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(09/03/99 9:00am)
What the campus needs now is a little love. Or at least that's what University officials, who recently welcomed Robert Indiana's "LOVE" sculpture to the University's family of public artwork, seem to be saying. The polychrome red, blue and green structure, one of Philadelphia's trademark sculptures that also stands in Love Park near City Hall, was donated by Graduate School of Fine Arts Overseer Jeffrey Loria and his wife, Sivia. "LOVE" first appeared at 36th Street and Locust Walk, across from the Psi Upsilon fraternity house, in June. It stands on the spot formerly occupied by Tony Smith's "We Lost," which has been removed from the spot to undergo repairs to damage caused by inclement weather. "We Lost" has been at Penn since 1967, and for decades students have sat upon the large black sculpture to eat their lunches or take a rest in the summer heat. Executive Vice President John Fry said that although "LOVE" is now a permanent piece of campus art, it may only remain at its new spot temporarily until a campus-wide review of Penn's public artwork is completed. University officials announced in April the creation of a campus development plan. A steering committee and five individual working committees composed of faculty and staff members were appointed to examine areas of concern around Penn's physical campus. "All artwork and sculptures are currently being evaluated on where [they] should go," Facilities Services Financial Director Mina Fader said. Fry said that he would not be surprised if "LOVE" found itself a permanent home on the Green. Students and faculty seem confused as to why "LOVE" was chosen as a replacement. "I think its kind of cool and also kind of corny," College senior Bikila Ochoa said in June. "I kind of wonder why they put it right on College Green, what the message is supposed to be to us -- besides the obvious." Others felt that the statue did not belong at Penn. "Its kind of tacky," College junior Jon Sell said. "I think they should set it on fire and put it on top of the high rises." Daily Pennsylvanian staff writer Karlene Hanko contributed to this article.
(07/15/99 9:00am)
A small panel participated in a poetry discussion that was broadcast live on the Internet. An interactive poetry discussion at the Kelly Writers House on Thursday, which was broadcast live on the Internet, heralded a novel type of learning and interaction that is being practiced today across the University. Several University faculty members -- including English Professor Al Filreis, who is also the Writers House faculty director -- discussed the William Carlos Williams poem "To Elsie (the pure products of America go crazy)" with about 30 on-line participants. As the poem was discussed, participants from across the nation were encouraged to log onto the Writers House Web site. From there, they could become involved in the ongoing on-line discussion -- similar to an Internet chat room -- or e-mail their comments directly to the panel composed of Filreis, English professor Bob Perelman, College of General Studies staff member Kristin Gallagher, and Shawn Walker, a History department staff member. A closed-circuit television was also set up in the Writers House for those who wanted to watch the discussion and become involved on-line by posting comments. The faculty members encouraged audience participation and attempted to work comments into the discussion of the poem. Indeed, the on-line discussion was not restricted to Penn students -- participants ranged from Penn students to Drexel students, from an Atlantic City dentist to an English professor from Boulder, Colo. As the panel discussed the poem, Walker monitored the Internet side of the debate, offering comments and asking the panel questions posed by the Internet audience. "This is an experiment to see how well e-mail links with audiences," Perelman said. Writers House holds more than 130 programs each semester, and this on-line format can bring speakers and presenters to participants all over the world, Filreis said. "We hope to send to you, through this medium, some of these workshops which will be an interaction of video and audio," he told the audience members viewing from home. The same video and audio equipment will be used frequently throughout the fall semester, Filreis said. The discussion was scheduled to last one hour, but audience participation was so strong that the panel decided to continue on for an additional 20 minutes. The electronic poetry discussion is but one of many concerted efforts made by the Writers House to increase the number of on-line classes and provide more interaction between students and professors throughout the University. In April, the College of General Studies announced that its PennAdvance program -- which allows Penn students in 15 selected cities can take on-line classes for full credit -- would begin this summer. Professors broadcast their lectures from a studio at 46th and Market streets, while the classes are shown on big screen televisions at Caliber Learning Centers in the selected cities. Filreis also spearheaded -- along with Vice Provost for Information Systems and Computing Jim O'Donnell -- a new program, launched two years ago, in which incoming freshmen are able to take an on-line class that introduces them to the University and college-level coursework. The course started in January with groups of early decision applicants and will continue until classes begin this fall. Additional groups of regular decision applicants started a separate course in May, O'Donnell said.
(06/24/99 9:00am)
What the campus needs now is love. Or at least that's what University officials, who recently welcomed Robert Indiana's "LOVE" sculpture to the University's family of public artwork, seem to be saying. The polychrome red, blue and green structure, one of Philadelphia's trademark sculptures that also stands in Love Park near City Hall, was donated by Graduate School of Fine Arts Overseer Jeffrey Loria and his wife, Sivia. "LOVE" first appeared at 36th Street and Locust Walk, across from the Psi Upsilon fraternity house, last week. It stands on the spot formerly occupied by Tony Smith's "We Lost." According to Penn officials, "We Lost" has suffered extensive weather damage, especially around its base, and has been removed from the spot to undergo repairs. "We Lost" has been at Penn since 1967, and for decades students have sat upon the large black sculpture to eat their lunches or take a rest in the summer heat. Executive Vice President John Fry said that although "LOVE" is now a permanent piece of the University's campus art, it may only remain at its new spot temporarily until a campus-wide review of Penn's public artwork is completed. Fry said that University officials reasoned, "This is a terrific spot, why don't we try the 'LOVE' here, see how we like it, and have the 'We Lost' renovated." Although "LOVE" is currently being used as a temporary replacement for "We Lost," facilities officials said that the future of the two statues have not yet been decided. University officials announced last April that they would create a new campus development plan to outline new architectural and landscaping plans for campus. "All artwork and sculptures are currently being evaluated on where [they] should go," said Financial Director of Facilities Services Mina Fader. According to Fader, when the restoration of "We Lost" is complete, there is no guarantee that it will occupy its old position on College Green. The position of both statues and all other artwork on campus will be reconsidered to fit with the new development plan once it has been finalized. Fry said that he would not be surprised if "LOVE" found itself a permanent home on the Green. "We thought 'LOVE' would look terrific on that spot," Fry said. Students and faculty seem confused as to why "LOVE" was chosen as a replacement. "I think its kind of cool and also kind of corny," said College senior Bikila Ochoa. "I kind of wonder why they put it right on College Green, what the message is supposed to be to us -- besides the obvious." Others felt that the statue did not belong at Penn. "It's a copy of what's downtown, and I think its disgusting," said College senior Josh Croll. "Its kind of tacky," College junior Jon Sell agreed. "I think they should set it on fire and put it on top of the high rises." But overall the reaction was mixed. Some students couldn't make up their minds what to think about "LOVE." "I love it and hate it at the same time," said College junior Victor Chien. And some faculty members seemed to like the sculpture on campus. "I like the sculpture and the fact that its a reproduction doesn't cause me any pain," said Dining Services employee Harmon Bryen. "Its a work of art, and as a work of art, it makes me feel good." The creation of the campus development plan was announced in April by University officials. A steering committee and five individual working committees composed of faculty and staff members were appointed to examine areas of concern around Penn's physical campus. Summer Pennsylvanian news editor Karlene Hanko contributed to this article.
