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(04/14/00 9:00am)
International Monetary Fund and World Bank, look out. What happened to the World Trade Organization summit in Seattle last year is expected to re-occur at the IMF and World Bank meetings in Washington, D.C., this weekend More than 50 students attended a discussion at Civic House Tuesday night to hear why thousands of students, some from Penn, will be descending upon the nation's capital in protest. The discussion, or IMF Teach-In, was sponsored by Groove Phi Groove, Penn Students Against Sweatshops and Civic House. History Professor David Ludden began the discussion by giving a broad history of the IMF and the World Bank. He highlighted both the goals and the shortcomings of these international financial institutions. The IMF, formed in 1946, began as "the lender of last resort for countries in financial crisis," Ludden said. Along with the World Bank, it was intended to promote a "flourishing environment for international investment of private capital." Both institutions exist largely to enable needy countries to receive financial capital from private investors. But what was originally intended to fund post-World War II recovery has been transformed into a multilateral force in effecting policy change in debtor countries, according to Ludden. The IMF now has to "get into governments and alter the way governments work," he said. One major problem with the IMF's operations Ludden said, is the issue of structural adjustment. In the 1970s, saddled by debt, many developing countries found themselves dependent on international finance for survival. These countries began to look to debt-driven development to solve their problems. "Businesses do not invest in infrastructure," Ludden said. "They depend on government investment in infrastructure." The IMF, in a position to loan this needed capital, then dictated the ways in which debtor nations had to change their budgets. Ludden left Civic House after his 20-minute talk. Exiting audience members who left with the professor said they were pleased with his historical viewpoint. "I thought that it was about as unbiased as one could make it," College sophomore Alice Pink said. But after Ludden's exit, the discussion quickly changed to a more partisan viewpoint. College senior Miriam Joffe-Block, who participated in the Seattle protests several months ago and is a leader of Penn Students Against Sweatshops, took the floor to discuss the workings of the IMF. She concluded that the IMF is doing more harm than good. "The IMF is forcing a market economy and integration into the global economy much, much faster than happened for the U.S.," read one of the visuals that she showed. But audience member Alex Robinson, a College senior, pointedly asked Joffe-Block after her presentation, "Instead of protesting against the IMF, why aren't you pushing for another multilateral body?" Emily Nepon, a member of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, responded in her presentation that one cannot afford to be objective. "People are fucking dying because of changes being made in their countries by the IMF and the World Bank," Nepon said. Nepon was referring to the fact that the IMF has, in some cases, dictated the release of price protections sponsored by debtor nations. This could then limit the availability of food to poor people.
(04/14/00 9:00am)
Penn will put the wraps on a disappointing year in the ivy League. After a heartbreaking, double overtime loss to Villanova, the Penn men's lacrosse team (5-6, 1-4 Ivy League) will try to right the ship tomorrow at 2 p.m. against Brown (4-5, 1-2) in its final appearance at Franklin Field this season. The Bears are also coming off a tough loss, a 10-7 defeat against Harvard, and Brown will be hungry for a win. "I think their team, much like us, feels a little bit wounded off that loss last night, and we're both looking to get a good win come Saturday," Penn coach Marc Van Arsdale said. The question, therefore, is which team will carry the lingering effects of the Wednesday night losses into Saturday's game. "There's always a little concern about coming off of a demoralizing game like that," Van Arsdale said. "I mean, an overtime game's either euphoria or depression right when it's over. "[But] I thought our guys bounced back pretty well today, and they're looking forward to another good opponent on Saturday. Sometimes having another one looking at you in the face in a couple of days lets you put the previous one behind you." The Bears team staring down the Quakers for tomorrow is a formidable one. No. 14 Brown beat Duke, 10-9, early this season and Yale two weeks ago. The Quakers were edged out by the Elis, 11-10, in their first Ivy contest this season. The Bears, throughout their lineup, are a very strong team. They have excellent attackmen and midfielders and an above-average defense. "It'll be sort of what we went through last night [against 'Nova], with the first midfielders doing a lot of creating for them," Van Arsdale said. "I think they have a little bit better attack then we saw against 'Nova, and I think a little more solid defense. It's a good, solid Ivy League team." Van Arsdale wasn't going to make any adjustments -- he just wants to get them to play a little cleaner. "Last night we showed, I thought, our best offensive stuff in a long time, and I don't think we're going to change anything dramatically to get after Brown," Van Arsdale said. "We just need to be sharp and to avoid a couple of the turnovers that cost us in the third quarter yesterday." The Quakers aren't that worried about how the game against the Bears fits into the greater scheme of their Ivy League season. They are more concerned about getting a win on Senior Day on 33rd Street. "It's one game," Van Arsdale said. "I don't think it's so much the overall picture of the league that we're looking at for this one. Maybe at the end of the year, it'll look a whole lot better to say, 'Hey we won a couple of games in the league rather than just one.' But mainly it's a chance to beat a good Ivy League team, which Penn hasn't had much success with lately." Four Penn seniors will wear their game uniforms on Franklin Field for the final time. In addition to Quakers co-captains defenseman Bill Fowler and attackman Pete Janney, midfielders Billy Reidy and Mike Kehoe will also play in the last Ancient Eight contests of their careers tomorrow. "It's the last home game of the year, the last home game for four seniors, and I think that's more the focus for this one than that it's another Ivy game," Van Arsdale said. While there will be some recognition of the seniors and an alumni dinner on Saturday night, the planned festivities aren't that extensive. "We'll announce the four seniors playing in their last home game, and we also have an awards banquet Saturday night," Van Arsdale said. "Obviously with that kind of atmosphere, you'd like to make it a special one for them to remember because it's their last time out here."
(04/14/00 9:00am)
The Penn women's golf team wraps up its spring season with the Ivy League Championships this weekend. The 36-hole tournament will take place tomorrow and Sunday at the Metedaconk National Golf Club in Jackson, N.J. The five team members competing for the Quakers this weekend will be senior captain Natasha Miller, junior Jen Schraut, sophomores Rachel Slosburg and Victoria Entine, and freshman Stacy Kress. Both Schraut and Entine competed in last year's tournament in Bethpage, N.Y. While the Quakers competed in that tournament, their scores did not count in the official standings, as this is the first year for women's golf as a varsity sport at Penn. The Red and Blue shot a 442 and a 460, for a two-day total of 902. In this weekend's tournament, the Quakers will face Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard, defending champion Princeton and Yale. The only Ancient Eight schools without women's golf programs are Columbia and Cornell. Penn has already faced the Tigers and Elis once this spring, at William and Mary. In preparation for the Ivy Championships, the Quakers have been focusing on ironing out some of the kinks in their games -- especially long putting. "We want to go into the Ivies with a positive attitude," Miller said. The Quakers should have the benefit this weekend of five competitors, something that they have not experienced yet this season. Since only the top four scores each day count, having a fifth golfer would give the other four competitors some breathing room. The Quakers hope that the additional competitor will enable them to rebound from a last-place finish in the 17-team field at the William and Mary Invitational two weeks ago. The team also wants to focus on its season-long goal, which has been to shoot under 400 in every single round, regardless of the tournament. Last week, the Quakers added assistant coach Laura Hammond to the coaching staff. Hammond, who earned her master's degree in Elementary Education from Penn in January, was a four-year letterwinner for the Penn State women's golf team. Hammond was also a four-time Collegiate Tournament winner and was a four-time Philadelphia women's amateur champion as well. "Laura is a wonderful addition to an improving women's golf team," Penn coach Francis Vaughn said. "Her experience as a collegiate player will help develop future Penn golfers."
