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(02/13/95 10:00am)
Pink, purple or blue. Those were the options more than 50 students who came to Houston Hall Friday had to choose from. And the topic was which color, if any, should be added to "M&M;'s" Chocolate Candies. The stop by the M&M;/MARS Corporation was part of a nation-wide campaign to determine which color M&M;'s consumers would prefer. If a new color is chosen, it will be the first addition to the M&M;'s since 1941. It is also the first time since that year that the M&M;/MARS company has asked its consumers to vote for a new color. Students had strong views on the subject and were ready to discuss the pressing issue. If there is a color change, College sophomore Jessica Manlove threatens to "boycott for a while." "I don't think there should be a change," she said. "It's tradition. I was against it when they put the red back in." But other students disagreed. "Blue?I love blue," College sophomore Heather Beltran said. "Blue Blowpops are the best and blue tongues are cool. Besides, purple and pink are already out in Valentines Day candy." However, blue is already in the M&M;'s Easter Blend, and therefore would not be completely new. Wharton sophomore Felix Estrada said he would like to see purple added to the blend. "Purple is a majestic color," he said. "It's royal." Estrada added that having a person dressed up as a blue M&M; at the voting site might cause bias. The blue M&M; and its spokesperson refused to comment. First-year Medical student Ann Poduri said she was happy to see the blue M&M; walking around. "Blue is my favorite color," she said. "It would go nicely with the green and I think the other colors would clash horrifically." Poduri said that although she thought the color selection was a good marketing technique, it would not entice her to purchase more M&M;'s. Free M&M;'s samples were also distributed by the giant blue M&M; and students gave him hugs in return. Voting began on January 15 and the polls will close on March 17. The official result will be announced to the general public in April.
(02/13/95 10:00am)
The Steinhardt Jewish Heritage Program organized a trip to the United States Memorial Holocaust Museum in Washington this past weekend to give both Jewish and non-Jewish students the opportunity to learn about the chilling realities of the Holocaust. By examining a myriad of Holocaust artifacts -- including actual shoes, hair fragments, utensils and clothing -- students said they were able to truly feel what it was like to live through the Holocaust. College junior Haley Schneider said she felt the exhibit was "very well done," adding that it was a "very personalized and?emotional experience." She observed that the Holocaust Museum uniquely emanated a silent atmosphere. The tour of the museum concluded with a movie entitled "Voices from the Holocaust," which related tales of Holocaust survivors. Schneider said this was "the most spectacular and moving part." The museum experience culminated with a half-hour discussion, provoking a variety of responses. According to Ephraim Levin, a Steinhardt program advisor, many Jewish students left the museum with a feeling of pride. He added that they understood what it meant to have survived such a horrific experience and felt "lucky" to be a Jew in today's world. College junior Amanda Gross said museum provoked feelings of anger. "I tried to rechannel my negative reactions into being grateful that there actually is such a place," she said of the museum. Schneider suggested that everyone visit the museum. "I really want to go back because I don't feel like you can get it all in in one experience," she said. "It's so incredible." The purpose of the trip was not to experience depression but rather to comprehend the implications of such a tragedy and to direct this insight toward ensuring preventative measures, Levin said. The trip was organized by interns of the Steinhardt Jewish Heritage Program and was open to any interested University students. Wharton senior Dave Gallo said the program is designed "for people that aren't religious that want to know more about Judaism." The Jewish Heritage Program was created three years ago at the University as a pilot program. It has recently expanded to State University of New York-Binghamton, Queens College and the University of Pittsburgh. In January, the group organized a trip to Israel to visit Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust museum. Thirteen University students attended.
(02/13/95 10:00am)
Fling band will be 'alternative' The theme for Spring Fling, the University's annual pre-finals carnival, will be "Fee, Fie, Foe, Fling," directors said last night. According to Spring Fling Co-Director and Wharton senior Jared Miller, the theme's primary focus will be Jack and The Beanstalk, but souvenirs and decorations for the event may incorporate many fairy tales. In an attempt to introduce new elements to the carnival, the directors said theater arts groups will be decorating the Upper and Lower Quadrangle with fairy-tale decorations. "We're turning the Quad into a kind of fairy tale for the weekend," Miller said. A castle on the Quad's junior balcony and a huge beanstalk will add to the fairy-tale land, organizers said. Although they would not name or give details about the Fling band, for the first time in three years Fling's main concert will be performed outside, the directors said. But Ferris did hint that of the multiple bands expected to perform at Fling, the feature bands will be alternative or rock. Three years ago when Living Color was scheduled to play outdoors, the concert was cancelled due to rain. Because the stage was not covered, there were "technical and legal" concerns about the equipment as well as for the band, Fling Co-Director and College senior John Ferris said. To combat the problem, this year a tent will cover the stage -- which will be set up on Hill Field. "Even if it rains, hopefully, the show will go on," Fling Co-Director and Wharton junior Gilbert Beverly said. The directors said that securing a band is their biggest challenge. But they added that they attribute difficulty to factors beyond their control. "It's hard because people perceive that people doing this are dumb or don't know what people want or they're not trying hard enough," Beverly said. "But that isn't the case at all." The University's urban location places it in a competitive financial market, he added. If big-name bands want to come to Philadelphia, they have the option to play several large arenas which will ensure a better profit and wider audience. "In contrast, at a school like Lehigh in the middle of bumble PA, a band can go there and get an audience they couldn't get here," Beverly added. "This is the best we can do other than offering our first-born to Eddie Vedder." Although Fling traditionally takes place on Friday and Saturday, this year it will be held on Saturday April 22 and Sunday April 23, directors said. The change was made to accommodate students who celebrate Passover. Although the first day of Fling does conflict with the Jewish holiday, the Fling committee is making a "special effort" to get a kosher food vendor. In addition to the outdoor concert, this year's Fling committee plans to introduce several other new events. As part of the pre-finals celebration, the final round of a two-week volleyball tournament will take place in the Upper Quad. And an additional volleyball court will be set up for recreation. The tournament, sponsored by Evian, will start in late March and be open to all students. Beverly also said he is working with the owner of Cavanaugh's Bar and Restaurant to organize a buffalo wing eating contest. "I'm toying with the idea that you can't use your hands," he added. While some students might discover how much food and drink they can consume at Spring Fling, if the directors' plans succeed students might also be able to see how much pain they can withstand -- because in addition to vendors, rides and games, this year's carnival will offer body piercing.
