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(07/29/99 9:00am)
The new facility will meet the dietary needs of Muslim students. The new Kosher Dining facility, which is set to open in the warehouse near 40th and Locust streets, will now also accommodate Muslim students who prescribe to a hallal diet, Penn officials said recently. A hallal dining service is one that meets the dietary needs of observant Muslims. Officials say the addition of hallal service to the new Kosher Dining option will serve as an opportunity for Jewish and Muslim students to expand their horizons and learn more about each others' cultures. According to Vice President for Campus Services Larry Moneta, observant Muslim students have traditionally eaten at Kosher Dining --previously located in the Faculty Club -- because the diets are similar, but now the dining facility will address the needs of hallal students directly, rather than serving them by default. "What's different this time is we're going to try to make it a little more inviting for them," Moneta said. But the focus of the service is still on kosher food, Moneta said. "The immediate meal needs are for the kosher community," Moneta said. The new facility, formerly occupied by both Boccie Pizza and Saladalley, will be run as a price-fixed kosher restaurant open to the public, although dining plans will be available for students, Moneta said. The building is currently undergoing renovations to prepare the location for the opening of the restaurant in the fall. Calling it an "exciting and wonderful opportunity," Rabbi Howard Alpert, executive director of Hillel, said that by sharing meals, Jewish and Muslim students can interact in a manner not otherwise possible at Penn. "Eating together and talking together may help us overcome other issues that divide us," Alpert said. University administrators announced this spring that Kosher Dining would relocate to the warehouse spot after the facility's former location, also the site of the Faculty Club, was chosen to become the new home of the Graduate School of Fine Arts. The restaurant will cover about 8,000 square feet, making it larger than the dining facility in the current location. Another space in the warehouse, to be leased by Hillel during the construction of its new building over the next several years, will allow not only for Jewish programming, but also for possible joint-programming or discussions between Muslim and Jewish students, Alpert said. "I think Jewish students choose to come to Penn both? to live as Jews and also experience the general community," Alpert said. "Having a kosher service that is also hallal will accomplish both." A portion of the warehouse is currently occupied by Video Library, which will not be affected by Kosher Dining's move.
(07/29/99 9:00am)
Only two Ivy League schools do not have women's golf teams. Penn announced Monday that the women's golf team will begin its first year of varsity competition this fall. The Quakers, who competed unofficially in the Princeton Invitational and Ivy Championship tournaments last spring, will now be eligible to compete for the league championship. Penn becomes the sixth Ivy League school to support a women's golf team. Only Cornell and Columbia are without women's programs. The Quakers' varsity status was made possible by $250,000 donations given to the program by both The Judge John C. Pappas Family Charitable Foundation, Inc. and the Thomas Anthony Pappas Family Charitable Foundation. The team lost captain Lindsay Stern to graduation, but Penn will return senior Natasha Miller, juniors Jen Schraut and Karen Pearlman and freshman Victoria Entine, while incoming freshman Stacy Kress will be looked upon to solidify the team. "Kress carries a handicap of four at Woodholme Country Club, has extensive tournament experience and will help the other ladies improve just by being around her," coach Francis Vaughn said in a statement released on Monday. Unofficially, Penn finished sixth in the Ivy Championship tournament at Bethpage Golf Club in Long Island, N.Y. -- 135 strokes behind fifth-place Harvard. Schraut was the top Quakers finisher with a 36-hole total of 200. Meanwhile, Entine shot a 214, Stern a 216 and Pearlman a 272. Penn is now the first Ivy League school to add a women's golf program since the inauguration of the women's Ivy Championship in 1997. And now the Quakers will have a trophy to play for, as Arthur A. Brennan, a Wharton alumnus, and his wife Katharine donated the Arthur A. Brennan, Jr. Family Trophy for the Women's Ivy League Championship. Each of Brennan's six children has also graduated from Penn. Vaughn, who has coached the men's golf team and the non-varsity women athletes since 1996, will serve as women's golf coach. Vaughn, a graduate of East Carolina University, led the Quakers' men to their first Ivy League Championship ever in 1998.
(07/29/99 9:00am)
With the construction of a movie theater complex, a fresh foods market and an 800-car parking garage in the works at 40th and Walnut streets, the economic growth of the 40th Street commercial corridor -- often referred to as the "Main Street" of University City -- has become an even greater point of interest with community officials. With the goal of analyzing the commercial potential of the corridor and finding ways to make the area an even greater asset to the community, the University City District this week released the results of a nine-month retail market study that presents recommendations for furthering the economic growth of the corridor. The study, began in October 1998 and finished last month, analyzes the demographics of the area and the present retail mix of the corridor -- defined as the region from 39th to 41st streets between Filbert Street and Baltimore Avenue -- and identifies potential improvements to the area that may spur further commercial revitalization. According to UCD officials, University City's international character and unique consumer mix promise to make the 40th Street corridor one of the city's most unique commercial districts. "It's that demographic diversity that really was an underpinning for this entire process," UCD Executive Director Paul Steinke said Tuesday. The study suggests many potential improvements to the corridor, including continued improvements to the street's aesthetics, creating a strategic plan for leasing space to help new retailers establish businesses in the area, creating more space for retail along the corridor and market 40th Street as a unique shopping, dining and entertainment destination. "I think that an improved corridor is to everyone's benefit in the community," said area realtor Lindsay Johnston, the former head of the 40th Street Area Business Association. Both University and community officials agree that the opening of the Robert Redford-backed cinema complex, market and parking garage will serve as a catalyst, spurring further revitalization of the corridor. Officials hope that recent renovations to the 40th Street streetscape between Walnut and Chestnut streets -- which were completed by the UCD with a grant from Penn -- coupled with future renovations on the corridor to be conducted by the City of Philadelphia, will make 40th Street a more attractive shopping and entertainment destination for people across the city and around the region. The study was conducted with the assistance of a community steering committee -- formed this past February and composed of Penn officials, community residents and area businesspeople -- and an urban retail development consultant firm, Square Foot LLC. The funding for the $15,000 study came from the Penn grant which also funded the 40th Street streetscape improvements this past spring. The UCD now plans to work with the steering committee to develop further leasing and merchandising plans for the area as well as encouraging area institutions, businesspeople and organizations to review the study and help implement tangible change in the corridor. "Our hope is that, ultimately, University City will have in 40th Street a real destination for residents, for students and for employees to meet, to shop and to dine," Steinke said. The study compiles and analyzes the results of a photographic catalog of storefronts, demographic data and a survey conducted along 40th Street and by mail that received 217 responses. According to the study, the commercial corridor has both strengths and weaknesses. Some strengths include the large student and employee daytime population, a large residential population, a central location in University City, convenient area public transportation and proximity to Center City. Among the area's weaknesses are a perception that the area is unsafe, poor merchandise selection in retail stores, numerous property owners and inconsistent store fronts and poorly maintained transportation stations.
