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(03/27/00 10:00am)
Last March, the Penn women's tennis team edged Boston College, 5-4, in a tight battle in California that came down to the final doubles match. On Saturday, however, the Quakers had little trouble beating the Eagles, 7-2, at Penn's Lott Courts. That isn't to say the Eagles aren't formidable opponents -- their top player, Cynthia Tow, is nationally ranked and won the Harvard Invitational championship in singles last spring. But on Saturday, the Quakers did not seem to care about Boston College's past accolades in brushing the Eagles aside. "We played a great match," Penn senior co-captain Elana Gold said. "They're a tough team, but today we didn't make them look very tough." Though Tow had little trouble beating Penn junior Lenka Beranova, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 1 singles, the Quakers were undefeated in the remaining five singles matches. When the match score was 4-1, it was Jolene Sloat's three-set win at No. 6 singles over the Eagles' Ruitas Veitas that sealed the victory for the Red and Blue. After Sloat easily won the first set, 6-1, Veitas adjusted to the Penn sophomore's heavy topspin and deep shots by coming into the net and lobbing the ball. "I lost the second set [6-1] because I started playing to her game," Sloat said. "I wasn't playing the way I usually do." Sloat, who was unaware that her match would guarantee the victory, returned to her deep hitting style for the third set and made a few shots that almost sent Veitas running into the surrounding fence. Playing the decisive set on her own terms, Sloat took the match, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3. Though they didn't have much luck in singles, the Eagles proved themselves worthy doubles opponents. At No. 1 doubles, Tow and Karen Fernando held off the Penn duo of Beranova and sophomore Rochelle Raiss, 8-4. Quakers senior co-captain Anastasia Pozdniakova and sophomore Louani Bascara faced the Eagles' Barbara Privell and Mercedes Del Valle at No. 2 doubles. The Penn duo won the see-saw battle, 8-6. "They were a talented doubles team, and they were good at net," Bascara said. While the first two doubles matches were tough battles for both sides, Penn's Gold and Shubha Srinivasan expended little energy in thrashing Fernando and Veitas, 8-2. Though the score was rather unimpressive, Boston College assistant coach Bruce Pierce thought his team did very well, considering they have traveled extensively recently and were fatigued on Saturday. The Eagles' most recent trip was to Las Vegas last week, where Penn also went over spring break before it traveled to California to play Stanford and Fresno State. On their trip, the Eagles took a tough 9-0 loss to UNLV -- a team the Quakers had beaten 5-4 a few days earlier. While Pierce emphasized that his team was tired from traveling, the Quakers felt that the tough schedule they faced on the trip was helpful to them in facing the Eagles. "Boston College is good on the top of their lineup, whereas Stanford's No. 6 player is nationally ranked," Gold said. "The high level of competition we saw [over break] definitely helped us today." The Eagles are nearly the last non-Ivy competition the Quakers will face this season. Penn will face Rutgers tomorrow at 2 p.m. before meeting Princeton on April 1.
(03/27/00 10:00am)
An absolutely gorgeous spring day welcomed the Penn men's track team back to the outdoor stage -- and back home for yesterday's Quaker Invitational. Since Penn doesn't have an indoor facility to accommodate track events, the Quakers spent their winter season criss-crossing the eastern half of the nation. But competing under an almost cloudless sky and in mild temperatures for most of the day, the Quakers were appreciative to be back on the familiar turf of Franklin Field. And they began their spring season on a solid note. The meet, which included city rivals Temple, St. Joe's and La Salle in addition to out-of-state contenders Army and Delaware State among others, was not scored. But that did not mean that the Red and Blue were without tremendous individual successes, especially from one group in particular. While all of the running and most of the field events took place at Franklin Field, Penn's most notable performances came outside of the venerable stadium. On a narrow strip of land crammed between Bower Field, railroad tracks and the raging Schuylkill Expressway lay the jewel of the Quakers' efforts yesterday. That is where the Penn throwers competed -- and excelled. Penn's usual standout performers -- Matt Pagliasotti and Brent Stiles -- lived up to and exceeded expectations in their events, but it was a freshman who stole the show. Brian Chaput, a native of East Haven, Conn., threw the javelin farther than all but one other Penn thrower ever has. In his first-ever collegiate meet, he reached an incredible distance of 67.70 meters, not only qualifying him for IC4As, but already clinching an automatic berth at the NCAA Championships. And Chaput was not a one-man show. The Quakers swept first through fourth place in the javelin. Fellow throwers Charlie O'Connell, Seth Beaver and Chris Crisman also surpassed the requisite distance yesterday to participate in IC4As at season's end. "If everyone stays on track, we should have two or three more national qualifiers in the javelin and maybe one in the hammer," Pagliasotti said. Pagliasotti, who barely missed qualifying for nationals in his own right over the winter, was his usual stellar self. He took first in the discus with a throw of 46.08 meters and set a personal record in the hammer throw with a distance of 59.66. To illustrate the magnitude of this latter accomplishment, consider that the runner-up in the event was his Penn teammate Ben Williams, who threw a still very respectable 43.70, which was a personal record for the junior. Both men have tremendous potential for this season but understand that the Quaker Invitational didn't provide the most grueling test for them. "The field wasn't that good, so there wasn't a lot of competition for [Williams] and I," Pagliasotti said. That said, the Quakers throwers are still very excited about their prospects. "It's good to see that we're getting off on the right foot," said Williams, a native of Noank, Conn. It could easily be the strength of this specific group that will determine just how successful the Quakers can be in the spring season.
(03/27/00 10:00am)
After scoring the game's first goal, the Quakers struggled mightily. Tell any member of the Penn women's lacrosse team that spring is in the air, and she might argue with you. Despite the near-spring temperatures, the Quakers succumbed to a snowball effect over the weekend. After Brooke Jenkins' goal eight minutes and eight seconds into the first half gave Penn a 1-0 lead over Cornell, the Quakers held the Big Red scoreless for another six minutes until Ginny Miles put their first goal on the board to tie the game. That goal started an onslaught of seven straight goals for Cornell before the halftime buzzer finally stopped the Big Red attack. Well, stalled it anyway. Even though Penn came out of the locker room and quadrupled its first half production with another goal by Jenkins and one each from Christy Bennett, Traci Marabella and Jayme Munnelly, Cornell doubled that number and scored eight more goals en route to a 15-5 victory. Jaimee Reynolds scored four Big Red goals while Miles, Erica Holveck and Katie McCorry each chipped in three apiece. "We couldn't get ourselves out of the hole," Penn coach Karin Brower said. "There was no leadership to calm the attack or make the defense pressure hard." One person Brower normally looks to when her young team needs direction is Jenkins, who captains the Quakers. "It was definitely frustrating because [Brower] expects us to be leaders and tell the freshmen what to do, but everyone got so down and stopped playing hard," Jenkins said. "We just kept making the same mistakes over and over." According to Munnelly, impatience and poor decision-making plagued the Quakers' offense all afternoon. "I was rushed and nervous," Munnelly said. "I felt like my head wasn't there." Brower said that much of her squad suffered from the same ailment. Instead of executing set plays and passing through Cornell's trapping defense, Penn (2-2, 0-2 Ivy League) tried to run with the ball, which resulted in many turnovers and dropped balls. "After the first five minutes we didn't run a play the entire game," Brower said. "We weren't working as a team. Instead of helping each other get into the open space, we would stand there thinking, 'I'll watch her go to goal and see if she can get through three people.'" But Brower said she understood where many of these tendencies might have started. Penn's attackers have been successful in running through double teams during previous wins over slower opponents American and Villanova. "The fast midfielders are used to being able to run down the field and beat their opponents," Jenkins said. "They weren't able to adjust to Cornell's quickness." When Brower felt the game slipping out of reach, she called a timeout and encouraged her team to pass in the midfield and run the plays correctly. But when play resumed, the Quakers continued to make the same mistakes, despite her instructions. "Karin is really good under pressure," Munnelly said. "She told us to stay calm and control the ball, but we did the opposite." The Quakers' determination to run the ball was not the only deviation from Brower's game plan. After watching Cornell (5-0, 1-0) play Rutgers on film, she noticed the Scarlet Knights had better luck against goalkeeper Carrie Giancola when they shot the ball high. But after Brower shared her knowledge with the Quakers, they still shot the ball low, giving Giancola an easier time. Brower tried to frame the loss positively, calling it an eye-opener for her young team. It definitely made an impression on Munnelly. "We're going to use it as a stepping stone," Munnelly said. "We didn't play our game. That's not what we're going to be this year."
