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(01/23/91 10:00am)
College senior Dan Singer, a four-year veteran of the UA, represented himself as Fling Co-Director Todd Fruchterman on five occasions in three days, claiming that embattled rock duo Milli Vanilli would be the primary act at this year's Fling. Singer, who is also a member of University Council's steering committee, said last night that he did not intend to discredit student government. He said that he and two other members of the informal group Students Without A Cause spearheaded the hoax and meant it as a joke. The College senior, who has been one of the most visible student government leaders in recent years, called the DP as Fruchterman and said that Fling organizers felt the group would attract students. "They [Fling co-directors] feel that Milli Vanilli has a lot of minority appeal," Singer, posing as Fruchterman, explained. "This is the sort of group that would encourage lots of diverse people to show up." He also said that, due to the revocation of the group's Grammy awards last year, "they'd be cheap." But Fling Co-director Rob Cohen dismissed the claim by Singer. "Milli Vanilli is not coming to campus," he said last night. Fling Co-director Denise Rubin said she was surprised by the prank. "We're disappointed that two prominent campus organizations were forced to be involuntary partners in a totally inappropriate practical joke," she said. She added that it is uncertain whether Singer, who is also a Fling subcommittee chairperson, "still has a place with Fling." "I don't understand his motives or what the point of this was," she said. "It defies logic." There is no evidence that either the UA or the Social Planning and Events Committee, which oversees Fling, participated in or were aware of the hoax, and Singer denied they had any involvement. UA chairperson Duchess Harris said last night that "Mr. Singer's actions were in no way associated with the Undergraduate Assembly." She added that they "do not in any way de-legitimize either the effectiveness or quality of this year's [UA] administration." Fruchterman said last night that he was unhappy with his unwitting role in the prank. "I probably think that his choice [of Fling co-directors to impersonate] was arbitrary," he said. "I'm a little disappointed since I could have done without the nuisance." "I think the whole joke is in bad taste," he added. "I'm sorry I had to be dragged into it." Singer first called The Daily Pennsylvanian Sunday, claiming to be Fruchterman. He asked that a story be printed, revealing that Milli Vanilli was being considered as Fling's primary performer this year, according to "a highly placed Spring Fling organizer." He tipped his hand by revealing his home phone number, which is not the same as Fruchterman's. When Fruchterman was called at home, he had no knowledge of talking to a DP reporter about the music group. Singer was confronted last night and admitted his role in the ploy, saying that a number of SWAC members thought the joke would be funny. College senior Emily Nichols, a member of SWAC and chairperson of Conaissance, said she heard about the proposed hoax at a group meeting, but emphasized that the organization did not approve the act. Singer agreed that it was only he and two other SWAC members who organized the hoax. "I don't consider this of a devious nature, fraud or deception," he said. He added that he hopes the prank will not cause friction between the UA and SPEC. "It's not that I have a bone to pick with SPEC," he said. "Perhaps my character is flawed and I shouldn't be re-elected, but I'm a second semester senior," he added.
(01/23/91 10:00am)
For a man who has been known to lead great elk into stampedes in the Grand Tetons, leading the Wharton School may at last provide Dean Thomas Gerrity with a challenge. Jim Champe, a longtime friend of Gerrity's and the chairman of the consulting firm, Index Group, said Gerrity has always "enjoyed physical challenges." Champe said Gerrity's adventurous side led him to the Grand Tetons. Gerrity, Champe said, ignored warnings and decided to approach a herd of elk. "We caused a stampede," Champe said. He explained that Gerrity was also "a good wrestler as an undergraduate," at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has run the Boston Marathon several times. Gerrity also excelled in academics at MIT. Upon receiving his degree in electrical engineering, Gerrity was named a Rhodes Scholar and matriculated at Oxford University. Champe said he also thought Gerrity found little to challenge him at the British university -- so little that his skiing improved greatly in his years there, Champe said. Gerrity took the helm of the school in September, replacing former dean Russell Palmer, who many in the school thought had brought it new levels of prestige. Mickey Tarnepol, a Wharton alumnus who participated in the search for the new dean, said the committee was impressed and excited with the selection of Gerrity. Tarnepol said they found him "nothing short of fabulous," and expected him to "bring a tremendous insight into the needs of all the constituencies. "An awful lot of the infrastructure which had been started by Dean Palmer," would be built upon by Gerrity, Tarnepol said. "In terms of managing them and working with them, [that] will be done by Tom Gerrity." Gerrity said he was also excited by the appointment and the new challenges the deanship will bring. "I'd like to see us develop similar levels of strength in fields that are integrative and problem-directed, like entrepreneurship," Gerrity said. Champe said that he thought the new dean would bring a "humanist" approach to the school. "I think he is dedicated and will build renaissance people," Tarnepol added. "People who are going to be able to face the problems and opportunities" they will face. Gerrity came to the school via the information consulting firm Index Group, which he started and ran for several years. But Gerrity said that every fall he "felt the stirrings of coming [back] to the university. "I always planned a return [to academia] at some point," Gerrity said. "It couldn't be a more exciting time to be in management right now." Gerrity displayed an almost child-like giddiness as he talked about the future of his field. "I just salivate at the possibility of doing teaching and research," he explained, hoping to return to the classroom in as soon as three years. Gerrity's field of study in the past has included the interaction of organizational behavior and information and cognitive psychology. Apparently, others have been drawn to this excitement which Gerrity shows. Tarnepol recalled receiving a letter from an alum who found Gerrity's "dynamism infectious" at a recent alumni reception with the dean. Gerrity said that he just wants to get to work at being dean. "In terms of style, I like the word partnership," he said. "Its overused, but its healthy. Partnership amongst alumni, the school, and its students."
