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(07/29/99 9:00am)
Eduardo Glandt ha held the position of interim dean since last summer. The search continues. It has been nearly a year since former Engineering Dean Gregory Farrington left Penn to become the president of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., and the school still finds itself, as it did last July, in need of a permanent replacement. In November, University President Judith Rodin and then-Interim Provost Michael Wachter charged an 11-member search committee comprised of six professors, one alumnus, Dean Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg School for Communication, two students and Operations and Information Management Professor Morris Cohen, who is the committee's chairperson. "We are still on the same timetable. We'd like to get a new dean as soon as possible," Cohen said Tuesday, adding that the committee has met regularly and has sifted through more than 200 internal and external candidates. Rodin and Provost Robert Barchi, who are responsible for approving the final list of candidates, have been consulting with the the search committee, Cohen said. "There's been quite a bit of progress," said Mechanical Engineering Professor Vijay Kumar, who is a member of the search committee. Still, several sources close to the situation said they doubted that the search committee would make a final appointment before September. The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences has been without a permanent dean since last August, when Farrington officially stepped down. The University responded by naming Chemical Engineering Professor Eduardo Glandt to the position of interim dean last July. Glandt, who chaired the Engineering School's elected Faculty Council for several years in the 1980s, had initially been expected to serve for only a year. But now, as the search may continue into the upcoming school year, Glandt said he is prepared to remain as dean until the committee officially names a replacement. "I'm certainly eager to move on, but the most important thing for us is to get the leader that the school needs. That should take precedence," Glandt said. But one member of the Engineering School's faculty, who is not a member of the search committee, said Glandt would be an "outstanding dean," noting that it would not be surprising if Glandt were asked to stay on as Farrington's permanent replacement should the committee not find a more qualified candidate. Another Engineering School professor said there had been "a lot of talk" among professors that Glandt could be named as dean. "His name has always been in consideration for the position," Morris said. Glandt declined to comment on whether or not he was a serious candidate for permanent dean. Chemical Engineering Professor Dan Hammer, who is also not a member of the search committee, said he hoped the committee would find someone with "national status," such as a member of the National Academy of Engineers, a preeminent engineering organization of which Glandt himself is a member. The University is still engaged in two other high-profile searches, as search committees charged with finding new deans for the Wharton and Law schools continue to meet regularly and interview candidates. The Nursing School is also searching for a new undergraduate dean to replace longtime head Mary Naylor, who resigned in December. Penn also ended two publicized searches this summer, naming Lawrence Sherman and Claudia Gould as directors of the Fels Center of Government and the Institute of Contemporary Art, respectively.
(07/22/99 9:00am)
While many college students spend the summer months relaxing at the beach, others are spending their time organizing protests and staging rallies. Activism, or so it seems, knows no vacation. Members of the United Students Against Sweatshops, the nation's largest anti-sweatshop organization, met Tuesday with President Clinton's assistant for economic policy, Gene Sterling, to discuss what they feel is a failure by the federal government to adequately address sweatshop abuses. The group, of which College senior Miriam Joffe-Block is a member, specifically demanded that the Fair Labor Association provide full public disclosure of factory locations -- which Joffe-Block called the "most important step in addressing issues of labor regulations" -- as well as living wages for factory workers. "The Clinton administration is taking a backseat," said Joffe-Block, who is also a member of Penn's Progressive Activist Network. Joffe-Block said Sperling was "noncommittal" during the meeting and did not guarantee that any of the students demands would be met. And last week, approximately 200 college students participated in a five-day conference in Washington, D.C. where students once again voiced their collective dismay that their universities have not released public lists of all factories that manufacture University-licensed clothing and goods. The recent developments are evidence that the anti-sweatshop movement, which reverberated throughout college campuses this year, have garnered momentum. In early March, students at seven of the eight Ivy League schools -- Dartmouth College being the exception -- sent letters to their respective presidents demanding "timely, forthright responses" to four specific demands. The students requested more student involvement in the issue by urging the schools to permit student representatives at meetings of the Ivy League task force on sweatshops; independent monitoring of manufacturing sites; a living wage for factory employees; and public disclosure of the exact addresses of every factory that produces official school-logo apparel. Some students have long complained that the FLA regulations are not sufficient in preventing sweatshop abuses. "The current patterns of trade facilitate sweatshop conditions," Joffe-Block said, adding that the FLA regulations, as they stand, "allow worker abuses to go on." Now, several months later, the movement is attracting the attention of national politicians. U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota sent a letter to, among others, Clinton and Commerce Secretary Richard Daley, in which he voiced his support of the anti-sweatshop movement. "I am convinced that the most effective strategy for eliminating sweatshops is the promotion of labor rights, and the right to organize in particular," Wellstone wrote in the letter. And Joffe-Block said, "A lot of people have been telling us that this is the hottest student movement to come around in a while." Joffe-Block said she believes the national attention that the movement is currently receiving will be beneficial when classes start in September. Although she said she has no specific plans for any demonstrations at Penn in the near future, she did say thatshe has been consulting with University Associate General Counsel Eric Tilles.
(07/22/99 9:00am)
Hillel officials hope to create a more modern and welcoming facility, which they hope to open in 2002. Pending final University approval, the Hillel building at 202 S. 36th Street will be torn down and a new, larger facility erected in its place as early as the fall of 2002, Hillel Director Jeremy Brochin said Friday. Though construction costs have not yet been determined and plans are still extremely preliminary, a recent proposal written by Brochin and Rabbi Howard Alpert, executive director of Hillel, said the new building may include a dining room with a maximum seating capacity of 350; two auditoriums; two student lounges; a larger library; a game room and two seminar rooms. More programming space for student performance groups, exhibition space for small programs, administrative and student offices and a rooftop patio are all possibilities currently being considered, but Hillel officials emphasized that all suggestions are subject to change. The current building, built in the 1930s, occupies approximately 11,000 square feet. The soon-to-be constructed facility will likely be more than twice that size, Brochin said. Hillel officials are meeting with Penn students this summer to discuss the plans for the building and are also interviewing several architectural firms. Brochin said preliminary goals are to hire an architect by the end of the summer and begin financing the project in December. Hillel officials said that they hope to begin demolition of the current building next summer. Once a final proposal has been drafted, Hillel will embark on what Alpert called an "ambitious fundraising campaign," with the expectation that parents, alumni and other members of the University community will help finance the cost of constructing the building. "You can't really begin to ask donors without clear plans about what you're after," Brochin said, though he declined to estimate exactly how much the building will cost. University officials announced in the spring that Kosher Dining would relocate this summer to 4040 Locust Street -- a site formerly occupied by Boccie Pizza and Saladalley -- after its former location, also the site of the Faculty Club, was chosen to become the new home of the Graduate School of Fine Arts. In the interim period between the demolition of the old building and the construction of the new one, Hillel will lease another section of the building at 4040 Locust Street, formerly occupied by Urban Outfitters, which will then host much of Hillel's programming and many events. According to Brochin, there had long been concerns among Hillel officials and Penn students that the current building, small in size and limited in resources, could not sufficiently accommodate the needs of Jewish life on campus and did not reflect the "richness" of the community as a whole. Hillel has worked during the last 15 years to alleviate the space crunch on campus, renovating the building itself in 1984 and helping create the Jewish Activities Center in the Quadrangle three years ago. But the construction of an entirely new facility represents the most ambitious effort made to date to provide more space for the Jewish community. "I think we're already a community that's busting out of the building," Brochin said. Still, Hillel officials expect the new building to provide not only more tangible room but also more unity and interaction among Jews of different backgrounds. "[The new Hillel building] will facilitate the blending of different communities," Alpert said. Both Alpert and Hillel President Sam Andorsky, a College senior, cited the proposed Kosher dining facility -- which is expected to seat significantly more students and provide both lunch and dinner in one consolidated space -- as a feature of the new building that could encourage more diversity among the students that frequent Hillel. The Hillel building had long served kosher lunches to students, while its next door neighbor, the Faculty Club, hosted kosher dinners. Another particularly striking feature of the new building, according to Andorsky, is the proposal's plans for a more "warm and welcoming" entranceway, which Hillel officials hope will prove more enticing to newcomers. "The new facility will certainly help bring people into Hillel. Many say they feel disoriented or intimidated when they step into Hillel, and a warmer, more inviting physical space can certainly help this," Andorsky said. "We hope the building becomes a place where all sorts of groups and individuals can feel at home," he added. Brochin and Alpert recently made site visits to the Hillel buildings at Harvard, Princeton, Tufts and Yale universities in an effort to gather some ideas for Penn's new Hillel building.
