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(11/02/93 10:00am)
No one's talking about $1 billion deal Negotiations on the University's potential acquisition of the Civic Center are continuing behind closed doors, in the wake of a raucous community meeting and rampant city-wide speculation. University and city officials generally refuse to comment on the progress of talks, saying there is no set timetable on when they will yield results. "Any kind of major decision like this for the acquisition of something like the Civic Center usually takes a significant amount of time," Executive Vice President Janet Hale said. "We are hoping it will be successfully completed." While University officials are oblique as to which city officials they are negotiating with, the city's negotiations are being handled by the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation. But PIDC Executive Vice President Craig Schelter refused to comment on the status of the talks and other PIDC officials said they were not allowed to comment. Gordon Williams, vice president of the Medical Center, said the negotiations were currently in a state of flux, and that while he remains "optimistic," the talks are "by no means a done deal." At a community meeting on October 14, Williams was the first to officially announce the University's intentions to acquire the Civic Center from the city. At the meeting, Williams presented diagrams detailing the location and layout of the potential ambulatory care unit that would be built on the current Civic Center site. Williams then estimated that the development of the Civic Center site would cost anywhere from $900 million to $1 billion, and that the gradual costs of refining the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania would be "approximately $2 billion over 15 to 20 years." Williams said the negative feedback from West Philadelphia residents at the meeting generated a "concerned" reaction from the University. "I think when you're faced with how the community perceives you, it hits home a little harder than you may have thought before," Williams said. Williams said yesterday that he feels the problem of the University's relationship with the surrounding area is not content-based, but is a problem of public relations. "We have to do a much better job making sure the community is aware of what we do," he said. Hale said the meeting drew attention to the University's "ongoing working relationship with the community." "We've always anticipated that we would want to talk to the community, and anticipate that we will do more of that," she said. Williams would not disclose details about the ongoing negotiations. But he did say he foresees negotiations proceeding to the point of public hearings – which would be necessary if and when discussion of the deal would reach City Council for approval. "We know we're going to have public hearings, and no institution the size of Penn is going to come out unscathed," Williams said. "We are going to have to deal with some things in order to make the deal successful."
(10/28/93 9:00am)
Sick of the DP? There's another forum where you can instantly voice your opinion to thousands of people and receive personal responses – ranging from furious to flattering – within seconds. The forum is upenn.talk, an electronic mail newsgroup accessible to all members of the University community on e-mail who simply type, "rn read upenn.talk" at the appropriate prompt. The group virtually bursts at the seams of its Internet thread with opinions on topics ranging from Bosnia to bikes on the Locust Walk. But the group focuses on University issues, with hard-hitting commentary posted by staff and students alike. The newsgroup was started last year by Engineering sophomore Meng Weng Wong, who was interviewed – appropriately enough – via e-mail. "As a freshman new to the net, I discovered the thousands of newsgroups available on Usenet," he said. "I saw a lack of forum for unrestricted discussion. "So I went ahead and requested upenn.talk, an unmoderated group for discussion about everything and anything related to Penn," he said. And everything and anything does come up, from race relations on campus to School of Arts and Sciences department cuts. "Well, it's definitely an interesting newsgroup," College junior Keith Keller said. "I'm quite surprised that it still is an intellectual forum. I thought that it would quickly degenerate to just a blabbering of silly frosh saying how little beer there is at Penn." "It's very random," Engineering sophomore Deborah Fox said. "People post about Barney, about how the granite on Locust Walk is cut the wrong way?if no one wants to talk about the topic, no one will respond." And many have been surprised at the wide range of discussion, ideological positions and dialogue that take place on the newsgroup. "Last summer, there was a long debate on the ROTC issue which is kind of surfacing again," College sophomore Eric Krangel said. "As a member of ROTC, I think I was able to offer a viewpoint some people didn't have." Sandy Smith, an administrative assistant in the graduate division of the School of Arts and Sciences, said he's learned about University students through his own participation in the newsgroup. "There is a small community of students who do enjoy give and take, and are willing to engage people who hold views opposite to their own and argue," Smith said. "I think it would be interesting if more people at Penn did that." But many members of the University community hover above upenn.talk's conversations. Associate Vice Provost Larry Moneta is such a "lurker." "I'm a lurker," Moneta shamelessly admits. "The only way one can really get the pulse of the campus is through Letters to the Editor, individual conversations and these unique little pockets of conversation." And while upenn.talk is a much more fluid medium than the DP, it isn't perceived as a rival. "They're different types of media," Fox said. "One entertains talking and rapid response, and the other reads better sitting down." "I don't think they're in competition with each other – I think they complement each other," she said.
(10/26/93 9:00am)
Over 2,000 University students, faculty, staff and community residents gathered in Irvine Auditorium last night to hear Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel speak. Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, human rights activist and author of over 30 books, spoke for 90 minutes at the invitation of the Steinhardt Jewish Heritage Program. Wiesel did not focus on one particular topic, but interwove Talmudic tales with messages of tolerance. He began his talk with the Talmudic story of a Jewish martyr in Roman-ruled Judea, who cried under torture until he heard a voice that told him that "should you shed one more tear, I shall restore the universe to its primary chaos." "I didn't understand this story," Wiesel said sadly. "Since when is God afraid of Jewish tears?" But he said the story held an important message. "I understood later that the ultimate punishment in Jewish thought is not the end, but chaos," Wiesel said to a silent audience. "That is when everything will enter into a nebulous atmosphere in which?good and bad will have the same face. "That is the punishment. Call it indifference, call it whatever. When we no longer know what to do to save men from decadence, that is the greatest tragedy that can befall a society." Wiesel said he believes chaos is setting into the world, and if people act in accordance with their religion, whatever they may believe, that chaos can be mitigated. "My priorities are Jewish priorities," Wiesel elaborated later in the speech. "We must open our hearts to the suffering and pain of other people. I feel it is our duty as Jews to help victims [of all countries] to suffer less." In addition to religion, Wiesel said, every part of a person is enhanced by the many roles he or she plays. "The writer in me is a teacher, and the teacher in me is a writer," he said. "Like you, I am a student." Wiesel briefly spoke of the Holocaust in his speech, wondering why he among all its victims was fortunate enough to survive. "I don't know the answer," he said. "If God wanted to perform a miracle, he should have performed a miracle by saving more worthy people than I." Wiesel said he became more religious after his concentration camp experience, in order to affirm his existence through study, and affirm his own sense of good and evil. While he voiced reluctance to compare anything to the Nazi regime, he spoke of this century as seeing "the birth and downfall of ideologies that were the resurgence of paganism," placing Nazism and Communism under that definition. "The S.S. were a religious order," he said. "Communism was also a religion. And God was evacuated from both." Wiesel, who visited the former Yugoslavia last year, spoke of his fears for the future of that part of the world. "It is in the moral interest of the United States to have moral values," he said. When the floor was opened to questions, many students asked Wiesel how he would respond to those who would deny the Holocaust and to the rise of neo-Nazis. "The most hateful and hated of all are the so-called deniers," Wiesel said. "I would never grant them a debate." Wiesel, throughout his speech and questions, recommended education as a remedy to bigotry fueled by ignorance. "You must educate so well, with so much passion and compassion, that?those deniers would be shamed into silence," Wiesel said. "The key is in education."
