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(03/22/94 10:00am)
President and Chief Executive Officer of the United Negro College Fund William Gray spoke about the future challenges facing youth in front of a crowd of about 50 in Stiteler Hall Saturday morning. Gray said following the cold war the world is starting to come together rather than remaining isolated countries. He added that there has been an economic revolution in the world today. "We are living in a whole new world," he said. "We are no longer alone on the world stage." Gray said he is concerned about a technological revolution occurring throughout the world which will drastically change the future job market. "Be prepared to do more than one thing in your lifetime," Gray said. "Predictions say that people will change careers from six to 12 times in their lifetimes. Technology will lead to the demise of certain jobs." While speaking about America's diversification, Gray said in the year 2050 half of the United States' population will be minority groups. "The majority is being redefined in every way," he said. "America is going through a demographic revolution." On a related topic, Gray said education is of utmost importance for the African-American community. He stressed the value of education in families. "The reality of education must become a priority in African-American education," he said. Gray also said blacks will face struggles in the future like those faced in the past. He cautioned the audience to remember history, adding that "you [the audience] are not the first to go a through a rough time." In one of his personal anecdotes Gray told of a humiliating experience in the South in the 1960s. On a car trip as a child, Gray said he cried to his mother because he had to go to the bathroom. His mother pulled into a gas station and asked the white owner if her son could use the bathroom. The white gas station owner said to Gray's mother that her family could not use the bathroom. From this moment on, Gray vowed to never cry on a car trip again. "One must recognize that it's a long haul and that things don't change overnight," Gray said. "Racism is alive and well in America." He said that racism is not gone in 1994 and its "residue" will still be around in 2004. "If you are black and born in America, the name of the game is to keep you from scoring," he added. "This is the reality of racism. You must stay on the field, throw the pass farther, run faster. This may not be fair, but that's the way it is." In his concluding remarks Gray warned students that they have a debt to pay for the people who have struggled before them. "Don't get caught up in pathologies and fail to see the strength, hope and achievements of those who have come before you," he said. "It is a stony road we have crossed." Students who attended the speech seemed to be impressed by Gray and his credentials. "The weekend was absolutely wonderful and beneficial, a great thing for the University to sponsor," said College junior Mary Beth Kochman. "He's a very dynamic speaker and the audience was captivated by what he said. "What he said really hit a lot of people really hard," added Kochman. Gray's speech was the opening speech on the second day of the African American Youth symposium.
(03/17/94 10:00am)
Starting next fall, a new student publication plans to make its opinions known. The journal, entitled Other Voices, will be a magazine of critical inquiry, said publication founder and College junior Vance Bell. He added that Other Voices will provide a forum for students to express their thoughts on contemporary issues. He said that since the publication is a journal, short papers, long papers and even an honors thesis will be possible entries into the journal. "The current student magazines at the University are literary magazines," Bell said. "There are no strong intellectual magazines, with the exception of the Penn History Review." Bell added the journal would be similar to such publications as October and Teslos. He said topics in the journal will range from contemporary and campus issues to comparative literature. Bell said inspiration for this new foray into literature partially came from the Philomathean Society, which tried a similar publication in the late 60's, early 70's. "A main goal of the journal is to be interdisciplinary," added Bell. "It will be an alternative to the one-dimensionality common in political and literary publications, and the superficiality of the op-ed newspaper piece." Bell hopes to get partial Student Activities Council funding for the project. Other financing will come from other outside sources. "SAC funding might be a problem," said Bell. "Because we're late and the deadline has passed, we are applying for what is known as contingency funding." Bell hopes to get about three issues of the the journal published next year with the first installment coming in the fall. Recently information about "Other Voices" has appeared on Pennnet. Bell has suggested essay topics such as "Emancipatory Visions: The Cultural Politics of Malcolm X" and "In the Shadow of Aaron Spelling: The Construction of the Young American in 90210." Bell says responses to the idea of the journal have been mixed. "Some people are psyched about it," said Bell. "Others feel up in the air about it."
