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(04/23/97 9:00am)
Nike and the Athletic Department built a "Carnival Village" for the historic event, which runs Thursday to Sunday. Nike and the Athletic Department have turned the Lott Tennis Courts next to Franklin Field into a "Carnival Village" as part of this year's Penn Relays. The historic track and field meet, which runs Thursday through Sunday, features Olympic gold medal champions, NCAA champions and possibly Penn Relays stalwart Bill Cosby -- next month's Commencement speaker. Although this week's Almanac pictures Cosby sprinting at Franklin Field and says Cosby is "here this week for the Relays," Penn Relays Director Dave Johnson said any possible appearance has not been confirmed. "You never know [if he's coming] until he shows up," Johnson said, adding that in recent years Cosby just "watches and officiates a little." Regardless, this year's Relays features several innovations, such as live television coverage broadcast on CBS (Saturday, 2-4 p.m.) and a Nike-sponsored "interactive track test" for kids. Located on two tennis courts next to the stadium, the test features a mini-high jump, shot put and long jump. "We're really trying to get kids psyched about Penn Relays," Marketing and Event Coordinator Katrina Dowidchuk said. The Athletic Department faces immense logistical challenges in putting together the Relays, which keep getting larger every year. This week 814 high school teams and 272 college teams will compete, as opposed to 780 high school teams and 252 college teams last year. Johnson's office must help coordinate the competitors' food, hotel accommodations and busing -- not to mention the athletic events. Planning for each year's Relays begins 13 months in advance -- one month before the previous year's Relays, Johnson said, adding that after April, any proposed changes are incorporated into the following year's Relays. "You get to the month of April and you say, 'We can't make that change [to the Relays] this year'," Johnson said. "In that sense, planning goes on 13 months out of a year." Johnson said the Relays cannot grow infinitely because if events get bunched together, officials would not have enough time to rest. "There's a big problem with stretching the schedule too far," he said. And planning the Relays is different than planning a non-sporting event like August's U2 concert -- which the Athletic Department will also coordinate. "In some ways U2 is far more complex," Johnson said. "With U2, you have to rearrange all types of things in the building." "Penn Relays has been going on 100 years," he added, "so we keep improvising, keep modifying, one year to the next." Johnson has been director of Penn Relays since January 1996, when his predecessor, Timothy Baker, resigned voicing concerns that the Relays had become too profit-oriented. Although Baker estimated that Relay profit rose from $445 in 1987 to $96,982 in 1993, Johnson said any hard figures are dubious. "It depends on how you want to look at the books," he said, adding that his office did not have to pay for recent, multi-million dollar improvements to Franklin Field and its track. "It comes down to how you compute the profit margin," Johnson said. Preliminary Relays events took place last Sunday and yesterday, and continue today.
(04/21/97 9:00am)
A Nazi hunter, a former U.S. Senate advisor and a health care executive will speak at the graduation ceremonies of two of the University's professional schools. The Law School will hear from Commencement speaker Robert Bennett, a prominent Washington attorney, and from Honorary Fellow Eli Rosenbaum, whom the Philadelphia Inquirer calls "one of the world's most tenacious pursuers of Nazi war criminals." The School of Veterinary Medicine will hear from John Shadduck, an executive at the Heska Corporation. Bennett, who was voted speaker by the Law School's graduating class, has served on the Senate's Select Committee on Ethics in several major investigations. He also consulted for the foreign relations committee during the confirmation of Alexander Haig as secretary of state. Washingtonian magazine considers him Washington's "Best Lawyer," and The National Law Journal placed him on its "1994 Power List" of the 100 most influential lawyers in the United States. He is a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. Chosen to speak by a faculty and student committee, Rosenbaum is director of the Justice Department's Nazi-hunting unit, the Office of Special Investigations. Rosenbaum began his obsession early. Just a few months out of Harvard Law School, he discovered that Arthur Rudolf, a retired NASA engineer who had designed the Saturn V rocket, had recommended and directed the use of slave labor to build rockets for Adolf Hitler. When the OSI confronted Rudolf, he agreed to renounce his citizenship and moved to West Germany. In his book Betrayal, Rosenbaum details his investigation into the criminal past of Kurt Waldheim, a former United Nations secretary general and president of Austria who had denied any wrongdoing. "I think every country and every people has its legions of would-be Waldheims and other war criminals who under certain circumstances would do the same thing as the Nazis," Rosenbaum told the Inquirer in 1993. "I remember questioning one man who was a killer and I left thinking that, if I didn't know what I knew about him, I would have no trouble hiring him to look after my children," he said. John Shadduck, former dean of the Texas A&M; College of Veterinary Medicine, is a specialist in infectious diseases in animals. Law School commencement will be held at 11 a.m. May 18 at the Academy of Music. Veterinary School graduation will be at the Annenberg Center's Zellerbach Theater May 19 at 2:30 p.m. The College of General Studies graduation will be held on the Class of 1952 Plaza -- between the Castle and the Wistar Institute -- May 18 at 12 p.m. Retiring CGS employee Katherine Weiss Pollak will receive the Distinguished Service Award.
(04/21/97 9:00am)
Recreation Director Mike Diorka's answering machine message -- "please leave a message at the beep" -- is like any other. Until you get to the end. "Thank you and have a safe and health-filled day!" he chimes. But his message merely reflects his enthusiasm for his job. And Diorka -- indeed, the entire Recreation Department -- is most enthusiastic about the prospect of building a modern recreation arena, one that would replace the University's current hodgepodge of dilapidated and inadequate facilities. What Diorka is able to do depends on what the consulting group Brailsford and Dunlavey recommends. May 30, the firm will report to the president and provost on whether the University should build a new arena dedicated to recreation. But Diorka has been down this road before. In fact, he oversaw the construction of an $11 million arena -- the Reily Student Recreation Center -- while working at Tulane University, prior to coming to Penn. Once Reily was built, "It made people feel real neat that they were in a happening place [at Tulane]," Diorka said. When completed in 1989, The New Orleans Times-Picayune wrote that "Tulane has obtained a first-rate leisure facility that not only enhances the campus but promises to improve the lives of its many users." To help defray Reily's costs, students voted to tax themselves -- $240 for construction, and a smaller, yearly fee for annual expenses. At Tulane, the student fee increases by 10 percent every four years to compensate for rising power costs and inflation. The rest of the construction costs were met by alumni donations, private bonds and corporate donations. The current $90 student fee is automatically assessed in the tuition bills of full-time students. "We get about two people a year who realize it's on their bill and never use [the facility] and want their money back," Reily Membership Administrator Ashley Wagner said. "We can't do much about it," because the fee is mandatory. Between the student fee and income from community and alumni memberships, Reily supports itself. "We're competitive with other health club memberships," Wagner said, adding that because the surrounding area is "posh," Reily can undercut "pricey" competitors. Reily charges $475 for a one-year community membership. By comparison, the Hutchinson Gymnasium fitness center charges $190 to community members and $120 for students. University City Nautilus charges $479 per year. Diorka stresses the high priority Reily gives to recreation, as opposed to intercollegiate athletics. Wagner agrees -- to a point. "Athletics has their own little gym [in Reily]," she said, adding that other intercollegiate athletic facilities are located outside Reily. But Wagner thinks Diorka's claim that recreation is the "number one priority" at Tulane is biased. "[Diorka] was immersed in [recreation] every day," she said. Both agree that Reily is one of the most popular tour sites for prospective students. "I think it's a big sell for prospective students," Wagner said, adding that many visitors specifically name Reily as a must-see. The prospects for Penn's own "must-see" gym hinge, in part, on Brailsford and Dunlavey's recommendations. "Once we get real data to work with, then we'll be able to recommend pros and cons," Paul Brailsford said. "As a rule of thumb, it's much easier to have one facility, because you eliminate redundant staff." Brailsford added that the cost of a Penn facility is hard to estimate, since "every university has a different quality standard." He guessed that a Penn facility would cost much more than Tulane's, but less than the $80 to $100 million typically required for arenas at large state universities.