(10/26/93 9:00am)
Second in a Series There's so much you don't know – especially about the goings-on within the University's Judicial Inquiry Office. The University's Policies and Procedures manual is 47 pages thick, with descriptions of the judicial system's nooks and crannies. But between all the legalese, little detail is found. The reason lies within the eighth chapter of the University's Charter of the Student Judicial System, in a section titled, "Confidentiality of Records and Proceedings." Two paragraphs briefly and succinctly shut the doors on the University's judicial process to the inquisitive eyes of the general public. "The identity of the individuals in particular cases before the JIO?and all files and testimony, are confidential, in accordance with University guidelines concerning the confidentiality of student records, pursuant to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, as amended," the paragraph begins. According to many University officials, it's as simple as that. But it isn't that simple. What is FERPA, or, as it is more commonly referred to, the Buckley Amendment? And how does it apply to what goes on behind the closed doors of the JIO? Depending on who you talk to, it is difficult to determine why those doors of information are locked shut. Bound to Secrecy? The Buckley Amendment states that federal funding can be withheld from schools that disclose students' educational records without their consent. The law applies to any school, public or private, which receives federal funding – including the University. The definition of "education records" according to the law, however, has fluctuated over the years. According to a 1992 amendment of the act, the term means "those records that are 1) directly related to a student; and 2) maintained by an educational agency or institution or by a party acting for the agency or institution." Exceptions explicitly listed in the amendment include employment records, records kept in the sole possession of the record-maker and law enforcement records in some cases. Amidst all of these carefully-elaborated exceptions and inclusions, disciplinary proceedings are never specifically mentioned. University officials say students' disciplinary records do fall under the heading of academic records, and therefore, the details of specific cases are not disclosed to the public. JIO Steven Blum says the student judicial system is designed to comply with the Buckley Amendment. "The charter is fairly specific, and that's the rules of the University due to a mandate of the federal government," Blum said. The University does disclose updates on JIO proceedings periodically to The Daily Pennsylvanian and Almanac – but these updates, Blum said, are purposely vague. "The JIO reports to the entire community, and that report tells about all the cases in a statistical format, but it gives sufficiently little information that presumably, it's not possible to tell which case may have involved certain people," Blum said. "Congress has enacted a law protecting student records," Associate General Counsel Neil Hamburg said. "It's not a policy question of the University of Pennsylvania." The Georgia Experience But in early 1992, The Red & Black, the student newspaper at the University of Georgia, gained access to its schools' disciplinary hearings in a challenge to the definition of the Buckley Amendment. The Georgia State Supreme Court found in the court case The Red & Black Publishing Company v. Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia that disciplinary hearings and records do not fall under the Buckley Amendment. The only applicable records are those that apply to "individual student academic performance, financial aid, or scholastic probation." Mark Goodman, executive director of the Student Press Law Center, says another such lawsuit was filed by the student newspaper at Louisiana State University at Shreveport two weeks ago, and the Georgia ruling could serve as a precedent. "I think many schools use FERPA as a smokescreen," Goodman said. "There's absolutely no rational basis that Congress intended the law to be used to cover up criminal activity on campus that is not academically related." This argument stems from the fact that activities that might be considered criminal in general society – such as sexual assault – also can be dealt with by the JIO, either in addition to or instead of criminal proceedings. "The criminal courts do not want to be clogged with the range of behaviors that students at their fertile maturing process are going through," Associate Vice Provost for University Life Larry Moneta said. "There's been a lot of pressure on the campuses to manage their own behaviors. "I can accept that there are circumstances that require in-house procedures. On the other hand, there are people who will argue that the campus' response to inappropriate behavior probably can be stricter, firmer, more educative and more reasonable than the courts can be." But Goodman disagrees. "What most school officials are saying is that students on campus engaged in criminal behavior are entitled to special rights that society at large is not," Goodman said. "Courts of law are open to the public because we want the public to have confidence that the system of justice works. It can't happen without openness, and I don't know if it can happen at colleges and universities." University officials, though, view the Georgia case as an aberration rather than a precedent, and a misinterpretation of federal law. "That Georgia case is wrong," Hamburg said emphatically. "It is the opinion of a Georgia state court on a question of federal statute, and that court has not analyzed the Buckley Amendment properly." The Privacy Debate Colleges and universities around the country maintain a closed-court judicial process on the basis of the Buckley Amendment – with their most vocal opposition often coming from the campus student newspaper. Harvard Crimson President Ira Stoll says summaries of campus judicial proceedings at Harvard are not made available to the university community. "FERPA has some pros and some cons," Stoll said. "Our staff editorial position has been that the secretive nature of the proceedings makes it impossible for there to be accountability in seeing whether it's a fair system." Blum says the reports the JIO makes to the community are sufficient. "This office wants to cooperate with the student press to the full extent that it is possible to do, taking into consideration this office has other responsibilities," Blum said. "But some of what those other responsibilities are are maintaining the privacy rights of individuals and maintaining a necessary work environment for running a judicial system. "There are a whole lot of interests to balance," he said. "There's the community's desire to know, expressed through its press, and the individuals' desire for privacy. The whole thing will grind to a halt without privacy." Blum says privacy is necessary in order to expedite investigations. "When somebody's doing an investigation, sometimes they talk to people who have to remain anonymous," he said. "If that person knows the promise of anonymity is subject to release to the DP, it isn't anonymity at all." Fighting for Access FERPA has been used not only to ensure confidentiality, but also to open students' records to the light of day. The law requires that enrolled students be allowed to inspect their own educational records – and 1991 Harvard graduate Joshua Gerstein made the most of it. Gerstein used the Buckley Amendment to request access to the summary sheets of his application to Harvard. When he was denied access, Gerstein appealed the decision to the Department of Education, which ruled that Harvard had violated FERPA and must surrender the information to Gerstein. "I've been someone who wanted to see FERPA as broad as possible, and argued that the law was very broad," Gerstein said. "It's sort of awkward to say that well, because of common sense it doesn't apply to disciplinary hearings." Gerstein referred to restrictions on disciplinary hearings like the University's as "a holdover from another era." "A lot of the secrecy that they have is forced by FERPA," he said. "But this whole notion of in loco parentis has sort of gone out the window, yet you still have this forced secrecy. It reinforces the notion that it is a double standard." Many supporters of FERPA say confidential rules were meant to apply solely to academic records such as transcripts – and some are aiming to change the law. The Society of Professional Journalists recently formed a task force to challenge restrictions on access to campus judicial proceedings. The task force's head, Associated Press reporter Carolyn Carlson, says more serious crimes like robbery are being taken up by campus courts, where there aren't always traditional legal standards. "There's no assurance that justice is done," Carlson said. "The community has a right to know what happens to people who disrupt the orderliness of the community. "If a person were charged with a crime one foot off campus, it would be public knowledge," she said. "That's not fair." The task force's goals are to make more people aware of the secret nature of campus courts, to encourage student media to challenge the secrecy either in court or through administrative channels, and to lobby Congress to change FERPA itself. "The overriding point is that this kind of information ought to be published," Carlson said. "If the laws protect it from the public, the laws ought to be changed."
