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(01/19/98 10:00am)
Residents of High Rise South may have little incentive to leave their building next fall. Last week, Associate Vice President for Campus Services Larry Moneta announced plans for a dining hall in the building's basement Rathskeller Lounge. A fitness center planned for the building's rooftop lounge has been in the works since last spring. The 21st Century College House system calls for each of the 12 college houses to have a designated dining area. But according to Director of Academic Programs and Residence Life Chris Dennis, when APRL went through the process of assigning dining areas for each house, it came up one dining space short. "We addressed that by doing the renovations in the [High Rise South] Rathskeller," he explained. According to Moneta, no permanent changes will be made as part of the construction of the dining hall that would interfere with the Rathskeller's regular use as a meeting space. Food for up to 200 people will be transported through the lounge's back doors each night from the Class of 1920 Dining Commons. John Henkel, manager of 1920 Commons, said it will not be difficult to transport that much food, although he added that he thinks the the 200-person estimate is a little high since many upperclassmen are not on meal plans. "It's no harder than what Training House does for the Castle," Henkel said, referring to the nightly food delivery to the Locust Walk residence of the Community Service Living-Learning Program. The rooftop fitness center was one of the ideas suggested last spring by the Residential Advisory Board following the group's student survey on the use of the rooftop and Rathskeller lounges in each of the three high rises. "After looking at the information, it looked like a lot of students were interested in having some kind of fitness facilities in the residences," said RAB Chairperson Emily Pollack, a College sophomore. The student-run Committee for Tangible Change also requested a fitness facility on the western side of campus. Students polled by both groups indicated that the current facilities in Hutchinson Gymnasium are inconveniently located. According to Rodney Robinson, assistant director for upperclass programs in residence, renovation plans "don't call for any major construction to the Rooftop Lounge." The floor of the lounge will be insulated to reduce the amount of vibrations and noise caused by the exercise equipment. And the current design of the lounge can support the added weight from the machinery. "According to the latest architectural designs and engineering designs, it's certainly strong enough to support a fitness center," Robinson said. "It should be a fairly simple construction project when it starts." Tangible Change Chairperson Samara Barend, a College junior, said that she was told in October that the entire Rooftop Lounge would be used for the fitness center, replacing the study and lounge space. Barend said the space would be better used as a fitness center. "The study space isn't being utilized now anyway," Barend said. "The lighting is horrible, and it's too cold. It'll be much better utilized now." Pollack added that she thinks many students will "be really excited, at least those living in that area, to have the opportunity to exercise in a good facility that's close to their residence."
(01/15/98 10:00am)
The Living-Learning Program will displace all 12th-floor residents. The Office of Academic Programs and Residence Life confirmed yesterday that the Community Service Living-Learning Program currently housed in the Castle will relocate to High Rise North this fall. CSLLP is ending its 7-year stay in the former fraternity house on 36th and Locust streets at the end of the semester. The Psi Upsilon fraternity, which owns the building, will return to the house after being kicked off campus in 1990. The program, to be renamed the Community Service Residential Program, will make its new home on the 12th floor of the high rise -- which will soon be renamed as the Hamilton College House. The move is bad news for any current 12th floor residents who choose not to join the program, and would deny such residents the option of retaining their rooms next year. APRL Director Chris Dennis, however, stressed that those residents will be given a chance to retain the same type of room elsewhere in the high rises. Meanwhile, members of the Castle's CSLLP say the move will change the face of community service activity on campus. For one thing, none of the current residents of the program are willing to relocate to the high rises, according to CSLLP Program Director and College senior Margaret Quern. "We're not happy about this," she said. Residents have known they were facing their last year in the Castle since last spring, explained Adam Barzilay, a College junior in his second year with the CSLLP. In November, the group learned that their program could end up in the high rises. "We had a vote, a show of hands of who would be interested in living there," Barzilay recalled. "Not one hand went up." CSLLP members said that without a living room, the group won't be able to host its regular events, such as coffeehouses and lectures. They also agreed that living in a house helps unify the program's participants and the Castle's central location makes it more accessible to the student body. Dennis responded that the program can use the Rathskellar Lounge, which is located in the basement of High Rise North, for coffee houses and lectures, adding that the new location is more convenient to West Philadelphia service projects. But CSLLP members disagreed, fearing the program will be irreparably damaged by the move. "Moving the program to the high rises completely destroys it," said College sophomore Shefaali Desai, a CSLLP member. Quern said the members of her program were initially led to believe that the University would relocate them to an off-campus house, which she said would be "more in the community" and would allow the group to stay in a house setting. But Quern added that the prospective off-campus locations offered to the group would have only accommodated half the program's members. Barzilay said that earlier this fall, CSLLP members discussed moving the program to the Christian Association building, which is currently up for sale, or the former Division of Public Safety building at 3914 Locust Walk, across from High Rise North. But that discussion did not go far beyond the Castle meeting rooms. "We just felt like we weren't involved in the process of what was going on," Barzilay said, adding that members of the program were "being tossed around" by University administrators deciding the program's fate.
(01/14/98 10:00am)
The project's latest phase includes work on the entrance area and circulation center. If you find plastic tape or temporary walls blocking your way to a once-familiar stairwell or study carrel in Van Pelt Library this semester, don't be alarmed: they're a sign of progress. Workers completed a major phase of the Van Pelt renovation project last month with the makeover of the first floor reference section. And more changes are on the way, according to Joe Zucca, executive assistant to Vice Provost and Director of Libraries Paul Mosher. The multi-phase rehabilitation of the 35-year-old building began in 1995 with the renovation of the second-floor Lippincott Library. Next was the creation of new space for library staff on the building's first floor, the Goldstein Information Processing Center and an electronic classroom. Phase III of the project -- new reference facilities and study areas on the library's first floor -- was completed in December, just in time for students to try out some of the new spaces during the final exam period. The new reference area includes computers to access library databases and a large, sun-lit study lounge. The Class of 1968 Reference Center and Class of 1964 Lookup Center, which contain stacks of books and dozens of computers, are located near the new study area. Getting to the new facilities, however, is a bit of a challenge at this point. Only one elevator currently serves the new area and the second floor, which is undergoing construction for future renovations. The location is also accessible from the library's main staircase. Zucca said the renovations were necessary to bring the library into the 1990s. "We've brought the building up to date," he said, explaining that the building's original design did not meet the electrical and lighting demands of heavy computer use. A major aspect of the renovations, Zucca added, is the library's "aesthetic" makeover. "It was an unattractive, cold place to work in," Zucca said. "What was appealing to tastes and interests in the 1960s just doesn't appeal to the 1990s and the 21st century," he said. With the reference center completed, library staff members are preparing for the latest phase: renovations of the main entrance and circulation center, which should be finished in August. Microforms and periodicals from the current second-floor mezzanine will move to the former reference area on the first floor. The four phases of the rehabilitation project carry a $7.5 million price tag. Funding came from donations, in many cases from gifts from reunion classes, according to Adam Corson-Finnerty, director of library development and external affairs. "It's not just one or two wealthy individuals," Corson-Finnerty said. "It's hundreds of alums that contributed anything from $25 to $100,000." The Kresge Foundation, a private group which funds construction projects in universities and libraries, matched many of the donations, giving $500,000 to the project. Library officials are now raising funds for the project's final two phases, which would bring an undergraduate study center and a cyber-cafe to the ground floor while fixing-up the sixth-floor special collections library. University officials have decided that funding for student scholarships and the Perelman Quadrangle take precedence over the library renovations, according to Corson-Finnerty. As a result, no completion date has been set for those renovations. Currently, workers are attempting to continue construction without disturbing students' studying. A temporary wall was recently erected in the ground-floor Rosengarten Reserve area to block off the demolition of the winding stairwell in the center of the study area. Officials will dedicate the new facilities later this year.