(02/13/95 10:00am)
The information superhighway is falling prey to traffic jams and congestion as an increasing number of users and features test the limits of the Internet. There is gridlock on the information superhighway. Students have complained that they have had trouble getting on-line, and officials have cited the recent influx of Internet initiatives as a source of the congestion. But the University is doing everything possible to alleviate this situation. Daniel Updegrove, associate vice provost for information systems and computing and executive director of Data Communications and Computing Services, attributed the overwhelming difficulty of connecting to the system to the increasing number of students using it for both personal and educational purposes. "The general sense is that more faculty are building networking into coursework," he said. "And it is pretty common to have homework distributed on the 'Net." One of the departments that makes exhaustive use of the Internet is the English Department. Undergraduate English Chairperson and English Professor Al Filreis said his department uses listservs -- electronic mailing lists that distribute e-mail -- instead of newsgroups as an adjunct to courses because "they are a better supplement to in-class discussion." He said applications such as Penn MOO -- or Multiple User Dungeon Object Oriented, an on-line virtual environment that supplements English 88 -- are small drains on the system, adding that PennNet is more congested from personal use. "The real drain on the system is the student who has e-mail, and receives many messages, but never reads his or her account and/or does not delete messages," Filreis said. Updegrove also cited e-mail as a drain on the system, but for a different reason. "If you get more users than the design capacity, it will be slow," he said. Updegrove added that it is the number of people logged on, not the actual e-mail use, that affects the system. "We have a lot of people using e-mail, but an e-mail user is not affecting the network much at all," he said. "Any amount of people logged on will cause congestion." The most salient problem is when students must compete to enter the modem pool, Updegrove added, describing the situation as a "peak loading problem." He said the University has 300 modems. This is sufficient except during the prime hours that students and faculty log on, which Updegrove cited as being from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. "To the extent that students can adjust their connect time, they can reduce the chance of encountering busy signals," Updegrove said. He said DCCS has compiled statistics that indicate the system is processing approximately 900 people an hour, and that the average session is 20 minutes. About 15 modems becoming available every minute. "So it pays to just keep trying," he said. "On average, one modem will become available every four seconds." He added that his department has been attempting to increase the size of the modem pool, but it is facing a temporary storage problem. "We are thinking of taking out 60 of the older modems and putting in 120 newer, more space-compact modems," he said, adding that DCCS has been adding 60 new modems to the pool each semester for the last four semesters. But there is a problem because this is very new technology, Updegrove said. "We don't want to employ the new stuff without testing it," he said. He said he hopes the testing will be done in the next week or so, allowing DCCS to order the new modems. Updegrove added that some of the time the modem pool is busy because outside users are on it. "It is strictly prohibited for Penn people to be sharing their network ID with people outside the Penn community," he said. Besides e-mail, another strain on the system is an application called CU-see-me -- a program for the Macintosh or IBM which permits video transmission over the Internet. This system has been available to the University for about a year and a half. While this program uses up a lot of memory, Updegrove said he does not think there is enough use of it to cause a problem, adding that most users still do not have video cameras connected to their computers. "If we get tens of people doing videos, then that could be a problem," he said, adding that this program can be used in different degrees of intensity, which varies its effect on the system. "If you crank it up to irresponsible levels, it will have a much larger impact on the network," Updegrove said. He added that more students are using PennNet because of the increased number of services it is able to integrate. He cited as an example the fact that the School of Arts and Sciences is now using the Internet for advising purposes. "I think students are finding the Internet is an interesting place to explore," he said."It is quite striking how much information is available world-wide on the Internet. "And given that this is growing in other universities, the number of people on the Internet is growing," Updegrove added. Anthony Rutkowski, executive director of the Virginia-based Internet Society, said the predominant function of the Internet is moving files -- which is done through ftp, or file transfer protocol service. Rutkowski added that the second most-used service is the World Wide Web, which links of information throughout the world in a series of virtual pages, while the third most-used feature is newsgroups. "E-mail, in terms of bytes, is actually rather a small portion of the traffic [on the Internet]," he said. Updegrove said DCCS is trying to upgrade the infrastructure of the system as quickly as possible. "Probably the dominant thing we are doing right now besides the modem pool is trying to get ResNet finished as fast as possible," he said. With the ResNet system, each computer uses Ethernet to connect directly to PennNet, bypassing competition in the modem pool and making performance is a lot faster, Updegrove said. He added that DCCS has been working on a four year project to install ResNet in all of the dormitories for the past two years. In that time, 3,500 Ethernet connections have been made in seven residence halls. DCCS has also installed several thousand PennNet connections in faculty and staff offices, as well as in student computer labs. Updegrove said his department just completed another four-year project two weeks ago called "sub-netting," which consisted of upgrading the carrying capacity of the building networks from one megabit per second to 10 megabits per second. And three weeks ago, DCCS installed the first Ethernet switch in the David Rittenhouse Laboratory, which segments the building by floor so each department has 10 megabits of its own. "This enables math and physics to have their own 10 [Megabits per second] 'collision domains' instead of sharing the building Ethernet," he said. Updegrove added that the University is anticipating employing these switches in the busiest buildings on campus. In August, his department upgraded the campus Internet gateway, from 1.5 Megabits per second to four Megabits per second, he said. "And we are likely to upgrade it to something higher than that in the course of the summer," he added. Updegrove said DCCS is going to upgrade the central campus backbone from 10 to 100 Megabits. He added that the University recently upgraded the speed and capacity of key campus server machines, including Mail.sas, Netnews, Dolphin and Pobox. Updegrove said the key is to stay a little ahead of the demand. "You don't want to be a lot ahead because the prices decrease every year and you can't buy more than you can afford," Updegrove added. For the past 10 years, DCCS has been attempting to project what the level of traffic on the Internet will be in an effort to keep the whole system in balance. But Updegrove said upgrading the system is a never-ending process, because DCCS must continually go back and upgrade the wiring of the first sections wired on campus. Engineering junior and e-mail expert Meng Weng Wong said the University has succeeded in terms of "networking and computer stuff." He said our system has served as a model for other universities. "A lot of other schools are following in our footsteps, initiating a ResNet program that looks like ours," Wong said. And Filreis said the University should do everything possible to "support, maintain and if necessary expand the technical structure to enable this revolution to go forward." "It's bang for the buck," he said. "The qualitative change in how we can conduct education -- and enhance intellectual interaction with our students -- is worth a hundred times to us the cost of the technology."
