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(04/07/00 9:00am)
Despite a tough loss to league power Princeton, the Quakers can still make waves at Yale and Brown. Even though losing to Princeton 6-3 last Saturday wasn't the most auspicious way to open its Ivy season, the Penn women's tennis team is still in contention for the Ancient Eight title. But whether the Quakers (8-9, 0-1 Ivy League) remain in the hunt depends on how they do this weekend when they head north to face Brown and Yale. Though neither Brown nor Yale is expected to be nearly as tough as the talented Tigers -- whose No. 1 player, freshman Kavitha Krishnamurthy, is ranked No. 20 in the nation -- beating these teams will be no easy task, as the Quakers learned last spring. When Penn faced the Bears and the Elis at home in a weekend last April, both matches were knotted at three-all after singles play. The Quakers moved on to sweep their opponents in doubles, though, and took both matches, 6-3, exemplifying the sort of intestinal fortitude necessary for Penn to win a championship. Penn's showdown against Princeton last Saturday was three-all after singles as well -- only there was no happy ending for Penn this time around. The Quakers fell hard in all three of their doubles matches, finishing the match down 6-3. "We've been working on doubles all week to make sure that doesn't happen again," Penn junior Lenka Beranova said. "From No. 1 to No. 3 [Princeton's doubles were] very aggressive and they were very prepared. We weren't being aggressive enough." To improve their doubles play, the Quakers have been concentrating on solidifying their serves and returns in practice this week. But Penn coach Michael Dowd emphasized that the most important thing the doubles teams can do this weekend is take control of the net. The Quakers feel they need to take more of the initiative when it comes to serve-and-volleying. "We have to work at not being afraid of the ball and going after it," Dowd said. In preparation for this weekend's matches, Penn junior Shubha Srinivasan also noted that the Quakers have been trying out new doubles combinations, working on being more consistent at having longer points in their singles matches. Having a healthy team this weekend will help too -- nearly half of the Quakers had the flu during Saturday's Princeton match. While the Quakers are healthy and ready to win, this weekend clearly does not mark the peak of their league schedule. Neither Brown nor Yale has an especially daunting record. The Bears are currently on a nine-match losing streak. At 1-11, they have not won a match since they played UMass in early February. In addition, Brown was edged 5-4 by Seton Hall, a team the Quakers breezed by, 8-1, on March 7. The Elis have a slightly more impressive record, as they currently are 9-7. Their most recent matches include a hard, 9-0 defeat to Cal-Irvine and a 6-3 win over Boston College -- a team the Quakers beat handily, 7-2, in March. Beranova believes that while Penn is not "expecting to blow [Brown and Yale] off the court" this weekend, the upcoming matches are definitely winnable. And despite the Quakers' loss to Princeton, the Ivies are far from over. "Just because you lose one match doesn't rule you out," Beranova said. "There are tough matches ahead of us, but there are also tough matches ahead of [Princeton]. It all depends on who's gonna take the challenge first and crush and destroy."
(04/07/00 9:00am)
The Red and Blue host Brown today, while Yale will come to Penn tomorrow. A 2-6 Ivy record last season and a loss to Princeton to open this season have left the Penn men's tennis team eager to get back on the right track in the Ancient Eight. Standing in its way this weekend are Brown (8-8, 0-0 Ivy) and Yale, which Penn will face at the Lott Courts today at 2 p.m. and tomorrow at noon, respectively. Last season, Penn managed one of its two Ivy victories by a 4-3 count at Brown, but was defeated by the Elis, 5-2, in New Haven, Conn. Penn (8-7, 0-1) is coming off a 5-2 loss to Princeton in its Ivy League opener last Saturday at home. The Tigers, who are currently ranked No. 66 in the nation, only dropped two singles victories to the Red and Blue. Penn was bested by a score of 8-6 in three close doubles matches, which have been a problem for Penn lately. The Red and Blue have been unable to win the close points, as they have claimed only one victory in nine doubles matches since returning from their spring break trip to Hawaii. The Quakers will look to make a strong singles showing and solve their doubles problems against Brown and Yale this weekend. "We're prepared," freshman Ryan Harwood said. "We've been training very hard, especially on our doubles game." Penn's singles players may have an easier road to travel this weekend against the Bears and the Elis, both of whom are closer to Penn in the rankings than the Tigers. The Orange and Black are expected to contend for the Ivy League title this season. Both of Penn's weekend opponents, however, are solid at the top of the lineup and could give Penn's front-line players trouble. Yale, coached by Alex Dorato, who is in his eighth year with the Elis, will send junior Greg Royce up against Penn's Fanda Stejskal at the No. 1 spot. Royce finished 16th last year in the Eastern Intercollegiate Tennis League Tournament. First, though, Penn must deal with the Bears. Second-year Brown coach John Choboy's team will be playing in its first match since returning from an 0-4 trip to Florida two weeks ago. Stejskal and sophomore Brian Barki will face particularly stiff opposition from Choboy's top players. Barki will face sophomore Nick Malone, who finished 22nd in singles last year in the EITL Tournament. Stejskal will have to match up against freshman phenomenon Justin Natale. Natale, a certain contender for Ivy League Rookie of the Year honors, has already garnered the No. 65 ranking in the country. He has continually impressed for the Bears, with a tournament record that already includes a second-place finish in the Eastern Regional Championships and a first-place finish in the Farnsworth-Princeton Invitational. The effort to recover strong doubles play this weekend will be an arduous one for the top Quakers pair. Stejskal and doubles partner junior co-captain Eric Sobotka will face the brunt of the Brown doubles attack, taking the court against Natale and Malone. Yale will send sophomore Chris Shackelton and junior Scott Carlton up against Penn's top duo. After a 0-1 start, Penn's Ivy season could definitely use a jump-start. The Quakers must find a way to match up against two solid programs if they hope to get in the win column this weekend.