(04/16/97 9:00am)
The "grade grubbers" are scuffling with the "slackers" again at the Wharton School. For the first time in the three years since voting overwhelmingly not to reveal grades to recruiters, Wharton MBAs are involved in a debate over "grade non-disclosure." The opening salvo began three weeks ago, when Wharton Graduate Division Associate Director Anjani Jain -- a non-disclosure advocate during the 1994 referendum -- argued in the Wharton Journal that transcripts should be available to potential employers. "[In 1994] I felt [non-disclosure] would encourage students to focus on long-term learning instead of narrow, exam-oriented studying in courses," Jain wrote in the Journal. "I have now come to believe [it] does considerably more harm than good to the school's academic environment and its long-term reputation." The subsequent two issues of the Journal featured defenses of the status quo as well as related discussions about the honors and grading systems of MBAs. "The problem [with disclosing grades] is that many professors have different standards for grading people," second-year MBA student Rutger van Spaandonk said, adding that some professors reward "just showing up for class" while others expect real work. "How are you going to measure performance?" he asked. "You have to have tough standards" if you disclose grades. Spaandonk also noted that graduate and undergraduate business students have different objectives. "For [graduates], the grade per se is not as important," he said. "It's what you get out of the class." But pro-disclosure advocates say that, far from "study for its own sake," the current system encourages "just getting by." "We have a whole group of kids who have been successful since childhood by working hard," said Mike Gordon, editorial page editor for the Journal. "Now they'd like to have two years to take it easy." And Jain said many discussions with faculty and students have convinced him an "environment of academic indifference" is emerging among MBAs. Wharton Graduate Association President Kathy Taylor said the WGA is "working to address faculty concerns about class standards," but stressed that these problems were not related to grade non-disclosure. "The main complaint we're hearing [from faculty] is at the level of preparation," the first-year MBA student said. Taylor added that the grade non-disclosure policy strengthens Wharton's "core competencies" -- good teamwork skills and lots of extracurricular activity. "Putting grade disclosure back in would cannibalize those competencies," she said. Those favoring grade disclosure argue that it would not affect the teamwork ethic. "I believe in something called honest competition," said first-year MBA student Steve Ahn, managing editor of the Journal. "I don't believe you get this cutthroat [ethic]." "We're not just competing against Wharton, but against Harvard and Stanford," who disclose MBA grades, he added. But Spaandonk said non-disclosure encourages prospective employers to look at multiple dimensions of a candidate. And Taylor said the longer the policy is in place, the more it becomes "ingrained in recruiters minds" as a part of the Wharton character. To many, however, that argument is patronizing to recruiters. "Grade disclosure is a statement," Jain said. "And no matter how nuanced we make it, the recruiters can't judge the overall candidate." And further concerns arise over the loopholes in the existing policy. "How naive to think that denying recruiters information is going to make a difference," Gordon said. Ahn said potential employers "cheat" by offering summer internships and then looking at grades before offering a job. And recruiters rely more heavily on GMAT and even Scholastic Assessment Test scores to judge a candidate, he said. Taylor said the WGA is working on a compromise solution -- allowing more students to make the Directors List, an honors program that allows recipients to reveal their grades. Jian said this change would make sense, likening the current policy to "being able to talk about clubs of which you're a president, but not those where you're treasurer or vice president."
(04/11/97 9:00am)
The Wharton School will replace the program with increased advice from TAs in freshman courses. It's official, says the Wharton School -- your teacher should also be your friend. Wharton will eliminate its freshman peer advising program next semester, replacing it with increased peer advice from teaching assistants in freshman courses. Administrators and students called the formal peer advising program redundant since the TAs in Management 100 -- a mandatory freshman course -- already function as de facto peer advisors. Wharton is also considering ways to give students more access to its professional advisors -- including an appointment period during advance registration, which is presently limited to walk-ins. Wharton Vice Dean Richard Herring said the professional advisors have already been "staggering some of the routine things" -- like advising seniors on graduation requirements -- to free more time during "crunch periods" like advance registration. "These crunches hurt us as much as they hurt the students," he said, adding that Wharton hired two part-time advisors during advance registration this year. Advisor and Associate Director for Student Affairs Belinda Huang said advisors always have other job commitments. Although she tried to clear her schedule of other appointments during advance registration this year, she still had to coordinate two lectures. Many Wharton students applauded the peer advising change, although a few expressed concern that TAs might be overburdened. "[TAs] would do as good a job as peer advisors," Wharton Activities Council Co-Chairperson Arif Joshi said. "I don't know if they'd be overburdened with all the work, but they're dedicated just by dint of being TAs," Joshi, a Wharton junior, added. And Engineering and Wharton senior Art Mikhlin, chairperson of the Joseph Wharton Society, said "people tend to turn for advice not to people randomly assigned to them" but to people they find friendly, adding that "I'm not sure about the workload, though. If the load on the TAs is too much they might not have time to see people." Herring said Management TAs will receive official peer advisor training, and many students see them as advisors already. Engineering and Wharton junior Gaurav Grover, co-chairperson of the Wharton Deans Advisory Board, said "you already have the informal relationship built in. This is just institutionalizing that," noting that "[The change] seems radical, but really it's not." And Wharton freshman Caroline Issa, who will be a Management TA next semester, said that "it's an added dimension that is already there but that is not official." Students were also disappointed with their existing peer advisors. "My [peer] advisor left me one note, and I never met her," said Wharton junior Michelle Cho, who is Wharton Activities Council co-chairperson. "People aren't held accountable and some don't take it seriously." Wharton and Engineering freshman Kay Hsu agreed that her peer advising experience was not successful. "He tried to get all of us to dinner once but it didn't work," Hsu said. Reaction to professional advising was mixed. Although many Wharton students applauded efforts to make the program more efficient, some said professional advising remains subpar. "[Professional advisors] are a mixed bag," said a junior who requested anonymity. "They're not too inspiring -- they just recommend the academic flavor of the day." But Mikhlin said he thinks the advisors do a decent job. "A lot of people go to advisors and expect to get the 'full truth'," he said. "Their job is to answer specific questions and to outline the available options. I think the Wharton advisors do that pretty well." Some students complained that there aren't enough advisors to meet student needs. "During peak hours there is a serious 'ratio mismatch,' but if you want to get good advice, you can," Grover said. "It comes down to you being proactive." But others thought students shouldn't be required to bear so much of the burden. "Wharton advising in general can use a change because unless you're proactive you can totally slip through the cracks," Cho said "The time crunch can be a problem for a lot of people," she added. "But you've got to give credit to [administrators] -- they're really responsive to student input."