(01/14/98 10:00am)
The building opened after an extensive two-year, $9.2 million interior renovation that first began nearly a decade ago. In Logan Hall, furniture and empty cardboard boxes still clutter the hallways, "wet paint" signs line the walls, tiles are missing from some of the floors and an entire level is still closed for construction. But students walking into the long-vacant building this week found the second-oldest edifice on campus open for business. Faculty members and administrators began moving into the building during winter break. The historic building at 249 S. 36th Street, originally built in 1880, has been undergoing renovations for more than seven years. Efforts to restore the five-story building's exterior began in 1989 as a deferred maintenance project, and were restarted four years later after a brief hiatus. A $9.2 million interior renovation began in January 1996, marking the first step in the $69 million Perelman Quadrangle project, which is designed to create a student center linking Irvine Auditorium with Logan, Houston, Williams and College halls. The project is scheduled to be completed in about two years. Logan Hall's original occupants -- which included several School of Arts and Sciences department offices and the undergraduate College office itself -- vacated the building in 1991, leaving only one classroom, a ground-floor lecture hall, still in use. The College office -- which moved into the Mellon Bank building at 36th and Walnut streets seven years ago -- is back in its old home, along with the History and Sociology of Science, Philosophy, Religious Studies and Classical Studies departments. The Women's Studies program and the Benjamin Franklin Scholars and General Honors offices have also returned to the building. Sociology Professor Hocine Fetni, an assistant dean for College advising, said Logan Hall is a more convenient location for her office. "If you put someone across from the Mellon Bank building and say, 'This is the College [office],' no one would guess," he said. The restored building includes a 277-seat auditorium, a terrace room, several classrooms and seminar rooms and a ground-floor art gallery. The gallery and terrace room are still under construction, and the entire ground floor is closed to students. Work on the entire building should be finished in about a month, according to Charles Bronk, director of facilities and operational services for SAS. "We were anxious to get our departments back in the building so we pushed to get floors one through four finished," Bronk said, adding that the building's opening had to be rushed in order to be ready for the start of the semester. Several occupants said that such haste is apparent, with Fetni noting that the building still seems "a little bit unorganized." "When we moved in here, we thought everything would be ready," he said. "But? there's still construction going on." Work is also not yet completed on the linoleum-tile corridors, and last-minute details will take "another couple of weeks" to finish, Bronk estimated. But Colleen Gasiorowski, an administrative assistant in the College office, said that "the building looks very, very nice,"despite the constant presence of construction workers "outside our doors." And Sybil Csigi, who works in Logan Hall's business office, said she was happy with her new quarters. Several department offices -- including International Relations, Folklore, SAS External Affairs, the College of General Studies and the Philadelphia Center for Early American Studies -- are still located on Market Street, waiting for permanent homes, which Bronk said he hopes will be "available in the center of campus." And while the Logan Hall renovations won praise from most involved, the project left at least one student confused. "It seems like one of these typical Penn things where they shuffle shit around to spend our money without any practical rhyme or reason," College sophomore Scott McWilliams said Monday.
(12/11/97 10:00am)
Still hammering away at his typewriter, Bill Minor has battled too many challenges to let age get in his way. The 75-year-old veteran civil rights reporter -- who has survived Ku Klux Klan threats, rifle shots, burning crosses and 12 governors -- is still producing what he calls his "highly controversial" work in Mississippi, where he began his long career. Last night, the Annenberg Public Policy Center honored Minor for his 50 years of civil rights coverage with the John Chancellor Award for Excellence in Journalism at an award reception in the University Museum. Minor is the first recipient of the $25,000 award, which is named after the former NBC News reporter who began his career by covering the integration of Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., in 1957. Chancellor's death two years ago inspired his long-time friend and former news source, Ira Lipman, chairperson of the Memphis, Tenn.-based security-services firm Guardsmark Inc. and member of the Board of Overseers of the Wharton School, to endow the annual award. In addition to writing, Bill Minor has served as a news source for many reporters seeking information on the civil rights movement in Mississippi. And some of those very reporters came to honor him last night. One of them, former New York Times reporter Hedrick Smith, a Pulitzer Prize winner, described Minor as "a reporter's reporter." Minor became the Jackson, Miss., bureau chief for the New Orleans Times-Picayune in 1947 -- a post he would hold for almost 30 years -- at a time when no one knew a lengthy, violent battle over race would soon begin. "I was the one-man bureau covering a whole state," Minor told The Daily Pennsylvanian in an interview yesterday. A conversation with Minor is an entire history lesson in itself. He has reported on racial lynchings and murders, always listening carefully to his sources -- which he said was the key to his effectiveness -- and defying what he recalls as the "prejudice press" of the South at that time. He recalled covering the "worst crime that ever took place" -- the lynching of Mack Charles Parker, a black man accused of raping a white woman in Poplarville, Miss., in 1959. "He was in jail, and a mass of white men came into the jail, yanked him out and killed him," Minor said, adding that Parker's abduction from the jail was arranged by the deputy sheriff of the jail. "It was a huge FBI investigation as a result of it," he continued, "the first time the FBI made an extensive investigation into a civil rights killing in this country." Minor, along with the other reporters covering the story, was the target of much contempt from the residents of Poplarville. It would not be the last time Minor's work angered the locals. "By Mississippi standards, they call me a liberal," said Minor, who refers to himself as an "FDR Democrat." During the late 1950s, Minor declared himself in favor of school integration, and he stood out as a supporter of voting rights for blacks during the voter marches of the mid-1960s. In the mid-60s, when Mississippi had still had a law prohibiting alcohol, Minor campaigned loudly to repeal it. "I had for years campaigned against this archaic system of prohibition by showing the fallacy of the system and how it led to corruption and made us such a laughingstock of the nation," Minor said, adding that the law was repealed in 1966. When the Times-Picayune closed down its Jackson bureau in 1976, Minor refused offers to move up North and created an alternative newspaper called The Capital Reporter. "We were a hell-raising, investigating little newspaper, and we were the targets of abuse by the Klan and the local racketeering element," Minor said. "And the politicians didn't like us worth a darn." The newspaper survived several threats, acts of violence and even an advertising boycott before it was forced to fold in 1981. And Minor is still at it today. He writes a weekly column -- which he began in the 1970's -- that is syndicated in 40 newspapers around Mississippi, and he's "still controversial." "I'm not going to deny it," Minor said. "Progressives are the only ones I'm really fascinated by and those are the ones whose stories I try to tell the best I can." "I don't write for popularity," Minor added, reflecting on the attacks his writing has received in his Southern home over the years. "I don't think that's the correct objective for my journalism."
