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(11/12/99 10:00am)
There are those who believe that journalism today is unethical and, therefore, incompatible with Jewish culture. Jonathan Tobin, editor-in-chief of The Jewish Exponent, Philadelphia's largest Jewish newspaper, set out to address that issue Tuesday night in Hillel West. Tobin's lecture, "Ethics in Journalism" -- sponsored by the Hillel Education Committee -- was the first in a series called Ethics and Jewish Life. Tobin maintained that the answers to his initial questions -- whether journalism is ethical and whether a Jew can be a journalist -- depend on the individual's view of the purpose of reporting on Judaism. And while he explained that not all journalists are completely ethical, he said that journalism itself is actually a vital tool for the Jewish community. "Do you necessarily want to read what's going on in Jewish institutions, do you want to know what's happening or do you just want to get what we in the journalism business call 'happy talk?'" he asked the students in attendance. Tobin spoke about the constant pressure on the Jewish media not to publish anything that might harm the Jewish community. He gave an example from his days at a Jewish newspaper in Connecticut, when he learned of a financial scandal involving a local Jewish day school and felt the paper had a duty to cover the story. He immediately received outside pressure not to publish it, he said. "I will admit to this circle that the more pressure you get? the more likely you are to want to publish it," Tobin said. After weighing the potential damage the story might cause against the community's right to know what its institutions were doing, he decided to publish the story. Tobin also talked about complaints he received from defeated Philadelphia mayoral candidate Sam Katz's campaign team during this year's heated election. "The Katz camp thought we weren't being fair because we were being fair," he said. "They thought that as a Jewish newspaper, we were obligated" to endorse Katz, who is Jewish. According to Tobin, these examples are indicative of the tendency of some Jews to want to ignore opinions that differ from their own. In his view, the main obligation of a Jewish journalist is to "resist the impulse to tell everybody else to shut up." Tobin spoke about the problems facing secular journalists as well as those confronting the Jewish media. He said many members of the media pride themselves on learning their craft but prove to be ignorant of the subjects on which they report. "Too many [journalists] went to school to become Tom Brokaw or Peter Jennings," Tobin said. "They didn't study history, political science or English." Etan Orgel, a College sophomore and co-chairperson of the Hillel Education Committee, said, "I think it's very interesting how he delineated between secular journalism and Jewish journalism and how he was able to relate both back to our everyday lives." Future topics in the Ethics and Jewish Life series include Jewish ethics in medicine, law, politics and business.
(11/09/99 10:00am)
Murder, racial tension, and gang warfare in New York City in the 1940s, '50s and '60s were the topics at hand Thursday when a dozen students and faculty members gathered in Kings Court/English College House for a Forum for Penn Authors. College of Arts and Sciences Assistant Dean for Advising Eric Schneider spoke about his new book, Vampires, Dragons, and Egyptian Kings: Youth Gangs in Postwar New York, during the forum, run by KC/EH's living-learning Perspectives in Humanities program. The Forum is held two to four times a year, according to PIH Program Manager Sara Nasuti, a College junior. "We invite a faculty member who has recently published a book to come and talk with us a little bit about the book [and] a little bit about the process of scholarly writing," she said. Schneider said he became interested in street gangs after reading about the the infamous "Cape Man killer" of 1959, a 16-year-old member of a Puerto Rican gang called the Vampires. The boy, Salvador Agron, had killed two white rival gang members. Because of its racial implications, the Cape Man case generated outrage among whites. "As the adolescents were being brought into the local precinct afterwards for interrogation, there were a thousand people gathered on the street outside the precinct chanting [racial slurs]," Schneider said. Some whites actually used the case as an excuse to call for immigration limits for Puerto Ricans. Agron was ultimately sentenced to death. But the case attracted national attention because of Agron's age and many people protested the death sentence. His sentence was ultimately lessened and he eventually earned a college degree while in prison. Schneider originally intended to do a biography of Agron but instead decided to write about postwar New York gangs in general. Upon researching the gangs, Schneider discovered what he at first believed to be a frightening underworld of ethnic and racial tensions. "I began to think of New York as a kind of mini-Bosnia," Schneider said. He later discovered, however, that the fiercest gang rivalries were between groups of the same race. Schneider also debunked another common conclusion about postwar New York gangs. "I was going to take [the book] through what everybody said was the decline of street gangs in the mid-1960s due to the spread of the heroin epidemic," Schneider said. However, once he began to research that presumption, he became convinced that it was actually the decline of gangs that led to the upsurge in heroin use, rather than vice versa. In the book, Schneider asserts that gangs exerted peer pressure on their members not to use hard drugs. Once the ranks of the gangs were thinned by the Vietnam War, many former members turned to heroin. The audience, although small in number, was enthusiastic and interested in the subject matter. College freshman Erica Frenkel, who takes a course relating to gangs, said, "In class, we discussed the dry historical theory. This gave it life."