(02/13/95 10:00am)
It's always trash day on the 3900 block of Pine Street. And while the block is known as a convenient location to live off campus, it has also become associated with the trash and refuse that is piled along the curbline seven days a week. "Garbage was piled up to the window of our apartment once," explained College junior Andrew Amsterdam, a resident of the block. "A dumpster load of it was in front of our door." While city officials, landlords and students have different opinions about the street's problems with trash collection, everyone agrees it is an eyesore. "It is a pretty messy looking block a lot of the time," said David Hochman, treasurer of the Spruce Hill Community Association. "The extreme high density of houses there creates a significant problem." Several students said a lot of the problem lies with homeless people who rummage through the trash. The trash is then scattered, and city sanitation workers do not collect any garbage that is not bagged. But Ruth Ricci, a property manager for Campus Associates, said much of the problem lies with students not following directions. Ricci said that all Campus Associates tenants on the block are notified of their obligations upon moving in, and trash regulations are posted in the vestibule of their buildings. She added that in extreme cases, landlords occasionally trace loose garbage back to students by reading addresses on envelopes. The tenant then receives a fine. College sophomore Stephanie Bosch objects to this solution, however. "Students use plastic bags," she said. "It's the norm. I don't see anyone dumping garbage out their windows." Ricci also said the city is partly to blame -- especially recently, when the winter weather hindered regular collection. She said the current situation "has nothing to do with students, has nothing to do with management -- it's the city." Amsterdam says he does not blame the city, though. "I don't think the city is responsible," he said. "They do their job, that's all you can ask. "I think the city should issue citations to landlords," Amsterdam added. In fact, Amsterdam praised much of the city's handling of the situation. Early last semester, he said he filed a complaint with the city when the problem outside his building became acute. He said the problem was dealt with quickly, although no long-term changes have occurred. And Amsterdam lodged a complaint against his landlord, Marianna Thomas Properties, on the issue. Among the other suggestions to deal with the problem is to have more than one garbage pick-up each week. "Increasing rubbish collections is not an option," Deputy Streets Commissioner Clarena Tolson said. "There are more units than city services can accommodate. "We'll have our people look into it relative to education and enforcement," Tolson added.
(02/13/95 10:00am)
Although the City of Philadelphia has only recently asked the University to pay taxes, universities across the country have been doing so for decades. And with 25 percent of the city's land classified as non-taxable property, Mayor Ed Rendell is looking toward non-profit organizations, including the University, to contribute to the tax base. Currently, the city is asking the University to pay about 30 percent of the real estate taxes it would owe if it were a for-profit institution, as part of a Payment in Lieu of Taxes/Services in Lieu of Taxes program. Although there has not yet been any agreement on the issue, the University and city are currently negotiating. "Like other charitable institutions within Philadelphia, we are talking with the city and we have not reached any conclusion at this point," said Stephen Golding, the University's vice president for finance. He added that the University has historically wanted to be a good citizen, but at the same time does not consider itself a taxable operation. "Penn believes it is a charitable institution and will do whatever it takes to maintain its charitable status," Golding added. In addition, the city has threatened to take the University and other non-profits to court if it refuses to comply with the city's wishes. "Litigation is the worst case scenario," Deputy Mayor for Policy and Planning Greg Rost said. "No one wants to see it ever get to that point." Rost added that cities like Pittsburgh have had to pursue litigation against non-profits, but said he "doesn't want to go down that path." The controversy, which could come to a head in the next few weeks, began last year when the mayor devised the PILOT/SILOT program. The city feels non-profits should pay for such municipal services as fire, police and street cleaning. "We think we have created a kinder and gentler program," Rost said. "We clearly have no intention of harming any of the city non-profits. They are tremendous community citizens." For the 1995 fiscal year the city is projecting contributions of money totaling approximately $8.4 million. About $3.78 million will go to the city and $4.62 million will go to the school district. According to Rost, 55 cents out of every dollar would go to the Philadelphia school district and the rest will go to into the city's general fund. The University is not alone in grappling with this issue. Other universities are also confronting the topic. Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were the first academic institutions in the country to use the PILOT program, beginning in 1928. According to MIT's Assistant for Government Relations Sara Gallop, MIT uses a formula based on the square footage of its tax-exempt property to calculate its payment to the city of Cambridge. Last year MIT had to pay $925,000, Gallop said. In addition, Gallop said MIT provides numerous services to the city, including community outreach, "heavy" involvement in public schools and other volunteering projects. Gallop said there has been no real opposition to the payment, but she added that the City of Boston and Harvard are currently debating the issue because the city wants universities to pay 25 percent of the tax rate. Other schools are also fighting tooth and nail to avoid PILOT payments. Cornell University and the City of Ithaca are currently embroiled in a battle over PILOTs. Ithaca Mayor Ben Nichols said that Cornell has a "moral" and "ethical" obligation to contribute money to Ithaca. He added that he wants Cornell to make payments on dormitories, fraternity houses and the campus store because they are non-academic places. "We have a rather marked difference in views with [Cornell]," Nichols said. "We strictly believe the health of the city depends on Cornell paying its fair share." Nichols' proposal includes asking Cornell for an additional $2.5 million in payments. He said that unlike the Philadelphia proposal, the plan does not threaten legal action against Cornell. But Cornell sees the situation very differently. Cornell Vice President for University Relations Henrick Dullea said that an increased financial burden would be very detrimental to the university. He added that Cornell has been giving voluntary payments to the fire department since 1967 and also to the school district and other municipalities. Dullea said an increase of 700 percent is "out of the question" and would cause numerous faculty lay-offs and would increase students' tuition rates. "We are under extraordinary pressures as a result of state reductions in funding," Dullea said. "One only has to walk downtown during a Cornell break to see the lack of people in restaurants and stores to get a vivid picture of the economic impact the institution has for this particular community." In Washington, D.C., universities have been the latest targets for the PILOT program. But the presidents of Georgetown University, George Washington University, Gallaudet University and Howard University have all spoken out publicly against the proposed payments. Horace Dawson, a spokesperson for Howard, said the school cannot afford the proposed $8 million payment. He added that the Howard likes to be a "good citizen" but simply can not bare the brunt of a tax. In response to the new taxes, Howard projected a $25 million budget deficit before the start of the 1994–95 academic year and laid off about 400 people in October. "We are really in no position to pay taxes," Dawson said.