(04/07/00 9:00am)
Midfielder Adam Solow hopes for a happy homecoming as Penn heads to Dartmouth. Today, the Penn men's lacrosse team leaves for Hanover, N.H. Tomorrow, the Quakers (4-5, 0-4 Ivy League) will try to get off the Ivy schnide against Dartmouth (3-3, 0-0). And at least one of the Quakers will be on some very familiar turf. Junior midfielder Adam Solow transferred to Penn after a 1999 season in which he led the Big Green in goals and total points. "I didn't leave because of lacrosse at all," Solow said. "I just didn't like [Dartmouth], I wasn't happy there. It wasn't the team at all. They were my friends, and I felt bad leaving them, but it just wasn't for me." Solow may have been anxious to leave Dartmouth, but now he can't wait to get back. "Yeah, I'm real excited about this game," Solow said. "I don't want to say anything that [Dartmouth will] hear and get all pissed off about, but yeah, I'd like to go up there and play well. I'd like to beat them." Penn coach Marc Van Arsdale is a bit worried that Solow might get too excited. "Adam's normally a very intense kid anyways, and I'm sure he's going to be sky-high for this one, going back to play against a lot of his good friends," Van Arsdale said. "I hope he can be calm enough, actually. It's not a matter of trying to get somebody excited to play, it's going to be more the reverse with Adam. "I'm sure he'll perform well and want to do well in front of not just his former teammates but the other friends he has up there." While Solow still keeps in contact with "a couple of people" at Dartmouth, the Wynnewood, Pa., native and Lower Merion High School graduate is pleased as punch with his relocation to West Philadelphia. "Beating [Dartmouth] would be great," Solow said. "But just being here at Penn and meeting the people I've met here has been worth it already, and beating them would just be icing on the cake." The task of icing Solow's cake shouldn't be as tough for the Quakers as their first four league contests were. Traditionally, the Big Green have been a doormat in the highly competitive world of Ivy League lacrosse. Also, the Quakers hope that the momentum they picked up from a tough 10-4 loss to perennial national power Princeton will be enough to propel them past the Big Green in New Hampshire. "Obviously that's the hope, although there's never any guarantee," Van Arsdale said. "If we can just match the intensity that we demonstrated against Princeton for the entire game, with a little bit more execution and success offensively, then we should be OK on Saturday." Van Arsdale, though, cautioned that, since the game is the Big Green's Ivy League opener, the Dartmouth players will be geared up for this game as well. "[Dartmouth is] coming off of a very big win for them this past Sunday over Denver," Van Arsdale said. "And I think that they're excited about how they're playing right now. We're certainly getting an animal that's ready to play and is going to be very up for us, since this is their first league game." "They're certainly not a Princeton," junior midfielder Kevin Cadin said. "But they're also very capable defensively, and they have some good middies that can put the ball in the back of the net." Up until this season, Adam Solow was one of those "good middies," and he perhaps has a better perspective on the Big Green than any other Quaker. "They have a good defense; they're well-coached; they're sound on fundamentals," Solow said. "They're tough, and they'll play hard for 60 minutes." Solow also commented on what it was like to have been a member of the traditional Ivy cellar-dweller. "Yeah, they've been on the bottom for awhile," he said. "I don't know how hungry they are. I haven't been up there and talked to the guys. But when I was there, I know it was always an uphill climb every year." And while the Red and Blue's season has been anything but smooth going thus far, the Quakers are very happy that Solow's on their side. "Adam's meshed very well," Cadin said. "His style of play has really fit in with our team's style, so he's really had no problems. He understands the principles of our offense, and he's very easy going and easy to get along with off the field." The easy-going Solow seems to have found a more comfortable situation here in Philadelphia, and the Quakers would certainly be much more comfortable if they leave Hanover victorious tomorrow.
(04/07/00 9:00am)
The Red and Blue travel to face Dartmouth and harvard this weekend. Heading into this weekend, Penn baseball coach Bob Seddon isn't just thinking about Dartmouth and Harvard. He's thinking about Mother Nature as well. While, regardless of the weather, his Quakers (12-10, 3-1 Ivy League) will make the trip to New England this weekend to play two noon doubleheaders -- one tomorrow at Dartmouth (10-9, 3-1) and one at three-time defending champ Harvard (8-11, 3-1) -- their journey might be all for naught. According to National Weather Service reports, showers are expected in Hanover, N.H., tomorrow afternoon, while breezy rain is expected in Boston on Sunday. "Our chances of playing this weekend are not very good, as they look right now," Seddon said. "When you're a baseball coach, you watch [the Weather Channel] like a hawk." A lost weekend for Penn would have a two-fold effect -- not only would the Quakers lose some of the steam gained from their offensive explosion in their 33-13 win at La Salle on Wednesday, but Penn would also have to make the trip back up to New England at some later point in the season. "This is not a good thing," Seddon said. "We don't want to drive up there and get postponed the entire weekend and have to go back [to Dartmouth and Harvard] again. Financially, it's terrible for your budget. It's a very expensive trip?. I don't feel like driving on a wild goose chase." Assuming baseball is played this weekend, the Quakers will try and continue their Ivy success after sweeping a doubleheader with Yale and splitting one with Brown last weekend to open Ivy play. Penn will throw the same starting set at Harvard and Dartmouth that tied up the Elis and Bears. Sophomore Mike Mattern will start the first game tomorrow, and fellow sophomore Mark Lacerenza gets the ball in the nightcap. Sunday, Ben Krantz will face the Crimson to kick off the double-dip, and impressive freshman Ben Otero will take the mound for the second game. According to Seddon, freshman Andrew McCreery, who missed his start last weekend because of the flu, is still sick and will most likely only be used in relief. If Penn can turn in the kinds of pitching performances that it did last weekend, the Quakers will be in good shape. Out of all four starters, only Mattern gave up more than four runs while Otero went the distance on Sunday against the Bears for a complete-game victory. But, in addition to battling a veteran team in Dartmouth and the league champs in Harvard this weekend, the Quakers hurlers will also have to battle the cool and crisp New England air. "I don't think anyone will go nine [innings]," Seddon said. "You have to watch [the pitchers]. The weather up there is going to be cold." Tomorrow, Penn will face Dartmouth senior pitcher Conor Brooks for the first time ever in the opening game of the doubleheader. Brooks is the Big Green's No. 1 starter and one of the top pitchers in the Ivy League. The Quakers will most likely clash with freshman James Kelly in the second game. Dartmouth's offense has been hurt of late with the absence of senior first baseman Aaron Meyer, who hit .333 last year with 11 home runs and 38 RBIs. "[We'll] be lucky enough to have [Meyer] get back for us," Seddon joked. "Dartmouth hasn't hit the ball that well. He's a big force for their team." Penn will also have its hands full with the Crimson, who have won the Ivies the last three years and are still a dangerous force. Telling is the fact that Harvard's pitchers have held opponents to a .749 OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage), whereas the Quakers have allowed much weaker foes to rack up an .836 OPS. And while the Crimson are not distinguished offensively -- their team OPS is .679, as opposed to the Quakers' .890 -- they have played tough non-conference competition, including three games at UCLA and one at Miami, ranked 16th and 24th respectively in the Baseball America NCAA top-25 poll. All four games were losses, but the fact remains that Harvard has played competitively with some of the best the country has to offer. "We've got some tough games coming up here," Seddon said. "The guys are loosey-goosey, and hopefully they're having a good time. That's the most important thing."