(03/27/00 10:00am)
The Quakers cruised to four straight wins before Rider swept them. So far this season, the Penn softball team has been a team of streaks. After dropping the last seven games at the end of their road trip in Florida, Penn came home to win four in a row this weekend before losing the final two games in its three-day homestand. The Quakers (8-12) came into their six-game homestand with the intention of evening their record at 10 wins and losses, and they were able to sweep both Lafayette and La Salle in consecutive doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday at Warren Field. However, Penn was unable to keep the winning streak going as they fell to Rider's strong pitching, 2-1 and 2-0 yesterday afternoon. Penn's bats, which were potent in 8-0 and 4-1 victories against Lafayette and 5-4 and 9-3 wins over La Salle, were stymied by Rider's pitching tandem of Danielle Lake and Becky Fegely, who combined to give up only one run off 12 hits. However, the Quakers blamed themselves for the sweep, rather than the Broncs' pitching. "We could have easily won both games -- especially the first game because we had more hits and base-runners," sophomore third-baseman Jen Moore said. In the first game against the Broncs, the Quakers proved unable to capitalize on opportunities. The Red and Blue left eight runners on base, wasting a solid pitching effort by freshman Becky Ranta, who gave up only five hits in a complete-game. Ranta, who pitched in three of the six games for the Quakers this weekend, has been a valuable asset to the club in just her first year of collegiate athletics. "[Ranta] was nervous at the start of the year, but she has really settled down," Moore said. "Her curveball is working great and really fooling batters? and sometimes even the fielders." In the second game against Rider, the Quakers' bats just never got going. They were able to produce only three hits as Suzanne Arbogast, who gave up only two runs off four hits, was the hard-luck loser. Penn put together a late rally in the bottom of the seventh as senior first baseman Kari Dennis worked a one-out walk after falling behind 1-2 in the count. Danielle Landolt then ripped a line drive to center, but sophomore Molly Meehan, pinch-running for Dennis, could not get to second before the throw from the center. Pinch-hitter Lisa McNeeley kept the rally alive with a base-hit to left, but freshman shortstop Crista Farrel struck out to end the game. Despite the final result, Penn coach Carol Kashow took something positive out of the close defeat. "We showed a lot of character in the last inning," Kashow said. "The lesson we'll take from today is that we're never out of any game." Kashow and her team knew there was something missing from yesterday's games. After four straight inspired victories, the Red and Blue lost their sharpness. "I think we were the better team, but there was just something missing today," sophomore left fielder Clarisa Apostol said. "On any other day, we could have taken Rider." Despite ending their homestand with two straight losses, the Quakers found reason for optimism in their first four victories. Against Lafayette on Friday, Penn won a pair of five-inning games, 8-0 and 4-1. Two freshmen led the way for the Quakers in the opener. Ranta tossed a three-hit shutout, and fellow newcomer Farrel went 3-3 with two runs and two RBI. Penn had a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the second and added two runs in the fifth and the sixth innings before the game was called due to the eight-run mercy rule. In the second game, Penn had a 4-1 lead through five innings behind the powerful hitting of Moore. The third baseman scored the first run of the game for Penn in the first inning before connecting on a two-run homer in the bottom of the third, giving the Quakers a lead they would never relinquish. The game was called after five innings due to darkness. On Saturday, the Red and Blue continued their winning ways with a sweep of La Salle. In the opener, Penn rallied to score two runs in the bottom of the 11th to come away with a 5-4 win. With the score knotted at two through the first 10 innings, the international tiebreaker came into play -- each team would begin the inning with a runner at second base. The Explorers broke the tie with a run in the 10th on a sacrifice fly, but Penn answered right back in the bottom of the inning with an RBI from freshman center fielder Deb Kowalchuk, who went 3-for-5 with two RBI in the game. An Explorers run in the top of the 11th set the stage for Penn's last-inning heroics. Sophomore second baseman Jamie Pallas singled home the tying run with the bases loaded before Dennis crossed the plate for the winning run after a wild pitch. Ranta, who gave up two runs in 11 innings, got her second win in as many days behind a strong, one-error Penn defensive effort. Penn concluded the sweep with a 9-3 trouncing in the finale. Moore and Kowalchuk went yard for the Quakers, while senior captain Michelle Zaptin and freshman Dina Parise combined for the five-hit victory. However, while Penn's offense was strong in its first four wins, it simply was not there in the Rider sweep. "We had a strong pitching effort. The defense was solid -- the only thing that wasn't there was the offense," Kashow said. "If we brought the offense, we'd be looking at six straight wins."
(03/27/00 10:00am)
Instead of showing off their tans on College Green on Friday afternoon, about 25 Penn students got to show off their brains as they vied for the chance to qualify as a contestant on a popular TV game show. At 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., auditions for Fox's new game show, Greed, were held at Cavanaugh's. The contestant coordinators of Greed, Fox's answer of ABC's television phenomenon Who Wants to be a Millionaire, stopped at Penn as part of their month-long tour of various universities in order to find contestants for a special college edition of the show, expected to air during the May sweeps period. The goal of the tournament is to play-up the rivalries between certain schools, such as Big Ten, Pac-10 and Ivy League universities. Contestants were given a short written exam to test their ability to answer questions similar to those asked on the show. Students who passed the exam were then briefly interviewed in front of the contestant coordinators and other finalists to show off their personality and poise. Around 15 of the student finalists were then photographed and the results will be taken back to Hollywood, where the contestants will be chosen. "All types of students will be represented," said Casey Slade, one of the show's contestant coordinators. "Fox prides itself on equality, fairness and diversity." Specifically, coordinators said they were looking for intellectual ability, an outgoing personality and the ability to temper nervousness. The turnout for the audition was smaller than the coordinators anticipated. In fact, Penn's showing was the smallest turnout yet of the dozen or so schools the game show has visited. Organizers attributed the low turnout to the fact that a Fox-run newspaper advertisement, intended to notify students of the event, was not sent out. Nonetheless, the students that did show up said they came for good fun, healthy competition and the chance to win a whole lot of money. Few, however, said they thought they had what it took to make it to the final rounds. "I came to audition today just for the hell of it," explained College sophomore Grace Lee, who was later named as one of the few finalists. "My chances are slim to none, but I thought this would be a good activity for a Friday afternoon." Lee and the other contestants had to answer questions in topics ranging from sports to music to art, with some as seemingly bizarre as, "Of the following, list four products that are manufactured by Hostess." The scores are graded on a curve and those students who are at the far end of the curve -- which is higher for college students -- were the ones selected. "I like game shows and thought it was worth giving it a try," said Wharton sophomore Alan Bell, another one of the finalists. "My chances are probably not great, but this is better than writing a paper." The Greed crew has already visited the University of Michigan, Ohio State, Brown, Yale and Harvard universities and will continue on to other universities like Stanford and Columbia. Finalists will be notified on April 10 if selected and will be flown to California on April 13, 14 and 15 for the taping.