(07/22/99 9:00am)
A consulting firm, the Hunter Group is known for its work in helping fiscally challenged hospitals cut their deficits. The University of Pennsylvania Health System has hired the Hunter Group, a St. Petersburg, Fla.-based consulting firm, to assess the financially troubled system's overall operations and recommend ways in which it can better utilize its resources. The firm, which deals primarily with health-care systems that are incurring deficits, works to help hospitals reduce their deficits by trimming their expenditures and increasing their revenues. The Hunter Group has previously helped, among others, the George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C., the Detroit Medical Center and the University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago. "We have people who are in very good shape, and we have some who are in terrible shape," said Jim Houy, a senior vice president for the Hunter Group. According to Houy, the firm has been called in to conduct "performance improvement-based work" with Health System administrators and will help oversee management. In seeking outside consultation, the Health System is actively hoping to regain some form of economic stability. The Health System's financial woes culminated in late May when it eliminated 1,100 positions and laid off 450 employees in an attempt to achieve a balanced budget. Houy said about eight to 10 Hunter executives will begin an approximately 10-week period on-site in early August, during which time they will review "all kinds of operating data." They will observe the hospital's day-to-day operations and will make numerous specific recommendations. Houy said the problems facing UPHS, which include payments below the actual cost of treatment and delays in reimbursements from the federal government and from private insurers, are "significant" but not "impossible" to alleviate. "From what we can tell, they don't seem to have any highly unusual problems," Houy said. Still, UPHS' financial problems -- typical of those affecting many other academic medical centers -- peaked in Fiscal Year 1998 when it posted a $90 million deficit, its highest ever. Houy said he did not know exactly how Hunter executives would go about reshaping the system, but he did note that the firm would look specifically at the number of employees and the amount of supplies. Houy said that, in most jobs, employees account for approximately 60 percent of total operating costs. The Hunter Group has encouraged drastic layoffs in previous visits to other hospitals, including the elimination of 2,000 positions at the Detroit Medical Center, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. The forthcoming visit to Penn's Health System might be no exception, according to Houy, who said Hunter executives were prepared to be both "objective" and critical. "We're the outsiders and we can be the bad guys," Houy said. Stephen Wasserman, chairman of medicine at University of California San Diego Healthcare, where Hunter group executives served as "interim managers" in the mid 1990s, said the firm is generally "dispassionate" and occasionally "threatening" but was nonetheless helpful. "Every expenditure is going to get looked at. They just go down the list," Wasserman said. "These guys are going to say, 'Why should we be paying for [this or] that?'" he added. Kelley is currently out of the country and was unavailable for comment this week.
(07/22/99 9:00am)
Provost Robert Barchi appointed English Professor Peter Conn to serve as his chief adviser. Provost Robert Barchi yesterday named English Professor Peter Conn as the University's new deputy provost, an important administrative position which has remained vacant for about a year and a half. Sources indicated Tuesday that Barchi planned to appoint Conn, who is also the chairperson of the Faculty Senate and former dean of the College, to the post. Barchi officially confirmed the appointment yesterday. "I am extremely pleased to announce that Dr. Peter Conn has accepted my invitation to become the new deputy provost," Barchi said. Barchi lauded Conn, 56, for his academic achievements and his multi-faceted involvement in University programs. "Peter is a distinguished scholar, a world-renowned author? and an outstanding University citizen," Barchi said. The deputy provost works closely with the provost on campus-wide issues and serves as representative for the provost on issues that deal with both undergraduate education and with resources centers, like the Institute of Contemporary Art, Barchi said. Conn said yesterday that he was "attracted to the job description" of the position, which he noted emphasizes the "educational mission" of the University. Conn arrived at Penn as an English instructor in 1967. During his tenure at the University, the 57-year old professor has at times served as College dean, a post he occupied in the early 1980s; former faculty master of Hill College House and Community House; chairperson of both the American Civilization and English graduate groups; and, most recently, he has served as the chairperson on the Faculty Senate. Although he intends to remain as the faculty director to the Civic House, Conn said he will step down from his role as chairperson of the Faculty Senate. "I guarantee you that the work that I have in mind will keep someone occupied virtually full time," Barchi said Tuesday. Past-chair John Keene, a professor of City and Regional Planning, will serve at the helm of the Faculty Senate until January, when Chair-elect Larry Gross, a Communications professor, will take office. "Other chairs are meeting today to organize an orderly transition," Conn said yesterday. Neither Gross nor Keene could be reached for comment. In addition, Conn said he would continue to teach English at Penn, including English 401, a course that offers undergraduates the chance to be teaching assistants University City High School. Barchi also praised Conn's distinguished career, during which he has received the prestigious Lindback, Mortarboard and Ira Abrams awards for teaching. He has also written numerous books, including the 1996 Pearl S. Buck -- A Cultural Biography, which was named as a New York Times Notable Book selection. Former English Department Chairperson Wendy Steiner said she was pleased for her colleague, who she said she has known for 20 years. "I can't imagine anything better [for Conn]," Steiner said. A search committee, consisting of administrators, faculty members and two students, considered a list of about 35 nominees before recommending a list of four candidates to the provost. There is no specified number of years that a deputy provost must serve, as the length of the term is usually determined by the provost. Former Interim Provost and Law School Professor Michael Wachter, who first served as the deputy provost from July 1995 to January 1998 under then-provost Stanley Chodorow, was the University's most recent deputy provost.