(04/06/00 9:00am)
The Penn men's golf team finished a respectable second in a large field of 29 teams at the George Washington Invitational this past weekend. Still, nobody had to tell freshman golfer Peyton Wallace that second place is the first loser. "We certainly expected to win," Wallace said. "The field wasn't as strong as it was in East Carolina [two weeks ago]." The Quakers were forced to play in poor conditions during the Sunday-Monday tournament. They were met with rain on Sunday and strong winds on both Sunday and Monday. "The holes that seemed easy in the practice round became extremely hard on Sunday," junior Kyle Moran said. The rain that came on Sunday soaked the fairways, which prevented the ball from rolling. In addition, the greens had been recently aerated, so the tiny holes on the green caused for a bumpy ride for the Quakers' putting. On Sunday, the Red and Blue shot a combined 313 behind the good play of Wallace, Endel Liias and Chad Perman. The three freshmen each fired an opening round of 78. Kyle Moran posted a 79, and Mike Russell put up an 85. The Quakers certainly finished stronger than they started. On day two of the tournament, the squad shot a combined score of 304. Moran led the team over the two days by posting a 74 on the second day. Russell had the best score of the day with a 73, and Wallace duplicated his first-round score of 78 on the second day of competition. Liias shot 79, and Chad Perman shot 81. The team finished in a tie with Providence and five shots in back of first-place Iona. "We could have played better, and if we played better, we would have won," Moran said. Although the Quakers can blame some of their errors on the conditions, Wallace believes the team should put the onus on its own shoulders. "We made some stupid mistakes. We couldn't make a lot of putts," Wallace said. "It's not our fault that the greens were like they were, but everybody else was putting on them." With the Ivy League Championship coming within two weeks, Penn coach Francis Vaughn seemed a little bit upset with his team's performance. "He was pretty unhappy," Wallace said. "He drove the van home fast and didn't say a whole lot." Another probable reason the Quakers came up a little short this weekend can be attributed to a lack of experience. Russell, Wallace and Liias were participating in the starting five for the first time ever. Throw freshman Chad Perman into the mix, and Penn was left with four relatively inexperienced players out of the five starters. If the Quakers hope to win the Ivies in two weeks, they most likely will need their senior captain Rob Goldfaden, as well as senior Rob Hunt and junior Todd Golditch to be in the lineup. The Quakers' underclassmen certainly do not lack talent, but just like Michigan State's basketball team showed Monday night, talent plus maturity equals championship. Hopefully for the Quakers, Vaughn will be able to solve the equation for success this weekend as the Quakers travel to Annapolis, Md., to play in the Navy Invitational.
(04/06/00 9:00am)
Progress never comes easily, especially for a first-year varsity program taking on established competition. The Penn women's golf team found this out firsthand last weekend, shooting a two-round combined score of 812 (404-408) en route to a bottom-of-the-barrel 17th-place finish at the William and Mary Invitational. The tournament took place Saturday and Sunday on the 5,862-yard, par-71 Blackheath Course at the Ford's Colony Golf Club in Williamsburg, Va. "We're kind of disappointed with [our play in] the tournament," senior captain Natasha Miller said. "We placed last -- which we've done before -- but we feel like we haven't played to our full potential." James Madison won the 17-team, 36-hole competition with a two-day score of 616 (309-304). Host school William and Mary finished in second place with a total of 626 (313-313). The Quakers were competing in the toughest field of any tournament in their short history, a field that included national powers Yale, James Madison and Methodist College. Penn coach Francis Vaughn, who also coaches the men's golf team, has set the team's goals in terms of enjoyment and improvement, not scores and tournament finishes. But until this weekend's tournament, the Quakers had seen a steady improvement in their scores dating back to last fall. In last October's Rutgers Invitational, the Red and Blue carded back-to-back sub-400 rounds en route to a two-day score of 772 (391-381). This score was a drastic improvement over the 857 that the Quakers shot in the first tournament of the fall, the team's debut outing. After Rutgers, the team looked to keep building on its success, asserting that sub-400 rounds are a reasonable expectation for future tournaments. While they came short of reaching their goal at William and Mary, the Quakers still have a positive outlook. "It's a little setback, but we'll bounce back from it," Miller said. "We just need to regroup and work on the things that need to be worked on." The Quakers' final competition of the spring will be at the Ivy League Championships, to be held April 15 and 16 at Metedaconk National Golf Club in Jackson, N.J. Before the final tournament, though, the Quakers hope to iron out some of the kinks in their games -- especially long putting -- and generally regroup as a team. "We need to step up our practices and get the most out of our time at the Philadelphia Cricket Club," Miller said. "We want to go into the Ivies with a positive attitude." The Quakers should have the use of five team members at the Ivy Championships, something they have not had at their disposal all year. Having a fifth competitor should bode well for the Quakers' scores, because only the four best scores per day count toward the team total. "It's one thing if you have a bad day and you don't have to count your score," Miller said. "It's another thing if you have a bad day and every score has to count."
(04/06/00 9:00am)
Blending the academic and the absurd, Jed Rasula, a professor at York College in Canada, and Steven McCaffrey, a professor at Canada's Queens University, presented their co-edited publication, Imagining Language, on Tuesday night at the Kelly Writers House. The two took turns reading their poetry, describing the anthology's production and explaining their theories of language to the 25 Penn students, staff and Philadelphia residents in attendance. The anthology, which was released 1 1/2 years ago to widespread academic acclaim, is a collection of language experiments from the last 3,000 years. Rasula described the work as "a huge gathering of empirical data about language." Since its release, the anthology has become a popular tool for exploring language theory -- the relationship between language and meaning -- and for teaching language all across academia. The authors said their book's success can be attributed to the wide range of subjects it addresses. Indeed, the anthology combines sociology, linguistics, literature and phenomenology in an exhaustive examination of the way in which language has evolved over time. "There was a really positive response from inside the institution, largely because it resists being pigeon-holed," McCaffrey said. "This was a project that could not be aimed at any one constituency." But, despite the project's breadth and intellectual focus, the work is considered approachable by its readers -- as are its editors. In their readings and published works, both authors maintain a degree of playfulness. "The distinction between something either serious and world-building or something humorous is not such an important one in a lot of our work," Rasula said. "A lot of this reflects things that happen by accident with language, and that can be funny." Rasula said the notion for the project developed when he was working for Ripley's Believe It or Not -- a company best known for its wax museums around the world -- on extraordinary uses of language, which perhaps set a precedent for the tone the work would later take. Though the audience laughed occasionally and seemed to appreciate many of the authors' absurd examples, the presentation did not lose its academic focus. The lighthearted and amusing aspects of the presentation, such as the poems of meaningless mutterings and nasal noises, were generally illustrative of more theoretical and serious notions on language. McCaffrey said their work on imaginative languages is celebrated for encouraging a re-introduction to language, one that could soon bear serious academic fruit. "Randomness in language can precipitate a completely different, and sometimes more productive and enlightening, relationship with language," McCaffrey explained.