(07/29/99 9:00am)
A recent report published in the July 22 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine shows a wide disparity in the payments that different academic teaching hospitals receive from the federal Medicare program for their medical education services. The report, written by John Iglehart, said that the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania received $103,391 per resident trainee in Fiscal Year 1996. The figure represents the amount that hospitals would receive if private, third-party insurers paid the direct costs of graduate medical education. Although HUP received substantially larger direct Medicare payments for medical education than many other teaching hospitals did -- the University of Minnesota Hospital in Minneapolis, for instance, received a total of $33,739 per resident -- it still received less federal payments than those earned by several of New York's major academic hospitals. The report predicts that these disparities in federal payments -- primarily caused by differences in the wyas in which hospitals have accounted for their respective costs of residence training -- could "complicate the efforts" of medical centers to loosen Congress's restrictive spending caps. Typically, third-party insurers have made significantly higher payments to health-care providers than have Medicare and Medicaid. Some teaching hospitals suggest that Medicare establish a national average payment, which could ostensibly compensate those medical centers that receive less payment per resident. Medicare payments have indeed been a subject of debate on Capitol Hill in the last several years. The Balanced Budget Act of 1997, which had the ultimate goal of eliminating the federal deficit, called in part for steep reductions in Medicare expenditures and significantly less financial support for hospitals that receive and treat a large number of indigent patients. The report notes that teaching hospitals, which are generally located in urban areas and provide large support for uncompensated care, "were particularly affected by the 1997 budget law" by having their subsidies and federal payments reduced. "On the one hand, we are these wonderful institutions. On the other hand, we're also available to everybody, and it's very expensive to operate as a result of that," said Russ Molloy, the associate executive vice president for government relations for Penn's Health System. The Balanced Budget Act is expected to save the federal budget $119 million over five years, according to the report. It is expected to cost HUP about $175 million over the next five fiscal years, Molloy said. "Teaching hospitals cannot afford to let Congress or any other entity decide their fate without first making a more vigorous effort to define the value of academic medicine to society," Iglehart's report says. According to the report, several interest groups, like the Association of American Medical Colleges, have been encouraging Congress to increase payments to teaching hospitals. But some say that the active reaction against the legislation began a little too late. "When the Balanced Budget Act was enacted, the AAMC, reflecting the attitudes of its members, registered only mild complaints about the Medicare provisions," wrote Iglehart in the report. "Someone at the major teaching hospitals was asleep at the switch," by waiting too long to voice frustration with the Balanced Budget Act, said Health Care Systems Professor Mark Pauly.
(07/29/99 9:00am)
Penn's Stephanie Horan took the Ivy League by storm as a freshman last year, making the Ivy League Championship All-Tournament Team while leading the league in service aces. This year, the Quakers might just have nabbed another Stephanie Horan in freshman outside hitter Stacey Carter. "She has the body type of Stephanie Horan," Penn coach Kerry Major said. "When I watched her play, she moved a lot like Steph." Of course, duplicating Horan's success will be a tall order for Carter, especially since the 5'11'' freshman needs to beat out senior captain K.C. Potter just to gain a starting position opposite Horan. "It's going to be hard to beat that experience out," Major said. "But I expect Stacey to challenge her and push her real hard." Carter, who will be returning from a stress fracture next month, is considered Penn's top front line recruit. But the Quakers will be bringing in several top freshmen in the back line, including Los Angeles, Calif., native Alexis Zimbalist. "I think I have possibly the top defensive specialist in the nation coming in with Zimbalist," Major said. "She's just everywhere all over the court; she will go to the back row right away for us to gain some ball control." Hawaii native Shayna Higa will look to join Zimbalist in the back line. Higa, who stands just 5'1'', was twice named her team's Most Inspirational Player in high school. Higa was drawn to Penn by both its distance from home and her connection with Major, who coached the incoming freshman when she was just 14. "The first year I played club volleyball, I played for her," Higa said. "And there was a big difference [in my play] before and after." The Quakers will also be welcoming two 5'8'' outside hitters, Kai Gonsorowski and Michelle Kliszewski. Gonsorowski, whom Major calls the "most athletic person on the team," will also compete in the high jump for Penn's track program. Kliszewski, meanwhile, had sibling ties with other Ivy League schools but still chose Penn. Her sister Kristina played volleyball at Yale, while her brother Matthew played football at Princeton. Kliszewski was a four-year letterwinner in both soccer and volleyball in high school. Rachel Sherer, Lauren Silbert and Elizabeth Watty round out the Quakers' eight-woman recruiting class. They are all listed as front-line players, but may end up seeing most of their time early on in the back row. "The offense I'm running takes tremendous back row ball control and right-on nailed perfect passing," Major said. "I could see me using a lot of the freshmen for that. Their first step onto the court would probably be in the back row." The eight new freshmen will be counted upon to ease the loss of five seniors from last year's 11-16 Quakers team.
(07/29/99 9:00am)
Several academic programs, including the Humanities Forum, will operate out of the vacated Locust Walk house. The Phi Gamma Delta house, made vacant this past spring when FIJI brothers forfeited their charter, has been committed to the School of Arts and Sciences for use by several academic programs, University officials said Tuesday. The University-owned building will house the recently created Humanities Forum and the McNeil Center for Early American Studies, Provost Robert Barchi said. "Other SAS activities may also be accommodated if space allows," Barchi said. "Detailed planning for those programs is now under way." Barchi said that the School will likely occupy the house for at least four years, at which point FIJI will have the opportunity to reapply for a Penn charter and may request residence in their former house. "We have to think about using the building for at least the next four years during which the FIJI fraternity is not part of our campus," he said. But it is not yet known whether FIJI will reapply for a charter or whether Penn will grant the fraternity occupancy of the house. The FIJI brothers forfeited their house in early April after violating alcohol and risk management policies at an alumni dinner March 20 that ended in the death of 26-year old 1994 College graduate and FIJI brother Michael Tobin. The fraternity, which had occupied the house for 85 years, was suspended by its national office shortly after the incident. The provost's office had received numerous proposals over the past several months from organizations and departments across the University vying for space in the house. The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs petitioned in April that the facility be occupied by another fraternity or sorority come fall. Although Barchi said the space was designated for academic use, he noted that officials "had an open mind about all the proposals that came in," which did include "quite a number of requests" from various academic programs. Administrators considered the house's location -- which is central on Penn's campus -- as well as "broader campus planning" issues in making the decision to allot the space to SAS, he said. But exactly when the house will be ready for occupancy by the Forum and the McNeil Center is still not clear. Barchi said the needs of each program must be assessed and renovations to the building must occur before the programs will be able to operate out of the house. Since estimates are not yet complete, Barchi said he could not speculate on the length of time it would take to complete the renovations, though he said he did not expect them to take an extended period of time. "I don't see these as major renovations that are going to take years," he said. According to SAS Dean Samuel Preston, the use of the FIJI house will reduce an academic space crunch within the School, preventing new programs from being put aside or overlooked. "The wonderful new Humanities Forum, which promises to galvanize scholarship and teaching in the humanities, is currently homeless," Preston said. Preston said that if space allows, the house's occupants may include the new Center for Folklore and Ethnography created upon the closure of Penn's Folklore and Folklife department last month. "The library in the FIJI house will be the finest seminar space in the School and will be available to other users as well," Preston added. The Humanities Forum will operate out of Bennett Hall, where it has been located since its creation this past fall, until renovations are complete. According to Wendy Steiner, the director of the Forum and an English professor, the Forum will be able to have meeting rooms, lecture spaces, offices and facilities that would not be available if the program were permanently based out of Bennett Hall. "It's as central [a location] as you can imagine on campus," Steiner said. "It's just a perfect location." The Humanities Forum is a research center for students interested in the humanities. The Forum also intends to facilitate academic exchange between faculty members of different academic departments and involve the Philadelphia community in humanities-related activities and discussion. The McNeil Center is currently located at 3440 Market Street.