(01/21/91 10:00am)
Constitutional convention delegates hammered out an agreement yesterday on one of the most pressing issues facing the effort to set up a new undergraduate student government -- how to divide the student body into representable groups. Delegates agreed to have students choose representatives by class year and will likely include an additional method as well. This decision will replace the present method of electing through students' home schools. Delegates left open the possibility for school representatives also to play a role. The convention, which only eleven representatives attended, was marked by debate on substantive issues, unlike past meetings which have often been consumed by disagreements over the methods to be used for discussing proposals. While there are over 30 delegates who are eligible to participate in the convention, the low turnout has not swayed participating delegates from being confident about the adoption of their final product. Many of the members said delegates who have not attended the conventions should not be able to vote on the final proposal since they took little role in its preparation. "Everything here is final," said Todd Fruchterman, a College junior and member of the Social Planning and Events Committee. After debating several methods of selection, including by residence and student group affiliation, the delegates ruled out selection by majors and the election of at-large representatives. Most agreed that there are too many majors and potential problems with double majors and undeclared majors to make such a system practical. They also decided that lack of accessibility of representatives would make an at-large system unfeasible. Fruchterman, the director of Spring Fling for SPEC, said he thought the delegates made progress toward a final constitution. "I feel that we accomplished a lot of things today," he said. "By the end of the week, we will have set the foundation," for the final proposal. David Anderman, a College senior and convention at-large delegate, also was pleased with the progress made at the convention. "For the first time, we finally got a mandate for at least a combination," of systems for determining representation, he said. The delegates must still decide what other system will be included in representation, whether it be by residences or student groups. Members said that in a residential system, students would more likely know their representatives and would have better access to them. However, such a system might not be responsive to the needs of minority students, who tend to favor certain dormitories over others. In such a system, minority students would be more likely to run against each other, rather than against the University at large. "You're diluting the minority representation and, in a sense, the whole," said Rosalyn Evans, a College senior and delegate who represents the Black Student League and the Caribbean American Students Association. Representation by student groups would also promote regular accessibility to representatives by their constituency and would group constituencies together by common interests. Although most members supported this goals, many said such a system would over-politicize student groups and might heighten tensions within the groups. It would also be very complicated to enact, as many students are involved in more than one group while some claim affiliation with none. Delegates must still work out these problems and those surrounding the selection of candidates after election, be it by majority, plurality or proportion. They must also agree on the method for selecting the executive board steering committee membership. Current proposals include direct election by students and parliamentary selection by elected representatives.
(01/15/91 10:00am)
A University freshman was raped by a security guard at the Medical School last month, and another unidentified student was raped in her home on the 4100 block of Spruce Street December 30 in two unrelated incidents. The freshman, according to sources close to the case, was at the Medical School complex late at night and asked a University-hired security guard to escort her to her dormitory. Sources said the guard then raped her in a secluded part of the building. Sources said the guard was suspended without pay within two hours after the student reported the rape. After confessing to the crime, he was fired by the University. In the other incident, University Police officials said a student was raped by an intruder in her off-campus apartment at about 10:30 p.m., December 30. Police would not say how the intruder gained entry to the building. The student first reported the rape to the Philadelphia Police Department. University Police then picked up the report of the rape on the police radio and began a joint investigation. University Police Director John Logan said there are no suspects and would not release a description of the assailant. Both Logan and University Police spokesperson Sylvia Canada said Police Commissioner John Kuprevich has instructed them to not to release more specific details of the case until he returns from New York Thursday. Logan did say, however, the investigation was going "very well." Officials at the Philadelphia Police Sex Crimes division would not release any information on the case yesterday. University Police also declined to release any information about the Medical School rape, saying it was being handled by George Forman, the director of facilities management for the Medical School. Forman declined comment yesterday, saying only that the incident has "been handled." Forman refused to elaborate on how he handled the incident. According to Assistant Biochemistry and Biophysics Professor Jacqueline Tanaka, a faculty member in the Medical School, the student called building security for an escort, and, when he arrived, was raped by him. Jeffrey Jacobson, co-chairperson of the University Council Safety and Security Committee said the woman asked the uniformed security guard to escort her home. "He said 'I need to get a package' and took her to a room," Jacobson said. "He did this on purpose to get her alone." "It was a situation that a rational person would believe to be safe," the College junior added. Tanaka said that the woman declined to file charges, apparently in fear that if her parents learned of the incident, she would have to leave the University. Instead, Tanaka said, the student reported the incident to the guard's supervisors. "It took less than two hours to suspend him without pay," after the incident was reported to supervisor, Jacobson said. "Subsequently he admitted to it and was terminated." Some school security officers, Jacobson said, were embarrassed by the incident. He said that as long-time University employees, they worried how this would be viewed by the public. "This was a very tragic but isolated incident," Jacobson said. "The last thing we need is to have people afraid of the security system at the University." Jacobson said the security guard was hired by the Medical Complex, which includes the school, and that two background checks were done on him prior to his employment. The checks showed no prior convictions. He emphasized that the guard was not a University Police officer or a contracted guard. One officer on duty last night declined to give his name but indicated that he knew the assailant. "Regardless of how thoroughly you check a person's background an apple could go sour any day," he said. "In the past, a situation which gets out to the public, can result in charges not being filed," she said yesterday. She said in assault cases, filing charges is not necessarily the "first thing on their minds." "The goal always is to allow the survivor to gain control," she continued, saying that "the focus is how to get that control." "We always try to attend to the medical, academic and emotional needs of the survivor," she said. She added that the University's support system is one of the best in the country. "It is a model for other schools in the country," Dilapi said. "The vice provost for university life has an emergency protocol which pulls together all of the support services." These are the first publicized student rapes since the summer of 1989, when a University student was raped at 6:30 a.m. on Pine Street on her way to work.