(03/27/00 10:00am)
Brown led the Ivy League with a 14 percent increase, while Penn was second with a 6.6 percent rise. Admissions applications in the Ivy League are up almost across the board, with most of the eight institutions showing increases in the number of applications received for the Class of 2004. Brown University had by far the largest gain in the number of applications received, with a 14 percent rise from last year. The Providence, R.I., school received a total of 16,784 applications this year. Penn, whose number of applications increased by 6.6 percent to a total of 18,803 applications, saw the second-greatest increase among the Ivy schools, followed by Harvard, Columbia and Cornell universities. Dartmouth College and Yale University received slightly fewer applications this year, seeing 0.9 and 3.2 percent drops, respectively. Statistics for Princeton University were unavailable. Marlyn McGrath Lewis, director of admissions at Harvard, attributed the school's 2.9 percent increase partly to the growing role of technology in the admissions process. "With the availability of information on the Web, there is some inevitability that people will find out [more] about us," she said. "And it has become more and more easy to apply [with online applications]." Mark Cannon, deputy executive director of the National Association for College Admission Counseling -- a group of admissions officers and high school guidance counselors -- said the increased use of technology contributed significantly to the rising number of applications. "Technology is improving the students' ability to search for compatible institutions," Cannon said. "Technology has enhanced communication -- college admissions officers use e-mail to communicate with applicants." Cannon said having application forms online has also played a role in the rise, adding that students who in past years would have applied to only five schools are now applying to as many as 15 to 20. Columbia reported a similar increase of 2.7 percent, seeing about 15,650 applicants for its Class of 2004. And applications rose by about 1.5 percent at Cornell University, going from 19,934 applications last year to a total of 20,200 this year. According to Cornell Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Donald Saleh, the school will likely admit about 30 percent of the applicants -- 400 fewer students than last year. Both Penn and Cornell's yield rates -- the number of students admitted who choose to matriculate -- last year were higher than expected. At Penn, this overflow led to an on-campus housing shortage last fall. In response, both schools anticipate lower acceptance rates this year. "We over-enrolled the freshman class," Saleh said. "We're making a dramatic step this year to make sure that we don't bring in a class larger than our target." Penn Admissions Dean Lee Stetson said Penn will rely on the wait-list more heavily this year to control the size of the Class of 2004. Meanwhile, Dartmouth reported 10,165 applications this year, just slightly lower than the 10,260 received last year. And Yale University received 12,809 applications, 3.2 percent fewer than last year. Yale Dean of Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid Richard Shaw said in an interview with The Harvard Crimson this month that publicity from the high-profile murder of senior Suzanne Jovin in December 1998 might account for the smaller applicant pool this year. The Ivy schools will all be sending out their letters of acceptance to high school seniors in early April.
(03/27/00 10:00am)
Future rock stars, record producers and big-shot lawyers got some helpful advice last Thursday night in the Hill College House Library. Lawrence Gelburd, a record producer and co-faculty fellow of Hill, Graduate School of Education student Greg Dubrow and third-year Law student Kathy Liu -- both Graduate Associates in Hill -- spoke to a group of about 30 students interested in careers in entertainment. "Not only have I played in bands, but I've worked for record companies," said Dubrow, beginning the discussion. Dubrow, who has been playing with folk rock-style bands since his undergraduate years, worked for A&M; Records and played bass on Dumb, Gifted and Beautiful, the 1995 release of the Idle Wilds. Dubrow warned that the road to fame is often a long and arduous process. "People will tell you, 'Wow, signing a record deal is like the best thing that could ever happen.' It's the first step." Continuing with the talk, Liu, who will pursue a career in entertainment law, gave a legal perspective of the entertainment industry. Liu has already been hired by the New York City law firm Lobe & Lobe, which she will begin working for after she graduates. The fact that Lobe & Lobe's entertainment department handles Internet companies, music groups, movies, television and theater interested Liu. "I looked for the law firms that had entertainment departments and put them down as first choices," she explained. Finally, Gelburd presented the audience with the production end of the business. Gelburd, who graduated from Brown University with a degree in electrical engineering, found that he was much more interested in entertainment. "I decided that what I really wanted to do was make the records," Gelburd said. Gelburd then offered various strategies on breaking into the record business. "For those of you who are from big names in the entertainment business, you are probably not here because you don't need to be," he joked. Continuing on a more serious note, he gave advice to students not privileged to have a family already in the business. Gelburd stressed that budding entertainers should never be disappointed by hearing 'no,' which, he noted, is heard all too common in the process of finding work. "The Beatles were originally turned down by every major record label in Britain," he said. The discussion attracted students interested in a variety of aspects of the industry. "I have a strong interest in music and I'm at a point right now where I'm just looking for future jobs," College sophomore Adam Toro said. Regardless of how applicable the information will be in the careers the students plan to pursue, audience members said they still enjoyed receiving inside information from those who have been there. "I don't know if it's good advice or not," College freshman Scott Greenwald said. "Hopefully one day I'll find out."
(03/27/00 10:00am)
Penn cut a five-goal Harvard lead to one in the final quarter but wound up losing by three. It was a typical Saturday for the Penn men's lacrosse team -- another Ivy League game, another late comeback that fell just short. "It's getting to be a little bit of an old mantra, coming out slow and playing the last 15 [minutes] the way we should the first 15," Penn coach Marc Van Arsdale said after the Quakers, ranked 19th in the country, lost to No. 18 Harvard 15-12 at Franklin Field. "Ideally, we don't dig ourselves that kind of a hole." Five minutes into the game, the Quakers found themselves down, 3-1. Junior midfielder Kevin Cadin scored at the 3:54 mark to tie the game at three; but the Crimson scored two goals in five seconds inside the last two minutes to take a 5-3 lead after the opening frame. Junior attacker Todd Minerley netted the first of his three goals -- which tied him with freshman Alex Kopicki for the Quakers' high on the day -- to open the second-quarter scoring. Harvard, however, answered twice before Quakers sophomore Mike Iannacone scored with seven seconds left to bring the Quakers back within two before heading to the locker room. The Quakers went down early because they could not beat the Crimson on the faceoff. The Quakers lost the first-half faceoff battle, 10-4, and were shutout on second-half draws. That figure is surprising because the Quakers boast one of the top faceoff specialists in the country in junior Bill Sofield, who was fifth in the nation last year in faceoff winning percentage. "[Harvard's] kid is good too," Van Arsdale said. "Sometimes somebody gets on a streak, and Harvard got hot. If you're winning the ball you can get on a roll in this game." After the break, the Crimson outscored the Quakers 4-1 through the third quarter and the opening moments of the fourth to take an 11-6 lead with 12:51 remaining. Then, the Red and Blue started to mount their comeback. "We didn't really put together a solid effort through the whole game, [but] in the second half, we just played better lacrosse," Kopicki said. "We got some big hits from different people and some big saves from [goalie] John Carroll, which gave us some momentum." Over the next eight minutes, the Quakers scored six goals to the Crimson's two, making the score 13-12 with 3:16 to go. The comeback -- during which Penn scored half of its 12 goals -- was led by two players. One is in the midst of the initial campaign of a promising career, while the other is in the midst of his final one. Senior captain Pete Janney -- an attacker who is steadily climbing the Penn record books -- and the highly-touted freshman Kopicki scored five of the Quakers' six fourth-quarter goals. Janney, who was closely guarded by Harvard All-American defenseman Jeff Psaki all afternoon, was held without a point until 11:33 remained in the fourth, when he redirected senior Mike Kehoe's pass into the back of the net. Janney got his next point when he fed Minerley, who beat Harvard goalie Keith Cynar, to make the score 11-8. Less than a minute after Harvard freshman Matt Primm scored his third goal of the day, Janney sent a rocket past Cynar and pulled the Quakers back within three. Then, Kopicki tried to bring the Quakers the rest of the way back singlehandedly as he scored the last three Quakers goals of the afternoon over a two-minute span. Coincidentally, they were the first three goals of his career. Kopicki took a feed from Janney at 5:28 and narrowed the gap to two with his first collegiate goal. Just over one minute later, after Harvard had scored again, Kopicki barreled over a Crimson defenseman and sent the ball home yet again. He scored for the final time with three and a half minutes left, making the score 13-12 and bringing the Quakers as close as they'd been to the Crimson since the 7:07 mark in the second quarter. "Those were the first goals I've scored all season," Kopicki said. "I just kept telling myself, after I put the first one in I'd be OK, and I'd be able to relax and just play." Kopicki had actually found the back of the net earlier in the day, but the goal was disallowed because Minerley had been in the crease. Even though it didn't count, it helped Kopicki to relax. "That let all the pressure off," he said. "I gained some momentum from that and just started having fun on the field." After Kopicki's last goal, the crowd of 400 stood in anticipation of the spectacular comeback that was brewing. But the Penn fans sat as quickly as they had risen when Harvard defenseman Pete Zaremba scored a mere 12 seconds later. Primm scored again with 30 seconds left to cement the Harvard victory. "You spend a lot of energy when you're coming back," Van Arsdale said. "And [the Crimson] were able to answer when they needed to. We started chasing them and they got a couple of key goals, some of their better players made good plays at the end to do it."