(02/13/95 10:00am)
If you are fed up with striking Major League baseball players and can't even stand to look at their faces on baseball cards, you might want to start a new collection -- Economist Trading Cards. Economists are not likely to go on strike anytime soon, and they are steadier performers than the boys of summer. Two of the University's own, Economics Professor Lawrence Klein and Finance Professor Sanford Grossman, are included among 29 economists in the 1995 edition of the trading cards, which is produced by the Economics Club of the University of Michigan-Flint. Klein, who was awarded the 1980 Nobel Prize for Economics for building a statistical model for economic forecasting and analyzing economic policy, joked about the potential value of the cards. "Like baseball trading cards, in 50 years maybe they'll be very valuable," Klein said. Grossman said the photograph on his trading card did not do him justice. "I'm even handsomer than the picture," he said. University of Michigan-Flint Economics Club President Bonnie Kincaid said proceeds from sales of the cards are being used for a scholarship fund at University of Michigan-Flint. Some of the profits from the 1993 edition were used for this purpose. The remainder went to fund a trip the club took to Boston for the 1994 Economic Conferences. Kincaid said the club plans to use money generated by sales of the 1995 edition to endow the scholarship, and to fund a club trip to Chicago in the spring. For skeptics who think an economics club could have thought of a better way to make money, the popularity of the cards might be surprising: The club has sold approximately 5,500 sets of the 1993 edition, and received requests for 800 copies of the 1995 edition before it had even been released. Among those who have purchased sets are World Bank and Federal Reserve employees, as well as collectors, according to Kincaid. One Federal Reserve bank purchased sets for its entire staff. Kincaid explained how the cards gained popularity. "It went across the wire from the Associated Press, and it just went crazy everywhere," she said. The front of each card features a photo of the economist, along with the economist's name and university. The back lists, among other things, the economist's field, positions, contributions to economics and recommended readings. To choose economists for the 1993 edition, the club sent forms to approximately 100 economists, and the 29 who replied were included in the set. Others heard about the set and wanted to be included, and the club decided to again use 29 economists to form the 1995 edition. All economists included in the sets are relatively prominent, according to Kincaid. "We've stuck with a lot of Nobel Prize winners," she said. Kincaid said the club already has plans for its next two sets of trading cards. One will feature policymakers who are economists, such as Federal Reserve Chairperson Alan Greenspan, Secretary of Labor Robert Reich and Alice Rivlin, director of the Office of Management and Budget. Another will be a "dead set," to include important economists from the past, such as Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus and Karl Marx.
(02/13/95 10:00am)
For the first time this decade, the Undergraduate Assembly failed to achieve a quorum at its meeting last night and was forced to hold an unofficial session. More than half of the UA must be present for quorum. Furious, UA Chairperson and Wharton junior Dan Debicella lashed out at his political opponents last night, claiming the lack of quorum was not an issue, and was the result of "an effort to bring down the UA." "A lot of people throughout the year have been opposed to what this UA is doing," he said. "Since they can't pick on us for not doing anything, they're going to pick on us for petty things. It's accomplishments, not attendance." In order for UA meetings to be official, there must be 17 of 33 members in attendance, according to the UA Constitution. Without quorum, no official action can be taken by the body. When the meeting began at 9 p.m. last night, only 13 members were present. Quorum was reached briefly after 30 minutes. But it broke down again when Engineering junior and UA member Sundeep Goel left. Five minutes after Goel left, College junior Mike Nadel, a Daily Pennsylvanian columnist and Goel's roommate, brought Goel's jacket to him in the basement of Houston Hall. Goel did not return and there was no quorum for the remainder of the meeting. "Mike Nadel told Sundeep to leave so that we'd break quorum and they could point to this politically and say, 'Oh, look, the UA can't even get quorum,' " Debicella said. "Actually, we had quorum and it broke because Mike told his roommate to leave." Nadel, along with UA member and College senior Dan Schorr, has been active in recent efforts to reform student government at the University. Two weeks ago, he resigned from his position on the Student Activities Council's Finance Committee amidst threats of impeachment. After last night's meeting, Goel said he left because he felt sick. "I think I ate something funny today," he said. "I was planning on coming back, but there was just no way." Nadel denied that Goel's sudden departure was part of a pre-arranged effort to break down quorum. "He was really not feeling well," he said. "If members had wanted to break down quorum, they could have done so just by leaving the meeting themselves." But Debicella said he thought there was a movement among some members of the UA to sabotage his administration by breaking quorum and by drawing attention to attendance problems. "There are people who just don't like me or don't like what we've done, and they've quit," he said. He refused to name the specific UA members who have been trying to break quorum. But he said Nadel was responsible for leading those efforts. "It's obvious that Mike Nadel is trying to reform student government to his own advantage," he said. Schorr denied that there was any conspiracy behind the lack of attendance at recent UA meetings. UA representative and College junior Lance Rogers said he questioned why there was never a roll call or an announcement about the lack of quorum. Debicella said that there was no need for such an announcement, as no formal business was conducted at the meeting. Several UA members who were not present at last night's meeting said they had no knowledge of any plot to sabotage the meeting. "I was sick," College junior Eric Tienou said. "I apologize for not being there. I don't think there's a conspiracy to break down the UA by breaking down quorum. If something's going on, it's going on without me." Wharton freshman Alan Danzig, also a UA representative, said he missed the meeting because he had been studying all weekend for a Finance midterm.
(02/13/95 10:00am)
Members of the Philadelphia arts community gathered at the University of the Arts Saturday to discuss how reduced funding from the National Endowment for the Arts would impact the city's cultural resources. Organized by English Professor Bob Perelman, the event drew a crowd of approximately 60 people representing organizations ranging from the Painted Bride Art Center to the Institute of Contemporary Art. With the Republican sweep in last November's Congressional elections, many artists have reason to question how long cultural activity will continue in Philadelphia and around the country. Hoping to dramatically reduce spending, several legislators have proposed eliminating the NEA, the largest single supporter of the arts, and leaving private corporations and donors to compensate. If the government cuts the NEA, the 20 people who spoke at the forum emphasized, many organizations that cultivate the arts would not have the money to continue. There is not enough corporate funding to make up for NEA grants, and those corporations that do donate money are often unwilling to finance lesser-known artists. "The argument that is put forward seems to be that people are saying we haven't tested this premise yet," said Mark Weber, president of the Pennsylvania Composer's Forum. "But, the fact is we have. We've tested it for the past five years." Because NEA funding has decreased in relation to inflation in the past five years, private corporations are even more reluctant to donate money, Weber said. "When the NEA acts, people follow," he added. "The NEA, for better or for worse, is a stamp of approval." One major objection legislators have with the NEA is that only the elite can appreciate many of the works produced with its funding. But several speakers refuted this argument, giving examples of how they try to make the arts more accessible to the public and more representative of the community. Katy Milligan, who sings for the Mendlessohn Club of Philadelphia, explained that while her group still performs pieces by Stravinsky and Mozart, it has collaborated with Korean and Chinese choirs. The Mendelssohn Club also plans to feature 20th century African American composers. Hoping to exhibit prints in Senegal, Sam Young, the president of the board of the Fabric Workshop, said his organization also teaches inner- city children about fabric printing. The artists who spoke implored audience members to unify politically and write letters to legislators, stressing that art enriches society. "Artists are like a canary in the mind," Young said. "They keep things alive."