(12/10/90 10:00am)
Al the Fruit Man is worried. The 19-year veteran of the University community who regularly sells his fruit at the corner of 37th Street and Locust Walk may, like other vendors, be forced to move if the administration goes forward with plans to extend the Locust Walk brickwork onto 37th Street. "I was told by one official of the University that I would have to relocate to some other place on campus," Al said. Al, who declined to give his last name, said he is concerned because he and other vendors may have to leave the University area if they are forced off the street. He explained that his current location is one of the few on campus that provides enough customers. "The bottom line is making a living," he said. The planned extension of the brickwork on 37th south of Locust Walk will follow the completion of the Shearson-Lehman-Hutton Quadrangle and the Mack Plaza in the area between Vance Hall, the Aresty Institute, the McNeil Building and the newly completed Lauder-Fischer Hall. Vice President for Facilities Arthur Gravina said that construction on the walk, which will be named after the class of 1962, will begin by spring of 1992 and will require about six months of work. Brickwork north of Locust Walk will be completed later, he said. Gravina added that like Al, the administration is concerned about the vendors in the area, saying that the University may allow the vendors to park and move their wares onto the new walk. "We'll have to figure out how to do that," he said. He added that the administration will work with Al and not surprise him with a decision, but said "it's not his inalienable right to sell fruit on campus." Al said that the gates which have been installed to restrict traffic during construction have already had an effect on sales. "We've all been subjected to a loss in business," he explained. Al said that his business suffered similarly when the University closed Locust Street and converted it into Locust Walk in the early 1960s. "As a result of the landscaping, all the vendors were relocated to the side streets," he said. The walk will extend to the landscaped area under construction at the corner of 37th and Spruce Streets and will feature trees, benches, lighted walkways and bike racks, according to Mark Walton, project manager for the area. Walton explained that the area, when completed, will resemble the area at 37th Street and Locust Walk which features trees forming a canopy. The area under construction will also include a large lawn area in its center, he said. Before construction of the University buildings, Irving Street ran through the area. Walton said that workers in the area have uncovered remnants of the old boulevard and the rowhouses that flanked it, which were torn up to make room for University buildings about 15 years ago.
(12/06/90 10:00am)
Although many economic forecasters are pointing to signs that indicate a recession is on the horizon, they have yet to convince 1989 Wharton School graduate Geoffrey Walsh. Walsh expects that his fledgling company, which produces watches with art works on the faces, will do "pretty well" this year. It is a modest claim for a firm which has projected that its revenues will top $1.5 million dollars this year alone. Starting in 1989 with a watch picturing Vice President Dan Quayle on the face, Walsh quickly learned that people, especially college students, were interested in having their watches display more than just the time of day. "I never expected after graduation from Wharton that I would run a watch company," Walsh said. He said that the idea for the watches, which feature works by Picasso, Toulouse-Lautrec, Degas, Dali, Renoir and Van Gogh on the faces, came out of his senior thesis. "We were producing five Monet paintings [on the watches]," he said. "The market gave us feedback about what was popular." One of Walsh's watches features an African elephant painted by noted wildlife artist Betsey Fowler, wife of Jim Fowler, who hosted the television program Wild Kingdom. Walsh said that half of the profits from the sale of this watch will go to help save the endangered African animals. He said the start-up money came from outside sources, adding that he obtained capital "very creatively." "The key was me," he said. "The company is an extension of my personality." Walsh said that he thought the watches, which cost about $65, are educational in addition to being fashionable. "This gives the average person who can't afford to go to Europe a chance to experience this art," he said. "It allows them to appreciate the art." Walsh said that the watches themselves are not the main reason he started the company. The experience of running a business, he said, has been his most valuable lesson from the project. "It's giving me the opportunity to use what I learned in Wharton," Walsh said. "You learn your marketplace and then you promote the product." Walsh said he thinks the company has potential for growth. Currently he is looking to expand into the jewelry and accessory market. But Walsh also said his company may soon be on the auction block. He is interested in pursuing a career in trade-show management and possibly purchasing a trade journal. Walsh's professors were impressed with his interest in entrepreurship. "He was excellent in the classes I taught" said Myles Bass, a management lecturer in Wharton. "He was very aggressive and had good critical reasoning ability." Walsh also received encouragement to market the project. "We talked about the kind of competition in the watch business," said Byron Dresner, director of the Wharton undergraduate division who knew Walsh when he was a student. "I explained to him the 160-hour work week and that it would involve a tremendous amount of social sacrifice," Bass said. "He was very motivated and very interested in being an entrepreneur," Bass said. "He held some pretty good summer jobs but had decided that he wanted to work for himself." Bass said that Walsh has returned to the school to share what he has learned about the business world with current Wharton students. "He has spoken to a couple of classes," Bass said. "He has always been willing to help other people."