(03/27/00 10:00am)
Only 25 percent of top penn administrators are female. The percentage at other Ivy schools is comparable. Each day, Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations Virginia Clark checks her numbers. With the University typically slated to take in $300 million a year in donations and gifts, Clark and her staff are responsible for a guarantee: that Penn can absorb $850,000 a day for 365 days. For Clark, the high-ranking job has meant weekly traveling, speaking at functions and meeting with a hefty pool of Penn's 225,000 alumni around the world. It may seem taxing, but Clark is just doing her job, one that has secured her a top spot in the University's senior planning committee. Together with only five other senior-ranking females at the University, Clark is one of the most powerful women at Penn. Currently, women like Clark fill a quarter percent of the top-ranking posts in the Penn administration -- a statistic similar to that of the other Ivy League schools. But none of the other schools has taken on the number of search committees Penn has in recent years, where opportunities may have arisen to bring more women to top posts. Despite seven major searches for top administrative positions, the number of female administrators at the University has remained relatively stagnant over the past three years. Standing alongside Clark at the top are University Secretary Rose McManus; Affirmative Action Executive Director Valerie Hayes; Vice President for Government, Community and Public Affairs Carol Scheman; Vice Provost for University Life Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum; and University President Judith Rodin. The other top-flight women at the University include three of the 12 University deans: Annenberg School for Communication Dean Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Graduate School of Education Dean Susan Fuhrman and Nursing School Dean Norma Lang. That leaves Penn with six women on its 20-member senior planning committee and three female deans out of 12. With few notable exceptions, the majority of the women are in posts that do not receive much on-campus attention from students. Though the numbers and visibility seem low, Penn isn't alone -- the percentages of top women are small at most major colleges and universities. "We do an awfully good job of looking for women, but we and everyone else needs to do better," McManus said. At Princeton University, five out of that school's 24 officers are women. At Cornell University, six of the 23 executives are women, while at Dartmouth College, only one of the 10 senior officers is a woman. And Penn is the only Ivy with a woman as the school's permanent president. During the past three years, the University has searched for seven major administrative positions: a Law School dean, Wharton School dean, Engineering School dean, School of Arts and Sciences dean, College of Arts and Sciences dean, University secretary and provost. Though all of those committees interviewed women for the job, only one position -- University secretary -- was given to a woman. According to the final reports last year, the search committee for the provost considered 165 candidates, 37 of whom were women. The Wharton dean search committee of last year reviewed 213 candidates and 18 women. The Engineering dean search committee came up with similar numbers, reviewing the credentials of 211 candidates, 19 of whom were women. And the most recent Law dean search committee considered 99 candidates, including 23 women. Despite the low numbers, administrators and University Trustees stress that Penn is gender-blind in its search process, pointing to other reasons why the number of women interviewed by Penn is, in all cases, paltry. Elsie Sterling Howard, the outgoing president of Penn's General Alumni Society, suggested that the current pool of women is low both in academia and Fortune 500 companies, areas from which deans and administrators are often selected. At Penn, she said, "If there were a woman as good as or better than the other male candidates, I would think the woman would get the position without a doubt." Women today represent 11.9 percent of corporate officers in America's 500 largest companies, according to an annual census published by Catalyst, a non-profit research organization that aims to advance women in the workplace. "Higher education, in my experience, hasn't been particularly enlightened by women," Scheman noted. "When I look at my colleagues in other institutions, the vast majority of people with my title are men." Added McManus: "I think the net has been cast as wide as possible -- Penn's outreach for female candidates is definitely there." Others point to the historic differences in opportunity among men and women in the top ranks. "In leadership positions there have always been more men," Fuhrman said. "For most of us, that's the way life has always been." NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell, a 1967 College of Women graduate and University Trustee, added, "I think it's always difficult with these search committees for new deans because most often it's men doing the selecting." One top member of the administration, who wished to remain anonymous, said many candidates for deanships -- both men and women -- refuse the offer because "being a dean is not always an attractive position. Many turn it down because it forces you to let go of your research, writing and teaching." While Rodin may be known to publicly push for the advancement of women, the rules of the search process preclude her from playing an active role. Though she says she pushes committees to specifically consider women for the job, Rodin does not participate directly in the search process. "When it's a formal search committee, I always strenuously ask the committee to search all over the country particularly for women or members of minority groups," Rodin said. "I think this is a particularly gender-friendly administration that tries to get it right more often than not," she added. Indeed, Penn has established a number of organizations dedicated to the advancement of women at the top, including the Association of Women Faculty and Administrators, the Trustees Council of Penn Women and, here on campus, the Women in Leadership Series. And for now, the women who do sit at the top say they are proud to be where they are. "[The female deans] haven't even talked much about being women here because we aren't uncomfortable in the slightest," Fuhrman said. "We certainly do not feel isolated."
(03/27/00 10:00am)
When looking at that warm, moist, frosting-covered piece of chocolate cake, stop deciding and go for it. Give in to your hunger. That was part of the message delivered yesterday morning at a conference entitled "Body Image and Judaism: Accepting Ourselves, Body and Soul." Drawing a crowd of more than 50 female students, almost all of whom were Jewish, the program kicked off Body Image Awareness Week, a five-day series of events designed to bring awareness to self-esteem issues as they relate to body image. Sponsored by groups like Guidance for Understanding Image, Dieting and Eating, the Jewish Renaissance Project, Connaissance and Penn Hillel, the conference attempted to debunk the myths of what it takes to be a successful woman in today's world. "To look at eating disorders is to look at the state of gender politics in this country," said keynote speaker Karen Smith, who told the audience that 95 percent of all people diagnosed with anorexia and bulimia are women. "Whereas the feminism of 30 years ago said, 'We're hungry, and we will be satiated,' we now have women saying, 'We need nothing,'" said Smith, who is a clinical social worker at the Renfrew Center, an organization that offers in-patient and out-patient treatment to women suffering from eating disorders. Smith argued that the self-sacrificial woman has become the icon of the modern world, a phenomenon that has proved detrimental. Today's woman, Smith said, should hunger for and go after her rights -- and her piece of cake. Smith, who will be releasing a new book entitled, From Chicken Soup to Going Nuts: Hungry Jewish Women and the Body of Our Tradition, offered an interpretation of eating disorders from a uniquely Jewish perspective. In Judaism, "Food is the transmission from mother to daughter," Smith said. It is only fitting then that young Jewish women would choose eating disorders as an expression of their conflicts, she said. And when compounded with the pressures successful women encounter in what Smith called the "Barbie Doll World," many women develop eating disorders because "the emaciated woman is the sexy woman." "Women think that they're not supposed to need," College senior Helisa Katz said in agreement. "I really liked the idea of giving permission to women to want." College sophomore Wendy Shiekman added, "I loved how Karen related the good versus the bad, and how hunger in life is actually a good thing." While the discussion was geared toward Jewish women on campus, the program was intended to appeal to all women who are struggling with eating disorders. College junior Miriam Kiss, one of the organizers of yesterday's conference, said the goal was to "educate students and let them know that people are talking about the issue." "We are kind of tying the problem in with Judaism, but I think you would enjoy the conference if you weren't Jewish," College senior Jordana Riklis said. The program also highlighted a number of resources open to Penn students. Counseling and Psychological Services, Student Health Services, the Women's Center and GUIDE all offer free and confidential services ranging from counseling and treatment to nutrition guidance and information.