(06/17/99 9:00am)
When a review of Scott McCartney's recently published book ENIAC: The Triumph and Tragedies of the World's First Computer was posted on the Internet, it revived a decades-old argument over who invented the first all-electronic digital computer. While some Philadelphia-area experts attribute the discovery to Penn, other people have made similar claims from as close as Boston to as far away as Germany and England. But according to McCartney, a staff writer for The Wall Street Journal, the ENIAC computer was indeed created by two Penn alumni during their academic careers at Penn's Moore School of Electrical Engineering. McCartney spoke to approximately 20 members of the University community at the University Bookstore on Monday. He signed copies of his book and discussed his investigative reporting of the ENIAC controversy. McCartney explained that although he had been covering the computer industry for The Wall Street Journal, he one day realized that he didn't know who invented the computer. "The inventors of the most important invention of the century remained obscure," McCartney said. In his quest to find the inventors, McCartney discovered John Mauchly and Presper Eckert, two Engineering students who met at the Moore School in 1941. Eckert and Mauchly were funded by the U.S. Army in 1943 to create a mechanism that would quickly compute the course of missiles during World War II. Their solution was ENIAC. McCartney searched through old records, diaries and video tapes stored in the Library of Congress. He found additional books that belonged to Mauchly in the rare book department of Van Pelt Library. ENIAC, unveiled on February 14, 1946, was accompanied by much University fanfare. It weighed 30 tons and occupied 1,800 square feet, McCartney said. The event, which should have been a momentous day for both the inventors and the University, was overshadowed by the patent fight surrounding who should get credit for actually inventing the first computer, McCartney said. "The three-century quest for computing machines melted into a three-decade quest to gain credit for it," he said. The Army gave Mauchly and Eckert permission to apply for patents for the computer technology, but the attempt was prohibited by the University. McCartney said the Moore School gave the two an ultimatum: If they wanted to remain at the University, they would have to give up patent considerations. According to McCartney, the University did not feel that a profit should be made on an invention that was created at an institution of higher learning and expressly intended for public use. Mauchly and Eckert resigned just five weeks after ENIAC was unveiled. Due to the inventors' failure to get a patent on time, other institutions also began producing computers, which led to the patent debate, McCartney said. Mauchly and Eckert went on to found the first computer company, but they could not compete when IBM eventually came onto the market. Their company was later bought out by Remmington-Rand, which is now called Unisys. "They were too far ahead of the game their whole lives," said McCartney. Indeed, McCartney claimed that when Eckert heard about the formation of Intel Corp., he predicted that computers would eventually be cheaper and fit on a desktop. And Mauchly supposedly recognized that computers could eventually be used to monitor weather around the world. Mauchly also worked on creating an Internet and electronic money transfers even before the technology was in place. Others who felt connected to the story of ENIAC attended Monday's book signing. Betty Davis, a graduate of the Class of 1942, retold a story of a conversation that she had with a friend while in college. A friend who knew Eckert had told her that she would eventually be able to use computers to keep track of sales in her department stores. "After all these years, as I saw his predictions come through, I've been waiting for this book and I couldn't stay away," she said. "What would have happened if Penn had played the hand dealt them differently?" McCartney asked his audience. "Philadelphia could have become a center of computing and technology." Presper and Eckert were both eventually given patents on the computer, but both died before ENIAC's 50th birthday celebration in 1996.
(01/25/99 10:00am)
Several hundred high school students not only felt the sweaty palms and butterflies typically experienced before a competition, but also got a taste of the Penn campus this weekend at an annual high school debate tournament. The Liberty Bell Classic -- held at Penn for its 26th year -- is an annual debate competition sponsored by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and the student-run Penn Debate Council. This year, 670 students representing 53 high schools in eight states attended the event. High school students of all ages, from as far away as Florida, arrived on campus Saturday morning to compete in two days of intense competition. Many stayed in the University-owned Sheraton University City and Penn Tower hotels and were treated to tours and information sessions in between rounds. "Its very competitive here -- everyone has different styles of speaking," said Michele Young, a senior from The Mary Louise Academy in Queens, N.Y. "You have to get adjusted." Young competed in the extemporaneous speaking category. Other categories included student congress, original oratory, Lincoln-Douglas debate, dramatic interpretation, duo interpretation and declamation. Current and former members of the Penn Debate Council organized the event, according to Tournament Director Paul Higday, a 1996 Wharton and Engineering graduate. The Debate Council used over 100 judges throughout the weekend, due to the large number of students involved. The competition is also a good opportunity for Undergraduate Admissions to reach prospective students. Typically, over 100 students who have participated in the Liberty Bell Classic are admitted to the University each year. Many students said they realized that the University was attempting to recruit them. "It's a very beautiful campus, and it's hard not to notice that everyone seems to love it here, and is trying to get us to like it," said Diana Santos, a junior from The Mary Louis Academy. Her friend Mary Stahl, also a junior, disagreed in her opinion about the campus. "I don't like it that much. Everything closes too early," she said. "I mean, the Gap was closed at six yesterday." The competition ended yesterday with an awards ceremony in the University Museum's Harrison Auditorium. Awards were given out to quarterfinalists, semifinalists and finalists in all eight categories. Iona Preparatory High School in New Rochelle, N.Y., was the overall winner of the competition for the second year in a row, earning the highest combined score. Leslie Smith, a regional director in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, spoke to the high schoolers before the awards were given out. She talked about the prestige of the University, stressing that it pioneered many "firsts:" the first business school in the country, the first female president in the Ivy League and the first collegiate museum. Smith and the tournament organizers did manage to convince some students to consider Penn. "I think this is a great campus. I would consider coming here, especially after this weekend," said Vinay Patel, a sophomore debater from Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan.