(03/17/94 10:00am)
Starting next fall, a new student publication plans to make its opinions known. The journal, entitled Other Voices, will be a magazine of critical inquiry, said publication founder and College junior Vance Bell. He added that Other Voices will provide a forum for students to express their thoughts on contemporary issues. He said that since the publication is a journal, short papers, long papers and even an honors thesis will be possible entries into the journal. "The current student magazines at the University are literary magazines," Bell said. "There are no strong intellectual magazines, with the exception of the Penn History Review." Bell added the journal would be similar to such publications as October and Teslos. He said topics in the journal will range from contemporary and campus issues to comparative literature. Bell said inspiration for this new foray into literature partially came from the Philomathean Society, which tried a similar publication in the late 60's, early 70's. "A main goal of the journal is to be interdisciplinary," added Bell. "It will be an alternative to the one-dimensionality common in political and literary publications, and the superficiality of the op-ed newspaper piece." Bell hopes to get partial Student Activities Council funding for the project. Other financing will come from other outside sources. "SAC funding might be a problem," said Bell. "Because we're late and the deadline has passed, we are applying for what is known as contingency funding." Bell hopes to get about three issues of the the journal published next year with the first installment coming in the fall. Recently information about "Other Voices" has appeared on Pennnet. Bell has suggested essay topics such as "Emancipatory Visions: The Cultural Politics of Malcolm X" and "In the Shadow of Aaron Spelling: The Construction of the Young American in 90210." Bell says responses to the idea of the journal have been mixed. "Some people are psyched about it," said Bell. "Others feel up in the air about it."
(01/31/94 10:00am)
Huh. Huh. Huh. Cool. So a small group of about 15 die-hard Beavis and Butthead fans said after watching a never before seen episode of the MTV show in Irvine Auditorium Friday night. Sponsored in part by the Penn film society, the event consisted of the showing of the banned episode of Beavis and Butthead, followed by a showing of MTV's new comedy, The State. The still unaired Beavis and Butthead show is considered controversial by MTV because of the use of the word "boner," said James Reid, director of national promotions for Hogan Communications, the company which produces Beavis and Butthead. In the episode, Beavis and Butthead watch a video by U2 and keep referring to Bono as "Boner," in addition to using all kinds of other sexual innuendos. Some students said they particularly enjoyed the controversial content. "I liked the part when Beavis said 'That's my boner,'" College freshman Page Oliver said. The spokespeople for Hogan Communications said that according to the F.C.C., the word "boner" cannot be used on the air. He also said he was not sure what MTV intends to do with the episode. Show writers also added a Picasso joke to the script. Buthead: "What is this crap?' Answer: "It's a Picasso." Beavis: "Pick you own asso, asso." Many attendees found this particular sequence more amusing than the "Bono" jokes. "I liked the Picasso joke," said Wharton senior Gabe Levitt. As for The State, reviews were mixed from students. "I didn't think much of it, I don't think it's going to make it very long," said Engineering freshman John Gottstein. "It's pretty stupid and it's trying to be like the show Kids in the Hall." "I thought it was very funny," said College freshman Jeff Kroop. Students who said they liked The State, also said they would not have watched the new show if not for the banned episode of Beavis and Butthead. "I thought The State was surprisingly funny," added College junior Ted Kartzman. "It was kinda like Kids in the Hall. Good call on Beavis and Butthead. I would have never watched The State if it weren't for Beavis and Butthead." Program directors said Friday they were surprised that more people did not attend the viewing of the popular show. "I was surprised that the turnout was as low as it was," said College junior Dan Rosner, Penn film society co-director.
(01/24/94 10:00am)
Botticelli, da Vinci and Matisse would not be pleased. The Philadelphia Art Museum may be a treasure of the city, but it remains an untapped resource for many University students. Many students have said this week they have not been to the Philadelphia Art Museum -- and, what's more, they are not sure why not. "We don't get off campus that much," said College freshman Katie Hort. "We always say we will go [to the museum], but we never do." College junior Rachel Smith said yesterday that students do not visit the museum because its location is inconvenient to many students living on or near campus. And Graduate Chairperson of Art History David Brownlee agrees, citing "logistics" as the reason many students never get to the museum. "Septa doesn't have a route that runs from Penn to the museum," he said. "The University is in a self-contained universe, like many colleges. "It is one of the great art museums of the world," he added. "It is of the quality of the Philadelphia Orchestra, a first-rate institution." Students who have ventured down to Benjamin Franklin Parkway said this week they always enjoy the time they spend there. College sophomore Rick Gresh said he likes the museum for its "recreations." The museum is a "terrific resource," said Art History Undergraduate Chairperson Elizabeth Johns. Johns said Art History students frequently visit the museum as part of their classes, and rave about Wednesday night's extended hours and entertainment. "I love?when I look in my art history book I see many of the famous paintings that are in the Museum," Smith said. She added that the museum should have special activities to attract students and their parents during the University's Parents' Weekend. Smith said students usually visit museums with their parents. And Smith believes after students have seen the museum once, they will be more apt to visit the museum again on their own. Museum Education Director Glenn Tomlinson said that the museum has many programs for college students. One student activity at the museum is College Day on the Parkway, which occurs in October, he said. It is a day when about 1000 students visit various Philadelphia museums for free. Gallery Games is another museum activity. Families or groups of friends search the museum to find answers to museum-prepared activity sheets. The Philadelphia Art Museum also offers lectures, concerts and film series. For students, the museum has $3 discount admissions and is free on Sundays for everyone from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. In recent years the museum has also expanded its hours on Wednesdays, closing at 8:45 p.m.