(10/26/93 9:00am)
Second in a Series Like a game, there are rules to be played by. In every case brought before the Judicial Inquiry Officer, there are certain things that are allowed to be disclosed to the public, and others that are strictly prohibited. And the rules of the game must be followed. There are different rules for the respondent – the person accused – than the complainant – the plaintiff – in a case. Both are entitled by law to have their identities protected in the context of public documents. But there are disparities between the rights of the two parties. "The respondent has a lot more prerogative to be public with information," said Associate Vice Provost for University Life Larry Moneta. According to Moneta, the controversial "water buffalo" case was emblematic of misuse of that right. "There is a significant inequity in the privilege according to the respondent as opposed to the complainant," he said. "Inequity was used in this case, from the respondent's perspective, politically very effectively. "I think that's a flaw in the procedure. I think either both parties get to say whatever they want or both parties are told to shut up." But that aside, the complainant is only able to speak on the case once the respondent says something about the complainant, in which case they can both speak publicly about the case. The complainant does have some rights in this system. For example, the complainant can file an anonymous complaint, although he or she cannot examine the text of a settlement, if one is reached. The respondent, on the other hand, has access to all letters and discussions about the settlement. However, neither side has access to the JIO's note. These notes include the questionings of witnesses, investigations and hearing notes, if the process reaches that point. According to the University's Policies and Procedures manual, the JIO, complainant and respondent must meet no fewer than 48 hours before the hearing to exchange copies of exhibits, names of witnesses and a brief summary of testimony among themselves and with the Judicial Administrator. Both sides have access to precedents and are allowed to examine sanctions imposed in the past, but this information is limited to information that has been released to the public. Sound complicated? Even among those who truly know the ropes, there are disagreements on what the rules actually are. While Moneta says either party involved can insist on a tape of a judicial hearing and that tape becomes their property, Associate General Counsel Neil Hamburg disagrees. "That is just not true," Hamburg said.
(10/25/93 9:00am)
University faculty and staff who live in West Philadelphia submitted a 23-page report to top University officials outlining ways to improve University-community relations. The report, titled "Priorities for Neighborhood Revitalization: Goals for the Year 2000," calls on the University to require both the new president and provost to live on or near campus as a condition of taking the posts. It also advocates major changes in the University's approach to public safety. The report was compiled and written by the Penn Faculty and Staff for Neighborhood Issues, a group that last year asked former President Sheldon Hackney to "make community relations one of [his] legacies to Penn." They handed him a petition with 500 signatures. Associate Legal Studies Professor Richard Shell, chairperson of the group's Public Safety Committee, said the purpose of the document is to reaffirm the importance of the link between the University and the surrounding area and to encourage faculty and staff to reside here. "We're all looking for a model of 'One University,' where faculty, staff and students will have a chance to connect with each other outside the classroom," Shell said. The organization, Penn Faculty and Staff for Neighborhood Issues, is without precedent at other schools, Shell said. "One of the focuses that we've had is to study other urban universities, and we haven't run into another university that has this much of an organized constituency," he said. Members of the group recommend a residence requirement for the University's leaders, enhanced public education in University City, increased staffing and coverage by University Police and increased presence of University faculty and staff area residents on University committees. Shell advocates an expansion of the informal University-patrolled security zone to include a broader area where University faculty and staff reside. Other recommendations within the report include more University Police officers on patrol, new Escort Service policies and a comprehensive lighting survey of the area. "Public safety is a very important issue to us," Shell said. "Nobody knows better than we do the importance of Penn police. That's why we want to expand the public safety program." The expansion of the routes, according to the document, would extend beyond 43rd Street. "Often, students have a perception that no faculty or staff live beyond the west part of campus," Shell said. "It's sort of like the end of the world." But according to the document, over 4,000 University-affiliated people reside in West Philadelphia neighborhoods. Interim President Claire Fagin said she has not yet looked at the proposal closely, but she believes University officials ought to have a stronger connection to campus. "By and large, if you don't have any competing priorities, living on campus is a wise idea," she said. "I would not want to be living far from campus. I think living on campus is crucial for the president."
(10/25/93 9:00am)
Nobel Peace Prize winner and world-renowned author Elie Wiesel will speak at Irvine Auditorium tonight at 7:30 p.m. Wiesel, a survivor of the Holocaust who is known internationally for his work on behalf of the oppressed, is coming to campus courtesy of the Steinhardt Jewish Heritage Program. "A lot of people have a good idea who he is, and are quite excited that he's coming," College senior David Eisen said. Eisen is one of 15 interns in the campus Steinhardt program. The group, started on campus last semester, is intended to appeal to the mainstream Jewish community on campus. But members of the program emphasized the inclusive nature of Wiesel's appearance. "We expect a very positive response, and not necessarily just from the Jewish community," Eisen said. "There's a wide interest in him as a champion of human rights in general." When Wiesel was 15 years old in Romania, he and his family were deported by the Nazis to Auschwitz, a concentration camp. His mother and youngest sister were killed there, while Wiesel, his father and two sisters survived. Wiesel documented his experience in the concentration camps in the book Night, which has been translated into 18 languages. He has since written more than 30 books, earning him recognition throughout the world. Wiesel has defended the rights of oppressed groups internationally, from South African victims of apartheid to Kurds to most recently, victims and prisoners in the former Yugoslavia. Wiesel is currently the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University. The speech, which will be followed by a question and answer period, is free to all with a PENNcard. Irvine's doors open at 6:30 p.m.
(10/21/93 9:00am)
Members of the University Trustees' External Affairs Committee gathered Friday and devoted much of their meeting to discussion of what Interim President Claire Fagin called the University's image "challenge." They remembered public relations casualties from a summer in which the University was trampled by "water buffalo" and trashed with newspapers in all forms of national media. The meeting bore the scars of battle. "We have to get the image and the reality [of the University] much more together than they've been for some time," Fagin said. The meeting took a populist approach, as Trustees watched a video put together by the Annenberg School and UTV in which students were asked what they thought was wrong with the University. Few students in the video segment mentioned racial tensions. Issues addressed by students included safety, diversification of Locust Walk and academic concerns. Following the video presentation, a panel comprised of Wharton freshman Matthew Macarah, Black Graduate and Professional Student Association Chairperson Lynn Edwards and Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial Page Editor David Boldt discussed their perceptions of the University. Macarah said while he was not on campus for either the "water buffalo" case or The Daily Pennsylvanian confiscation, it "didn't have a big impact" on his image of the school. "That kind of thing happens everywhere," Macarah said. Boldt said the two incidents made such a huge splash in the national media because they made the University seem out of touch with the "real world." "We tend to see Penn as the Fiji Islands of West Philadelphia," Boldt said. "We know where it is, but we're not sure what goes on there?there's a feeling that the educational elite at Penn have come loose from the mainstream of society." Many Trustees asked panelists what they thought could be done to forward integration between the races, both on the staff of the DP and throughout campus. Edwards, an Annenberg graduate student, said that to suggest that black students are "withdrawing" from integration with other students "is to suggest that there was ever integration in the first place." Boldt, suggesting the University move closer to an "in loco parentis" approach to diversity, received enthusiastic nods and smiles from the Trustees. Edwards voiced disapproval of the idea of randomized housing – that all freshmen would be randomly assigned to dormitory rooms – saying it would "force students into a situation that [they] might not feel comfortable with." "People come here, and they live with, talk with and stay with people from their own group," Trustee Vice Chairperson Gloria Chisum said in agreement. "If diversity is here, and there's no interaction, then [diversity is] a myth," Trustee Ed Anderson said. After the committee had moved on to other business, Committee Chairperson Leonard Lauder brought the discussion back to the issue of the events of the past year. Lauder, saying the University needs good relationships with newspaper editorial boards, denounced former President Sheldon Hackney as someone who "didn't get out of the office, thus drawing the fire of the nation's press last semester. "[Hackney] was a very shy person," Lauder said. "We were paying for years of a private person's unease with the press." That, he said, was the sole reason the "water buffalo" case attracted the nation's attention. "That's the only reason," Lauder said angrily. "These things happen all the time." He had better words for Fagin, which drew applause from fellow Trustees. "[Fagin's] first week of office, she visited the boards of the Inquirer, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times," he said. "She is a pro-active, outward-looking person."