(12/08/98 10:00am)
In one program, more than 400 Penn minority students get advice from older peers. When United Minorities Council Chairperson Charles Howard came to Penn three years ago, upperclassmen role models helped him adjust to University life and spurred him on to do better in school. "[Black Student League President] Terrence Whitehead was my mentor since high school, and if it wasn't for him I might not even be at Penn," Howard said. "He's always been the one kicking me in the butt to make sure that I stayed focused." Today, Howard, a College junior, serves as a mentor in a program to set minority students up with peer and faculty support as soon as they begin at Penn. Howard said he tries to help freshmen just like he was helped. The Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Center also has a similar program for students. The minority mentoring program -- which was started in 1988 and is run out of the Department of Academic Support Programs -- uses upperclassmen, Medical School students, Law School students and faculty members to provide a support system for the students. Initially, the program was only for freshmen minority students, but in 1993 the pre-professional portions of the program began. Undergraduate pre-med and pre-law students are paired with students in Penn's Law or Medical schools, who act as peer-advisors. The program's leaders get a list of all incoming students who are members of minority groups. They then send out letters during the spring and summer inviting the students to participate in the program, according to Sharon Smith, an associate director in Academic Services and the program's director. Mentors and mentees can also sign up for the program through the department's World Wide Web site, Smith said. All students who sign up are assigned a peer mentor. In addition, Smith noted that some randomly-chosen students are assigned faculty advisors, who are limited in number. Students in the program also have the faculty and peer advisors provided to all students by their undergraduate schools. Howard mentored College sophomore Jean Tuffet last year, and Tuffet says that it has helped shape his college career. "My relationship with [Howard] has grown beyond mentor-mentee," Tuffet said. "This doesn't normally happen, but he became more than someone who told me what classes were good and where to eat. He's now family to me." Tuffet also now serves as a mentor in the program. But the incoming students aren't the only ones who learn from the process. Mentors must go through a three-hour training session on how to build relationships with their mentees and how to help them in different scenarios, Smith said. "The program is more about relationship building than academic advising," Smith explained, though students are matched with mentors who have similar ethnicity, academic majors and interests. She added that the relationship between mentor and mentee varies person to person. Some mentors remain friends with their mentees until they graduate, while others are helpful just for the first year, and then the students never see each other again. To help build successful relationships, Smith and her staff plan cultural and social events for the students. Previous events have included Cosmic Bowling and a multi-cultural social. In addition, the program regularly sends out e-mail messages telling students about cultural events around the city and in the Annenberg Center. Mentors are encouraged to get together with their mentees to attend as many events as possible, Smith said. The program currently enrolls 400 students, but only 220 mentors, Smith said. She said that this is not due to the lack of interest in the program, just a lack of time on the part of students and faculty. Smith explained that some students and faculty mentors will join the program one year and then take another year off, so that the numbers remain constant from year to year. Lesbian, gay, and bisexual students also have a program that they can go to for mentoring. According to Program Coordinator Juan Perez, the LGBC's program seeks to provide all students who are unsure of their sexuality -- including upperclassmen -- with someone they can go to with their problems. The center didn't model their program on the one run by Smith, but they consulted with her before starting their program, he said. "The program grew out of the need for students to have positive support," Perez said. "It's more of a peer support type system." The LGBC's program works differently than the minority mentoring program in that students are not actively recruited for the LGBC program. "[Students] don't always feel comfortable with other people knowing their sexuality," Perez explained. "With a program like ours, confidentiality becomes a greater issue." Instead, students sign up to be mentors or mentees through the center's Web site. "As requests come in, students are connected," Perez said. For reasons of confidentiality, Perez explained that it would be impossible to plan social events for the mentors and mentees to get better acquainted or to send out letters to prospective students. "Programs like that just wouldn't work out," he said. Volunteers who signed up to be mentors last spring were trained in issues relevant to lesbian, gay and bisexual students, Perez added. The volunteers were given training on University policy concerning gays, lesbians and bisexuals. They were also given a list of on-campus support programs, reading material and phone numbers similar to the ones that resident advisors and peer advisors are given, Perez said. This year only two students have signed up for the program, which Perez attributes to the fact that word has not gotten around that the program exists, and many students are still concerned about issues of confidentiality. He explained that as word spreads, he expects that the number of mentored and volunteer mentors will increase.
(12/01/98 10:00am)
The multi-racial student organization joined the United Minorities Council for its political clout. Check One, a group for Penn students of multi-cultural backgrounds, was a small, little-known group when it formed 3 1/2 years ago. Today it is larger -- with more than 50 members -- and more focused on helping students and educating the University community about bi-culturalism. Check One was formed in the spring of 1995 by 1997 College graduate Kam Santos and a few of her friends. Santos, who is part Puerto Rican and Chinese, said "she felt like she didn't have a space," according to College senior Tomiko Jones, the current president of Check One, who is part African-American, Japanese and Iroquois. Jones explained that while the group has grown over the last few years, it are still trying to gain recognition among students. Toward that goal, the group in mid-October joined the United Minorities Council, the umbrella group for Penn's minority organizations. "We started out as more of a rap or support group," Jones said. "To some extent we've definitely branched out, but many people have still not been exposed to who we are and what we do." She added that "we're still a support group, but we're also a social outlet, a general forum for discussion. And another one of our goals is to educate the Penn community about the bi-cultural experience." Check One is unique on campus because its members do not identify with one culture or group, she added. Vanessa Moses, a College junior who was a freshman when Check One was in its infancy, said she approved of the group's direction. "We've increased in numbers, we're more political, and we're more recognized on campus," Moses said. "I'm happy." Moses explained that it was "natural" for the group's agenda to shift towards the political. She added that "it'll be very hard for Check One to have a specific political agenda because we represent our members, and their opinions change." It was this change of the mood of the group which pushed them to join the UMC on October 13. The group's members are happy it joined, Jones said. Jones said she initially approached the UMC last semester about joining. "When I think of the UMC, I think of an umbrella organization for minority groups," she said. "Well, we're a minority group." Check One had tried to join the UMC before, but its membership was too low, and the group had not yet set specific goals -- a requirement for admission to the UMC. "They've expressed interest in the past, and Tomiko really followed through with it this semester," said UMC Chairperson Charles Howard, a College junior. To join the UMC a group has to attend three consecutive meetings. In addition, a representative has to explain to the council why his or her group and the UMC would benefit from joining, Howard said. "It was a unanimous decision to let them join," he said. "We felt that we would both benefit from them joining." Jones explained that the move was also a big step toward gaining more recognition on campus. "It was definitely a political move for us to join [the UMC]," Jones said. "For us not to be a part of the group that represents minority interests would mean our voice not being heard." She added that the the UMC and Check One are both benefiting from the decision. "There are perspectives that we can give, and they can help us since we are a younger group that just starting out," she said. "We really want to be recognized as a legitimate minority group on campus. Admitting Check One also fulfilled one of the UMC's major political goals -- attracting more campus minority groups. This goal became particularly important after La Asociacion Cultural de Estudiantes Latino Americanos and El Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan split from the UMC last April, because they said that the UMC was not political enough and the University did not take the groups seriously for that reason. Howard said, however, that the move to let Check One join the UMC was not entirely political. "[The UMC] gets to experience more cultures on campus though Check One," he said. "It's not necessarily a political move." Howard said that Check One has already been active in the UMC. They have attended all the meetings, and hosted an event during Unity Week, held the week of November 16. He also said that Alan Lowinger, a Check One member, is now on the executive board of the UMC as the corresponding secretary. Howard also added that other groups are considering joining the UMC. He would not disclose the names of those student groups.