(07/29/99 9:00am)
The two students were robbed early Sunday morning on the 4100 block of Pine Street. Two Penn students were robbed at gunpoint early Sunday morning at 41st and Pine streets, according to University police. The two students, a 21-year-old male and 23-year-old female, were not injured in the incident. The robbery occurred shortly before 2 a.m. as the two students were walking north on 41st Street. They were approached by two men who were walking on the other side of the street, according to the statement the students gave to police. One man, described by the students as a black male in his late teens or early 20s, 6'0", 160 pounds and wearing a blue shirt, removed a metallic handgun from his waistband. The other suspect was described by students as a black male in his 20s, 5'11", with a thin build and black hair. Neither male reportedly said anything when they approached the students. The male student gave his wallet, a pair of keys and a black cellular phone valued at $155 to the assailants, who then removed between $60 and $80 from the victim's leather wallet and took the phone as well. They dropped the empty wallet and keys on the ground and told the two students to turn around and walk away. The assailants escaped on foot and reportedly did not take anything from the female victim, University Police officials said. The victims were taken to the Philadelphia Police Department's 18th District Headquarters at 55th and Pine streets. University Police Deputy Chief of Investigations Tom King said yesterday that no suspects had yet been identified. University Police detectives are currently investigating the case. In an unrelated incident, employees at the Commerce Bank at 3731 Walnut Street reported that an unidentified man stole $3,000 from the bank at about 2:10 p.m. on Friday afternoon, according to information obtained from the University Police log book. Employees at the bank reported that a male in his 30s, wearing sunglasses and a denim baseball cap, entered the bank shortly after 2 p.m. on Friday. He presented a teller with note demanding "big bills" and left the bank with the cash. No weapon was visible at the time of the robbery. King said the Federal Bureau of Investigation is currently investigating the bank robbery and has identified a possible suspect.
(07/29/99 9:00am)
More than half of the new men's soccer recruits, who represent eight different states, are defensive specialists. Last year's men's soccer team hailed from a total of seven states. But this year's incoming freshmen class alone eclipses that standard of diversity, as coach Rudy Fuller's 12 new recruits represent an impressive eight of the country's 50 states. "We work very hard to find the best student-athletes available, so that means traveling across the country all year around," Fuller said. "Recruiting is a very competitive arena right now, and we have to do our best to find guys that fit into our program that maybe others haven't seen." Diversity is not the only asset of Fuller's new recruiting class, however. These 12 freshmen will provide the Quakers with much-needed defensive help, as senior Ted Lehman and sophomore John Salvucci are Penn's only true returning defenders. "The strength of the class is in the back half of the field," Fuller said. And possibly the best defender coming in is Annandale, Va., native William Lee, who won two team MVP awards in high school and led his club team, the Washington Dips, to the the 1998 Virginia State Cup championship. Lee has also played in a tournament in Holland and was named All-District in his junior and senior years at Falls Church High School. The freshman defender names second year coach Fuller as one of the biggest draws in coming to Penn. "I really like Rudy," Lee said. "He was a big factor in my decision. I really like the fact that he showed he needed me." Fuller's presence also proved to be a draw for incoming freshmen Niko Vittas, Billy Libby and Alex Maasry -- all of whom played for the Fuller-coached Bethesda Alliance club team that won the Maryland State Cup in 1997. "Billy Libby and Maasry are strong and hard workers," said Penn senior Reggie Brown, who has played against them in a Maryland Under-23 League. "They come on and battle for 90 minutes." Maasry may have shown a hint of things to come earlier this summer, as he matched up with Brown at outside midfield in a game and scored two goals. Brown classifies Vittas, who was a four-year starter at Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C, as more of an intellectual defender. "Niko's a smart player," Brown said. "He knows a lot about the game and shows leadership." Lee, Maasry, Libby and Vittas are all from around the Washington, D.C., area. But as the diversity of the recruiting class suggests, not all of Fuller's freshmen reside on the East Coast. In fact, two of Fuller's best finds, Eric Mandel and Nathan Kennedy, reside nearly 3,000 miles away in Portland, Oregon. Mandel and Kennedy both played on the FC Portland club team -- headed by 1996 U.S. Olympic men's soccer team coach Clive Charles -- which finished second at the 1997 National Championships. Mandel, who can play both midfield and defense, was named the 1998 Gatorade Player of the Year for Oregon and made the National Soccer Coaches Association of America's All-Far West team. Mandel also captained the Oregon Olympic Development Program boys team and was twice named All-State. Midfielder Kennedy, meanwhile, was a four-year All-League player on his Wilson High School team and was named league MVP as a senior. Another of Fuller's recruits, defender Noah Stout, had every reason to go to Princeton. Stout lives in Princeton, N.J., and graduated from Princeton High School. He played for Tigers coach Jim Barlow's club team. And, to top it off, his father Jeff is an assistant soccer coach at Princeton. But Stout, who was named to the All-State team as a senior, still chose Penn. "The city really intrigued Noah," Fuller said. "He wanted to be in a more urban area." Four of the other five Penn recruits have played for an Olympic Development Program, including defenders Robb Jankura and Chris Kan of Virginia. Jankura, who was named All-State last season, has plenty of championship experience, as both his high school and club teams have won state championships. Kan, for his part, has twice earned All-Region and All-District honors and was named to the Washington Post All-Metropolitan team in his senior year. Nick Stoffel of Solana Beach, Calif., and Ryan Feeney from Honolulu, Hawaii, have also been on Olympic Development Program teams. Stoffel captained the La Jolla Nomads club team that twice won the California State Championship, while Feeney has earned six state championships between his high school and club teams. Delaware forward Justin Litterelle rounds out Fuller's recruiting class. The Tower Hill School graduate is a three-time All-State honoree and was twice named Conference Player of the Year. Overall, Fuller sees this class as one that will not only improve the Quakers' talent level, but will also help to harness Penn's existing talent. "The biggest difference between our team last fall and this fall is the competition day in and day out in training," Fuller said. "I think last fall our starting 11 didn't have to compete each and every day in training for their spot on the field. "This year it's going to be drastically different. There's going to be a tremendous amount of competition for not only the starting spots but the 18-man traveling roster." Fuller believes that as many as six or seven freshmen could get significant playing time this year, with a number of them vying for starting spots. Penn finished 4-11-1 last year, but lost only two seniors to graduation. With most of the team returning and a strong recruiting class to add to the team's depth, the Quakers cannot help but have raised expectations. "I don't want to say we're out to win an Ivy League championship after a season like last year," Brown said. "But it's in our sights."