(10/15/93 9:00am)
Ten dollars seemed a small price to pay for the future. And so, this intrepid reporter ventured to the tops of long narrow stairways and into the depths of the psyche to find out exactly what may lie ahead. Using my two palms as a control, I tested the astrological insights of psychics all over Philadelphia. If there was some hint of truth to their predictions, I figured, they ought to all be basically the same – after all, my hands would be the same wherever I went. But all that remained the same was the price. All the fortunes, though, did begin with the same three findings: I have a strong lifeline. I will live long. I am a good and honest person. Sylvia was most specific. My palm told her that I will live until I am 93 (I wrote that one down.) But from that point on, the findings diverged. According to my left palm, Madonna told me, I will be married, with one child, within seven years. I will be married once. I will end up with two children. Maybe three. (I began to have my doubts when she said, "maybe." Why maybe? Wasn't it written on my palm? Carved into my celestial destiny?) But Sylvia was convinced that I will be married within six years, and will have two children. Cindy read that I will be married in three years. I will only be married once, and will have a son, then a daughter. Maria contended that I will be married with two children by the time I am 30. And Mrs. Sylvia said I will have three children and will be married once. Madonna and Maria both agree – I have had many admirers (which, counting grade school, could be considered accurate). Maria, though, looked at me with pity, saying I had been hurt badly in the past. But, they agree, I have not yet found true love. I am in a relationship now, but the other person loves me more than I love him, Maria said. I have not yet found true love, but it is in my future. Sylvia says I have found my true love, who will be the person I will marry. She commented on my selectivity, saying that while I have many admirers, I am very choosy (you might as well pick up some flattery for $10). Cindy says that while I will get married in three years, I have to find my true love very soon. When it comes to my family, Madonna says, I am encircled by love. But there is "some distance" there. Someone in my family who was ill will be better soon. I am very close to my family. Sylvia says someone in my family going through financial difficulties will resolve their problems shortly. But, Cindy says, I will draw closer to my family as time goes on. I should certainly hope so, since Cindy went on to predict that I will give up my career in 10 years to take care of said family in New York, where Sylvia also predicted that I will live. When it comes to my career, Sylvia, Cindy and Maria said, I will be very well-known and respected. While I will never be rich, they all went out of their way to inform me, I will always be comfortable. Madonna added that I have good judgment and a creative business sense, and should pick a career that will allow me to utilize both. This year, Sylvia, Cindy and Mrs. Sylvia said, will be a great year for me in both love and my career. Among all of the astrologers, only Cindy had a warning for me. Rather than ease my everyday fears, this only reinforced my perpetual paranoia. "There are envious people [at school,] envious friends," she said. "You will get what you want in the end, but watch your back." Did I have any questions? My main question was about the Penn basketball team. Little does Jerome Allen know that his fate and that of his teammates is not only written in the stars, but also is written on my hand. "They will do better than last year," she said, "but their best year will be 1994. And University Board of Trustees Chairperson Alvin Shoemaker will be happy to know that according to my palm, our next President will be "moody" – very intelligent, but not very good with people. Armed with this highly-specific information about the University and fairly-vague importunings of my own future, I continued on down the dusty road of destiny.
(10/15/93 9:00am)
Psychics believe the future lies in the palm of your hand You don't know how you'll do on the LSAT, and you're scared you'll never get into law school. Your girlfriend has been giving you grief – should you break up with her, or give her one more chance? Should you go abroad next semester, or will you miss out at home? The answers to these and all of your questions, according to some, may lie in the palm of your hand. Palmistry, the art of telling the future from a glimpse at your palm, is an occult science of prescience. From the ridges of the palm, some say, a person's future becomes as clear as the lines on the hand. Astrologists and psychics alike attribute their powers of seeing into the future to the movements of the sun, moon, planets and stars, which guide people's life choices. And according to believers, each part of the brain has its counterpart in the hand, revealing truths that otherwise would be invisible to the eye. It's not just for Nancy Reagan; astrologers and psychics have attained prominence and credence all over the world. There is an American Federation of Astrologers in Tempe, Ariz. There are astrology boards which advise city government officials and preside over the readings of the supernatural in Atlanta and Las Vegas. Some political leaders in India are known to consult astrologers and psychics before making important decisions. And throughout Philadelphia, there are psychics and astrologers who claim to see all – and will tell you what they see, when money crosses their palms. While most are eager to talk about others, very few will talk about themselves. But in a quiet setting, some will reveal how they can see what the rest of us cannot. "When I was six, I saw a death coming before it took place," Cindy Preston said, sipping a cup of coffee in the kitchen of her Rittenhouse Square apartment. That, Preston says, was how she knew she was psychic. "I was born with certain psychic gifts," she said between sips. "It's not something you pick up from books." Preston attributes her gifts to her mother, who "guided me, and told me how to go with it." She believes many people possess the talent to see into the future, but dismiss it as coincidences or oddly striking premonitions. "A lot of people with psychic abilities don't seem to understand what they are," she said. "They think they're going crazy. It's premonitions, but they don't know which way to go with it." Many people, Preston said, rely on her psychic abilities and visit her frequently in her basement apartment on 20th and Walnut streets, where she works in a small, tidily furnished white room. "Very, very important people come to speak to me," Preston said. "But I can't give out their names." Preston not only reads people's futures, but she also advises them on their present lives, businesses, loves and marriages. "I just try to give them more hope – to put them on the right track," she said. "I'm here to help them find the right answers." Preston admitted that many people are skeptical of the power of psychics to truly see beyond what ordinary people can see – in fact, many of her clients originally came doubting the supernatural. "When you come to a psychic, you have to come with an open mind," she said. "Just to find out if you're headed in the right direction." Preston says she is not a "grasping psychic" – she does not reach out at passersby when she sets up her two chairs on the street outside her house. "When I sit out there, and I focus on people, things do come from people I see," she said. "Sometimes, I'll stop them and tell them what I see, but most of the time I won't." Preston also will not predict the stock market. "I can't give out that kind of information," she