(07/15/99 9:00am)
1998 College graduates reported a five percent average salary increase. Few would deny that the study of English, history and political science is good for the mind. But if recent studies are any indication, a liberal arts education may be good for the pocket as well. A survey conducted by the University's Career Services office --formerly known as Career Placement and Planning Services -- shows that students who graduated from the College in 1998 have achieved average starting salaries in their post-college careers of $31,694, an approximately five percent increase from the average salary of $30,112 that members of the Class of 1997 earned upon entering the workforce. Of the 639 College graduates who returned the Career Services surveys, 63 percent, up seven percent from last year's figure, are employed full-time, while 26 percent are involved in graduate studies. A record-low four percent are still searching for employment. The Class of 1998 is the second consecutive graduating class whose average starting salary exceeds the $30,000 mark. Associate Director of Career Services Peggy Curchack polled the 1548 members of the Class of 1998 through a series of mailings but received feedback from only 639 students, or 41 percent of students who received surveys. Curchack attributed the College graduates' continually increasing salaries to the nation's "extraordinarily strong" economy as well as the wider range of career opportunities available to college graduates. Certain data, such as which professions are popular and which courses of study yield higher incomes, have remained largely predictable in the 15 years that the survey has been conducted, Curchack said. The more-business oriented arenas -- consulting and financial services, for instance -- continue to attract many College graduates, as a total of 35 percent of responding students said they were involved in either field and reported an average salary of $37,596 in consulting and $37,730 in financial services. "[Some students feel] that they don't honor the degree if they aren't doing a highly remunerative job," Curchack said, offering one possible explanation for why many College graduates choose to work high-paying jobs. "I tend to believe that that is expressive of something of the culture of Penn," Curchack added. She did note, however, that 13 percent of the most recent respondents currently work in non-profit professions. Curchack also said that different majors continue to earn vastly different salaries. English majors from the Class of 1998, for instance, reported average starting salaries of $30,117, while Economics majors from the same class are making average salaries of $37,728. Curchack said the disparity can be explained in part by the "range of career choices" that English majors and other liberal arts students make, which often encompass varied salaries. There is, however, a significantly lower percentage of College graduates who attend graduate school immediately after completing their undergraduate careers. Of the 166 College graduates currently attending graduate school, 35 percent are enrolled in law school, 25 percent are in medical school and 10 percent are earning their graduate degrees in the social sciences. But although College graduates' salaries remain on the rise, they still pale in comparison to those earned by graduates of the Wharton School and the School of Engineering and Applied Science. In separate surveys conducted by Career services, Wharton students made approximately $41,000 a year, while those in Engineering made about $43,000 on average. College Dean Richard Beeman could not be reached for comment this week.
(07/15/99 9:00am)
U.S. News and World Report last week ranked the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania the 10th best hospital in the nation, marking the third consecutive year that the weekly news magazine has named HUP to the "Honor Roll" in its annual "America's Best Hospitals" issue. HUP's 10th place ranking is a slight increase from its 11th place finish last year. The hospital was also the lone representative of the Delaware Valley region included in the "Honor Roll," which lists the nation's 13 best hospitals. The top three spots were once again occupied by Baltimore's Johns Hopkins Hospital, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston respectively. The Cleveland Clinic jumped two notches to No. 4, and Duke University Medical Center rounded out the top five. "HUP's citation -- as one of the top 10 hospitals in the nation -- is a tribute to our dedicated faculty and staff and to our on-going commitment to provide easy access to high quality care and service," Medical School Dean and Health System Chief Executive Officer William Kelley said in a statement released Friday. To make the magazine's "Honor Roll," a hospital must exhibit "unusual competence" by earning high rankings in at least six of 16 specialities used in tabulating the results. U.S. News honored HUP for its performance in 11 of those categories. HUP's highest placement came at No. 8 for its treatment of pulmonary disease. The hospital ranked ninth in otorhinolaryngology and finished 10th in the specialties of gynecology, and neurology and neurosurgery. HUP also received high marks in the fields of cancer, endocrinology, gastroenterology, geriatrics, orthopedics, rheumatology and urology. Neil Freedman, a Medical School assistant professor of pulmonary medicine and attending physician at HUP specializing in pulmonary medicine, said he expects his division's high ranking to "create more referrals from around the city" and "generate more business." ""I'm thrilled that we're ranked so high," Freedman said. HUP Chief Medical Officer David Shulkin said the accomplishment is made more noteworthy by the fact that the hospital has never before cracked the top 10 barrier. U.S. News ranked the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia second in pediatrics for the third consecutive year, finishing again behind Boston's Children's Hospital. Another Philadelphia area hospital, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, garnered high marks in 12 specialties but did not make the "Honor Roll." The Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple University Hospital, the Wills Eye Hospital, the Magee Rehabilitation Hospital and the Albert Einstein Medical Center were also recognized. The rankings are listed in the magazine's July 12 issue, which is available on newsstands this week. U.S. News compiled its listings through a series of surveys sent to 2,400 board-certified physicians, chosen at random from the magazine's database. U.S. News, which first published the rankings of hospitals in 1990, then compiled its rankings by using an index based on the hospitals' reputations, their mortality rates, and other such medical information obtained from annual surveys conducted by the American Hospital Association. Such studies have, however, frequently been subject to criticism. Some, like the medical journal Health Journal, have criticized certain hospital rankings for valuing hospitals' financial stability over their standards of patient care, while others have accused the rankings of being based more on reputation than on quality.
(07/08/99 9:00am)
Nearly 15 years ago Web Coates, then a first-grader, learned to write his name in Japanese. So began a passion that first led the College and Wharton junior to study Japanese in high school and college and, more recently, has inspired him to spend the upcoming school year studying at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo, Japan. Coates, a 20 year-old student in the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business, was recently named as one of two Penn students -- and one of 30 college students nationwide -- to receive a Bridging Project scholarship to travel to Japan and study for the year. Wharton junior Ji Sun Park will also receive a scholarship. The scholarships are administered collaboratively by the Association of Teachers of Japanese -- a Boulder, Colo.-based organization of Japanese teachers in America -- and the Japan-United States Friendship Commission, an independent federal agency that tries to increase study abroad opportunities in Japan for American students. The program is designed for college students with particular interests in Japanese culture. Coates will receive a $3,000 stipend and round trip airfare, though he is required to find housing in Tokyo on his own. Coates was born in Washington, D.C., but he graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. He was tutored in Japanese -- which he now speaks fluently -- throughout high school. Travelling halfway across the world is nothing new to Coates. He spent a year studying in a Japanese high school in Kobe, where he adopted numerous cultural practices -- so much that several of his friends joke with him that he is more Japanese than American. The Japanese, for example, place a greater emphasis on developing close interpersonal relationships and mutual respect, according to Coates. "It's hard for me at age 20 to say, 'Did I learn respect from studying in Japan, or did I learn it on my own?'" Coates said. While in Tokyo, Coates will study International Business, Area Studies and Japanese History in classes of around 40 to 50 Japanese students. Studying in Japan, says Coates, will enable him to combine his two academic interests -- business and Japanese. "I'm being converted into a little Whartonite," Coates joked. The application for the scholarship, which Coates submitted in March, consisted of an essay, a transcript, a letter of recommendation and a letter of acceptance from a Japanese university. According to the Commission's Executive Director Eric Gangloff, the 300 students who submitted applications for the scholarships represented a "broad diversity" of interests and were not, by any means, all Japanese majors. "We're looking for students of extraordinary ability who cross the range of disciplines," Gangloff said.