(07/29/99 9:00am)
The Penn Junior Fencing Camp, led by penn coach Dave Micahnik, practices in Weightman gum's excessive heat. The stifling heat and humidity of the Weightman Hall gym greet the members of the Penn Junior Fencing Camp every day. So it was only fitting that Penn fencing coach Dave Micahnik, who runs the two-week camp, devoted his first nightly lecture to hydration and heat tolerance. "Otherwise, they're all over the place -- barfing, diahrrea, getting sick, feeling lousy, running fevers," Micahnik said. "And in fencing competition, you're up against the same thing; you wear a lot of stuff." Micahnik started the program as a National Junior Olympic Camp back in the early 1980s, but today the camp functions as a clinic for fencers, ages 14-17, with at least one year of competitive experience. The Penn coach has been flexible with the age of fencers in the camp in the past, however, as Penn fencer Cliff Bayer -- a 1996 Olympian -- participated when he was just 13. The camp is broken down into two one-week sessions. The first, which started on Sunday, is designed for fencers with a moderate level of experience, while the second session concentrates on competition. Each session ends with a day-long tournament. The first session has 41 participants, two-thirds of whom stay for the 66-person second session. The number of fencers has risen 25 percent from last year, making Micahnik consider limiting the number of participants in the future. "You look around and you see 41 kids and this is about the most you can handle," Micahnik said. "But the second week we have 25 more than this." Participants flock to Penn from around the country and, in the past, from around the world; Micahnik has had fencers here from as far away as France and Catmandu, Nepal. The fencers here are often multi-talented athletically, as one girl ran a marathon in the spring, while another plays football for his Iowa City high school team. In addition to Micahnik, the coaching staff for the first week includes Penn assistant fencing coach Iosif Vitebsky, Fencing Academy of Philadelphia coach Mark Masters and Johns Hopkins fencing coach Dick Oles. North Carolina coach Ron Miller, St. John's assistant coach Mike Shimshovich and Andrew Bulloch, a coach at Csiszar Fencing Center, will be at the second session. But it is Micahnik's style which predominates the instruction at the camp. "Dave always wants to explain why you do things rather than just having them do it like robots," Oles said. "Robots don't win in this sport." The first practice of the day for the fencers lasts from 9:15 until noon and concentrates on proper warm-ups and combined drills. In the afternoon, fencers, who reside in Harrison College House for the two weeks, are split up into groups by weapon -- foil, epee or saber -- and given more individual and small-group instruction by the five coaches. Finally, Micahnik offers nightly lectures on such subjects as competition-day preparation and proper training techniques to maximize performance. And Oles lamented the need for better performance in American fencing. "The state of high school fencing in this country is abysmal," Oles said. "We have to kind of force-feed them and just hope that they'll take something back with them. You can't train somebody in five days -- not in this sport." Maybe Micahnik can't mold all of the participants in the Penn Junior Fencing Camp into Cliff Bayers, but with many of the fencers returning for a second or third summer in West Philadelphia, the Penn fencing coach must be doing something right.
(07/29/99 9:00am)
Eduardo Glandt ha held the position of interim dean since last summer. The search continues. It has been nearly a year since former Engineering Dean Gregory Farrington left Penn to become the president of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., and the school still finds itself, as it did last July, in need of a permanent replacement. In November, University President Judith Rodin and then-Interim Provost Michael Wachter charged an 11-member search committee comprised of six professors, one alumnus, Dean Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg School for Communication, two students and Operations and Information Management Professor Morris Cohen, who is the committee's chairperson. "We are still on the same timetable. We'd like to get a new dean as soon as possible," Cohen said Tuesday, adding that the committee has met regularly and has sifted through more than 200 internal and external candidates. Rodin and Provost Robert Barchi, who are responsible for approving the final list of candidates, have been consulting with the the search committee, Cohen said. "There's been quite a bit of progress," said Mechanical Engineering Professor Vijay Kumar, who is a member of the search committee. Still, several sources close to the situation said they doubted that the search committee would make a final appointment before September. The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences has been without a permanent dean since last August, when Farrington officially stepped down. The University responded by naming Chemical Engineering Professor Eduardo Glandt to the position of interim dean last July. Glandt, who chaired the Engineering School's elected Faculty Council for several years in the 1980s, had initially been expected to serve for only a year. But now, as the search may continue into the upcoming school year, Glandt said he is prepared to remain as dean until the committee officially names a replacement. "I'm certainly eager to move on, but the most important thing for us is to get the leader that the school needs. That should take precedence," Glandt said. But one member of the Engineering School's faculty, who is not a member of the search committee, said Glandt would be an "outstanding dean," noting that it would not be surprising if Glandt were asked to stay on as Farrington's permanent replacement should the committee not find a more qualified candidate. Another Engineering School professor said there had been "a lot of talk" among professors that Glandt could be named as dean. "His name has always been in consideration for the position," Morris said. Glandt declined to comment on whether or not he was a serious candidate for permanent dean. Chemical Engineering Professor Dan Hammer, who is also not a member of the search committee, said he hoped the committee would find someone with "national status," such as a member of the National Academy of Engineers, a preeminent engineering organization of which Glandt himself is a member. The University is still engaged in two other high-profile searches, as search committees charged with finding new deans for the Wharton and Law schools continue to meet regularly and interview candidates. The Nursing School is also searching for a new undergraduate dean to replace longtime head Mary Naylor, who resigned in December. Penn also ended two publicized searches this summer, naming Lawrence Sherman and Claudia Gould as directors of the Fels Center of Government and the Institute of Contemporary Art, respectively.