(03/27/00 10:00am)
The census data will be used to provide a count of citizens in the U.S. This month, Uncle Sam's looking for some answers. And by law, everyone in America must supply them. As mandated by the Constitution, this year the members of nearly every household in the United States will receive a simple questionnaire asking about their lives. The Census -- conducted every 10 years -- aims to provide the government both with aggregate data about Americans as a whole and a complete count of every citizen in the United States. "Census figures affect our lives in just about as many ways as you can imagine," explained Judy Antipin, spokeswoman for the Regional Census Center for Philadelphia. "They're used to distribute literally billions of dollars in state and federal money to communities every year." By April 1, every household in the United States is required to return the census forms that have been arriving in American mailboxes for the past several weeks. While students living off campus should fill out and return their forms like the average household, Partnership Coordinator for the Regional Census Center Lyn Kirshenbaum said dormitories and on-campus housing are enumerated as "special places," leading to a slightly different census-taking process. "A contact person and census liaison, appointed in each dorm, will hand them out to residents and collect them later on to return to the Census Bureau," Kirshenbaum said. As a result, students living on campus will not receive census forms in their mailboxes. Census forms should be available in dorms sometime in early April, past the deadline for mail-in questionnaires. Antipin also emphasized that Penn students need to identify themselves as residents of Philadelphia regardless of what they consider as their hometown. "It's important students do this because they're using services in the community where they're living, and it's important for these communities to get their fair share of resources," she said. "That's something that students often don't realize." Kirshenbaum added that there is a "huge undercount of students in the city where they're living." Five out of six American households will receive a short seven-question form asking, among other things, about the age, name, sex, race and possibility of Latino origin of every household resident. The remaining one-sixth of households will instead fill out a longer, 34- question form asking for detailed information about things like family income and educational level. A random process selects whether a household will receive the longer or shorter form. While the data will largely be used by the government to help allocate funds, Antipin also said that businesses use aggregate data about a community to help guide decisions about investing in that area. "It tells you about the workforce, and helps tell you whether your business will do well there," she explained. This year, Antipin said, the government launched the first-ever paid advertising campaign to encourage households to fill out and return the forms. She noted that census advertisements have been shown during the Oprah show and the Super Bowl. "This in an advertising campaign geared towards all kinds of special populations," Antipin said. Minorities are being especially targeted, she added, with advertisements running on Latino and Korean television channels. "Minority populations are among the groups that have historically been undercounted in previous censuses," she explained. Also for the first time, the form will be available in six languages other than English to help recent immigrants or those unfamiliar with English fill out the census form.
(03/27/00 10:00am)
The Quakers finsihed first in eight events, led by two wins by sophomore Lit Wittels. The Penn women's track team began its outdoor season on Franklin Field on Sunday with an impressive showing at the Quaker Invitational. Penn got the best of its competition, which included teams from Temple, Delaware State, La Salle, St. Francis (Pa.), West Chester and St. Joseph's. Penn coach Betty Costanza had reason to be pleased with how well the entire team performed, with standout performances coming from the women's throwing and relay teams. Sophomore Liz Wittels led Penn's field group, placing first in both the hammer throw and pole vault events. Also impressive for the Quakers was Julie Siebert-Johnson. The freshman did not compete during the indoor season, but debuted by placing a dominant first (43.34 meters) in the women's javelin throw in her first outdoor appearance. Penn came close to dominating the afternoon's events, the closest competition coming from Big 5 rivals Temple and St. Joseph's. The Red and Blue's success was a combination of the experience of the older team members and the hard work and continued maturity of the underclassmen. "Our seniors and juniors have been performing well because of experience, but the freshmen and sophomores have also stepped up. And we make a good unit together," junior jumper Jill Aronovitz said. The overall team success did not overshadow several other exceptional individual performances for Penn. Junior Bassey Adjah contributed by running the second leg of the winning 4x400 meter relay, finishing first in the long jump and logging a third-place effort in the 100 high hurdles. Junior captain JaJuan Gair also shined, placing second in the 100 high hurdles, while senior captain Ruthie Neuhaus placed second in the triple jump and junior thrower Monica Maccani placed second in both the shot put and discuss throw. Maccani did even one better by recording a strong third in the hammer throw as well. This season's Quakers -- who include 34 freshmen and sophomores compared to just 17 juniors and seniors -- look undeniably promising. Last year's team experienced painful disappointments by not measuring up to its full potential and finishing a distant sixth at the Heptagonals. However, with four events scheduled on Franklin Field's track throughout the season, this year's young outdoor team should be able to thrive. "This year's team also has a lot of potential, and we are especially hopeful with our good start," junior Regina Hendricks said. Freshman Petra Stewart, who recorded the third-fastest time in the 400-meter dash and also ran anchor for the winning 4x400 meter relay team, agreed. "It was nice that we all came out and performed well in our first meet of the [outdoor] season," she said. "This [showing] gives us a lot to build on for upcoming meets." Indeed, the Quakers have a lot to look forward to. They will need to outdo Sunday's success with five different meets scheduled throughout the month of April, including Penn Relays, April 27-29. And so far, things look promising. The Quaker Invite, which has been plagued by rainy weather in the past, took place all day yesterday amid sunshine and cool breezes which, according to Costanza, helped the meet to run very efficiently. The Quakers' next meet will take place this Saturday in North Carolina at the Raleigh Relays.
(03/24/00 10:00am)
The Quakers have twin bills with Lafayette today, LaSalle tomorrow and Rider on Sunday. It's that time of year again. As the days of March wind down and the frigid winter climate gradually lifts to make for warm spring days, Major League Baseball teams across the country prepare to leave the confines of sunny Florida to do battle up north. The Penn softball team is no different. After kicking off its season with a 14-game stretch in the Sunshine State over spring break, during which they compiled a 4-10 record, Penn will prepare for its first home games of the season. The Quakers will play three doubleheaders against Lafayette, La Salle and Rider this weekend at Warren Field. And although the trip to Florida was a great experience for the team, the Red and Blue are glad to be back in the friendly confines of West Philly. "The Florida trip brought us closer together, and we feel more comfortable with each other," senior captain and pitcher Suzanne Arbogast said. "I think now playing at Penn on our home field will be a lot easier." "I'm definitely looking forward to playing on our own field," freshman pitcher Dina Parise added. The Quakers' sub-par record going into their first home contests may be a bit deceiving, however. The young squad, comprised of mostly freshmen and sophomores, faced extremely challenging competition over the break, including the likes of Illinois-Chicago, which is ranked 20th in the nation. "We're a pretty young team and, for having eight freshmen, I think we played really well," said sophomore left fielder Clarisa Apostol, who received first team All-Ivy honors in her freshman campaign. Apostol's roommate and starting second-baseman Jamie Pallas agreed. "Our record doesn't really show how good we are," the sophomore infielder said. The Quakers will look to even up their record this weekend, as six wins would bring them to a .500 mark on the season. "We all need to play hard, hit the ball and keep our defense sharp," Pallas said. "If we play like we know how, I'm pretty confident we can take all six." This goal, shared by the whole team, is fairly realistic. The '99 Quakers swept both Lafayette and Rider, while splitting with La Salle, and this year's Penn squad, with the addition of some key freshmen, is believed to be better than last year's. "This year, we're stronger defensively and offensively," Apostol said. "If we play our game, I don't think we'll have a problem this weekend?. It will also be nice to even out our record." Despite that Penn is playing against less-than-stellar competition -- Lafayette has only one win on the season while La Salle is coming off a 30-loss 1999 campaign -- the Quakers know that they cannot take any of their opponents lightly. "Coach [Carol Kashow] always tells us that we shouldn't take anyone lightly," said senior captain Michelle Zaptin, who plays both on the mound and in center field. "We're looking at each game individually to improve our record -- we just want to take one game at a time and see how things go." However, while not being cocky, the Quakers are still bubbling with confidence going into a very important weekend. "I'm really confident in our team, and I think we should win all six games," Parise said. "It will be competitive, but we should be on the winning side."