(04/14/00 9:00am)
the author came to speak at Penn about his remake of Shakespeare's 'Hamlet.' Famed American author John Updike came to Penn yesterday to talk about his most recent and arguably most challenging work ever -- a refashioning of Shakespeare's Hamlet. A crowd of more than 300 people filled Logan Hall yesterday, some crouching in the aisles or standing up in back to hear Updike, 68, read three excerpts from his newly released novel Gertrude and Claudius. The author appeared as part of the School of Arts and Sciences' annual Dean's Forum. But Updike's story isn't what one might expect from reading Shakespeare's version of Hamlet -- the classic tale of a prince, Hamlet, tortured by the murder of his father at the hands his uncle, Claudius, who marries Hamlet's mother Gertrude. Gertrude and Claudius tells a sympathetic story of the royal couple, while Hamlet and his father are portrayed more negatively than in the original. "I was curious about some of the questions Hamlet himself raises. Did they [Gertrude and Claudius] have an affair while she was still married to Hamlet's father?" Updike asked. "I decided to take a stab at answering them." SAS Dean Samuel Preston opened the forum by naming 19 undergraduates and graduate students as 2000 Dean's Scholars and speaking about featured speaker. "Updike is not only one of the greatest living American writers, he is also one of the most wide-ranging," Preston said. Following Preston's introduction, Updike began to read from the first few pages of his novel, in which Gertrude's father Rorik is convincing her to marry the elder Hamlet. Updike briefly explained that Gertrude eventually bows to her father's will and marries Hamlet, leaving herself in an unhappy marriage. He then read the scene where Gertrude begins the affair with her husband's brother, Claudius. Gertrude succumbs to Claudius after he gives her a rare and beautiful silk robe. "She touched that shimmering cloth and in that touch was her undoing," Updike read. When the king discovers their affair, Claudius murders him by pouring poison into his ear as he slept. From this point in the novel on, Updike is rewriting Shakespeare -- an experience no author has undertaken lightly. "Once you begin [writing], it's intimidating but also exhilarating to be in the same universe as Shakespeare," Updike said. After reading, Updike accepted questions from the crowd about topics including the author's responsibility, academic criticism and his views on writing short stories. The audience of students, professors, staff and community members listened attentively and showered Updike with enthusiastic applause when he finished. "You first hear about someone trying to do a prequel to Shakespeare," College junior Sara Honig said, "but only this man could pull it off." And History graduate student and Dean's Scholar Elizabeth Pollard said, "I thought he was a fantastic speaker." She added that she enjoyed the first passage the most -- especially looking at Gertrude as a heroine. A Pennsylvania native, Updike has published 19 novels over the last 40 years. Rabbit Run (1960) and The Witches of Eastwick (1984) are among his best known. He has won numerous awards, including two Pulitzer Prizes, and received the National Medal of Arts in 1989 from then-President George Bush. When Updike was asked whether he'll write more novels after taking on the Shakespeare re-write, he smiled. "I've written 19," he said and paused. "20 is a good number, isn't it?"
(04/14/00 9:00am)
A former professor's portrait was recently stolen from Leidy Labs. Edward Drinker Cope taught at Penn from 1887 to 1897. Former Penn Paleobiology Professor Edward Drinker Cope is missing from Leidy Laboratories -- or at least a picture of him is. According to members of the Penn Biology Department, a 27 1/4" x 22" portrait of the professor was stolen during the weekend of March 25 from above the first-floor staircase of Leidy Labs, where it had hung for more than 20 years. Cope, who served as a professor of Geology and Paleobiology at Penn from 1887 until his death in 1897, was part of the Penn-based explosion of knowledge about the physical world and human form. The portrait of Cope was painted in 1897. "It was there on Saturday, but when we came in on Monday it was gone," Biology Lab Coordinator Bob Kuniewicz said. "Someone stole it." Penn Police have been conducting an ongoing investigation since the portrait was reported missing three weeks ago. A story about a new Cope biography appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer around the same time, leading some to suggest that the picture was taken as a keepsake or prank. Although the portrait has little resale value, it does have historical significance to the Biology Department -- especially to faculty who are members of the quasi-secret Edward Drinker Cope Society, which is offering a $100 no-questions-asked reward for the portrait's safe return. "It's not like a million-dollar microscope was stolen," Biology Department Chairman Andrew Binns said. "It's like a picture of your great-grandfather. You don't really know who it is, but if someone came to your home and stole it off your living room wall, you would be a little miffed." A member of the American Academy of Science, Cope discovered more than 1,200 species of extinct vertebrates. But he was best-known for head-on "fossil feuds" with his one-time Penn mentor Joseph Leidy and Yale University paleontologist O.C. Marsh. It seems, however, that Cope's legacy is rather bone-chilling. Legend has it that when Cope worked at Penn in the late 19th century, he made an agreement with a group of Paleobiology colleagues that would allow the other scientists to do a post-mortem on the person who died first. Cope passed away in 1897, and his skeleton wound up on the shelves of the University's Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology. And besides the recent theft of his portrait, a bronze bust of Cope was stolen from Leidy Laboratories in 1996. It was subsequently found in a Pennsylvania State University dormitory room among memorabilia stolen from other colleges and universities. So does a "Curse of Cope" actually exist? "I don't think so," Binns said, "but we should do some forensic analysis."
(04/13/00 9:00am)
Members of the Penn Greek system took some time out on Tuesday to honor their accomplishments and reflect on the past year. For some, it was a particularly moving night. "This was the most challenging and rewarding experience I've had in college," said former InterFraternity Council President Mark Metzl, a Tau Epsilon Phi brother and College senior. Metzl, who accepted an award for his work as the IFC head, had to pause several times to wipe tears from his eyes. Over 100 Penn Greeks from the IFC, the Panhellenic Council and the Bicultural InterGreek Council gathered in the Penn Tower Hotel for the annual Greek Awards banquet on Tuesday night. The evening's biggest winner was the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, which won five awards, including the Alexander Award for overall excellence in a BIG-C chapter. "I'm proud," said Alpha Phi Alpha President Richard Adzei, a College senior. "We worked really hard to serve the entire Penn and West Philadelphia community -- and being a senior, it's great to leave on top." Phi Kappa Psi won the IFC award for overall excellence, the Crawford C. Madeira Cup. Phi Psi also took home three other awards. And the Alpha Phi sorority received the Helen S. Berkowitz award for overall excellence in a Panhel chapter, along with two other awards. "It was really nice to see everyone in our house get recognized, because every member of the house does something to contribute," said Phi Psi President Zac Costello, a Daily Pennsylvanian sports writer. The award winners were determined by the alumni council and student representatives from the three Greek umbrella groups. The awards for most improved chapters went to the Phi Sigma Sigma and Zeta Phi Beta sororities, while the awards for special accomplishments were received by Alpha Phi Alpha and Delta Delta Delta. Alpha won the award for encouraging its members to become involved in the fraternity's national board, while Tri-Delt's award was for the sorority's philanthropic projects. Other big winners were the Delta Upsilon fraternity and the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. The former presidents of each of the three umbrella groups -- Metzl, College senior Becca Iverson for Panhel and Wharton senior Ramon Marmolejos for the BIG-C -- were also honored at the ceremony. In addition, the Greeks honored Provost Robert Barchi for his work during the past year with the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs and with Greek chapters. "We don't see [the Greek system] as Dartmouth sees this," Barchi said in his acceptance speech. "We don't see this system as something that's contrary to the mission of this University. It's something that we have to move forward with."