(11/25/98 10:00am)
University Council's Pluralism Committee criticized Rodin for failing to address Asian-American issues. University Council's Committee on Pluralism criticized the Penn administration on Monday for a lack of response to the committee's April report on the issue of Asian American representation at the University. The report called for the University to hire five more Asian-American faculty members over the next five years. Another report, released on November 3 by the Asian Pacific American Student Affairs Committee -- known as APASAC -- called for two more hires. University President Judith Rodin responded to the APASAC report when it was released, but she has not yet replied to the Pluralism Committee's report. "In effect, our report wasn't mentioned in the Rodin response," Pluralism Committee Chairperson Eric Cheyfitz said. "It was simply a response to the [APASAC] report." During the meeting, Cheyfitz, a professor in Penn's English Department, invited several outsiders to give their perspective. The invitees included College senior Seung Lee, a member of APASAC and the chairperson of the Asian Pacific Student Coalition; English Professor Mark Chiang and South Asia Regional Studies Professor Rosane Rocher, both of whom are affiliated with the Asian-American Studies Program and members of APASAC; and College senior Andrea Cherng, a member of the undergraduate advisory board to the Asian-American Studies Program. Chiang said at the meeting that he agreed that Rodin should have responded to the Pluralism Committee's report. "The two reports could have been published together, but the APASAC report was held up," Chiang said. "The reports should have been dealt with together." But Jennifer Baldino, director of external affairs in the president's office, explained that "it is not the policy or practice of University Council to ask the president to respond individually to the reports of its committee." APASAC's report called for increased numbers of Asian-American faculty, as well as the hiring of a full-time staffer for the Greenfield Intercultural Center and a Counseling and Psychological Services counselor familiar with Asian-American issues. In her response, Rodin pointed out that the latter two positions had been filled. Everyone present said they were unimpressed with Rodin's response to the APASAC report. "The crux of Rodin's response was based on two hires that were promised to students before the APASAC report or the Pluralism Committee report," Lee said. Another concern of the Pluralism Committee was the low number of Asian-American faculty at Penn. "There is a discrepancy between numbers and student perception," Chiang said. "The University says that there are Asian Americans here, but when students are looking for mentors, they're having a difficult time finding people to help them." More than half of the Asian-American faculty teach in the Medical School and other graduate schools, meaning they have little, if any, contact with undergraduates, according to the APASAC report. "Its really easy to use words to gloss over the needs of students," Cherng said. "Even though the numbers might be there, I want to know where these people are and how to get to them." Committee members were also concerned that the Asian-American Studies Program wasn't fully staffed since the program only has two professors, Chiang and Rocher, both of whom are junior faculty members. "No program can be securely anchored without a senior, tenured, experienced professor," Rocher said. The committee resolved to send a letter to Interim Provost Michael Wachter asking him to meet with the Pluralism Committee, Rodin and possibly members of APASAC. They said they would ask if University administrators had any concrete solutions to the questions that the committee has already raised.
(11/19/98 10:00am)
Attendees discussed how to attract more minorities and which groups are under represented. Campus leaders and Penn officials met yesterday for a tense, 1 1/2-hour discussion about the shortcomings of University programs geared toward increasing the number of minority faculty members and students. The key issue discussed was minority recruitment and retention, particularly the progress of University President Judith Rodin's 1996 plan to give increased amounts of funding to minority professors, and to provide larger financial aid packages to minority students. A panel of Penn officials answered questions from students about what the University is currently doing to accomplish Rodin's goals. The panel discussion was part of the United Minorities Council's Unity Week. Most of the 35 students and six panelists agreed that not enough was being done, but for the most part no one could agree on exactly what tactics to employ to increase recruitment. Also, those at the forum argued about which minority groups should receive attention first. Many different ideas were brought to the table. The general idea was to make Penn more attractive to minority students either through financial aid or cultural programs. Latino students pointed to the fact that there are African American and Asian studies programs, but no Hispanic studies program, which might make Penn less attractive to Latino students. Additionally, they pointed out that the percentage of Latino Americans in the United States will soon pass that of African Americans and all other minorities, but there are still fewer Latinos at Penn than African Americans and Asian Americans. Panel members kept reminding students that they needed the cooperation of student groups to recruit more minority students. "We need more critical mass helping out, especially getting more minority freshmen to help out," said Rodney Morrison, director of minority recruitment. Later on, students questioned why Asian Americans were not included in Rodin's minority recruitment and retention initiatives. "The plan was intended to be a strategy for increased numbers of underrepresented minorities, and Asian Americans are not underrepresented on Penn's campus," said Steve Schutt, Rodin's chief of staff. But Asian Pacific Student Coalition Chairperson Seung Lee, a College senior, pointed out that even though Asian Americans are not underrepresented at Penn, Asian American retention has been slowly dropping. He also said that Penn still has relatively few Asian-American faculty members. In the end, although no consensus was reached, the panel members and student leaders said they were happy that a dialogue had been started. "There are a lot of groups here, and we all have the same goals, just a different order of priorities," said Charles Howard, chairperson of the United Minorities Council.
(11/13/98 10:00am)
Dorms and many off-campus buildings were without water for hours. Hundreds of students on and near campus woke up yesterday morning during peak showering hours to discover that their water flow had slowed to a trickle or disappeared completely. The culprit: a water-main break 2 1/2 miles northwest of campus that left most dormitories and several other campus buildings without water for at least three hours. At about 8 a.m., a contractor working at 52nd Street and Parkside Avenue struck a high-pressure valve that supplies smaller water mains, according to Philadelphia Water Department spokesperson Joanne Dahme. This particular water main supplies the area west of the Schuylkill all the way to the airport, including the University area, she said. Some students reported that the water pressure did not get back to normal until as late as 3 p.m., even though the Water Department reported that the pressure was restored at 11 a.m. The department has a control center which monitors water pressure around the city. When the main was hit, workers at the center noticed the problem right away, Dahme said. "We also had people calling us saying that there was flooding at the intersection, or in their basements," she added. "Our initial concern was to shut the water main down," Dahme said yesterday afternoon. "That was done by 11 o'clock, and water pressure was restored. Now we're concerned with cleaning up. Many basements in the area were flooded, and we are pumping the water out right now." All of the dorms on campus were affected in some way. Students from every college house, as well as the two Sansom Place graduate towers, reported either low water pressure or no water at all as they were getting ready for midterms or classes. On-campus buildings were not the only ones affected. Many off-campus students reported a similar lack of water or water pressure yesterday morning. "We had water -- just really bad [water] pressure around 10 a.m. this morning," Engineering junior Jonathan Weinstock said. "I could have pissed on myself and gotten a better shower." Weinstock lives at 40th and Walnut streets and the problem appears to have affected many areas throughout the University City. Surprisingly, Dining Services was was not affected by this. None of the dining halls reported that they had any problems making breakfast or lunch yesterday. The reason for the sporadic nature of affected buildings is still unclear. Workers at the McNeil Building on Locust Walk reported that parts of the building were without water, while other buildings reported no problems. Officials from housing services were unavailable for comment on exactly which buildings were affected and to what extent. According to Dahme, the intersection of 52nd and Parkside will be closed for the next few weeks as the department finishes cleaning up the water that flooded the streets and buildings.