(02/10/95 10:00am)
Addressing an overflowing crowd of 150, Lawrence Summers, Undersecretary of the U.S. Treasury for international affairs, began the International Economic Policy Lecture Series yesterday afternoon. Summers, who was the former chief economist at the World Bank, spoke on "The Clinton Administration's International Economic Policy Agenda." He is also a former professor of political economy at Harvard University and winner of the prestigious J.B. Clarke Award, according to Public Policy and Management Professor Howard Pack. Referring to the challenges facing him and President Clinton since they took office in 1993, Summers focused his speech on the need for a new foreign policy after the end of the Cold War. "There had to be a new vision of American international policy and American international economic policy, in particular," he said. Stressing the connection between economic prosperity and world peace, Summers made references to the economic crisis in Weimar Germany that helped bring Hitler to power in the early 1930s. After outlining the administration's overall policy objectives, he discussed the promising nations of the developing world. "Within the lifetimes of the people in this room, China and India may become the largest economies in the world," Summers said. "People have traditionally thought of these countries as poor." But while outlining these countries' strengths, he also addressed their many weaknesses. Summers pointed to China's high inflation rate and production bottlenecks as genuine concerns. He said, though, that most of his time in 1995 has been spent dealing with the recent Mexican financial crisis. He spoke at great length about the troubles there. "In the last 12 months, Mexico has made critical macroeconomic errors," Summers said. "As this situation unfolded, it had consequences that went far beyond Mexico?The president decided that the costs of inaction were greater than the costs of action." Concluding with a passionate call for American internationalism, Summers warned against the nativist and isolationist winds blowing through America. "Our interests as a nation do not lie in isolationism," he said. "Our interests lie in world prosperity." The event -- jointly sponsored by the Economics and Public Policy and Management Departments -- was intended to honor Summers' mother and father, who both taught at the University.
(02/10/95 10:00am)
A line stretched out the doors of Meyerson Hall last night as a large crowd of new sorority pledges presented themselves as a group for the first time. The 386 new members of eight Panhellenic sororities filed into the lecture hall to install the six new officers of the Panhellenic Council as part of the "Circle of Sisters" event. With over 1,300 members, Panhel -- the umbrella organization that represents the chapters and coordinates various inter-sorority functions -- is the largest women's organization at the University. Former Panhel President Suzanne Rosenberg, a College senior, urged the new members to act as team players, mentors and to get involved with both Panhel and with the individual chapters. As representatives of such a large organization, the executive board faces important challenges, according to former Executive Vice President Toby Tucker, a College senior. "Just last year, our executive board had to fight for your right to rush as freshman," Tucker said. Each past executive board member then handed down the "symbols of office" to the new officers. Lissette Calderon, a Wharton junior who served as Panhel treasurer last year, was elected president of the new board. She passed the treasurer's sword to College junior Amy Greenfield. And Tucker passed the evergreen -- a symbol chosen for its longevity -- to new Executive Vice President Laurie Curtin, a College junior. Goals for this coming semester include efforts to collaborate with the other two Greek umbrella organizations, the InterFraternity Council and the BiCultural InterGreek Council, Calderon said. College junior Laurie Curtin, Wharton junior Tracy Akresh, Wharton Sophomore Danielle Morgan, and College junior Tara Troy were also inaugurated last night.
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It is just past 8:30 on a Monday night, someone just finished off your popcorn and everybody has already slept with everybody else on Melrose Place. You think to yourself, "I could do that better than Aaron Spelling, if only?" Four University students did just that each week. Until one day last fall, when they stopped saying "what if" and started to say "when." In October Wharton sophomores, Dan Khatib and Andrew Simonian and College sophomores Alex Saltzman and Andrew Waller began working on Locust Walk, a situational drama that will be broadcast on University Television Channel 13. "We watched the shows and thought it was time to put up or shut up," Khatib said. "So we started working." According to Todd Donovan, an Engineering senior and president and general manager of UTV13, this is not the first time the station has offered a show purely for entertainment value -- although it is the first time a program of this sort has been scheduled to air in about seven years. The four students are working as fast as possible to finish their first episode. They are currently rewriting the script to fit the actors who were cast last week, Khatib said. The premier episode will be taped before spring break and will debut sometime after the break, he added. Although they would not identify specific plot lines, the producers said the format of Locust Walk will resemble the popular Fox shows Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place. "I don't want to give anything away too much," Simonian said. "Hopefully it will be better than Melrose Place and 90210 -- a little less cheesy and funnier." Khatib emphasized the show's sense of humor and reality. "First and foremost it's going to be funnier," he said. "We're not going to have as many murders or trials or be as melodramatic. And nobody's baby is going to be kidnapped -- at least not in the first episode." Saltzman said the show would be an improved version of the television dramas. But it is definitely not a situation comedy. "Like 90210 and Melrose but hopefully slightly more witty and cerebral than your average trashy soap," he said. Out of over 90 students who auditioned for the drama last week, the producers chose four male and five female students as the show's recurring cast. One actor, College sophomore Matt Kapuchinski, said he did not know anything about the show except what one of the writers told him about his character. "I'll probably be playing a character that's a guitarist/musician kind of quiet guy," he said. "As far as I know they haven't really flushed out each character yet. We're playing it by ear." Ideally the show will run once a week by the end of the semester, Khatib said. Saltzman said he thinks the campus will be "receptive" to the show, but he said that availability is one concern for the show's success. "Although the whole campus is not wired and Rodin seems to be holding up getting UTV on cable we will be having special showings in Houston Hall Auditorium when the show premiers and for subsequent episodes until we do get on local cable," he said. The producers also chose a team of writers and technicians last week. In addition, College sophomore Nina Wolarsky joined the show as a co-producer.