(12/08/97 10:00am)
Attendance at last night's Undergraduate Assembly meeting hit a fall-semester low, prompted by what UA Chairperson Noah Bilenker described as members' overabundance of "exams, papers, and projects." Twenty-five of the body's 33 members attended the meeting -- three fewer than the semester's previous low of 28 on November 9. Several members who were scheduled to give reports last night did not appear. One of the most notable absentees was Greek Life Committee Chairperson Mike Steib, a College senior, whose proposal to extend the hours of Spectaguard security guards was tabled until a future meeting. The UA has recently been advocating extending Spectaguard hours from 3 a.m. to 4 a.m. The proposal was introduced simultaneously with a Greek Life Committee resolution to keep fraternity events open an additional "dry" hour, from 2 a.m. to 3 a.m., to allow partygoers to sober up before returning home. But Executive Vice President John Fry said last month that the administration is unlikely to approve the one-hour Spectaguard extension, citing its high cost. Steib requested to have the subject added to the UA's last week, but Bilenker, a College junior, said he didn't know the content of Steib's report. Despite having to table the proposal due to Steib's absence, Bilenker stressed committee reports such as Steib's could be e-mailed to members this week for future discussion. Last night's poor attendance was unusual, he added. "This term's attendance has been really good," he said. "Based on any other semester, this would've been an upswing." During the UA's 1996-97 term, 17 of the group's 33 members missed 20 percent of the meetings, with 12 members missing two of the four recorded votes. Bilenker took office vowing to improve attendance. Last April, the UA amended its bylaws to punish absentee members. Article III, Section G of the UA's bylaws now state that if a member is absent from three UA meetings in a term without previously notifying the Executive Board, a majority of the UA may vote for the member's resignation. As a result of this policy, attendance this term has significantly improved, Bilenker said. At one meeting last month, all members were present. Bilenker added that last night's low attendance did not affect the remainder of the UA's agenda for the meeting -- discussing two resolutions stemming from a recent Ivy Council meeting. The meeting was the most recent of the Council's semi-annual gathering of student government representatives from the eight Ivy League universities. The UA agreed to support Brown University's student government in its efforts to change the school's admissions policy to a need-blind policy. Such a policy -- which Penn already has -- disregards an applicant's financial situation. The group also approved a resolution calling to reform the Ivy Council's current constitution.
(12/04/97 10:00am)
In making policy, the few women in the University's student government aim to offset the male majority. College junior Sarah Gleit knows she's treading on new ground. As the first woman president of the junior class and the second female class president in Penn history, Gleit is one of a small group of women in student government struggling to compensate for the lack of female voices in the bodies without, as she describes it, "coming off as a bitch." The fact remains, however, that 1997 has not been the Year of the Woman in Penn politics. Of the Undergraduate Assembly's 33 elected members, only nine are women. In the University as a whole, by comparison, 49.4 percent of the approximately 10,000 undergraduates are female. None of the other branches of student government -- the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education, the Nominations and Elections Committee and the Student Activities Council -- has a female chairperson this year. And while there are three women this term on the UA's five-person executive board, only one of SAC's eight executive board members is female. The UA's last female chairperson held office in 1991. SCUE's last female head was in 1992. SAC hasn't had a woman lead since 1993, although the NEC was last run by a women in 1995. Reasons for the Low Numbers Student leaders gave a variety of explanations for the lack of female voices in student government. But all of them led to one conclusion: women are not interested in campus politics. College junior Olivia Troye, secretary of both the UA and SAC, added that fewer women than men run for SAC's board because "it's business and the typical thing for people to think is, 'Oh, business, money,' and you think of men." UA Vice Chairperson Samara Barend noted that nationally, fewer women than men go into politics. "I think that it's because historically, women have just not seen politics as having a place for them," the College junior said. "But I think that over time this is starting to change." "It's easier to vocalize when you're not a minority," added UA member Sara Shenkan, a College sophomore. "If more girls were to run, it'd probably create a better environment for vocalization." Disparities On the Campaign Trail NEC Chairperson Chris LaVigne, a College senior, said he's observed differences in the way men and women at Penn publicize their campaigns. "I thought some of the guys' campaigns were a little more creative, just in terms of a lot of catchy slogans," LaVigne recalled. "Their campaign slogans focused less on the issues and more on trying to impact the voters, trying to get students' attention, where I think the female campaign slogans were a little more issue-oriented and a little less outrageous." LaVigne added that "the outrageous works" in getting voters to remember a name when they go to the voting booth. Gleit, who beat two-time class president incumbent Clive Correia, said she ignored many "social taboos" in her campaigning. "To get elected you have to completely embarrass yourself, and I don't think there are many girls who are willing to do that," she said, explaining that she stood on Locust Walk talking to potential voters for eight hours a day for three straight days. Troye described the process of running for a board position in front of the 150-person SAC body as "intimidating." "It's a pretty big group of people to speak in front of," she said. Troye added that the women who do run base their speeches on issues, while the men "crack jokes" for votes. At the Polls Barend noted that a good number of the women who do run are eventually elected to office. Ten women ran alongside 46 men in last spring's UA elections. Six women were elected. Prospects looked better for this fall's freshman elections, as 13 of the 31 candidates for UA positions were women. And the women who ran for Freshman Class Board positions actually outnumbered men. After the ballots were counted, three of the eight freshmen elected to the UA were women, but no female was elected to the class board. Group Dynamics Many women student government members find that being one of a few lone female voices in a large group can often be a challenge. Shenkan said she is often interrupted during meetings because she is a woman. "It's very frustrating, but I think that it's a huge part of our society," she said. Penn Women's Center Director and social worker Ellie DiLapi explained that in mixed-gender groups "there's a tendency for men to talk more than women, [and] there's a tendency to cut off the contributions of women." Shenkan said she has heard the "exact same stories" from other female student leaders, and that realizing that she was not alone in her experiences has helped her overcome her initial frustration. Several female office-holders said they've also found themselves carefully picking their words and calculating their moves during discussions and committee meetings. "I really think you face extra challenges by being a woman in this job," Gleit said, "just in the manner of how to present yourself to your board, because you can't be as commanding. You have to be extra sweet to everyone all the time, and that's really hard." "I think that guys can get away with saying what's on their mind more," Gleit added. "A guy can command a meeting, can be very aggressive in conducting a meeting, and people will listen and do what he says. When a girl does that, she comes off as a bitch." Gleit makes an extra effort to maintain respect while in command. Many women don't make similar efforts, however, DiLapi said. DiLapi said women whose contributions are not validated by other group members often begin doubting the value of their input, with some tending to "withdraw from participating" and fall back into their traditionally quiet and passive roles. The Effects But UA Chairperson Noah Bilenker insisted that a lack of female involvement hasn't been a problem within his organization. "It seems like every woman on the UA has been so active that they've helped to close that gap a little bit," the College junior said. "You don't sit at UA meetings and get a feeling that it's just men talking," he said. "And I'm not saying that it wouldn't be fantastic if it weren't equal numbers, but the women that are on the UA are making the difference a lot less noticeable." Barend agreed, noting that any problems -- including gender conflicts -- within the group occur because of "individual character traits or biases." "There's a kind of a dynamic that plays out between the genders because particular UA members, because of their personality, definitely treat women differently than males," she said. "But that's not representative of the UA as a whole." Troye attributed changes she has noticed in the UA's dynamics to the influx of new representatives -- most of them fraternity members -- last spring. In that race, several former female UA members lost re-election bids. "I think I still work just as much outside the meetings, but maybe I'm just not as vocal during the meetings," Troye said, comparing her participation during this term with her previous one. SAC Chairperson Steve Schorr believes the small female representation on his board does not have "that much of an effect" on the operations of the group. "There's usually been more than one woman on SAC Exec," Schorr said. "But women have definitely been in the minority." LaVigne said he "definitely" thinks the gender make-up of the NEC -- with its equal male to female ratio -- benefits the group's proceedings. The College senior explained that because of his group's role in interviewing students for positions on University advisory committees, its demographics "impact all of student government." SCUE Chairperson Ari Silverman, a College senior, said gender has no affect on the proceedings of his group. Though several of SCUE's female members wanted to share their experiences with The Daily Pennsylvanian, they could not talk without Silverman's permission, as dictated by SCUE's bylaws. Silverman refused to allow these interviews. Looking to the Future None of the student leaders said they have concrete plans to actively seek more women for their groups. Shenkan said she would encourage women to "mobilize" -- similar to what many fraternities did last spring -- to get more women elected to represent them in office. Barend said she is optimistic in the face of national political trends. "It's going up gradually and more women are out there and running for office," she said.