(11/09/98 10:00am)
Organizers report the best turnout ever for the six-year-old Asian Pacific American Heritage Week, which ended Saturday. The sixth annual Asian Pacific American Heritage Week, which ended last Saturday, had an increased turnout this year, but organizers are still focused on their goal of making the event better next year. "Every year, it is our goal to reach out to the entire Penn community," said College senior Edward Chang, the vice chairperson for political affairs for the Asian Pacific Student Coalition. The group has used better advertising and more interesting events to increase attendance -- both among Asian Americans and the rest of the Penn community -- since the event was first started, he said. For example, this year's candlelight vigil to remember Asian American victims of hate crimes drew more than 80 people, the largest turnout since the event was started during the first Asian Pacific American Heritage Week. The annual minority bone marrow drive also drew record numbers. Organizer said that 106 people signed up to become bone barrow donors, 35 more than last year. This year's keynote address was not really an address at all -- it was a performance by the Los Angeles-based group "Here and Now." The group mixed comedy, storytelling and interactive games to touch on issues like race relations and the Asian American experience in the United States. "I think that the address by 'Here and Now' was probably the most important event of Heritage Week," said College senior Bonnie Chong, who is also the vice chairperson for Heritage Week for the coalition. Friday's Extravaganza on College Green and in front of the Veranda, the former Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity house at 3615 Locust Walk, also drew a large crowd. Tables were set up on College Green by each of the 14 groups represented by the Asian Pacific Student Coalition as well as the Asian American Studies Program. Some groups had literature, while others had food from their region for sale. At the same time, groups like Pennaach, a South Asian dance troupe, performed outside of the Veranda. The groups danced and sang songs indigenous to their countries. Spectators ranged from Asian Americans who knew that the event was going on to random passersby who stopped because the performances looked interesting. "From what I've seen, I loved it. I've always been into culture, and I like to watch different styles of dancing," Wharton sophomore Tanjanika Brown said. But while a large number of people attended the events, several complained about the lack of diversity in the crowd. "I think this is a good idea, but I'm a little disappointed that there are mainly Asian people here," said Ozel Bilge, a graduate student in the School of Arts and Sciences. "But the food is good." "I don't think that they advertised very much for it," she added. "I would have stopped by earlier if I knew what was going on." Event organizers conceded the difficulty of catching the attention of busy students. "It's really hard to advertise a whole week's worth of events to the Penn community and get them to remember them," Chong said. "But I think that our advertising team did a good job of it." The Extravaganza occurred at the same time as the Greater Philadelphia Youth Community Service Project, which brought about 80 children from schools across the Philadelphia area to the Heritage Week. Friday night, the annual fashion show -- this year entitled 'Vis-aVis' -- featured big-name designers like Vera Wang and former Penn student Sandy Dalal. The name "symbolizes the strength held by many Asian Americans to acknowledge that their identities are not solely shaped by their Asian heritages, but also by their western ones," said the event coordinators' mission statement. More than 400 people attended the show, which was held in the Christian Association building on Locust Walk -- an increase of 280 people over last year's show. The audience was also more diverse than last year's. Even though most of the models were Asian Americans modeling garb designed by Asian and Pacific American designers, the audience was filled with students from many backgrounds. To close out the week, a charity gala was held Saturday at the Wyndham Franklin Plaza Hotel in Center City. The dinner included a raffle, offering items ranging from gift certificates to cooking lessons to Broadway tickets. The event raised more than $1,500 for AIDS Services in the Asian Community. ASIAC provides assistance to Asians in the greater-Philadelphia area with the AIDS virus, according to the organizers. Throughout the week, Resnet also showed movies with an Asian American theme or by Asian American directors. Good Morning, Vietnam, Gandhi, Enter the Dragon and Face/Off were just a few that were shown. Overall, the organizers said they were encouraged by the continuing trend of improvements in the quality of the events and the attendance. However, the organizers said that due to the size of Penn's student body, it was impossible to attract most students to the events. "When you're talking about a success -- especially at Penn since it's so big -- then you're being unrealistic," Chong said. "But if you're talking about a success compared to how we've done in the past, then it was a success."
(11/06/98 10:00am)
Minority bone marrow is in short supply nationally, prompting the drive. In a continuing effort to increase awareness about the need for more minority bone marrow donors, Asian fraternity Lambda Phi Epsilon began its annual minority bone marrow drive yesterday. Thirty-six students filled out forms and gave blood in order to be registered in the National Marrow Donor Program on the first day of the drive at the newly opened Veranda event center at 3615 Locust Walk. It continues today at Logan Hall. The drive was planned in conjunction with Penn's Asian Pacific American Heritage Week, which is sponsored by the Asian Pacific Student Coalition. The drive began six years ago, prompted by an incident in which a brother in the national fraternity had leukemia and could not find a donor. The national fraternity instituted the drive in order to increase the diversity of the registry, said Wharton junior Howard Yeh, the fraternity's community service chairperson. Even though more than 3 million Americans are signed up as bone-marrow donors, not many of them are minorities. According to the National Marrow Donor Program, only about 8 percent of registered donors are African American; 6 percent are Asian/Pacific Islander; 2 percent are Native American; and 7 percent are Hispanic. The relatively small number of minority donors in the registry is of concern because the chances of finding a bone-marrow match are much higher if the patient and the donor are of the same ethnic heritage. "There is a desperate need to try and diversify the national registry," said Alice Kaplan, the bone-marrow recruitment manager for the Pennsylvania-New Jersey Red Cross, whose volunteers took blood and talked to students about the process of bone-marrow donation. "For minority patients, the chances of finding donors are much less than for for Caucasians. And if they don't find a match, they usually die." "We need more Asian Americans, African Americans, and all minority groups, but especially multicultural and mixed people," she added. At any time, about 3,000 people are looking for bone-marrow donors, but many of them don't find matches, she said. The Red Cross helps by getting volunteers and entering them into the national registry, which is maintained by the government-funded National Marrow Donor Program. Last year, of the 7,335 transplants that the program facilitated, only about 13 percent of them were to minorities. According the program, a person with leukemia has about an 80 percent chance of finding a bone marrow donor through the registry. The chance of finding a donor for minorities is around 60 percent. Organizers said they were confident that many more students would show up today as the drive continues in Logan Hall. "I didn't even know that this was going on until one of my friends in the fraternity grabbed me," said College sophomore Jeff Kim. Although Kim expressed some concerns about actually donating bone marrow, he explained that he still considers bone-marrow donations to be important. "If they called me next week to give marrow, I don't know what I would do," he said. "I'd probably have to think about it, but it's not like donating blood. I think that bone marrow helps a lot more." College freshman Yuiha Pow had the same thought about being asked to donate marrow. "My first thought would be, 'Yes, how long will it take?'," she said. "I've heard that it's really painful but if it would really benefit someone, I think I would do it," she added.
