Rael was wooed away from Berkeley despite a strong effort hold onto him, according to Whittington. Whittington said Rael "has the strengths we need for the 1990s."
(02/26/91 10:00am)
The University minority community and the Admissions Office put their best foot forward this weekend as they hosted 168 minority high school seniors for the University's annual Invitational Scholars Weekend. For the past three days, 168 possible members of the Class of 1995 partied, studied and ate at the University and say they have enjoyed it. The students will be on campus through this afternoon. Several student organizers of the event said they consider it a valuable service to the high school seniors. They said it gives them a chance to learn about the University and gives them a good idea of what life at the University is like. Organizers said that although they would like to attract more minority students to the University, they do not try to "sell" the University to the high school students. The high school students who participated overwhelmingly said they came away with a positive impression of the University. As the students were herded to pizza receptions, activity fairs, basketball games and tours of Philadelphia, they said they learned that the University is committed to bringing them into the community. And while some students said the University is an ideal school for them, others said they appreciated the honest impressions of the college they received from their hosts. "My hosts have been very frank and candid," said New Yorker Alisha James. "I know it's going to be like that, but it doesn't discourage me." Student hosts, who volunteer to house the seniors, are not screened before the weekend. Sonia Elliot, the University's assistant director for minority recruitment, said hosts attend a training session prior to the weekend. Elliott said because hosts know the importance of the weekend, they are helpful. "They are, to a certain extent, more powerful recruiters than we are," Elliott said. And although many hosts participated to help the scholars, they said they learned something about themselves in the process. "You don't realize how much you like this school until you have the opportunity to talk to someone else," said College sophomore Tomilola Ogunba. While many prospective students said they wanted to attend the University, others expressed concern about its costs. Joanne Po, a Long Island resident, said she is concerned about the minority attrition rate. She said she could probably manage the academics, but the cost of the education bothers her. "I'm worried that it's not because of my academics, but because I couldn't afford it," she said. "Student loans don't go as far as they should." But the scholars had other things on their mind besides academics and financial worries. Many came to experience the social side of college life. Several students said they enjoyed Sunday's Penn Performance Night the most. They said they were impressed by Penn 6-5000, Mask and Wig and the other student groups which performed. "It was really great," said Pennsylvania resident Lynda Pham. "All students did it and it seemed so professionally done." According to organizers, there were only a few minor glitches in the weekend, which the University started planning for in September. According to Pippa Porter-Rex, the director for minority recruitment, some students were unable to attend the Sunday morning tour of Philadelphia because there wasn't enough room on the buses. "For the first time in seven years, more students wanted to go then signed up," said Porter-Rex. Undergraduate Admissions organized the first official weekend in 1984. Although the department is one of the sponsors, many other organizations have contributed to the weekend. "It really is a campus-wide effort," Elliott said. Although no statistics have been collected, Elliott said the weekend draws many students to the University. University students have told Elliott the weekend was a determining factor in their decision to attend. "It really is a wonderful recruitment effort," Elliott added.