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(11/01/91 10:00am)
Administrators from the Office of Admissions said Wednesday that they actively recruit Philadelphia high schoolers and publicize the Mayor's Scholarship, contrary to a complaint filed in court earlier this week. "We have never turned our back on the Philadelphia area," Admissions Dean Willis Stetson said. "We are committed to visibility in Philadelphia." The complaint also alleged the University "has systematically acted to reduce the number of students at the University from schools in Philadelphia." But Stetson said that his office is "heavily recruiting" Philadelphia high schoolers and will travel to over thirty high schools this year throughout the city. He added that the Admissions Office has a host of programs planned specifically to recruit minority students, including several college conferences with black and Latino organizations. Stetson also disagreed with PILCOP attorney Thomas Gilhool's statement that the University has recently been covering up the Mayor's Scholarship. The dean said that admissions officers explain the scholarship at all of their visits to Philadelphia high schools and an explanation of the scholarship is included in the application. "Also, we have sent an announcement of the Mayor's Scholarship this fall to all principals and high school guidance counselors in Philadelphia," Stetson said. "Plus we have sent the letter to all the students in our contact file -- that's over 1700." Stetson added that the Admissions Office already has received 30 early decision applications from Philadelphia high school seniors -- as opposed to 15 from last year.
(11/01/91 10:00am)
Members of the Black Student League held a small but what participants called "important" rally on College Green yesterday, trying to draw attention to a lawsuit against the University. The lawsuit, filed Monday in Common Pleas court and of which the BSL is a plantiff, claims the University does not provide enough Mayor's Scholarships to needy Philadelphia high schoolers. "The University says they are committed to diversity and pluralism -- where is that commitment?" BSL president Jessica Dixon said. Repeating a claim in the lawsuit brief, BSL members said the University has failed to make the community aware of the scholarships. "I am a Philadelphia Mayor's Scholar -- and [the scholarship] was not widely known," College freshman Vanessa Saunders said. "I want it to be better publicized." Saunders said she found out about the scholarship from her guidance counselor in high school and by a letter. Daniel McGinley, president of the Philadelphia Association of School Administrators Teamsters Local 502, also spoke at the rally and said he believes the University owes the scholarships to the city. "The ordinance isn't ambiguous to me," McGinley said. "There are a lot of hard working kids out there coming up every year who don't know about this scholarship." But President Sheldon Hackney said at a University Council meeting last month that he had met with Mayor Wilson Goode in June "to review our implementation of these scholarships, and both the University and the city agree that we are meeting our commitments." African American Association of Faculty, Staff and Administrators Tri-Chairperson James Gray said that he supports University groups keeping the scholarship issue public. AAA is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit. "We have begun to move forward," Gray said. "We are going to keep the heat on this issue since a lot of Philadelphians are feeling the heat of paying for their education."
(10/29/91 10:00am)
A local law center filed a long-awaited class action suit against the University yesterday, claiming the school has violated a city ordinance requiring it to provide scholarships to needy Philadelphia high schoolers. Three University groups have joined the suit, which alleges that the University does not provide enough "Mayor's Scholarships," which were established by a series of agreements with the city in exchange for nearly 47 acres of land. The suit, filed by the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia in Common Pleas Court, demands the University adhere to a 1977 agreement with the city "to establish and forever maintain at least 125 four-year full tuition scholarships, or their equivalent." The University and PILCOP disagree over whether the 1977 statute requires the University to provide a total of 125 scholarships in any one year or 125 new four-year scholarships each year. According to University officials, there were 162 Mayor's Scholars enrolled at the University last year. The 50-page complaint states several alleged violations of the agreement besides the major point of contention. Among them, PILCOP claims the University gave some of the scholarships to schools that are not in the city. But Associate General Counsel Debra Fickler said yesterday that all of the scholarships were approved by a committee appointed by the mayor and that those recipients not in Philadelphia schools were residents of the city. Fickler, who is one of the lawyers currently handling the case for the University, declined to comment further on the suit. The complaint also alleges that the University is violating the ordinance since it is not allowing the mayor to choose the recipients. "[The University has] taken over the awarding whole cloth, allowing the mayor of the city only the hollow, formalistic ratification of decisions made entirely by the University," the complaint says. But President Sheldon Hackney said at a University Council meeting earlier this month that he had met with Mayor Wilson Goode in June "to review our implementation of these scholarships, and both the University and the city agree that we are meeting our commitments." PILCOP attorney Tom Gilhool disputed the University's assertion yesterday. "It is 125 four-year full tuition scholarships to be awarded annually," Gilhool said. "That means there should be 500 Mayor's Scholars walking around campus in any given period or their monetary equivalent." Gilhool added that the University has failed to publicize the scholarship. Gilhool said he was pleased that University groups -- the Black Student League, the Association Cultural de Estudiantes Latino Americanos and the African American Association of Faculty, Staff and Administrators -- had also joined the lawsuit. "I'm extremely happy," AAA Tri-Chairperson Thomas Henry said last night. "What makes me even happier is the community at large felt the need to enter into this as a complainant." Other charges in the complaint include: · The rental on the land the University got from the city would currently cost the University between $8.2 million and $20 million, "substantially more than the cost of full compliance with the ordinance." · The University has been giving the scholarships to "non-deserving students" instead of needy students. · The University does not provide the sufficient number of scholarships even by the University's definition of the ordinance. "Even with respect to this wrongfully limited number of scholarships, [the University has] fallen short," the complaint said. · Instead of complying with the ordinance, the University has acted to diminish the number of Philadelphia students. This charge includes a chart showing the University has reduced the number of students from Philadelphia schools from 14 percent in 1940 to less than two percent in 1991.
