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(03/31/00 10:00am)
The UA has traditionally had problems attracting minorities to seek office. This semester, the United Minorities Council and the Undergraduate Assembly began a joint effort to encourage minority students to participate in student government elections. And these efforts may have paid off. This year, a significant number of minority students -- approximately 15 percent of the candidates -- are running for the UA. "We definitely have more minority candidates [running]," Nominations and Elections Committee Vice Chairwoman of Elections Teresa Lee said. Lee did not have exact figures on how many minorities ran last year, but estimated that about 6 to 7 percent of the candidates were minorities. The Wharton and Engineering junior attributed this increase in part to the NEC's extensive poster campaign in the college houses, including DuBois College House -- which houses a significant number of minority students -- urging students to run for the UA. Lee also added that the UA and UMC's efforts to promote minority representation in student government has aided the increase. UMC Chairman Jerome Byam said his organization contributed to the number of minority candidates. "I believe that the UMC actively [went] about encouraging minorities to run for UA positions," the College junior said. "Currently the UA is not representative of the entire student population," he said. Byam added that more minorities would be important in order for the UA to address minority-related issues -- such as the recruitment and retention of minority students and faculty. UA Chairman Michael Silver said that the UA and UMC agreed that both organizations had made efforts to encourage minorities to participate in student government. "[UA-UMC collaboration] helps make UMC members aware of the opportunities the UA can give them," the College senior said. "Having a more diverse UA would give it more legitimacy -- especially when we tackle issues that affect minorities a great deal." College freshman Lara Bonner, one of the four minority students currently on the UA, said that minority representation is definitely a concern. She added that of the minority students serving on the UA, two of them were elected in the fall as incoming freshmen. "[While the] UA as a body is terrific, it definitely doesn't represent the whole student body in terms of racial issues," Bonner said. Bonner added that racial issues were not neglected by the UA since efforts have been made over the semester to work with the UMC to get more minorities to participate in elections. Many minority candidates also explained that they were running to promote minority issues on campus. "It's really important that [the UA] is diverse and is not a one-sided [government body]," said College sophomore Kimberly Dobson, a candidate for the UA. Wharton sophomore and UA candidate James Ku said the UA has not paid attention to particular minority issues. "I don't think the current UA has tried to do anything about [racial integration problems]" Ku said.
(03/31/00 10:00am)
After a controversial one-loss, one-tie twin bill at Villanova, Penn looks to get back on track. With two key players back in the lineup, the Penn softball team will look to end its offensive struggles as well as a four-game winless streak this weekend on the road against Temple and Army. The Quakers will open up the weekend tomorrow in a doubleheader against Temple and then play another two games against Army the next day. Penn, which saw a four-game winning streak snapped just last weekend, has struggled of late, dropping two games to Rider and one to Villanova. The Red and Blue also tied the Wildcats in a controversial game that was called early, due to darkness. "We're not exactly sure what is going to happen with that game," senior co-captain Michelle Zaptin said. "The rule is that once you start an inning you have to finish it, but the umpire should have never started the last inning." In the late innings on Wednesday, with darkness setting in, the Wildcats mounted a ferocious charge, scoring two runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to close to within one run of the Quakers, at 5-4. In the sixth, Villanova scored a run with one out to tie up the game at five, and immediately after the score was knotted, the umpire decided to stop the contest. Absent from Wednesday's doubleheader were Jamie Pallas and Clarisa Apostol, a first-team All-Ivy League selection a year ago. Both players were attending the funeral of Penn classmate Justin Finalle, who committed suicide last weekend. "It was a big deal missing those girls because it definitely took away from the flow of our game," freshman hurler Becky Ranta said. "They are both good hitters and they are both big parts of our team, so it will help a lot to have them back." Penn, 8-13 on the season, will not be the only team looking to get back on the winning side of things on Saturday. Temple, which stands at 7-8 for the year, is coming off two losses against Hofstra. The Owls have been on the short end of the stick in five of their last seven contests. "In my four years at Penn, this is the first time that we have played Temple, so I am really excited about that," Penn co-captain Suzanne Arbogast said. "We know that they are supposed to be a pretty good team, but they are definitely beatable." Temple could be just the type of team to help Penn stop its losing skid. The Owls managed only two total runs in their doubleheader against Hofstra. The Quakers have also suffered from a lack of offensive firepower, having been shut out a total of five times this season. They were no-hit by Western Kentucky over spring break and only scratched out one hit in Wednesday's first game at Villanova. "We definitely could have used their [Apostol's and Pallas'] bats in the lineup against Villanova," Zaptin said. "Everyone that was in the line-up could have gotten hits, but I think that we got down on ourselves after we fell behind in the first game." Despite the Quakers' offensive woes as of late, Penn sophomore standout Jen Moore has continued her superb hitting that saw her batting .500 after two early-season tournaments in Florida. The 1999 first-team All-Ivy selection boasts a gaudy .443 average, seven doubles, two homers and recognition as last week's Ivy League Player of the Week. Another bright spot for Penn so far in this young campaign has been Ranta. The freshman is credited with five of Penn's eight victories and has already pitched an impressive four complete games. "College softball is a lot different than in high school because we play so many doubleheaders," Ranta said. "There is a lot bigger time commitment, but I feel good about the season and I'm learning a lot." With a hectic stretch straight ahead, including four games this weekend and eight games in a nine-day span, Penn should be in midseason form in time for the Ivy League opener on April 8. The Quakers are hoping that this weekend will bring some more offense, a few more victories and a little less controversy.