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While students worked out in Hutchinson Gymnasium's makeshift hallway weight room last week, workers were removing asbestos from the pipes in the next room. But Recreation Department Director Robert Glascott said officials took measures to protect the area of removal, adding that the asbestos levels were not harmful. "We put up a temporary wooden wall [to enclose the area]," Glascott said. "It appears to me that they got it all and I assume that there is no more down there." The asbestos was discovered in Hutch's basement weight room -- which is being renovated due to poor ventilation and flooring problems. The pipe insulation in the weight room contained the asbestos. Students who use the weights, that were temporarily relocated in the hallway outside the weight room, expressed concern that the hallway area stayed open and no one provided adequate notification. "I wish they would have made people more aware about it," College junior and Undergraduate Assembly member Eric Tienou said. "It was kept really low-key." Tienou said he knew of only one sign posted in the area indicating that asbestos removal was taking place, adding that officials should have provided more information for the students using the weight room. "People that worked out in the weight room should have been notified about it in advance," he said. University Health and Safety Technician James Sillhart said the amount of asbestos on the pipes was so minute, it was practically immeasurable. "Asbestos materials are only harmful when they become airborne," he added. "We kept everything covered." He said the area where asbestos removal took place was isolated from the general renovation project, as well as the adjoining rooms and hallways. And Recreation Department Assistant Director John Hamrick said the asbestos was located in an area "not open to the public." "Everything was fine and no one was in danger," he said. Asbestos is not limited to Hutch, Sillhart said. When many campus buildings are being renovated, asbestos is found and then removed. Sillhart could not say how many facilities on campus contain asbestos, but indicated that "many" buildings on campus have the problem, although it has never been in harmful amounts or open areas. "Some of the buildings have asbestos in the pipe insulation," he said. "When areas come up for renovations, people are relocated and it is a good time to get in and do it." In addition, while the asbestos abatement takes place, the Department of Environmental Health and Safety monitors the entire process. In the case of the Hutch weight room, Philadelphia Air Management Services also inspected the area, Sillhart said.
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The Undergraduate Assembly will soon begin lobbying the administration to implement two more of the recommendations included in Project 2000. One plan, written by UA representative and College sophomore Adam Strunk, attempts to deal with professors who do not speak English proficiently. The University's policy manual contains a section that requires all teachers to be fully proficient in English. But a survey conducted by the UA as part of Project 2000 revealed that 49.8 percent of University undergraduates polled said they had been taught by a professor that was "difficult to understand because he did not speak English." Strunk said the University needs to begin enforcing the proficiency requirement. "Basically, what you need is professors for whom their ability to communicate in the English language does not in any way, shape or form inhibit their ability to teach," Strunk said. "If you've ever taken a math course at this school, you will notice that [the proficiency requirement] is not a particularly enforced rule." The recommendation proposes that a proficiency test be administered to all professors. If they fail, they would not be able to continue teaching until they could pass the exam. According to Strunk, the proficiency tests should already be in use. But because enforcement of the proficiency rule has been lax, the tests are not administered, Strunk said. The UA also proposed that an asterisk be placed in course guidebooks next to the names of professors who are judged to be only barely proficient by their performance on the tests. Strunk said he had not spoken to anyone responsible for publishing the course guides about this proposal. But he added that "it shouldn't be all that difficult" for the recommendation to be implemented. Another section of Project 2000 calls for the University to re-examine its budgeting procedures. Currently the University is divided into 33 "responsibility centers" that are individually responsible for their own budgets. Each of the 12 schools, The Book Store and Dining Services are examples of responsibility centers. At the end of a year, centers that make profits have their extra funds diverted to cover losses by other centers, UA representative and Wharton junior Vincent Scafaria said. But the UA would have the administration step in and take a more active role in the budgeting process so that centers can eliminate wasteful spending from their budgets. "Involvement from the central administration is needed," Scafaria said. Scafaria, who wrote the section of Project 2000 dealing with responsibility center budgeting, said the UA has proposed that the administration or an outside consultant examine each responsibility center's budget in detail. Once a spending analysis has been conducted for each responsibility center, the administration would impose specific spending limits -- eliminating spending that does not add value to a center, Scafaria said. Scafaria said he has spoken to University President Judith Rodin and Provost Stanley Chodorow about implementing the proposal. He added that "they are heading along this path."
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Only 20 students attended an open forum with Provost Stanley Chodorow in the rooftop lounge of High Rise East yesterday. And many of them were members of student government or Residential Advisors in the high rise. During the open forum, Chodorow reported on the progress of the Provost's Council on Undergraduate Education and answered questions on a variety of issues, ranging from the Student Judicial Charter to why Logan 17 has no heat. The administration created PCUE at the very end of last semester and asked its members to form a model for the 21st Century Undergraduate Education Initiative first introduced last October. In response to a question posed by College sophomore Jamil Smith, a Daily Pennsylvanian columnist, Chodorow said the committee has met on an almost weekly basis since its inception and just completed the first phase of its mission. Each school's dean and student representative presented reports on their school's current status, Chodorow said. This step was completed at PCUE's last meeting. "Now, we need to create a series of goals," he said, adding that he hopes to set up focus groups of faculty and students to obtain input into this part of the process. Chodorow said he hoped PCUE would formulate tentative proposals before going to the focus groups. "It could be open-ended or it could be us presenting something and getting reaction," he said. Chodorow added, though, that he preferred the latter choice. As a result of Wednesday's University Council discussion on the proposed student judicial charter, College junior Max Jacobs questioned Chodorow on the issue last night. Chodorow said part of the problem with the charter lies in its outline format. "We didn't spell out what we had in mind but we will do that," he said. "It was a mistake to present that as an outline and we will now fill out the details." College junior Mike Nadel, a DP columnist, said he disagreed with the fundamental assumption of the charter that the ultimate system should not be adversarial. "Both sides will feel adversarial in a very serious situation," he said. "The best thing to do is accept that [a non-adversarial system] cannot be done and figure out how to promote rights for both sides." But Chodorow disagreed, saying that he believed a system could be fair and non-adversarial. "There are legal systems which are non-adversarial and no less fair to the person that is accused," he said, adding that the University's judicial system must be different than a court of law. Chodorow also said the Office of the Provost should have a role in the decision-making process because the interests of the University are involved. But he added that the participation of top administrators in the judicial process should be "very rare." A second year graduate student expressed concern regarding the University's relationship with Philadelphia in light of a rash of car accidents on Walnut Street last semester. "The relationship between the University administration and the city isn't very good, especially in regard to Walnut Street," Chodorow said. Chodorow added that the University has worked well with the city in West Philadelphia issues despite not getting "very good cooperation in regard to the Walnut Street corridor." The forum, which lasted for an hour and a half, also included discussion on issues of student apathy and the College of Arts and Sciences' General Requirement.