said. "I just don't focus on numbers." And she's not keen on giving clients "bad news." "Unless there is danger or a tragedy [they can avoid]," she said. "Then, yes, I will tell them about it." At the end of a dark and narrow staircase in a South Street rowhouse, there is a door that says, "Keep Out." Right next to that door, a half-naked four-year-old girl points, giggles and runs back in. This is where Sylvia tells other people's stories. Her office and her apartment are the same. A lace cloth is tightly spread over the dining room table; a payphone hangs on the wall directly behind. And more little children play and watch TV in the room next door, while Sylvia tells people their futures. "It was a gift from God," Sylvia says, gesturing briefly at the statuettes of the Virgin Mary sitting on the ledge behind her. "I realized it [when] I was very, very young." Sylvia has been reading people's palms and tarot cards since she was a 7-year-old in Romania, about 20 years ago. Sylvia reads people's palms every day of the week but Sunday, when she takes the day off as a day of prayer to purify herself. "I pray a lot to God," she said, lowering her eyes quickly. She added that the ability to commune with the supernatural is limited to Christians. No one else, she believes, can see the future. Sylvia said she can look into people's eyes and hands and see their futures, but cannot see her own or those of her family. "I'm only gifted to read for other people," she explained. In addition to regular customers, Sylvia said, she has also done readings for police officers to help them in their searches for criminals. "Sometimes, police come in here," she said. "If I can focus and see about it, I tell them. People want to know if they can find another person." But most people who come to her, she said, ask her more conventional questions. "They want to know about love, future, past, present, business," she said. "I tell them." She does not tell all, however, without first warning her customer. "I ask them first if they really want to know before I tell them anything bad," she said. Sylvia knows that many people read palms on South Street, and says she "can't really judge anybody." "Some people in this job are confused," she said. "Some people with more talent, some with less talent." "They confuse the reading sometimes," she said, "because they don't understand it." In the thick of the crowd on South Street, Madonna will tell people's futures for varying prices – $5 for a cursory reading, $10 for a palm reading and $20 for a full palm reading which goes more into depth. Her office is not in her house, but in a storefront in the middle of the shopping district. A TV broadcasts the end of the Phillies game from behind a Chinese screen; a pair of legs with an unseen owner rests on top of the set. But just a coffee table and couch greet the customer, and Madonna sits with a book as she waits for more hands to read. She is not always there, though. Some days, she takes off because, she says, it drains her. She also recommends that people – even her frequent customers – not come in every day. "Nothing should be overdone," she said as she sat, one leg under another, on the couch. "Nothing is good if it is done too much." Madonna does not want to talk about herself. "I don't have time," she said. But she has worked for 12 years at reading people's palms and destinies. Before working in her storefront office, she worked as most do – from her apartment upstairs. Madonna believes that the spiritual focus needs to be refreshed periodically. "I need to meditate every day," she said. Madonna not only works for regular customers, but has also been seen around the University, telling people's fortunes at formals. Whether people there are concerned with the future of their lives or of that night is of no concern to Madonna. She just knows that over the years, she has developed a knack for the craft that so few people have. "You just get a feeling for it."
(10/14/93 9:00am)
The University's intentions to acquire the Civic Center from the city were officially announced last night at an open community meeting with University and city officials, only to receive a barrage of criticism and disapproval from West Philadelphia community residents. Senior Vice President of the Medical Center Gordon Williams stood at the front of the room with City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, State Sen. Chaka Fattah and State Rep. James Roebuck. And, while Williams was armed with diagrams detailing the location and layout of the potential ambulatory care unit, he was quick to say the University has not yet purchased the city-owned Civic Center. "We very clearly recognize that [the Civic Center] is city property," Williams said. "We're merely looking at an opportunity that we think may be a win-win situation [for the city and the University]." Williams cited the lack of research space, parking and adequate outpatient facilities at the current medical complex as reasons for wanting to expand. Williams said the University has engaged in "informal discussions on and off with the city about the availability of the site until recently." If the University does acquire the property, Williams said, the development of the Civic Center site would cost anywhere from $900 million to $1 billion. In addition, the gradual costs of refining the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania's current research facilities would be "approximately $2 billion over 15 to 20 years," Williams said. The plan, Williams estimated, would create an average of 4,500 jobs per year over the 20 years of the project. But the over 200 people packed into a Children's Hospital of Philadelphia conference room to talk about the plan questioned, sometimes fiercely, the University's desire to expand. Lloyd Wayne, a University graduate and West Philadelphia resident, said the University has, throughout its history, defaulted on its obligation to its neighborhood. "Promises, promises – where's the beef?" Wayne said, to the applause of the audience. Wayne and many other audience members questioned the absence of more prominent University officials at the community meeting. Harriet Frye Brown of the South Philadelphia Alliance for Community Improvement agreed. "It's arrogant on your part," she said to Williams. "You haven't come back and mended your fences with the community." "Bring your trustees out!" she said to applause and cheers. "If they're not ashamed of what they're doing, then let them sit down and talk with the community." A procession of community members took to the podium for an hour, one by one denouncing the University's record on city and race relations. "This is a done deal," one audience member said. "They might not have signed any papers, but this is a done deal." Many insisted on community and minority involvement in any plans for the Civic Center site – involvement which would include jobs, better health care and access to University facilities for local residents. "All that I'm asking is my equal share of the pie," Philadelphia NAACP leader Milton Montgomery said. Montgomery and many others said community members should also be involved in the ongoing negotiations for the site. After the meeting, Williams, who did not respond to the vitriol of community residents during the meeting, said negotiations with the city are by no means "a done deal." "We have to give the community the opportunity to voice their concerns," Williams said, adding that any initiative to purchase Civic Center land would have to be heard in a city-wide public hearing and voted on by City Council. Blackwell said she thinks the University has a shot at acquiring the Civic Center site. "Certainly it can happen, if they respond specifically to how people feel," she said.