(04/09/97 9:00am)
Michael Awkward came to town a star, but he did not receive a hero's welcome. A visiting professor of English, Awkward had been a tenured professor at the University of Michigan when Penn lured him to West Philadelphia early last year. The University loaned Awkward $25,000 to make a down payment on a house and found a campus job for his wife, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported. According to the Chronicle, School of Arts and Sciences Interim Dean Walter Wales wrote Treasurer Scott Lederman that Awkward "will be joining our faculty as a professor in the Department of English on July 1, 1996." The English Department voted unanimously to give Awkward a tenured position, the Chronicle reported. But in May the SAS personnel committee -- a rotating group of 19 SAS faculty that usually rubber-stamp such requests -- rejected Awkward's nomination for reasons that remain confidential. Awkward -- as well as the English Department -- felt burned. "I may be the only visiting professor in the country who was so important to come to the University, that they would help him buy a house and loan him $25,000," Awkward told the Chronicle at the time. The Chronicle wrote that English Professor Eric Cheyfitz lamented "the visibility of this kind of malpractice" in a letter to his department head. The administration "ought to realize the potential long-term effect of this breakdown in the integrity of the institutional practice of making senior appointments," he said. Though the SAS personnel committee rarely overrules a department's recommendation -- between 5 and 10 percent of the time, according to Committee Chairperson and Math Professor Julius Shaneson -- the group has rejected some popular professors in the past few years, including Geology Professor George Boyajian and English Professor Gregg Camfield. One year after Awkward's first review, the personnel committee is again examining his status. But this time the proceedings take place under the gaze of an apprehensive English Department and the threat of a lawsuit by Awkward if he is rejected again. Awkward, who said it "wouldn't make a lot of sense" to talk about his appointment now, told The Daily Pennsylvanian that the Chronicle's article is correct. English Department Chairperson Wendy Steiner said the personnel committee will give a positive recommendation within a few days. After that, the appointment must be approved by the Provost's Office and a number of deans. "We have high expectations," Steiner said. And Wales said the approvals by the provost and dean should be fairly automatic. "In general, I would not overturn the recommendation [of the personnel committee]," he said. Awkward's colleagues were hopeful about his prospects at getting tenure and expressed support. "It's due to him -- [just] on the merits of the case," English Professor Al Filreis said. "He was a full professor at Michigan and he should be a full professor here. Period." And English Professor Rebecca Bushnell noted that "his case is very strong," adding that "he'll be a wonderful addition to the department." But some faculty members were still bitter about last year's rejection. "What was disconcerting was that a department as distinguished as English voted unanimously [on the appointment] and had it rejected," Filreis said. "Particularly since this was an African American appointment, word gets around and this makes Penn look not good," Steiner said. "It's not only how it looks on the outside -- it hurts on the inside. "One thing that angered [members of the department] is that we are specialists in the field and here are a bunch of people outside the field who think they know better," Steiner added. But she cautioned against too much negativity. "This is a happy outcome," she said, referring to Awkward's expected appointment. "It's a time for celebration."
(04/09/97 9:00am)
Ever dream of going to class in your robe and slippers? Four new college house seminars -- created by the many of the same students who will take them -- offer the opportunity of studying offbeat topics by literally rolling out of bed. Held in the seminar room of each participating college house, the courses range from the expected -- W.E.B. DuBois College House's "Past, Present, and Future of Africans in America" -- to the wacky -- Stouffer College House's "'Weird' and 'Eccentric': Unusual Individuals in the History of the Philadelphia Area." The courses, which are not listed in the fall 1997 course and room roster, are open primarily to residents of the respective houses, and will be open to the general student body if they do not fill up. But English Professor Al Filreis said that probably only the DuBois course will be open to outside students. "Three of the four courses are all ready to run in terms of enrollment," he said. Filreis, who chairs the Residential Faculty Council, said the seminars -- new this fall -- are the brainchild of the College and the RFC. "What's new in these courses is they're student created," he said. "We assumed this would work in the small houses." Each house devised its seminar differently. Ware College House, for example, invited teaching assistants to present course proposals to the house council. The winner -- "Health and Society" -- beat a course on the medical philosophy of Ware alumnus William Carlos Williams. Van Pelt residents decided to create their course from scratch and then search for an instructor. After developing "Student Movements in the Political Process," the house council recruited English graduate student Victor Tulli, who is writing his thesis on a related topic. Tulli said he intends to "theorize how and why we think about student protests the way we do." DuBois's house council molded its course so that it could be taught by DuBois Faculty Master and Education Professor Howard Stevenson. "[The course is] a way to connect social issues of black empowerment, reform and social psychology," Stevenson said. "It's about giving back to the neighborhood." Stouffer's house council developed its course along with faculty master and German Professor Karl Otto. "'Weird' and 'Eccentric'" was actually the council's third proposal, behind a course on bias in the media and one on cult films. "[But] part of the problem was finding profs who could teach the courses and who were willing to teach them," Otto said. "The compensation wasn't anywhere near what you'd expect." Unable to find an instructor for its first two choices, Stouffer decided to offer its last choice, which Otto felt qualified to teach. "Anyone who has studied literature, psychology and sociology has some idea" of the course's themes, he said. "I don't think you could ever be trained fully to teach a course like this because it is so interdisciplinary." Filreis acknowledged the material disincentives of teaching a college house seminar. Not only must instructors teach the seminars on top of their regular course loads, they are paid at the rate of College of General Studies instructors -- far lower than they would receive teaching College courses. But Filreis said there are intangible benefits to teaching these courses, such as the chance to teach a different type of subject matter. "[The students] want to do this because it's exciting," he said. "When you live together [with classmates] there are all kinds of add-ons. The course becomes a part of the conversation around the house."
(04/02/97 10:00am)
William Shore is now an anti-hunger activist. Former Social Security head Shirley Chater will address Nursing. While the University awaits confirmation of its May 19 Commencement speaker, two schools have already booked speakers for their individual graduation ceremonies May 18. William Shore, an anti-hunger activist and advisor to former Democratic presidential candidate Gary Hart, will address the College class of 1997 at Franklin Field. And former Social Security Commissioner Shirley Chater will speak to the Nursing School at the University Museum's Harrison Auditorium. Wharton School officials plan to announce their graduation speaker later this week. The School of Engineering and Applied Science does not traditionally have a speaker at its ceremony, which will take place in the Palestra this year. The College of General Studies did not respond to repeated phone calls for this report. Shore, a 1977 College graduate, founded the anti-hunger organization Share Our Strength and was an advisor to both Hart and U.S. Sen. Robert Kerry (D-Neb.) for over a decade. College Dean Robert Rescorla praised the speaker. "Many times the [graduation] has speakers who contributed to the College," he said. "We thought it'd be nice to have someone from our College who contributed to the world." Shore describes his transition from legislative politics to activism in his 1995 book, Revolution of the Heart. "There are two times in my life I remember crying uncontrollably into unconsciousness," he writes. "One was three days after my mother died suddenly and too young? The other was the afternoon my 10 years with Senator Hart came to an end." Shore was one of the few Hart advisors who remained loyal to the former presidential candidate after his fall from grace. "I decided, I don't care what this guy did, I'm going to be his friend," Shore told The Washington Post in 1993. One of the largest anti-hunger organizations in the country, SOS raises money through individual contributions and celebrity appearances. It donates this money to soup kitchens and other community-based groups. Since its founding in 1984, SOS has raised and donated more than $26 million. Chater, a Nursing graduate, last spoke on campus in April 1996, when she discussed the future of social security with students and faculty. She endured harsh criticism during her tenure at the Social Security Commission from 1993-97. Senate Aging Committee Chairman Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.) attacked her in a hearing last year, accusing her of telling "[panel members] nothing, absolutely nothing' about what actions should be taken to stave off bankruptcy," the National Journal reported. And last year the Senate Finance Committee refused to act on Chater's nomination for an extended term. Chater -- now a temporary lecturer at the University of California -- thinks reforming Social Security too quickly will lead to a half-baked solution. "The myth that disturbs me the most is that Social Security is in a crisis," she told The Dallas Morning News last month. "That troubles me greatly because as I talk to older Americans? these people worry that next month's check will stop.