(03/24/00 10:00am)
While only two weeks ago Penn students were talking about Super Tuesday primaries, the undergraduate community will now be focusing on the election of different leaders -- their own. Undergraduate Assembly and class board candidates were introduced to the Fair Practices Code at last night's candidates' meeting in Steinberg-Dietrich Hall. The candidates will begin campaigning today at 6 a.m. and elections will begin next Wednesday. Nominations and Elections Committee Vice Chairwoman for Elections Teresa Lee said that turnouts have been good this year, with strong responses for the UA and slightly weaker turnouts for the class boards. "Elections look like they are going to be [great]," the Wharton and Engineering junior said. "They're going to be big," College senior and NEC Chairwoman Christine Naselaris said. "[We're] expecting a high voter turnout." Sixty students will be running for 25 seats available on the Undergraduate Assembly. The eight remaining seats will be given to incoming freshmen, who will be running in the fall. This number is slightly higher than last year's, when 53 candidates were seeking spots on the UA. Of the 60 candidates, 25 percent are current UA members -- seven students from the College of Arts and Sciences, three from the Engineering School and five from Wharton -- seeking re-election. Like last year, the Wharton race for UA spots will be the tightest, as 15 candidates will be running for the four available spots. There are 35 candidates running for 16 College seats, nine candidates running for the four Engineering seats and one Nursing student running unopposed for the seat from her school. Nineteen sophomores will be running for the 10 seats on the Sophomore Class Board. Turnouts for the junior and senior class boards, however, were lackluster. As of the Wednesday before spring break, the NEC had only received a total of nine candidates for the 20 positions available. The lack of candidates caused the NEC to extend the deadline for all class board candidates to yesterday afternoon and reduce the signature requirement from about 300 to 50 signatures. Under the the extended deadline and easier procedure, 31 more students applied. Lee said approximately 25 percent of the current class board members are seeking re-election. Elections will begin next Wednesday. For the first time ever, students will be able to vote on Penn InTouch. Paper ballots will become mere memories as polling stations become unavailable for the first time. Since the elections period overlaps with fall pre-registration, Lee hopes to see a high voter turnout because students will already be accessing the site. Lee said there are no expected problems with the program at the moment. While some might have thought that this year's ballots would include referenda, Lee said that is unlikely. "At this time no one has approached the NEC [with a referendum]," Lee said. Ballots will be available online at 8 a.m. next Wednesday and the NEC will be sponsoring a "Get Out the Vote" event that day, mimicking the MTV effort to encourage young voters. Candidates will hand out pizza on College Green and will be talking to potential voters. Various performing arts groups will also be performing throughout the day. A special focus will be placed on advertising Penn InTouch, Lee said. Election results will be announced at NEC's FPC hearing on April 6.
(03/24/00 10:00am)
The Crimson have yet to play an Ivy League game, but Penn has not toppled them since 1993. The Penn men's lacrosse team has not defeated Harvard since 1993, although the Quakers came close in an 8-7 overtime loss in Cambridge, Mass., last season. Penn's (3-2, 0-1 Ivy League) long dry spell against the Crimson will doubtless be a motivating factor as Harvard visits Franklin Field tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. "We want to win just for the sake of winning," senior co-captain Bill Fowler said. "But I think that not beating Harvard over the past four years adds more pressure than [the] Yale [loss]." The Quakers lost their Ivy opener to the Elis in a close 11-10 contest in New Haven, Conn., over spring break and look to improve their Ivy record to .500 tomorrow. "Going in the hole last weekend against Yale probably puts a little more importance on the game," Penn coach Marc Van Arsdale said. "But there really are no larger implications other than [Harvard] -- a good league opponent that we haven't beaten in some time." The Crimson will be sporting an undefeated 3-0 record at Franklin Field after wins over Boston College, Colgate and Hobart. The Quakers, meanwhile, enter the contest one game over .500 after routing Lafayette last Tuesday, 20-5. "They're certainly not [Lafayette]," Van Arsdale said of the Crimson. "There's none of those in our league." On offense, the Quakers will be challenged by one of the league's best defensemen, preseason College Lacrosse All-American and Harvard senior captain Jeff Psaki. Psaki will draw the Quakers' No. 1 attackman, senior co-captain Pete Janney. "He's good," Janney said. "I've been playing against him for a couple of years now, and Jeff's always been a good matchup." Psaki won't be the only roadblock to the Crimson net tomorrow. The Quakers will also have to contend with yet another preseason All-American in junior goalie Keith Cynar, who Van Arsdale said is "probably the best returning goalie in the league." The key to penetrating this star-studded defense is to get on top early. "When a team has a good goalie, it's important to put shots on the cage and put some in early," Janney said. "You can't let the guy get motivated and fired up." While Janney and the forwards will concentrate on putting the ball in the net, the Quakers' other captain, senior defenseman Fowler, will work to prevent the Crimson from doing the very same thing. "Their big guns, their shooters, are their [midfielders]," Fowler said. "The attackers do a good job of feeding the middies, which forces us to slide." Van Arsdale is also concerned about the quality of the Crimson midfielders. "They have a lot of different personnel that can attack you in a lot of different ways," Van Arsdale said. "They switch back and forth between midfield and attack." Regardless of the recent history between these two teams, both Janney and Fowler counted the fact that the Quakers will be playing at home after four consecutive road games to weigh heavily in their favor. "It feels awesome to be back at home," Fowler said. "There's really nothing like Franklin Field." Franklin Field is different, not just because it's one of the most historic fields in the country, but because it has something the Red and Blue haven't played on for the last four games -- artificial turf. The Quakers prefer turf because they feel it lets them exploit their superior athleticism. "On turf, there's always good footing, and things are a little bit cleaner," Van Arsdale said. "Turf is better for us because we're a much quicker and faster team," Fowler said. "It prevents us from sliding and falling down." Van Arsdale is quick to point out that, while turf benefits the Quakers' speed, every player has plenty of experience on grass. "I think [the benefits of turf] can be overblown. Every guy has played every game of his life on grass up till now," Van Arsdale said. "You don't want to use [the turf] as a crutch, or for it to become a mental problem." While the Quakers do have plenty of experience on grass, it is quite obvious that they prefer the artificial stuff. "Once you experience the turf, bounce shots are a lot easier, and you can really use your speed," Janney said. "Grass is an equalizer. Turf gives more athletic teams like us an advantage."