(10/14/93 9:00am)
Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel and former Israeli President Chaim Herzog will be speaking on campus in two separate events open to the University community. Wiesel, whose lecture is sponsored by the Steinhardt Jewish Heritage Program, will speak at Irvine Auditorium on Monday, October 25 at 7:30 p.m. Herzog, who is being brought to campus by Connaissance, will deliver a talk at Harrison Auditorium on peace in the Middle East on November 4 at 8 p.m. Both figures are renowned world-wide, Wiesel for his work on behalf of human rights and Herzog for his 10-year tenure of diplomacy as president of Israel. Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, has written more than 30 books including the autobiographical Night. He has used the power of his voice to speak for victims and prisoners all over the world. The Steinhardt Jewish Heritage Program bringing Wiesel is a Jewish organization funded by a New York board of trustees. The program is being given a trial run at the University this year. Wiesel's speech is open to all with a PENNCard on a first-come, first-serve basis. The program, according to Steinhardt Jewish Heritage Program member Guy Raviv, is targeted specifically toward the University. Raviv said Wiesel, who is being given an undisclosed honorarium by the program, will speak on current events. "There are a lot of seats in Irvine, and we're expecting a lot of students," Raviv said. Connaissance Chairperson Robyn Allen said tickets for Herzog's speech will be distributed on Locust Walk beginning on November 1, and will be free with a PENNCard. Allen said she expects "a good number of people" at the event, which is taking place in association with Hillel. Asked if she expected a rush for tickets similar to that for former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's speech last year, Allen said many more students will be able to attend Herzog's speech due to a larger number of seats. "I don't think it'll be like [Gorbachev]," Allen said. "But he is very well known, and we're very excited to have him come, especially with all that's been going on in the Middle East recently." Connaissance will pay Herzog $12,500 for his visit to the University. As Israel's ambassador to the United Nations and then as president of Israel, Herzog made unprecedented overseas visits, restoring diplomatic relations between Israel and many "third world" and Eastern European countries.
(10/13/93 9:00am)
It was only one vote – but it caused much of Washington and the nation to add just one more "m" to Rep. Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky's name: martyr. On August 5, a roll call vote was taken on President Clinton's proposed budget plan in the House of Representatives. For a while, it looked as though the budget wouldn't survive. Mezvinsky, a Democrat, had planned to vote against the budget. Coming from a highly-Republican district, a vote for a budget which included items like a 4.3 cent-per-gallon gas tax would be a high risk that she did not want to take. She had already opposed the initial budget vote in May. But at 8:45 that evening, after Mezvinsky had given several interviews denouncing the proposed budget, the calls started coming in. The vote would be close, she was told, and her party desperately needed her vote. It was so needed, in fact, that Clinton himself called Mezvinsky to plead with her to change her mind. Mezvinsky told Clinton she would support his plan if he would attend a conference on entitlements such as social security, welfare and Medicaid to be held in her district in Pennsylvania. When Clinton agreed, so did Mezvinsky. She didn't cast her vote until after the electronic voting had finished. She walked with party leaders to the front of the House and, to cheers from Democrats and boos from Republicans, cast her vote in favor of the plan. Mezvinsky, Ray Thornton (D-Ark.), Pat Williams (D-Mont.) and David Minge (D-Minn.) ultimately cast the deciding votes for the plan, which was later approved by the Senate. Mezvinsky's move cast the media's spotlight upon the Congresswoman, as speculation on her political fate catapulted from The Philadelphia Inquirer to Newsweek. Pundits bemoaned the "sacrifice" of a freshman politician – and a woman, at that! – to the whims of the older, male and more firmly entrenched Democrat elite on Capitol Hill. Such media coverage, though, carried with it the implicit supposition that Mezvinsky's vote guaranteed her political death after the next election. American Civilization Department Chairperson Murray Murphey, however, believes Mezvinsky's fate is not sealed. "A lot is going to depend on how people feel about how they're doing [when the election comes up]," Murphey said. "If the Clinton economic plan does even moderately well, she will receive some of the credit for that." And Associate Political Science Professor William Harris believes that to judge anyone on a single vote is hasty. "I think it would be unfortunate to focus on one vote of anybody," Harris said. "It can't be a litmus test."
(10/11/93 9:00am)
As of last night, negotiations between leaders of 10 unions at The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Philadelphia Daily News were stalled, and the possibility of a strike beginning this afternoon seemed likely. Marathon contract discussions at a Center City hotel over the weekend have not yet yielded tangible results, said Joseph Lyons, president of the Philadelphia Council of Newspaper Unions. Talks were "very, very slow," Lyons said. "I can't say I'm optimistic." Philadelphia Newspaper Guild service representative David Baum said negotiations could still work. "There is always a possibility," Baum said last night. "Each side will have its plan ready." Lyons announced the call for a strike last Wednesday, saying the unions would negotiate with Philadelphia Newspapers Inc. – which owns the Inquirer and Daily News – around the clock until the afternoon deadline. But according to sources and the Guild's Negotiation Hotline, the weekend's bargaining made no progress towards settlements on noneconomic issues. Until Lyons' imposition of today's deadline, negotiations had been proceeding on a day-to-day basis since September 1, yielding no results. Among the unions' grievances are non-union workers doing jobs they feel should be staffed by union members, wage and benefits disputes and the issue of the company's jurisdiction in certain areas of distributing and staffing the newspaper. Union leaders, representing over 3,000 journalists, truck drivers, press operators and other workers, have said noneconomic issues would have to be settled before an agreement could be reached on economic issues. Marathon contract discussions at a Center City hotel over the weekend have not yet yielded tangible results, Lyons said. Talks were "very, very slow," Lyons said. "I can't say I'm optimistic." Philadelphia Newspaper Guild service representative David Baum said negotiations could still work. "There is always a possibility," Baum said last night. "Each side will have its plan ready." PNI has said a small non-union staff will continue publishing newspapers at its suburban Philadelphia printing plant if there is a strike. Union members have said they will attempt to block distribution of the newspapers. In 1985, a strike at PNI lasted 46 days.
(10/08/93 9:00am)
After a month of negotiations, leaders of 10 unions at The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Philadelphia Daily News have threatened to strike on Monday afternoon between 1 and 4 p.m. if the two sides do not reach an agreement by then. Joseph Lyons, president of the Philadelphia Council of Newspaper Unions, announced the call for a strike Wednesday, saying in a statement that both sides are prepared to negotiate around the clock until the afternoon deadline. "Our unions are preparing for a work stoppage if necessary," he said. "We are coordinating the picketing assignments and other work." Robert Hall, chairman and publisher of Philadelphia Newspapers Inc. – which owns the two newspapers – said he welcomes the new deadline. "I think it's wonderful," Hall said. "I think everyone's been pushing for a deadline. We've been working day to day for a month." PNI has said a small non-union staff will continue publishing newspapers at its suburban Philadelphia printing plant if there is a strike. Union members have said they will attempt to block distribution of the newspapers. Among the unions' grievances are non-union workers doing jobs they feel should be staffed by union members, wage and benefits disputes and the issue of the company's jurisdiction in certain areas of distributing and staffing the newspaper. Since September 1, when the unions' contracts expired, negotiations between PNI and the unions have proceeded on a day-to-day basis. But union leaders, who represent over 3,000 journalists, truck drivers, press operators and other workers, say negotiations have been unsatisfactory so far, which prompted the Monday deadline. "We've felt the company has not been reasonable," Philadelphia Newspaper Guild spokesperson David Baum said. According to Baum, plans put forward by PNI have not adequately addressed both economic and non-economic issues that are concerns of the unions. PNI has reached non-economic agreements with all but three of the 10 unions – Teamsters Locals 628 and 1414 and the Newspaper Guild. Those agreements must be reached before negotiations on the economic issues can begin. The 10 unions have come together as the Unity Council and are currently negotiating in tandem. "The jurisdiction issue transcends our union," Baum said. "The Unity Council wants the jurisdiction issue settled. These employees have made this a very profitable newspaper, and they should reap some rewards from that." Newspaper Guild Local 10 President Kitty Caparella wrote in her report to the Unity Council that negotiations were stalling, and "PNI's so-called 'best shot' [at a compromise]?is more like a shot between the eyes." Hall said he does not foresee a strike. "I think everyone is working towards a settlement," Hall said. "I don't think anyone on either side wants a work stoppage." In 1985, such a strike lasted 46 days and cost PNI over $16.2 million. A federal mediator, Walter Bednarczyk, will coordinate the negotiations aimed at averting a strike.