(03/27/97 10:00am)
Many Penn professors have ties to the Foreign Policy Research Institute. They said they don't know why Ross Munro was fired. Suspicion and ill feelings have surrounded the recent firing of Foreign Policy Research Institute scholar Ross Munro, whose new book -- The Coming Conflict With China -- criticizes FPRI Trustee Alexander Haig. Although FPRI severed its ties with the University in 1970, several University professors participate in the organization's symposia and contribute to its quarterly journal, Orbis. Munro's book -- co-authored with New York Times book critic Richard Bernstein -- has quickly become a staple of talk show and think tank discussion. And a recent Philadelphia Inquirer article implied that FPRI fired Munro over a chapter in the book perceived to be an assault on Haig's reputation. That chapter, "The New China Lobby," alleges that Haig and others tried to soften U.S. policy toward China because they hold business interests there. A legal settlement forbids both FPRI and Munro from commenting directly. But FPRI President Harvey Sicherman -- who served under then-Secretary of State Haig in the Reagan administration -- denies that the book got Munro fired. "Differences had developed over the past year-and-a-half with respect to management and the philosophy and the direction of the institute," he said. Sicherman and Haig recently co-wrote an FPRI Report, "New Directions in U.S.-China Relations." Asked if his leaving FPRI had to do with the book, Munro said, "Yes. But there was a settlement and I can't talk." He added that "the Inquirer story is accurate as far as I know." Some people associated with FPRI -- including University faculty members -- doubt Munro was so brazenly censored. "It's too coincidental for it to have happened just about the time of the book," Political Science Professor Avery Goldstein said. "I doubt that was the only reason they had a parting of the ways." He speculated that FPRI may be looking for a "more academic China scholar" instead of a journalist like Munro, who before coming to FPRI was an Asia correspondent for Time and the Toronto Globe and Mail. Goldstein said the book's stated thesis -- that "America's number one objective in Asia must be to derail China's quest to become a 21st century hegemon" -- is extreme, but not unheard of in scholarly circles. "If it were the case that [Munro's firing] were that simple, that would be disturbing," he said. "The impression that he was fired for what he wrote is not a good impression." Associate Director of International Relations Frank Plantan was similarly ambivalent -- even after receiving a telephone call from Munro. "[Munro] was trying to recruit me on this," he said. "If he's doing that, I'd be careful." Plantan described himself as "literally, formally indifferent." But he added that it is only natural someone in Munro's shoes would want to explain his side of things. A former colleague of Munro's in Asia said the firing is suspicious because Munro is a good fundraiser, and the institute is "on extremely shaky financial ground." "There are a lot of problems at that institute," the colleague said. "Ross had brought a lot of money into that institute. Some of that money may have come from sources that were not too friendly to China." Sicherman denied that FPRI was having financial trouble. "We had a very good year last year and we expect to have a very good year this year," he said, adding that he "was not prepared to go into any detail" on finances. But an observer sympathetic to FPRI, who described himself as "somewhat familiar with the case," seemed to acknowledge financial trouble. "There are financial problems everywhere," he said. "My uncle has financial problems; your father has financial problems." The observer said the coinciding of Munro's firing and the book's release makes it "a ticklish subject." "But the Inquirer article made it seem one way, and it isn't that way," he said. "The change in the relationship [between Munro and FPRI] has sources that precede this." He said Haig's advocacy of political openness with China predates his association with American companies doing business there. And he thinks the China lobby chapter in Munro and Bernstein's book is out-of-line. "You're asking [FPRI] to vouch for a book that directly attacks one of its own board members," he said. "How could any organization do that?" Similar sentiments were expressed in a lukewarm review of the book in the New York Times Book Review. "The chapter on the China lobby? is the most ill-considered section of the book," wrote National Interest Editor Owen Harries. "Sidney Hook once formulated a rule of controversy: 'Before impugning an opponent's motives? answer his arguments first'. "That rule is not respected here, and doubt is cast on the integrity of several distinguished Americans on the basis of some question-begging 'evidence'," Harries wrote. FPRI Board of Advisors member Martin Peretz sided with Munro through his magazine, The New Republic. Based on the Inquirer article, an anonymous blurb in TNR concluded that "the episode suggests that Munro may have become a victim of the very phenomenon he describes in his book: the new China lobby." Six paragraphs in The Coming Conflict focus on Haig, listing his business ties and alleged lobbying of Congress for China -- much of which had been previously reported. The authors conclude that "what is dubious is the double role played by figures like Kissinger and Haig, who use their prestige and influence both publicly and privately to advance policies from which they profit mightily." Haig refused to comment for this story, and Richard Bernstein did not return repeated phone calls.
(03/26/97 10:00am)
This article appeared in the joke issue. President Judith Rodin routinely lends Eisenlohr Hall's "Hackney Bedroom" -- the guest bedroom on the second floor of the president's mansion -- to alumni contributors, according to documents obtained by The Daily Pennsylvanian. Former University President Sheldon Hackney stipulated the bedroom be named after him as a condition of leaving Penn. Because the upper level of Eisenlohr is closed to tourists, staying there is considered a privilege. In a hastily arranged press conference, Rodin dismissed the charges of impropriety. "There were no laws broken, and there was no quid pro quo," she said. "The Hackney Bedroom was never for sale." Assistant to the President Jennifer Baldino denied that the bedroom was a special favor. "The president puts her friends up in the Hackney room all the time," Baldino said. "[The guests] don't necessarily have to contribute." But School of Social Work Administrative Assistant Paul Lukasiak said he was "shocked, shocked" at the allegations and called for a University Council committee -- under his direction, preferably -- to investigate. Last Saturday's guest list shows an overnight by Dato Moho Hassan Marican, chairperson and CEO of Petronas -- the Malaysian firm that owns the recently-completed, world record-holding Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia. Four days after Marican's stay, the Wharton School released the blueprint of an 85-story "Marican Tower of Business," to be built on the current Book Store site. Mayor Ed Rendell immediately hailed the proposed Marican Tower as an "emerging beacon of West Philadelphia's economic renaissance." Another recent Eisenlohr overnight guest was entertainment mogul Ed Snider, who gave $2 million to the Wharton School last week. An Eisenlohr maid who prefers anonymity said Snider, a disciple of Ayn Rand, replaced the nightstand Bible with a copy of Atlas Shrugged. Asked what he liked best about his stay, Snider quickly replied, "That leather skirt [Rodin] wore! I mean, Sheldon always dressed so straight laced." In an unrelated incident, Provost Stanley Chodorow was accused of making hairdressing appointments from the phone in his office in College Hall. Under a 1952 University bylaw called the "Hat Act," it is illegal for University employees to call hairdressers. Provost Assistant Nancy Nowicki said the law was archaic because it was written at a time when men and women employees fussed incessantly about their greasers and beehives. "Besides," said Nowicki, "Stan doesn't exactly have much hair to style." But History Professor Alan Kors said Chodorow's encroaching baldness does not matter. "The law is blind to the amount of hair you have on your head." Kors said. "We shouldn't let our hair define our identity; we all have a common humanity."