(03/31/00 10:00am)
Penn will face Cornell on Hofstra's campus this year and next. Tomorrow, the Penn men's lacrosse team will be facing it's third Ivy opponent in as many Saturdays. The Quakers, ranked No. 24 in the STX/USILA poll, will travel to the campus of Hofstra in Hempstead, N.Y., where they will meet No. 10 Cornell at 4:00 p.m. Cornell? On Long Island? What's the deal? The Quakers would normally have played the Big Red at Franklin Field this season, but in a mutual agreement, Penn and Cornell decided to face off at Hofstra for the next two seasons for a variety of reasons that both schools consider advantageous. "Both teams have a lot of alumni in the [New York] metropolitan area," Penn coach Marc Van Arsdale said. "We'd like to get a game on Long Island and [Cornell] would as well, but so many of our weekends are locked in with traditional rivals that it's hard to get a game there. So, we decided to go neutral site the next two years." Van Arsdale considers the move beneficial not only because it will satisfy alumni, but he also believes that the game -- which will be televised on Long Island Cablevision -- will aid Penn's recruiting efforts in the Long Island area. Additionally, for a lot of Quakers, the game is a chance to go home for a weekend. "I think it's awesome, because me and a bunch of other guys are all from Long Island," Quakers co-captain and senior defenseman Bill Fowler said. "It's just like playing at Franklin Field -- there's nothing better than going home." Fowler expects the Quakers to be playing in front of a large contingent of friends and family members. He also said that the "very big turnout" would add even more pressure to an already very important matchup. "It puts pressure on us to come out and play a perfect game, like we're supposed to do," Fowler said. Playing a perfect game against Cornell isn't easy, as it involves stopping the Big Red's honorable mention All-American and All-Ivy first-teamer, senior attacker Sean Steinwald. Fowler will draw the unenviable task of shadowing Steinwald -- whom Van Arsdale compared to Penn star attacker Pete Janney -- for the entire afternoon. "Steinwald presents a challenge," Van Arsdale said. "He's a lot like Janney in that, if he gets a step free, he can score from long-range and very quickly. He's always a threat out there." Fowler, though, isn't intimidated by Steinwald's accolades or reputation. "I'm going to handle him the way I usually handle guys," Fowler said. "I'm going to try to prevent him from getting any big shots off. I'm going to be on his hands the whole time and just try to make it a long day for him." Van Arsdale and his senior captain agree that there is more to cracking the Big Red's code than merely solving the Steinwald equation. "I think the biggest challenge they present is that they really make you earn your goals," Van Arsdale said. "They play very good team defense. They have a solid goalie returning." That goalie is sophomore Justin Cynar, little brother of Harvard's senior goalie Keith Cynar, who held the Quakers to 12 goals just last weekend. However, even with Steinwald accounted for, Van Arsdale wasn't overly impressed with the sheer athleticisim of the Big Red. "I don't think individually there's anybody on that team that really stands out as being incredibly scary athletically or whatnot," Van Arsdale said. "I think it has more to do with the group. They're playing very well as a team, they're very well organized." "I think it's going to take a whole defensive stand on our part," Fowler said. "All six defensemen plus the goalie need to be working cohesively. It's not going to be a one-on-one match for each defenseman. It's going to have to be the whole team." The whole team playing the whole game is what Van Arsdale has been looking for in the Quakers' first two matchups of the Ivy season, losses to both Yale and Harvard. Because each team plays each other team only once, each Ancient Eight matchup is of the utmost importance. So, at 0-2 in the Ivy League, are the Quakers feeling the heat? "I think the pressure is just to beat a good team on a weekend," Van Arsdale said, in comparing the Saturday Ivy League losses with midweek drubbings of local teams like St. Joseph's and Lafayette. "I don't even know if it's Ivy versus the local teams," Van Arsdale said. "But it's the quality of opponent that we're going head to head with. In all honesty, we should beat Lafayette and St. Joe's?. Those are games we should win. "I think the Ivy games are different types of challenges, like Notre Dame or Bucknell, another good team that you feel good about going out and playing well against and getting a win." But in terms of the conference season, Fowler believes that the Quakers, with a loss to the Big Red, could soon be facing a desperate situation. "It's a crucial game," Fowler said. "If we win this, it helps keep us in the race. If we lose it, then we're really going to be struggling the rest of the seasonƒ Ivy-wise."
(03/31/00 10:00am)
A Bell Atlantic circuiting problem caused service to shut down for over four hours early yesterday. The University's PennNet system was once again plagued with trouble early yesterday morning when a connection glitch with third-party network carrier Bell Atlantic brought service to a halt for more than four hours. The shut-down -- which occurred between 4 a.m. and 8 a.m. -- marked the second consecutive day that PennNet service was disrupted, although the incidents were unrelated. On Wednesday, PennNet users experienced difficulty using many applications, such as the ICQ instant messenger, when University officials responded to security problems by restricting network access. But according to Executive Director for Networking Michael Palladino, yesterday's troubles were purely technical. He said that a circuiting problem caused by Bell Atlantic -- which provides a local-loop connection linking the University's local network to the national Internet service provider UUNet -- was the culprit. "The circuit was upgraded and wasn't fine-tuned properly," Palladino said. "In the process of upgrading to make it better, [Bell Atlantic] made it temporarily worse." According to Palladino, PennNet circuit monitoring devices detected problems with the network at around 4 a.m. and automatically paged an on-call University technician. Penn officials then contacted Bell Atlantic, which was able to bring its system back online by 8:30 a.m. But for more than four hours, PennNet users were unable to connect with networked computers outside the University. The problems meant that users could not send or receive e-mail from outside of Penn, or access Web sites not part of the www.upenn.edu domain. "Given the time, it didn't affect students too much," Palladino said. "But administrators who came into work early were antsy." According to University information systems officials, PennNet has been shut down due to technical difficulties five times in the past 11 months, resulting in about 20 hours of lost service. Although University officials said they have been pleased with PennNet's operation, they admit that the network would work better if they purchased a redundant Internet connection -- a backup system that many large institutions already have. But with costs for an independent backup connection adding more than $200,000 to the current $400,000 that was spent for UUNet, University officials have been reluctant to pay for additional bandwidth. Palladino, however, said that plans are in the works to have a redundant connection system in place by the fall semester, and perhaps as early as July. On the other hand, Penn officials said that security problems earlier this week may be more difficult to resolve. "The threat is always out there," Palladino said, pointing out the increasing risk of hacker attacks. "Even non-profits aren't safe from this stuff." Palladino explained that earlier this week, hackers launched a series of "flood-attacks" on PennNet. By using several automated computers, the hackers sent billions of data packets to Penn's intranet, clogging the system by overloading it with information. In response, the University put in place temporary filters to weed out some of the outside traffic, which caused some popular applications to malfunction. Penn officials eased up those restrictions, though, once the attacks seemed to stop. Palladino said that Penn officials are still investigating the recent attacks and the source remains unknown. However, he warned that if they continue or increase in intensity, the University may be forced to consider placing permanent filters on its network as well as other security measures.