(04/06/00 9:00am)
Abuse survivors will speak on College Green tonight during the annual rally. The annual "Take Back the Night" rally will be held tonight, concluding a week-long series of events focused on violence and sexual abuse against women. The rally, part of a national program, will be held for the seventh time at Penn tonight, with a march across campus followed by a survivor speak-out on College Green. Since attendance hit an all-time low last year, organizers have tried to revamp this week's program with more activities, such as panel discussions and workshops, and more advertising, including a supplement in The Daily Pennsylvanian. The rally will begin at 6 p.m. with keynote speaker Elena DiLapi, director of the Penn Women's Center, speaking about violence against women. Organizer Craig Abbs, a research coordinator in the School of Social Work, said the goal of the event was to "raise awareness that this is a problem that is extremely common." He also said the issue is particularly relevant to college students. "College age students from ages 18 to 23 -- they are at the highest risk [of sexual violence]," he said. He also said that 30 percent of college women and 16 percent of college men are victims of some sort of sexual violence. The violence against women rally will be followed by a march and a discussion group. A separate rally will be held specifically against sexual violence, where Sally Brown, a local community activist, will be the keynote speaker. This will be followed by a speak-out, in which victims and survivors are invited to talk about their trauma and recovery. Professional crisis counselors will be present throughout the speak-out. "It is very intimidating to talk about something so personal," Abbs said. But he said he hoped "Take Back the Night" would create an environment in which women and victims of sexual violence could be comfortable sharing their experiences and receiving support. DiLapi said she hoped the rally would "create a campus that's intolerant of sexual violence." She also said that some of the topics addressed would be wife battering, dating violence, acquaintance rape, harassment and childhood sexual abuse. She said the speak-out "was created as a place for empowerment for survivors" and to "honor the courage of survivors." She added that she hoped both men and women would come out to show their support and relate their stories.
(04/06/00 9:00am)
Police officers, students and counselors joined together at Civic House last night for a panel discussion on sexual violence at Penn. The event was part of "Take Back the Night," a week-long series of programs and discussions designed to raise awareness of sexual violence against women. The six panelists in attendance included representatives of the Division of Public Safety, the Office of Student Conduct, Counseling and Psychological Services and the Penn Women's Center. Before an audience of 10 students and Penn staff members, the panel members discussed the roles of their individual organizations in preventing sexual violence at Penn and providing assistance for its victims. "We are totally victim-driven," said Patricia Brennan, interim director of the Special Services sector of the Division of Public Safety. She went on to describe the process by which victims of sexual violence can report a crime to one of Penn's support organizations, and she emphasized that they can receive confidentiality if they so desire. Kurt Conklin, the advisor of the campus group Students Together Against Acquaintance Rape, also stressed that Penn's support network is extensive. "We're really blessed at this university that there are so many resources for victims of crime," said Conklin, who works for Penn's Office of Health Education. However, much of the discussion focused on the fact that, for a variety of reasons, these support systems remain largely unused by Penn students since many incidents of sexual assault go unreported. "If you were to go by our office's statistics, there is no issue of sexual violence at Penn," OSC Director Michelle Goldfarb said. Several panel members emphasized that Penn's numbers are therefore not completely accurate, since it would be illogical to assume that such a large university could have so few incidents of sexual assault. "It is one of the most under-reported matters on campus? and because it's under-reported, it's also under-addressed," Goldfarb said. Panelists and audience members agreed that more needs to be done to encourage women to come forward when they have been assaulted. And they said the fact that women have been hesitant to report such crimes in the past has only added to the problem. "We need people to come forward and say to these victims, 'You're not alone here,'" Brennan said. She and the other panelists also emphasized the importance of reporting sexual crimes even if victims cannot provide proof to back up such claims. "It's hard to prove, and in our system it ought to be," Goldfarb said of sexual allegations. "But that doesn't mean there's no point in coming forward." Craig Abbs, an employee of Penn's School of Social Work who sat in on the discussion and organized this evening's "Take Back The Night" event, said it is important to support people who come forward to report a sexual crime. "We need to let victims know that regardless of whether or not there is any legal evidence to prove your case, you will always be believed," he said. And according to University Police Officer Stacy Livingston, who coordinates the department's free Rape Aggression Defense seminars, it is imperative that organizations continue to assist the Penn community. "Being a teenager in the year 2000 is nothing like it was for me in the 1970s," Livingston said. "But one thing remains the same: You're responsible for your own safety."