(10/28/91 10:00am)
The local landfill may be the place to find one professor's copy of the University's patent policy. According to depositions filed Friday in federal court, Dermatology Professor Emeritus Albert Kligman said he had never seen or read the policy, which the University claims gives it the rights to his invention -- the "miracle" acne drug Retin-A. He said if it had been delivered to his office he may have thrown it out. "That depends how big [the patent policies] were, how large they were," Kligman said in testimony given on October 18. "You know, if it was a big text, I'm not in the habit of spending hours of looking at documents of that kind unless there is an issue that obliges me to do that." Several hundred pages of documents, depositions and affidavits were the latest filing related to the University's suit against Kligman and pharmaceuticals giant Johnson and Johnson Baby Products in January 1990, which claims the University owns the drug's patent rights and a share of the royalties. Attorneys for Kligman and Johnson and Johnson have contended they have control of the patent rights because Kligman never signed the University patent policy, thus allowing him to sell the rights. The University has charged that he had no right to sell the rights to Ortho Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson in 1986, claiming under the 1966 patent policy Retin-A is property of the University. The depositions filed Friday indicate that Kligman was unaware of the University's patent policy until after he had begun negotiations with the pharmaceutical company. Johnson and Johnson informed him of the policy and subsequently, Kligman wrote a letter to the Project Research and Grants Office which formally explained his relationship with the pharmaceutical company to the University. Kligman added that he conceived the idea for the drug on his own time and that it was funded by profits he had earned through Ivy Research Laboratories and Ivy Clover Laboratories Corporation -- not University funds. He was president of both organizations, and they are independant of the University. In a June 12 pretrial hearing, Anthony Merritt, the University's executive director of Sponsored Programs, said that changes in the University's patent policy were noted in the Almanac and an inclusion in the Research Investigator's Handbook "which was sent to individual faculty members." But at the October 18 questioning, Kligman said he had never heard of the Almanac. "The Almanac. That is a University publication?" Kligman said. "I don't know that." In testimony, Merritt said he was "surprised" by Kligman's contention that he was exempt from the patent policy in a June 25, 1990 statement. "Kligman may not have been a detail-oriented type of person, but he never suggested to [the Research Administration Office] that he considered himself entirely exempt from University policy," Merritt said. Merritt added that in a April 18, 1977, letter from Kligman to Edward Stemmler, then dean of the Medical School, Kligman said he was not receiving Retin-A royalties. Merritt said that he has since learned that Kligman has received at least $190,920 in Retin-A royalties. It is unknown exactly how much Johnson and Johnson has made from the sale of Retin-A, but a 60 Minutes report which aired last year reported that Johnson and Johnson earned over $100 million before February 1990. Attornies from both parties could not be reached for comment over the weekend.
(10/25/91 9:00am)
Lawyers for a student who claims he was unfairly suspended for a 1989 cheating incident said the University failed to properly publish changes in the judicial system, leading to an unjust hearing in the case. But University Associate General Counsel Neil Hamburg derided the new claims as a "hypertechnical ridiculous argument" which avoids the issue of the student's guilt. Wharton junior Mark Wallace filed suit against the University in federal court last month, claiming that his suspension was unfair because the case was heard before the University Hearing Board instead of the Honor Court, as University policy mandates. The Hearing Board has fewer student members than the Court. In November 1989, Statistics Professor Edward Lusk charged Wallace with cheating on his Statistics 101 exam. The Hearing Board supported his claim, and Wallace was suspended last semester. Wallace's suit seeks over $50,000 in damages from the University. The University's Code of Academic Integrity was changed in September 1989 so that the Hearing Board, and not the Honor Court, hears all cheating cases. But Wallace's lawyer, Weldon Williams, contends the changes were improperly publicized and should not apply to Wallace's case. Williams' argument centers on an introduction to the University's Policies and Procedures that states that "new and revised policies are published in Almanac and take precedence over the material published in this booklet if they are published after the date of revision below." Williams contended that because the introduction's date is September 1989, any new changes must be published after the last day of September. The September 5, 1989 issue of Almanac printed the change in the Code of Academic Integrity. "It [the introduction] says after September 1989, so the amendment has to be as of October 1 and the Almanac was September 5," Williams said. Williams further added that University policy requires that the provost publicize the Code of Academic Integrity each year, and that the full text of the code be published in its amended form. Williams said there is no publication that contains the full text of the code as it is amended. "They have been distributing this to students since 1989 and no one has taken any steps to delete or update it," Williams added. "People are walking around campus with the policies they think are covering University life, but they don't really." The University's filed response stated that it "has followed its own procedures scrupulously" and the University's system follows legal precedent.
(10/24/91 9:00am)
The Black Student League is hosting a rally today in support of a public interest center's upcoming lawsuit alleging that the University administration does not provide enough "Mayor's Scholarships" to needy Philadelphia high schoolers. The BSL and the African American Association of Faculty, Staff and Administrators announced earlier this month that they will join the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia as litigants in the suit which as of yesterday had not yet been filed in court. The rally, which begins at noon on College Green, is intended to inform the University community of the lawsuit, BSL President Jessica Dixon said last night. "The University has said the case is with out merit," Dixon said. "We want to make them commit to their past agreements." A series of city ordinances and agreements dating back to the 19th century require the University to give out the equivalent of 125 full scholarships each year to Philadelphia students in exchange for land. But, the University and PILCOP disagree over whether the University should provide a total of 125 scholarships in any one year, or should establish 125 new four-year scholarships each year. President Sheldon Hackney said at a University Council meeting earlier this month that he had met with Mayor Wilson Goode in June "to review our implementation of these scholarships, and both the University and the city agree that we are meeting our commitments." On August 1, 1977, the University consolidated a 1882 and 1910 agreement "to establish and forever maintain at least 125 four-year full tuition scholarships, or their equivalent in any of the departments of the University, to be awarded annually by the Mayor of the City of Philadelphia to deserving students from all of the schools of the City." Dixon last week that one of the reasons the BSL joined the lawsuit was that many Philadelphia high schoolers are not aware of the scholarship and that could influence their decision to come to the University. Last year there were 162 Mayor's Scholars enrolled at the University and, according to General Counsel Shelley Green, the scholarships were valued at over $1.8 million.