(04/13/00 9:00am)
Even though his team is now fighting for a winning record, New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine was still the most popular person in the room during his question-and-answer session in Steinberg-Dietrich Hall yesterday afternoon. After being greeted by the standing-room only crowd of over 100 students -- many sporting Mets hats and jerseys -- with chants of "Let's Go Mets!" and "Bobby V.!," Valentine opened the floor to questions. Valentine is in Philadelphia this week with his team, which is playing a four-game series against the Phillies at Veterans Stadium. Though many of the students came to hear the colorful veteran skipper spin baseball anecdotes rather than spout business expertise, students posed questions ranging from what Valentine referred to as "the business of baseball" to "the monkey business of the New York Mets." For instance, when asked what business skills are required to be a general manager, Valentine said, "In the successful organization there will be more of a line between the front office suits and the guys who wear costumes on the field." Many students asked questions about the current Mets season, to which Valentine -- who has been managing the Mets since 1996 -- offered typically candid responses. Of Hall of Fame-bound lead off hitter Rickey Henderson, with whom he has a notoriously tempestuous relationship, Valentine joked: "I just ignore him." "I try to not change his personality but to get him to play as hard as he can everyday that he goes out there," he added. One of the afternoon's funnier moments came when Valentine was asked how he thought the fans will react when John Rocker -- the vilified Atlanta Braves pitcher who made racial slurs and anti-New York comments several months ago in a Sports Illustrated article-- visits Shea Stadium. Valentine predicted that the response "is going to be ridiculous" and laughed when an audience member jokingly tossed a battery to him, deeming it a "prelude" to what Rocker would be welcomed with at the stadium. Valentine's talk was sponsored by the Wharton Wide World of Sports club, and was organized by the club's co-founders Jared Prushansky and Nilloy Phukan, both Wharton freshmen. Valentine addressed a publicized incident that took place last season, in which, after being ejected from a game, he returned to the dugout in a disguise. He blamed the media for making too much of the incident. "That was stimulated and stirred by the media," he said. Following the talk, Valentine signed autographs and even offered a few pitching tips to Wharton freshman Jon Searle, who was drafted last year by the Pittsburgh Pirates. "Any time you can talk baseball with anyone who knows what they're talking about, you should try to take advantage of that situation," Searle said. The talk was well-received by most of those in attendance. Engineering freshman Evelyn Protano said she "thought he was very informative, not only about baseball, but also about the managerial and business aspect of the New York Mets." And Valentine said he enjoyed this rare chance to speak with college students."I think if they just come away with the fact that there's a guy from baseball that cares enough about what they're doing in life? that'd be great."
(04/13/00 9:00am)
Officials discussed three possible sites for a baseball stadium. They say you can't please all of the people all of the time. But in the ongoing deliberations over where to build the new stadium for the Phillies baseball team, it seems that no one will ever be pleased with a location. In a town hall meeting last night in City Hall, Mayor John Street joined City Council members, team representatives and about 200 community members to debate the merits of three proposed Center City sites for the future baseball stadium. Council has pledged to approve a stadium deal by the fall so that the Phillies will be in a new home by April 2003. For nearly three hours the recommendations released yesterday morning by the Stadium Subcommittee were discussed. The committee recommended three downtown locations for the stadium -- on the eastern and western ends of Broad and Spring Garden streets or on 12th and Vine streets. According to committee members, a downtown location would have a greater economic impact on the city -- an argument that former Mayor Ed Rendell had supported. "You can get a better return on dollars by having it closer to Center City," said committee co-chairman Kenneth Shropshire, a Penn Legal Studies professor. The 12th and Vine site was preferred by the committee, which said it posed the fewest logistical problems. But many community members, and indeed the Phillies themselves, said they do not agree. Team representatives yesterday said they want to construct the new stadium in South Philadelphia at the Sports Complex -- which includes the 29-year-old Veterans Stadium, the First Union Center and the Spectrum -- where the Philadelphia Eagles have long since committed to build. "We do not believe there is a viable site in Center City, with the amenities available, at this time," Phillies President Dave Montgomery said. Phillies management has said they believe that a downtown location will never be accepted by the surrounding communities, and they want to finalize plans to get the stadium built quickly. The downtown site up for consideration last fall -- at Broad and Spring Garden streets -- met with huge community outrage. The same fervor is in danger of killing the new plans. "I was shocked and appalled that 11th and Vine was chosen as a site of the new stadium," said Jennie Wang, a Chinatown community leader. "We oppose, we oppose, we oppose and we will lay our bodies down in front of the steamrollers if we have to." And backed by about 45 students and teachers, Lisa Cancelliere, the principal of Holy Redeemer School at 915 Vine Street, said that having a stadium nearby would threaten student safety and bring traffic problems to the area. "This is a neighborhood," she said. "Nobody would put a stadium in a neighborhood. It just doesn't belong." Although less vocal, residents from other areas under consideration also voiced their concerns. "I understand the appeal of Center City, where time and money can be spent before and after games," said Joan Marniman, a Spring Garden resident. "But it is important to consider at what cost." A Broad and Spring Garden site has been up for debate before. Last year, it was Rendell's favored location, but community outrage and disgust stalled those plans as they were debated into oblivion. The stadium plans were tabled last November when City Council ran out of time, and for the past several months the Street administration has been trying to bring them swiftly to a decision. Street has promised to decide on a location by June 30, with legislation following in September. University President Judith Rodin was also present at the meeting to protect Penn's interests in the ongoing debate. The postal lands at 30th and Walnut streets have been considered on and off for some time. Rodin said building a stadium at that location would ruin Penn's plans to build a high technology corridor in the space. Besides the postal lands, several other locations on the outskirts of Center City were considered by the committee, including Port Richmond and the city incinerator at Columbus Boulevard and Spring Garden. But the committee ultimately decided on a more central location.