(03/31/00 10:00am)
Penn plays four games this weekend in doubleheaders with Yale and Brown. The friendly confines of Murphy Field await the return of the Penn baseball team this weekend. For the Quakers, it's not a moment too soon. After a rough two-game road trip this week that consisted of two one-run losses to Temple on Tuesday and Lafayette on Wednesday, Penn (8-9) will open its Ivy League schedule tomorrow at Murphy Field with a doubleheader against Yale (8-14) at 11:30 a.m. The Quakers hope that a return to their home stadium, which yielded three wins in five tries before they hit the road this week, will help to solve their various ills. Against both the Elis and Brown (6-11), which visits Philadelphia for a double-dip on Sunday at noon, the Quakers will need better performances from their pitchers in order to avoid falling in their first Ivy games of the season. Penn hurlers walked 13 Lafayette batters on Wednesday. Against top Ancient Eight competition, that sort of production is likely to lead to further defeat. However, Penn coach Bob Seddon is confident that the Quakers will rise to the challenge that Ivy play sets out for them. "On the weekend, you're going to see a game like [against Temple] or against Northern Iowa," he said, referring to two of Penn's close losses in tight games. "Usually against the real good teams in a league setting, your team steps up and really plays well? because they have to." Last season, the Quakers lost three of four on the road to Yale and Brown. Their only win was against the Elis, a 13-7 decision on April 10. Penn dropped the second game of that afternoon's doubleheader and traveled to Brown the next day to lose by a combined score of 27-5 over two games, the latter match a 19-1 drubbing. Such weekends were the norm for the Quakers last year, as they won a paltry six Ivy games while dropping 14. However, all of the teams in the Ivy League have been characterized by mediocre-to-poor starts this year. While many Ivy teams have played tougher non-conference schedules than the Quakers -- Yale, which visited Kentucky, ranked 27th in the country by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Poll, and Brown included -- the fact remains that the Elis and Bears will walk into Murphy Field with records of 8-14 and 6-11, respectively. "The Ivy League, if you look at the standings, good God," Seddon said. But while Yale's record may be subpar, the Elis' play of late has not been. Yale invades Philadelphia on a three-game winning streak after Wednesday's 15-4 New Haven mauling of 14-4 Marist. The Elis received solid pitching in their victory, something that could stop Penn's potent offensive attack -- the only thing that has been working for the Quakers lately. Yale is led by 1998 Ivy Player of the Year and 1999 first team All-Ivy shortstop Tony Coyne, who homered Wednesday. Despite being hindered with a knee injury last season, Coyne managed to hit .417 and led the Elis with six home runs. The Quakers will also have to deal with senior Brian Ivy, who transferred from Yale to the University of Texas as a sophomore, only to return to the Elis for this, his final collegiate season. As a freshman in 1997, he led Yale in batting. The aptly named Ivy also notched three hits against the Red Foxes on Wednesday. Brown, on the other hand, split a doubleheader at VMI (12-16) on Tuesday, winning by the score of 16-7 in the first game before falling in the nightcap, 10-7. The next day, those two teams faced off again, with Brown beating the Keydets, 8-6. On Sunday, the Bears will bring their considerable offensive weapons to bear on Penn. A good chunk of that offense comes in the form of the Bears' double-play combination, senior second baseman Jeff Lawler and junior shortstop Dan Kantrovitz. Lawler is a first team All-Ivy selection who set a school record for hits last year with 52. Kantrovitz, also a first team All-Ivy selection, led the Ivies with 32 hits in Ivy League games, including 10 doubles. He also led the Ancient Eight in hitting last year with a .478 batting average. To counteract these threats, the Quakers will send sophomore pitcher Mark Lacerenza to the mound in the first game against Yale tomorrow, and Andrew McCreery will start the second game on the mound. Seddon said that McCreery was pitching in tomorrow's second game so that he would be able to be used as an outfielder in the first game -- he would have a sore arm Sunday if he pitched the first game and patrolled center field in the second. Sunday, Mike Mattern will take the ball for Penn in the first game against Brown, while Ben Krantz will probably start the nightcap. Mattern pitched well on Tuesday at Veterans Stadium, somewhat easing Seddon's concerns after his shaky outing in the Murphy Field opener against St. Joseph's last week. "The stage is set," Seddon said. "[The] experimentation is over."
(03/31/00 10:00am)
Tough competition awaits the Penn women's track team as it heads off to compete in the Raleigh Relays in North Carolina this weekend. The Quakers hope to prove themselves against some of the top track and field programs in the country including Virginia, North Carolina, Wake Forest and N.C. State. The Relays, which will take place on Saturday, are "one of the best relay meets in the country," Penn assistant coach Tony Tenisci said. Referred to by Tenisci as the "Penn Relays of the South," the Raleigh Relays will bring high-quality competition and will provide a good indication of the strength of this year's Quakers. The Southern schools attending, noted for their fast sprint teams, should challenge the youth and inexperience of the Red and Blue's young sprint contingent. Freshman Enyinne Owunwanne, however, has confidence in the talented newcomers and believes the women will compete well "against anyone on the schedule." The Quakers will need to maintain that level of confidence throughout the month of April, during which they will compete five times in preparation for the Heptagonal Championships, which will be held at Penn on May 13 and 14. Following a successful showing at last weekend's Quaker Invitational, and with a strong performance this weekend, the Red and Blue look to improve upon their sixth-place finish at last year's outdoor Heps. Setting the tone for the entire squad will be this year's group of talented captains. Senior captain Richelle Clements, who ran the first leg of last weekend's winning 4x400-meter relay, is coming off a very successful year and will lead this year's group of young sprinters. Junior captain JaJuan Gair is also running extremely well after suffering a hamstring strain during the indoor season. Gair placed second in the 100 high hurdles last weekend on Franklin Field's track. Senior captain Ruthie Neuhaus will lead Penn's dynamic jumping team. Neuhaus recorded a second-place finish last weekend, and, according to Tenisci, the wide range of experience among all of the captains will contribute to the team's overall success. Seventeen freshmen replace the 13 track seniors who graduated from Penn in 1999. And this year, said to be one of rebuilding for the Quakers, the team's health will be a major factor throughout the rest of the season. "Since it is still early [in the season], everyone is a little rusty," Tenisci said. "But we've been lucky as far as injuries are concerned, and [maintaining condition] will be key for April." Indeed, the Quakers' future appears to be bright if they are able to stay healthy and focused. A last-place finish at indoor Heps in late February hurt the team, but they are hoping to bounce back early for the outdoor season. The Raleigh Relays on Saturday will be key to that comeback. "This meet allows us to be in a spot with real competition," Tenisci said. "We really hope to continue with the success of our last meet and move forward."
(03/31/00 10:00am)
The Quakers are hoping that their string of victories since returning from spring break continues. After competing against five nationally ranked teams over spring break and breezing by Boston College and Rutgers last week with landslide victories of 7-2 and 9-0, respectively, the Penn women's tennis team is plenty warmed-up for its Ivy season. Tomorrow the Quakers will head to New Jersey to challenge powerhouse Princeton, the consensus favorite to win the Ivy title this year. Penn opened last year's Ivy season by edging the Tigers, 5-4. That win was the Quakers' first in a nearly flawless Ivy season. The Red and Blue overpowered every Ivy team except Harvard -- which ultimately captured the Ivy title following Penn's disappointing 1-8 loss. After the Quakers took a second-place Ivy finish last year, Penn coach Michael Dowd created a tougher schedule for the Quakers this spring -- including Fresno State, Georgia Tech and No. 1 Stanford -- to better prepare the Quakers for this year's Ivy schedule. "It has definitely helped to see such a high level of competition," Penn senior and co-captain Elana Gold said. "[Princeton's] not nearly as good as a lot of the teams we've played so far." Penn junior Shubha Srinivasan believes that beginning the Ivy season by facing one of the tougher teams will prove helpful to the Quakers. "Last year our match with Princeton gave us a lot of confidence," she said. "It helps to get Princeton out of the way." However, beating Princeton this spring may be even more difficult than it was last April. In October, the Quakers fell to the Tigers, 5-1, when they faced them at the ECAC Championships. In addition, at Penn's Cissie Leary Invitational -- an individual competition held in September -- Princeton freshman phenomenon Kavitha Krishnamurthy swept Penn's Anastasia Pozdniakova, 6-0, 6-0, on her way to winning the tournament. Krishnamurthy is currently ranked No. 20 in the nation. Over the fall and winter, the Canadian native had a 22-match winning streak, during which she won six tournaments -- including the Georgia Invitational and the ITA Eastern Regionals. It has not yet been determined whether Krishnamurthy will compete on Saturday, as she has been spending time in Canada visiting a sick relative and has not played in the last few Princeton matches. Tough players and all, Srinivasan notes that the Tigers' recent record has not been very daunting at all. In its last match, Princeton edged Boston College -- a team Penn recently clobbered, 7-2 -- by a mere point. The Tigers took a hard, 7-2 fall to UC-Irvine on March 14, and barely squeaked by Loyola Marymount, 5-4, a few days later. Gold believes that since Penn faced Princeton in the fall, the currently 8-8 Quakers have improved in winning key points and doubles matches. "A lot of matches come down to doubles," she said. "I think we'll be ready to take it if the match comes down to three-all in singles." Dowd also believes the Quakers are ready to take on Princeton. "We've played a much tougher level of competition than Princeton," he said. "We're hitting the ball cleanly, and we're very confident. We're playing much better than we did in the fall, and if our emotions are in the right place, we have a very good chance to beat this team."