(11/26/97 10:00am)
The body isn't satisfied with the data from the federal government. Student Activities Council leaders finally got their long-sought information on the University's budget yesterday, but the data from the federal government fell short of what they had hoped to learn. SAC Chairperson Steve Schorr, a Wharton senior, had requested the documents September 25 from the Freedom of Information Act office of the federal Health and Human Services Department on behalf of the group. Student government leaders have been trying to find out where money collected by the General Fee -- the approximately $2,000 that undergraduates pay with tuition -- is allocated within the University budget for more than two years. University officials broke the budget down for students last month, in a belated response to a SAC ultimatum, but Schorr had said he wanted more specifics. He hoped to get those from the FOIA request. But after finally finding the 15-page document from the FOIA office in his mailbox yesterday -- a month past the 20 working days the office had promised -- Schorr said it was still "not as much information as I'd hoped for." "It seems like broad categories and large allocations, and it's hard to know what exactly the categories mean," Schorr said, explaining that dollar amounts are listed under categories with coded names. "For example, 'fr sch 4'," Schorr said, reading off the page. "I don't know what the significance of that is." Since no line-item expenditures are detailed in the documents, which only includes information as recent as 1994, Schorr will now ask individual University departments for a breakdown of their budgets, a suggestion Budget Director Mike Masch had made last month. Masch had spoken to SAC in response to the ultimatum the body gave the University in September: either offer information on how the General Fee is allocated in the budget by October 8 or SAC would proceed with the FOIA search. Almost three weeks later, Masch came before SAC and presented a chart of the allocations by departments, or "responsibility centers." After Masch's presentation last month, Schorr told The Daily Pennsylvanian the results were not specific enough. He decided to wait for the FOIA figures before taking Masch's advice and approaching the individual departments -- an approach which had failed two years ago. "When I first contacted [the departments] a couple years ago, they weren't willing to provide the information," Schorr said. "But I'm more optimistic now because the budget director told the SAC body that we can contact them." To help him decipher the government documents, Schorr plans to turn to several sources, including Vice Provost for University Life Valarie Swain Cade-McCoullum, and Time magazine reporter Eric Larson, a College alumnus who wrote an article last year on the University budget using figures he acquired from a FOIA search. Although SAC had originally allocated up to $300 of its funds to pay for the search, the fee only came to $25, which the FOIA office will waive because the request was not for commercial, media or scientific use. FOIA officers explained that the results were delayed because of a miscommunication between Schorr and their office over exactly what kind of information was actually requested. "There was a difference of what we maintain and what he was asking for," explained Darlene Christian, Freedom of Information officer of the Public Health Service, whose office processed the request. The FOIA office can only obtain information that has been submitted to it by a particular institution. "That's what we gave him," Christian said.
(11/18/97 10:00am)
Riding on the "success" of the Residential Advisory Board, administrators and Dining Services management approved an Undergraduate Assembly plan last week to create a Dining Advisory Board. UA Vice Chairperson Samara Barend, a College junior, said the idea evolved out of a resolution passed by the UA earlier this month to reinstate the meal redemption system abandoned this year. "Rather than just including the UA and administrators in the process, we thought it'd be more representative if we included students from each of the dining halls on various meal plans to sit on this board and include their suggestions," Barend said. The board, which will also include members of the Dining staff, will probably begin meeting next month. Associate Vice President for Campus Services Larry Moneta predicted that the board will be "just as effective" as RAB. "I really support it," Moneta said. "In general, these services -- dining and housing -- are very student-user sensitive," he added. "It's really important to get as much student voice as possible. As an ideal [inviting student input] is something we always try to do." Dining Services Director Bill Canney said he, too, is "very much in support" of the advisory board. Canney added that he has "no idea" yet of whether a meal redemption plan will emerge from the new board. Also last week, Dining management approved a UA initiative to keep the Class of 1920 Dining Commons open after-hours as a study lounge during reading days and finals. John Henkel, manager of 1920 Commons, said almost 300 students used the space when a similar idea was implemented about three years ago. Henkel said there was no need to continue the program once midnight breakfast opened at Stouffer Dining Commons and Chats opened in 1920 Commons. UA member Sara Shenkan, who presented Henkel with the idea last week, said the idea was partly a security issue. "The library is too far away," the College sophomore said, adding that "when you walk home late at night you don't want to travel alone." Henkel said he thinks the additional study space will get a good response. "But I don't think it'll be as busy as Sara thinks it'll be," he said. "You can never tell what the students are going to like or dislike," he added. "You've got to try everything."