(11/29/90 10:00am)
Dressed conservatively in a sweater and slacks, Yuri Milner looks like any other Wharton MBA candidate. But, unlike many of his classmates, this first-year student from Moscow has no plans to pursue a position in a prestigious Wall Street investment banking firm or in a Los Angeles consulting outfit. Milner, the first Soviet citizen ever to study at Wharton, instead intends to return with his degree to the Soviet Union to take advantage of the developing free markets. "My idea is to be in the most useful place in the proper time," Milner said. He said he wants to be "like a bridge" between the developing markets in his country and those in Europe and the United States. Until a year and a half ago, Milner says he was "a different man." After earning his master's degree in theoretical physics from Moscow State University, Milner took a job as a manager at a small "independent" company -- Milner hesitates to use the word "private" -- organizing business forums and conferences on topics "of interest to both Russians and Americans." This company soon began a business night school, under the auspices of Moscow State University, which hired two American professors, one in business and one in English. He then decided that he wanted to learn business the way Americans learn it, which of course meant crossing the ocean. He contacted Decision Sciences Professor Aron Katsenelinboigen, whom he knew from his childhood in Moscow. Katsenelinboigen, who has been in the U.S. since 1973, said he has known Milner since Milner was a baby. He said he thinks Milner has a bright future in business if the Soviet economy continues to liberalize. "He has many advantages," Katsenelinboigen said. "In addition to knowing the language [English], he has a very sharp mind to formulate problems and to analyze them." Katsenelinboigen also said he thinks that Milner's lack of experience in Soviet economics helped him at Wharton. "His mind was not spoiled by Marxism," he said. "They spend too much time on it in economics in the Soviet Union." Katsenelinboigen does not expect many Soviets to be able to follow Milner's example of studying at American universities, but because of the high costs, rather than the Soviet government's red tape. Milner said getting government permission to study in the U.S. used to take an "infinity," but his case was expedited with "fantastic speed." "This is the result of perestroika," he said flatly. Milner said he is grateful to John Enyart, director of admissions for the Wharton Graduate Division, who helped him navigate the American bureaucracy. Enyart said Wharton was "absolutely wowed" by Milner. "He was surprisingly articulate about his reasons for wanting a U.S. MBA, more so than many of my American applicants," he said. "He's the first the Soviet citizen to come to the Wharton who is not an emigre," he said. "It is important for the Wharton School to have as diverse a class as possible." He added that diversity is becoming important to business schools because there is more international trade than ever. Milner said the Wharton MBA curriculum challenges him. "It's a hard subject in the sense that its a broad subject," he explained. "The concepts themselves are very simple," he continued. "You don't have a very diverse mathematical derivation -- it is broader than physics but less deep." Milner becomes animated when he speaks about his homeland. "Day to day, they are living worse and worse," he said of his stalwart countrymen. "They are very afraid of the winter because we had food shortages even in autumn." Katsenelinboigen said he is not sure that Milner will be able to succeed in business when he returns to the Soviet Union. He warned that "Stalin, too, sent many people to the West, before the Great Tortures," and that there is little stopping Gorbachev or his successors from following the same path. But if the liberalization taking place in the Soviet Union continues, Katsenelinboigen thinks Milner "could achieve a lot." "In this case," Katsenelinboigen concluded, "he could have a great future."
(11/29/90 10:00am)
Engineering Dean Gregory Farrington officially opened the Chemical Engineering Department's new Advanced Chemical Technologies Laboratory at a crowded ceremony last night, declaring that the new facility will "make sure that undergraduate and graduate students get the kind of education they deserve." The laboratory, housed in the Towne Building, will give the department much needed space for faculty and graduate student research and room for lab demonstrations for undergraduates. The University, corporate sponsors, and individuals funded the $1.7 million renovations and expansion of the lab. 1955 Engineering graduate Robert Christiansen, who spoke at the event, said the new facility will improve the department. "It will help attract keen minds to study," he said. "This modernized space is beautiful, truly remarkable." The laboratory will be used for study of chemical reactors and separations, which before the renovations was carried out in a poorly organized lab space half the size. "For me, it's important space," explained graduate student Dave Parrillo. "All the equipment we had was before squashed into a little corner." David Tuohey, a graduate student and lab engineer, said he expects undergraduates to reap benefits from the new facility. "Hopefully the theory that they learned for the last couple of years will be applied down here [in the new lab]," he said. At last night's ceremony, Provost Michael Aiken focused on how the new lab would help the University stay competitive in research. Farrington said he was excited about the new facility. "It's a state of the art facility for undergraduate and graduate education," he explained. "We cannot provide education without facilities like it."
(11/27/90 10:00am)
Former junk bond king Michael Milken -- a 1979 Wharton graduate -- was sentenced last Wednesday morning to 10 years in prison for breaking federal securities and tax laws in one of the best-known cases of financial corruption in Wall Street history. Milken, who received his MBA from Wharton, faced up to 28 years for the offenses. He was indicted by a grand jury on 98 securities violations in the spring of 1989 but reached a plea bargain in April convicting him of just six crimes. Milken, 44, sobbed at points during the sentencing and stood with his head down as U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood pronounced the stiffest punishment yet in the fraud scandals that have gripped Wall Street since the mid-1980s. In addition, she sentenced him to three years' probation during which he must work 1800 hours a year in community service. He must serve at least one-third of his prison term before he can be considered for release. Milken, a former executive for the now-bankrupt Drexel Burnham Lambert, has donated millions of dollars to the University since his graduation, including a $2 million grant to help West Philadelphia community service projects. His portrait, which hung in the Wharton "Hall of Fame," was removed last May, one month after Milken reached the plea bargain with prosecutors. "I believe that a prison term is required for the purposes of general deterrence," Wood told a court crammed with 200 spectators, including many of Milken's friends and supporters. She said Milken was a man of ''talent and industry'' but that a long prison term was required to send a message to other possible securities-law violators. He was ordered to begin his sentence March 4, 1991. No federal prison was designated. The sentence capped the long, tumultuous saga of the Encino, California resident, who was first implicated in an aggressive government insider trading investigation by speculator Ivan Boesky in 1986. Sobbing at times during the 90-minute hearing, he told the judge: "What I did violated not just the law but all of my principles and values and I will regret it for the rest of my life. I am truly sorry." Before Wood issued the sentence, Milken's attorney Arthur Liman asked her to consider the financier's more than $360 million in charitable contributions and other acts of generosity. ''He will never repeat his mistakes. He is a changed person,'' Liman said. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jess Fardella countered that ''despite his talents and opportunities, Mr. Milken sought to multiply his success through the vehicle of fraud.'' Wood delayed sentencing, originally scheduled for October 1, for a hearing into government charges of additional crimes beyond Milken's guilty plea. Prosecutors revealed that Drexel paid Milken a total of $1.1 billion from 1984 to 1987, including $550 million the final year. That $550 million paycheck put him in the Guinness Book of World Records. Regulators have pinned much of the blame for the savings and loan crisis on Drexel, accusing it of plundering S&Ls; through its junk bond practices. The Associated Press contributed to this story.