(10/22/91 9:00am)
Keith recently dreamed of a royal dinner where he was the guest of honor, seated at a table with 100 people. "Everyone who meant something to me was there -- I could tell them thank you. I love you. I'm sorry," Keith said. Soon a stage rose and 100 choir members broke into song, and "Everyone at the table got up and let go," Keith said. "Initially they had been depressed, but now they let go." It is this dream -- and reality -- of isolation for AIDS patients such as Keith that has inspired a University program designed to teach future nurses how to reach out and break through their fear of the fatal disease. Keith was one of a handful of AIDS patients treated last week by University Nursing students at Graduate Hospital as part of a senior case study that teaches the students how to care for HIV-positive patients. Students say the experience is both difficult and rewarding, and every little step is a great achievement. "Some days you work so hard and don't make much progress," Nursing senior Sheila Rossell said. "It's frustrating." Associate Nursing Professor Ellen Baer designed the program last year after her brother died of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. She realized from personal experience that nurses who were educated about the disease were more successful in dealing with the patients. "Medicine is somewhat stuck and nurses do for patients those things they can't do for themselves," Baer said. "What people with AIDS need is a nurse." But one of the major obstacles in the treatment of AIDS patients, Baer said, is that some health care providers are afraid of the disease due to popular myths and lack of education. She said many people are nervous they will contract the deadly virus and are influenced by a nationwide stigma against AIDS patients. Baer designed the class to teach nurses how to provide hands-on care for AIDS victims. The course, first implemented last year, was expanded this year to include both adult and pediatric patients. Baer said she feels there is a need to educate future nurses about the ways to treat AIDS patients, especially since the number of victims is growing dramatically. The program is designed to make the students think, and the students said their feelings often extend beyond the hospital and classroom walls. Nursing senior Rossell added that it is difficult not to take the Friday clinical section of the class home for the weekend. "I go to the hospital at eight in the morning and feel down for the rest of the afternoon," Rossell said. "It can be very difficult." Last Friday, for example, Rossell changed the dressing protecting Keith's plastic intra-venous port which connects to an I.V. feeding tube. Although the tasks that Rossell and others perform would not normally be complicated, some nurses' fear of AIDS patients, coupled with patients' frustration with their inability to help themselves, makes even bathing difficult. Rossell, however, comforted Keith and reassured him that he was in control. It is this type of exchange that the program tries to foster. Nursing senior Diane Bocchinfuso works with "pedes" at the Children's Hosptial of Philadelphia and said the dual classroom-clinical setting of the case study is "really good." "I love it," Bocchinfuso said. "We're in the class to learn the theory and then when we get to CHOP we actually get to do it." Nevertheless, some students say working with terminally-ill children wears down even the most upbeat students. But each added that working with children has special rewards. Class members meet twice weekly, once in the clinical setting at either CHOP or Graduate Hospital, and again in the classroom setting at the University -- which allows students ample time to discuss their individual cases of the past week. Health care theories and related topics are also discussed in the classroom. "I think the class is wonderful -- we learn all about AIDS in both adults and pediatrics," Nursing senior Sherri Werner said. "This is so important because it is making us familiar with HIV infection and AIDS." Keith also saluted the program saying that a major failure of the national effort to curb AIDS is insensitivity and lack of education. "Programs like this should have been started long ago," Keith said. "The Church should be ashamed. [Society] should be embarrassed by their shame. They all say love thy neighbor -- well that's bullshit." Keith, who said he is gay, added he hopes student nurses who have taken the class will better educate others about the necessity of using contraceptive devices such as condoms. "All I can say as advice is 'Cover it up'. This is not a disease for just faggots and drug users," Keith said. Keith added that he has been to other hospitals which, unlike Graduate, did not have a floor designated to help HIV-infected patients, and said nurses were fearful to treat him. Barbara Lineham, an AIDS/HIV clinical nursing specialist at Graduate said she thinks this program should be started at every nursing school in the country since nurses who understand the disease care for the patients better. But Baer said the nature of dealing with AIDS patients is often frustrating, since while you are treating them you know that the disease is fatal. "The people are very young -- 20 to 40 years old, and we're not used to accepting that these people are going to die," Baer added. "What is really upsetting is the inevitablility of death." Baer also said the disease is unique since it forces nurses to go back to the basics, citing patients' need to be bathed and have their bandages changed. "It's almost the old fashioned way of treating patients," Baer said. "Many of their problems are the ones that nurses used to always deal with." Keith said his family and a caring nurse have helped him come to terms with the disease and added that his dream inspired him to prepare and arrange his imminent "festive" funeral. "I was thinking of having balloons . . . and a Dixieland band, like they do in New Orleans," Keith said. "But I've decided to have show tunes and start with Ethel Merman belting out There's No Business Like Show Business."