(03/31/00 10:00am)
University and community parents will have a newly designed, increased-capacity day-care facility within blocks of campus for their children starting next year. In January 2001, the Penn Children's Center -- a more than decade-old Penn-owned child-care center for children aged 12 weeks to five years -- will move into the former General Electric building at 31st and Chestnut streets. The University is converting the building into a luxury apartment building. PCC will occupy 10,000 square feet on the first floor of the new Westside Commons complex, along with Penn office space. The facility is also expected to feature 285 apartment units, a fitness center and 17,000 square feet of retail space. The center's current location -- which has a capacity of 76 children -- is partially housed at 43rd and Spruce streets while the site at 42nd and Locust streets is prepared for the construction of the new University-assisted public school. With a parking lot and exterior playground close by, the new 106-child capacity site will be more efficient than the old location, according to University Associate Vice President for Business Services Marie Witt. She said, however, that "the program is going to be very similar," adding that she is happy with the decision on a final location. The search for the center's new site lasted over a year, with one possible option -- constructing a new facility on the site of a burned-down church near 33rd and Chestnut streets -- proving too costly with a more than $6 million pricetag. Previous plans to lease space in the Newman Center at 37th and Chestnut streets also fell through. Yesterday, PCC Director Anjali Chawla said she was pleased that the University, along with outside childcare experts, can now design a space specifically with the center in mind. "The staff and I are really excited about this new location and looking forward to our move," Chawla added. She said the expanded program will require five new full-time staff members and a few more part-time workers, in addition to its current 37-person staff. President of the PCC Parent's Advisory Board Donna Petrelli said that while she has not yet received much feedback on the move, those parents who have spoken say they are glad to see a "win-win" result after the long search. "It's in walking distance for a lot of people who work on campus," added Petrelli, who works for Business Services. Petrelli, whose daughter currently attends PCC and will return there next year, said parents had wanted the new location to offer drop-off space, a playground and convenience. "I think that all those needs have been met," she noted. Eighty percent of the PCC's enrollment will be reserved for children of University employees.
(03/31/00 10:00am)
Baby Boomers' kids are flooding schools with a record number of apps. They say that history tends to repeat itself. Most college admissions officers across the country would agree. About 30 years ago, college enrollment numbers reached an all-time high as the Baby Boomers -- those born in the post-World War II years spanning from 1946 to about 1964 -- filled classrooms across the country. The 1980s and early 1990s saw a decline in college-aged students, but today, the number is rising once again: the Baby Boomers' children are ready for higher education. Born between 1977 and 1994, the so-called "Echo Boomers" -- who currently account for 26 percent of the United States' population -- are contributing to growing application numbers at colleges and universities nationwide. According to School of Arts and Sciences Dean Samuel Preston, an expert on demographic trends, today's population of 17-year-olds is about 10 percent larger than it was five years ago. What does that mean for Penn and its peer institutions? A dramatic rise in college applications, which they all have seen over the past several years. However, Preston said that the Echo Boom is mild in comparison to the Baby Boom -- which, at its peak, was 20 percent larger than the Echo Boom. "This is nothing like the boom of the past," he said. "The biggest period of growth is over [and the college-age population] will remain the same for another 10 or 12 years." Penn Sociology Department Chairman Douglas Massey said the Baby Boom generation is nearing the end of its child-bearing age, but the Echo Boom's effects on college enrollment should last about another decade since more middle-aged women are giving birth. While Massey said the Echo Boom is not as intense as the Baby Boom, the generation has left its mark. "All colleges and universities will experience increased pressure for admissions because of the echo of the Baby Boom," Massey said. He added that he expects the effects of the Echo Boom to remain steady. "[College enrollment] will increase a bit in the short term, but there will be no wild swings," Massey said. While the upswing in application numbers is benefitting schools across the country, its effects are particularly evident in the Ivy League, where admissions applications for the Class of 2004 were up almost across the board. Brown University and Penn led the Ivies with increases of 14 percent and 6.6 percent, respectively. According to Penn Admissions Dean Lee Stetson, the number of applications has risen fairly consistently in the past decade, from under 12,000 applications in 1992 to nearly 19,000 this year, at least partly because of the Echo Boom. And while the Echo Boom has played a role in the trend of increasing applications, Joyce Smith, executive director of the National Association for College Admission Counseling, said there are other more significant contributing factors. "The boom [in applications] is also reflected in students submitting more applications," she said. She added that five years ago, high school seniors typically applied to only five schools, while a growing number of students nowadays are applying to as many as 20 colleges and universities. Smith said technology, especially in the form of online applications, has made the application process easier and faster.
(03/31/00 10:00am)
Yesterday's B-GLAD event at the Law School examined the pros and cons of hate crimes legislation. In 1998, a black man was dragged to death in Jasper, Texas. The very same year, Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming, was murdered after allegedly hitting on two heterosexual men. Hate crimes legislation, sponsored by such groups as the Human Rights Campaign and the Anti-Defamation League, is meant to deter such vicious acts of aggression. And while most Americans would never claim that hate crimes are not morally offensive, some, such as Penn Law Professors Heidi Hurd and Stephen Morse, feel that hate crimes laws go against the ideological framework of liberal political thinking. Hurd and Morse were two members of a panel of four at yesterday's B-GLAD event, "Hate Crimes Law: Defending Communities or Policy Thought?" They joined Keven Layton of the HRC and Andrew Torsy of the ADL, who spoke in favor of hate crimes legislation, such as the Hate Crimes Prevention Act. The four discussed the issues surrounding hate crimes laws before an audience of about 125 people, most of whom were Law students, at the Law School yesterday. The debate was moderated by Law Professor David Rudovsky. Torsy, a civil rights counsel for the ADL, outlined why his organization feels that hate crimes laws are necessary. "When you have harm, criminal law all the time separates it on a spectrum," he said. He argued that because hate crimes are worse than the crimes themselves, they require a greater penalty under the law. Layton, the HRC's deputy legal director, discussed the nature of federal hate crime laws. Federal laws mandate that the FBI collect statistics regarding hate crimes. They also offer penalty enhancements for hate crimes on federal property. While some include protection based on gender and disability, not all federal hate crimes laws protect all groups. The HCPA "would amend federal law to include protection [based on] gender, disability or sexual orientation," Layton said. Hurd and Morse questioned the very premise of hate crimes legislation. Hurd, who teaches criminal law, said hate crime laws punish a perpetrator for what he cannot control. "The short of it is that enhancing penalties ultimately punishes defendants for bad emotions," she said. Hurd then issued an attack directed against the proponents of the HCPA. "Those of you who support hate crimes laws are not political liberals, but political perfectionists," she said. In agreement with Hurd's summation, Morse, an expert in criminal law, said liberal ideology completely opposes current hate crimes laws. Political liberals, instead of narrowly defining criminal acts, "would like to limit extensive criminal law," he said. "We want our criminal law to be as general as possible, and we would like fewer people in prison," Morse added. Hate crimes laws, he contended, go against all of these goals. After a lengthy question-and-answer session, most in attendance joined the panelists for a reception. First-year Law student Michelle Seldin said she would have liked to have seen an academic on the panel in favor of the HCPA. "I'm Jewish and a lesbian, and feel particularly strong about the necessary strong protection from hate crimes laws," Seldin said. First-year Law students Susanne Salkind and Richard Sandman, who organized the event, felt that the academic and professional mix of the panel added to the discussion. "I think our purpose was to have a broader discussion about hate crimes. It helped fill out the conversation," Salkind said.