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For many students, martial arts is less a meansFor many students, martial arts is less a meansof self-defense than a search for balance within the self. They began with meditation. Then, in two straight lines, they simultaneously sliced the air with their powerful kicks. Thirteen strong voices counted aloud in Japanese, accenting the movement of their legs. But the Ryukyu Kempo Club had just warmed up. As part of the large network of martial arts organizations, their class was designed to teach students methods of self defense. The Ryukyu Kempo Club was founded by former University student Chas Terry, who has a black belt in three different styles of karate. His sister, Drexel University graduate Linda Terry, is a very enthusiastic club member who joined last October. Linda Terry was involved in a different style of karate 16 years ago and quit after gaining her green belt. She only became interested in the martial arts again after attending a seminar called "Weekend With the Masters," last October. "I had learned more in seven hours than I had in my whole entire life," she said. Terry's motivation to start studying Kempo stems from its emphasis on the attitude and spirit in the art -- in addition to the skills themselves. "I don't know how many styles [of martial arts] break down even the most simple initial techniques," she said. Terry said she attempts to focus on the uniqueness of Ryukyu Kempo. She added that Kempo's primary objective lies in the pressure point theory. "Pressure points are very effective," she said. "There are three levels -- they can create distraction or pain, knock someone out or least desirable of all, kill." Terry said that pressure points lie where the nerves cross, meet and end -- like the tips of fingers. "The ways to activate these pressure points are by rubbing, touching, and striking," she added. She emphasized that martial arts do not teach students how to kill. She said they are mainly for self-defense, and killing is in no way part of the teaching. "It's just to defend yourself," Terry said. "You never, never, never want to kill. The major philosophy is self-defense -- quick and effective -- and the goal is not to kill. "Karate is strictly self-defense. Anything else is a bad attitude," she added. "The main point is to get the offender out of commission so you can run. You want to do the very least while being effective." The ranking system of belt color for Kempo is similar to the system for other forms of karate. The order -- from least experience to most -- is white, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, and then black, Terry said. "If you practiced and worked very hard it's possible to get a first degree black belt in three and a half years," she said. "It all depends on how hard you are willing to work." People should be careful not to put too much faith into the ranking system, though, she said. It is simply a means to measure progress, and a black belt does not necessarily indicate proficiency. "It's sort of like competing with yourself -- a sign of what you have accomplished," Terry said. "Being a black belt does not mean you are an expert. It just means you have a solid foundation and understanding." The Ryukyu Kempo Club does not believe in all work and no play, though. Terry said it is like a family, and the students always hang out on weekends. "Actually most of the people I go to the movies with and do stuff with are from the club," she said. Wharton and Engineering senior Vandit Kalia is a board member of the club who was inspired to study martial arts by his father. "My dad is a black belt in Judo, and he thought it would be a good thing for me to do," Kalia said. "[But] Judo has more to do with grappling and throwing, while karate has a more kicking and punching emphasis." Kalia said his interest lies with the mental benefits of Kempo as well as the obvious physical benefits. "It calms you down and clears your mind which helps in everyday life," he said. "It's a good way to stay healthy." Martial arts originated in China and were brought to Japan in the Okinawan Islands where they were further developed, Kalia explained. This modified and simplified version of Kempo is known as karate. It is less lethal. Kalia added that karate is more sports-oriented than self-defense oriented. "We are teaching the original form-the stuff that hasn't been taught is what we do," he said. According to Club President Jeff Sparkman, Ryukyu Kempo is an Okinawan style of karate which is based on the use of nerve strikes for effective self-defense. "What most styles teach to be an obvious block or punch assumes a whole new meaning in light of pressure point strikes," he said. Sparkman also highlighted the social aspects of the club. "We have pizza and karate movie nights, martial arts rap sessions, attend seminars together, or just hang out together," he said. College sophomore Andrew Simonian said he joined the club for self-defense purposes and has been involved in Ryukyu Kempo since his freshman year. "I always wanted to do it, and I never had the chance before," Simonian said. "I knew I'd be able to continue for a long time." He added that Ryukyu Kempo is actually the predecessor to karate, which was invented so that it could be passed on to Westerners without revealing any of the art's secrets. Wharton sophomore Justin Faust is another member of the Ryukyu Kempo Club who started when he came to the University. "I wanted to take some sort of self-defense," Faust said. "I just went to two classes, and I became interested." He added that he usually practices four times a week for one to two hours -- which includes a hard workout and some calisthenics techniques. A typical beginner's Kempo class usually begins with a short meditation session followed ten minutes is devoted of stretching. Much of the rest of the hour is spent doing a series of kicks, punches and blocks. Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, there are also several self-defense demonstrations. For example, a common attack consists of being grabbed by the lapel. The best way out of this predicament is to bend the attacker's thumb backward. This technique exemplifies the simplicity and effectiveness of Kempo. One of the instructors, Engineering senior Avinash Parashar, only began studying martial arts when he was in high school. "I wanted to learn how to fight, and I thought it sounded cool," he said. "I did Tae Kwon Do in high school and wanted to try a different style when I came here." The Tae Kwon Do Club is another popular outlet for martial arts fanatics. Felice Macera is a first degree black belt who has been instructing the University Tae Kwon Do Club for nine months. He said it took him eight months to reach his present level. He added that the main attraction for him lies in the mental aspect of Tae Kwon Do. "Traditionally the martial arts began as a conservative art form," he said. "It became more of a mental condition than a physical condition. Our club does more mental conditioning." He said his class usually meets five days a week for about one to two hour s in Houston Hall. Engineering junior Alex Miller, who is another Tae Kwon Do instructor, said his group has been very successful in competition. "[The Tae Kwon Do Club] is currently ranked second in the Northeast despite the fact that all the other schools have instructors that are paid to teach the clubs and ours is entirely student run," he said, adding that he views Tae Kwon Do as mainly a competition sport.