(03/24/00 10:00am)
The Quakers scored six runs in the eighth and final inning to clinch a comeback victory. Murphy Field's opening day as the Penn baseball team's new ballpark turned out to be a three-hour-long doozy yesterday that in the end left the visiting St. Joseph's players in stunned disbelief and in possession of a 13-12 loss. Through a combination of mental errors on defense and poor decision making on offense, the Hawks (5-15) squandered a 12-7 lead that they held in the top of the seventh inning and found themselves tied, 12-12, with the rallying Quakers (6-5) late in the eighth. And with darkness rapidly descending upon the multi-million-dollar Murphy Field facility -- which has yet to have lights installed -- Penn shortstop Glen Ambrosius completed the Red and Blue's game-winning comeback before the game was called for poor visibility. The Penn tri-captain, who had been hitless in the game, stepped to the plate in the bottom of the eighth with one out and the bases loaded after seven of the last eight Quakers' batters had gotten aboard. Hawks' closer Mike Miller greeted Ambrosius with a slew of curveballs looping through the darkening batter's box, but he sealed his own fate by following with a fastball straight down the middle. "The ball was kind of hard to see," Ambrosius said. "I didn't pick it up until the end, and I just sort of threw my hands in and threw the bat at it." The senior shortstop's near-blind hit looped into shallow left field and brought home Penn's Oliver Hahl with what was apparently just the go-ahead run. But once Hahl touched the plate, the umpire signaled the end of the game, and the Quakers rushed the field to celebrate a memorable 13-12 victory to open their new park. The Hawks were shocked at the last-minute turn of the game. "It's a hard thing to swallow to see guys touching the bases with nobody out, and we're trying our damnedest to get guys out," St. Joe's catcher Rob Reed said. The most bitter pill for Reed and the Hawks came early in the bottom of the eighth from Penn's Anthony Napolitano. With two men on base after a walk and an error, Napolitano sent an 0-2 pitch from Hawks' reliever Kevin Kirkby just over the center field wall for a three-run homer that put Penn back within striking distance at 12-10. The shot was hit so straight toward the wall that neither Napolitano nor his teammates were sure whether it had flown over the yellow scoring line to go yard. "I actually didn't think it was going to get out, so I put my head down [and ran for first base]," Napolitano said. "But then I heard some hootin' and the umpire gave the finger and I just settled into my trot." Napolitano's blast prompted Hawks coach Jim Ertel to call on Miller, but the momentum had already changed in the Quakers' favor. Miller came out to walk two of the first three batters he faced, then give up an RBI double to Hahl to bring Penn within one. By the time Ambrosius came to bat, another Quaker had been walked home to tie the game. The six-run final inning was quite a change for the Quakers, who had been giving much more than they had received throughout most of the game. Mike Mattern, Penn's ace, gave up a disappointing nine runs on 10 hits -- including the first home run in the new stadium to St. Joe's Tim Gunn -- in five innings pitched. Mattern's worst inning was his last, when the Hawks lit him up for five runs on four hits. "I just didn't have it today," Mattern said. "They started timing my pitches a little better later in the game and they hit a couple balls hard and found holes." By the time Penn reliever Brian Burket took up Mattern's cause to start the sixth inning, the Quakers faced a seemingly insurmountable 9-4 deficit. Burket, though, came up big for the Red and Blue, striking out the first batter he faced and retiring the side in order. The Quakers answered Burket's effort with a three-run sixth inning to bring Penn within two. But the Hawks struck back in the top of the seventh when Burket faltered, giving away a solo home run to Reed and letting up two more runs before stepping off the mound. After Penn went scoreless in the bottom of the seventh, Quakers coach Bob Seddon called Benjamin Krantz in to hold the Hawks down as the sun began to set. Krantz managed to keep the score at 12-7 by forcing St. Joe's into a three-up, three-down top of the eighth, and the Penn offense rewarded the freshman his first collegiate win with its late rally. Despite the disappointing showing, there was a bright spot in Mattern's day. Penn's ace had been battling the flu for three days but made sure to recover in time to get the start for yesterday's first game in Murphy Field. "I didn't want to miss this first game," Mattern said. And perhaps as a good omen for the park, the first pitch ever thrown in it was a strike.
(03/24/00 10:00am)
The Quadrangle was transformed from a residential complex to a lively carnival ground yesterday afternoon, complete with kosher food, live music and entertainment and games. For two hours under fair skies and warm temperatures, the Upper Quadrangle hosted a Purim carnival sponsored by the Jewish Heritage Programs in celebration of the festive Jewish holiday. The carnival was initially scheduled to take place on Tuesday afternoon to coincide with the dates of the holiday -- from Monday night to Tuesday night-- but was postponed due to Tuesday's inclement weather. About 25 students milled about the Quad, helping themselves to food and participating in the various booths and games. The entertainment included music from the five-member Ba'al Shem Tov Band, as well as live dancing and performances from the Mummers. Kosher sushi and the traditional hamantashin -- pastries filled with jam -- were spread out along tables. Included among the carnival-like games were a basketball shooting station and a dunking booth, featuring Rabbi Ephraim Levin of the Lubavitch House for Penn in the hot seat. "It's a fun way to celebrate Purim and educate people of the holiday," Levin said, in between throws from students. The JHP sponsored the carnival in an effort to promote awareness of cultural Judaism on campus in a spirited way. "It promotes awareness through campus in a fun way," College sophomore Richelle Eisendrath said. "It shows that Judaism can be fun." "With the Purim Carnival, the JHP is attempting to break the conception that Jewish holidays are not fun," added College senior Alan Dorfman, who is a JHP intern. Purim is a celebration of the death of Haman, approximately 2,300 years ago. Haman was the advisor to the King of Persia and plotted to massacre the Jews living in the land. He was executed when the king learned of his plans. The holiday is centered around Queen Esther, a Jewish heroine who risked her life to inform her husband of Haman's plot. Traditionally, the holiday is celebrated through the reading of the Megillah, the story of Purim. Customs also include giving gifts of food, giving to charitable organizations and eating hamantashins. The JHP is an organization that strives to promote education and awareness of Jewish culture. "The purpose of the JHP is to select leaders on campus to run programs for their peers," said Rachel Baum, a fellow to the JHP.
(03/24/00 10:00am)
Six Senate hopefuls are vying for heDemocratic nomination on April 4. With the major presidential candidates already set, state primaries are no longer headlining the evening news. In Pennsylvania, however, primary season is far from over. On April 4, hundreds of candidates will be vying for smaller offices ranging from United States senator to representative in the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Though the Pennsylvanian primary probably will not attract national attention, state officials maintain the primary's importance lies in the effect it will have on state politics. "This election is not just about the top of the ticket. It's about the delegations in the convention and it's about local officials," Pennsylvania Republican State Committee spokeswoman Lauren Cotter Brobson explained. And according to Pennsylvania Democratic State Committee spokeswoman Sandi Vito, the race where votes will count the most will likely be the six-way Democratic struggle to challenge Republican Sen. Rick Santorum. The six candidates have turned out in an effort to oust the conservative Santorum, who was swept into office in the 1994 Republican electoral landslide. With the focus in Pennsylvania on the race for the Senate, Political Science Professor Henry Teune thinks the true contest lies not among all six Democrats but among three key candidates: State Sen. Allison Schwartz, former state secretary of labor and industry Tom Foley and U.S. Rep. Ron Klink. "This is going to have to be an organizational fight," Teune said, explaining that endorsements of the different candidates are going to be crucial in swaying voters this April. Despite the fact that Philadelphia Mayor John Street recently endorsed Schwartz, the only woman in the race, Teune said her close ties with her predominately Democratic hometown of Philadelphia will work against her in the primary. The Democratic candidates will be on campus on Wednesday for a debate sponsored by the College Democrats. But despite the local focus on the senatorial race, the Pennsylvania primary will not be entirely irrelevant to presumptive presidential nominees Al Gore and George W. Bush. According to state spokeswoman Stephanie Rimer, this primary differs from most years not only because presidential candidates appear on the ballot, but because it gives voters the opportunity to nominate delegates to the Republican and Democratic National Conventions this summer. "Pennsylvania is a state that is a must win for either part in the fall," Brobson said. "The primary is a good indication of what voter turnout might be in the fall." However, with the presidential nominations basically decided, Teune predicted voter turnout April 4 will be low, estimating that no more than 25 percent of registered voters will cast a ballot come primary day. "There's no real attraction," he noted. "Most of the voters don't know who these people are." Furthermore, he added, the national parties will be concentrating little attention on Pennsylvania after the recent victories of Gore and Bush. But Vito, Brobson and Rimer all contend that the upcoming primary is important regardless of the degree of national resonance, citing the primary as an early opportunity for Pennsylvania residents to make their voices heard.