(03/21/97 10:00am)
The contribution will support the Sol C. Snider Entrepreneurial Center. The Wharton School announced a $2 million gift yesterday from Ed Snider, chairperson of Comcast Spectacor, to support the school's Sol C. Snider Entrepreneurial Center. Through Comcast, Snider owns or controls a large chunk of Philadelphia's sports entertainment, including the Philadelphia Flyers and 76ers, their television rights, and their venues -- the CoreStates Center and CoreStates Spectrum. He founded and endowed the Sol C. Snider Entrepreneurial Center in 1985 in honor of his father, a Russian immigrant who created a chain of supermarkets in Washington, D.C. The Center's stated mission is "to provide a greater understanding of the practice of entrepreneurship." "This generous gift from Ed Snider will enable Wharton to continue as the leading business school committed to the study of entrepreneurship and business venturing," Wharton Dean Thomas Gerrity said in a prepared statement. Wharton recently merged an undergraduate Entrepreneurial Management major based at the Center into a general Management major. Snider's ventures have been diverse, ranging from sports management to movie making to the advocacy of author Ayn Rand's laissez-faire philosophy of objectivism. He entered Philadelphia lore as the man who saved the Spectrum, putting together $8 million in 1972 to bail out the bankrupt arena. "It was a great risk that I never would take today," Snider told Nation's Business magazine in 1989. "But young men take gambles. I just never gave it a thought that I might fail." Some 20 years later, he helped finance the construction of the CoreStates Center, and also owns Ticketmaster of Delaware Valley. But Snider is more than just a sports magnate, and his Spectator Films has produced such television movies as The Hijacking of the Achille Lauro and The Penthouse, starring Robin Givens. Snider tried to produce a movie version of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged -- a book which he said "blew him away" -- but was unable to complete the project. "It says that a man's work is his life," he told Nation's Business in 1989. "The monetary reward is what measures his work. That does not mean I'm doing it for the money, but the money is the measure of success." In 1985, Snider co-founded The Ayn Rand Institute with Rand's self-appointed "heir" Leonard Peikoff. "The Institute's Purpose is to move objectivism into today's universities," the group's web page says. Institute Executive Director Michael Berliner described Snider as "a moving force for getting the Institute going," adding that he went with "[Snider] to the first Flyers game where [Flyers goaltender Ron] Hextall played." Snider has increasingly taken a hands-off approach to his holdings. "I love to create new businesses and see them work," he told Nation's Business in 1989. "When it gets to the day-to-day management, it's something I don't particularly enjoy. So I find others who enjoy it and can do a better job." Last year he merged his umbrella company Spectacor with the Comcast Corporation, which has stakes in everything from the entertainment behemoth QVC to the E! Entertainment channel to non-exclusive broadcast rights to University of Pennsylvania sports. Indeed, the connection between Snider and the University runs even deeper -- Snider now owns Spectaguard, the University's private security company. The University signed an agreement to consolidate all of its security services under Spectaguard last semester, and the company took over operations at the beginning of the current semester in January. Spectaguard was founded by Snider's son, Jay, after he graduated from Wharton in 1980. Ed Snider is on vacation and could not be reached for comment.
(03/19/97 10:00am)
The Wharton School recently decided to combine four undergraduate management concentrations into a single Management concentration. A concentration in Wharton is roughly equivalent to a major in other undergraduate schools. Wharton students eligible to declare a concentration have until May 30 to sign up for the existing divisions -- Entrepreneurial Management, Multinational Management, Human Resources Management and Strategic Management. After that date, all students must declare a Management concentration instead of one of the specialized ones. Management Chairperson Peter Cappelli said the new system will be more efficient. "It's simpler for the students to deal with, and it's simpler for the faculty to deal with," he said. Cappelli said the school was hard-pressed to offer every course for the four concentrations every semester. "There were a proliferation of courses we had to offer to maintain the different majors," he said. "We just couldn't keep it staffed." But several Wharton students said management is a discipline that requires specialization. "I think management as a whole has a very broad meaning," Wharton junior Tal Zamir said. "There are so many different kinds of management." Zamir, who is concentrating in Finance, said specialized degrees helps a Management student market himself, adding that such specialization is less important for Finance majors. But Cappelli maintained that a business degree with a Management concentration is already quite specialized. "Employers who hire undergraduates are not looking for incredible specialization," he said. "I'd be quite surprised if there are other programs of repute in the country that are this specialized." Wharton currently offers a "General Management" concentration. But according to the school's Undergraduate Student Handbook, "It is preferred that students follow one of the four specialized concentration plans." The handbook also emphasizes the need for specialized study. For example, it notes that the Multinational Management concentration enables students to "anticipate changes in both the macro international environment? and in the industry and competitive environments specific to companies." And the handbook says the Strategic Management concentration will "help the student understand how strategic management is different from the management of a particular part or function of an organization." Some Wharton underclassmen had not heard of the change. "I didn't know that," said Wharton and Engineering freshman Joshua Kohn, whose hallmate, Wharton freshman Esteban Rakela, had also not heard of the new system. Wharton sophomore Jason Auerbach said he first heard about the change after meeting with an academic advisor. "The Entrepreneurial Management program is one of the reasons I came to Wharton," Auerbach said, adding that he signed up for the concentration immediately in order to beat the deadline. But he said meeting with the advisor did little to convince him of the benefits of the change.
(03/18/97 10:00am)
Though the rate of increase dropped, officials do not plan to match tuition hikes to the inflation rate. University Trustees approved a 5.3 percent increase for undergraduate tuition and a 4.5 percent rise in total fees for the 1997-98 academic year. The increase -- from $21,130 to $22,250 -- is the smallest rise in undergraduate tuition and fees in 29 years. Last year's undergraduate tuition increased 6.2 percent. Graduate students will also see a 5.3 percent hike in tuition and fees -- from $21,992 to $23,158. The total costs for undergraduates will rise from $28,096 to $29,354 -- 1.6 percent more than the current inflation rate of 2.9 percent. Budget Director Michael Masch said that although the University is committed to the "maximum possible declining rate of increase" in costs, it is not committed to bringing that increase in line with inflation. Average residential charges and the cost of a 15-meal dining plan will both increase 2 percent. Residential costs had not risen for two years. "Other than Cornell, we have the lowest total charges" in the Ivy League, Masch noted. Cornell's total costs are set at $29,050 for next year. "Of the 'Ivy-plus' schools our average annual rate [of increase] has been among the lowest," he added. He attributed the need for higher tuition largely to lost government revenue, such as an annual $15 million "general instruction grant" which the state abolished last year. "Even if we [were to] maintain spending at the rate of inflation, we would lose revenue elsewhere," Masch said. And he noted that the federal government reimburses research at a lower rate than before, a change which cost the University an estimated $5 million last year. "This is under the 'education-friendly' Clinton administration," Masch said. The University's expenses have also increased. Masch explained that an Environmental Protection Agency requirement to remove chlorofluorocarbons from air-conditioning coolant will cost the University $750,000 dollars. Masch said a widely-read proposal in a recent Time magazine article -- suggesting that Penn spend a larger percentage of its endowment return -- was not a feasible solution. "I thought the Time article missed the point completely as to why we raise endowment funds," he said. The University's $1.9 billion endowment received 17 percent annual rate of interest on its endowment over the last three years. Since 1979 it has returned 15.9 percent. Time argued that the University could cut tuition significantly if it -- and other Ivy universities -- spent approximately 2 percent more of its endowment than the 3-5 percent it spends now. Masch argued that to spend more would be risky, since there have been irregularities in the market. "What if there's a collapse in the stock market," he said. "Is [the endowment yield] a long-term trend or not?" Associate Treasurer Lucy Momjian agreed, saying that "since the early '80s [the endowment] has done quite good," but that this is an "exceptional market."