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Wharton students searching for consulting experience do not need to look any further. The Wharton Small Business Development Center, a firm dedicated to the needs of small businesses, employs a group of consultants whose main function is to aid entrepreneurs. And many Wharton students are part of this endeavor. The SBDC's new director, Clark Callahan, is working to help new businesses grow and expand. "You think of a challenge a small company will come up against and we're here to overcome it," he said. Fourth-year Wharton and Law School graduate student Gordon Walton, an SBDC consultant, said his advice helps entrepreneurs who have little business savvy. "You're someone with a lot of training helping a person with limited business experience," he said. "The incremental value that the SBDC provides its clients is enormous." Callahan plans to expand the firm's clientele by working with a greater number of West Philadelphia companies. He said he wants to create a set of business services that start-up companies may need to survive in their early stages. Callahan also said he is interested in helping companies dependent on military contracts adjust to economic conditions resulting from the closing of military bases. The SBDC employs 16 MBA students and four undergraduates as consultants. "The students are responsible for delivering the services," Callahan said. The student consultants each work in one-year rotations beginning in January and May. They help companies by offering phone consultation or meetings with the entrepreneurs. Each student also teaches a management training seminar in such areas as business planning and the legal aspects of starting a new company. Second-year Wharton graduate student Cynthia Grise said she believes her work with the SBDC has helped her a great deal. "Acting as a consultant is a great way to enhance the skills we learn in classrooms," she said. Walton said his experiences have given him greater insight in the workings of a successful small business. "It gives me exposure to a lot of different companies and [provides me with] ideas into what makes small companies succeed or fail," he said. "As a [future] entrepreneur, that's what I'm looking for." Founded in 1980, the SBDC provides management training and consulting services to small-size companies in Southeastern Pennsylvania. According to Callahan, the Center gives advice and teaches their client companies important skills. He added that his goal is for the companies to learn new skills quickly and efficiently. The SBDC helps companies find new markets, reach more customers and creates strategies for companies to raise money. It aids businesses with such problems as bank loans.
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Surrounded by a fairyland of candy and gingerbread, Stimulus Children's Theater performed Hansel and Gretel at the Castle for more than 50 children from the Penn Parent Infant Center and after-school program. The show began as the forest fairy sprinkled magic dust over the captivated children. And the audience watched, entranced as Stimulus, in conjunction with the Castle, put on their first-ever winter production. Designed to encourage audience participation, the production involved the children by asking them questions and teaching them about different aspects of the theater. The production tried to relate to the young audience by showing Hansel and Gretel's reluctance to do work over their "summer vacation" and the character's dislike of spinach. Hansel's inept dancing and silly antics amused the kids and the taunts of the evil witch made them scared. Many shouts came from the crowd as the witch said she wanted to "make children plump and then eat them." During the performance, the children tried in vain to warn Hansel and Gretel about the evil witch and howled at their capture. "Stimulus' goal is to bring performing arts to the children of West Philadelphia who wouldn't normally be exposed to theater," said the show's director, College freshman Kim Noble. This is the group's 12th show since 1987. College freshman Ben Berman, who played the role of Hansel, described the show as "pure fun." "Children are the perfect audience because they become so engaged," he said. One child remarked he liked the show because "they let me eat candy off the gingerbread house." Stimulus will perform Hansel and Gretel again tomorrow at 2 p.m. at the Castle.
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President Clinton increased funding for the National Endowments for the Humanities and the Arts in his budget plan released this week. But the future of these programs -- which are responsible for funding many departments at the University -- is by no means secure. Under Clinton's plan,the NEH would receive $182.8 million, a $5 million increase, and the NEA would receive $173 million, up $1 million from last year. While the NEH and NEA make up a fraction of the federal budget, Republicans in Congress who are determined to cut spending have targeted the agencies as wasteful. Many in Congress have argued that only the "elite" benefit from the NEH and NEA and that the projects the agencies support do not merit the money -- citing NEA funding for such controversial artists as Robert Mapplethorpe and Andres Serrano. Hoping to eliminate funding altogether, several legislators say that cultivating the humanities and the arts is not the government's responsibility. If the Republicans manage to substantially reduce or eliminate appropriations for the NEH and NEA, the result could prove disastrous for some departments within the University. The NEH, headed by former University President Sheldon Hackney, helps finance programs across the University, including faculty fellowships, seminars and restoration of special collections. The NEA subsidizes about half of the Department of Architectural Archives' budget for exhibitions and stabilizing old documents. Because of this support, the department was able to restore and catalogue the drawings of Louis Kahn, the late University professor who is often called the most influential architect of the past 50 years. Legislators have also threatened to abolish the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which subsidizes the University's radio station, WXPN. English Professor Bob Perelman determined that Americans pay 65 cents a year for the NEA, in an article he wrote in the Philadelphia Inquirer. And other faculty members said that the fact that the allocations for the NEH and NEA are so small in proportion to the federal budget demonstrates that the Republican drive to cut the agencies is motivated more by politics than economics. Each year the NEH funds 2,200 projects, approximately one of every five applications the agency receives. Professors who are granted fellowships receive $30,000 to finance a leave of absence while conducting a year of research. "We're easy targets," said English Department Chairperson John Richetti, who received an NEH fellowship a few years ago to write a book. Without NEH support, the University, which prides itself on its research, could suffer financially and intellectually. Many Republicans have proposed that private foundations should support cultural projects. But Graduate School of Fine Arts Interim Dean Malcolm Campbell said not enough foundations exist to compensate for a total loss of NEA funding. Hoping to pressure legislators to sustain the agencies, organizations throughout the city and members of the University will hold a forum tomorrow. The event will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Great Hall of the University of the Arts in Center City.
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After weeks of anticipation and secrecy, the 19th annual Wharton Follies, entitled "Heaven Can Wait-List," hit the stage yesterday at Drexel University's Mandell Theater. Nearly 200 cast and crew members worked to prove that Wharton MBA students have a talent for something besides business. Each year, the MBA students use the Follies to poke fun at themselves and spoof their stressful lives, according to second-year MBA student Saleem Haque. Haque, co-publicity director for the show, explained that the show is completely student-run. Popular songs and Broadway tunes were rewritten to parody different aspects of the typical Wharton MBA student's experience, he added. The Follies is famous for its surprise guests, whose identities are not revealed to anyone until opening night, Haque said. He emphasized the importance of secrecy to the Follies and expressed his excitement about the show, praising Director James Sokol and the crew for their hard work. Sokol, also a second-year MBA student, not only directed the show but helped in writing, ticketing, fundraising and publicity. Haque said that being a part of the show entailed a lot of time and effort. The cast and crew returned a week early from their vacations to attend rehearsals-- which usually lasted until 4 a.m. The performance seemed to be a success with the audience, who gave the cast a standing ovation. "It was fantastic," second-year Wharton MBA student Mark Phillips said. "Very creative and well-written." The Follies is school-sponsored, but additional funding was generated through corporate sponsorship, ticket sales, t-shirts and even a video of the entire production. There will be four more shows -- today and tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. -- before the show travels to an off-Broadway theater in New York on February 24. Tickets are $18 and can be purchased at the door, although it is recommended that they be bought in advance.