(11/27/90 10:00am)
Iguanas are not usually the prescribed treatment for terminal illness, but at a nearby children's recovery center, the reptiles are filling the doctor's orders. At least two times each month, Veterinary School students involved in the Vet-Pet Program take iguanas, dogs and guinea pigs to the Ronald McDonald House, located at 3925 Chestnut Street, to interact with the children who are being treated for serious illness. And student participants, who bring their own pets, say that while some children are initially skeptical, they soon warm up to the animals. "There was one little boy who was receiving chemo[therapy] and when he saw the iguana, he was afraid to touch it at first," recalled third-year Veterinary student Mindy Cohan, organizer of the Vet-Pet Program. "But by the time the night was over, it was crawling all over him and he was really happy." The children at the center suffer from disorders ranging from cancer to facial disfigurements, and stay for the duration of their treatment. But being with the animals makes them forget their troubles for a few hours, Cohan said. "I know the animals help these kids, because I know how they help me when I'm stressed," she said. In addition to the psychological benefits the patients receive, "just holding a pet lowers your blood pressure," she said. Each hour-long visit begins when the students arrive at the house in the evening with their pet. "Basically, the kids just get to play with the animals," she said. The visits also include group activities such as "mystery pet," in which the kids try to identify a hidden animal from the clues the students give them. "We bring some animals they haven't seen before," Cohan said. "Last time, it was a ferret. They were able to guess it after we told them it started with an 'F.' " Cohan said students are careful that the animals they bring to the house are perfectly safe and will not harm, nor be harmed by, the children. "The pets we bring over are highly scrutinized because of the possible diseases they can carry," she said. The students are careful to avoid birds, because they often carry respiratory diseases even when they look healthy, and cats, because they can carry "toxoplasmosis," a parasite which can attack "immunologically suppressed" individuals. Cats are also avoided because they can scratch the children. Some unlikely pets rank as the childrens' favorite, along with the expected dogs, fish and guinea pigs. "Actually, the snakes are some of their favorites," Cohan explained. She said that the student volunteers get a reward from the experience as well. "I always feel very good as I'm leaving the house," she said. "I look at these kids and I realize how fortunate I am." Cohan said that she hopes the program is continued by future Veterinary students. "It's basically something that's good for them and good for me as well," she said. "It's good for me to be able to take time from my busy schedule." The program received rave reviews from children at the house. "I like the puppy dogs because I want to pet them," four-year-old Hugo Ramirez said. But Ramirez wasn't so fond of the iguana that the students brought to the House. He was afraid of it, "because it had big teeth." Six-year-old Alex Ogilvie said he also liked the dogs, especially one named Ninja, "because they have nice fur and I like to pet them." Ogilvie was also fascinated by the ferret, the mystery pet. "I like how they stretch and bring their feet up to their heads," he said.
(11/27/90 10:00am)
The school often perceived by its students as "user-friendly" may recently have become even friendlier. Several students in the Nursing School have organized an umbrella group, aimed at increasing interaction between graduate, master's program and undergraduate students. The group will provide everything from mentoring programs and career counseling to a structure for student activities. One of the main goals of the Joint Council, formed last spring, is to combat the "disjointedness" in the organization of the activities within the school, according to Nursing doctoral student Peter Preziosi, who founded the Council. And Nursing senior Christi Smith, president of the Nursing Student Forum, said the group provides an invaluable channel for communication among students in the the undergraduate, master's and doctoral programs, and also promotes contact with the administration. Also, in one of the Council's main programs, Nursing undergraduates are paired with master's and doctoral students who advise them on research and career options. The Joint Council is composed of the leaders of the four main student groups in the Nursing School: the Student Forum, Student Nurses at Penn, the Master's Student Organization, and the Doctoral Student Organization. Several students who sit on the Council said they are better able to approach the administration because the groups work together to pinpoint problems. "If all three schools are together we can go to the administration and say 'These are our concerns,' " Smith said. "We're much stronger combined than individually." Preziosi, president of the Doctoral Student Organization, said the group also broadens students' awareness about post-graduation opportunities. "It exposes the undergraduates to the work that we do at the doctoral and the master's level," he said. "It shows that we are not just hospital nurses but involved in health care policy and clinical research." The forum also provides benefits for the school's master's degree candidates, Preziosi said. "The doctoral students help to ground them and assist them with the system," he said, since the master's program one-year duration allows little time for students to get to know the school and their professors." Preziosi said he expects the bonds students make in the group to pay off later. "When these people are in high-powered nursing positions around the country, we'll call them up and say 'remember working with me on Joint Council?' " he said. "It's that networking ability that we really need more of in the nursing profession," he added. Preziosi said students appreciate the interaction the Council provides and relate more easily with the upper-level students than they might with their professors. "They're not threatened by us because we're not grading them," Preziosi said. "We're still coming from a student perspective." The Council is currently planning a variety of events, ranging from brown-bag lunches with professors to a forum on health-care ethics with the Archbishop of Philadelphia. Preziosi said he expects this type of interaction between students in different degree programs to catch on in other professional schools at the University. "This could be a model for other schools in the University that have doctoral and master's programs," he said. One of the Council's first projects this year was to provide a calendar to coordinate and publicize Nursing student events. "The first thing we examined was how to organize all the information that students are bombarded with," Preziosi said.
(11/19/90 10:00am)
An Escort Service van was struck in the side last night near 30th Street Station with two University students on board, one passenger said last night. The student said no one was injured in the accident. While in the far left lane of 32nd Street, the driver tried to turn right onto Market Street and was hit when it passed in front of a truck, passenger Amy Schiffman, a College sophomore, said. University Police Sergeant Thomas Messner said no ticket was issued and there was minimal damage to the vehicles. The student whom the passenger said was the driver declined to comment about the accident. Escort Service workers would not comment about the accident last night, and no Department of Transportation and Parking officials could be reached. The driver of the truck applied his brakes but was unable to avoid striking the side of the van, Schiffman said. She said that after the van was hit, the driver pulled to the side of the road and then did nothing. "The [Escort] driver just sat there like 'duh, duh,' " she said. After pulling over, the driver of the truck approached the van, she said. Schiffman said they saw little damage to either vehicle and she said "the truck driver said 'We can just let this go if you want to.' " Moments later, Schiffman and the other passenger were picked up by another Escort van and taken to their destinations. Schiffman said she is angered by Escort Service's apparent lack of concern about the accident. She said she called Escort Service after the accident, and officials were rude to her and then hung up on her. She also said that Escort Service officials told her the driver "has been released from all responsibility" for the accident. She said she thought they treated the incident as if it "was just like an everyday occurrence. They didn't ask if anyone was hurt." She said the driver did not apologize for the accident and appeared unconcerned about any possible injuries. "He could have killed me because he decided to cut in front of the truck," Schiffman said. "He drove like he was in a video game." Schiffman said that she plans to file a formal complaint about the accident and Escort Service's handling of it. Schiffman said last night she does not know how she will get around campus now, saying that she plans to boycott Escort Service because of the incident. "I feel more likely to get in an accident in an Escort van than to get injured walking on campus," Schiffman said. Assistant to the President William Epstein last night said he had not heard of the accident and added that "I haven't heard of any other accidents in my years at the University."