(03/31/00 10:00am)
Penn tries for two wins in a row as Columbia pays a visit tomorrow. The Columbia women's lacrosse team is mired in an unenviable streak. After falling by a combined score of 33-1 to Princeton and Dartmouth in the past 10 days, the Lions visit Franklin Field tomorrow to take on Penn, still in search of their first-ever Ivy victory in the three-year history of their program. The Quakers (3-2, 0-2 Ivy League) are coming off an 11-8 win over Lafayette on Tuesday and will try to start a two-game winning streak when the Lions (3-2, 0-2) limp into town for tomorrow's 1 p.m. game. Still, Penn is not taking this game lightly by any means. "We're going to prepare for it the same that we've prepared for all our other games -- and we need an Ivy League win," Quakers senior Brooke Jenkins said. "Columbia has been improving each year, so we need to prepare for anything, because every year they've gotten better. And we had a close game with them last year." Penn's only Ivy win last spring came against the Lions, 10-8. In two-plus years, Columbia is 0-16 in Ivy play, which lends confidence to the Quakers but makes the Lions an even more dangerous team to face. "That's motivation for them, to try to get there first Ivy win. I'm sure that's spurring them on," Penn coach Karin Brower said. "Coach [Celine] Cunningham has done a good job in bringing in some talented new players. But they're definitely a team we can beat." The Lions have struggled mightily to put goals on the board this season and were shut out by No. 2 Princeton, 18-0. Meanwhile, the Quakers have found the net 55 times in five games, including eight tallies at No. 14 Yale. Lions junior Devin Fitzpatrick and sophomore Alissa McCadden are Columbia's offensive leaders -- each has tallied a hat trick once this year. Also on the prowl for the Lions is junior attacker Caroline Samponaro, who netted 21 goals last spring. The Quakers counter with sophomore Traci Marabella (12 goals) and Jenkins (12 goals), who have combined to pull off hat tricks five times through five games. Junior goalie Christian Stover, sporting a 9.75 goals against average, will be charged with stopping the Columbia attack. Penn has followed its first two non-league wins with Ivy losses this season, a trend the team will try to break out of with a win tomorrow. Quakers junior Amy Weinstein, who netted three goals in Penn's win over Columbia last April, has faith that the home team will come away with another victory. "Yeah, we definitely can break out of that streak. We're hungry for an Ivy League win," Weinstein said. "I think it'll be a good matchup. It'll be a good chance for us to really execute the things that we know how to do well and show ourselves and everyone else the type of team we really are." A key to this matchup will be which squad is more aggressive, forces turnovers and gets to the ground balls. On the season, Penn has won 89 ground balls to just 45 for the opposition, but has committed over twice as many fouls in the process. "I thought we hustled and were a lot more aggressive against Lafayette," Jenkins said. "We doubled well in the midfield and got the ball back when we lost it. And we passed more instead of running so much, which was good." The Quakers bring a slight advantage in this game. Jenkins went to high school with Lions sophomore goalie Gina Kline, and Weinstein faced the duo while playing for a rival school. Kline, who has faced a plethora of shots through five games, including 32 versus Princeton, may encounter a few tougher ones from two friendly faces. "Brooke and I both know their goalie real well," Weinstein said. "So I know they've got a really good goalie -- she's strong." Familiarity may not breed contempt in this case, but it may breed goals just the same.
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In last week's Quaker Invitational, the Penn men's track team was rather pleased with many of its individual accomplishments. This weekend, though, in the squad's first scored competition of the spring season, the Red and Blue will get an idea of how they stack up as a team. Leaving town early yesterday morning to make the nine-hour journey to North Carolina, the Quakers will participate in the Raleigh Relays today and tomorrow at N.C. State. Penn's stars such as jumper Tuan Wreh and thrower Matt Pagliasotti will undoubtedly rack up a lot of points this season, but this weekend's meet will test the team's depth. "From a team perspective, it's important," senior pole vaulter John Church said. "This is a meet in which we get to compete against some of the best of the East." Church expects the vaulting unit, perhaps Penn's greatest asset during the indoor season, to be strong when the pressure is on later in the season for Penn Relays and the Heptagonal Championships, but feels that it might not get off to such an auspicious start. Junior Josh Coleman no-heighted last week; senior Bob Reynolds is taking some time away from the team; and Church will not travel to Raleigh due to academic commitments. In addition to that, junior Luke Stokes injured his back at the close of the winter season and is out indefinitely, though mid-April seems a likely target date for his return. Unlike the vaulters, who expect to overcome their early-season obstacles without much of a problem, Penn's throwers have wasted no time in impressing. While Pagliasotti, junior Ben Williams and senior Brent Stiles may have all enjoyed a great deal of success at the Quaker Invitational, it was a freshman participating in his first-ever collegiate meet who raised the most eyebrows this past Saturday. Javelin thrower Brian Chaput qualified for the NCAA championship meet last week, as he posted the second-longest distance in Penn javelin history in just his first meet as a member of the Red and Blue. The Quakers are excited about their throwers, who may serve as somewhat of a secret weapon. Since javelin and discus are solely spring events, Penn's strength in each could launch the team to far greater glory than it had in a better-than-respectable indoor campaign. "The javelin itself adds about 20 points to the team," Church said. Perhaps even more foreboding for the Red and Blue's opponents this year is the fact that Pagliasotti feels that no Penn thrower was really near the top of his game a week ago. Not bad for a group that garnered four first-place finishes in throwing events, including two courtesy of Pagliasotti himself. The talent is unquestionably in place, and the focus of the team, a major concern following indoor Heps, seems to now have been restored after a solid season-opener. "We do believe that we can win Heps," Church said, claiming that Penn's blend of athletic ability, depth and a strong mindset could carry the team to victory in the esteemed meet. Time will tell, but the Raleigh Relays should provide a good early barometer.