(04/06/00 9:00am)
The Quakers scored in all but one inning at LaSalle and set a team record for runs scored. Usually in baseball, a number as big as 33 is seen only on the back of a player's uniform, not on the scoreboard. But at La Salle's De Vincent Field yesterday evening, after over four hours of play between the Quakers and the Explorers, a 33 shined unexpectedly in the runs column for the Penn baseball team. The amazing tally for the Quakers (12-10) in their 33-13 walloping of the Explorers (3-22) shattered their old team record of 29 runs in a game, wowing even veteran coach Bob Seddon in the dugout. "Unbelievable. I've never seen anything like this," said Seddon, who is in his 30th year of coaching the Red and Blue. "We just pounded the ball." Chief among the Penn pounders was senior Jeff Gregorio, who was moved from his usual catcher position into the designated hitter slot for the 3:30 p.m. start against La Salle. Gregorio responded to his new role by hitting for the cycle with two singles, a double, a triple and a grand slam homer in the top of the ninth inning that capped off the 33-run barrage for the Red and Blue. In all, the senior was responsible for 11 of Penn's 27 runs batted in and six of his team's season-high 27 hits in a night that he will not soon forget. "It was probably the best game I've ever played, hitting-wise," Gregorio said with a chuckle in his voice. "The ball was huge today. It was a really great day to hit." Two of Gregorio's fellow seniors also contributed greatly to the record-setting batting performance by the team. Shortstop Glen Ambrosius contributed five hits and five RBI in six at bats, and center fielder Kevin McCabe tallied four hits in eight at bats while driving home three runners from the leadoff position. In all, eight of the Quakers' nine starting batters recorded at least one hit, as did two of Penn's five substitutes who entered the game. "The whole team just played really well today," Gregorio said. "Midweek games we usually come out flat, [but] I hope this kind of attitude and this kind of intensity continues. Every guy seemed like they came to play today." With the wind blowing hard to the fences, the grass cut short and fast on the ballfield and facing a demoralized La Salle pitching staff that had been slammed for five straight losses coming in, yesterday definitely had the makings of a Penn hitter's dream. It started well enough for Ambrosius, who drove a runner home on a double, and for Gregorio, who popped in an early RBI single. But it was Chris May's second homer of the season on a two-run shot -- bringing the Quakers up 4-0 -- that served as a sign of things to come. The signs even looked good on the mound for the Red and Blue, where junior Matt Hepler forced his first two batters into ground outs and caught the next looking at a third strike to retire the side. After a promising start, however, the Quakers quickly lost ground in the second inning. Penn managed only one hit for no runs in the top of the second and took to the field after Ambrosius flied out to center field, leaving McCabe on second base. If the first inning was cake for Hepler, then the second must have been like brussels sprouts for the starter. Hepler gave up four hits to the first five batters he faced in the inning, and by the time he was relieved by junior Brian Burket, the score read 7-4 in favor of La Salle. Two more runs scored on the combination of a fielding error -- the second of the inning -- and a wild pitch before Burket could retire the side with the home team up, 9-4. "It was definitely a combination of everything," Gregorio said of the nine runs given up in the single inning. "Pitching has to be there all the time, but when you give them five outs in an inning [because of errors], it's causing the? pitchers [to] get frustrated. It's a trickle-down effect." Penn's batters slowly closed the five-run deficit while the Quakers' bullpen kept La Salle's bats at bay. After tying the score, 9-9, with four runs in the fourth inning, the Red and Blue re-took the lead in the top of the fifth when third baseman Oliver Hahl scored on a wild pitch. From there, Penn never looked back. The team scored two more unearned runs in the fifth, then unleashed 21 runs over a span of four innings to close out the game. Penn's relief pitchers were also a dominant force, allowing no runs from the third through the seventh innings when Dan Fitzgerald replaced eventual winner Greg Lee after two innings of work. Fitzgerald allowed only one hit in the seventh, but gave up four runs in an eighth inning that saw two more fielding errors by the Quakers. Paul Grumet pitched the ninth inning for Penn and preserved the 33-13 final score by allowing the Explorers no additional runs.
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Dischord and Quaker Notes learned Hebrew songs for the concert. The Israeli flag flew proudly last night as a crowd of all ages -- students and non-students, Americans and Israelis alike -- gathered to watch Israeli pop star David Broza perform at the Harrison Auditorium in the University Museum. The show -- which was sponsored by Hillel, the Undergraduate Assembly and the Consulate General of Israel in Philadelphia -- marked the culmination of the campus-wide Israel Day, an annual celebration of Israeli society and culture. The Israeli Music Festival packed in several hundred fans of Broza from all over the city. But before he took the stage, Penn Israeli dance troupe Yofi!, and two a cappella groups each performed. With an electric guitar wailing in the background, Yofi! danced to one of its standard songs, "Pitom Kam Adam." Yofi! member and College freshman Micah Liben described opening for David Broza as "a huge honor." Dischord took the stage next, followed by the all-female Quaker Notes. Both a cappella groups worked hard to learn the necessary Hebrew to be able to sing their numbers in the language for the show. Organizer Jesse Rubenfeld, a College and Wharton sophomore, arranged their songs and backup music. "We worked pretty hard," Rubenfeld said. "They put in a lot of time." Rubenfeld, who originally intended the festival to be composed entirely of student performances said he'd like to have more a cappella groups perform at next year's event. After the stage was reset, Broza, garbed entirely in black, made his entrance -- and the audience made it clear through their rousing applause that he was who they had come out to see. Despite feedback problems with the sound system, Broza did not hesitate to start his set, stopping only to tell the audience, "It's good to be back here." His last performance at Penn was in 1997 at Irvine Auditorium, and he also played in Harrison Auditorium about 15 years ago. Broza, 43, has been compared to American musicians like Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen. He has gained international renown during his 20 years as a performer and sings in several different languages. Broza opened himself up to requests and sang his repertoire of folk, blues and rock. The audience members, almost all of whom were familiar with his songs, responded by shouting out numerous suggestions and later proceeded to sing along. Breaking only occasionally to converse with the audience in English, Broza sang every song in Hebrew except one. Midway through his performance, he sang a Spanish song off of his first Spanish album, which will be released tomorrow when Broza performs in Madrid. Those who attended clapped and sang along to Broza's last song of the set, "M'tachat Hashamayim," or "Under the Sky." Applauding in response to Broza's "thank you," the audience members begged for an encore with a standing ovation. Broza then returned to the stage to sing "Yiyeh Tov," or "It Will be Alright," one of his most popular songs. At one point during the song, Broza even stopped singing and, in typical rock star fashion, allowed the crowd to finish off the line. College freshman and Yofi! member Marjie Rosenfelt said she was amazed by the performance. "I was so moved," she said. "He's among the greatest."
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The two-time defending Heps champ Tigers will also host Penn State and Villanova. The members of the Penn men's track team don't need a scoreboard to tell them how they're doing. The Quakers are more than pleased with their first two performances this spring, and the fact that neither has been officially scored has not been particularly bothersome. But to provide more of a measuring stick of how Penn stacks up against its competition, this weekend's meet at Princeton will be the first one scored this season. This will be the first peek the Red and Blue will have at the Tigers, considered by most to be Penn's peskiest adversary in its quest to win the Heptagonal Championships. The Orange and Black have been victorious in the last two outdoor Heps. Saturday holds particular importance to pole vaulter Josh Coleman, who will compete against Princeton's top man in the event, Jonathan Jessup. Coleman is coming off a solid outing at last week's Raleigh Relays in which he placed 10th in an extremely deep field. At Raleigh he was able to withstand a brisk wind that caused several of his counterparts to no-height. The junior from Arroyo Grande, Calif., realizes that any successes achieved by the vaulting unit at this stage are something of a bonus. Senior mainstay Bob Reynolds continues to take time away from the team, and junior Luke Stokes remains out of action with an injury. "We're definitely hoping for a big finish," Coleman said of the vaulters, hoping that the squad fuses at just the right time. Despite a couple of absences down South, though, the entire team seems consistently focused on the task at hand, while perhaps being ultimately driven by what is a rather distant goal. "I've seen a difference in the excitement level," said junior sprinter Laethe Coleman, who acknowledges that hosting Heps this year may very well serve as a motivating factor all season long for Penn. Coleman, of no relation to Josh although the two are roommates, feels that he is in the midst of something special, not only from a team perspective, but also personally. "This is really looking like a breakthrough season for me," said Coleman, who seems to be shedding the self-termed mediocrity that characterized his career in the past. "I have a lot more confidence than I've ever had." Coleman is not only proud of his accomplishments on the track this spring, but takes equal pride in his maturation in the locker room as he now views himself as one of the leaders who can spread the overall optimism now surrounding the Quakers. Assistant coach Tim Beach, who Coleman partly credits for his progress and one of the sprinter's staunchest supporters, agrees that a better spirit now pervades Franklin Field. He says the competitors feel good about themselves but they should be cautioned about not becoming complacent. "We have good athletes in all areas," Laethe Coleman said. "We're really a well-rounded team." With their current enthusiasm, the Quakers want to use these next few meets, beginning with Saturday's at Princeton, as preparation for what promises to be a thrilling 2 1/2 week stretch in West Philadelphia in which Penn will play host to the Penn Relays and Heps. "I'm very excited about this season. There's nothing like track and field," Laethe Coleman said.