(03/04/97 10:00am)
and Booyeon Lee Journalist Joe Klein, a 1968 College graduate and New Yorker columnist, spoke at the Annenberg School for Communication Thursday as part of the SAS Alumni Lecture Series. What follows is an excerpt from an interview he gave to The Daily Pennsylvanian. Klein became the focus of intense media scrutiny last August when he was revealed to be the author of Primary Colors, a work of political fiction published anonymously in late Januray. The novel's characters and events closely parallel those of Bill Clinton's 1992 primary campaign. The book was a best-seller, and Klein recently sold the movie rights for $1.5 million. DP: Can you expand on your views on government service? Klein: I think you guys can do it better than the government can, essentially. We should be leveraging the altruism of youth. You know, what I've found time and time again is that everybody who goes into these kind of professions -- teaching, social work, policing -- most of them go in with the best of intentions and in a really idealistic way. And then they burn out. And because of the way civil service works in this society, you find people who are 35 years old and just waiting for their pensions to kick in. And we're paying for those pensions, and they're not giving the service. I mean, child abuse case workers can't [work] for more than a year without burning out. So I think that you'd get much better quality service [with youth. You'd get] a boot camp kind of experience, where you're really trained in the job you're about to hold. And you'd make this into a really rigorous thing. You'd have to be really good to get into it and you'd have to be really good to stay in it. And there'd be a physical component to it as well. DP: Are you talking about military service, like in Asia? Klein: Not military service. It would be combining the military boot camp model with public service. DP: And you'd require it for all-- Klein: No. This is not the kind of country where you require things. But it is the kind of country where, if you're the [admissions] dean of law at the University of Pennsylvania or at Harvard and you see someone [apply] who's had four years experience as a cop, and someone who hasn't had four years experience as a cop, you're going to accept the cop. To my mind the really great model that's emerging is the Police Corps, which is just getting underway. There's going to be a training center outside of Baltimore where college graduates are going to go. I'm sure there'll be recruiters coming to this campus. College graduates are going to go for a two-month boot camp where they [will] learn from Navy Seals 36 different ways to take somebody down without really hurting them -- as opposed to shooting them. The police chief of Charleston once said to me, "You know, I'm 50 years old, and you know what happens when I pursue a fleeing felon? The distance between us increases. So I pull out my gun and I shoot him." So these are going to be really well-trained kids. That's half their training. The other half is they're going to have to mentor inner-city kids and really learn the culture they're going into. DP: Did you ever work on the DP? Klein: No. I was a chicken. I was afraid I wasn't going to be any good. DP: When did you get your first journalism job? Coming out of college? Klein: No. It was 1968, and I got a job writing public relations for the printing industry in New York. And I thought to myself, "I am not going to live the rest of my life doing this." So I took the classic coward's way out and applied for graduate school -- at Columbia and at Boston University. I didn't get into Columbia, but I got into BU. [Then] I got a job at a daily newspaper, quit BU after about two or three weeks and have spent every day since as a journalist. DP: Can you describe your time at Penn? What was it like for you emotionally as a student? Klein: I was not a very good student. It was the Sixties. I was very seriously involved in the "active self-liberation." And my education really began -- with certain exceptions; there are certain courses I could cite -- when I started doing it to myself rather than having other people do it to me. I mean, that's been the great thing about being a journalist -- I get to choose my major every year. And so I've gone through various periods in my life. I learned economics at one point. I learned urban policy at another point. I was into law, I learned some brain chemistry. I've been learning Asia the last four years -- that's been my avocation. And that's one of the glories of this job. [The job] enables me to do that. DP: Has your philosophy as a journalist changed over the years? Klein: The interesting thing is no. You know, I always found that -- and it started when I covered bussing in Boston -- that the ideology I brought into any story was insufficient when I saw what the reality was on the street. And so I went into busing, for example, being a big advocate of busing, and then I couldn't find any black people who were actually in favor. You know, I found a lot of black parents saying, "You want to send our kids into South Boston to civilize the honkies? No way." And ever since then, what I've learned has all come from the experience of reporting. And the best times I've had -- the times when I've felt most worthwhile as a human being -- have been when I was out actually reporting stuff. Because my job has a lot of aspects to it. Part of it is theater criticism, which I do pretty well. You know, I can write a scathing, funny account of any given political speech or meeting or debate or whatever. But that's not nearly as satisfying as the reporting, as the learning. DP: When you were first discovered as "Anonymous," you said that one of the reasons you had used a pseudonym was you wanted to "protect your sources, namely yourself." Klein: That was one of the things that I found myself saying that I didn't believe. The question [from the press] was, "Would you lie to protect a source?" And I said that I would lie to protect a source. And then I started thinking, "Well, have I ever lied to protect a source?" And I realized I hadn't. When people had asked me what my source was, I'd say, "None of your business." But in the defensive crouch [at the press conference] I said that. I believe that I had, as a novelist, an absolute, uncontrovertible, unimpeachable right to deny authorship of that book. I was working within a tradition that's existed since the day after the Day One. And no one's ever going to change my mind about that. It was an incredibly awkward situation. It is the only time in 27 years as a journalist that my integrity has ever been questioned. And on that issue I plead guilty. I lied about writing Primary Colors. But it's completely different. I was working in a completely different tradition. I was a novelist, not a journalist. You find one time I've lied in print with my name on it. I've been wrong a hell of a lot of times, but I've really worked overtime to maintain my integrity. One of the things I like about the New Yorker is that they are fetishists when it comes to accuracy. I mean, I've got to call the fact checker right now. DP: Have you been able to repair relations with friends who felt insulted that you lied to them about the book? Klein: That was the most difficult part of it -- the friends I couldn't tell the truth to. The most difficult part of it were the friends who assumed I didn't write it because I didn't say [so]. They didn't even ask me to lie. They just assumed that if I'd written it they would have known. And keeping the burden of the secret was incredibly difficult. It was really exhausting. But I can say that I haven't lost a single friend over this. And I haven't lost a single source over this. There were going to be people in the business who were going to be pissed off at me no matter what. There were going to be people who were pissed at me well before this happened. But I think the storm over this is an example of what I was saying before. [In his lecture earlier Klein had characterized the media as obsessed with petty political scandal.] And this is part of the reason I think journalists are seen skeptically by the rest of the society. The public, I think, was far more aware of the journalistic storm over [Primary Colors] than of my peccadillo [as an anonymous author]. "There they go again," the public groaned. "The [media's] going berserk again." And we go berserk on a three-day basis. I think that -- like the boy who cried wolf -- the public have come to doubt us when we go berserk, because we go berserk over everything. DP: Before Primary Colors you were a member of an elite journalist class. Now you're a member of the celebrity class and you've made millions of dollars. How has that changed your everyday life? Do people recognize you on the street? Klein: People recognize me. But they recognized me on the street before. I was on CBS every week. When you sit next to Dan Rather in the booth at the convention people do tend to notice a little. There are aspects of this I cannot stand. For example, I was on page 6 today in the New York Post because I had to cancel a lecture I was giving Sunday night at the 92nd Street Y in New York. I canceled it about a month-and-a-half ago because I realized that I would have to close a piece [for the New Yorker] this week and I'm leaving for Asia on Friday. Everything was getting squished together. But it was: "Klein ducks tough questions about Primary Colors." Baloney. I mean, I've given interview after interview about this. You know, cynicism is what passes for inside among the mediocre, and the temptation to be cynical is too great for too many journalists. And I've had to deal with that in terms of my celebrity status. But I hang out with my kids. Thank God. We were so worried things would change, that we would have to hire bodyguards. We actually did there for a while. We had to get a hell of a policeman to guard our house, because there were media mobs the first couple of days. But your life doesn't have to change if you don't want it to change. I wasn't a big materialist before this and I'm not a big materialist now.