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Neighbors of the new alcohol-free indie rock club at 4040 Locust Street don't want the performers to pump up the volume. Students living near the new 4040 club said they called the police and the Department of Licenses and Inspections Wednesday night to complain about the excessive noise. "The music level is absolutely insane," said College junior Paula Miller, who lives at 4051 Locust Street. "I might as well be in the club." Some students, including Miller, said they want the club -- which has been holding concerts since spring break -- to shut down. In February, city officials and community residents approved zoning changes to permit a music club in the former Urban Outfitters site, next to the Video Library. Miller added that the reason behind 4040's zoning remains a "mystery" to her. College junior Alyson Fien, who also lives at 4051 Locust, said she had called the police twice about the noise. Penn police were unavailable for comment last night. Yesterday, club co-owner Sean Agnew said he was aware of the residents' concerns regarding music levels, adding that he has printed letters for the 4000 block that say 4040 wants to be a "good neighbor." The club will install a theater curtain -- costing several thousand dollars -- to help lessen the noise level, according to Agnew, who said he does not have an exact date for its arrival. Agnew said the venue's "awkward" architecture, specifically its high ceiling, contributes to the sound amplification outside. "We are currently looking into ways to sound-proof the room completely to prevent sound from escaping the building as well as managing the calendar so that shows best fit into everyone's schedule," Agnew wrote in the letter. The letter also includes assurances that the club will end shows by 11 p.m. during the week and prevent concert-goers from loitering around houses. Still, music from 4040 interrupted Nicole Matusow's reading at 9:00 p.m. Wednesday night, according to the College junior who lives on nearby Beige Block. "It's the loudest thing ever," she added. However, some students living nearby said they couldn't hear anything. Wharton sophomore Jeff Braverman -- who lives on the side of 4031 Locust Street that does not face the club -- said the sound did not disturb him Wednesday night. 4040 Locust Street will serve as a temporary location until the University finds a permanent venue more suitable for a music club. Penn, which leases the building to the club, granted a license to 4040's operators barring the sale of alcohol, food or beverages. Tom Lussenhop, the University's top real estate official, said in an e-mail yesterday that Penn "would be more than open to dealing with the noise issue during this busy time of study in any other creative ways that people suggest." Yesterday, Spruce Hill Community Association President Barry Grossbach, who signed an agreement with the University in January detailing the frequency and hours of shows, said the club is "a work in progress." Tommorrow, the music club will hold its grand opening show, featuring Atom and his Package. The event marks 4040's arrival as a consistent venue on the Philadelphia indie and punk scene. Agnew had been in talks with the University about opening a club in the area since last summer. In the fall, plans to build the venue at 40th and Market streets fell through because, Agnew said, at the time, Penn officials were afraid the club would increase area crime. Students reacted with petitions, signs and letters, and Penn officials resumed their discussions with Agnew shortly afterward. The club's opening fulfills the Working Group on Alcohol Abuse's recommendation that open a late-night, alcohol-free music club open on or near campus.
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A crowd of about two hundred Penn students welcomed the sounds of punk, jazz and plain-old rock at last night's unofficial christening of 4040, Penn's new indie music club. Four student bands rocked for more than two hours during the Battle of the Bands, a friendly competition showcasing some of Penn's best undergraduate musicians. The event was sponsored by 34th Street magazine, which is published by The Daily Pennsylvanian Inc. Each of the groups -- The Atreyu Complex, Half an Echo, The Ally and Don't Look Down -- played for 20 to 30 minutes. A panel of judges -- including a Penn music professor, the 34th Street music editor and local group the Jazzyfatnastees -- graded the groups. The Ally, a jam band fronted by College sophomore Ira Tuton, won the competition and left with $200. 34th Street Editor-in-Chief Matt Rand explained that the purpose of the event was to bring something new to Penn's campus. "We wanted to bring in people who wouldn't normally go to a live music show, and we wanted to show them there's some stuff going on that's pretty good," the Wharton junior explained. Each of the four bands gained a spot in the contest by submitting a demo tape to the editors of 34th Street or were asked to participate. "This is a great event for us," said Wharton senior Dave Goldman, the lead singer of The Atreyu Complex. "We get a chance to play for some important people." Half an Echo member Leo Dugan, a College sophomore, said his band is "always looking for opportunities to play. We play all around Philly." The band will be performing in the Quadrangle during Spring Fling. Several participants and organizers said they felt that the Battle of the Bands was an important step for the Penn music scene. "This is a good start for things to happen at Penn," Goldman said. "4040 is a good club that Penn kids don't know about -- they don't know about the music scene." But if many students didn't yet know about the club, perhaps that is because its first show took place less than a month ago after months of negotiations with the University, which had been seeking to bring a non-alcoholic music club to campus. Indeed, the concert was designed to introduce the Penn community to the new club at 4040 Locust Street. 4040 will hold its grand opening tomorrow with emo-band Atom and the Package. 4040 co-owner Sean Agnew felt positive about lending his space to 34th Street's first-ever event. "I want to incorporate more Penn events and get Penn students involved in this scene," Agnew said. Agnew's reputation in Philadelphia's music scene served as an additional draw to both the participating bands and audience members. Wharton and Nursing sophomore Grant Martsolf expressed his excitement at the possibilities opened up by this event. "It's a great idea," Martsolf said. "It's something to do right in my backyard." Judging from audience reactions, the Battle of the Bands was a good step toward the goal of inolving Penn students in the music scene. "I had heard this place was pretty cool, that this was the hot indie rock place in town," Engineering freshman Nirav Batavia said. "Now I'll definitely come back."
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College Green was packed yesterday afternoon when Penn's student government pulled out all the stops in its effort to get students to vote. Yellow balloons that read "Vote on Penn InTouch" dotted Locust Walk. A cappella and dance groups performed enthusiastically before the crowds. Candidates milled around, handing out fliers and shaking hands. And, to top it off, there was free pizza. The Nominations and Elections Committee's "Get Out the Vote!" event kicked off the beginning of elections yesterday. Elections for the Undergraduate Assembly and class boards will last through next Wednesday. This year, more than 120 candidates will be running for the class boards and the UA. Sixty-three candidates will be running for the 25 seats available on the UA, and 63 candidates will be running for class boards. Candidates passed out $1,000 worth of pizza all afternoon while they introduced themselves to voters and answered questions about elections. "The [turnout] is fantastic," NEC Vice Chairwoman of Elections Teresa Lee said. "[Students] have been positive, assuring that they would vote," the Wharton and Engineering junior added. Students could eat their pizza on the Green while enjoying free entertainment by various student groups, including a cappella group The Inspiration and the Arts House Dance Company. College sophomore Hal Hodes, also an NEC member, said he thought the event went well. "Candidates are meeting voters and visa versa," Hodes said, "[so] people aren't just voting out of a blurb from the paper." Candidates agreed that the event was a great way to meet students and introduce themselves to them, as well as encourage them to vote. "[The event] is going pretty well. I've been able to talk to lots of [students]," College freshman and class board candidate Katherine Smith said. "It's great -- people can meet the candidates [and there's] more interaction," College freshman and UA candidate Lily Yeun said. Some candidates are also confident that voting through Penn InTouch -- which was actively advertised yesterday -- will positively affect voter turnout. Lee said last night that 5 percent of students had voted during the day, meaning that over 500 students had already cast ballots. Last year, 1,220 students -- just 17 percent of the eligible voters -- voted. "The recent change in how to vote [is great]," UA candidate and Wharton freshman Amina Conteh said, adding that "more people will definitely vote." Students will be able to vote on Penn InTouch until Wednesday, and results for the UA and class boards will be announced after the NEC's Fair Practices Code hearing the following day.