(11/18/97 10:00am)
It's a no-go on increased Spectaguard hours, according to Executive Vice President John Fry. An Undergraduate Assembly proposal to reduce early-morning crime by extending Spectaguard patrol hours from 3 to 4 a.m. received no support from Fry at a meeting with several UA members Friday. "I'm not supportive of the extension," Fry said. "I don't think it in any way addresses the real issue -- that people should be very careful about being out late at night, no matter how many Spectaguards are on the street." The UA originally began discussing the idea in conjunction with a plan to stem alcohol-related violence by keeping fraternity parties open an additional "dry" hour to allow guests to sober up before returning home. Fry said extending hours would only provide students with the "incentive" to stay out later in a neighborhood that is in "transition." He added that the cost of extending street protection is "very, very significant." Spectaguard Assistant Vice President Gesi McAllister said such a move would be "feasible." "It's just an additional hour," McAllister said. "It's not like having them work an additional 12-hour shift." But Fry estimated that an additional hour of Spectaguard and University Police patrol beyond the normal contracted agreement of 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. would cost the University $300,000 per year. Fry added that while he is "all for investing in public safety," he wants to discourage students from being on the streets after 3 a.m. "I personally think 3 is a plenty late hour to have our police and security deployed," he said, adding that he hopes the UA will take steps to increase student awareness about the risks they face on the streets late at night. In response to Fry's statements, UA Chairperson Noah Bilenker said his organization will "try our best." "But I don't think students are going to run inside like it's going to start raining fire at 3 in the morning," he added Being aware of Spectaguard's limited hours has not kept students indoors in the past, according to UA Greek Life committee chairperson Mike Steib. Bilenker, a College junior, added that the UA will continue to push the proposal with administrators in the coming weeks. The idea to extend Spectaguard hours originated several weeks ago in a cooperative effort between the UA's West Philadelphia and Greek Life committees. But Steib said recently that his position as Greek Life committee chairperson is not what got him involved in the security issue. "It's not Greek life related at all except that 30 percent of the student body is Greek, and, just like the rest of the school, they're out late at night and they're being put in harm's way because we have insufficient security to protect our students," Steib said. He added that he hopes the administration realizes a short-term solution is needed while the UA attempts to raise student awareness. "We're asking the administration to address this right now, because we don't want to see someone get mugged at 3:05 in the morning," Steib said. He added that he is optimistic about the outcome of the UA's proposal. "I think we're going to get something done here," he said.
(11/14/97 10:00am)
Although the eight Ivy League universities spend most of the year competing athletically, once a semester they put their rivalries aside and share ideas on effective ways to deal with common issues. More than 40 students, representing all eight schools, will meet at Columbia University tonight for the three-day Ivy Council Fall Conference. Established in 1993, the IC is a student-led body that meets twice yearly to facilitate communication between student government leaders from across the Ivies. Last year the group received extensive media attention for a statement it released to various newspapers questioning the reliability of the U.S. News and World Report's college ranking system and requesting that the process be researched further. The comments contributed, in part, to revisions the magazine made to its ranking process this fall. Organizers of this weekend's conference hope that at least two resolutions will emerge from discussions, including one voicing the IC's opposition to the Solomon Amendment of the Federal Omnibus Appropriations Act of 1997, which would deny federal funding to institutions that bar on-campus military recruitment. Last month, Penn's Law School faculty caved in the face of the federal amendment and allowed military representatives to recruit on campus. The decision spurred protest from various campus gay and lesbian groups, who claimed it violated the University's anti-discrimination policies. The IC also expects to produce a resolution supporting Brown's student government in its quest for need-blind financial aid. Brown junior Amy Finkelstein, IC vice president for external affairs, said the issue will come to forefront in January, as Brown's new president, E. Gordon Gee, takes office. "When the student government brings a proposal to the new president, they will be able to use a statement from the Ivy Council supporting need-blind financial aid to their advantage," Finkelstein explained. Also on the agenda is a series of roundtable discussions on issues ranging from race to voter turnout and a meeting to reform the Ivy Council Constitution. Wharton sophomore Dan Kryzanowski, an IC member, said he hopes revamping the constitution won't take time away from more "practical" parts of the conference, such as the roundtable discussions. Noting that the council meets only twice a year, he said he fears "wasting" time. Other UA representatives heading to Columbia hope to return to Penn with ideas for new programs and tips on how to deal with administrators. "Ivy Council is really useful to get ideas about what other schools are doing to solve certain problems," said UA Vice Chairperson and IC Steering Committee member Samara Barend, citing the issue of funding fraternity parties. The College junior added that plans for a Penn Winter Fest celebration during reading days are based on Dartmouth's annual Winter Carnival, which she learned about at last spring's IC conference.
(11/11/97 10:00am)
The Undergraduate Assembly clarified its stand on the three-year-old debate over minority student representation Sunday, voting against a resolution to support adding a United Minorities Council seat to the University Council. Fifteen UA members currently sit on Council -- the advisory body to University administrators and University Trustees. If a quorum of members attend, Council plans to vote on the addition of a UMC representative -- a position that existed unofficially and was eliminated over just three years ago -- at its monthly meeting tomorrow. "This is something we've been discussing since I've been on the UA," UA Chairperson Noah Bilenker, a member of the Council Steering Committee, told the body at Sunday's meeting. The College junior intended to spark discussion on the issue before the Council meeting in order to provide the body's 15 representatives with a chance to hear their UA's opinions before voting on the issue Wednesday. While several UA members questioned why the UMC was being singled out as the only group to represent student minorities, UA representative Mike Steib argued that "only good can come out of [adding the UMC seat]." The College senior added that "having someone sitting there who's solely in charge of making sure minority issues are heard" would serve Council well. But Engineering junior Michael Bressler said UMC members should take responsibility for getting their voices heard on Council and the UA, adding that he didn't "see why with a more concerted effort the UMC couldn't get people on [the UA]." Bressler cited the efforts of Greek-affiliated students to get members of their fraternities and sororities elected to the UA last spring as proof that interest groups can successfully get their members elected. But after additional discussion, the body voted down the resolution advocating the UMC seat. Bilenker -- who had opposed drafting an actual resolution on the issue -- assured Council representatives that they do not need to vote according to the resolution Wednesday. "There's no reason to pass a resolution to say that 15 people should vote this way or that way," he explained. UMC Vice Chairperson Vinay Bhawnani, an Engineering junior, stressed in a later interview that his group plans to go to Wednesday's Council meeting to advocate for the seat. "If we don't get the seat, then we will try to get other people on the UA," Bhawnani said, adding that while the UMC has never made a concerted effort to get their members elected to the UA, "that might be a course of action we would take." Prior to spring 1994, the UA unofficially allowed a UMC member to occupy one of its 10 Council seats, complete with voting privileges. But that April, as Council increased UA representation to 15 students, it also decided that the unofficial seat was in violation of Council bylaws stating that only actual UA members may fill the UA's seats. This Wednesday, Council will vote on changing its bylaws to giving the UMC a 16th undergraduate seat. Many past members of both Council and the UA have argued that since the UMC is not an elected body, a UMC representative to Council will not be selected democratically. But Bhawnani insisted that the UMC is a proper representative of the 12 campus minority groups it oversees, adding that the body can "properly voice their opinions." Five of the UA's 35 members missed Sunday night's meeting.