(04/13/00 9:00am)
Neighboring residents say Spring Fling weekend is normally a trying time due to loud, late-night parties. For many area residents and bar owners, the prospect of Spring Fling isn't as exciting as it might be to students gearing up for this weekend's activities. The annual event is characteristically marked by rowdy, drunken hordes of students migrating from party to party on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Due to strict liquor controls in fraternities, much of the partying has been pushed off campus. And while Fling means different things for local bar owners and community members, they both agree it's far from the average weekend on campus. For those permanent residents of University City who live next door to houses packed with undergraduates, Spring Fling can mean a much louder, messier weekend. According to Joe Lasprogata, a homeowner on the 4100 block of Pine Street, littering, screaming, urination, vandalism and even fire have all been part of this weekend in the past. "One of the favorite stunts is for men to urinate on the sidewalks, which has now been emulated by the young ladies," he said. Today, Lasprogata added, he saw six kegs of beer delivered to one house. And when the students get drunk, they tend to start screaming until 2 or 3 a.m., he said. Although Lasprogata says he has appealed to the University for help, no one has responded. "No one will come out here at 2 o'clock in the morning to witness it," he said. "If they don't believe what I say, then come spend the night with me." When Pine Street resident Mary Goldman, Lasprogata's neighbor, learned that this weekend was Spring Fling, her immediate response was "Oh my. And I'm not going to be away." Goldman claimed that one of the biggest problems for neighbors about Spring Fling was that students tend to party late -- long after the rest of the world has gone to bed. "When they don't start Fling until midnight, it gets to be problematic," Goldman said. "It's when the music is put outside and played until 5 o'clock in the morning that people get a little distressed. And that's an understatement." Closer to campus, bar owners are making preparations for this weekend. Although the owners of many campus bars say there's not a dramatic increase or decrease in customers, they do notice a difference. Smokey Joe's owner Paul Ryan said he actually gets less business during Spring Fling, and the customers he does get are more likely to be students from other schools who have come to party at Penn. "It's not like a normal weekend because there's so much else to do," Ryan said. "We're a little slower, but the more people you can draw down to the campus to see how nice it is, the better." Meanwhile, the owners of both Cavanaugh's and The Blarney Stone said they will be stepping up security because of Spring Fling weekend. Blarney Stone owner Rich Roller said he expects an increase in business, but that it will be offset by the extra measures the bar will take to ensure safety -- including more employees and more bouncers. "We like to err on the side of caution," Roller explained. "Usually, when you have more people standing around with staff shirts on, it's a deterrent." Bill Pawlicvek, owner of Cav's, also remarked that he expects slightly more business in the next couple of days because of fewer parties on campus -- and that he intends to take extra caution for Spring Fling. "Everybody's on their toes because of the [Liquor Control Enforcement board]," Pawlicvek said. "You might not give someone the benefit of the doubt." He also added that the presence of off-campus parties draws a lot of students away from the bars. "If they're all at a party on Spring Fling weekend, then they don't have to worry about minor friends not being able to drink," Pawlicvek said.
(04/13/00 9:00am)
On a cold January morning last winter, Philadelphia Mayor John Street was sworn into office. And the next day, the new mayor sat down and wrote a promise to Philadelphians. He pledged to use his first hundred days in office to address 20 pressing issues -- focusing largely on education and neighborhood blight. Yesterday marked the official end of those first hundred days, beginning a detailed evaluation of Street's performance by local officials, citizens and scholars alike. While Street has done much to fulfill nearly all of the 20 goals set in his broad-stroked, aggressive 100-day plan, some outsiders argue that the new mayor's leadership style isn't well suited for the city of Philadelphia. 100 Day Plan The new mayor had tough shoes to fill, following the overwhelmingly popular two-term mayor Ed Rendell. While Rendell is credited with revitalizing the downtown area, Street's first 100 days in office have instead been characterized by a strict allegiance to the needs of neighborhoods. "He's certainly shown a greater friendliness to the neighborhoods than was seen in the Rendell administration," City Councilman David Cohen said. And Ira Harkavy, director of Penn's Center for Community Partnerships, added that he has seen "the sense of hope and possibility" Street has instilled in area neighborhoods. As part of his hundred-day promise, Street kicked off a plan over a week ago to tow 40,000 abandoned cars in Philadelphia in a 40-day period. Continuing with his neighborhood efforts, Street also unveiled a comprehensive set of initiatives this week to reduce crime -- including a lawsuit against the top handgun makers. "His effort to make this kind of difference throughout the city should be lauded," Harkavy said. After proclaiming the year 2000 to be the Year of the Child, Street has been developing a plan to address the fiscal instability of the school district -- but it is not finished. And, as promised, the mayor has held and attended town and education cluster meetings in all of the 10 City Council districts. "The work that he's done sends the message that he cares about the entire city," Penn Public Policy and History Professor Theodore Hershberg said. In all, Street has made progress on most of his 20 pledges, although one task is still glaringly undone -- filling all the currently empty posts in his administration. Managing Philadelphia But filling these positions, some say, will present Street's greatest challenge. Already Street has very publically dismissed two people, firing his former Communications Director Ken Snyder and ousting Alred Testa, former airport director. On these controversial administrative actions, Cohen said Street has shown he can be a tough, decisive mayor who is "used to making decisions all by himself." "The mayor's got to learn that government is a cooperative activity," he continued, stressing the importance of Street's dealings with City Council. Street generated the reputation of being difficult and highly inflammatory during his time on City Council, noted Cohen, who worked on council with Street for all 19 of those years. But the mayor's deputy communications director, Ray Jones, emphasized that Street has simply done what he deemed necessary to run the government. "The mayor is a hands-on mayor," Jones said. "He's done what he needed to do to get the job done." With three significant positions --the commerce commissioner, the streets department commissioner and the public property commissioner -- left open in his administration, the mayor continues to face the task of building a complete administration. Looking forward With the first hundred days past, Street must continue to move forward to achieve his goals. Cohen said he thinks the mayor needs to do more in the area of education, adding that he is worried that Street is going to be unable to resolve the school district's impending fiscal crisis. "He's got to deal with the schools," Cohen explained. Jones said education remains a top priority for Street, adding that the mayor will do his part in fixing the schools. "The mayor will do all he can do, and then it's up to Harrisburg," he added. Hershberg said that the mayor also faces the challenge of "evening the fiscal playing field" -- referring to the problem of taxes. But overall, Hershberg said he felt Street has proven his ability to lead the city. "I would not underestimate his ability," he said. "He's got the combination of intelligence and guts -- that's important."