(11/14/90 10:00am)
Wharton Dean Thomas Gerrity and Vice Dean Janice Bellace will meet today with undergraduates to discuss their future goals for the school and to hear students' concerns in their first public meeting with the undergraduate student body. "I think we're just continuing the tradition of [former Wharton dean] Russell Palmer by having an open forum," with undergraduate students, Bellace said yesterday. She added that such exchanges have been going on for "probably four or five years." "The main benefit for us is to pick up on the concerns of students so the administration doesn't seem remote," she added. She said that in the past, students have complained that officials "were not connected to the students." Student organizers said yesterday that the forum will provide students with an opportunity to meet the deans on an informal basis. "One of the reasons we're having it is because we have had a major change of leadership and Wharton undergraduates are interested in what the new deans think," said Seth Hogan, co-organizer of the forum and member of the Wharton Dean's Advisory Board. He said the 90-minute program will begin with short presentations by each dean, in which each will describe their background and outline their long-term and short-term goals for the school. After the presentations, students will be able to question officials on their views. Bellace said she expects to hear questions about the ways the school is trying to become more international in scope and methods in which students can "enhance their education" within the school. Bellace added that she also expects students will pose questions on Wharton's new curriculum. Wharton is currently revamping its curriculum for the Class of 1995 which will divide the undergraduate program into three environments of business: Societal, Organizational and Global. The meeting will start at 4:30 p.m. in Steinberg-Dietrich Hall, room 351 and is open to all students.
(11/14/90 10:00am)
The Wharton School faculty unanimously decided yesterday to require foreign language proficiency for the Class of 1995 as part of a massive restructuring of the school's curriculum. The requirement, which mandates the successful completion of four semesters of foreign language study or its equivalent, is the same as the one required of College students. Through the curriculum revisions, the school is working to bring a greater international dimension to undergraduate study. The revised program will be in place for next fall's entering class and will not affect current students. Officials say the new curriculum's increased flexibility and language proficiency will enable more students to study abroad. Few Wharton students currently study in another country because of rigid requirements. The new curriculum will be divided into three areas: the Societal, Organizational and Global environments of business. The restructuring will allow Wharton undergraduates to broaden their studies and take advantage of other University schools. Although a proposal for a language or culture requirement was approved in principle last spring, the exact requirement for the incoming freshman class was not finalized until yesterday. "Last spring there were no details in the proposal," said Edward Bowman, deputy Wharton dean for academic affairs. "This meeting laid out exactly what the requirement would mean for Wharton undergraduates." Romance Language Department Chairperson Lance Donaldson-Evans said last night that he does not know how the new requirement will affect his department. "We'll need some additional personnel to take care of the additional students," he said yesterday, adding that he does not know who will pay for these instructors' salaries. He said he expects most students would probably be interested in European and Asian languages and Russian. The additional language instructors' salaries may be paid for through tuition credits which fund courses taken outside students' home schools, Wharton Vice Dean Janice Bellace said. "When students go out of their home school, their credits follow them," she said. Officials said they expect the new requirement will inspire special sections of upper-level language classes, focusing on issues related to business. "We would want to modify some sections to include material which would be of interest to Wharton students," Donaldson-Evans said. "It's not impossible that there would be special tracks for people with interests in business." Bellace said that she thought that redesigned sections would "make the language more useful to our students and not be just some dry exercise." She said she thinks that some classes might use foreign business periodicals instead of novels in order to add relevance to business studies. This restructuring would ensure that "the essential content would still be there," Bellace said. Wharton officials said yesterday's meeting answered the questions that many faculty members had about the proposal. They said professors were concerned about how the language requirement would affect their areas, the school's reputation, and recruitment. Bellace said the move will help the school remain one of the top undergraduate business programs in the nation. "I believe that very few business schools have a language requirement," Bellace said. "In this sense it puts us on the cutting edge of management education for the next century." The school unveiled the curriculum changes now to help the admissions office sell the school to prospective freshmen, officials said. "It's an admissions recruiting issue that the admissions people will need when they go out on the road," said Anita Kravitz, director of the Wharton undergraduate division. Members of Wharton's freshman class entering next fall will be required to prove proficiency in the language of their choice, or take language classes at the University to achieve fourth-semester proficiency. Entering Wharton students will be able to place out of the requirement if they receive a score of four on the Advanced Placement test or a 650 on the College Achievement Tests. Lower scores will be used for placement into appropriate levels.