(10/21/91 9:00am)
The Black Student League will join a public interest center's imminent lawsuit against the University which claims the administration does not provide enough "Mayor's Scholarships" to needy Philadelphia high schoolers. The BSL is the second University group in a week to announce that it will join the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia's suit alleging the University is in violation of an agreement with the city which requires it to provide the scholarships. "Basically [the University] is not holding up their end of the agreement," BSL President Jessica Dixon said last night. "This is something that all students from Philadelphia should be concerned about." The African American Association of Faculty, Staff and Administrators, who announced their intent to join the suit last week, said the BSL's decision was independent of theirs. "We're are enthusiastically happy that the BSL joined," AAA Tri-chairperson James Gray said last night. "There are other University groups looking at the documentation and considering joining as well." General Counsel Shelley Green said last week that the University had not been served with the complaint. A series of city ordinances and agreements dating back to the 19th century require the University to give out the equivalent of 125 full scholarships each year to Philadelphia students in exchange for land. On August 1, 1977, the University consolidated a 1882 and 1910 agreement "to establish and forever maintain at least 125 four-year full tuition scholarships, or their equivalent, in any of the departments of the University, to be awarded annually by the Mayor of the City of Philadelphia to deserving students from all of the schools of the City." But the University and PILCOP disagree over whether the University should provide a total of 125 scholarships in any one year, or should establish 125 new four-year scholarships each year. "The heart of it is 125 four-year full tuition scholarships to be awarded annually by the mayor," PILCOP attorney Tom Gilhool said earlier this month. "In any given generation there should be 500." "It says annually because that is what it means," Dixon said. "Annually does not mean once every four years." But President Sheldon Hackney said at a University Council meeting earlier this month that he had met with Mayor Wilson Goode in June "to review our implementation of these scholarships, and both the University and the city agree that we are meeting our commitments." Dixon added one of the reasons BSL joined the lawsuit was that many Philadelphia high schoolers are not aware of the scholarship which could influence their decision to come to the University. She said many were not told by their high school, the city of Philadelphia or the University about the program. "My question to the University is if everything is on the up and up about this scholarship, why did they not make everyone aware of it?" AAA Trichairperson Tom Henry said. "It makes me wonder if the scholarship process has been run properly -- which I doubt." In the last academic year there were 162 Mayor's Scholars enrolled at the University and, according to Green, the scholarships were valued at over $1.8 million. Dixon said a rally protesting the University's stance on the scholarships will be held Thursday on College Green.
(10/18/91 9:00am)
University lawyers said this week that a Wharton junior received a fair hearing despite his suit which claims he was denied "due process" before he was suspended for cheating. The University's reply to his suit, filed in federal court Wednesday, said the student was provided "with every conceivable opportunity to convince the University that the hearing panel's finding was incorrect." Wharton junior Mark Wallace filed suit last month alleging that the Judicial Inquiry Office "loaded" the hearing panel which found him guilty of cheating in 1989. Wallace, who was suspended for one semester in the spring of 1991 after a year of hearings, alleged the JIO "handpicked a loaded panel in number and composition to hear the case against him." Wallace's attorney Weldon Williams said last month that the case was heard before the University Hearing Board instead of the Honor Court as University policy mandates. The Hearing Board has fewer undergraduate members than the Court. But the University's response said "the University has followed its own procedures scrupulously," and cites the September 5, 1989, Almanac where President Sheldon Hackney and Provost Michael Aiken announced changes in the Judicial Charter and Code of Academic Integrity. According to Almanac, all references in the Code of Academic Integrity to "Honor Court" should be replaced with "the University Hearing Board." Wallace said in his complaint that he took a Statistics 101 exam for Statistics Professor Edward Lusk in November 1989 and during the test students were "permitted to consult, share and pass notes, notebooks and texts." Wallace and three other students were accused of cheating by a classmate, who is referred to in the suit only as "Christine." The University said in its response that "Christine" approached Lusk after the exam and said she felt cheating had occurred. Subsequently Lusk told the class of the student's belief and asked anyone who thought they might be implicated to come forward, the response said. One week later, the University's answer said, four students told Lusk they thought "a classmate may have mistaken their passing a notebook during the exam for the passing of a 'blue book.' " Lusk said last month that he had examined the blue books and determined that two of the four contained "similar answers." "Lusk found that he could not explain identical numerical and informational errors in answers in the two blue books without concluding that copying answers from one blue book to another had occurred," the response said. The response added that Lusk brought the two blue books to the department chairperson who independently came to the same conclusion. Wallace did not return phone calls placed at his home last night and counsel for both parties could not be reached for comment.
(10/17/91 9:00am)
The African American Association of Faculty, Staff and Administrators will join a public interest group's imminent lawsuit against the University, claiming it does not provide enough scholarships to needy Philadelphia high schoolers. "We believe the University is not fulfilling its responsibility as is laid out in the legislation and contracts," AAAFSA Tri-chairperson James Gray said this week. "We do not see a significant presence of Philadelphians as students at this university." The Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia is planning to file suit against the University, charging that it is not holding up its end of an agreement with the city to provide "Mayor's Scholarships." General Counsel Shelley Green said earlier this week that the University had not been served with the complaint. A series of city ordinances and agreements since 1882 require the University to give out the monetary equivalent of 125 full scholarships each year to Philadelphia students in exchange for land. On August 1, 1977, the University consolidated all the previous ordinances and agreed "to establish and forever maintain at least 125 four-year full-tuition scholarships, or their equivalent." But the University and PILCOP disagree over whether the University should provide a total of 125 scholarships in any one year, or should set up 125 new four-year scholarships each year. "The heart of it is 125 four-year full tuition scholarships to be awarded annually by the mayor," PILCOP attorney Tom Gilhool said last week. "In any given generation there should be 500." Gray said his group support's PILCOP's effort to increase the number of scholarships to 500. Hackney said at last week's University Council meeting that he had met with Mayor Goode in June "to review our implementation of these scholarships, and both the University and the City agree that we are meeting our commitments."