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New software enables profs to create highly interactive class Web sites for students. Penn professors are starting to throw away their chalk and erasers in favor of a new kind of blackboard. Using a commercial software product called "Blackboard" that the University is pushing faculty to use, professors can create sites that allow students to access class information and assignments, hold group discussions, take electronic exams and monitor their grades online. Blackboard was first unveiled last semester, when a small number of courses made use of it, primarily in the School of Arts and Sciences and the Engineering School. Classical Studies Professor Joseph Farrell, the faculty director of distributed learning for SAS, has spent the past two semesters working to get SAS faculty members interested in using Blackboard for teaching their courses. The program is designed to be user-friendly so that even professors unfamiliar with programming can design Web sites, he noted. Every SAS department has held a faculty-training meeting to make information about Blackboard more widely available, and Farrell said he hopes every department will have at least one or two courses utilizing the resource next semester. Blackboard Web sites are pre-formatted, allowing professors to add relevant course materials and use as many or as few features as they choose, as well as make a limited number of design changes, like changing color schemes. Students in courses using Blackboard must log in using a password to the course's Web site to use most of its features, allowing online class discussions and other private areas of the site to be protected from public view. In a Penn survey of students who used Blackboard in their courses last semester, 83 percent of respondents said the use of the program had enhanced their class in some way. Almost all of the nearly 400 students surveyed said they found the program to be user-friendly, while about two-thirds of those surveyed said they would like more of their professors to make use of the software. Farrell said the positive student reaction to Blackboard "was much more enthusiastic than we had even hoped for." At a training session for the Anthropology Department earlier this month, several professors in attendance said they planned to use Blackboard for their courses in the future. One of the features that most interested those in attendance was the software's ability to place course materials like readings and photos online, eliminating the need for course bulkpacks. These types of readings can be placed in the restricted areas of the Web sites accessible only by enrolled students, Farrell noted, avoiding problems like copyright violations. "Its a little less personal in some ways," said Engineering junior Ben Williams, who uses Blackboard to chat with classmates from a poetry class taught by English Professor Al Filreis. But he also noted that discussions via the Web site were "not as intimidating" as speaking in class. Farrell said he has found the program to be very useful in teaching one of his own poetry courses, "Horace," this semester. Students did not have to purchase any books or bulkpacks for the class because all of their assigned readings were on the Web, Farrell said. Students in his class take online quizzes based on the readings, he said, and can then keep track of their grades automatically using a personal information feature provided by Blackboard. "I can't imagine ever wanting to teach a course without [Blackboard] ever again," Farrell said.
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Penn was ahead in the nightcap, but Villanova tied it up as darkness arrived. This has been a season of streaks for the Penn softball team. And, right now, the Quakers are on a cold streak. After winning four straight over La Salle and Lafayette last weekend, Penn (8-13-1) is now winless in its last four contests. Penn was shut out yesterday afternoon at Villanova in the opener of a doubleheader, 9-0, and tied the Wildcats, 5-5, in the nightcap as the game was called in the bottom of the fifth due to darkness. The first game was lost from the get-go as the Quakers came out flat, giving up five first-inning runs to host Villanova. It was a lead that the Wildcats would never relinquish. "We came out kind of shaky and let the first game slip away after the first inning," Penn freshman shortstop Crista Farrell said. The first-inning onslaught came against freshman pitcher Becky Ranta, who has been the Quakers' ace and was just named to the Ivy League honor roll this week. The Wildcats, however, took no notice of Ranta's prior accomplishments as they roughed her up for five runs on seven hits. Fellow Penn freshman Dina Parise had no better luck at stopping 'Nova, giving up four runs in 4 1/3 innings. The game was called in the sixth inning due to the eight-run mercy rule. Offense was also lacking for the Quakers in the opener. Sophomore second baseman Molly Meehan collected Penn's lone hit off the stellar pitching duo of Carrie Walpole and Faith Meisinger. Part of the reason for Penn's lack of offensive production was the umpire's rather large and unorthodox strike zone. But the Quakers would not use this as an excuse, as the strike zone was the same on both sides. "The umpire was calling a lot of inside pitches for strikes -- it was a kind of unexpected strike zone," third basemen Jen Moore said. "But Villanova pitched a really good game, and we should have been swinging." Another possible reason for Penn's unimpressive performance was the absence of two starters -- second baseman Jamie Pallas and left fielder Clarisa Apostol. The two sophomores took the game off to attend the funeral of friend and College junior Justin Finalle, who committed suicide this past weekend. Nevertheless, the Quakers are still very disappointed with their performance. "They hit the ball, and we didn't and our fielders did not do a good job," Moore said. "It was a disappointing game." But while Penn seemed to give up in the first game, they made quite a game out of the nightcap. The Penn bats finally got rolling in the third inning, as the Quakers brought home four runs to break the scoreless tie. Freshman left fielder Deb Kowalchuk got the rally going with a one-out single. After a Farrell sacrifice and a passed ball, Moore drove home Kowalchuk with her team-leading eighth double of the season. Freshman Heidi Albrecht followed with a single to score Moore, and, two batters later, freshman catcher Dani Landolt drove in two more with another base hit. The Quakers extended their lead to five in the fourth with another Moore RBI, but the Wildcats came right back. They scored twice in both the fourth and fifth innings to pull to within 5-4. With the Quakers leading by one run in the bottom of the sixth inning, the game got interesting. Darkness was fast approaching, and many of the Quakers had trouble seeing the ball. "You need light entering your eyes to react," Moore said. In a valiant attempt to preserve its one-run lead before the game was called, Penn coach Carol Kashow changed pitchers twice, putting in Parise for senior captain Suzanne Arbogast, who gave up four runs and six hits through five innings, before putting Arbogast back in the game. But the Quakers could not hold off the Wildcats late-inning rally as Villanova benefited from a game-tying walk off Arbogast. As soon as the game was knotted at five, the umpires decided to call the game, leaving Villanova with the bases loaded and one out. Despite the late Wildcat come-back, Penn was still pleased with the game. "We played a lot better and showed a lot of character coming back in the second game," Moore said. The Quakers will look to get back to inscribing the winning side of the ledger when they square off this weekend against Temple and Army.