(11/07/90 10:00am)
At Barbara Hafer's Center City campaign headquarters last night, there were no whispered prayers for victory. No tears. No depressing speeches. In fact, there were no people. At 7:30 last night, the modern office from which Hafer's Philadelphia campaign was launched was silent. Cursors blinked endlessly on unwatched computer monitors. Party favors which might have heralded a new administration in Harrisburg lay unused in boxes underneath desks. An unattended radio blared pop music, not election results. It was clear that Hafer's $2 million war-chest and limited last-minute television advertisements could hardly match the well-oiled $7 million machine of her opponent. Two Republican pollsters who showed up at the 15th and Chestnut streets building to report election results from their local districts said they expected to be greeted by throngs of Hafer campaigners. Instead, they found only janitors cleaning the office after a typical business day. "I've never seen [an election eve] where everybody is absent and nobody is here to respond to anything but us," said Tommy Cunningham, a long-time Republican pollster. "I think that the people in her campaign have withdrawn their faith and hope in this candidate by leaving no one in sight, no one in charge," added Ronald Goldstein, another pollster. The two said they were told by officials at the Philadelphia Republican City Committee that victory celebrations would be held at Hafer's headquarters. Republican City officials could not be reached for comment last night. Hafer was considered the race's underdog even by her own supporters. She faced a strong Democratic incumbent in a state where Democratic voter registrations exceed Republicans' by approximately 500,000. But Goldstein held out hope for his candidate until the bitter end. "We worked very well for Hafer and we believe she achieved a lot in our division," he said.
(11/02/90 10:00am)
Women in the business world will give anecdotes and advice about their professional experiences at the Wharton School's 11th annual Wharton Alumnae Conference, being held today in the University Museum. Beginning with an address by Wharton Dean Thomas Gerrity, the day-long conference, titled "Business Women in the Nineties and Beyond: Diversity, Opportunity, Success," will address the changing role of women in the business world. "There has been a lot of talk recently about the disparity between how comapanies are treating men and women, in being proactive versus being reactive," said Wharton graduate student Donna Cahill, a conference organizer. She explained that "while some firms have gone out of their way to intergrate women into their businesses," there are still areas in which women are not on a completely equal footing as men. After Gerrity's speech, the conference will break up into six discussion groups, featuring panels of prominent businesswomen. The panels will address the ways women are involved in the business world. The "Entrepreneurial Women" panel will examine women who have started their own businesses. The panel will feature Hilary Adams Pridgen, a woman who sold her direct mail-order company to the Campbell Soup Company. "The conference allows the women here to get a perspective on the real world," Cahill said. She said that it provides an opportunity for women in the workforce to share what they have learned with the next generation of businesswomen. Rosemary Conners, associate director of alumni affairs for Wharton, said that the conference "brings together diverse constituencies, of alumni and students." Other panels will discuss women's roles in international business, in traditionally male-dominated careers, in management and in the non-corporate, public sector. Registration will be from 8:30 to 9 a.m. at the University Museum. The cost is $15 for students, $25 for faculty, $50 for alumnae and $60 for people unaffiliated with the University. The fee includes breakfast, lunch and a reception.
(11/01/90 10:00am)
In a more perfect world, a new study being done by Nursing Professor Anne Keane might not have been necessary. The five-year study, which will explore many of the problems faced by survivors of house fires, will be funded by a grant totaling over $1 million from the National Institutes for Mental Health, a federal government agency. "It's really a lot of vulnerable people in society who we will be studying," Keane said this week, adding that primarily the victims of the fires are the poor and the elderly. The professor said that the study will involve meeting and interviewing 300 to 400 people who have survived such fires. She added that she will work with area fire departments and burn units to find potential subjects. After applying for the grant two years ago, funding was approved this past August, through the efforts of Representative William Gray (D-Pa.) and Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), Keane explained. "I think that many of the grants were held because of the budget [crisis]," Keane explained. She added that hers was "a victim of that general process." Project director Mary Pickett said that "essentially it's the first study of its kind." Although there have been studies of fires in the past, they have all focused on major fires or disasters involving large numbers of people, according to Pickett. "There haven't been any studies of residential fires," Pickett said. "No one has ever actually focused on this as a problem." She added that this survey could have a tremendous impact on future rehabilitation of fire victims. "To all members of the family, the aftermath has tremendous impact," she said. She explained that "essentially the benefit [of the study] is to assist persons who experience this tragedy." The study, which will involve primarily master's and doctoral degree candidates, has already begun the pilot stage. "Right now we have nine pilot subjects," Pickett explained. She added that from initial interviews with these people, final revisions will be made to the process by which the subjects are questioned. The interviews will be conducted by professionals from the area, including nurses, social workers, and teachers. Keane explained that students will be involved in other ways, like "plugging in data," and participating in debriefing sessions. Each subject will be interviewed three times over a 13 to 15-month period and will be tracked during that period, she added. The grant is part of the school's Center for the Study of Serious Illness, an organization which is funded by large federal grants.
(10/25/90 9:00am)
Ivy-covered walls. Smiling students. Hardworking professors. These glimpses of campus life greeted high school seniors admitted to the Wharton School last spring as they slipped the school's new recruiting video into their VCRs. The video, which was produced last fall and winter, replaced a video which was sent to potential freshmen for the previous three years. Carrie Spann, associate director for the Wharton undergraduate division, said this year's video is superior because the last video did not emphasize student activities or the city. It was produced by Colin Campbell Communications, a firm which has produced videos for other University schools and is currently working on a project to commemorate the 250th anniversary celebrations. The company also makes recruitment videos for other universities. Approximately 700 to 1000 copies of the video were produced at a cost of "a few dollars per student," Bouldin said. The video, which runs about 15 minutes, features computer graphics, campus landmarks and students interacting with professors, with a synthesized rock soundtrack in the background. Several students and professors speak on the video, praising the school and the undergraduate experience there. One unidentified student featured in the video says Wharton is "the only business school where you can get a business education that's not just business." Wharton junior Ellen Kountz, also in the video, says that "there are strengths all over the University, but certainly Wharton students, and especially undergraduates, I think, get the best deal of all." Vice Dean for the Wharton Undergraduate Division Janice Bellace said the video shows prospective students the breadth of offerings available to a Wharton undergraduate, adding that "the Wharton structure allows students to avail themselves of the richness of the University." She said the video shows offerings outside Wharton because many potential students choose between it and liberal arts programs. Wharton freshman Robert Seminara said that although when he had "pretty much" decided to come to Wharton when he received the video last spring, the video gave him an idea of what to expect. And after two months at the University, freshmen said they agree with many of the video's claims about the school. But not all students agreed with the video's contention that "there are no typical Wharton students." "I think the school is diverse but since it is a business school most of the students have similar aims," said Wharton freshman Ian Weingarten. Wharton officials expect to use this video, like the previous one, for two to three years. But Bellace said some changes in the video sent out to next fall's potential class, would be helpful. She suggested that it include the school's new dean, Thomas Gerrity. "I personally think it would make it more timely," Bellace said. She said the video should highlight the new curriculum, which will be implemented in the fall, to give incoming freshmen a more complete view of the school. Wharton is currently working on revamping the undergraduate curriculum which would divide the program into several "environments," and would allow students to pursue more liberal arts courses. The school is also examining a possible language or culture requirement.