(07/29/99 9:00am)
Penn women's squash coach Demer Holleran and junior fencer Cliff Bayer are competing at the Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Canada, this summer. The Pan American Games started July 23, but Holleran and Bayer will not begin their competition until next week. Holleran will represent the United States in the squash singles and team events starting on Sunday at the Winnipeg Winter Club. She earned silver medals in both events four years ago. Now in her eighth season at the helm for the Quakers, Holleran has led Penn to four consecutive third-place finishes in the Women's Intercollegiate Squash Racquets Association. The Princeton graduate earned All-American honors four consecutive years with the Tigers, leading them to a national championship in her senior season. Bayer will begin competition in the individual and team men's foil events on Tuesday at Maples Complex. A 1996 Olympian, Bayer was named Male Athlete of the Month for May by the United States Olympic Committee after earning the first-ever U.S. medal in a senior men's foil World Cup. The Pan American Games, which conclude on August 8, feature more than 5,000 athletes from 42 countries in the Western Hemisphere. The 1999 version will be the third-largest multi-sport event ever held in North America, behind only the 1984 and 1996 Summer Olympics, which were held in Los Angeles and Atlanta, respectively.
(07/22/99 9:00am)
Thomas Connolly, professor emeritus of music, will step down from his position by the end of the summer. Community House Faculty Master Thomas Connolly will step down from his position by the end of the summer, making him the first faculty master to resign under the one-year-old College House system, College House officials said this week. Connolly, a professor emeritus of music, served as the head of the college house for one year. He was appointed to the position last summer as the University prepared to unveil its new residential living system, which debuted this past fall. College House officials said Connolly did not specify any particular reason for his resignation. "There comes a time when you part with the job," Community House Dean Rick Cameron said. And Director of College Houses and Academic Services David Brownlee said he was not shocked to learn that one of the College House system's twelve faculty masters decided to step down after only one year, even though the maximum term for the position is three years. "People are not chained to their desks," Brownlee said. Connolly is currently out of the country and was unavailable for comment this week. College House officials praised Connolly's work in helping make Community House's first year in the College House system a success. "He brought a wonderful wealth of experience in shaping academically supportive residential communities," Brownlee said. "I'm very sad to see him go." Cameron said that Connolly "completely welcomed the energy that the? students in Community House created and let the house develop based on what those students thought." "One thing that I think that he has done is that he has allowed the house to evolve in whatever direction it needs to evolve," Cameron said. Connolly also retired as a Music professor at the end of this past academic year, but Brownlee said that his retirement was not related to his decision to leave his faculty master position. A search committee that will review applications for the position will be put together soon, although the University is already encouraging the submission of applications from tenured faculty members, Brownlee said. The committee will include Penn faculty and student and staff representatives from Community House. Brownlee declined to speculate whether a new faculty master will be in place by the fall. If the search is still vacant in the fall, the house may appoint an interim faculty master, Brownlee said. "Certainly our commitment to Community House is very, very strong," Brownlee said. "We want to make the leadership complete, but Community House is pretty darn strong right now." Cameron said he will not serve on the search committee, but will instead serve as a consultant to the group and help appoint Community House residents and staff to the committee. The house focuses on three aspects of residential living: academic, social and community service, Cameron said. "Tom was instrumental in carving out those three prongs of the house and kind of gave it a sense of where it was going after this first year," he said. "He certainly brought to the college houses a wonderfully mature understanding of what college houses can do," Brownlee added.
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While many college students spend the summer months relaxing at the beach, others are spending their time organizing protests and staging rallies. Activism, or so it seems, knows no vacation. Members of the United Students Against Sweatshops, the nation's largest anti-sweatshop organization, met Tuesday with President Clinton's assistant for economic policy, Gene Sterling, to discuss what they feel is a failure by the federal government to adequately address sweatshop abuses. The group, of which College senior Miriam Joffe-Block is a member, specifically demanded that the Fair Labor Association provide full public disclosure of factory locations -- which Joffe-Block called the "most important step in addressing issues of labor regulations" -- as well as living wages for factory workers. "The Clinton administration is taking a backseat," said Joffe-Block, who is also a member of Penn's Progressive Activist Network. Joffe-Block said Sperling was "noncommittal" during the meeting and did not guarantee that any of the students demands would be met. And last week, approximately 200 college students participated in a five-day conference in Washington, D.C. where students once again voiced their collective dismay that their universities have not released public lists of all factories that manufacture University-licensed clothing and goods. The recent developments are evidence that the anti-sweatshop movement, which reverberated throughout college campuses this year, have garnered momentum. In early March, students at seven of the eight Ivy League schools -- Dartmouth College being the exception -- sent letters to their respective presidents demanding "timely, forthright responses" to four specific demands. The students requested more student involvement in the issue by urging the schools to permit student representatives at meetings of the Ivy League task force on sweatshops; independent monitoring of manufacturing sites; a living wage for factory employees; and public disclosure of the exact addresses of every factory that produces official school-logo apparel. Some students have long complained that the FLA regulations are not sufficient in preventing sweatshop abuses. "The current patterns of trade facilitate sweatshop conditions," Joffe-Block said, adding that the FLA regulations, as they stand, "allow worker abuses to go on." Now, several months later, the movement is attracting the attention of national politicians. U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota sent a letter to, among others, Clinton and Commerce Secretary Richard Daley, in which he voiced his support of the anti-sweatshop movement. "I am convinced that the most effective strategy for eliminating sweatshops is the promotion of labor rights, and the right to organize in particular," Wellstone wrote in the letter. And Joffe-Block said, "A lot of people have been telling us that this is the hottest student movement to come around in a while." Joffe-Block said she believes the national attention that the movement is currently receiving will be beneficial when classes start in September. Although she said she has no specific plans for any demonstrations at Penn in the near future, she did say thatshe has been consulting with University Associate General Counsel Eric Tilles.