(07/08/99 9:00am)
Provost Robert Barchi expects a new alcohol policy to be in place by early September. The University is one step closer to adopting a new alcohol policy. The provost-appointed committee charged with implementing changes to the University's alcohol policy has now developed costs and timetables for each of the 45 recommendations made by a separate provost-appointed task force in late March. In addition, University President Judith Rodin last week completed a two-month-long period of consultation with students and faculty members, during which time she received "thoughtful and useful comments from every corner of the Penn community" on how to curb alcohol abuse at Penn. Rodin, who is ultimately responsible for selecting which individual recommendations will be implemented by the committee, said she is currently meeting with various student leaders before she gives her final approval on the task force's recommendations. One such change, for example, is the appointment of a new alcohol coordinator, a position expected to be filled by the fall. Barchi said the University has composed a job description, interviewed candidates and allocated funds for the creation of the position, which fulfills the task force's suggestion calling for additional personnel in the Office of Health Education. Drug and Alcohol Resource Team Adviser Kate Ward-Gaus, a health educator, said the alcohol coordinator is expected to have a background in both counseling and strategic planning and will help evaluate the effectiveness of different drug and alcohol resource programs on campus. Also likely in the fall, according to Barchi, is more non-alcoholic social options, though many of the long term goals -- like a bowling alley and an alcohol-free music club -- are not expected on campus in the near future. "We're looking at a range of options that goes from non-alcoholic events that are present every weekend to special events that are present once a semester," Barchi said, citing "movie night" at the soon-to-be-opened Irvine Auditorium as one possibility. A website that lists social events on and off campus -- with possible links to ticket offices -- should also be available by the fall, Barchi said. Although the committee has approved each of the 45 recommendations made by the task force, Rodin must first grant formal approval before any recommendations are implemented. Rodin said she expects to give final approval "shortly," noting that students will be "informed of all changes in a mailing this summer." "Come September, I hope to see students rising to the challenge put forth by their peers on the Working Group on Alcohol Abuse -- instituting a cultural change here at Penn," Rodin said. InterFraternity Council President Mark Metzl, a member of the provost's implementation committee and a College senior, said the group has worked throughout the summer on all of the recommendations that have been considered "potentially viable for implementation." Barchi stressed the "entirety" of the problem of alcohol abuse on college campuses, explaining that a multi-pronged attack is essential when combatting excessive alcohol use. "You can't accomplish control of alcohol without education. You can't accomplish the education without concern for the individual and accountability and responsibility. You can't make that work without providing social options," Barchi said. Vice Provost for University Life Valerie Swain-Cade McCollum agreed that the task force's recommendations need to be considered as one entity rather than individual suggestions. "All of the recommendations developed provide, I believe, this sensible, and sensitive, balance that will truly curb alcohol abuse on campus," McCollum said. Barchi first drew up a 21-member task force, comprised of 14 student leaders and seven faculty members, in late March in response to the University's then-ban on alcohol at official undergraduate events. The committee's list of recommendations was presented to Rodin on April 27, and an additional committee was created by Barchi early this summer to work on implementing those policies that are approved by Rodin. The task force developed recommendations within five categories: education, ensuring student safety, responsibility and accountability, minimizing risk and expanding social options. Rodin said she will "ensure" that the five areas outlined by the task force will be incorporated into the policy. Proposed risk management measures include suggestions that hard alcohol be banned from on-campus undergraduate events and that alcohol distribution at registered undergraduate events will end at 1 a.m. The ban was enforced in response to numerous alcohol-related incidents, most notably the March 21 death of 1994 College graduate and Phi Gamma Delta brother Michael Tobin, which occurred after a night of drinking before and during a FIJI alumni event.
(07/08/99 9:00am)
A federal panel said Penn had discriminated in the search for a women's crew coach in 1997. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission determined last week that the University committed gender discrimination in 1997 by denying Andrew Medcalf, an assistant men's crew coach, an interview for the then-vacant position of head coach of the women's crew team because of his sex. Medcalf, 48, filed a complaint against the University more than two years ago, alleging that he had been passed over in favor of current women's coach Barb Kirch despite having been "forcefully recommended" for the position by men's crew coach Stan Bergman. Medcalf has been an assistant coach on the men's team for the past nine years. He applied to be head coach of the women's crew squad in May 1997, shortly after the former coach, Carol Bower, stepped down. In the complaint, Medcalf said he had been told by then-Senior Associate Athletic Director Carolyn Schlie Femovich -- who recently left Penn to serve as commissioner as the Patriot League -- that the Athletic Department intended to hire a coach that could "serve as a strong female role model" to the team and, in particular, a woman that would be "at least as good if not better" than Medcalf. Both Femovich and Athletic Director Steve Bilsky were unavailable for comment this week. According to a report released last week by the EEOC, Femovich denied Medcalf's allegations, but she did testify that she once told the women's crew team that Penn hoped to attract "strong female candidates." The University ultimately hired Kirch, a Penn alumna who served as head women's crew coach at Dartmouth College for nine years, as its new coach. Despite the EEOC's recent ruling, Athletic Department officials maintain that they selected Kirch, who is also the former coach of the U.S. national junior women's team, because of her "superiority in relevant experience." Kirch refused to comment. University Spokesperson Ken Wildes said Kirch was the "best candidate, male or female" and remains the "ideal person for this position." "We have the best coach in the country in Barb Kirch. Period," Wildes said. But Medcalf, who has previously coached at Michigan State University, the University of London and the University of Rochester, has long said that he was sufficiently qualified for the position and that his gender, not his ability, prevented him from being seriously considered for the job. Medcalf did not return repeated phone calls this week. In a report released last week, the EEOC determined that the Athletic Department had "considered gender during discussions concerning filling the position" and had taken "extraordinary measures to recruit only female candidates." The report says that the University received 26 applications -- 13 from male candidates and 13 from female candidates -- between June and August 1997. The four candidates who were interviewed were all females, according to the report. Additionally, the EEOC says it has "reasonable cause to believe" that the University, in not interviewing male candidates for the position, violated Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which forbids employment discrimination based on race or gender. Wildes, however, said that Penn's policies are "consistent with existing Federal nondiscrimination regulations" and provide "fair and equitable treatment" to all prospective employees. Medcalf's attorney, Lawrence Woehrle, said he had been told that the EEOC was considering filing its own lawsuit through the Department of Justice, but said he will still likely sue the University should the federal agency not do so. "We will have our own action," Woehrle said, adding that the EEOC's determination lends further proof to the notion that "discrimination occurred" and that "gender was an overriding factor" in the decision not to interview Medcalf.
(07/01/99 9:00am)
Wharton Dean Thomas Gerrity will step down today, but Law School Dean Colin Diver will continue as dean this summer. When Wharton School Dean Thomas Gerrity and Law School Dean Colin Diver announced last fall that they would both step down from their positions on July 1, they did so with the hope that their two jobs would be filled by that date. Now, as both positions remain vacant and administrators continue to be generally tight-lipped about the searches' progress, one administrator will be returning to his office -- at least for the summer. Diver said he is prepared to continue to assume his responsibilities for the remainder of the summer, but is still expected to step down officially before the start of the next academic year. "I told [University] President [Judith] Rodin quite some time ago that I would be happy to stay on as dean through the summer," Diver said Tuesday. And Charles Mooney, the Law School's associate dean for academic affairs, confirmed that Diver is "willing to assist with administrative things through the summer." According to Law School Search Committee Chairperson Richard Herring, who is also Wharton's undergraduate dean, the committee remains committed to finding the "very best" candidate, though he declined to give a timetable or disclose the number of candidates the committee is currently reviewing. "We've taken the view that it's better to do this right than quickly," Herring said. A search committee, comprised of four faculty members, four Law School professors, two Law School students and one alumnus, has been working since the fall to screen both internal and external candidates. Gerrity, however, is expected to step down today in order to spend more time with his family, ending his eight-year tenure at the University. And, like the Law dean search, there are no plans to name an immediate replacement for Gerrity. There are "quite a few" candidates currently being considered as Gerrity's successor, said Graduate School of Fine Arts Dean Gary Hack, who chairs the search committee. "We're pushing ahead as best we can," Hack said, though he also declined to discuss the specifics of the search, noting only that Gerrity will be a "free man" beginning today. The University hired the international executive-search firm Spencer Stuart last winter to facilitate the Wharton dean search process. In February, the committee reported that it had pared the list of candidates down to around a dozen businesspersons, academics and others. Wharton Deputy Dean Patrick Harker, who is also the former chairperson of the Operations and Information Management Department and a current member of the search committee, said he will "fulfill the functions of the school" as the search progresses. There are currently no plans to appoint an interim dean in either school, and Provost Robert Barchi said such a decision would depend entirely "on the progress and recommendations of these two committees."