(11/09/99 10:00am)
"Women in Islam" might have been the topic for last night's lecture in the David Rittenhouse Laboratory, but the speaker, Iman Badawi, only mentioned women in the last 10 minutes of her hour-long talk. The lecture, which was organized by the Muslim Students Association, was part of a week-long series of presentations on Islam in celebration of Islam Awareness Week. Badawi, a science teacher from Albany, N.Y., began by explaining that the MSA organizers originally told her to speak on "The Empowerment of Women in Islam." She proceeded to speak at length about the nature of her religion and the concept of empowerment in Islam. According to Badawi, in Islam, "empowerment means the person who submits to Allah the best, the one who is most humble for the sake of Allah." Badawi explained the five principles of empowerment: to love Allah and Muhammad above all else, to fear punishment and believe in the afterlife, to hold hope for Allah's reward, to trust and rely upon Allah and to possess the knowledge necessary to understand these beliefs. "In our religion, when we speak about empowerment and Islam, women become like a non-issue," Badawi said. "Everything I've just said has nothing to do with whether you're a man or a woman.? Nothing matters. If you're a human being, Allah created you for the same purpose, and all these things apply." Badawi acknowledged that women are treated as second-class citizens in some Muslim nations but attributed this to the failure of these countries to properly follow the Muslim faith. Despite Badawi's statement that gender does not matter in Islam, many members of the audience had questions about the treatment of women in Muslim countries. Audience members asked about hijaab -- the traditional Islamic head-covering and code of dress -- female circumcision and Islam's view of spousal abusers. Audience members were very interested in Badawi's unconventional view of women in Islam. "I was expecting the traditional 'women aren't oppressed in Islam,'" College senior and MSA Co-Vice President of the Suzanna Basha said. "But it's not about women. I appreciate the angle [Badawi] took." Raymond Eid, who teaches a course on Middle Eastern history at the Academy of Lifelong Learning in Delaware, said, "I enjoyed the lecture very much. I also admire her Arabic -- it's flawless!" Events scheduled for the rest of the week include a talk on the relationship between Palestinians and Israelis tonight at 7 p.m. in Annenberg Room 110; a lecture of the theories of evolution and creationism tomorrow at 7 p.m. in DRL Room A5; and on Thursday, a talk on the responsibilities Muslims have to people of other religions at 7 p.m. in DRL Room A5. The week wraps up on Friday with a prayer service at 1:15 p.m. in Hill House, followed by a screening of The Message at 8 p.m. in the Hill television room.
(10/28/99 9:00am)
Rick Yune, a 1994 Wharton grad, keynoted this year's Asian Pacific American Heritage Week. Dozens of students in the Christian Association building last night clutched Snow Falling on Cedars posters and anticipated a speech by the film's star. But instead of speaking about his movie, 1994 Wharton graduate, model and actor Rick Yune addressed the crowd about Asian-American identity and familial expectations. Yune, the keynote speaker of Asian Pacific American Heritage Week, urged the students to make their own decisions and establish their own sense of individuality. "Love your parents, but be careful of them," he said, describing his family as the "typical, normal Asian-American dysfunctional family. I had type-A Asian parents who would do anything for their children? to get a 1600 on their SAT, get into Harvard, become a doctor [and] marry a doctor." By going to Wharton, Yune conformed to his parents' high expectations for him. He graduated in 1994 and went on to become a trader on Wall Street. But in New York, Yune was "discovered" and went on to become the first Asian-American male to model for Ralph Lauren and Versace. He eventually gave up his trading job, much to his parents' dismay. "Somewhere along the line, I kind of veered away from my parents' goals," Yune said. "It didn't seem to me that it was empowering me." Yune also spoke of the image of the Asian American as a "model minority" and encouraged students to learn from the methods of other minority groups. He talked about the similarities between the Jewish and Asian communities in America. However, he maintained that while Jewish parents teach their children to express themselves, some Asian parents do not. "We're taught from a very young age that 'you're not to be the nail who sticks out,'" Yune said. Yune talked admiringly about the African-American civil rights movement of the 1960s and challenged the assembled students to look upon black activists as models for risk-taking. He said that the Asian-American community must take greater initiative in fighting stereotypes and helping others explore their identities. Yune allowed time for questions after his speech. Some members of the audience took issue with his message because they felt that he was pushing assimilation, rather than emphasizing a distinct Asian-American identity. Many questioned Yune about his comparison of America to a blender, in which people must give up some of their cultural ideas. "I understand where he's coming from but those were not the right words," said part-time Asian Pacific American coordinator and 1997 College graduate Shweta Parmar. "I think he's saying we need to compromise. At least, I hope that's what he's saying." College sophomore Debbie Eng, who chaired the group that chose the keynote speaker, felt that, above all, Yune's presentation went well. "He offered a new perspective on being Asian American, and on being Asian," she said.