(03/04/97 10:00am)
The Supreme Court has until June to decide whether or not it will review the Title IX case. Brown University appealed its athletics gender-bias case to the Supreme Court last week, alleging that regulations enforcing Title IX gender equity laws require athletics programs to adopt unreasonable gender quotas. The Brown women athletes suing their school argue that these regulations are the only way to ensure that women have an equal opportunity to play varsity athletics. Brown lost the case in the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals last November by a 2-1 decision. The Supreme Court has until June to decide whether to review the institution's appeal. Title IX mandates that all men and women who are "interested and able" to play a varsity sport should be allowed to do so. At issue is how an athletic program should determine who is actually "interested and able." Brown alleges that Title IX regulations mandate a gender balance between men's and women's teams equal to that of the student body. "That is inappropriate," Brown spokesperson Mark Nickel said, explaining that Brown bases its varsity gender balance on the "applicable pool" of interested and able students. Nickel said Brown hired polling firms which determined that "interested and able" students were 60 percent male and 40 percent female. The school also uses an Educational Testing Service question that asks incoming freshman whether they "want to play a varsity sport in college," Nickel said. He added that the plaintiffs must "demonstrate conclusively that men and women exhibit the same level of interest in varsity competition." Interest groups such as the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice believe that Brown's reliance on pollsters is deceptive. "It's bogus," TLPJ Executive Director Arthur Bryant said. Bryant said Brown's pollster has admitted under oath that his data show that two of Brown's long-established women's teams should theoretically not be viable due to low "interest" among female students. And he pointed out that Brown did not base its athletic program on student surveys, but is now trying to use polling to justify the program. "The bottom line is that Brown is trying to gut Title IX and turn the cause of women's equality in intercollegiate athletics back 20 years," he said. But Penn's Athletic Department thinks Brown has been unduly criticized. "Brown hasn't said, 'We don't believe in equal opportunity'," Associate Athletic Director Carolyn Schlie Femovich said, adding that Brown is contesting merely the government's application of Title IX, not the law itself. "I applaud their tenacity and determination to see this [lawsuit] to the nth degree," she said. Femovich added that she is glad Penn was able to settle its Title IX lawsuit out of court, without the negative publicity Brown has incurred.
(02/27/97 10:00am)
The foreign languages program suffers from a lack of funding. A lack of funding has pushed back the official launch of the Foreign Languages Across the Curriculum program until spring 1998, according to members of the faculty involved. "The prospect of [FLAC courses] being offered in the fall is at this point fairly slim," said FLAC Committee Chairperson Roger Allen, an Arabic and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies professor. "[FLAC] has run up against serious budget problems," he said. "Everything else to be completed is up in the air and at a level beyond mine." The program -- announced as part of the University's Agenda for Excellence -- would consist of upper-level language courses taught in various departments throughout the University. A class on the history of Spain, for example, would be offered in Spanish and a Buddhist theology class in Chinese. But such courses would be additions to current offerings, Allen said, and would not eliminate other options for students who might want to study Buddhist theology in English. Originally, the program's organizers had expected funding from the 21st Century Project on Undergraduate Education, according to Penn Language Center Director Harold Schiffman. And Susan Albertine, an English Department visiting lecturer who also coordinates 21st Century Project activities for the Office of the Provost, said the project usually does fund programs related to the Agenda for Excellence. "We would expect to offer support for the first two or three years of any new program we fund," she said. But several FLAC Committee members said the money has been delayed. "We asked the provost to have something happen this fall," Schiffman said. "They asked us to produce a program and we produced it, and now there's nothing being done." Albertine said there are a few courses already in the curriculum that are equivalent to what FLAC proposes. French 213/313: "French for the Professions" and Spanish 215/225: "Spanish for the Professions," are two examples. But FLAC's organizers said they intended these "bridge" courses to serve as an intermediate stage of language instruction designed to carry students from proficiency to "FLAC-level" fluency. Without funds from the Provost's Office, the FLAC program is up in the air. "I thought the provost had money for this," Schiffman said. "We don't know what to do if he doesn't come up with the money." And Allen stressed the importance of prompt implementation of the program. "It's a question of losing the motivation and interest and ability to do it all," he said. As for alternate funding, Allen said the money could come from either the School of Arts and Sciences, a combination of 21st Century funds and other University-wide sources, or outside sources. But the fall semester's security measures "required massive amounts of money," Allen said. And the University's frequent purchases of real estate have been "tying down a lot of discretionary funds." "At least that's my pessimistic view," he said. "It still might turn around in the next few days or weeks."
(02/24/97 10:00am)
Larry Moneta's three-pointer led the faculty and staff team to an overtime victory over students. Larry Bird, meet Larry Moneta. Down 20-13 at the half, the faculty and staff team surged back to tie the student team, 30-30, at the end of regulation. Then in sudden-death overtime, Associate Vice Provost and faculty and staff player/coach Moneta sunk a three-pointer to win the Provost's Cup Friday evening at the Palestra. "I'm probably going to go home and get dinner," said Moneta when asked what he was going to do now that he had won the Provost's Cup. Sponsored by the Athletic Department, the Provost's Cup was held before Friday's women's basketball game against Dartmouth. Although the event was intended to promote student-faculty interaction and increase women's basketball attendance, the Cup drew fewer than 50 spectators. But despite the low turnout, team members and spectators enjoyed themselves, spending much of the game socializing and showing off for their friends in the audience. Provost Stanley Chodorow, whose permanently injured ankle leaves him unable to play basketball, watched from the bleachers in his striped referee shirt and purple parachute pants. Chodorow's attire was bland next to that of Athletic Director Steve Bilsky, the referee representing the faculty and staff. Looking like a clueless tourist in Hawaii, Bilsky wore a black, orange and pink watercolor T-shirt and torn, grey-brown bermuda shorts. "Is that some Robin Williams-Peter Pan look?" alumni coordinator Harriet Joseph heckled. Unfazed by the criticism, Bilsky responded that he was just wearing the "official Provost's Cup outfit." Amid the faculty and staff's joking, the students powered ahead under the strong play of College senior Jugdeep Bal. With his black beard and sport goggles, Bal helped his teammates employ their strategy of "attrition." "We're trying to wear them out by constant substitution," student coach and Senior Class President Neil Sheth said. "Actually, we're trying to kick them in the shins," College sophomore Scott Melker joked. The only person in the Palestra wearing a shirt and tie, Sheth was asked why he did not play and coach simultaneously like faculty and staff coach Moneta. "You never see Pat Riley go in, do you?" he said, adjusting his tie. Though action under the basket was slow, both teams used picks and judicious passing to set up shots. But the students clearly had the early edge. Even the grinning, avuncular Chodorow was pessimistic about his co-workers' chances. "Sure, I'd bet for these guys," he said, pointing to the lumbering faculty and staff. "At least, if injuries were a plus." The players were more upbeat. "We're a second-half team. Our coach has a second-half strategy," said Rodney Robinson, assistant director for residence programs. Robinson was key to the faculty and staff comeback, getting crucial rebounds and consistently scoring on the fast break. With less than two minutes to play, Statistics Professor Ed Lusk hit a three-pointer to bring the faculty and staff to within two of the students. And with 40 seconds left, Robinson tied the game with a fast-break lay-up. In an unusual move, Bilsky called for a sudden-death overtime. After three possessions of continuous fast break, Moneta took his shot. Some spectators were afraid Moneta's success would go to his head. "Oh, he's going to be insufferable," Joseph said.