(12/08/93 10:00am)
Harvard University Professor Daniel Goldhagen spoke on campus Friday about the heroism of Danish Christians who saved virtually the entire Jewish population in Denmark – roughly 8,000 people – by helping them flee to Sweden during World War II. Not only did the Danes save Jewish citizens, but stateless Jews as well, he said. The central theme of Goldhagen's speech was the "goodness" of those Danes. In his final sentence, he said the goal of his lecture was to show "our deep appreciation for the Danish people." The Danes constantly risked their own lives to save Jewish people, he explained. In fact when the Nazis came to take the Jews, uniformed police officers refused to carry out Hitler's demands. Goldhagen's lecture also concentrated on what lessons can be derived from the rescue of Danish Jewry 50 years ago. He was concerned with the moral response of the Danish people and how it differed from the German people, whom he described as racist. "Anti-Semitism was like mother's milk to the Germans," Goldhagen said. He also spoke of the alleged indifference of other countries in helping the Jews. The Danish treated Jewish people as neighbors and they became indistinguishable from one another, he said. On the other hand, Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf that the Jews create a "progressive sickness" in Germany. Goldhagen noted that some of what he was saying has been disputed by other scholars. Even before the Danes performed their heroic feat, it was predicted that the Danes would give the Germans trouble with the Jews, Goldhagen said. At the Wannsee Conference, where the Nazis were said to have planned the mass extermination of the Jews, a leader said there would be "difficulties in certain countries." The fact that the Danes had an independent army and government proved to be one such "difficulty," Goldhagen said. Another was the availability of escape to Sweden and the willingness of the Danish people to "act," he said. It was rumored that King Christian the 10th of Denmark put a yellow star on his clothing to show his solidarity with the Jews. According to an audience member at the lecture, even though the rumor was false, Christian the 10th refused to deny it. After the speech, Goldhagen took questions from the audience. Some of the approximately 50 people in attendance, comprised mainly of community members, told of personal anecdotes concerning the rescue. The lecture was sponsored by a foundation called Thanks to Scandinavia, a group set up 30 years ago to honor the Scandinavians who aided Jews. The group's executive director, Judith Goldstein, said the final speech was "very touching, especially from an academic." She added that Goldhagen's discussion on racism was "illuminating."
(09/28/93 9:00am)
The Underground Cafe reopened this weekend with a new management that is working hard to turn it into an on-campus alcohol-free hangout. Morris Massel, Underground Cafe manager and president of the Interfraternity Council, said he hopes to change the image of the club by catering to a broader audience. He said he wants to attract a "more mainstream crowd" than in the past, when the club was a "bohemian" hangout that served coffee and pastries. The Underground, which is located in the basement of High Rise North, is an alternative for those students who are not interested in the fraternity or bar scene, said Massel, who is a college senior. Massel said the Underground provides "the first hangout on campus." Houston Hall, which could be a hangout for students, has limited appeal because it closes early. The Underground will be open until 2 a.m. on weekends. Massel said the Underground has been a project of Vice Provost for University Life Kim Morrisson's office because "there isn't a place for people to go and hang out." Morrisson's office has been strongly backing the project, he added. The club offers typical bar fare – it's menu consists of such favorites as wings, nachos and pizza. The Underground also has a big screen television, a number of the video games, a pool table and a dance floor. Each night of the week, the club will host a different activity geared specifically to University students. There will be live bands on Thursdays, and a DJ will spin tunes on Fridays and Saturdays. Sunday and Monday are football days for the Underground, while Wednesday will be reserved for diehard fans of Beverly Hills: 90210 and Melrose Place. There is currently no cover charge at the Underground, Massel said, but that may change in the future. The Underground is run and financed by Penn Student Agencies and is managed by Massel, assistant managers and a staff of 10 students. The Underground's opening on Saturday night was very successful, according to Massel. Many students came to see the new club and Massel said he was pleased by the student turn-out, even though the opening was on a holiday weekend.