(07/01/99 9:00am)
Vice President Al gore spoke at a $1,000-per-person dinner in Center City earlier this week. Before a crowd of approximately 500 ardent supporters and local politicians, Vice President Al Gore readily confessed his two main concerns on Monday evening. The first, as a politician, is to win the presidential election in 2000. The second, as a father, is to see his soon-to-be born first grandchild. But first things first. As part of his current presidential campaign -- aptly-titled Gore 2000 -- the vice president spoke Monday at a $1,000-per-person fundraising dinner, held at the Wyndham Franklin Plaza Hotel at 17th and Race streets. The event, which brought together hordes of prominent local Democrats, featured several buffet tables, a live band and a short video that chronicled Gore's life and achievements. Gore 2000 officials expected to raise about $500,000. Gore was joined on stage by Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell -- whom the vice president himself once dubbed "America's Mayor" -- and former City Council President and Democratic mayoral nominee John Street, as well as others local politicians and prominent donors. Rendell -- whom one playful poster suggested could be the vice president's running mate in 2000 -- introduced Gore as a "man of vision" and a "man of integrity," lauding him for his personal attributes and praising the current White House administration for its role in drastically reducing the deficit and reshaping the federal economy. "What Bill Clinton and Al Gore have done for this country has been nothing short of spectacular," Rendell said. Gore then stepped to the podium, delivering a 25-minute speech that emphasized the importance of economic stability, a strong public education system and stable lives for American families in the 21st century. Gore briefly discussed the nation's economy, explaining that the policies enacted under the Clinton administration have helped the "biggest deficit in history turn into the biggest surplus in history." "Our first priority must be to keep our prosperity going. I know how to do that," Gore said. But while the economic deficit has surely decreased, Gore noted, a new "family crisis" -- one in which the number of single parent families has quadrupled and parents are reportedly spending less time with their children -- is currently plaguing the nation. Gore then pledged an increased emphasis on education, stressing the need for smaller classes and a more modern curriculum. "We have textbooks all over the country today saying, 'Someday, Man will land on the moon,'" Gore said. "History's moving too fast for that. We can't afford that kind of sluggishness." And, as expected, the vice president's address occasionally alluded to various controversial topics, which are undoubtedly expected to factor heavily in the presidential race. He called for easier access to "high-quality health care" and criticized other politicians for failing to take a more adversarial approach to gun manufacturers. "While some are out there actually working to shield gun manufacturers from their actions, my priority is to shield American children from gun violence," Gore said. During the event, approximately 300 demonstrators protested outside the hotel in response to Gore's controversial stance in the AIDS drugs debate. Earlier in the day, at a campaign stop at the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Gore outlined a proposal to increase federally funded cancer research and vowed to spend $200 million on an anti-smoking campaign. Other presidential candidates -- including Republicans Elizabeth Dole and George W. Bush and Democrat Bill Bradley -- have all visited Philadelphia over the past week to raise money.
(07/01/99 9:00am)
The School of Arts and Sciences will not be in debt in Fiscal Year 2000. The School of Arts and Sciences is projecting a balanced budget for Fiscal Year 2000, marking the first time in five years that the largest of the University's 12 schools will not be running a deficit, according to University officials. SAS has long been plagued by budgetary problems, with large deficits and a high rate of administrative turnover leading to the closure of two academic departments and the elimination of several temporary faculty positions in recent years. According to SAS Vice Dean for Finance and Administration Michael Mandl, most of the school's budget cuts came "in areas that had a low return for the school," including certain academic centers and costly research facilities. The school's budget problems date back to 1996 when it faced a $1.9 million deficit. SAS ended FY 1997 only $700,000 in the hole, but larger debts -- caused in part by the school's large share of the funding for the $80 million Roy and Diana Vagelos Laboratories of the Institute for Advanced Science and Technology -- hit the following two years, as the school ran up deficits of approximately $3 million in fiscal years 1998 and 1999. But now, a significant increase in revenues, coupled with a steep reduction in expenditures and additional financial help from University administrators, has the school seeing black ink instead of red for the first time in recent memory. According to SAS Dean Samuel Preston, who took office in January 1998, a balanced budget will have far-reaching ramifications, enabling the school to step up its recruitment efforts and ostensibly increase faculty salaries. "It's very difficult to plan for a situation when you can't pay for the things you're already doing," Preston said last week. Included in the cuts, for example, is the Physics Department's Tandem Accelerator Laboratory, a building that was recently vacated in an attempt to streamline the budget. SAS administrators say the move will save the school an estimated $2,000 per year. SAS will also cut funding for certain research centers -- the Center for the Advanced Study of India and the Middle East Center are two examples -- who will be expected to raise external funds on their own. And various department-based business offices have been combined into regional business service centers, providing both "cost savings" and "improved services," according to Preston. University administrators maintain that the budget cuts were made with careful consideration to both academic departments and their personnel. "I think [SAS] has left no stone unturned in terms of looking for ways to be more efficient without hurting academic programs," University Budget Director Michael Masch said. Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Professor Roger Allen said that while a balanced budget puts SAS in a "stronger position" and out of "budget crises," it also raises a potential "question of emphases," in terms of which disciplines are more highly valued and prioritized. "When push comes to shove, what wins are market forces," Allen said, adding that the subjects which the "American public" most want to study are often considered indispensable by universities. Preston's Strategic Plan, a series of initiatives released in April, calls for increased funding for six traditionally popular academic departments -- Biology, Economics, English, History, Political Science and Psychology. "The plan would have seemed like it was written in invisible ink if we didn't have a means of paying for it," Preston said. In addition, SAS will increase its revenue through the creation of several new master's programs -- in Biotechnology, Environmental Studies and Bioethics -- as well as through the hiring of new Chemistry professors, many of whom bring with them federally funded research grants that will help cover the costs of the IAST laboratories. SAS administrators also credit an increase in financial support from University President Judith Rodin and Provost Robert Barchi as instrumental in helping the school's economic status. The projections for a balanced budget are more than purely speculative, according to Mandl, who said the administration's "assumptions for next year are reasonably robust."