(10/11/91 9:00am)
A lawyer for the Public Interest Law Center said yesterday that the University is legally bound to provide 500 scholarships for Philadelphia high school students, instead of the 125 it currently provides, and plans to file suit to bring the University in line. A series of city ordinances and agreements starting in 1882 require the University to give out the total monetary equivalent of 125 full scholarships each year in exchange for land, General Counsel Shelley Green said earlier this week. But the University and the Law Center disagree over whether the University should provide 125 scholarships total, or 125 new four-year scholarships each year. "The heart of it is 125 four-year, full-tuition scholarship to be awarded annually by the mayor," Law Center attorney Tom Gilhool said yesterday. "In any given generation there should be 500." In the last academic year, there were 162 Mayor's Scholars enrolled at the University, and according to Green, the scholarships were valued at over $1.5 million. It is unclear if the city is backing the Law Center's move to increase the number of scholarships to 500. President Sheldon Hackney said at Wednesday's University Council meeting that he met with Mayor Wilson Goode this summer about the scholarships, and both the city and the University agreed the University is complying with the city ordinance. But Gilhool would not comment specifically about the city's role, saying only that "sometimes the city will join us in the suit, sometimes they won't." Mayor's office spokesperson Karen Warrington said Goode approved of the scholarships, but declined to say if the University is complying with the ordinances that established the scholarships. "[Goode] is very pleased with these scholarships," Warrington said. "They make a critical dfference in the lives of the many children who may not be able to pursue higher education without them." This was increased in June 1910 when a city ordinance required the University to establish and maintain 75 additional scholarships in any department of the University. The scholarships were designated for deserving students who attended any high school in the city. In exchange, the University acquired additional land. On August 1, 1977 the University entered into a new agreement that consolidated the two plans so the city could remove deed restrictions that prevented the University from mortgaging the land. The University agreed "to establish and forever maintain at least 125 four-year scholarships, or their equivalent, in any of the departments of the University, to be awarded annually by the Mayor of the City of Philadelphia to deserving students from all of the schools of the city." Some guidance counselors from high schools across the city said the scholarships were helpful to several students at each of their schools and the students were thankful to the city and University for making them available. No counselors who were contacted were aware of the impending suit. "It is helpful and the students are grateful," Central High School counselor Joan Coltune said yesterday. "I think the students who are accepted to the University would attend whether or not they received the scholarships . . . If there was no scholarship there may be a higher grant." Hackney announced at Wednesday's University Council meeting that PILC may be filing the suit, which claims that the University is not holding up its end of a long-standing agreement and demanding that the University offer more Mayor's Scholarships.
(10/11/91 9:00am)
University officials and Community Service Living/Learning Program coordinators said yesterday they are "delighted" with the recent decision by a state Supreme Court not to hear an appeal by the Psi Upsilon fraternity. Psi U had asked the court to force the University to halt its sanctions against the fraternity, including taking over the house -- currently inhabited by community service-oriented students -- and revoking the fraternity's charter. "I'm very pleased with the decision not to hear the case," Vice Provost for University Life Kim Morrisson said yesterday. The General Counsel's Office announced Wednesday that it was notified by the state Supreme Court of the opinion. But Lisa Barnes, director of the Castle program, said she did not think residents were concerned about the appeal. "I don't think that it came to people's minds," Barnes said. "We were created independent of them." Castle Residential Advisor Joe Gaeta said he is thankful the University has supported the program regardless of the outcome of the ongoing legal battle. "I am confident that the University supports us all along," the College senior said. "At least for the amount of time we will be here, the University has been behind us." In April, a state Superior Court affirmed the University's right to punish Psi U with a host of sanctions, including revoking their charter and kicking the fraternity out of the Castle. The court also ruled that the punishment was fair. Psi U filed an appeal of the decision, claiming that "the Superior Court erred by drawing numerous conclusions of fact which were unsupported by the record and the trial court opinion." The Supreme Court's one sentence denial does not explain why it refused to hear the appeal. The ruling does not necessarily end the legal battle between Psi U and the University. There are still two claims against the University pending in Common Pleas Court. These could not be heard until a decision was made on Psi U's appeal, according to Associate General Counsel Frank Roth. In these claims, the fraternity is seeking damages and a permanent injunction against the University for taking its property and for inflamatory statements the University made during its investigation, which the fraternity says harmed its reputation. It is not known when or if Psi U will act on these counts, and fraternity lawyer John Ledwith did not return calls seeking comment yesterday. Roth said earlier this week that an important result of the case is that the Superior Court's ruling now becomes case law as precedent for future cases of a similar nature. "I think we got some very good case law from the superior court," VPUL Morrisson said yesterday. "It upholds the University's right to discipline fraternities under its governance policy."
(10/10/91 9:00am)
The University defeated an appeal of a 1989 sexual discrimination case filed against it by default last week when the plaintiff did not show up for trial. "I went there with my witnesses," Associate General Counsel Neil Hamburg said yesterday. "I think what happened was she Federal Expressed a letter to the judge, but I have not seen the letter." In the suit, former Van Pelt College House administrative fellow Ann McHugh claimed she was constantly harassed by a student and Van Pelt officials did not attempt to stop the abuse, despite her protests. Just days after taking her complaints to the University Ombudsman, she was fired, she contends. The University argued in a formal reply that she was fired because she was unable to "perform effectively" in her position and that she filed her complaints with the Ombudsman after she was terminated. McHugh argued that she was fired solely because of her complaint. In a confidential University document dated September 23, 1987 that was released into court records, McHugh told the student, Paul Cohen, that his actions violated the University's harassment policy. McHugh told Cohen that he is not permitted to ask about her personal life, touch her or "patronize" her and stop "demeaning" other residents of the house. "All references to Van Pelt as the three (four) F club -- freaks, fags, foreigners, (freshmen) -- will cease immediately," she told him. "This is offensive and abusive . . . " Cohen, who was not listed in the student directory for that year, could not be located for comment. McHugh was suing the University for reinstatement to her position as an administrative fellow and for reimbursement for her salary from 1987 to present, plus interest. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission decided in 1989 that McHugh's dismissal was not based on sexual discrimination. McHugh decided to appeal this decision through the courts. Hamburg said yesterday that McHugh's case was "frivolous." A counterclaim filed by the University alleged that McHugh's complaint in Municipal Court and complaints before the EEOC breached the settlement agreement the University made with her. This counterclaim was dismissed last week along with the rest of the case. McHugh has changed lawyers several times in appealing her case. Past attorney Elizabeth Warner declined to comment on the ruling, saying she had never taken the case. Another previous attorney, Alan Epstein, also declined to comment, adding that he was no longer assigned to the case. McHugh did not return several phone messages placed at her home last night.