(10/24/90 9:00am)
The Wharton School was rated the number two graduate business program in the country, behind Northwestern University's Kellogg School, in a survey published in the October 29 issue of Business Week magazine. The school's rating moved up two notches from the magazines' last rankings, published in 1988. The survey was based on business ratings of school graduates and corporate recruiters, and avoided deans' opinions, which are often included in business school surveys such as U.S. News and World Report's ratings. Business Week's last survey ranked Wharton behind Kellogg, Harvard University's Business School, and Dartmouth College's Amos Tuck School. Corporate recruiters surveyed gave top honors to Wharton, which they said was "unbeatable in finance." They ranked Kellogg second and Harvard University's Business School third. The recruiters also gave Wharton MBA graduates "straight A's" as "analysts," "team players," and for their "global view." The school was the only one given such high honors in these areas, the only three ranked by the recruiters. A school had to be ranked in the top 20 percent of schools in each area to receive an A rating. Wharton fell short, however, in the ranking by its own graduates. 1990 Wharton MBA recipients gave teaching a C, curriculum a B, and gave job placement an A. Janice Bellace, vice dean for the Wharton undergraduate division, said the Wharton graduates rated the school worse in the 1988 survey, especially with regard to teaching. "There was improvement in the students' perception of graduate teaching," she said, adding that the area was given a D two years ago. Bellace, who has taught several graduate courses, said shortly after the D rating was given, officials formed a committee to examine how to improve gradutate teaching. Wharton Dean Thomas Gerrity was unavailable for comment yesterday. David Reibstein, vice dean for the Wharton graduate division, said the school has taken steps to improve teaching since the last survey, saying "there is now a direct link between the student's teaching rating and the faculty." He added that "number two out of 100 is not too bad, but I don't think I'll be satisfied until we are number one." This year, Harvard, the University of Chicago, and Stanford University filled the top five, and Tuck, the University of Michigan, Columbia University, Carnegie Mellon University and University of California at Los Angeles rounded out the top ten. Noticeably absent from the survey was the Yale School of Organization and Management. Graduates rated the school 29th out the 32 schools in the survey. The survey also measured recruiters' "favorite hunting grounds" for graduates with specific skills. In finance, Wharton was number one and in general management, the school was number four, behind Harvard, Stanford, and Kellogg. In both the marketing and production catagories, however, Wharton was absent from the top five listings. Wharton spokesperson Jean Brown said yesterday that "the Wharton School is pleased with the results of this year's survey." She added that while "any survey may be subject to factors related to sampling and research methodology," school officials were "pleased with this school's top ranking among corporate recruiters, since these executives have had the opportunity to visit the schools and to establish a true means of comparison." Vice Dean Reibstein said while the survey format provides valuable information to prospective students, it tends to oversimplify each school's offerings. "In some ways they do a disservice," he said. "[The survey] collapses all the information which is multi-dimensional into a single dimension." He added however, that surveys like these will continue to "have a dramatic impact to a very large degree." "They will legitimate Northwestern rightly or wrongly," the vice dean said. "It will have a direct impact on admissions and the number of applicants and indirectly on the ablity to raise funds and to recruit."
(10/18/90 9:00am)
The Wharton School has established nine new endowed chairs designed to draw the top Ph.D. business graduates in the nation to the University. Wharton Dean Thomas Gerrity this semester announced the new positions, all of which have already been filled, as a widening of the seven-year-old Young Faculty Development Program. Through the program, one of a few in the nation, administrators try "to attract the best young faculty to Wharton and to keep them here," Wharton Director of Development Medha Narvekar said yesterday. "The primary vehicle is the term chairs," she added. The program attracts top young graduates of national business schools to continue their academic careers at the University, providing them salary and research funds, according to Deputy Dean for Academic Affairs Edward Bowman. "Many of our major competitors have development chairs for leading faculty," Bowman said yesterday. He added, however, that few schools offer endowed chairs to attract junior professors. "It's a competitive advantage for the Wharton School in a tight labor market to be able to offer these chairs," the deputy dean said. The nine term chairs this year drew doctoral degree recipients and candidates from such institutions as Stanford University, Massachussetts Institute of Technology, the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. Each chair is endowed for five years by either a corporation or a private donor, according to Narvekar. There are currently 49 term chairs within the school, each costing a total of $50,000 for the five years. The money goes toward the professors' research and their salaries. Wharton officials found eight of the professors -- four of whom are women -- through national advertisements and recommendations from the schools from which they were graduating. Bowman said administrators asked at all the leading schools to provide names of top students. He added, however, that some students initiated contact with the school. Finance Lecturer Bruce Grundy, who came to Wharton under the new program, said yesterday that the school first contacted him about the appointment. Grundy, who was assistant professor at Stanford before being lured away by the University, will do research and work with doctoral students this semester. Next semester, he will teach a course in speculative markets to both undergraduate and graduate students, he said. Grundy added that the young faculty program provides a strong incentive for promising graduate students to come to the University, as it gives "some financial support that wouldn't otherwise be there for research." Grundy said that professors who are offered the package are likely to remain at the University because "Wharton is the kind of place that people would like to springboard to, not from." Bowman said that the new faculty are in tenure-track positions and tenure decisions will be made after their five-year terms end.