(03/24/00 10:00am)
The Quakers will try to reach 3-1 by beating the explosive Big Red. When the Penn women's lacrosse team travels north to Ithaca to face No. 16 Cornell tomorrow at 1 p.m., it will be bringing one thing along that has been missing for some time -- the confidence that the Quakers can win an Ivy League game. The Quakers (2-1, 0-1 Ivy) struggled to a 1-6 mark in League play a year ago, and going into its Ivy opener this spring at No. 10 Yale, they were unsure of how they would hold up. But a close 9-8 loss to the Elis, followed by a 14-7 Quakers victory over Villanova on Tuesday, has the team confident it can play with anyone. "I think because the team did play Yale tight, that they definitely feel that they can win the game," Penn coach Karin Brower said. "This is a huge game for us, and they're getting to understand that. I think they are getting really excited to play Cornell and to hopefully beat them." To have success tomorrow, though, Penn will need to turn in a strong defensive performance. Cornell (4-0, 0-0 Ivy) brings a high-powered offense into this meeting -- the same offense that raced out to a 7-0 lead on the Quakers last spring and a 9-0 advantage two seasons ago. And though Penn has played well in the second half all season, they once again fell behind early at Yale, 3-0, and Villanova, 3-2, in the past week. "I think we still are getting out kind of slow, but we are definitely picking it up a lot faster than we were last year," Penn goalie Christian Stover said. "Hopefully for Cornell, we can go out there and get an early lead." A young team, the Big Red are led by a quartet of sophomores. Attackers Ginny Miles and Lori Wohschlegel, midfielder Jaimee Reynolds and goalie Carrie Giancola are the heart and soul of a Cornell team that has surprised many by racing out to four straight wins. Miles, who holds the Philadelphia area high school record for career goals with 281, is the Big Red's most potent weapon. A first team All-Ivy selection as a freshman after tallying 38 goals, Miles is off to another torrid start with 13 goals in four games. Penn will likely match the Cornell star up with junior Amy Weinstein, who was honored by the league this week for her performance at Yale. "Amy Weinstein, I think, is going to play on Ginny Miles," Brower said. "She did a nice job against [Yale first team All-Ivy selection] Heather Bentley. I think if Amy is physical on Miles, that she'll do fine against her. We've seen Ginny play, and she's a good player, but I think Amy can do a nice job on her." Weinstein, who spent her first two seasons with Penn lacrosse as an attacker before moving to defense this spring, is excelling in this transition. "I'm really enjoying myself and learning a lot," Weinstein said. "I hope that I get matched up on the top players from now on." The junior, however, was quick to credit the team aspect of the defense. "Whenever anyone scores or anything happens, everyone basically marks up on everyone," she added. "A lot of times the best defensive plays aren't one person doing something, it's the team recognizing that someone's in, and everyone crossing in on them." To this end, the Quakers know they must win the battle of ground balls and double-team well on the Cornell attackers if they are to win. The Big Red are coming off a 14-3 win over California in which Miles netted four goals and Wohschlegel added three of her own. On the other side of the ball, Penn has an attacker who has been blowing up in the early season. Sophomore Traci Marabella leads the Quakers with 10 goals, and combined with senior Brooke Jenkins and freshman Crissy Book, Penn has a potent offense of its own. But in order to find the back of the net, Penn's front-liners will have to beat Cornell's Giancola. The sophomore has excelled this spring, with a save percentage of .632. Quakers goalie Christian Stover also comes into tomorrow's game on a hot streak. The junior did not allow a goal for a 25-minute stretch in Tuesday's 14-7 Penn win at Villanova. Stover, however, is quick to credit her entire defense -- including Weinstein, Lee Ann Sechovicz, Christy Bennett and several other members of Penn's back line -- for the team's strong defensive play. "The defense is very aggressive, and I love that," Stover said. Tomorrow's match is the Quakers' fourth consecutive road game, and playing a league opponent on their home turf is never an easy task. But Penn feels good nonetheless. "What we really need to do is come out right from the start and be as intense as we have been in our second halves," Weinstein said. "And I think we've got a good shot at beating Cornell and really working our way up the Ivy ladder."
(03/24/00 10:00am)
Fans enjoyed free peanuts and Cracker Jack, and the field was in good shape. With the gigantic, smiling face of Will Smith looking down upon it on a warm, sunny spring afternoon, how could anything have gone wrong at the first game played at the Penn Baseball Stadium at Murphy Field? As it turned out, nothing went wrong for the Penn baseball team, as it made its Murphy Field debut a memorable one with a Smith-adorned billboard for a local radio station looking on. The Quakers overcame a five-run deficit in their last at-bat to beat St. Joseph's, 13-12. The glistening new ballpark's debut was just as successful. While the 263 Quakers supporters who attended the game were chomping on free peanuts and Cracker Jack provided by the Penn Athletic Department, the newness of the field they were watching caused few problems. For instance, the brand new turf on the infield grass kept ground balls down for the most part -- much to the delight of the infielders on both sides. The excellent condition of the field was due to the work of Penn head groundskeeper Tony Overend and his crew, who arrived at the field at 7:30 yesterday morning to iron out any last wrinkles before the 3 p.m. game. "The guys worked pretty hard, the crew I have," Overend said. "It all came together, it was a good job. And we got the 'W.' That makes it a little bit more sweeter." But rarely does any new turf lack irregularities. This became painfully apparent to the Quakers during the Hawks' five-run fifth inning that gave them a 9-4 lead over the Quakers. A ground ball smashed to Penn third baseman Oliver Hahl took a bad hop on the new infield grass and bounced over his outstretched glove as he was diving to his right. Hahl felt that it was probably the rough new turf that caused the ball to skip into left field, allowing one run to score. "[It] sucked," Hahl said. "I was pissed about it." One thing about which the Quakers weren't upset was the early verdict on the relatively small Murphy Field -- it seems to be a hitter's ballpark. The game's first homerun was a fourth inning monster shot to dead center field off the bat of St. Joe's first baseman Tim Gunn, who had not hit a home run all season. Penn's $2-million launching pad eventually paid dividends, as the first Quakers homerun at Murphy Field -- a three-run shot by Anthony Napolitano -- was a crucial step in their six-run eighth inning comeback. "As you can see, there were balls flying out of here like crazy," Penn right fielder Kevin McCabe said. "We took advantage of the last one. But our pitchers are going to have to keep the ball down." While Murphy Field has the potential to reward hitters, it also has the potential to distract them. Cars buzz along the Schuylkill Expressway, which towers above the outfield. In the late afternoon, while home plate is still in sunlight, the pitcher's mound is shrouded in the shadow cast by the huge water cooling plant that looms over the field on the first base line. "I really didn't think it was that bad. You know, Bower [Field] had the trains and the cars, so it's something that we're used to," McCabe said, referring to the Quakers' previous home. "The sun didn't seem too bad. There were shadows in the middle of the field, but you could see the ball fine coming out of the pitcher's hand." Penn coach Bob Seddon, however, thinks that the expressway beyond the outfield might pose a problem for some players. "A couple of the hitters said that the backdrop is not quite high enough," he said. "When a [pitcher's] arm is up, you see a car behind the arm." The hitters aren't the only ones who might be distracted. Penn shortstop Glen Ambrosius said that the stands and the nets that protect the spectators can make fielding tricky. "There were a few times where the guy flied it back, and I thought it was a fly ball coming out into play. It's really tough on the fly balls," he said. "I actually felt they should have named the field Will Smith Field at Q102 Stadium. We need to get a Penn baseball sign up there or something like that," said McCabe, who faces the sign while playing right field. "I was joking around with the guys, saying, 'If you ever lose focus, look at the smiling Will Smith and you can't be upset.' But obviously, you can't have everything be perfect with the field. "I like Will Smith," he added. Yesterday, Will Smith wasn't the only one who was liked. Everybody praised the success of Murphy Field and of those who put it together. St. Joe's was disappointed when the game was called after the eighth on account of darkness. Murphy Field is still without lights. "What they've done here for us is wonderful," Seddon said. "The operations staff and the athletic staff, what they've done for us here is unbelievable. Everybody worked day and night to get the field ready to go. That's a first class operation."