(10/06/93 9:00am)
Take out the papers and the trash. Curbside recycling of metal cans, aluminum cans, glass jars and bottles and newspapers will come to West Philadelphia the week of November 15. "It's very exciting, and it's something that will require a lot of education in terms of the University's student body," Spruce Hill Community Association President David Hochman said. "Curbside recycling is going to mean some major changes for how people deal with their trash." Tom Klein, director of education and promotion for the city's recycling office, said off-campus residents living in houses with six or less apartments will be receiving blue buckets and recycling guides over the course of the month. Klein said the University's on-campus residences will still fall under the jurisdiction of the University's recycling program, and will not be affected by the new city plan. The guides instruct residents how to recycle and when to put out their trash. Recycling will take place on the work day before the residence's trash day, every other week. In addition, Klein said, the city is currently placing ads in community papers and arranging announcements through cable television stations. "You can't go out and do the city in one fell swoop," Klein said. By November 15, the recycling program will be fully implemented throughout Philadelphia, said Nick Sanders, president of Spruce Hill Recycling Group and a member of the Mayor's Solid Waste Recycling Committee. The new recycling process will be less expensive than the city's current trash disposal process, Klein said. While disposing of a ton of trash currently costs the city $140, it will cost the city $119 per ton to recycle. He said houses with more than six apartments and apartment high rises will not be part of the recycling plan. Sanders said the exclusion of larger residences from the recycling plan is due to the fact that commercial haulers, and not the city, are responsible for these buildings' trash disposal. "[People] will have to tell their buildings' management that they're very interested in participating in a recycling program, and they would like their commercial hauler to provide for that," Sanders said. "If enough people express that opinion, the community hauler might try to please them." In the past, off-campus residents were able to use the block corner program, in which they could bring their recyclables to designated corners around the area for pickup. But Sanders said the block corner pickup program, which has been in operation for seven years, will stop before the city's curbside recycling program begins. Hochman called the block corner program a "labor of love." "They've been doing it for several years, making miniscule amounts of money, and they can't wait to get out of that business," Hochman said. Klein said he feels the program will work well in the University City area. "I'm not sure what to expect," Klein said. "But given West Philadelphia's socioeconomics, I'd figure on fairly high participation."
(10/05/93 9:00am)
While Philadelphians all over the city have added Phillies hats and T-shirts to their wardrobes, City Controller Jonathan Saidel is more concerned with their wallets. As a result of the Phillies' division-winning prowess, Saidel estimates at least $3.4 million will find its way into the city treasury. City Controller Director of Public Information Tony Radwanski said this estimated jump in revenue stems from a number of outlets – from the city's five percent earnings on amusement tax and 30 percent on concessions, to parking and Veterans Stadium fees. "We're estimating $3.4 million in direct revenues, assuming that [the Phillies] go to the World Series," Radwanski said. "The worst we could do at this point is $800,000 if we get wiped out in the playoffs." Radwanski and others speculate that indirect revenues from hotels, hospitality industries and increased SEPTA ridership would "work its way back to the city coffers." Radwanski said 1.2 million more fans attended games during the regular season and that has already resulted in over $3 million in increased city revenues. And the Philadelphia Sports Congress released estimates yesterday that the upcoming playoff games – mentioning, of course, the requisite "potential World Series contests" – could bring anywhere from $35-$40 million to the city's economy. The additional revenue, city spokesperson Larry Needle said, includes estimates for indirect economic revenue. Needle said the figures also account for an estimate of the turnover effect of dollars within the region. Both Radwanski and Needle consider retail sales of Phillies T-shirts and hats to be a considerable source of money for the city and its retailers. But at the Foot Locker athletic store the Shops At Penn, General Manager Darryl Cofield said Phillies "phanatics" don't seem to be buying all that much. "In the beginning of the season, we were doing really well, and sales picked up," Cofield said. "But even when they clinched, sales have only been OK – nothing spectacular." Cofield and security guard Carlos Bracey attribute this to the general "fair-weather" mentality of Phillies fans. "If they beat the [Atlanta] Braves, you bet that stuff's going to sell," Bracey said. "Sales will probably pick up then. But now, they haven't really proved anything." But people like 1993 Drexel University graduate Mike Elson think they have proven plenty. Elson, who positioned himself outside the Quadrangle last week to hawk Phillies paraphernalia, preyed upon new and old fans alike with the requisite $10. "Sales have been pretty good for me. People just jump on the bandwagon," Elson said. "But as long as they're buying, that's good for me." Bracey, however, was not as optimistic. "If they lose to the Braves, you can forget about the Phillies," he said.
(10/04/93 9:00am)
An outside committee will be on campus for the next two days to speak with students, deans and faculty as part of its evaluation of the interworkings of the University's schools and student life. Executive Assistant to the Provost Linda Koons said the two-day visit is part of an ongoing evaluation process by the External Visiting Committee on Undergraduate Education. "It will be an external look at all programs on an undergraduate level," Koons said. "Not as a critique, but just to let us know if we're going in the right direction." The visit to campus is a continuation of last year's communications between the committee and former Provost Michael Aiken. The committee is working toward objectives laid out by the University Five Year Plan's sections on undergraduate education. The 14-member committee, headed by Bryn Mawr College President Mary Patterson McPherson, split up and focused on each of the four undergraduate schools separately last year. In contrast, the committee will spend the next few days meeting with students and faculty from all schools at once. "There will be a lot of meetings this time with students," Koons said. "There are faculty focus groups and student focus groups." Susan Shaman, assistant vice president for planning and analysis for the Institute of Research on Higher Education, said Wednesday afternoon's schedule will include student lunches and faculty roundtables with the visitors. The centerpiece of the visit will be tomorrow night's public panel discussion, in which University Interim President Claire Fagin will introduce six faculty members who will discuss the future of undergraduate education. Three of the faculty members are from the University – History Professor Drew Faust, Materials Science and Engineering Professor David Pope and Undergraduate Mathematics Chairperson Dennis DeTurck – and the other three are visiting panelists. The panel, which will be held in Lauder-Fischer Hall tomorrow at 7:30 p.m., will be open to the University community, and interaction between panelists and the audience will be welcomed. Student Committee on Undergraduate Education Chairperson Jonathan Pitt said the committee is an opportunity for the University to improve itself. "I hope that the provost and the deans of the schools will use this as an opportunity to re-examine their programs critically, and will make necessary changes," the College senior said. "Certainly, I support this as part of a larger effort to improve education at Penn." Pitt praised the qualifications of the members of the visiting committee, which includes Harvard University Business School Professor Linda Hill to Princeton University Physics Professor Aaron Lemonick. "They're all very well suited for their job," Pitt said. "They've asked very probing questions [in the past] and they've been trying earnestly to probe to the root of whatever problems Penn may have with undergraduate education." Engineering Dean Gregory Farrington said he hopes the committee delves into the issue of interaction between the schools. "I'm looking forward to trying to learning how we can bridge the gap between technology schools and the humanities," he said.