(11/05/98 10:00am)
Sandy Phorng. Jung Sook. Malkhiat Singh. Tzieh-Tsai Lou. All of these people have been killed as a result of racially motivated attacks against Asian Americans. Last night, the four were among those remembered in a candlelight vigil at Penn as part of Asian Pacific American Heritage Week. More than 80 students attended the event. Candles lined Locust Walk around the peace sign in remembrance of those who died. Each candle was held in a bag which bore the name of an Asian American and the way in which the person died. "The candles are here to stand as a testimony," said College junior Edward Han, who coordinated the vigil. "We are here to remind ourselves not to forget them." The event's purpose was more than just remembrance, though. It was to recognize the fact that something needs to be done about this situation, according to organizers. "We must acknowledge that it is here, and it is real," said College sophomore Hoa Duong, vice chairperson for community affairs of the Asian Pacific Student Coalition. "We need to educate our peers and to educate ourselves." As part of the vigil, Duong related an experience of how she had been verbally attacked as a child by others due to her Asian decent. Duong went on to say that taking action is not always easy, as she remembers from her childhood. "It's OK to be angry and to be frustrated, but not to let it paralyze you," she said. Debbie Wei, a curriculum specialist for Asian Pacific American Studies for the School District of Philadelphia, spoke next. She began by defining a hate crime as anything that was "psychological, emotional or physical, and usually painful." She then told stories of Asian Americans that had been mistreated, beaten and killed due to anti-Asian sentiment, even in Philadelphia, although she said that many might deny the fact that hate crimes occur in Philadelphia. "We hear a city telling us that there is no racism, in this, the city of brotherly love," she said. Wei's voice was filled with emotion as she read stories of Philadelphia public-school students and others who had experienced hate first-hand. "I'm getting tired these days? I am getting old," she said. "Sometimes it just gets too hard to speak through the pain." The event ended with Han reading the names of several Asian Americans who had been killed in hate crimes. Like Wei's stories, each of them was more painful to hear than the last. "You see the bags [around the candles], and you think that they're pretty, but they're more than that," he said. "Remember these people not for how they died but for who they were." The candles will be up for a few more nights, event coordinators said. They hope Penn students take a few minutes to read some of the bags as they walk by. The candlelight vigil is part of the ongoing, 6th Annual Asian Pacific American Heritage Week, which is sponsored by the Asian Pacific Student Coalition. Other events include a keynote address tonight at the Newman Center. The address will actually be a performance by the Los Angeles-based group Here and Now. Other highlights include the 1998 Minority Bone Marrow Drive today and tomorrow at The Veranda at 3615 Locust Walk, the former Phi Sigma Kappa house. Tomorrow's highlights also include an annual fashion show at the Christian Association building. Heritage Week will end on Saturday with a charity gala at the Wyndham Franklin Plaza Hotel.
(11/04/98 10:00am)
A recent report also calls for more Asian American students. A committee charged with researching the situation of Asian American students at the University recommended yesterday that Penn increase its recruitment of Asian faculty members and students. It also called for an alumni network of Asian American graduates. Last January, University President Judith Rodin formed the Asian Pacific American Student Affairs Committee and charged it with a hard task: to "consider the issues unique to Asian American students at Penn and to develop specific and concrete recommendations to resolve them." The committee -- which was chaired by Vice Provost for Graduate Education Janice Madden -- met over the course of the the spring semester to talk about the problems Asian Americans face on campus and to recommend steps to alleviate them. The report was released yesterday in accordance with Asian Pacific Heritage Week. Among their recommendations, the committee suggested that the Vice Provost for University Life and Penn's schools should "aggressively" recruit Asian American staff or staff that have experience in dealing with Asian American issues. The members also recommended that all student service workers, including house deans, resident advisers and faculty in the College House system, be given training on how to deal with the issues and special concerns of Asian American students. They suggested that the University start a study to analyze the recent 2 percent drop in the number of Asian American students admitted to Penn. Along with this, they want a re-evaluation of the effectiveness of Minority Scholars' Weekend. In particular, the committee suggested that the program be expanded to invite all Asian American financial aid candidates to attend. Currently, only needy Asian students from Philadelphia are invited. At the end of its report the committee said it recognized the fact that the issues they raised could apply to other ethnic and racial groups on campus as well. They encouraged Rodin to consider ways to address those needs. Even though Rodin is currently in China, her response to the recommendations was released along with the report. Rodin pointed to numerous steps that have already been taken, and others that were being planned to point out that the University is aware of issues that affect Asian American students. For instance, the University has hired Meeta Kumar, a psychologist "who is very sensitive to issues faced by Asian American students," according to Rodin. She will be a part of Penn's Counseling and Psychological Services. In addition, Sara Cho, a Penn alumna, has been hired as a full time Asian American program coordinator at the Greenfield Intercultural Center. Cho served on the committee last semester while she was doing her graduate work in the School of Arts and Sciences. Both of these appointments were to positions that the University had committed to filling last March. The University has also committed to filling a junior tenure-track position in the History Department for an Asian American professor by the end of next year. Rodin also pointed to the fact that student service workers already go through diversity training. Resident and graduate advisers are required to go through a number of workshops about issues facing minority students. The formation of the committee resulted from several other events. In the fall of 1996, Rodin released her Minority Recruitment and Retention Plan as part of her Agenda for Excellence. The plan called for increased funds for the recruitment and retention of under-represented minority undergrads and staff but did not include Asian Americans as a minority. The problem was that although Asian Americans are considered under-represented in the United States, they are not considered under-represented at Penn. In 1994, Asian Americans ages 20 to 24 made up 3.4 percent of the U.S. population, but 18 percent of Penn's. Throughout the 1990's, the percentage of Asian American students at Penn has held steady at around 20 percent. In response to complaints from Asian American students about their exclusion from the Minority Permanence Plan, the University Council's Pluralism committee recommended 1 1/2 years ago that a subcommittee be formed to study Asian American issues, which is why the APASA committee was formed. In her response to the committee's report, Rodin addressed each of the recommendations the committee made, which members of the group said they were happy about. "The Asian American student body at Penn is pleased that the University is working closely with students to attend to the needs of Asian students at Penn," said College senior Seung Lee, chairperson of the Asian Pacific Student Coalition. "We look forward to seeing further evidence of the University's commitment to [our] community." Although they were happy, several committee members said the report was just the beginning "This report is not the conclusion of the work that has been done; it is ongoing," said committee member and Associate Vice Provost for University Life Barbara Cassel.