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Penn Greeks will speak out against sexual abuse, help fund a breast cancer research center and promote Holocaust awareness -- all in a single weekend. Greek Weekend -- an annual tradition for the InterFraternity Council, the Panhellenic Council and the Bicultural InterGreek Council -- will include philanthropic projects, social events and a guest speaker for Holocaust Remembrance Day. This is Penn's second Greek Weekend. The event started in 1998, but was canceled last year after the death of Phi Gamma Delta alumnus Michael Tobin. "[Greek Weekend] is an opportunity to do something good for the community and at the same time have a really good time," said IFC President and Alpha Chi Rho brother Andrew Mandelbaum, a College junior. And according to IFC Executive Vice President John Buchanan, a Phi Kappa Psi brother, Greek Weekend is intended to showcase the strengths of the Penn Greek system. "We aim to expose the rest of the campus to all the different things that the Greek community does at Penn," said Buchanan, a College junior. To mark the beginning of the weekend, Greeks will be participating in the annual Take Back the Night rally, which protests violence against women, particularly sexual abuse. The rally is sponsored by Penn women's groups, and Panhel is co-sponsoring it this year for the first time. "Being the largest women's organization on campus, it's important that we stand up with [other women]," said Panhel President Jennifer Chanowitz, a College junior and Sigma Delta Tau sister. "We want to give the events our numbers and make them feel strong and powerful." On Saturday, the Greeks will take to the streets -- along with Penn's UC Green organization -- to pick up garbage and plant flowers in University City. The effort is part of an Ivy League-wide community service program called IvyCorps. "We'll be? trying to make the neighborhood more beautiful and more presentable," Chanowitz said. The weekend's main attraction is Saturday night's Dance for a Cure -- sponsored by the IFC, Panhel and the BIG-C -- in which participants must collect $20 in sponsor money in order to attend. The money will go toward the construction of the Rena Rowan Breast Health Center, Panhel's official philanthropic cause. Greek Weekend's final event will be an IFC-sponsored program for Holocaust Remembrance Day on Monday. At the program, a former skinhead, who is also a former member of the White Power movement will speak about racism and anti-Semitism. Other events include a Junior Panhel Powder Puff football game, a Greek Shabbat dinner, a Greek coffeehouse and an IFC-sponsored field day for the children in the PennPals mentoring program.
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The number of applicants for resident advisor and graduate associate positions in the college houses increased dramatically this year, with 40 percent more RA applications and 20 percent more GA applications than last year. The students selected for positions were notified by mail before spring break. Those who received offers from multiple college houses have time to decide which to accept before committing. "I've always liked working with people, and the college house system is a great way to get to know people," said College junior Robin Rolewicz, who will be a first-year RA in Harrison College House next year. Two hundred and seven students applied for the 90 RA positions, compared with 144 applicants last year, according to Director of College Houses and Academic Services David Brownlee. And Brownlee's office has received 114 applications so far from students interested in becoming GAs. The application process for GAs is rolling and applicants are accepted until all 111 positions are filled. "We're still looking at GAs and still getting applications from them, because the graduate school [admissions] process takes longer than the undergraduate," said Associate Director of College Houses and Academic Services Pamela Robinson, who coordinates the application process for RAs and GAs. Perhaps the greatest perk of the position is the fact that all RAs and GAs receive free housing and a free meal plan. Although the exact number of RAs and GAs renewing their contracts was not immediately available, Robinson said there were more openings for RAs this year than last because many of those currently holding the positions are graduating seniors. "There was, as usual, a very high caliber of candidates," Robinson said. Once students apply for GA and RA positions, their applications are reviewed by the appropriate house deans, who select promising applicants for interviews. Depending on the house, candidates go through one or more interviews, conducted by a panel of faculty, administrators, students and staff, who then make the selections. Robinson said the college houses look for RAs who are "very enthusiastic about undergraduate life in residence, who themselves come from diverse backgrounds in which they have often held leadership positions." She noted that students applying for RA positions frequently have worked as camp counselors. Robinson said she was particularly pleased with the number of applications submitted online using a system established two years ago. The system allows house deans to begin reading candidates' applications immediately after they have been submitted, speeding up the selection process.
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The University unveiled a prototype of the newly revamped Penn InTouch program at a meeting Tuesday attended by student leaders and faculty representatives. Penn-In-Touch 2000 will allow students and their advisors to view and manipulate schedules in new and innovative ways. Among the new features that will be added is the ability to run schedules through a variety of "what-if" scenarios that allow students and advisors to easily prognosticate whether or not their classes fulfill a specific degree's requirements. This feature will initially be available for several majors in the fall. All four of the University's undergraduate schools and the Graduate School of Education will adopt the new changes, which cost a total of about $250,000. Some of the Penn InTouch changes have already begun. In late February, the Information Systems and Computing Office implemented the first phase, entitled "Advisor-In-Touch." Faculty advisors can currently access their students' records via a Web-based program whose interface is like that of Penn InTouch, but whose functions are limited: Advisors can merely view records and approve restricted courses. Next semester, however, students and advisors will have access to the new program whose database and programming algorithms will help facilitate the rather complicated task of cross-checking courses with those that are listed as requirements. The program will sort out courses according to the criteria of whether the class fulfills a general requirement or a specific requirement for a major or concentration. Designers and students hope the new Penn InTouch will improve the University's much-criticized advising system. "It'll help advisors and students and everyone who helped put it together," said Student Nurses At Penn President Lance Feldman, a Nursing sophomore. "It's a good start toward revising the entire system." Once in place, however, only those students majoring in Classical Studies, History, Math and Sociology will be able to use the "what-if" feature until programmers can fully test the feature for all majors in the database. Students will ultimately be able to see whether or not they meet the general requirements for their respective schools and see if their courses allow them to change schools or even pursue a dual degree. "I think ideally that students would have an opportunity to try out various scenarios before they even get into the advising office," said Wharton Interim Director of Academic Affairs Anne Greenhalgh, who oversees Wharton advisors. "The quality of the advising session will be greatly advanced."