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Penn will count on freshman Alice pirsu to counterbalance graduation losses and a tougher spring schedule. The Penn's women's tennis team will add an ex-professional athlete to the roster this spring. And with probably their most difficult schedule ever, the Quakers sure picked a good time to secure the talents of freshman Alice Pirsu. Pirsu, a member of the Romanian National Cup, has competed in such prestigious events as the U.S. Open, French Open and Wimbledon. The Bucharest, Romania native has been ranked as high as 24th in the junior world rankings and 207th in the WTA rankings. And now, after four years on the ITF/WTA tour, Pirsu will try to storm her way through four years in the Ivy League. "I think she's going to make a huge impact," senior co-captain Elana Gold said. "I don't think there's anyone that can beat her in the Ivy League." Pirsu will not be eligible to compete for the Quakers until next year, meaning she will miss the fall season. But the highly-touted freshman watched from the sidelines last spring, as well, after entering Penn in January. Still, Pirsu did not let her tennis game deteriorate while she sat out of competitions, as she awed the rest of the Quakers with her court skills. "When you play her, you think, 'oh, that's a good shot -- she's not going to get to it,'" sophomore Louani Bascara said. "But she fires it back even harder and closer to the line." Pirsu is expected to step in right away in one of the top two singles spots on team, teaming with three-time First Team All-Ivy member Anastasia Pozdniakova to give the Quakers possibly the most deadly 1-2 punch in the league. And a 1-2 punch is just what Penn will need with its much-intensified schedule this season. Last year, the Quakers finished with a 19-2 record en route to a No. 46 national ranking, but this year the weak Loyola Marymounts and Georgetowns on the schedule are replaced by the likes of Virginia, Clemson and Fresno State -- not to mention 1999 NCAA Champion Stanford. "We will be tested," coach Michael Dowd said. "We're not going to come away with another 19-2 year. If we do, we'll be in the top 10 in the country." Penn's schedule will include nine teams in the top 65 of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's final rankings from last season. In addition, the Quakers will compete in the prestigious Georgia Invitational in January and the Princeton Invitational in February. But for many of the Quakers, the real season begins on April 1, when Penn plays its first Ivy foe. "[Our schedule] is going to give us a lot of opportunities to get a higher ranking and to be more prepared for the Ivy season," Gold said. "I'd rather go 2-10 in preseason and do better in the Ivies than go 10-2 with a fluffier schedule." Last year, the Quakers finished 6-1 in the Ivy League, losing only to champion Harvard, 8-1. But Penn lost four of its top players to graduation in May. Junior Jill Mazza, a transfer from Rochester, will join Pirsu in trying to offset the losses of the graduated seniors. Mazza, who compiled a 54-11 record in her two seasons at Rochester, reached the finals of the Division III singles' tournament last spring, where she lost 7-5, 6-2 to Amherst's Neeley Steinburg. "She was a superstar at Rochester but she wasn't being challenged on the tennis courts," Dowd said. "She wanted to see how far she could take her game, and going to a Division I school with a national level schedule, she could do that." In addition to Pirsu and Mazza, Penn will gain the services of freshman Niki DeCou, who is ranked seventh in the middle states region. "Niki's got a lot of athletic ability," Dowd said. "If she puts in summer work and works on her game, she could be competing for a spot." The Quakers open their fall schedule on September 20 at the Clay Court Championships, while the Georgia Invitational kickstarts their spring schedule on January 21.
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Hillel officials hope to create a more modern and welcoming facility, which they hope to open in 2002. Pending final University approval, the Hillel building at 202 S. 36th Street will be torn down and a new, larger facility erected in its place as early as the fall of 2002, Hillel Director Jeremy Brochin said Friday. Though construction costs have not yet been determined and plans are still extremely preliminary, a recent proposal written by Brochin and Rabbi Howard Alpert, executive director of Hillel, said the new building may include a dining room with a maximum seating capacity of 350; two auditoriums; two student lounges; a larger library; a game room and two seminar rooms. More programming space for student performance groups, exhibition space for small programs, administrative and student offices and a rooftop patio are all possibilities currently being considered, but Hillel officials emphasized that all suggestions are subject to change. The current building, built in the 1930s, occupies approximately 11,000 square feet. The soon-to-be constructed facility will likely be more than twice that size, Brochin said. Hillel officials are meeting with Penn students this summer to discuss the plans for the building and are also interviewing several architectural firms. Brochin said preliminary goals are to hire an architect by the end of the summer and begin financing the project in December. Hillel officials said that they hope to begin demolition of the current building next summer. Once a final proposal has been drafted, Hillel will embark on what Alpert called an "ambitious fundraising campaign," with the expectation that parents, alumni and other members of the University community will help finance the cost of constructing the building. "You can't really begin to ask donors without clear plans about what you're after," Brochin said, though he declined to estimate exactly how much the building will cost. University officials announced in the spring that Kosher Dining would relocate this summer to 4040 Locust Street -- a site formerly occupied by Boccie Pizza and Saladalley -- after its former location, also the site of the Faculty Club, was chosen to become the new home of the Graduate School of Fine Arts. In the interim period between the demolition of the old building and the construction of the new one, Hillel will lease another section of the building at 4040 Locust Street, formerly occupied by Urban Outfitters, which will then host much of Hillel's programming and many events. According to Brochin, there had long been concerns among Hillel officials and Penn students that the current building, small in size and limited in resources, could not sufficiently accommodate the needs of Jewish life on campus and did not reflect the "richness" of the community as a whole. Hillel has worked during the last 15 years to alleviate the space crunch on campus, renovating the building itself in 1984 and helping create the Jewish Activities Center in the Quadrangle three years ago. But the construction of an entirely new facility represents the most ambitious effort made to date to provide more space for the Jewish community. "I think we're already a community that's busting out of the building," Brochin said. Still, Hillel officials expect the new building to provide not only more tangible room but also more unity and interaction among Jews of different backgrounds. "[The new Hillel building] will facilitate the blending of different communities," Alpert said. Both Alpert and Hillel President Sam Andorsky, a College senior, cited the proposed Kosher dining facility -- which is expected to seat significantly more students and provide both lunch and dinner in one consolidated space -- as a feature of the new building that could encourage more diversity among the students that frequent Hillel. The Hillel building had long served kosher lunches to students, while its next door neighbor, the Faculty Club, hosted kosher dinners. Another particularly striking feature of the new building, according to Andorsky, is the proposal's plans for a more "warm and welcoming" entranceway, which Hillel officials hope will prove more enticing to newcomers. "The new facility will certainly help bring people into Hillel. Many say they feel disoriented or intimidated when they step into Hillel, and a warmer, more inviting physical space can certainly help this," Andorsky said. "We hope the building becomes a place where all sorts of groups and individuals can feel at home," he added. Brochin and Alpert recently made site visits to the Hillel buildings at Harvard, Princeton, Tufts and Yale universities in an effort to gather some ideas for Penn's new Hillel building.