(04/13/00 9:00am)
MGM recently acquired Jon Hurwitz's comedic screenplay 'Filthy.' "I haven't made it yet," Wharton senior Jon Hurwitz told 34th Street magazine last month. "My movie could never be sold. The door has just been opened a crack." Little did he know then that his door was about to open -- by far more than a crack. Hurwitz was at the movies a few days after the Street interview when the call came. Cell phone in hand, he slipped out of the theater. Agent Jewerl Ross' words were beautifully direct. "MGM is buying your movie. Congratulations: You're a Hollywood screenwriter." Late this February, Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg -- his co-writer and best friend from high school -- flew to Los Angeles with their screenplay for a movie called Filthy, a raunchy tale of two recent college graduates trying to figure out what comes next in life. Within a week, they had picked out an agent and a manager. Their script then landed on the desks of over 20 companies. And MGM, eager to get in on the lucrative American Pie genre, stepped up with the highest bid. And if it's raunchy comedy that MGM wants, the studio has struck some gold. "It's much raunchier than American Pie," Hurwitz says proudly. "Maybe even more than South Park." While signing with MGM does not guarantee that the movie will be made -- the studio's final answer will depend on rewrites and its continued interest in the script -- Filthy's chances of success look promising. The movie's producer Matt Berenson predicts that Filthy -- a story about two twentysomething friends, Ben and Evan, forced to grow up after college -- will "be huge at the box office, especially with 16-to-30 year olds." From a scene of Evan dressed as a giant penis to one of Ben masturbating with a picture of Hillary Clinton, nothing is taboo. "I was afraid to read it," Hurwitz's mother Ilene admits. (Says Hurwitz, "They like to think that the dirty lines are Hayden's.") Sold for an amount in the low six figures, the screenplay opens with a scene of Ben and Evan's college graduation party. Evan's dad informs his son, a jobless Beach State graduate, that he'll be kicked out of the house by the end of the summer. Ben, a Harvard grad, develops a plan to help Evan put his life together. In the months that follow, the two go through messy break-ups, awful jobs, romances, fights, beer kegs and some reality checks. "The jokes are executed really well," Ross says. "A lot of other movies really don't make you laugh out loud. This movie is comedy writing, not just a comedic screenplay." But according to friends and Hollywood folks who have read Filthy, the screenplay -- for all its outrageous hilarity -- hits some sober chords. "It is smarter and more 'real' than your typical broad comedy," Berenson says, "and it has a theme which I can relate to: Follow your dreams." The screenplay, whose title will be changed before it hits the theater, has already gone through about 15 drafts. In a few weeks, the two writers will be flying to L.A. for a rewrite with MGM. And in the last month, they've lined up over 20 interviews with curious members of the media. With more than 10 new ideas for future screenplays in mind, Hurwitz and University of Chicago senior Schlossberg plan to keep writing. In June, the two will be moving into an apartment in LA. If Hurwitz has his way, investment banking -- his alternate career option -- will be a thing of the past. "I think these guys are going to be enormously successful," manager Paul Young says, "much like the Weitz brothers who wrote American Pie and the Zuckers who did the Airplane movies." When they began writing two years ago, everyone saw Filthy as a fun summer project -- except Hurwitz. In high school, Hurwitz had written in Schlossberg's yearbook that one day the two would be writing for Hollywood. "Definitely none of this would have happened so fast if I didn't have a partner like Jon," Schlossberg says. "He was aggressive about getting? everything moving." Hurwitz had never read a screenplay before writing Filthy. His material, he says, comes from talking to a diverse group of friends. "I pay attention to how people phrase things. It's something I do unconsciously." A self-proclaimed "realistic optimist," Hurwitz says he's become more laidback recently because he now knows what he wants to do. "Jon is a bright, funny self-confident guy," Berenson says. "I think he has the potential to do whatever he wants in the film business." Both Jon and Hayden want to have some influence in the casting of Filthy. They're toying with the idea of Rob Schneider as a mental patient and Chris Elliot as the character Filthy Sid. And they've each requested a small role in the movie. "I eventually want to have my own production company," Hurwitz says. "I want to look for talented people who don't have an agent and help them develop." Two years ago, when Hurwitz and Schlossberg were starting to think about writing Filthy, Kevin Smith -- the director of Clerks, Chasing Amy and Dogma -- spoke at Penn. Recently, Hurwitz posted a note on the Web site of Smith's production company, View Askew, thanking Smith for his inspiration. In about two hours, 30 strangers had e-mailed Hurwitz with congratulations and requests for advice. So it comes as no surprise to know that life is different for Hurwitz these days. His cell phone rings a lot. The Hollywood Reporter has written about him. Random people ask him about his screenplay on a daily basis. But for Hurwitz, writing what he hopes will be "one of the funniest movies ever made" is only the beginning.
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Penn continues to excel, but injuries and soft spots linger as the team heads to Villanova. Last weekend's trip to Princeton was significant for the Penn men's track team for a couple of reasons. For one thing, the dual meet represented the Quakers' first scored meet of the season. For another, it was the Red and Blue's first opportunity of the spring to go head to head with their old rivals and reigning Heptagonals champions. Penn placed third in the four-team field as Penn State took first with 205 points, Princeton grabbed second with 195, the Quakers finished with 169 and Villanova found itself vastly overmatched, mustering just 83 points at Weaver Track and Field Stadium at Old Nassau. Though assessments of the meet from the Penn athletes didn't appear extreme in either direction, one concern the team did voice is something that has largely been viewed as a non-issue up until this point. The Quakers are carried by tremendous individual talent, but their depth is somewhat in question. While star performers such as thrower Matt Pagliasotti and jumper Tuan Wreh may win their events on a near-weekly basis, Penn lacks a much-needed supporting cast in some departments to accumulate more points in scored meets. "We could have done a lot better in a few places," junior pole vaulter Aaron Prokopec said of the Quakers' efforts at Princeton. "It's great to have a Penn guy finish first in his event, but if the other team takes second, third and fourth, the team is losing more points than it's getting," junior javelin thrower Seth Beaver said. This principle seemed to hold true in nearly all events last week. Among Penn's runners, Sam Burley won the 800-meter run with a time of 1:52.00, and Mike Aguilar placed second in both the 200-meter dash and the 110-meter high hurdles. That was the upside. The upsetting news is that no other member of the Red and Blue finished higher than fifth place in any of those races. Likewise, Wreh, Penn's top jumper, won the triple jump with a mark of 50'01" and came in second in the long jump, reaching 23'01". Again, no other Quaker placed better than sixth in those events. Even the throwers, often an exception to this trend, were victims of just what Beaver described across the Delaware. Both Pagliasotti, who blew away his competitors to take first in the hammer throw, and freshman Brian Chaput, who continued his brilliant season by winning in the javelin by a rather healthy margin, enjoyed little support from their teammates a week ago. And in this Saturday's Villanova Invitational in which Penn will travel to the school that posted by far the fewest points at Princeton, some notable Penn athletes -- including Chaput -- will not participate due to injury. The East Haven, Conn., native is afflicted with an ongoing elbow problem that will now force him out of action and most likely sideline him until Penn Relays. Chaput is hurt because he has reverted to his previously unsound throwing technique that caused him occasional pain throughout high school. Although Chaput has made significant strides in improving his form in practice, Beaver says that the stellar freshman still puts up fantastic numbers despite regressing to his old ways in actual competition throws. In addition, Penn's javelin team must cope with the loss of sophomore Chris Crisman, who suffered a groin injury last week and will probably not compete at Saturday's meet. Despite these injuries and a desire for increased consistency, the Quakers know they still have a couple of meets before their crucial late-season stretch consisting of Penn Relays and Heps in which to improve and regain their health. "To win Heps, we have to be hitting on all cylinders," Beaver said. It has been Penn's prime objective all year to peak at the end of the spring season, so it's unlikely that injuries will derail the Red and Blue.