(11/11/97 10:00am)
A record number of students have expressed interest in the courses. Students with a hunger to learn about topics as diverse as food, philosophy and grotesque physical deformities will get their chance next semester -- provided they act fast. The courses are among the 10 preceptorials -- credit-free mini-courses taught by University professors -- offered this spring by the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education. This will be SCUE's fourth semester coordinating the preceptorial program -- which in the past has taken small groups of students into museums, libraries and even the home of University President Judith Rodin to explore subjects they otherwise wouldn't learn in a classroom -- but demand for next semester's offerings have hit an all-time high. As of last night, a record-breaking 1,475 registration requests had been made for the spring lineup of preceptorials -- a figure SCUE officials describe as "huge." The organization released a list of the courses last Thursday, which has been sent to students through e-mail since then. SCUE Chairperson Ari Silverman said interest in next semester's offerings has surpassed the group's previous highs. "And we're not even done," the College senior added. Students have until November 24 to enter their names into a computer lottery for slots in next semester's courses. "I think the huge success of individual preceptorials this past semester generated excitement about the program," Silverman said. Professors have also been eager to participate. "It allows you to do the kind of fantasy course that you don't usually get to do," Sociology Professor Paul Wolpe said. Wolpe is teaching a preceptorial on "Obsessions with Deviance," which will take students into Philadelphia's Mutter Museum -- the oldest medical museum in the country -- to explore society's fascination with the physically malformed. Wolpe plans to show his students the back rooms of the museum, where most visitors do not normally go. "I've had this in mind for a while as something I'd like to do with students," Wolpe said. "It was nice to be able to put it together into a more formalized course." History Professor Anthea Waleson will teach a preceptorial introducing students to the philosophies of Plato, which will require them to complete The Republic by the end of the three or four meeting sessions. Silverman said he was surprised and impressed by the high number of students registered for slots in that course. "That's an amazing statement by undergraduates, saying that they are willing to read Plato's greatest work for a class that does not include a grade or credit," he said. Psychology Professor Paul Rozin's preceptorial, "More Than Just Home Cookin'," will take students away for a weekend of cooking and discussions about food. The class will include talks with Georges Perrier, world-renowned chef and owner of Philadelphia's Le Bec-Fin restaurant. Psychology Professor Henry Gleitman will share his secrets on how he's survived 50 years of teaching Psychology 1 and why he keeps coming back for more in his preceptorial "Fifty Years of Intro Psychology." In "Medicine Today," Health Care Management Professor Allan Hillman will take students into hospitals and clinics to talk to physicians and nurses and watch health care practitioners in action. "Acupuncture," with Animal Biology Professor Peter Hand will introduce students to a popular alternative to conventional medicine, while Psychiatry Professor David Dinges will bring students in contact with his research on sleep and consciousness in his course on "Sleep." In his preceptorial, "The Psychology of Moral Expression," Psychology Professor John Sabini and his students will explore the ways people impose their moral views on others. Professor Jeffrey Tigay, chairperson of the Jewish Studies Program, will teach a preceptorial called "A Modern Approach to Deuteronomy" based on a book he wrote last year. And in "Beyond the Canon: The Contemporary Bestseller," students will read two contemporary bestsellers and explore the issues of design, marketing and reviewing with History Professor Michael Ryan, director of special collections for Penn's library system. This is Ryan's second time teaching a preceptorial. His first attempt, he said, "didn't go all that well" because he tried to schedule too much into the few meeting sessions he had with his students, and he found that attendance and interest dropped by the end. But he's willing to try again. "It's a pure joy as long as I have a handful of students who also see it as a pure joy and get something out of it," Ryan said. All preceptorials are limited to 15 students -- except "Beyond the Cannon," which is capped at 12. Students can register for preceptorials SCUE's World Wide Web page at http://dolphin.upenn.edu/~scue or through the Penn InTouch page at https://sentry.isc.upenn.edu/intouch/ under "courses."
(11/04/97 10:00am)
The Undergraduate Assembly took a stand against the recent agreement outsourcing the management of all University facilities to Trammell Crow Co. and presented a plan to reinstate a meal redemption plan at its meeting Sunday. The group passed the resolutions after a discussion about the body's role in several recent decisions made by the University. Penn administrators created focus groups to discuss the outsourcing plan only after the decision to turn over management of University buildings to Trammell Crow was made, according to UA Chairperson and College junior Noah Bilenker. In response to the "surprise" announcement, UA members drafted a statement reminding the administration of its obligation to consult the body in major decisions affecting student life. The resolution -- which will be submitted to University Trustees and administrators this week -- "strongly urges" Trustees to re-examine the consultative process at the University, and asks that a committee of Trustees, academic administrators, students, faculty and staff be created to advise the administration and the Trustees in future decisions. According to both the UA Constitution and the University's Charter, the UA is "responsible for advocating undergraduate needs in all aspects of University life." But the UA resolution states that the administration has a "history of side-stepping undergraduate input," citing such examples as the discussion of the University City vending ordinance and the delay on the release of information on the General Fee. Although both vending and the General Fee have direct impact on student life, the Trammell Crow decision primarily affects the 175 University employees involved in building management. Students will see the results of the deal in the $32 million in payments from Trammell Crow, which will be used for dormitory improvements over the next 10 years, administrators said when the deal was announced last month. The UA's second resolution calls for a meal redemption plan from Dining Services, an issue the body has discussed since the beginning of the year. The issue was also on the minds of many freshmen candidates who campaigned for UA seats last month. The proposal -- which is being submitted to Dining Services and University administrators this week -- urges the former to reinstate a meal redemption system allowing students on seven or more meals per week to choose between a $50 debit dollars plan or a meal redemption plan. Meals could be redeemed at the Quadrangle's McClelland Marketplace, Chats or the Hill House Pit. Students on seven or more meals that choose the debit dollar option would be given more dollars than those with fewer meals. Currently, Dining Serves provides every student with 50 free dining dollars to use throughout the year, regardless of the student's meal plan. And despite Dining Services' decision last year to end the meal redemption program, its publications for prospective freshmen this summer advertised the redemption option. UA Vice Chairperson Samara Brend -- who co-authored the resolution -- said the system is unequitable, since students on 15 meals per week receive the same number of debit dollars as those on five meals. The College junior admits that Dining Services has been "extremely responsive" to student requests in past years. Dining Services Director Bill Canney even attended a recent UA meeting to listen to student feedback. One UA member suggested the body work alongside with Canney to reinstate the plan, rather than presenting its own idea as a resolution. But Barend confirmed that Canney does not have his own plan to return to meal redemptions in the future. In terms of attendance, Sunday's meeting had a "perfect" showing, according to UA Secretary and College junior Olivia Troye.