(06/24/99 9:00am)
Wharton alumnus James Riepe will succeed former chairperson Roy Vagelos. The University Board of Trustees named James Riepe, vice chairperson of the Baltimore-based T. Rowe Price investment firm and former head of the Trustees' Investment Board, as its new chairperson this past Friday at its annual summer meeting. Riepe, who will turn 56 tomorrow, graduated from the Wharton School in 1965 and earned a degree from the school's MBA program two years later. He was first elected to a five-year term as Alumni Trustee in 1990 and began serving another five-year term as a Term Trustee in 1995. The newly-elected Riepe replaces Roy Vagelos, former chief executive officer of the New Jersey-based Merck pharmaceutical and health care company, as chairperson of the Trustees. Vagelos, who had held the position since October 1994, stepped down several months shy of age 70, the required age of retirement for all Trustees. He was also named Emeritus Trustee at Friday's meeting. Riepe was both a member of the Trustees' Executive Committee and the chairperson of the Trustees' Audit and Compliance Committee at the time of his election. He previously had served as chairperson of the Alumni Council on Admissions and is currently a member of the Undergraduate Financial Aid Committee and the Agenda for Excellence Council. He was appointed last summer to head the Investment Board, which manages the University's endowment. He and his family have involved themselves in the University financially as well. In 1989, the James and Gail Riepe Scholarship Fund was created to assist undergraduate students in the Baltimore area. Trustee Richard Worley, a member of the Investment Board and the Audit and Finance Committee, was named Riepe's replacement as head of the Investment Board. Shortly before adjourning Friday's stated meeting of the Trustees, Riepe briefly addressed the other Trustees and University administrators in attendance, calling his election a "very humbling appointment." During his nearly five years as head of the Trustees, Vagelos has aggressively campaigned to increase the endowment for undergraduate financial aid, and, as evidence of his commitment to increasing research opportunities, pledged two $10 million donations to the University -- one to the creation of the Roy and Diana Vagelos Laboratories of the Institute for the Advancement of Science and Technology and the other to fund an undergraduate program in the molecular life sciences. University President Judith Rodin lauded Vagelos' accomplishments and noted that the former chairperson will not soon be forgotten. "Everywhere is your imprint and your legacy," Rodin told Vagelos at the meeting. And Rodin said Monday that it had been her "privilege to work side-by-side with Roy Vagelos these past five years." Trustee Gloria Chisum, who was re-elected Friday as the board's co-vice chairperson, told her fellow board members that she had "mixed emotions" while reading a resolution recognizing Vagelos' accomplishments and appointing him Emeritus Trustee. The resolution itself praised Vagelos for his "eagerness to ignite the spark of enthusiasm in others" and saluted him for his "legendary energy." "We know that it gives him genuine joy to walk around campus and know that what is going on in the classrooms, laboratories and libraries is improving both individual lives and society," the resolution reads. But Vagelos -- who called the meeting to order and addressed the board members and administrators first -- would not take credit for the University's recent success. "The University has done exceedingly well and the progress that it has made has made the rest of us look good," Vagelos said. In the ceremonial passing of the gavel, Vagelos and Riepe embraced before an approximately 20-second standing ovation. Other notable appointments finalized Friday include the recognition of former University President and current History Professor Sheldon Hackney -- whose portrait was also unveiled Friday in College Hall -- as President Emeritus. Hackney served as president of the University from 1981 to 1994 before leaving to head the National Endowment for the Humanities in Washington, D.C. U.S. Circuit Court Judge Marjorie Rendell was appointed chairperson of the Board of Overseers of the Nursing School; Jon Huntsman, a 1959 Wharton graduate and chief executive office of Huntsman Chemical Corporation, was named chairperson of the Board of Overseers of the Wharton School; and Christopher Browne, a general partner of the Tweedy, Browne Company investment firm, will act as chairperson of the Board of Overseers of the School of Arts and Sciences. In addition, Natalie Koether, a 1961 College and Wharton graduate, was elected Charter Trustee while Stephen Wynn, a 1963 College graduate, was re-elected a Term Trustee.
(06/24/99 9:00am)
The University's expenditures will pass the $3 billion mark for the first time ever next year, as the University Trustees approved an operating budget of $3.048 billion for Fiscal Year 2000 at last week's annual summer meeting. The figure marks a 6.2 percent increase from last year's operating budget of $2.871 billion. Of that amount, $1.329 billion -- up from last year's $1.284 billion -- is allotted for the academic budget and will be divided among Penn's 12 schools. Still, the academic budget for the upcoming fiscal year -- which begins July 1, 1999 -- constitutes only 44 percent of the University's total operating budget. The Health System was allotted 56 percent, or $1.908 billion, of the University's budget. The operating budget is calculated separately from the University's capital budget which, with a total of $173.6 million, will help fund projects like the upcoming renovations to Gimbel Gymnasium and the construction of a new, state-of-the-art biology facility. Although undergraduate tuition and room and board charges will hit an all-time high of $31,592 in the upcoming fiscal year, the 3.7 percent increase in total student charges is the lowest to date, as the University continues to provide the least expensive education in the Ivy League. "The trend for us, like our peer institutions, is to restrain the rate of increase," University Budget Director Mike Masch told the members of the Budget and Finance Committee at last Thursday's meeting. According to Masch, the 6.2 percent increase in the operating budget is largely attributed to the "growth of research funding." Included in the list of organizations that provide funding for University research is the National Institute of Health and the National Science Foundation. The University is expecting research funding to account for 25 percent, or $332 million, of the academic budget's total revenue. An additional 35 percent of the entire academic budget will be provided by tuition and fees. The government will reimburse the University at a rate of 58.5 cents per research dollar granted, a small decrease from last year's rate of 59 percent. The rate was once as high as 65 percent in 1990, but Masch attributed its recent decline to increasingly stringent governmental regulations about which costs are reimbursable. Academically, 71 percent of the entire academic budget will be spent on the programs of the University's 12 schools. Another 11 percent of the budget will provide for other administrative service centers such as Human Resources, Public Safety and Computing. The Medical School will receive approximately $312 million, or 33 percent, of the $944 million allotted to the academic schools. The School of Arts and Sciences, meanwhile, will receive $208 million, or 22 percent, of that amount. And the capital budget, as always, has significantly more money set aside than the University actually plans to spend. According to Vice President for Finance Kathy Engebretson, the capital plan for the upcoming fiscal year includes $64 million for projects that are just now seeking approval and an approximate $230 million for projects that had been approved in previous year's plans. Only $212 million is likely to be spent this fiscal year on capital projects. The new biology facility -- which is expected to use $45 million of the capital budget -- is one such example of new projects that have not been factored into previous budget expenditures. An additional $20 million will be appropriated to the Gimbel Gymnasium renovations and another $12,950 will go to the renovation of the Johnson Pavilion. Engebretson attributed last year's significantly larger capital budget of $308 million to the "double-counting" of certain projects. She said that in the past, many individual proposals and developments were repeatedly accounted for in consecutive budgets.