(10/27/99 9:00am)
Those familiar with College sophomore Jamarah Leverette say she fully embodies the spirit of African Americans at Penn, making her a fitting choice to be the first recipient of the W.E.B. DuBois Endowed Scholarship. The scholarship, established to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the DuBois College House, is the product of a year-long fundraising effort by DuBois officials. Presented on October 7, it is the first scholarship associated with one of Penn's 12 college houses. While ultimately the house plans to present two awards each year, the program is still in its fundraising stage. Besides, according to DuBois House Dean Sonia Elliot, the choice to award this year's scholarship solely to Leverette was a no-brainer. "There was not another person who came to mind," said Elliot, who chose this year's scholarship recipient with Faculty Master Howard Stevenson. The two looked for a student who "represent[s] the qualities that make DuBois House unique and vital at Penn," Elliot said. Leverette was therefore the ideal choice since she performs community service and has taken a leadership role within the house. Leverette works with Stevenson and other students on Preventing Long-term Anger and Aggression in Youth, a group that visits E. S. Miller, a disciplinary school in West Philadelphia, and encourages students there to develop self-control. PLAY teaches the students basketball, martial arts and cultural pride reinforcement, which Leverette considers to be the most important aspect of the program. "We talk to them about manhood, we talk to them about things that are going on in their neighborhood, we talk to them about 'what does black culture mean [and] how do you fit into that?'" Leverette said. In addition to her involvement with PLAY, Leverette is on the board of UMOJA, the umbrella organization for African-American groups on campus. "It's a group that's supposed to bring all the black organizations together under a banner of unity, to promote political awareness, to empower ourselves and to be effective in getting black people to work together on this campus," she said. Leverette is pursuing a double major in International Relations and African Studies. While she is not sure what she would like to do after graduation, her chosen career will certainly focus on helping the African American community. "Anything I do is going to be centered around uplifting my people, black people, and to obtain our freedom," Leverette said. "There's a lot of things that we need to be doing as a people to achieve our goals of liberation, things that deal with economics, education [and] politics." Leverette said no one had expressly told her why she was chosen for the scholarship, but that she felt "they wanted somebody who represents what it is to be a black person on this campus." Still, as Elliot points out, it's more than that. As a DuBois Endowed Scholar, Leverette will serve as a role model to younger residents of Dubois and will help run the house's Paul Robeson Research Center and Library. While the scholarship fund is currently at $80,000, Joanne Hanna, director of development for undergraduate financial aid, said she is confident that, thanks to an anonymous donor who gives 50 cents for every dollar donated by other sources, the fund will reach its target level of $400,000 relatively soon. Once DuBois fundraisers reach this goal, the scholarship fund will benefit more members of the African-American community. "Economically, we need to be able to support each other more as a people," Leverette said. "I hope in the future it will be able to be a full scholarship and help more black students to be able to attend here, without as much financial worry."
(09/27/99 9:00am)
An Eastern Orthodox priest and a Haverford College religion professor went head-to-head Thursday night on the topic of "Who's to Blame in Bosnia and Kosovo?" About 15 students, faculty and community members attended the debate, which was sponsored by the Penn Orthodox Christian Fellowship and held in the Newman Center library. Only a handful among them, however, were Penn students. Haverford College Religion Professor Michael Sells placed most of the responsibility for the violence and unrest in Bosnia and Kosovo on the "radicalization of Serbian society." He maintained that allegations of genocide on the part of Kosovar Albanians against Serbs were false but that the Serbs did practice ethnic cleansing against the Kosovar Albanians. Father Alexander Webster, the University's Eastern Orthodox Chaplain, on the other hand, blamed many different groups for the strife in the Balkans, claiming that "nobody's hands are unbloodied." He named as guilty parties Albanian nationalists, the Kosovo Liberation Army, the media, large groups of Serbs and the United States and Great Britain, which he called "NATO's prime movers." Despite their differences, though, both men agreed that it is extremely dangerous to place the blame on any one group. Doing so can lead the public to mistakenly view the group as "age-old hating subhumans," Sells said. While several members of the audience supported Sells' argument, Penn Transportation Professor Vukan Vuchic disagreed vehemently. The professor of Transportation Engineering called Sells' words "very biased and very damaging." Vuchic said that the bombings in the Balkans were "against United States traditions of liberty and freedom." Although the turnout among Penn students was meager, College junior Kristen Webster, former president of the OCF and Alexander Webster's daughter, said she thought the discussion was nevertheless worthwhile for the community. "It's very important to establish dialogues of this sort that allow for a variety of viewpoints but that hopefully allow the truth to shine through," she said. Others, however, thought the degree of discourse was insufficient. "There definitely wasn't enough time to discuss everything," current OCF President and Wharton senior Peter Margetis said. "Really, the University should be able to open up a much larger forum for such discussion." The discussion was the first of several in the "Distinguished Guest Lecture Series" that the OCF has planned for this year. Future topics include "The Problem with Hate Crimes Legislation" and "Can a Christian Be a Journalist?"