(11/03/98 10:00am)
Not many people expect to hear the words, "Hello, this is Oprah" when they answer the phone. But that's exactly what happened when Graduate School of Education Lecturer William Franklin picked up his receiver two weeks ago. Winfrey was gathering fans for a round table discussion about her new movie, Beloved, based on the book by Toni Morrison, Franklin said. The discussion was taped and appeared on last Friday's episode of the top-rated daytime talk show. Franklin --Ewho is also the faculty Master of DuBois College House -- said that after seeing Beloved, he emailed Winfrey via her Web page telling her how much he liked the movie. But the call from the world-famous actress and talk show host came as a surprise. "My first reaction was, who's playing on the phone," he said. "I thought maybe it was a friend or a colleague or something." But it was not a joke. Franklin was flown to Chicago on October 22, along with six other people who had e-mailed Winfrey about the movie. The six were selected from thousands of fans who emailed the Web site, Winfrey said on the show. The six ate dinner with Winfrey and the director of Beloved, Jonathan Demme. While eating, they had a three-hour-long conversation about the movie and how it had impacted their lives, according to Franklin. Clips of their conversation were aired as "A Beloved Dinner" on Oprah's show last Friday. Beloved is the story of a slave who kills her daughter because she does not want her to grow up as a slave. Sethe, the character that Winfrey plays, is then haunted by the ghost of her dead daughter. The dinner conversation revolved around the movie's powerful imagery and storyline, which Demme said was emotionally draining to film. "Actors would cry in between scenes because they couldn't handle it." he said. Everyone who attended the dinner talked about how much the movie touched them and opened their eyes to the enormous human tragedy of slavery. Audrey, a participant in the discussion whose last name was not released by the show's producers, talked about how the movie reflected an experience that she had. "I was contacted by a gentlemen who was the great grandson of a slave that my fourth great grandfather had owned," she said. Franklin said he is still reeling from the experience of seeing the movie. "It shows once again that looking at these type of images on the screen is not easy," he said. "That's probably why the movie hasn't caught on as much as [Oprah] hoped, its just too powerful." The film has made only $18.6 million in the three weeks since its release. Franklin, 35, holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the School of Education at Stanford University.
(10/26/98 10:00am)
Twenty Philadelphia women met at the Penn Women's Center last week to discuss women's health issues, particularly abortion, in observance of the National Women's Day of Action. The six-year-old national effort marks the anniversary of the death of Rosie Jimenez, the first woman to die of an illegal abortion after Congress passed the Hyde Amendment in 1978, wiping out federal funding for abortions. Overturning the amendment -- which has been passed by every Congress since -- has served as a rallying cry for many pro-choice women's organizations. During the event, women's groups at more than 300 schools across the country held programs and rallies to spotlight issues, like abortion and health care, that affect women. The Penn program featured a roundtable discussion about the health problems facing young women and the groups that provide support. The focus was primarily on young women and those from low-income families. The participants shared literature and personal stories and handed out condoms. The discussion focused on the need to reach more women and the progress of education about women's health. "In 20 years are we still going to be doing this?" asked Shawn Towey, a worker at the Women's Medical Fund of Philadelphia. "We have a network, but do we have a movement?" "We need to build grassroots support for health resource centers," said Leslie Anastasio, a spokesperson for the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League of Philadelphia. "[But] there needs to be a base of support for this to happen. Responding to such concerns, Litty Paxton, a School of Arts and Sciences graduate student, said women's organizations would be able to help the situation if their messages were not being contradicted by the media, which places an unhealthy emphasis on female sexuality at a young age. "You can keep doing your job, but if the TV keeps telling [little girls] that it's good to be sexy, then you're not going to make any progress," she said. "I mean, Ginger Spice was named U.N. Goodwill Ambassador for Reproductive Health," said Paxton, who is from England. "Give me a break -- they picked the only Spice Girl that posed nude to represent reproductive health." Other speakers expressed pain over the need to have so many groups that deal with women's reproductive and health issues. "I'd love it if we could go out of business because there was no one for us to treat anymore," Towey said, expressing a sentiment that most of the women in the room shared. The event was organized by College seniors Spring Moore and Tracy Tripp. Moore dealt with recruiting the groups to campus, while Tripp worked on securing food donations for the event.
(10/21/98 9:00am)
The new Kelliann's Tavern will take the place of Murphy's Tavern, a popular local bar. When students returned to campus for the fall semester, the bookstore was new, High Rise North had become Hamilton College House and the food court had been transformed into the Moravian Cafes. And now, the winds of change have blown through another area icon. Upperclassmen might remember Murphy's Tavern on the corner of 44th and Spruce streets. It recently returned under new management as Kelliann's Tavern, nearly two years after a judge forced it to close because of frequent liquor-law violations. John O'Connor, along with his wife Kelliann and his brother Dennis, bought the bar from its previous owners in July. They renovated the bar all summer and officially re-opened it for one night last week, though the owners are waiting for license-related paperwork to be processed and it is unclear exactly when it will open for good. "We like the neighborhood," John O'Connor said. "And the previous owners always did very well here." Murph's was noted among students for a willingness to serve alcohol to underage drinkers, and was plagued by frequent raids by the Pennsylvania State Police's Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement. The bar was cited three times between 1993 and 1997, and received a total of nine citations in the 36 years that it was open for business. The owners, Joseph and James Murphy, were forced to close the bar after a judge refused to renew their liquor license in January 1997. The new owners know the Murphys, but they hope they don't have the same problems that their friends did. "I know they had a lot of problems towards the end, but this place was always a great hangout," O'Connor said. "I hope to stay here for 40 years like they did." Joe Murphy also wished them luck. "With the liquor control board," he said, "they sure need it." Many Penn students, most of them graduates or upperclassmen, were on hand to celebrate the grand opening and remember old times. "The first time I came into Murph's, I was six years old," said 1996 College graduate Tim Allen. Allen, son of Arabic Professor Roger Allen, grew up a block away from Murph's. "I remember going there for the first time when I was 15. My sister brought me there when I visited campus -- it was the only place that we could get into, and we didn't want to go to a frat party," added College senior Nicole Kaplan. Kaplan said she continued to go there as an undergrad, noting that "it was nice seeing Joe Murphy at the door saying, 'See you at church on Sunday.' " O'Connor said the new owners "don't want any problems with the LCE." Although Murph's was known for underage drinking, the new owners don't want any of the problems the Murphys had to deal with. Murphy's opinion of the LCE and current drinking laws are strong as ever. "They call people minors when they're 18," he said. "So an 18-year-old can buy a bar and tend it, he just can't drink in it. You know what I think of that." Although a sign isn't up yet -- the old Murphy's Tavern sign still has to be taken down -- the new owners are set on the new name. But like many newly named-features of the Penn experience, a name is only a name to many students. "I don't care what it's called," said Kaplan. "It'll always be Murph's to me."