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This year is a record breaking one for Penn student recipients of the prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. Awarded for excellence in the areas of mathematics, science and engineering, Penn boasts three winners of the highly competitive national award. According to John Keenan -- a professor of civil engineering systems and a member of the University's two-person selection committee, along with Assistant Dean for English Advising Alice Kelley -- this year marks a record for Penn in the number of Goldwater recipients. "It is the most we've ever seen before," he said. "In fact, last year's winner was Penn's first winner in five or six years." Penn's Goldwater scholars, who were nominated by the University based on their academic credentials, are College junior and physics major Daniel Sherman; Wharton and Engineering junior Clifford Haugen; and College sophomore Joshua Gruber, a biochemistry and physics major. Over 1,176 students were nominated by universities across the United States and Puerto Rico for the award. Of those nominated, 309 were chosen to receive the award. "Its an award that registers the potential of people [in research]," Sherman said, adding that it is encouraging to find that "the stuff I'm planning to do is worthwhile." Students who receive the award their sophomore year are provided with a two-year scholarship, while junior recipients receive one year of funding. The scholarships are intended to cover costs of tuition, fees, books and room and board, up to a maximum $7,500 per year. "The award is unique because it is geared toward people who are looking to participate in research," Keenan noted. For the application, students were asked to describe some research that they had either taken part in, or wished to participate in, as well as to provide a transcript and recommendations to the selection committee. Gruber, who has been involved in research since his high school days, has participated in medical and biological studies, including gene therapy and neuroscience. Haugen has done extensive research overseas examining marine park management technology. And Sherman's research background includes involvement in a study at a physics laboratory at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. Each student is already planning for his future, from continuing education and applying for such prestigious awards as the Thouron and Rhodes, to traveling to the Pacific Rim to conduct a hands-on study of sustainable energy sources. The organization that presents the award -- the Goldwater Foundation -- is federally endowed in memory of former Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater. In existence for 12 years, the Goldwater Foundation has to date awarded 3,021 scholarships valued in total at approximately 31 million dollars.
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The Quakers won two relatively high-scoring games at Lehigh. The Penn softball team snapped out of its recent funk with an offensive explosion yesterday afternoon in Bethlehem, Pa. After producing just one win in their last eight contests, the Quakers swept host Lehigh, 6-5 and 11-8, with something that had been missing in their last few games -- runs. And their offensive potency could not have come at a better time. The Quakers (11-16-1) are heading into the most important part of their season as they square off against Yale and Brown this weekend to kick off their Ivy League slate. Thus, the two victories were extremely important for building confidence and momentum heading into Ancient Eight competition. "The Ivy League is up for grabs this season," said freshman pitcher Becky Ranta, who tossed a complete game in the opener yesterday. "We're on a roll now, and we'll hope to carry that into this weekend." The Quakers put their hitting shoes on in the opener. After falling behind 4-1 in the third, Penn's bats caught fire. Shortstop Crista Farrell had an RBI double in the fourth to bring the Quakers within two before the Red and Blue got a little help from Lehigh's fielders to tie the game in the fifth. Penn did not record a hit in the fifth, but two Engineers errors and a wild pitch helped produce the Quakers runs. After Penn and Lehigh exchanged runs in the sixth, senior first baseman Kari Dennis provided the game-winner in the seventh, driving home sophomore third baseman Jen Moore with a single to right-center field. Ranta, who gave up four earned runs on 13 hits, set Lehigh down in order in the bottom of the seventh to preserve the 6-5 victory. Ranta picked up her seventh win on the year. While the Quakers took advantage of some Lehigh miscues and picked up some timely hits in the first game, the second game was an absolute offensive barrage that was called after five due to darkness. In just five innings of play, the Quakers produced their highest run-total of the season, scoring 11 runs on 13 hits -- this coming from the same squad that scored only four combined runs in their last three defeats. "It's nice to score a lot of runs," Farrell said. "We've been leaving a lot of runners on base and losing by a couple lately, but today we did a good job getting a lot of clutch hits with two outs." In the second game of the twin bill, sophomore left fielder Clarisa Apostol led off with a single up the middle and was driven home with a three-bagger from freshman right fielder Deb Kowalchuk. Two batters later, Kowalchuk crossed the plate with a sacrifice fly from freshman designated hitter Heidi Albrecht. But Lehigh also had some extra pop in their bats. The Engineers cut the Penn lead in half with a run in the bottom half of the first, and after a Quakers run in the second, Lehigh took a 4-3 lead behind a two-run dinger from Tara Stine in the bottom of the second. After the Quakers and Engineers exchanged three runs a piece in the third, Penn put up three more in the top of the fourth to take a 9-7 lead -- a lead that it would never relinquish. The Quakers added two more runs in the fifth, and freshman pitcher Dina Parise got out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the fifth to give the Quakers an 11-8 victory. Parise, who gave up four earned runs off seven hits in 3 2/3 innings, picked up her first collegiate win. But this was not a game for pitchers, as this slugfest produced four lead changes, 19 combined runs and scoring in every inning. The Quakers will look to continue this high level of offensive production when they host Ivy rivals Yale and Brown in consecutive double dips on Saturday and Sunday at Warren Field.
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Penn Greeks will speak out against sexual abuse, help fund a breast cancer research center and promote Holocaust awareness -- all in a single weekend. Greek Weekend -- an annual tradition for the InterFraternity Council, the Panhellenic Council and the Bicultural InterGreek Council -- will include philanthropic projects, social events and a guest speaker for Holocaust Remembrance Day. This is Penn's second Greek Weekend. The event started in 1998, but was canceled last year after the death of Phi Gamma Delta alumnus Michael Tobin. "[Greek Weekend] is an opportunity to do something good for the community and at the same time have a really good time," said IFC President and Alpha Chi Rho brother Andrew Mandelbaum, a College junior. And according to IFC Executive Vice President John Buchanan, a Phi Kappa Psi brother, Greek Weekend is intended to showcase the strengths of the Penn Greek system. "We aim to expose the rest of the campus to all the different things that the Greek community does at Penn," said Buchanan, a College junior. To mark the beginning of the weekend, Greeks will be participating in the annual Take Back the Night rally, which protests violence against women, particularly sexual abuse. The rally is sponsored by Penn women's groups, and Panhel is co-sponsoring it this year for the first time. "Being the largest women's organization on campus, it's important that we stand up with [other women]," said Panhel President Jennifer Chanowitz, a College junior and Sigma Delta Tau sister. "We want to give the events our numbers and make them feel strong and powerful." On Saturday, the Greeks will take to the streets -- along with Penn's UC Green organization -- to pick up garbage and plant flowers in University City. The effort is part of an Ivy League-wide community service program called IvyCorps. "We'll be? trying to make the neighborhood more beautiful and more presentable," Chanowitz said. The weekend's main attraction is Saturday night's Dance for a Cure -- sponsored by the IFC, Panhel and the BIG-C -- in which participants must collect $20 in sponsor money in order to attend. The money will go toward the construction of the Rena Rowan Breast Health Center, Panhel's official philanthropic cause. Greek Weekend's final event will be an IFC-sponsored program for Holocaust Remembrance Day on Monday. At the program, a former skinhead, who is also a former member of the White Power movement will speak about racism and anti-Semitism. Other events include a Junior Panhel Powder Puff football game, a Greek Shabbat dinner, a Greek coffeehouse and an IFC-sponsored field day for the children in the PennPals mentoring program.