(10/10/91 9:00am)
A local legal center may file suit against the University, claiming it does not abide by a city ordinance requiring it to provide scholarships to needy Philadelphia residents, President Sheldon Hackney announced yesterday. Hackney said at yesterday's University Council meeting that the Public Interest Law Center may be filing a suit against the University, charging that it is not holding up its end of the agreement with the city and demanding that it offer more "Mayor's Scholarships." A series of city ordinances and agreements starting in 1882 require the University to give out the monetary equivalent of 125 full scholarships each year in exchange for land. Hackney said at the meeting that he met with Mayor Wilson Goode this summer about the scholarships, and both the city and the University agreed the University is complying with the ordinance. And General Counsel Shelley Green said the University has abided by the agreements. "We have been working with the city for a long time," Green said. "Recently we have been discussing with the city whether they are satisfied and the city has said it's satisfied." Legal Center attorney Thomas Gilhool declined to comment yesterday. In the last academic year there were 162 Mayor's Scholars enrolled at the University, and according to Green, and the scholarships were valued at over $1.5 million. In 1882, the University agreed to establish and maintain 50 scholarships in exchange for land near what is currently the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Green said. The scholarships amounted to a total of $7500. This was increased in June 1910, when a city ordinance required the University to establish and maintain 75 additional scholarships in any department of the University. The scholarships were designated for deserving students who attended any high school in the city. In exchange, the University acquired additional land. On August 1, 1977, the University entered into a new agreement that consolidated the two plans so the city could remove deed restrictions that prevented the University from mortgaging the land. The University agreed "to establish and forever maintain at least one hundred twenty-five four-year, full tuition scholarships, or their equivalent, in any of the Departments of the University, to be awarded annually by the Mayor of the City of Philadelphia to deserving students from all of the schools of the City." Staff writer Christine Lutton contributed to this story.
(10/10/91 9:00am)
The state Supreme Court refused to hear Psi Upsilon fraternity's appeal of a lower court decision that backed the University's sanctions against the fraternity. The decision all but kills Psi U's chance at getting its old center-campus house back unless the University agrees to allow the fraternity back on campus if they apply for re-recognition in the spring of 1993. "We just got [notified]," Associate General Counsel Frank Roth said yesterday of the denial. "This means their request for preliminary injunction [to stop the sanctions] is over." In April, a state Superior Court affirmed the University's right to punish Psi U with a host of sanctions, including revoking their charter and kicking the fraternity out of the Castle. The court also ruled that the University's punishment was fair. Psi U filed for an appeal of the decision, claiming that "the Superior Court erred by drawing numerous conclusions of fact which were unsupported by the record and the trial court opinion." The Supreme Court's one-sentence denial does not explain why it refused to hear the appeal. The ruling does not necessarily end the legal battle between Psi U and the University. There are still two counts in the suit against the University in Court of Common Pleas which could not be acted on until a decision was made on Psi U's appeal, according to Roth. The two counts demand money damages and a permanent injunction against the University for taking their property and damages for inflamatory statements the University made during its investigation which harmed the fraternity's reputation. Mark Williams, Psi U's international executive director said yesterday that he could not comment since the case was not from his office, rather conducted by alumni in Philadelphia. Psi U attorney John Ledwith did not return calls placed at his office yesterday. Last year, the administration found Psi U collectively responsible for the kidnapping and torturing of a member of another fraternity. Roth explained this summer that the fraternity had a right to appeal the case to the Superior Court, but the house had to ask permission for the state Supreme Court. For the state Supreme Court to accept the petition, Roth added last summer that the fraternity would have to raise a "particularly important issue, or a novel issue for litigation, [for which] no case law has been established." According to the fraternity's petition, the Supreme Court "has never addressed the issue regarding the standard for a fair disciplinary hearing at a university . . . [and] has never determined whether the concept of punishment pursuant to a theory of 'collective responsibility' is constitutional." Roth said yesterday that an important result of the case is that the Superior Court's ruling now becomes case law as precedent for future cases of a similar nature.