(06/24/99 9:00am)
To future generations, Penn's Folklore Department may be little more than, well, its own piece of folklore. The beleaguered Folklore and Folklife Department will close July 1 but will maintain its currently existing graduate group and will continue to offer a minor for undergraduates, according to a resolution passed Friday by the University Trustees. In addition, the School of Arts and Sciences will establish a Center for Folklore and Ethnography, SAS Dean Samuel Preston told the Trustees' Academic Policy Committee Friday. Although the department will no longer offer an undergraduate major, very few students or faculty members are likely to be directly affected. The department has long struggled to maintain a sizeable number of faculty members and student majors. Only 10 students between the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of General Studies have selected Folklore as their major and the number of standing faculty members -- only four -- is "not sufficient" for the maintenance of a successful academic department, Preston said. "Through retirement, deaths and attrition, the faculty size of the Department has declined in recent years, and the number of undergraduate majors has diminished dramatically," according to the resolution suggesting the department's termination. The department's four professors -- Chairperson Roger Abrahams, Regina Bendix, Robert St. George and Dan Ben-Amos -- will join the English, Anthropology, History and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies departments, respectively. And undergraduate Folklore courses will continue to be offered through cross-listings -- though a Freshman Seminar will be offered in lieu of the popular Folklore 101 course this fall. Those students who have already declared Folklore as their major will be able to fulfill their curriculum as planned. Preston claimed in March that the decision to close the department was largely motivated by undergraduates' traditional lack of interest in pursuing a Folklore degree. He expressed similar sentiments Friday, explaining to the members of the Academic Policy Committee that the department has "never really found much of a mission at an undergraduate level." Preston released a strategic plan for SAS in early April that called for increased investment in departments and programs that provide strong academics at both the undergraduate and graduate levels as well as offer ample research opportunity "I think it is the case that departments recognize that their welfare is in part a function of how effectively they are serving our undergraduate community," Preston said. But that's easier said than done for small departments like Folklore, Abrahams claims. "Small departments are having ever-greater problems in actually servicing the needs of majors vis-a-vis the kind of career counseling that ought to be offered at a major undergraduate institution," Abrahams said. Still, he stressed that the closing of the department brings with it the opening of even more Folklore research opportunities throughout the University. He cited the graduate program -- chaired by Bendix and offering master's and doctoral degrees -- and the Folklore Center, a research institute slated to operate out of Logan Hall this Fall, as examples of ways in which the University will continue to provide a Folklore education. In addition, the newly developed MidStates Regional Studies Center -- a venture jointly formed by SAS Associate Dean for Arts and Letters Rebecca Bushnell, English Department Chairperson and Humanities Forum Director Wendy Steiner and Richard Dunn, the director of the McNeil Center for Early American Study -- will "encourage work that we have been sponsoring as a department and graduate program for many years," Abrahams said. The MidStates Research Consortium, which will also host visiting scholars and work collaboratively with local humanities and arts organizations, will operate out of Preston's office and is currently in search of a permanent location.
(06/24/99 9:00am)
Renowned criminologist Lawrence Sherman was named the new head of the Fels Center of Government. School of Arts and Sciences Dean Samuel Preston last week named renowned criminologist Lawrence Sherman as the new director of the Fels Center of Government, ending a nearly six month search and leaving the public management program with its first permanent head since 1996. Sherman, who will be appointed the Albert M. Greenfield Professor of Human Relations in the Sociology Department, is currently the chair of the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Maryland. He will arrive at Penn next month and may teach an undergraduate course in criminology as early as this fall, Sociology Department Chairperson Douglas Massey said Tuesday. Sherman is currently out of the country and was unavailable for comment this week. Since Sherman will be a Sociology professor, Fels will now fall under SAS jurisdiction, after having previously operated out of both the Graduate School of Fine Arts and the Office of the Provost. This classification means that Preston bears responsibility for Fels' budget as well as mounting courses and hiring additional professors. Expectations run high for Sherman -- the department's lone criminology expert -- who administrators hope will turn the institute into one of the nation's leading public policy research centers. "He is an extremely gifted administrator as well as a wonderful scholar," Preston said. "He has built the best and largest program in criminology in the country at Maryland." And Political Science Professor Jack Nagel, who headed the search committee charged with finding a new director, commended Sherman for his "outstanding record of scholarship" and his "superlative record of entrepreneurial leadership in an academic setting." Preston said he is particularly impressed with Sherman's "experimental approach to public policy," referring to Sherman's controlled experiments of different administrative structures -- including one study that compared the effects of various response times to 911 calls. The Fels Center is a public management program that primarily caters to graduate students interested in pursuing careers in public service, allowing them to earn master's degrees in governmental administration. In recent years, however, Fels has experienced its share of turmoil and controversy, as former director James Spady resigned in late 1996 after having heated disputes with the program's administrators regarding the direction of the program. Then, with Fels mired in what Nagel called a "holding pattern," a panel of University administrators debated Fels' future and ultimately decided against its abolition. And last summer, Paul Light, the University's top candidate for the job and a director at the Philadelphia-based Pew Charitable Trusts, rejected an offer to head up the Fels Center. Last fall, a search committee convened and, after reviewing several dozen applications, brought three potential candidates to Penn, one of which was Sherman.
(06/17/99 9:00am)
The Trustees will elect a successor to outgoing chairperson Roy Vagelos. As the University Trustees prepare for their annual summer meetings this week, they will be faced with the standard issues of faculty appointments, budgetary policy and facilities planning -- in addition to the challenge of replacing outgoing Chairperson Roy Vagelos. Vagelos, who has served as chairperson since November 1994, will officially step down at tomorrow's all-inclusive Stated Meeting of the Trustees at 2:30 p.m. in the Faculty Club. The former chief executive officer of Merck and Co., Vagelos will turn 70 -- the required age of retirement according to statutes of the Trustees -- in October. A new chairperson will be elected tomorrow, but both Vagelos and University Spokesperson Ken Wildes declined to reveal the name of the new chairperson. "His contributions as chair of the Trustees have been extraordinary, especially his attention to the enhancement of the scientific research and teaching enterprise of the University and his deep commitment to undergraduate financial aid," University President Judith Rodin said Tuesday. The Trustees meet three times a year -- once each during the fall and spring semesters and once during the summer -- to discuss and vote on important issues pertaining to the University community. This week's meetings marks their final gathering of the current fiscal year. Although seven standing committees of the Trustees will meet this week, only three -- Budget and Finance, External Affairs and Academic Policy -- will open their sessions to the public. At the Budget and Finance committee meeting, which will take place today at 2:30 p.m., the operating capital budgets for both the University and the University's Health System will be discussed and then voted on at tomorrow's Stated Meeting. Last June the Trustees approved a total operating budget of $2.871 billion. University Budget Director Mike Masch was unavailable for comment this week. Other highlights of this week's events include tomorrow's Academic Policy meeting -- scheduled for 10 a.m. in the Faculty Club -- in which Medical School Vice Dean of Education Gail Morrison will present a resolution on Curriculum 2000, an innovative program first introduced in 1997 and designed to expose Penn's Medical students to a more integrated, broad-based approach to medical education. "We had to really take down everything, start over and say 'What is medicine going to look like in the 21st Century?'" said Morrison, the curriculum's chief architect. And School of Arts and Sciences Dean Samuel Preston will present two resolutions -- one encouraging the closing of the beleaguered Folklore Department and the other calling for the creation of a master of chemical education degree for students interested in teaching chemistry. "There is no source of contention as far as I can see," Preston said of the department's elimination, noting that Folklore will become an academic center and will remain a graduate group, while the department's professors will join other undergraduate departments. Although some of the issues to be discussed at the Trustees meetings are decidedly complex and multifaceted, McManus said she expects little heated debate during the sessions. "We spend a lot of time making sure that there are no surprises," she said. Other bodies scheduled to meet this week include the Development, Facilities and Campus Planning and Investment Board committees. And, as always, there will be a handful of academic appointments made this week. Jon Huntsman, a 1959 Wharton graduate and primary donor and namesake of the soon-to-be constructed Huntsman Hall, will be named chairperson of the Board of Overseers of the Wharton School. And former Trustees Chairperson Alvin Shoemaker will be tapped as the chairperson of the athletics advisory board, while Marjorie Rendell, U.S. Circuit Court judge and wife of Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell, will serve as the board of overseers of the Nursing School. Tonight the Trustees will take a break from their discussions with a party in honor of the recently-created Abramson Family Cancer Institute. Katie Couric, a co-anchor of the Today show, is the event's featured speaker.