(10/01/93 9:00am)
Headlines throughout Philadelphia yesterday screamed that Ira Einhorn, the '60s guru, was convicted in absentia of first-degree murder in the death of his girlfriend, whose body was found in a trunk in Einhorn's apartment 16 years ago. It was quite a jump from past headlines of be-ins, teach-ins and Earth Days – in The Daily Pennsylvanian. Einhorn, who fled the country 12 years ago rather than go on trial for the murder of Bryn Mawr College graduate Holly Maddux, is a member of the University's Class of 1961. Einhorn's prominence in Philadelphia's 1960s counterculture gained him national renown, and turned numerous heads among his University classmates. "Einhorn was a brilliant student," Pennsylvania Gazette Editor-in-Chief Anthony Lyle said, remembering the guru from an 18th century British literature class. "He was head and shoulders above the rest." "He was very much a figure in the University community," said History Professor Michael Zuckerman, a friend and classmate of Einhorn's from high school through college and beyond. "He was incredibly energetic and lively and riveting, and full of ideas that relatively few other people had, with a kind of verve to do something about them," Zuckerman added. After graduation, Einhorn was one of the founders of Free University of Pennsylvania, a movement of alternatives to conventional education that stood for "everything that the real universities were not," Zuckerman said. "The idea was that there would be an alternative to the driven, rat-race squirrel-cage classes," he said. "The teachers had no power except the power of their ideas." The Free University of Pennsylvania, open symposiums that many say attracted as many substances as students, was "the biggest free university in the country, and Ira was a huge factor in that," Zuckerman said. "He was charming, elfin and constantly teeming with ideas," Zuckerman said. "He radiated a sort of excitement." Lyle, however, remembers a different Einhorn. "I saw him once at the Annenberg School [after he graduated] – he seemed to have gone off the deep end," Lyle said. "There was a sense that he was in communication with Martians, almost." Lyle felt pity for his former classmate. "There was a kind of pathos to that," he said. "I don't really think he was all there. It wasn't like back in the English class days. Something had happened, and I think drugs were part of it." Einhorn is credited with bringing the Age of Aquarius to Philadelphia, organizing the city's first Be-In in 1967, as well as the subsequent Smoke-In, Earth Day and Sun Day. Zuckerman said he was amazed at the wide range of company Einhorn kept in Philadelphia, which ranged from fellow guru Allen Ginsberg to corporate executives clad in three-piece suits. "He began to move in still wider circles, with serious money and serious power," Zuckerman said. "[Einhorn] spent a fair amount of time with big time executives at General Electric and Bell, predicting the future for them." But Einhorn's vibrant participation in the counterculture movement lost some of its luster when Maddux's decomposing body was found in a steamer trunk lined with newspapers and styrofoam in Einhorn's Powelton Village apartment. Einhorn was subsequently arrested and released on $40,000 bail. He fled before the trial and, with the exception of a spotting in Sweden in 1988, has not been seen since. Yesterday, Einhorn's empty chair in the courtroom heard the Common Pleas Court's verdict of guilty, which entails a life sentence – if he is ever found. Zuckerman said he lost touch with Einhorn after 1977, and while the jury has come to a verdict in the case, he can't be quite sure his friend is guilty. "There was a streak in him that was clearly very powerful, violent, experimental and keen to experience feelings and emotions," Zuckerman said. "But it was as plausible to think it was a put-up job by the C.I.A. or the government. "By sheer inertia and by sheer absence of Ira, it seems to me to be more plausible that he actually did do it," he said. "But I wouldn't want to bet my life on it, even to this day."
(10/01/93 9:00am)
The University's Class of 1997 has been officially unified by traditions ranging from the yawn-laden ceremonies of Convocation to the freak-fest of Frankenstein. But now there's Maple, a brand of mathematics software that is truly bringing freshmen together. From the top floors of freshman-inhabited High Rise East to Butcher basement in the Quadrangle, freshmen from all schools are experiencing the program, which is a requisite in all introductory calculus classes. Freshmen use Maple, a new computer program, when doing calculus homework assignments. Undergraduate Mathematics Chairperson Dennis De Turck said Maple brings the math department "into the second half of the 20th century." "This is the way mathematics is done," De Turck said. "This isn't pedagogical software, it's professional software. This is bringing a touch of realism into what's usually a too abstract classroom." But eight out of 10 freshmen randomly surveyed seem to prefer a less technical mathematics experience. "Maple sucks," Engineering freshman Deniz Cultu said without hesitation. "I don't like it. It's unorganized, it's not presented well, the professors aren't even sure how to use it, you don't know who to go to for help – it's just badly run." College freshman Nicole George said she is not only frustrated with the program, but the hefty price of the software only rubbed salt in the wound. "I hate it," George said. "I think it's stupid. I don't even know why we need it. I don't even understand why they assigned it. Plus, it cost $165 for the whole package. That's just too much money for one course." Others questioned the necessity of having to use such a program in the first place. "It takes forever to figure out," Wharton freshman Ayanna Victorin said. "We've only done one assignment, but we didn't learn anything. You spend so much time typing that it takes four hours to do 10 problems." College freshman Stefan Slowinski is of a popular freshman school of thought – he's taking Calculus, not Computers 101. "I was never too good with computers, so I didn't think I'd have to do it when I took calculus," Slowinski said. "It seems to be something totally different from what we're doing in the textbook or class. But I have no choice." Even some of Maple's freshmen supporters aren't "sure if it really makes sense." "It seems like it's taking people two to three times longer to do their math," College freshman George Stowers said. "For basic problems, I'm not sure it's necessary. I think in the long run, though, computers are the way to go." DeTurck would be inclined to agree. "I think we're in the midst of what someone said was teething pain," he said. "There were lots of problems of a lot of different natures. It's a battle with the machine, and I understand that. It's an interesting experience." Many of Maple's detractors are particularly peeved about the grading factor of their predicament. "I think that it is unfair that it counts for 20 percent of our grade when our own teachers don't know how to use it," College freshman Natasha Vernon said. "They're using us as an experiment, but they just can't have it working so much toward our grade." But, while DeTurck plans to make adjustments to accommodate students who need help, such as increased availability of staff who know the program, he said the grade factor will "probably not change." But mutiny may be brewing within the freshman ranks. "It's about time that the Math Department simply admitted its mistake by properly teaching us, or by refunding the money they spent on it," College freshman Adam Strunk said. "I heard a rumor that people were circulating petitions against it." Such rumors, however, are as yet unsubstantiated – and that suits Engineering freshman Raj Iyer just fine. "I think Maple is actually pretty decent and a lot of people are just complaining and crying, in all honesty," Iyer said. "Why bitch about it? I haven't had much difficulty in picking it up."