(10/07/91 9:00am)
Claire Fagin went out with a bang Saturday night. "I think for once the administration is louder than we are," said Hill House resident Cara Tanamachi as she watched 320 friends and colleagues of the Nursing School dean dance in the dormitory's cafeteria and bid Fagin farewell. Guests, who paid up to $1000 a couple, flocked from as close as Eisenlohr Mansion or as far away as Rhode Island for the event, which featured cocktails, dancing to live music, a salmon dinner and speeches by Fagin and President Sheldon Hackney. "This is a fitting tribute," President Sheldon Hackney said. "[Fagin] has done such wonderful things for the Nursing School and the University as a whole." "I am thrilled to be here -- Claire [Fagin] is my good friend," said Vartan Gregorian, president of Brown University and a former University provost. "In fact, 95 percent of the people here are my friends -- the other five percent I don't know." Students who lived in the dormitory said they were "surprised" to see the dining hall decorated and become the site of a black tie affair. "It's a party of old people," College freshman Sushrot Shah said. "I am surprised by how clean [the dining hall] is and how much effort they put into it." Fagin reminded her friends and colleagues that she resigned from her post over fifteen months ago, but has remained at the helm while the search committee is considering candidates. "This [evening] is a unique experience and will be etched in my mind and heart forever," Fagin said to the guests. "Thank you, and let me go." Last week, search committee chairperson Barbara Lowery said the committee was considering four candidates, but "the search is still open." Fagin has repeatedly delayed leaving to become president of the National League of Nursing in order to ease the school's transition to a new dean, but has said she will definitely step down at the end of this semester. Fagin also plans to remain on the Nursing school's faculty. The evening raised over $90,000 for the Nursing Leadership Venture Fund -- placing the Fund's total at over $1 million and near the $1.25 million goal needed to establish a professorship. Nursing Development Director Bonnie Devlin said last night that the Fund was "unique" since it was based on donations from many patrons -- unlike most professorships which come from a single donor. (CUT LINE) Please see GALA, page A4 GALA, from page A1
(10/07/91 9:00am)
The Judicial Inquiry Office is investigating a sexual harassment complaint that charges Acacia fraternity brothers with stealing and then circulating a nude photograph of a brother's girlfriend to other members of the house. The complainant -- a female student who agreed to discuss her case only if granted anonymity -- said the photo was originally stolen from her boyfriend's off-campus apartment in December, and was xeroxed and shown to Acacia brothers until at least April, when she discovered the incidents and filed the complaint. Interim Judicial Inquiry Officer Jane Combrinck-Graham said last night that a complaint was registered against the fraternity and individual members for sexual harassment. Combrinck-Graham -- who picked up the investigation after former JIO Constance Goodman resigned this summer -- said the chapter has not been notified of any charges because her investigation is continuing. Acacia President Brian Baxt declined to comment until he is officially informed of charges. According to the University's judicial charter, if the fraternity is found to be collectively responsible for the incidents, the house could be kicked off campus. The complainant said that after she and her boyfriend -- a former Acacia brother who has been granted early alumni status -- left for winter break last year, her boyfriend's roommate invited seven members of Acacia to their apartment. "They went into my boyfriend's bedroom and searched without his consent," the student said. "They found a box that was hidden under a big pile of clothes. One member opened the box, looked through it, and found a nude picture." The complainant said the Polaroid photograph was taken with her consent, but "was obviously not open for public viewing." She added that the photo was then shown to all of the brothers in the apartment and replaced in the box. Within 24 hours, one brother who was in the apartment told another about the photograph and "the two of them together decided to go back to the apartment with the intent of stealing the picture, xeroxing it and putting it up within the fraternity house," she said. It is unclear how many photocopies were made, but they were never put up in the fraternity house, according to the complainant. One of the brothers showed a photocopy of the photo to a member of the fall pledge class, she added. Acacia has two pledge classes each year -- one intiated during the fall and spring semester. "The pledge assumed that since he had been been shown the photo, many of the members knew of it," she said. It was later learned that many of the brothers did not see the picture, but were aware of its existence, she said. "They definitely knew about it -- and knew the specifics," she added. The complainant also said at least two of the brothers told people outside of the fraternity of the photograph. As part of a pledging event, one or several members of the spring pledge class were instructed in early April to perform a skit in front of her boyfriend and other brothers in which the pledge was to assume the position that the complainant had taken in the photo, she said. "The pledge then said, 'Look familiar?' " the complainant added that she learned later. The complainant also said she was told that several of the brothers found the skit amusing and that several of the brothers seemed to know the background of the skit. She added that no attempt was made to stop the skit. "I approached fraternity chapter officers with my concerns and was told that it would be discussed at a chapter meeting," the complainant said. "At this point, I found out about the xeroxes when a fall pledge, who had been shown the xeroxes, came forward and let my boyfriend and I know." After hearing precisely what happened from several members, the complainant said she decided to go to the JIO. "I feel that my privacy had been violated, and my trust," she said. "Several of the people who committed these acts were the first people I met at this University. I just didn't think this was appropriate behavior that I could just forgive without formal action." The complainant said she then made a personal statement to the fraternity "telling them that I was hurt by some of the members' actions, but that I would hope that they would understand and respect me for my action in dealing with what happened." Immediately following the statement, she left the room, and a brother brought up a motion to ban her from the house, she said. The motion was tabled, but it passed when the fraternity members learned she had gone to the JIO, she said. "This hurt me and continues to hurt," she said. "It's not that I would want to keep going to their house or their parties. It [hurts because] they were essentially placing the blame on me. In taking this vote, it was essentially saying that the complainant was wrong." No apology has ever been made by the chapter, the student added. "A few of the brothers actually expressed the opinion that because I let the photo be taken I should accept the consequences." "I personally feel whether or not people agree with the moral issues behind a nude photo, no one deserves to have something they kept private and sacred to be divulged to the general public," she said. "It is like if someone was to read your diary." The student's boyfriend said in an interview last night that he had suspected a break-in in his room, but when he questioned people he found a "circle of denials." He added that "the alumni do not condone the actions of the chapter and I feel that they support my girlfriend and I." Acting JIO Combrinck-Graham said that since the investigation is not complete, she has not filed charges which would subsequently be sent to the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs. It is not clear when she will finish her investigation. OFSA Director Tricia Phaup could not be reached for comment over the weekend.