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Despite six consecutive goals in the closing minutes, Penn lost its second straight to Rutgers, 15-11. NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- For the second consecutive game, the Penn women's lacrosse team used a late comeback to bring it to the brink of victory, only to not get the final push to put it over the top. On the strength of six goals from captain Liz Chambers, Rutgers (5-6) jumped out to a 9-3 halftime lead and held off a furious Penn (5-4) rally in the closing minutes to defeat the Quakers, 15-11. "I'm really happy with the first half. We did what we were supposed to do -- aggressive defense and attacking the goal cage," Scarlet Knights coach Anna Marie Vesco said. "And then in the second half, Penn just wanted it more." Penn senior Brooke Jenkins netted three goals while Jenny Hartman, Traci Marabella and Kate Murray each added a pair, but Rutgers goalie Lauren Gulotta made 12 saves to ensure the victory. "Defensively, everyone didn't do a good job of denying the ball. Our biggest thing was turning the ball over in the midfield and letting them come in on fast breaks," Penn coach Karin Brower said. "We had a great comeback for the last 10 minutes, but you can't get in a hole that big and expect to come back and win against a team of this caliber." Down 13-5 with 13 minutes remaining, Alison Polk-Williams found the net for the Quakers, spurring Penn on to another late comeback. On Sunday, the Quakers scored five straight late goals in an 11-9 loss to Harvard. Yesterday, behind Murray's two goals, a pair from Jenkins and a score from Marabella, Penn brought the Rutgers lead down to 13-11 with three minutes left. That was as close as the Quakers would get. "It's so frustrating. We know we have the potential to score all the time and to play that way, but it just doesn't hit us until the second half," Hartman said. Two goals by Chambers in the final minutes sealed the Quakers' fate. "I'm just glad we won," Chambers said. The start of the game, much like the final 10 minutes, looked promising for the Red and Blue. Jenkins started the scoring two minutes in off a pass from Jayme Munnelly, and Penn had several early opportunities deep in the Scarlet Knights zone. Rutgers tied it on a free-position shot by Andrea Boeheim, but Hartman responded 20 seconds later. The sophomore fired a shot off of Gulotta's mask, got the rebound and put it home to give Penn a 2-1 lead. "I was definitely pumped to score a goal and get ahead early, but then it kind of fell apart," said Hartman, ecstatic at having scored on Gulotta, a former high school teammate. "I think we have a tendency to score some early goals and then sort of relax." The entire night, the host Scarlet Knights proved to be difficult to handle on attack. A quick team, Rutgers constantly found themselves getting behind the Penn defense on fast breaks and on set plays. While Chambers was the focal point of the home squad's attack, the Scarlet Knights had four players score more than once. Quakers goalie Alaina Harper, in her first collegiate start, was peppered with shot after shot in the first half. The freshman made a number of saves, but nine Rutgers blasts found their way past her. "Of course I was nervous, but I knew the coaches and my teammates had faith in me, so that was comforting," Harper said. "As a team we decided to step it up -- we decided that 9-3 was not the team that we were." Penn junior Christian Stover, who started the Quakers' first eight games, took over in net for the second half. Stover fared slightly better against the slippery Rutgers attack, allowing six goals in the final 30 minutes. The keeper was helped immensely as freshman Christy Bennett and the Penn defense clamped down and forced a plethora of second-half turnovers. In a messy game with a number of turnovers on each side, the Quakers were also plagued by a spate of fouls. Nearly every call in the first 30 minutes seemed to give Rutgers the ball, and the home team scored three free-position goals on the afternoon.
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Billy Reidy's goal for Penn was disallowed with five seconds left. Continuing its change from an unsettling early-season form, the Penn men's lacrosse team got of to a very fast start against Villanova. Unfortunately for Penn, the Wildcats(7-3) were also on fire, and the Quakers (5-6) dropped a double-overtime 15-14 nail-biter in front of 300 frostbitten fans. "It was a real difficult loss," Penn coach Marc Van Arsdale said. "It was a tough, closely played lacrosse game, as we'd anticipated. We just did a few things over the course of the game that cost us." The Quakers took a commanding 6-3 first quarter lead on the strength of senior co-captain Pete Janney's three goals. Villanova made up some ground in the second, and the Red and Blue took a precarious 8-7 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Quakers misplaced their offense for a while in the middle of the game, as Villanova pulled off a 9-2 run from the 5:10 mark in the second quarter until 12:48 remained in the fourth. "We turned the ball over a few times in there," Van Arsdale said. "I thought we had a good possession with the man advantage at the opening of the third quarter, and we scored right away. But then after that we hit a spell where we didn't score any goals." The Wildcats helped to limit the Quakers offensive production by shifting their defensive scheme to focus on Janney, who found the back of the net four times in the first half but scored only once in the second. "In the second half, they decided to shut me off," Janney said. "They didn't let me touch the ball at all, and we adjusted to that the best we could." Janney, junior Todd Minerley and freshman midfielder Alex Kopicki each scored goals midway through the fourth quarter to tie the game at 13. These goals came out of transition, before the Red and Blue could get into any offensive sets. "With [Villanova] taking me out of the offense, we were forced to run a little bit of a ragtag, fast-paced offense, where there's not a lot of structure to it," Janney said. Then, after Villanova attackman Eric Dauer put the Wildcats back on top, Minerley hit his fifth goal of the game with 28 seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime with the score 14-14. Minerley's ball wasn't the last Quaker shot to get past Villanova goalie Matt Wilk in regulation -- it was just the last one to count. With five seconds remaining in the game, Penn middie Billy Reidy jumped in the air directly in front of the Wildcats net and fired the ball while he was parallel to the ground. While the Quakers sideline was celebrating prematurely, the referee was waving the goal off, claiming that Reidy had landed in the crease, thus voiding the score. "To tell you the truth, I couldn't tell if I was [in the crease or not]. I got back up so quickly," Reidy said. "The refs made the call, and you can't do anything about it." The Quakers charged into the first overtime, keeping the ball in the Villanova zone for most of the first extra four-minute period. The Quakers got off three shots in the first minute, two of which were very near-misses by Janney. "I was pretty tired at that point, being forced to run away from the ['Nova] shut-off the way I did," Janney said. Villanova didn't get off any shots in the first extra period, but they took several in the second, all but one of them either flew wide or were saved by freshman goalie Ryan Kelly, who made some incredible stops and got the Quakers fired up. "I think anytime a goalie steps up and makes a big save in a tight situation like that it gets the team rolling, thinking that we'll get the ball out of our end," Reidy said. The Wildcats' Dauer finally put one past Kelly for his fifth goal of the game and a thrilling Villanova win. This is a painful loss for the Quakers -- who had been undefeated against city opponents thus far this year -- because they failed to avenge last year's upset loss to Villanova on the Main Line and to climb back over the .500 mark.