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Bobby Seale co-founded the Black Panthers in 1966 and was a leading proponent of black militancy. Even though he still wore a trademark beret, Bobby Seale came to campus last night promoting a message far different from the black militant one for which he became famous in the 1960s. In an animated two-hour speech before approximately 175 students, Seale, who co-founded the Black Panther Party over 30 years ago, said he and other members of his movement have been unfairly misrepresented by the media as "hoodlums" and "thugs." In reality, Seale explained, the party was based more on a desire to change the status quo than on a hunger for violence and retribution. Seale, along with Huey Newton, is known as a leading figure in the rise of the black power movement of the mid- to late-1960s. The imagery of the Panthers' berets, bandoleer belts and upraised fists remains today a lasting symbol of Seale and his activism. He was also a member of the "Chicago Eight" -- a group of radicals arrested for disrupting the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. For his outbursts in court, Seale was ordered bound and gagged. While his ideologies may have changed over the years, his dramatic speaking style has not. Through a series of vivid descriptions of the past and colorful imitations of friends and foes, Seale set about dispelling various myths about the Panthers. He began by condemning the group's portrayal by the media. In particular, he criticized the 1995 film Panther. Calling it "poetic lies," he explained that the film promotes the same image of the Panthers being thugs that the government promoted in the past. "I think it's a bunch of cheap fiction crap," Seale said. "Only 10 percent was [based on real-life incidents]." Seale spent the majority of his address refuting this image of "hooliganism" and tracing the start of the radical group he founded with Newton, whom he met while both were attending Merritt Junior College in Oakland in 1962. Stressing the amount of reading and research that he and Newton engaged in before shaping the group, Seale gave a lengthy description of the intensive study of African-American history that precipitated the creation of the Panthers. "This is the kind of stuff that was? blowing my mind," he said, referring to the legacies of figures such as W.E.B. DuBois and Nat Turner. While Seale and Newton took active roles and promoted social change within their small college by advocating for a black history class, it was not until the death of Malcolm X that they decided to formally organize the Panthers. Shortly thereafter, they came up with the Ten Point Platform, which outlined the goals of the group. Included in the platform was the right to freedom from police brutality "We wanted to capture the imagination of real people," Seale said. Seale pointed out that the Panthers, especially in their early days, stayed well within the boundaries of the law, even though they are often remembered for their run-ins with police. Newton was in law school and tried to ensure that the Panthers followed at least some of the country's laws. Seale closed his remarks with a condemnation of all kinds of racism and called for a future of "cooperational humanism." "All power to all the people," he said as he left the stage to a standing ovation, echoing the message he has been promoting for the last 30 years. "It was very enlightening," University City High School student Nicole Harris said. And College junior Larissa Kopytoff said Seale's stories "really gave you a sense of the atmosphere of the time."
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Fewer students than hoped have come to focus group sessions on Penn's future. The Penn Public Talk Project kicked off the PennTalks initiative this week, bringing together small groups of undergraduates to discuss their experiences at Penn and their hopes for the University's future. But so far the effort -- which will culminate in a report to University President Judith Rodin on the various student opinions expressed -- has gotten off to a slow start, as it seems fewer students than expected are interested in talking about Penn. Associate Director of Penn Public Talks Bill Boltz said that there were originally 30 discussion sessions scheduled for the next two weeks -- but as of now, only 15 will run. He attributed the apparent lack of student interest to the fact that PennTalks was held so soon after spring break. "So much is going on," Boltz said. "People are getting back at different times. The sessions next week will be more full than this week's." At the project's inception, Boltz planned to have about 10 students per session; however, many have only three or four. But Boltz said that the smaller number of students will still result in "good and productive conversations." Boltz said PennTalks is intended to let administrators know what students think about Penn, as well as to strengthen the University community. College sophomore Ari Alexander, the Penn Public Talks Project student liaison, expressed hope that PennTalks will help to "break down the hierarchy" of the University so that administrators will be able to hear students' opinions more easily. As part of the program, Penn hired the Connecticut-based Study Circles Resource Center to train 31 student facilitators in how to get their fellow students to discuss the issues that are important to them. All the discussions are run solely by students. Participants remain enthusiastic about the effort. "It went really well," said College sophomore Jamie Beller, who attended one of last night's sessions. "It was productive. We brought up a lot of pertinent issues and we got to hear different views from different people." Facilitator Iman Martin said that she got involved in the project partly because, as a member of the United Minorities Council, she wanted to bring many different kinds of students together. "It's a chance for Penn students to come together and talk about what Penn is really about," the College freshman said. Facilitator Amy Rosen, an Engineering sophomore, stressed the importance of students feeling that they can really express themselves. "For the first time, [Penn has created] an unrestrained conversation, with no adult figure or authority figure present," Rosen said. If the PennTalks program is successful, those involved hope to expand the project to include dialogues between faculty members, graduate students and members of the University City community.
(03/30/00 10:00am)
A new life sciences building would house the Biology and Psychology departments. University administrators are planning to breathe new life into Penn's natural science departments and programs with the construction of a $90 million life sciences building, to be located at 38th Street and University Avenue alongside Hamilton Walk. Although the project is still in its preliminary stages and has yet to be submitted to the University Trustees for approval, the proposed 95,000-square-foot facility would provide new homes for the Psychology and Biology departments. It will create new and vastly improved wet and dry research laboratories and increase classroom and office space to accommodate faculty enlargement in both departments. The life sciences building will also house interdisciplinary programs in fields such as genomics and cognitive neuroscience, which draw upon faculty from the Biology and Psychology departments, as well as from the Medical School and Veterinary School. "There is a huge evolution -- if not revolution -- going on in the life sciences," University President Judith Rodin said. "We need the type of facilities that will allow us to push the frontiers, and right now we don't have the facilities to do it." The building is currently being designed by Boston-based architect Ellen Zweig, who also did the feasibility studies when administrators began developing the project. There is no timetable for the project, but preliminary plans call for the building to be constructed in two phases. According to Provost Robert Barchi, the first phase -- which should take about 18 months to complete -- will provide approximately 55,000 square feet of space for Biology Department laboratories and animal research labs for the Psychology Department. The Biology Department's current lab facilities in the Kaplan Wing of the Leidy Laboratories and the Mudd Biology Research Laboratory would then be demolished to make room for the second construction phase, an adjacent building housing primarily Psychology Department laboratories and offices, Barchi added. As part of the plan, the Goddard Laboratories building would also be vacated, although that building would remain in use for administrative purposes. According to administrators, the new life sciences building would help enliven the back end of campus along Hamilton Walk, serving as the focal point of a "Life Sciences Quadrangle" that would encompass Medical School and Veterinary School buildings and the Bio Pond. And construction of the new building would free up much-needed expansion space near Locust Walk for the Graduate School of Education and the School of Social Work, both of which currently do more than 40 percent of their research in rented facilities. Administrators plan for those schools to use the Psychology Laboratories Building on 3720 Walnut Street once the Psychology Department moves into the life sciences facility. Still, the project remains focused on vastly improving laboratory space for the Biology and Psychology departments. "In terms of facilities, it is our No. 1 priority," School of Arts and Sciences Dean Samuel Preston said. Penn faculty and administrators have long complained that current research laboratories for the natural sciences are too small, too old and downright depressing. "They are really outdated facilities and that has really hurt us in our ability to attract and retain the best faculty," Psychology Department Chairman Robert Seyfarth said. "It is a problem when your facilities are not on par with those institutions you are competing with," Preston added. Many of Penn's peer institutions have announced that they will make major investments in their sciences programs. Most notably, Yale University recently announced it would spend $500 million to overhaul its natural sciences program. But like all University construction projects, the challenge remains in finding funding for them -- although administrators have been pitching the project for a number of years. "A lot of people want to give money to people -- not bricks and mortar," SAS Vice Dean of External Affairs Jean-Marie Kneeley said. And Rodin said that the absence of formal plans has made it difficult to fundraise. Still, Preston and Rodin have met with a number of potential donors -- including many from the biotechnology sector -- and have already secured a number of private donations. According to Preston, they have already received pledges for almost $3 million in dedicated stock and a total of $4 million from individual Trustee donors. "At this point, we feel the funding is identified," Preston said. "There is an understanding that if we raise our target of $15 million to fund [Phase I construction], we can sustain debt service on the rest of the building."