(10/31/97 10:00am)
Linger a moment in the SCUE Lounge during lunch to soak in the collegiate surroundings, the freshly polished wood, the smooth jazz floating from the piano in the corner, and you just might forget that it was the simple swipe of a PennCard that got you in. The lounge, housed in and managed by the Faculty Club at 36th and Walnut streets, was born out of a Student Committee on Undergraduate Education initiative to bring students and faculty together outside the classroom and will mark its two-month anniversary Tuesday. And even though the lounge made its debut only recently, SCUE leaders, students and faculty members are already singing its praises. "The numbers speak for themselves," SCUE Chairperson and College senior Ari Silverman said, referring to the 318 students and faculty members who have frequented the lounge since its opening. Decisions about the future home of the SCUE Lounge once the Faculty Club moves to the Inn at Penn in two years will be contingent on the lounge's continued success, Silverman said. But for now, that success seems to be holding steady. An average of 11 students and faculty eat lunch together at the lounge each day. SCUE Secretary Jason Marbutt, a College senior, points to the average as an indication of the lunchroom's "phenomenal" success. "At the beginning, there were some days where you wouldn't see anyone at all depending upon the day," Marbutt said. "But certainly for the past three weeks there hasn't been a day that went by where there wasn't someone in the room." Music Professor Norman Smith, who has already eaten at the lounge five times, said he was once even turned away at the door, because the lounge was filled to capacity. "They were filled up, so that student and I went to Le Bus instead," Smith said. Students and faculty members are advised to make reservations before eating at the lunchroom. Silverman meets at the lounge weekly with Faculty Club Director Dan Sullivan to discuss any changes or improvements that may be necessary. The lounge was approved by Faculty Club board members on a trial basis. Sullivan said his initial concern when the idea was proposed was that some of the "old-line" club members might complain that their quiet time was being disturbed by the presence of students. "The history of the club is not to have any students," Sullivan said. But that doesn't seem to have been a problem. "I haven't had any one professor or faculty member come up to me and say they don't like seeing students there," Sullivan said. He added that he has seen many one-on-one interactions between students and their instructors, but he has also seen many groups of six or more, because, he supposes, "they feel more comfortable in a group environment." Undergraduate Psychology Society President Dara Gruen said she organizes regular luncheons at the lounge for members of her group with professors. The College junior limits the lunches to a dozen people. Smith said he has not yet tried dining at the lounge with a group of students. "It would be a nice place to go and talk rather than having a conference in your office," he said. Gruen chose the lounge for the Psych Society lunches since faculty eat free of charge on Fridays -- as part of a SCUE promotion -- and students can use their meal plan to pay for themselves. "It's definitely a little more upscale than Dining [Services]," Gruen said. She described the dark, wooden, elegant decor and waitered service, saying, "It just looks very academic and elite. You just feel important to be here." Even the napkins at each place setting help create the studious atmosphere of the lounge. Silverman translated the Aristotle quote printed in the original Greek on each napkin: "Proper use of leisure time."
(10/29/97 10:00am)
Members of the Undergraduate Assembly Executive Board hoped to leave Sunday's meeting with a consensus on campus issues ranging from the Trammell Crow outsourcing to a proposal to reinstate meal redemptions. But the body did not comply, voting to table the motions until they could deliberate over the language of each proposal next week. The meeting began with UA Chairperson Noah Bilenker urging the assembly to "try to get our voices into a lot more things that are going on" and to pass an official motion asking University officials to delay their presentation of the Trammell Crow deal to the University Board of Trustees. Trustees are meeting November 6 and 7 to discuss the recent decision to outsource management of all University buildings. The proposed outsourcing resolution -- based on a similar statement drafted by the Graduate and Professional Students Assembly -- is a reaction to what Bilenker, a College junior, described as a "surprise announcement" by the administration two weeks ago. He explained that undergraduates were not consulted before the announcement, and that focus groups to discuss the deal were created only "after the fact." Bilenker said that he hopes the proposed resolution would permit the UA opportunity to voice its concerns about the plan. And he added that he would like to see a committee or task force set up to address the issue of "lack of consultation" for the future. But several UA members came out against making such an "aggressive" statement against the administration. UA member and Wharton senior Charley Margosian said the choice over who runs the campus shouldn't be a student government decision. The UA voted to withdraw the issue until its next meeting, so that the body can tone down the resolution's language and send a copy over its internal listserv. "I'm confident that something is going to pass next week," Bilenker said. "I think everyone's going to have a chance to input on it, and it will be a true UA resolution instead of a resolution that I kind of slap together." Also at the meeting, UA Vice Chairperson Samara Barend, a College junior, introduced a motion urging the University to implement a meal redemption plan at Chats and the McClelland Marketplace. The second proposal presented to the body for approval asked Dining Services' management to consider returning to a program that would reimburse meal plan participants for every meal they miss. Last year, students were able to substitute missed meals with food from McClelland Marketplace. But that system was replaced this year with a program giving students 53 dining dollars on their PennCard which they could use at Chats or McClelland Marketplace. Several UA members argued that students with large meal plans are harmed by this system because they receive the same number of dining dollars as students with smaller plans. "I was hoping to have at least what we had last year, but extend it to Chats as well," Barend -- who co-authored the proposal -- explained. UA member and College senior Mike Steib motioned to hold off on voting for the proposal until it is distributed to every member over e-mail to read more carefully. The body agreed and tabled discussing the proposal until next Sunday's meeting. Thirty-two out of the UA's 33 members were present at Sunday's meetingƒ including the eight new freshman representatives elected last week
(10/28/97 10:00am)
Student government groups finally got an answer yesterday to the question they've been asking repeatedly for over two years -- but it wasn't quite the answer they were looking for. University Budget Director Mike Masch paid a visit to last night's Student Activities Council meeting to detail how the General Fee students pay alongside their tuition is distributed throughout the University's budget. Masch's presentation came in response to a SAC ultimatum issued last month giving administrators until October 8 to provide information on what becomes of General Fee revenue that does not go to student groups. At last night's meeting in Stiteler Hall, he broke down allocations of the General Fee by "responsibility centers" -- departments and divisions of the University, each of which must maintain their own balanced budgets. Responsibility centers that draw General Fee money include the Finance Division, which oversees Student Financial Services; the Annenberg Center, which includes student performing arts; and Student Activities, which is run by the Office of the Vice Provost of University Life. SAC Chairperson Steve Schorr stressed that most of the specific information his organization had requested was not provided. "The money was broken down into the specific departments that spend the money, but we still don't know how those departments spend the money," the Wharton senior said. Masch told SAC members that he "cannot say with the same level of knowledge and detail where every single dollar goes." The central budget office sets limits on what each center can spend, but does not allocate the funding within each center's individual budget, he said. "That's the job of the responsibility centers," Masch said. He urged student leaders to question VPUL Valerie Swain-Cade McCoullum about the allocation of funding for student activities, for example. But Schorr said he has turned to several specific divisions -- like the Athletic Department, the Admissions office and the VPUL office -- in the last two years to no avail. "I previously went to some of the departments, and they were all unwilling to give any information on how they spend the money," Schorr said. "They said that I should ask the administration for that information." Schorr said Masch answered SAC's questions better than other administrators have in the past, but added that the information is "still not to our satisfaction." Now SAC will await results of a Freedom of Information Act request filed with the federal Department of Health and Human Services. That information should arrive sometime this week. "I hope that will include information on how the departments spend their money," Schorr said. Under FOIA, citizens may conduct a search of any federal agency. The University is not a federal agency, but it conducts enough financial transactions with the federal government -- such as requesting research grants or financial aid funding -- that information on the budget would be available. The FOIA office filters through the information it finds and decides what it is legally allowed to release to the public. After Masch's presentation, SAC members elected new officers for the body's executive board. There are nine board members, including the Undergraduate Assembly treasurer, with half elected in October and half in February. Since one member resigned earlier this year, five seats were up for election last night. Out of the eight people who ran, the winners were College sophomore Jason Ackerman, Wharton junior Sang Cha, Engineering and College junior Vanessa Moses, Wharton junior Erick Wollschlager, and College sophomore Charles Howard.