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Greg Lee earned his first career save and Kevin McCabe had four hits as the Quakers beat Tenple. On a chilly, windy afternoon at Murphy Field, the Penn baseball team's bats were anything but cold. The Quakers (14-13) slugged out 14 hits against four Temple (12-18-2) pitchers yesterday en route to a 10-3 victory over the Owls that put the Red and Blue back over the .500 mark. Center fielder Kevin McCabe led the Penn attack with a 4-for-4 day at the plate that included his second home run of the season. "He's having a great year, pushing 40 hits," Penn coach Bob Seddon said. McCabe's first hit of the day was his 36th of the season. The senior surprised the Temple infield by dropping down for a bases-empty bunt single in front of home plate in the second inning. The next time McCabe came to the plate, Chris May was on base. Owls third baseman Sam Sabolchick, expecting more smallball, crept in on the infield grass. But McCabe did not cooperate, hitting a home run to give Penn a 3-2 lead. "I feel like when I have my bunting game going, I usually have good games," McCabe said. "I certainly didn't plan [the home run]. When the third baseman's in like that, usually I like to try to put one over his head, but I got a nice, fat inside fastball and just kept my head down and kept going." After the homer, McCabe added two more singles. His knock to lead off the sixth inning started a rally for the Quakers that broke the game wide open. McCabe scored from first on second baseman Nick Italiano's triple to left center field. Italiano then scored on Oliver Hahl's single. Hahl advanced to third on James Mullen's single and scored on Glen Ambrosius' sacrifice fly to left. Mullen came around on Jeff Gregorio's double. All of a sudden, Penn led 8-3 and the game was out of reach for the Owls. Penn sophomore Greg Lee pitched 4 2/3 innings for his first career save to make sure that it was out of reach. Lee entered the game in unusual circumstances. With one out and runners on first and second in the top of the fifth inning, Temple's leading hitter, Rob Cucinotta, hit a one-hopper off the face of Penn reliever Nick Barnhorst for an infield single. Barnhorst was OK, but could not continue pitching. Lee had been warming up in the bullpen, but he found himself on the mound earlier than expected with the bases loaded and one out with Penn holding a tenuous 4-2 lead. "I just wanted to try and throw some strikes, try and end the inning quickly and let us get in and hit," Lee said. Lee did the job, getting designated hitter Kyle Sweppenhiser to pop up to second base and Sabolchick to hit a weak roller to first base for two easy outs to get out of Dodge. "We had bases loaded with the fourth and fifth hitters up and couldn't get the ball out of the infield," Temple coach Skip Wilson said. "Not much you can do about that, we have to give [Lee] credit." Lee made only one bad pitch in his time on the hill yesterday, serving up a gopher ball to Temple left fielder Keith Ramsey, a .180 hitter who had not gone deep all season. Ramsey's blast brought the Owls to within a run, and Lee immediately settled down, not allowing another hit until there were two outs in the eighth inning and Penn had a 10-3 lead. Lee did encounter some trouble closing out the game in the ninth, though. A leadoff walk and two infield hits loaded the bases for Sabolchick, but Lee struck him out swinging on a nice low changeup to end the game. "I knew with a lefty up, my changeup would be the best pitch to go to," Lee said. "I'd thrown a couple of good ones already, so I just thought I'd put a changeup on the outside corner, let him see if he could hit it hard. He tried, and he didn't make contact. That's all I was going for."
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Freshman Dina Parise lost a no-hit bid and the game in the nightcap as Penn's bats were silent. A Penn softball team that is struggling mightily to score runs ran into the last thing it needed to run into yesterday when the Quakers faced off against Drexel's excellent pitching staff. Drexel (11-12) used impressive outings by Laura Tynio and Lori Swanson to quiet the Quakers' bats and sweep the doubleheader. The Dragons won the first game easily, 4-1, and then outlasted Penn in a pitchers' duel, 1-0. In the first game, Swanson showed why she is the reigning America East pitcher of the year by tossing a brilliant game. In a dominating performance, Swanson struck out 13 Quakers, including, amazingly, the first eight Penn batters of the game en route to a two-hitter. "Lori Swanson is probably one of the best pitchers that we will face this season, and we just didn't adjust," Penn sophomore Jen Moore said. "She's definitely a good pitcher, but that shouldn't happen where we get dominated like that." For Penn, freshman hurler Becky Ranta pitched well, allowing only six hits and three earned runs in six innings. Penn's only scoring in the game took place in the fifth inning after a double by freshman Heidi Albrecht broke up Swanson's no-hit bid. Sophomore Lindsay Wagner, pinch running for Albrecht, advanced to third on a ground-out and scored courtesy of a wild pitch by Swanson. "I feel like we are kind of doubting ourselves," Moore said. "We do have a lot of talent, so we just need to play aggressively and believe in ourselves." In the second game, freshman Dina Parise of Penn -- in just her third career start -- pitched superbly and took a no-hitter into the seventh and final inning. In the seventh, the Dragons led off with a double by Kelly Donahue and eventually scored a run when Jodi Devine hit a clutch two-out double. The game went from a no-hit bid to a Parise loss in a matter of moments. "I was just trying to keep the ball down and get a grounder to the left side," Parise said. "But she managed to tap it over the fielder's head and that was the game." Despite taking a tough loss, Parise was pleased with an effort that saw her take a no-hitter into the last inning as a freshman and also saw her toss her first complete game. "I was feeling really good, and I finally stepped out onto the mound and said to myself that this was my game," Parise said. "I had been really nervous at the start of other games, but today everything came together and I pitched my best." The loss for Penn is the sixth consecutive and the ninth in the last 11 games. The Quakers have been plagued by an inability to consistently score runs over the last 16 games. Following an early season four-game winning streak that raised the team's mark to 8-10, Penn has gone 3-12-1. The Quakers have also scored a disappointingly low total of five runs over the last six contests. "It's frustrating because we know that we can pound teams offensively, but we're just not doing it," Parise said. "We need to bring all three aspects [pitching, hitting and defense] together and give 100 percent and then we'll get some wins." After a two-game hiatus from their Ivy League schedule, the Quakers will return to league play this Friday in a home doubleheader against Princeton. The Quakers, winless in four Ivy League contests, could have their hands full this weekend against a Tigers team that boasts a record of 4-0 in the Ivies. "We know how to hit. We do it everyday -- it's routine for us -- but we're just not executing and coming through in games," Moore said. "We look really good in warm-ups, but unfortunately that doesn't put a 'W' on the board. We know that we're capable of beating Princeton. We just need to come out aggressive and believe in ourselves."
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The Penn men's heavyweight crew team will be spending the beginning of Spring Fling weekend across the Delaware in New Jersey. The Quakers open their season of Ivy League cup races at Princeton against the Tigers and Columbia. With spring sprint racing now in full swing, the Quakers will have many opportunities to race hard against other Ivy crews before facing them all again at the Eastern Sprints. After competing for the first time at the San Diego Crew Classic two weeks ago, the Quakers have spent their practice time refining their race plans to build boat speed and row with a higher level of finesse. "Ideally, we hope to perform well and learn from our race in San Diego," senior varsity rower Lew Goettner said. "We've now seen where we stand against many of the teams we'll be racing in the upcoming weeks. We know they're well within our reach, and we know what we need to focus on before we see them again." This weekend, the Red and Blue will attempt to reclaim the Childs Cup. Although the cup has been held by the Tigers for the past seven years, the Quakers head to Carnegie Lake bursting with confidence. "I know all of us in the boat are ready to race," sophomore varsity rower Paul Falcigno said. "We have been waiting for this event for a long time and we are ready to show the rest of the Ivy League that Penn is a serious contender." Penn will face its other Ivy nemeses between now and mid-May before the Red and Blue's season culminates at Eastern Sprints in Worcester, Mass., on May 21. With each cup race, the Quakers anticipate an increase in speed as well as in the number of jerseys they bring home, as a crew tradition mandates that the losing rowers give their uniforms to the victors. "There are no negative sentiments going into our season-opener because we know we have the potential to go fast," Falcigno said. "Princeton is going to be a tough race, but we are all ready to meet the challenge. Coach Bergman has trained us well, and our boat knows we can beat them." Despite their losses and injuries, the Quakers believe they are just as competitive as past victorious crews. "As long as we all perform up to our potential, we will pose a serious threat against our fellow Sprints teams," Goettner said. "From here on in, it's non-stop. We're ready to race hard and start winning."