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Penn's Nursing School offers distance-learning courses via computer. At a Memphis, Tenn., hospital, seven nursing students sit attentively while their professor lectures to them on subjects including pediatric oncology and pharmacology. But there's a difference here from a traditional nursing class -- the professor is broadcast live from Philadelphia on TV. Since 1994, Penn's Nursing School has offered students in far away places access to some of the school's specialized courses through cameras, video tapes and computers, all without having students step onto its campus. "We can ask questions and we can stop the professor if we don't understand something, just like if we were there," Cindy Burleson, a nursing student at St. Jude's Hospital in Memphis, said of the interactive broadcast. The program was originally started to increase the number of trained midwives in rural parts of Pennsylvania, explained Sister Teresita Hinnegan, a Penn Nursing professor and the director of the school's distance learning program. To this effect, the University began offering master's degree courses in midwifery at distance learning centers in the state. Now they teach in Allegheny, Scranton, Coalport and Hershey, Pa. The state pays the technological and tuition costs. Since then, the program has expanded beyond the state's borders. St. Jude doctors said the decision last fall to have Penn educate their nurses reflects the high regard they have for their colleagues in Philadelphia. "We have access to more than a dozen experts in pediatrics that we would not have otherwise," said Pam Hinds, of St. Jude's hospital. "We have a tremendous match with what's being offered and what we need." The Nursing School's distance learning program in Memphis currently offers two master's degree courses, midwifery and pediatric oncology, and St. Jude's covers the expenses. Students in Pennsylvania and Tennessee spend three to six hours a week watching lectures on their television screens while interacting with their professors in real time. During the rest of the week, the students -- who are already registered nurses -- conduct the clinical portion of their training under the direction of a Penn-appointed preceptor, who is selected by the Nursing School from a pool of applicants local to that area. "It's getting education out to people in rural areas who would never get to a campus at Penn or anywhere else, especially to women," Hinnegan said. "It's more difficult for women to leave their families." The midwifery course that Hinnegan began uses Pennsylvania's T1 Healthnet connection to link the distance learning lab in the Nursing Education Building with that of classrooms linked to the network across the state. A similar network links the Nursing School with St. Jude's. Kevin McGuire, technical manager of the distance learning center, said that the technology itself does not diminish the learning experience. "It's almost as if they're sitting in the same classroom," McGuire said. "After a while, you stop paying attention to the technology and pay attention to the people at the other end." When St. Jude's decided to expand its number of nurses trained in pediatric oncology -- the center treats the most cases of childhood cancer in the world -- they turned to Penn's Nursing School, which services the world's second largest number of childhood cancer cases -- at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "It is helping them expand in terms of the numbers of patients and in the number of services," said Nursing Professor Jan Deatrick, who is helping coordinate the program. At St. Jude's, there is also a full-time instructor supervising the seven enrolled students. As the boundaries of technology are pushed further forward, popular expectations abound that flesh-and-blood professors will be replaced by pre-recorded lectures. But according to Hinnegan, given the nature of the nursing field, that won't ever happen. "Human interaction is very important in a profession that is hands on," Hinnegan said. "We're a relationship profession."
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There were few charges filed against candidates for UA and class boards. After seeing voter turnout skyrocket for this year's student government elections, the Nominations and Elections Committee will announce the fate of the Undergraduate Assembly and class board candidates tonight. The NEC announced yesterday that approximately 2,508 students -- about 30 percent of eligible voters -- participated in this year's elections, the first to be done entirely on Penn InTouch. The number is nearly double that of last year's election turnout, when 1,220 students -- 17 percent of the voters -- cast ballots. Election results will be announced after the NEC's Fair Practices Code hearing at Steinberg-Dietrich Hall tonight at 7 p.m. During the hearing, the NEC reviews any campaign violations brought to its attention by other candidates. There were few alleged violations this year. Senior class treasurer candidate Matthew Thornton charged the NEC itself with violating the FPC because of an incorrect link from the Penn InTouch election page to his picture. And three candidates were automatically disqualified from the races for not handing in their spending forms on time -- UA candidates Wharton freshman Christopher McLeester, College junior Maria Wormack and Sophomore Class Board candidate Nicole Shevins, a Wharton freshman. NEC members attribute the high turnout to the new and versatile voting platform -- Penn InTouch -- which allowed students to cast their ballots with little or no problems. "The first year on Penn InTouch was great," NEC Vice Chairwoman of Elections Teresa Lee said last night. "The UA will have more legitimacy," the Wharton and Engineering junior added, saying that the high voter turnout will give students a student government more representative of their interests than it has been in the past. Lee added that the freshman class was the most active voting group. Approximately 1,000 of the 2,508 students who cast ballots were first-year students. Of the 59 students running for the 25 seats for upperclassmen on the Undergraduate Assembly, 14 of them are incumbents seeking re-election. Eight seats on the 33-member assembly are reserved for next year's freshman class. Thirty-four candidates ran for the 16 available College seats. Of the 34 students, seven are College UA incumbents. There were nine students running for the four seats available for Engineering students on the UA, of which three are incumbents. Fifteen students ran for the four Wharton seats on the UA, making the race the most competitive in the elections. Of the 15 candidates, four are UA incumbents. One Nursing candidate is running unopposed for the one seat for his school. Results for the three class boards will also be announced after the hearing. Of the 56 students running for class boards, 10 students are incumbents seeking re-election. Due to the extension of the petition deadline and alleviated signature requirement for class boards, all positions have applicants with the exception of the Junior Class Board Nursing representative. This unfilled position will be filled by appointment by the NEC in the fall.