(10/27/97 10:00am)
Had women not voted in the numbers and direction they did in the 1996 presidential elections, Bill Clinton would not be president today. As ABC News Special Correspondent Cokie Roberts told the crowd of University alumnae gathered at the Palladium last Friday, there is a "gender gap" in the way men and women vote in political elections. Roberts' address, "Women and Politics," was part of the 10th anniversary celebration of the Trustees Council of Penn Women -- the same group that brought several speakers, including first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, to campus last week. Pamela Petre Reis, chairperson of the Trustees Council, said the organizers invited Roberts to speak at the celebration because "she could really bring an insight" to many of the issues discussed by the group last week, especially "civil action." Roberts -- who is also a news analyst for National Public Radio, a panelist on This Week and a frequent substitute anchor on ABC's Nightline -- recapped the history of women's suffrage and relayed its significance to the current political process. "It was not until 1980 that women finally showed up at the polls -- 60 years after getting the vote," she said. Until the last decade, women consistently voted in smaller numbers than did men. And when they did go to the polls, women voted in line with male voters, usually their husbands. "From then on, politicians ignored the women voters" and introduced legislation that hurt women, Roberts explained. But since 1980, when women began arriving at the polls in higher numbers and voting for different candidates than men, political experts such as Roberts have identified a "gender gap" which she said "we have seen it in every election since." In 1996, former Sen. Bob Dole and President Clinton were tied at the polls among men voters, and it was the female voters who called the shots, she added. "Clinton's victory relied completely on the women's vote," Roberts said. She added that the recent influx of legislation in Congress that benefit women -- such as domestic violence, child support and pension legislation -- is a direct response by politicians to the gender gap. A strong representation of women in Congress is also important for the passage of pro-woman legislation, Roberts said. She told undergraduate women hoping to run for office in the future to "go for it." "It's terribly important for women and children and families to have women in office," she added. And what about predictions for the election of a woman president in the near future? Roberts told her audience that the first female president will be a Republican candidate, but said it will most likely be a woman vice president who will "get the job when the guy dies." "That's all right with me," Roberts said. "We get a lot of things through inheritance."
(10/21/97 9:00am)
Undergraduate Assembly members agreed last Sunday that the body must play a primary role in curbing irresponsible drinking at the University. The lengthy discussion at the group's weekly meeting served as a follow-up to a debate on binge drinking at Wednesday's University Council. "It's probably better for us to address it before anyone else does," UA Chairperson Noah Bilenker told the body Sunday. "It's our issue." Several UA committees introduced ideas to create a safer drinking environment on campus and prevent future instances of alcohol-induced student-on-student violence such as those that have occurred in recent weeks. To allow people to sober up before making their way home from fraternity parties, the Greek Life committee proposed that parties remain open until at least 3 a.m., while continuing to stop serving drinks at 1:45 a.m. Fraternities must currently shut down events at 2 a.m. "For that extra hour, you're giving them a chance to sober up," Greek Life committee chairperson Mike Steib said. "And that hour is dry." The College senior explained that such a system would coincide with the West Philadelphia committee's proposal to extend Spectaguard patrols from 3 a.m. to 4 a.m. on weekends. The extended protection on the streets would allow party-goers to make their way home later, safe and sober. The Greek Life committee will present its proposal to the InterFraternity Council at its next meeting, and the IFC will decide whether to bring it up before the administration. As part of efforts to stress responsible drinking, the UA plans to initiate a "propaganda campaign" attacking the cultural propensity towards binge drinking with short, catchy slogans and a day-long educational program. "We're not going to be able to change [the drinking culture] completely, but maybe we can fray it a little," Bilenker, a College junior, said. In a related issue, the Greek Life committee decided to join the IFC in opposing a proposed Greek Card that would help fund fraternity parties by requiring students wanting to attend the parties to purchase the card in advance. Steib said his committee fears the card would only have limited support at first -- especially because incoming freshmen won't have clear ideas of how frequently they might attend parties. The committee would rather see the administration find ways to provide the fraternities with more money, perhaps by increasing the General Fee which every student pays along with tuition. "It's inconceivable to me that [fraternities] wouldn't be treated like a student organization by the school," Steib said. "The administration treats fraternity parties differently because people are allowed to bring alcohol to our events." Apart from the drinking discussion, UA members also had the chance to meet with Dining Services Director Bill Canney to voice concerns and inquiries about recent changes in dining. Canney said the new weekend meal plan has been less successful than expected, falling short of its target goal of 2,000 participants. In the past week, 100 students have dropped the weekend plan, leaving only 1,300 students still registered. But Canney said he would still like to continue with the plan, giving it at least "two years." UA members expressed general opposition to Dining Services' decision to replace last year's meal redemption program with a "dining dollars" system -- where every student begins the year with $53 on their PennCard to use at Chats and McClelland Marketplace. Canney said he intends to improve the "dining dollars" system with time, but does not favor a return to meal redemptions. Twenty-two of the UA's 25 members attended Sunday night's meeting. One member was replaced with an alternate in accordance with the UA's constitution. Wharton senior Alan Danzig, who has been attending past meetings as an alternate, will take the seat of Roger DaSilva, a Wharton junior studying abroad this semester. DaSilva will become a non-voting alternate when he returns.
(10/17/97 9:00am)
It's freshman elections, take two. After results from last week's Undergraduate Assembly and freshman class vice president elections were thrown out due to a Nominations and Elections Committee error, the second round of voting for those seats has been scheduled for Tuesday on College Green. Two freshman candidates filed charges against the NEC at last Thursday's Fair Practice Code hearing -- when charges are heard and election results are announced -- claiming the NEC failed to submit their statements along with those of the other candidates for an election-day insert in The Daily Pennsylvanian, thereby biasing the election. "We made a mistake that biased the elections," NEC Chairperson Chris LaVigne said. "Therefore, we tried to rectify it in the best way possible, which the entire committee decided would be a reelection." LaVigne, a College senior, noted that "most candidates are actually opposed to the re-election," but many also realize that another round of voting is the only way to correct the NEC's error. Several candidates at the FPC hearing last Thursday expressed concern that their classmates would not take the second election seriously and may refuse to make another trip to the polls. "I think students will be surprised that elections are going to be held again," LaVigne said. "I hope they understand we're doing this to truly ensure a fair election." The NEC plans to publicize for the upcoming election with flyers around the Quadrangle and Stouffer Dining Commons and advertisements in the DP -- including an insert with all the candidates' statements. The NEC is not allowing candidates to spend money printing and distributing posters and flyers this time; only verbal campaigning will be allowed. Three candidates -- who were disqualified at the FPC hearing for failing to meet the deadline for submitting their expense forms to the NEC -- will be allowed to campaign with the other candidates this time. LaVigne explained that the NEC made the decision to include these candidate "due to the fact that we nullified the results of the last election." "Since we're having a new election with new guidelines, we felt we should not preclude those students, because they didn't violate rules for the new elections," LaVigne said. He added that he hopes people will understand the the NEC is simply holding itself accountable to the FPC, as it expects all candidates to do. "This entire fiasco should definitely have been avoided and will be avoided in the future," LaVigne said.