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Joining together to celebrate a common heritage, nearly 1,000 Jewish students dined last Friday night in over 40 different locations for traditional Shabbat dinners. Sponsored by the Jewish Mentors Program of the Steinhardt and Neubauer Jewish Heritage Programs, 45 Shabbat dinners, each attended by between 15 and 60 students, were held in locations ranging from college houses to fraternity and sorority houses. The dinners were organized by interns with the Mentors Program, an organization that counsels young Jews about success in professional fields. Currently, about 70 interns from Penn are involved in this program. Rachel Baum, a University of Delaware alumna who works for the JHP and helped organize the dinners, said she was very pleased with the number of participants. "I was very excited that we reached 975 students," she said. "I think that it totally helped build the Jewish Heritage Program." Many of the students who attended the dinners had never attended a Shabbat dinner before, according to Baum, who added that this outreach was facilitated by the informal organization of the dinners. "It's so amazing that so many people are doing Shabbat dinners that never experienced a Shabbat before," she said. Rabbi Menachem Schmidt, a director of the Jewish Heritage Program, said he was also highly pleased by the diverse people reached by this event. "It's really important in terms of community building and also for education about their heritage," he noted. "Most of the people involved in this program would probably not be having Shabbats otherwise." Students who attended the dinners were also very pleased by the outcome. Erica Keenholtz, a College sophomore and member of the program's steering committee at Penn, said she felt that the informality of the event helped make it so popular. "I thought it was extremely successful because people were able to have them in their own houses," she said. The evening's festivities included a raffle to raise money for P'tach, a charity which provides support to Jewish special-needs children. The raffle raised about $300. The Jewish Heritage Program started at Penn seven years ago, and now includes 11 other college campuses. The program is named for Michael Steinhardt and Joseph and Jenet Neubauer, all of whom are mentors and large contributors to the program. According to Baum, the Shabbat dinners were very much in keeping with the aims of the program. "I think all of our supporters, like Michael Steinhardt and Joseph and Jenet Neubauer, would be very proud of us," she said. According to Baum, the program's seven-year history at Penn has been very successful in getting Jewish students who are otherwise unaffiliated with Hillel active in the community.
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Matt Langel and Michael Jordan were selected by the Atlantic City Seagulls and Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs of the USBL. Penn senior men's basketball co-captains Michael Jordan and Matt Langel were selected in the United States Basketball League's eight-round draft yesterday. Langel was taken in the fourth round (41st overall pick) by the Atlantic City Seagulls, while Jordan (49th) was taken in the fifth round by the Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs. Neither player has decided whether he will ultimately choose to play in the USBL -- an 11-team league with a season that lasts from April 21 to June 25. Langel has contacted Atlantic City about playing in the league, but he is not certain whether he will report later this week for the Seagulls' first practice. "It's something I have to think about," Langel said. Jordan, meanwhile, has not yet discussed his situation with the Bethlehem-based ValleyDawgs. "I need to sit down with some people to decide," Jordan said. "It may depend on my money situation." The league season would conflict for both players with a basketball camp held for professional hopefuls in Houston later this month, although Langel said that USBL teams would be understanding of such prior engagements. Jordan and Langel both received invitations to the Houston camp, which takes place April 26-30. Langel estimated that 55 players will be in attendance, running drills and playing full-court games in front of scouts for leagues in the United States and overseas. Jordan played last weekend at the Portsmouth Invitational, a camp in Virginia that traditionally includes about 10 future NBA draft picks. Jordan believed he played well at the camp -- but not exceptionally well. "My numbers weren't great, but they were OK," Jordan said. Jordan and Langel were both named first team All-Ivy this year, with Jordan winning Ivy League Player of the Year honors. Both Quakers guards have also scored over 1,000 points in their careers. The two guards intend to continue their basketball playing careers in some fashion. While both harbor hopes of being selected in the NBA draft in June, neither Jordan nor Langel has ruled out playing in the CBA or in Europe. "Realistically for me, something overseas will probably be the best option," Langel said. The USBL owners tend to select players in the draft with regard to both talent and the possibility that they will choose to play in the league. Oklahoma State's Doug Gottlieb was chosen first in the draft.
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Penn coach Karin Brower wants her team to go to the net more aggressively. A little more than halfway through her team's season, and heading into a game tonight at Rutgers, Penn women's lacrosse coach Karin Brower is less than thrilled. Sure, the Quakers are 5-3, with already four more wins than they had all of last season, but Brower is not happy with what she has seen on the field of late. "I'm sick of hearing that we're better than last year, because it's a different team," Brower said. "We should be better than last year, and each year from here on. I don't know if they're settling on that, like, oh great we have five wins. But we can lose the rest of the games, and I've told them that. It's up to them. It's in their hands as to how they want to end this season." Brower was particularly upset about Penn's showing in Sunday afternoon's 11-9 loss to Harvard in which the Quakers were outscored 8-1 to open the game. The Red and Blue seemed reluctant to take the ball to the net against the Crimson until the waning moments of the game when Penn mounted a nearly memorable comeback. "We were a little hesitant until the end, which is frustrating," Penn senior tri-captain Brooke Jenkins said. "I guess people on Sunday weren't confident going to goal, taking their girl when they really could have, including myself. It was frustrating." The reluctance to go to the net was the most baffling aspect of Sunday's loss for Penn. This lack of aggressiveness is particularly vexing for a team that has done a fine job rebounding from adversity. A 1-12 1999 season had most thinking that the Quakers had absolutely nothing to lose in 2000. "They don't know how to go, 'We're losing. Somebody needs to go to goal and it's gonna be me,'" Brower said. "We have to get them to understand that when you're down five goals, there's nothing to lose, go to goal?. This whole year they have nothing to lose, and I'm baffled as to why they don't play that way. We're not supposed to beat anybody." · The Scarlet Knights (4-6) throttled Penn at home last year, 15-3. That Rutgers side, however, is very different from the one that Penn will play today, as the best of last year's New Jerseyans were seniors. When the Scarlet Knights came to Franklin Field last year, they were ranked 11th in the nation and carried an 8-2 record with them. Ten players scored for Rutgers en route to the win, while only Amy Weinstein and Traci Marabella found the net that night for the Quakers. · Marabella's goal against Rutgers last season was one of 12 for her on the season. Now a sophomore, the attacker has scored 20 goals in Penn's first eight games, becoming the first member of the Quakers to tally 20 since Darah Ross and Emily Hansel did it in 1998. "I think I won't be happy until I reach at least 30," Marabella said. "But it feels good. I feel like it's something that I probably should have been able to do last year, and it's nice knowing I have a coach who can push me and bring out my potential." Marabella was named to the Ivy League's weekly honor roll yesterday for her hat trick against the Crimson on Sunday and two goals against La Salle last Tuesday night. · When Penn beat the Explorers eight days ago, it extended their non-conference record to an impressive 4-0. While the teams that the Quakers have played outside of the Ivy League have not been as tough as their Ancient Eight foes, the Scarlet Knights are comparable to Harvard. "[Rutgers] is our chance to really prove that we really are a better team," Marabella said. "Everyone knows that we're better than 1-12, but the teams we've played aren't very strong. This is a big game for us because it'll show that we are really a different team." · So far this season, five of the Quakers have notched 10 or more goals. Last year, only three -- Jenkins, Marabella and Weinstein -- did so. This year, Marabella and Jenkins have been joined by 10-goal scorers freshmen Crissy Book (13), Jayme Munnelly (10) and Kate Murray (10).