(02/24/97 10:00am)
The Athletic Department sold 3,500 tickets last Thursday and Friday for the June 8 U2 concert at Franklin Field, according to ticket manager Peggy Kowalski. The event is the first concert at the facility since the 1970s. Tickets, which were available to University students, faculty and staff, cost $52.50 each and required cash payment. Athletic Director Steve Bilsky said the department will receive revenues of between $100,000 and $200,000 from the concert. "We wouldn't do this unless this was a very significant amount of money," he added. Bilsky said he initiated negotiations with U2 after responding to a feeler put out by the group's managers and offered the use of Franklin Field during the summer months. "We want the facility used as long as it doesn't hurt regular users," he said. Additionally, Bilsky said he demanded that the University oversee security and prohibit alcohol within the stadium. The band's managers agreed to the demands and promised to reimburse the University for its expenses. Bilsky said the Athletic Department will form a group of 25 people to manage the concert's logistics. The department has experience managing large events after hosting Penn Relays, he said. Nevertheless, Bilsky said the concert "will be a learning experience for us and the entire university." U2's concert will feature "the world's largest television," 1,000 lighting fixtures, six "lighting machines," 20 Xenon searchlights and 100 strobe lights, according to the band's press release. Until recently, the Athletic Department was unable to light both Franklin Field and the Palestra without blowing a fuse. But recent renovations will allow the stadium to accommodate the high level of electricity needed for the event. Bilsky speculated that U2's tour managers looked to Franklin Field because Philadelphia's usual open-air concert site, Veterans Stadium, may not have been available much of the summer due to Philadelphia Phillies games. And the band's touring manager, Jerry Barad, asked "Why not Franklin Field? It's something different." Officials at the band's local promoter, New Park Entertainment, were even more enthusiastic about using the site. "I tell you, I love Franklin Field," New Park publicist Larry Ahearn said. "It's a great facility." Tickets for the concert are still available through Ticketmaster. The "Pop Mart" tour kicks off April 25 in Las Vegas. Other area stops on U2's tour include Washington, D.C.'s RFK Stadium May 26 and Meadowlands, N.J.'s Giants Stadium May 31. There will be no rain dates for the concerts, since the band's 52-truck entourage cannot be easily rerouted. Opening acts for the tour have not yet been announced.
(02/17/97 10:00am)
"The Pit" at Hill House offers a working example of the decentralized option of on-campus recreation faciltities. Psst. Looking for exercise equipment right around the corner? Equipment that funds itself? Come to Hill College House. This is the lure of the University's only resident-financed recreation facility, the Hill House "Pit," or exercise room. The Pit is one of many dormitory-located exercise rooms, most of which are managed by dorm residents instead of the Recreation Department. The Recreation Department's consultants, Brailsford & Dunlavey, will soon finish cost-appraising possible construction of new recreation buildings. In many ways, the Pit and other similar facilities represent the decentralized path Brailsford must weigh against the centralized option of building a new campus recreation center. "[Hill] is a very good model of 'satellite' exercise operations," Assistant Dean Tracy Feld said. "I think it's quite an uncommon approach." While student-managed recreation rooms exist in other dormitories, Hill's financing system is indeed uncommon. Money from its commissary -- one of only two student-run stores on campus -- is funneled back into Hill activities, including the rec room. Although this funding alone could not fully support the Pit -- additional funds come from Hill's University-alloted budget -- students know their dollars are being recycled. "As [residents] patronize the store, they know they will benefit," Feld said. The commissary is "the only thing that's allowed us to make large purchases," Assistant Director for Academic Programs Steve Feld said. But he added that the Hill financing model was "not replicable" and similar facilities elsewhere "would need centralized support." Such exercise rooms do exist, if on a smaller scale. Managers at Van Pelt College House, for instance, are currently looking to use their University-allocated budgetary funds towards the purchase of two or three new exercise machines for their mid-sized rec room, according to Van Pelt House Council member Barbara Duker, a College freshman. With or without its commissary money, the Hill exercise room exemplifies many of the benefits -- and some of the disadvantages -- of decentralized recreation. The facility stays open eight hours a day, seven days a week. The facility recently added a 9-10 a.m. shift, said Pit manager Vishal Shah, a Wharton and Engineering sophomore. Student management helps determine student needs through surveys and peer interaction. "They have their finger on the pulse," Tracy Feld said. A sense of common interest in the Pit has prevented vandalism, she said. And student waivers, the absence of free weights and equipment maintenance contracts forestall liability problems. Shah said he thinks the Pit should be replicated in all residences, especially the high rises. Because location is so important to him, he wouldn't want to walk to a recreation complex "even if it was five minutes away." Shah added that many Hill residents use the Pit late at night -- too late to walk out of doors and feel safe. But Steve Feld said the University needs a new campus recreation center. "The high-intensity workout people are going to want a centralized facility," he said. Presented with a choice between expanding the dormitory model and building a new recreation complex, he said he hopes the University can afford both. Others are similarly torn. College sophomore and Undergraduate Assembly representative Noah Bilenker, a frequent critic of University recreation, said he likes the convenience of dormitory exercise equipment. "It's good because [it's] accessible," he said. "If there was a decentralized facility in the Quad last year I would have used it a lot." But Bilenker notes that off-campus students do not benefit from equipment in dorms. In the long term he would like to see a new recreation complex. "I like the idea of a centralized system because you can get more equipment and better equipment," he said. "In the short term I think decentralizing is all right."
(02/17/97 10:00am)
"The Pit" at Hill House offers a working example of the decentralized option of on-campus recreation facilities. Psst. Looking for exercise equipment right around the corner? Equipment that funds itself? Come to Hill College House. This is the lure of the University's only resident-financed recreation facility, the Hill House "Pit," or exercise room. The Pit is one of many dormitory-located exercise rooms, most of which are managed by dorm residents instead of the Recreation Department. The Recreation Department's consultants, Brailsford & Dunlavey, will soon finish cost-appraising possible construction of new recreation buildings. In many ways, the Pit and other similar facilities represent the decentralized path Brailsford must weigh against the centralized option of building a new campus recreation center. "[Hill] is a very good model of 'satellite' exercise operations," Assistant Dean Tracy Feld said. "I think it's quite an uncommon approach." While student-managed recreation rooms exist in other dormitories, Hill's financing system is indeed uncommon. Money from its commissary -- one of only two student-run stores on campus -- is funneled back into Hill activities, including the rec room. Although this funding alone could not fully support the Pit -- additional funds come from Hill's University-alloted budget -- students know their dollars are being recycled. "As [residents] patronize the store, they know they will benefit," Feld said. The commissary is "the only thing that's allowed us to make large purchases," Assistant Director for Academic Programs Steve Feld said. But he added that the Hill financing model was "not replicable" and similar facilities elsewhere "would need centralized support." Such exercise rooms do exist, if on a smaller scale. Managers at Van Pelt College House, for instance, are currently looking to use their University-allocated budgetary funds towards the purchase of two or three new exercise machines for their mid-sized rec room, according to Van Pelt House Council member Barbara Duker, a College freshman. With or without its commissary money, the Hill exercise room exemplifies many of the benefits -- and some of the disadvantages -- of decentralized recreation. The facility stays open eight hours a day, seven days a week. The facility recently added a 9-10 a.m. shift, said Pit manager Vishal Shah, a Wharton and Engineering sophomore. Student management helps determine student needs through surveys and peer interaction. "They have their finger on the pulse," Tracy Feld said. A sense of common interest in the Pit has prevented vandalism, she said. And student waivers, the absence of free weights and equipment maintenance contracts forestall liability problems. Shah said he thinks the Pit should be replicated in all residences, especially the high rises. Because location is so important to him, he wouldn't want to walk to a recreation complex "even if it was five minutes away." Shah added that many Hill residents use the Pit late at night -- too late to walk out of doors and feel safe. But Steve Feld said the University needs a new campus recreation center. "The high-intensity workout people are going to want a centralized facility," he said. Presented with a choice between expanding the dormitory model and building a new recreation complex, he said he hopes the University can afford both. Others are similarly torn. College sophomore and Undergraduate Assembly representative Noah Bilenker, a frequent critic of University recreation, said he likes the convenience of dormitory exercise equipment. "It's good because [it's] accessible," he said. "If there was a decentralized facility in the Quad last year I would have used it a lot." But Bilenker notes that off-campus students do not benefit from equipment in dorms. In the long term he would like to see a new recreation complex. "I like the idea of a centralized system because you can get more equipment and better equipment," he said. "In the short term I think decentralizing is all right."