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Incoming freshman Duane King, a Kentucky native, will make his debut next season as a guard for the Quakers. When the 1999-2000 men's basketball season kicks off in the Preseason NIT, Penn will rely on veterans to lead the charge for an upset against Kentucky. After all, Michael Jordan, Matt Langel, Geoff Owens and company have taken on top competition in the past, and they will be the primary weapons when the Quakers travel to the Bluegrass State. But it will be a rookie suiting up for the first time who may feel closest to home; the Quakers will play the first game of Duane King's college career in the same state where he distinguished himself as a high school star. And, although Penn coach Fran Dunphy is not known for putting pressure on freshmen to perform right away, King may be doing more than just watching from the bench when the Quakers and Wildcats meet. With such an experienced team returning, playing time might be sparse for the six members of the Class of 2003, but King looks to be among the rookies who will be making more than just cameo appearances on the court. A 6'4" shooting guard from Pleasure Ridge Park High School in Louisville, King was one of the top players in the talent-laden state of Kentucky last season, earning second team All-State honors and a spot on the Kentucky All-Star team. King started both games for the Kentucky stars against the best prep players in Indiana, and even led his team with 11 points in the first contest. While he may not be a star in the Ivy League as a freshman, he could be one of the Ancient Eight's best guards for the next few seasons. "I think we can find one of the most athletic guys we've ever had in our program," Penn assistant coach Steve Donahue said about King. "He just runs the floor, runs and jumps better than anybody we've ever had really. [King has] like [former Penn player] Ira Bowman-type athleticism." Dunphy has told King that he will probably see time immediately, and King is ready to meet the demands of Division I basketball. "Hopefully, I can play 16 to 17 minutes or more per game, if I put enough time in and play hard," King said. "I'd like to compete for a starting spot, but if I come off the bench, I'll fulfill my role to the fullest." The spot King hopes to fill, however, will be one of the most hotly contested spots on the team. Langel's role as the starting shooting guard is practically etched in stone, but behind him stand several players itching for time on the court. Veterans Frank Brown, Lamar Plummer and Dan Solomito will be joined by first-year men King, Koko Archibong and Harold Bailey in competition for time at the two and three spots. "We'll be friends in the games, but when we're in practice, I'll look at them as opponents," King said. Indeed, stopping opponents is one of King's best skills. While he can score when needed, King cites defense as the strongest part of his game. It is also the area in which he might help the Quakers the most. "He's a very intense defender. He'll add a lot to our team in terms of second shots on the offensive boards from the three spot, defensive presence, getting in passing lanes, guarding kids in full court," Donahue said. "He'll do those things, and we really don't have a kid like that right now in our program that can do those things." King, though, can do more than just those things. While he needs to improve his three-point shooting and ball handling, King will enter the Palestra with a complete set of skills. "He can do a lot of things," Pleasure Ridge Park assistant coach Larry Kihnley said. "At times, he was our go-to-guy, and at times, he got the ball to other players." In high school, King -- who was ranked as the seventh-best prospect in Kentucky by Full Court magazine -- teamed with fellow All-State players Kevin Pascal and Michael Griffith to lead Pleasure Ridge Park to a 31-5 record. The trio graduated as one of the top combinations in school history. And now, as part of one of the most highly regarded recruiting classes in Penn history, Duane King has the chance to relive that experience on a much larger scale.
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A consulting firm, the Hunter Group is known for its work in helping fiscally challenged hospitals cut their deficits. The University of Pennsylvania Health System has hired the Hunter Group, a St. Petersburg, Fla.-based consulting firm, to assess the financially troubled system's overall operations and recommend ways in which it can better utilize its resources. The firm, which deals primarily with health-care systems that are incurring deficits, works to help hospitals reduce their deficits by trimming their expenditures and increasing their revenues. The Hunter Group has previously helped, among others, the George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C., the Detroit Medical Center and the University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago. "We have people who are in very good shape, and we have some who are in terrible shape," said Jim Houy, a senior vice president for the Hunter Group. According to Houy, the firm has been called in to conduct "performance improvement-based work" with Health System administrators and will help oversee management. In seeking outside consultation, the Health System is actively hoping to regain some form of economic stability. The Health System's financial woes culminated in late May when it eliminated 1,100 positions and laid off 450 employees in an attempt to achieve a balanced budget. Houy said about eight to 10 Hunter executives will begin an approximately 10-week period on-site in early August, during which time they will review "all kinds of operating data." They will observe the hospital's day-to-day operations and will make numerous specific recommendations. Houy said the problems facing UPHS, which include payments below the actual cost of treatment and delays in reimbursements from the federal government and from private insurers, are "significant" but not "impossible" to alleviate. "From what we can tell, they don't seem to have any highly unusual problems," Houy said. Still, UPHS' financial problems -- typical of those affecting many other academic medical centers -- peaked in Fiscal Year 1998 when it posted a $90 million deficit, its highest ever. Houy said he did not know exactly how Hunter executives would go about reshaping the system, but he did note that the firm would look specifically at the number of employees and the amount of supplies. Houy said that, in most jobs, employees account for approximately 60 percent of total operating costs. The Hunter Group has encouraged drastic layoffs in previous visits to other hospitals, including the elimination of 2,000 positions at the Detroit Medical Center, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. The forthcoming visit to Penn's Health System might be no exception, according to Houy, who said Hunter executives were prepared to be both "objective" and critical. "We're the outsiders and we can be the bad guys," Houy said. Stephen Wasserman, chairman of medicine at University of California San Diego Healthcare, where Hunter group executives served as "interim managers" in the mid 1990s, said the firm is generally "dispassionate" and occasionally "threatening" but was nonetheless helpful. "Every expenditure is going to get looked at. They just go down the list," Wasserman said. "These guys are going to say, 'Why should we be paying for [this or] that?'" he added. Kelley is currently out of the country and was unavailable for comment this week.