(10/07/98 9:00am)
People living in an American city like Philadelphia don't necessarily realize that they, too, can influence the lives of those living in the Third World. But for the past several years, Judy Wicks, owner of the White Dog Cafe, has been demonstrating that it is possible for anyone to help people all over the world. Wicks and the White Dog were honored Monday by the U.S. Agency for International Development, receiving the body's third Lessons Without Borders Partnership Award. This distinction is given to institutions or persons who are committed to improving the lives of others while increasing awareness about the importance of U.S. foreign assistance. USAID -- a 30-year-old independent government agency based in Washington, D.C. -- works to improve the lives of people living in poverty all over the world. Officially launched by USAID in 1994, the LWB program aims to improve the standard of living in Third World countries by bringing people around the world together as they try to solve similar problems, such as teen pregnancy. The LWB project's staff works with nurses, farmers and small businesspeople in developing nations to help raise the standard of living. Additionally, LWB programs based in U.S. cities work to increase awareness of Third World issues and raise funds for USAID. As a result of winning the award, the White Dog is now officially a part of the LWB program. The LWB award was given to recognize the cafe's international "Table for Six Billion Please!" project. The restaurant, working with several non-profit educational groups, is helping to send customers and employees to its sister restaurants in developing countries such as Nicaragua, Lithuania and Indonesia. Tourists experience each nation's culture and are exposed to its economic and political systems, gaining a better understanding of the important issues facing each country, said USAID spokesperson Laura Gross. "We wanted to honor an institution that has a reputation around the world [and] not just because of the cuisine," said USAID administrator J. Brian Atwood. Atwood presented the award to Wicks during a luncheon at the cafe. He began by praising Wicks' work, noting that there "are similarities between what she does and what we do on a larger level." Atwood also addressed the issue of decreased U.S. foreign aid, as well as USAID's own decreasing budget. "We have to wake up the American people, or our own [life] style is going to be affected by this," he said. Everyone at the restaurant agreed that it would take a considerable amount of effort to raise world awareness about the importance of fighting poverty. Still, officials said, events like Monday's can help make a difference. "Getting press is important," said Liz Notman, a special assistant to USAID's chief of staff.
(09/24/98 9:00am)
Q: Who was the only TV cast member of M*A*S*H to have actually served in the Korean War? Q: What is the second most translated book in the world after the Bible? Q: What two women served as the models for the Statue of Liberty? If you can answer any or all of these questions, then you may be ready for the Challenge. The $25,000 Challenge: The World's Toughest Trivia Contest, is a book containing 1,566 trivia questions in eight categories, including entertainment, arts and humanities and technology. The book will remind many people of board games like Trivial Pursuit and game shows like Jeopardy! with its difficult questions, fill-in-the blanks, photo IDs and requests for the next line from songs. The challenge is to get all or most of the questions right by Sept. 12, 2000. The person who comes closest will receive $25,000 over a five-year period. In the event of a tie, the winners will split the reward. There are also $1,000 cash prizes for the five runners up. If no one can answer all of the questions, the reward will go to the group or person that answers the highest percentage of questions. According to publisher and co-author Ronald Smolin, "This is the highest cash reward ever offered by a publisher for a contest in book format." Smolin is also the president and founder of Trans-Atlantic Publications Inc. in Philadelphia, which is offering the prize money. The other author is Anthony Notaro, a 1998 College graduate. Notaro started working at Trans-Atlantic in the summer of 1997 and continued to work there during the 1997-98 school year. After he graduated with a degree in philosophy and intellectual history, he began working for Trans-Atlantic, editing books and working on the publishing house's World Wide Web site. "I think we were on the Net looking at trivia sites and got the idea to write a book," Smolin explained. "We just started collecting questions, and they just kept coming and coming." The authors decided later -- after spending three sleepless weeks researching and writing the book -- to offer prize money. Trans-Atlantic has started an advertising campaign at 11 colleges across the country, including Princeton University, the University of Michigan and Brown University. It was Notaro's link to Penn, and the fact that Trans-Atlantic is located in Philadelphia that made them advertise on Penn's campus as well. "Penn students like money," joked Notaro, "and the ones I knew all had lots of useless knowledge." There are even several questions that reflect the author's link to Philadelphia and Penn. For example, do you know what Benjamin Franklin suggested our national bird should be? Or which two men invented the first computer, ENIAC? The authors' hope is that news of the contest will spread to other colleges and universities, or even community groups. "It's almost like a hobby for some people," Smolin noted. "If they want, they can just do a few [questions] each day." Smolin is eventually hoping to get groups like fraternities and sororities involved to work as groups to win the money. In addition, for those without a clue to some of the questions, Trans-Atlantic will post hints on their Web site http://www.transatlanticpub.com/trivia/ starting in October. After looking at the questions, some would call the Challenge impossible, but not Notaro, who currently works as a network administrator for PNC Mortgage in Pittsburgh. "It's definitely possible. The questions just require research."
(07/23/98 9:00am)
Who says you can't go home again? A rare artifact that was looted from ancient tombs in Peru almost a decade ago was recovered in a Federal Bureau of Investigation sting operation and returned to the Peruvian government in a ceremony last Wednesday at the University Museum. The Peruvian government has loaned the artifact to the museum for a month-long display. "This was part of the richest archeological finds in the 20th century" said Ricardo Luna, the Peruvian ambassador to the United States, of the pilfered treasure. The artifact has a very rich history. Archeologists call it a "backflap," and it is believed to be a piece of royal costuming worn by the elite members of the Moche civilization of Peru, which thrived between 200 B.C. and A.D. 700. "The tombs contained valuable information about everyday life," said Walter Alva, director of Peru's Bruning Museum. "All this information is lost when graverobbers destroy the contents of the tombs. They are just looking for gold stuff they can sell on the black market." The backflap is made of an alloy of gold, copper and silver, a valuable blend to which the grave robbers were attracted. Similar backflaps are shown in many works of art from the period, and others have been found in the tombs of several Moche warrior-priests. This particular backflap's story was made more interesting when it was stolen from Peruvian tombs and smuggled into the United States through Miami for sale on the black market. Moche artifacts are highly valued on the international market for their beauty and fine workmanship. As a result, many tombs in Peru have been looted and artifacts are rarely ever recovered intact. But this particular case managed to buck the trend. The FBI, with the help of the Philadelphia Police Department, recovered the backflap in a sting operation on October 7, 1997, when two men attempted to sell the backflap to undercover agents for $1.6 million. Orlando Mendez, 31, and Denis Garcia, 57, both of Miami, were arrested and pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy, interstate transportation of stolen property and smuggling. The mysterious disappearance of the backflap is over for now, but the criminal case is far from closed. The FBI has also charged Fransisco Iglesias, 54, with conspiracy, smuggling and interstate transportation of stolen property. It is alleged that while he was the Panamanian counsel general in New York City, he used his diplomatic status to smuggle the backflap into the United States. Investigators also believe that he used his car, which had diplomatic license plates, to drive the conspirators to Philadelphia to meet with the undercover FBI agents. Iglesias currently remains at large. But after its trek from the mountains of Peru, through the black market and into the hands of authorities, the artifact can been seen at the University Museum. Under tight security, Museum officials have prepared an exhibit including the backflap, other information on Moche culture and artifacts and the story of how the backflap was recovered. "We are delighted to cooperate with the government of Peru and the FBI to display this extraordinary Moche object," University Museum Director Jeremy Sabloff said. "We hope this exhibit will help raise consciousness about the serious problem of international looting." "The University of Pennsylvania Museum has long taken a leadership role against looting of archeological sites and black market trading," Sabloff added. In 1970, the museum was among the first cultural institutions to adopt the groundbreaking UNESCO Convention, which states that no "partner institution" will accept any artifact into its collections without clear evidence of legal history. The backflap will remain on exhibit at the University Museum through August 8, when it will be returned to Peru for permanent display at the Bruning Archeological Museum in Lambayeque.