(10/03/91 9:00am)
The University Museum is now safe from earthquakes. One year ago, the museum was likely to suffer a natural disaster for housing a Zuni War God figure, according to Indian legend. "It had to be returned to a sacred shrine," University Museum Services Coordinator Pam Hearne said last week. "It is responsible for earthquakes." Museum officials were improperly housing the figure, which is considered a god by New Mexico's Zuni tribe, by displaying it in the Museum, since Zuni legend requires it be outside in a pueblo to "deteriorate" in the weather. But according to museum officials, fear of the deities was not the impetus to return the war god, which was held in the museum's collections until last November. Rather, it was the initial step in the Museum's efforts to return artifacts to American Indians, pre-empting a federal law by a few weeks. President Bush signed the Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act on November 16, 1990, establishing a system to return select artifacts to Indian tribes. Currently the Museum is fulfilling the first stage of the law by completing a thorough inventory of its American collection. It will then notify the appropriate tribes that the University has artifacts that may belong to them. Although the University is actively working on the inventory, it is unable to begin sending letters since the U.S. Department of Interior has not yet announced the proper method to contact tribes, Hearne said. Vincent Pigott, acting associate director of the museum, added that the University will have to return little of its collection since it abides by stringent requirements regulating what it accepts. He said the University helped establish the national standards for the legality of acquiring artifacts. Not all Indian artifacts in the University's collection are considered property of the original tribes, since many were acquired as gifts or through excavations where the University was allowed to keep a portion of what it found, Hearne said. "The University Museum has one of the largest collections in the nation," Pigott said. "But it does very little collecting." Hearne said that the Interior Department will also determine how disputed ownerships will be settled through the courts. "It may be difficult to determine which splinter group owns the artifacts, or if it belongs to a museum," Hearne said. "In court, the burden of proof lies with the Indians."
(09/30/91 9:00am)
"First, do no harm." Meeting this seemingly simple commandment of the Hippocratic oath has grown more difficult with the increased spread of the AIDS virus, as patients worry that they may catch the deadly disease from their doctors. Currently the U.S. House of Representatives is debating legislation that would prohibit health care workers from conducting invasive medical or dental procedures if they are infected with human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV. Medicine Professor Rob MacGregor, who specializes in infectious diseases at HUP, and his colleagues who oppose the mandatory testing said last night there is not sufficient data to prove that transmission through health care workers is a significant risk. There is one documented case of provider-to-patient transmission, and in that dental case, many records are missing, according to Assistant Infectious Disease Professor Patrick Brennan. "To make a national compulsory system in testing on the basis of one event seems to be an overreaction to the relatively minuscule," MacGregor said. "The case is very strongly disputed," Brennan added. "It is now believed that he may have had sexual contacts with his patients and that he may have infected them through poorly sterilized instruments." But Nursing sophomore Racquel Lowe said last night the legislation is positive and should be implemented. "The patients have a right to know if the doctor or nurse has AIDS," Lowe said. "If they make it known to the patient, some will discriminate and not go back -- others may have faith." Those who oppose the legislation, introduced by Rep. William Dannemeyer (R-Calif.), also argue that the cost of testing all health care workers is enormous and that it would divert limited funds away from research. "Do you test physicians once a year?" HUP infectious disease physician Ian Frank said. "That's a lot of money -- with not a lot of impact." Opponents to the legislation said that the test may not indicate positive infection immediately after receiving the virus and that testing would have to be continuous. "I don't think it is going to solve the problem," said Margaret Sovie, chief nursing officer at HUP. "It will only tell you about that moment in time -- not the rest of your career." The New York Times reported last week that it may cost up to $1 billion a year to carry out the program. The legislation would also allow physicians to test their patients for AIDS without the patient's consent. "If we are going to have testing on one side, we have to have it on the other side," Brennan said. "Very, very, very few people get infected by [the health care provider] and it is much more likely that a health care worker will be infected by a patient." One nursing student said she agreed with the legislation that health care workers should be required to be tested, but added that the results should not be made public. "I dont think it should be made public knowledge," Joy Lowe said. "The health care provider can know themselves and make responsible decisions." The Nursing freshman also said that she disagreed with the provision allowing for patient testing. "I think any test should be done only with the person's permission -- whether its an AIDS test or an EKG," Lowe said.
(09/25/91 9:00am)
Negotiations between a University Museum contractor and unionized plasterers -- who want their rank and file to be exclusively employed -- reached a stalemate yesterday. The protestors from Plasterers Union Local Eight said yesterday they will continue to picket in front of the Museum until contractor Sean Conlon agrees to subcontract the plastering work only to union members. "I have offered to take along two union men for the duration of the job," Conlon said last night. "But they are being very stubborn." Union members who wore placards alleging that Conlon was destroying wages and standards of the industry said that the job was large and should be reserved for union workers. Union Business Manager Eugene Curry said the union could only support a solution that endorsed a complete union staff since the members are nervous that the employment of non-union workers would set a precedent against hiring unions in the future. "We didn't get anywhere," Curry said. "We want it to be all union." Museum Superintendent Don Fitzgerald said last week that the Museum hired Conlon to renovate the Mesopotamian Gallery by following standard University procedures requiring three bids and accepting the lowest. Fitzgerald added that Conlon is unionized and that it was Conlon -- not the University -- that decided to subcontract the plastering job to non-union workers. Conlon added that his offer to the union included allowing the two union members to be employed at union wages with benefits -- a value of $1207 a week per employee -- but the union negotiators had asked for his current squad to be unionized instead. "It's an unfortunate situation," Conlon said. "They want my crew to join the union -- that is $435 dollars each -- just to join." Fitzgerald said earlier this week that he could not disclose how much money the total renovation project cost, but said that it was in the five digit range and that he was hopeful for an expedient settlement. "There is no doubt in my mind that the two parties will settle," Fitzgerald said. "Both sides have come to the table -- that's the way its supposed to work."