(06/17/99 9:00am)
Penn students teamed with students from K-8 Lea School to create a new garden in a concrete courtyard. They spent Tuesday afternoon performing spirited dance routines, dining on gourmet cuisine and frolicking outdoors on a sunny afternoon. The students at the local Lea School were unabashedly celebrating their new garden. But for the numerous Penn administrators, local politicians and Lea School faculty members who attended the grand opening of the school's garden -- jointly created by several Penn students, various faculty members and students from the K-8 public school and West Philadelphia community members -- Tuesday's ceremony meant much more. As part of a fall-semester Management 100 project, 10 Wharton School freshmen teamed up over the past several months with teachers and students at the Lea School -- located on 47th and Locust streets -- to convert a previously unused concrete courtyard into a vibrant garden that could serve both academic and recreational purposes. The project is the latest in a long series of collaborative efforts between the University and the local school. The garden was officially unveiled by Lea School Principal Cheryl Hazzard before a crowd of approximately 50 students, parents, faculty members and University administrators. Hazzard praised the University for playing an "integral part in our school" and for "serving our staff and students." "This is just the beginning. Wait until you see what's coming in the future," Hazzard said of the burgeoning "partnership" between Penn and the Lea School. Many audience members cheered as they stepped outside into the garden, which includes a dozen raised beds intended for growing a variety of plants, bushes and flowers; a raised bed with a shallow pond and seeding area and four murals depicting each season -- each element contributing to the garden's modest, yet graceful, botanical display. Prior to the unveiling of the garden, the audience gathered inside an auditorium to hear speeches from, among others, Hazzard, University President Judith Rodin and West Philadelphia Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell. Rodin lauded the garden as a location that should provide education and serenity for the student body. "I think the garden has enormous potential. It will be a place for students to learn about life, about beauty, about environmental science, about respect for living things in public spaces and, importantly, about how to work together as a team," Rodin said. "It's been teamwork that's made this creation so successful," she added. And Blackwell claimed that this endeavor is but the latest example of Penn's "outreach effort" in the community. "We could not otherwise have [the garden] were it not for [University administrators and students] commitment, dedication and their willingness to roll up their sleeves and get the job done," Blackwell said. After the speeches concluded and the ceremony moved outside, the mood became even more jovial as many Lea School faculty members and other guests ate fruit salad and pasta provided by the White Dog Cafe, while students explored the garden and chatted with their teachers. Larry Serinsky, who graduated from the Lea School in 1964 and has served as the students' counselor for 13 years, called Tuesday's ceremony a "triumphant" and "uplifting experience." "What a marvelous way to reassert our school as the center of a community," Serinsky said. Sixth-grader Shamsudin Kadir, who acknowledged that he played a direct role in the creation of the garden, said he felt pleased that other children -- especially his five siblings -- would benefit from the use of the garden. "I want my little brothers and sisters, when they grow up, to have confidence in this garden," Kadir said.
(06/10/99 9:00am)
Marketing Prof. Scott Ward paid a fine to settle charges but did not admit any guilt. A Montgomery County judge last week fined Marketing Professor Scott Ward $2,500 and sentenced him to five years' probation on charges of attempting to promote prostitution and corrupt minors, according to Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Mark Miller. Ward, 56, entered what experts call an Alford plea, in which the defendant acknowledges that sufficient evidence exists for conviction but does not explicitly confess any guilt. Ward's plea and ensuing punishment marks the latest -- and likely final -- development in a case that dates back to October 1993, when Ward was arrested for allegedly soliciting sex from an undercover state trooper posing as a 15-year-old boy. According to a statement issued on Monday by the Wharton School's Office of Public Affairs, Ward's role as a University professor will not change and he will teach a graduate-level Marketing course in the fall. "Based on the policies of the University of Pennsylvania, Scott Ward remains as a member of the standing faculty in the Marketing Department," the press release said. Chairperson of the Marketing Department David Schmittlein refused to comment. In November 1995, Ward was acquitted by a Montgomery County jury on four criminal charges: involuntary deviant sexual intercourse, statutory rape, indecent assault and corruption of a minor. But in July 1996, he was once again tried in connection for three sex-related charges. A jury acquitted Ward of one of the three charges -- criminal attempt to commit involuntary deviate sexual intercourse -- but remained deadlocked on two other charges, the same two that he was sentenced on last week. Had Ward decided to plead not guilty, the trial would have started later this month. Now, with an Alford plea entered in lieu of a not guilty plea, both sides have differing views about the decision's actual implications. "My take on this is that he realized we could make a case," Miller said. "I don't know too many people who would plead guilty to sex-related offenses if they hadn't done it," added Miller, who has been involved in the case since 1994. Ward has adamantly denied the charges since they were first brought against him and recently maintained that he did "not have the financial and emotional resources" to plead not guilty and "go through [a trial] again." "Elementary analysis of the social psychology of juries, behavioral decision theory and risk management were important elements of my decision," Ward explained. But exactly how much evidence exists has been a major point of contention between the prosecution and the defense. Miller said the prosecution had evidence that, in October 1993, an informant told Montgomery County police that Ward often invited boys back to his Ardmore home, where he would coax them into having sex with him. As part of an undercover sting operation, then-23-year-old Pennsylvania State Trooper Sean McMahon -- posing as a 15-year-old boy -- arranged to meet Ward at the Ardmore train station on a Friday night in October 1993. When the two finally met at a Roy Rogers on Lancaster Avenue, according to Miller, Ward took him back to his home in Ardmore, Pa., and allegedly discussed prostitution and bisexuality -- all allegations that Ward refutes. "The trooper stated, under oath, that I never asked him for sex, at any time. He also stated under oath: 'It seemed like Dr. Ward wanted me to get some direction in my life.' This was the gist of the conversation between the trooper and me that was supposed to be tape-recorded," Ward said in a statement. Investigators have acknowledged that technical problems made parts of the alleged conversation unclear and that the recorder -- a small wire transmitter worn by the undercover trooper -- malfunctioned when a switch was set wrong. Due to the faulty setup, investigators said they failed to obtain a clear recording of the conversation. Although Ward admitted that he did ask the trooper about his sexual behavior, he claimed that he was solely concerned that the young man might require "immediately professional counselling" and had no sexual intentions in mind. Ward arrived at the University in 1979. He had taught at Harvard's Graduate School of Business Administration for 10 years prior to coming to landing a job at Wharton. He has received the Excellence in Teaching Award from Wharton's MBA students and has also also earned the Outstanding Professor Award from Wharton's undergraduate students.