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Accomplished Statistics Professor David Hildebrand, known throughout the University for his wit, intelligence and participation in University politics, died of cancer last Tuesday at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He was 59. Hildebrand, who was diagnosed with cancer last summer, taught undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students throughout his 34-year career at Penn. Despite his illness, he continued teaching through the fall semester, a decision his colleagues consider courageous and honorable. "He was a very talented fellow who could do just about anything he could undertake," Statistics Department Chairperson Paul Shaman said. Hildebrand, author of a number of books, monographs and articles on statistics -- including three texts on introductory statistics used in Wharton undergraduate and graduate courses since 1983 -- served as the chairperson of the Statistics Department from July 1985 to June 1990. Hildebrand specialized in models and methods for the analysis of categorical data. Hildebrand was committed to improving the quality of statistics instruction at Penn, Shaman said. He was instrumental in helping to revise core curriculum within the Statistics Department. "He was certainly a very imaginative and forward thinking individual," Shaman said. "He had excellent vision for what we should be doing and how to get us there." As a teacher, those close to Hildebrand said he was bright, communicative and inspiring. "I certainly appreciate still to this day all the guidance he gave me as an individual," said former doctoral student Kathryn Szabat, now a Statistics lecturer in the College of General Studies. "He was always there to help students [and] always did his best to make sure they understood the material." Hildebrand was especially known for writing humorous statistics-themed limericks, which he often placed at the beginning of exams or included in class materials to ease the tension for his students. "He just had wide interests, broad talent and you just never knew what interesting thing he was going to do next," Shaman said. Hildebrand earned his master's degree and his doctorate from the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh. He received his bachelor's degree from Carleton College in Northfield, Minn., in 1962. Hildebrand, very active in University politics, served as the moderator of the University Council from 1989 to 1991, and again in 1997. In 1992, he was elected chairperson of the Faculty Senate where he served a one-year term. Hildebrand was also a member of the President Search Committee which nominated then-Yale University Provost Judith Rodin to succeed Sheldon Hackney as University President. Describing him as "an active University citizen," Statistics Professor Donald Morrison praised his efforts in the Faculty Senate and University Council, and also as a member of a national organization, "Making Statistics More Effective in Schools of Business." "He felt very deeply that we needed to improve the quality of statistical instruction," Morrison said. Hildebrand is survived by his wife, Patricia; his two children, Martin and Jeffrey; his mother and two sisters.
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The new quakers baseball stadium, slated for a March opening, will be located on the old Murphy Field site. Bower Field was known as a pitcher's haven, but Penn's new baseball stadium won't be quite as friendly to the men on the mound. Construction on the 900-seat stadium is scheduled to start in the second week of August, and the dimensions of Bower Field's successor will be considerably smaller. The distance from home to straight-away center in the new stadium will be just 390 feet -- 20 feet shorter than at Bower Field. Left-handed hitters, especially, should thrive at Penn's new stadium, as although the right field foul pole measures 330 feet, the distance to right-center is only 355 feet. "[The new stadium] is more hitting-friendly because of the right-centerfield gap," Penn coach Bob Seddon said. "But by no means do I think it's a bandbox." Due to the limiting size of the surrounding land, the Quakers' new stadium will have an unusual shape in left field. The distance to the left field foul pole is only 285 feet, but the fence quickly juts out to 330 feet within less than two degrees. The distance in the left field power alley, meanwhile, is 382 feet. Normally, the home team uses the first base dugout and right field bullpen, but Penn will reverse these trends in the new ballpark. "We had to take the third base dugout because the bullpen in the left field side is bigger," Seddon said. "The bullpen in right field is behind the power plant." The Quakers' new stadium, which will be located next to the Schuylkill Expressway, near the intersection of University Avenue and Civic Center Boulevard, is expected to open in March for the start of the baseball season. It will be built on the Murphy Field site -- the former playing field of Penn's various recreation teams -- adjacent to the University's new water chiller. The bottom floor of the water chilling plant will be used temporarily as a team room, and the hope is to eventually transform it into a full-scale baseball locker room when funding becomes available. Funding has been a concern for the Quakers, as some amenities -- such as a lighting system -- originally hoped for have already, or may have to be , scrapped. Seddon has planned a banquet for November to raise money for the stadium. Phillies centerfielder and Penn alumnus Doug Glanville has been asked to speak at the event, which Seddon hopes can furnish the press and spectator boxes. Not including the two boxes behind home plate, the new ballpark will have a seating capacity of 900. Stands will be built behind home plate and along the first and third base lines, utilizing a seat-back design, rather than the bench-style seating of Bower Field. The new stadium will also have an open grassy area behind the first base stands that can be used for picnicking. The new baseball stadium, which is yet to be named, is scheduled to be completed by the end of February. "There may be little bits here and there that aren't related to the playing area that might be continued a month or so beyond that," said Joe Raia, who is project manager of the stadium for Leers Weinzapfel. "But February is the goal." The stadium was funded through an anonymous gift by a donor in the spring of 1998.
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Provost Robert Barchi appointed English Professor Peter Conn to serve as his chief adviser. Provost Robert Barchi yesterday named English Professor Peter Conn as the University's new deputy provost, an important administrative position which has remained vacant for about a year and a half. Sources indicated Tuesday that Barchi planned to appoint Conn, who is also the chairperson of the Faculty Senate and former dean of the College, to the post. Barchi officially confirmed the appointment yesterday. "I am extremely pleased to announce that Dr. Peter Conn has accepted my invitation to become the new deputy provost," Barchi said. Barchi lauded Conn, 56, for his academic achievements and his multi-faceted involvement in University programs. "Peter is a distinguished scholar, a world-renowned author? and an outstanding University citizen," Barchi said. The deputy provost works closely with the provost on campus-wide issues and serves as representative for the provost on issues that deal with both undergraduate education and with resources centers, like the Institute of Contemporary Art, Barchi said. Conn said yesterday that he was "attracted to the job description" of the position, which he noted emphasizes the "educational mission" of the University. Conn arrived at Penn as an English instructor in 1967. During his tenure at the University, the 57-year old professor has at times served as College dean, a post he occupied in the early 1980s; former faculty master of Hill College House and Community House; chairperson of both the American Civilization and English graduate groups; and, most recently, he has served as the chairperson on the Faculty Senate. Although he intends to remain as the faculty director to the Civic House, Conn said he will step down from his role as chairperson of the Faculty Senate. "I guarantee you that the work that I have in mind will keep someone occupied virtually full time," Barchi said Tuesday. Past-chair John Keene, a professor of City and Regional Planning, will serve at the helm of the Faculty Senate until January, when Chair-elect Larry Gross, a Communications professor, will take office. "Other chairs are meeting today to organize an orderly transition," Conn said yesterday. Neither Gross nor Keene could be reached for comment. In addition, Conn said he would continue to teach English at Penn, including English 401, a course that offers undergraduates the chance to be teaching assistants University City High School. Barchi also praised Conn's distinguished career, during which he has received the prestigious Lindback, Mortarboard and Ira Abrams awards for teaching. He has also written numerous books, including the 1996 Pearl S. Buck -- A Cultural Biography, which was named as a New York Times Notable Book selection. Former English Department Chairperson Wendy Steiner said she was pleased for her colleague, who she said she has known for 20 years. "I can't imagine anything better [for Conn]," Steiner said. A search committee, consisting of administrators, faculty members and two students, considered a list of about 35 nominees before recommending a list of four candidates to the provost. There is no specified number of years that a deputy provost must serve, as the length of the term is usually determined by the provost. Former Interim Provost and Law School Professor Michael Wachter, who first served as the deputy provost from July 1995 to January 1998 under then-provost Stanley Chodorow, was the University's most recent deputy provost.
