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(06/30/94 9:00am)
Harriton High '92 Philadelphia, Pa. Students and staff members affiliated with the Women's Center flooded the Editorial Page of the Daily Pennsylvanian with guest columns and letters to the editor, voicing their opinions for and against the Center's move. The tension between foes and fans of the Center's relocation mounted in April during a panel discussion about the proposed move which was sponsored by the Spruce Street House of the Quad. Red and Blue Editor-in-chief Christopher Robbins, a college junior, introduced his stance against the proposed move at the panel by suggesting that the Center "compromise" on the issue. For the benefit of students who do not want the Center on the Walk, Robbins said some space should be allocated in the house for either a cafe or a coffee house, which "every student wants." He said that unlike the Center, a cafe would be a place where "all students could meet." Panel member Debra Pickett, a College senior and member of the Penn Women's Alliance leadership team, spoke on behalf of the Center, saying that not all of the space in Theta Xi has been assigned to the Center. This was confirmed by plans for the Theta Xi house made public in March by McCoullum. Robbins disputed whether the Center should exist at all, because "it only represents a few radical women on campus." College sophomore Ann Tracey, who also spoke against the Center's move, said as a feminist, she believes the Center equates women with weakness. Former Daily Pennsylvanian columnist and Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Alliance co-Chairperson Stephen Houghton, a College junior, questioned Robbins about his beliefs. "Since you believe the Women's Center is an admission of weakness for women, do you believe having an African American Resource Center, the [Program for the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Community at Penn] and the [Greenfield Intercultural Center] means that these groups are inferior?" "I am in favor of abolishing all of those programs," Robbins replied. Robbins also co-directed a phone survey, sponsored by the Red and Blue and three other campus organizations, which questioned approximately 380 students about their feelings concerning the relocation of the Center earlier that month. The purpose of the poll was to "ascertain the will and view of the [University] community" about the Center's move, he said. The poll consisted of five questions which explored both the caller's personal contact with the Women's Center, and his or her attitude about its relocation to Locust Walk. The last question in the survey, "Would you prefer having the Theta Xi fraternity become a coffee house or cafe or a Women's Center?" prompted several students to label the poll biased. Pickett said the question contained "glaring factual errors," because all of the space, according to McCoullum's plans, has not been designated for the sole use of the Center. College junior Peter Spiers, president of the Penn Political Union -- another group which co-sponsored the poll -- said he too did not like the fact that the poll made students choose between the Center and a cafe. He said his organization originally decided to sponsor the poll because, "it's always a beneficial thing to allow students to voice their opinions on issues." Robbins, however, said the poll was purely "scientific." Members of the Black Student League expressed their discontent with Robbins at the panel discussion for misinforming a DP reporter that the BSL co-sponsored the poll. In a letter to the editor printed in the DP, BSL President Robyn Kent, a College junior, and eight other BSL members wrote that they withdrew their participation in the poll after discovering that the questions were "orchestrated to achieve a predetermined conclusion." After withdrawing from the polling project, Robbins "threatened the BSL with negative publicity and political backlash," the letter continued.
(12/09/93 10:00am)
From Adam Scioli's "The Old Boys' Club," Fall '93 From Adam Scioli's "The Old Boys' Club," Fall '93Being solicited by the begging masses that roam the streets of University City is certainly far from alien to any Penn student who has happened to see the light of day during his or her tenure as a student. I'm a product of the free spending Reagan generation and am up to my ears in interest accumulated debt. I recognize that I may be more fortunate than most and have been given some very special opportunities, but at the same time I am going to have to work very hard to pay off my bills. No one is going to be there to bail me out of my financial troubles, not my parents and certainly not the federal government. Just like the rest of my graduating class I am currently making plans for the future and eventually will have to find a job. No one will see me begging for spare change in front of the WaWa next year. What the hell is "spare" change, anyway? Many of those who beg for money are, like myself, of able mind and body, and can grab the bull of life by the horns and wrestle it to the ground. They can do whatever they put my mind to, but apparently they won't. The whole notion of "entitlements" is one that should infuriate the working man. Equality of opportunity is sacred to democratic principle, of course, but attempting to approach a system of equal economic security is quite a different story. Simply, governmental attempts to construct a more equitable economic scale undermine the capitalist, democratic state. They destroy incentive and crush with it individual drive and ambition. Once the individual is relieved of the burden of responsibility to himself, he becomes a dependent. In fact, the individual is stripped of his power to produce for himself, and thus loses the capability of being proud of personal achievement. Rather than give handouts out of pity, we must accept the fact that there are folks out there who make a conscious decision that they will never work. The benefits they receive, be they government or privately contributed, are adequate enough to give them reason to remain in a state of non-productivity. This attitude is not unique to a certain few, and may draw others to do the same, perpetuating a whole class of learned dependents. Meanwhile those of us who are not dependent constantly face their incessant begging, and the subsequent guilt that comes with giving or not giving. As John Stuart Mill wrote in 1859, government entitlements "...convert the active and ambitious part of the public into hangers-on of the government." Instead of encouraging these people to take on responsibility for their own lives we are taking them on as our responsibility, which they most certainly are not. By now, these grants of economic opportunity, in theory, should have given the recipients the necessary "lift" to pull themselves out of poverty. However, poverty has been far from eradicated, and the list of dependents is growing rather than shrinking. People have no doubt been trapped by the very system which claims to have saved them. A welfare culture has reared its ugly head and has been given no reason to go away. Why can't these people look at a job scrubbing floors as the beginning of a path of hope, taking pride in the shine of their accomplishment? This is because the governments offerings are far too permissive and attractive. Most everyone must start somewhere and recognize that many successful people are forced to start off in "the mail room," and it is a worthwhile sacrifice on route to a long term goal. The notion of equality is further undermined when one considers the true meaning of the word. How is it that the person being supported can consider himself to be his supporter's equal? Dependents, after all, are always subjugated, be it right or wrong. So the next time you enter the WaWa with your hard-earned money, consider the ramifications of your "merciful" gift to the poor and disadvantaged. Realize that your contribution is one of many, and realize what it is you are actually contributing to. Adam Scioli is a senior Political Science major from Rockville, Maryland. The Old Boys' Club appeared alternate Thursdays.
(02/26/92 10:00am)
For 130 years, the Glee Club has been turning out an annual spring show. And every year it is a club joke that this year's show is "the best one ever." "But this year, we mean it," College sophomore Scott Romeika, a Glee Club member said. "Performance-wise, the music has never been more ready and we've got a great script," College senior and Glee Club President Jeff Coon said. "It's the most fun I've had [in a Club show]." This year's show, Cross Chris, Cross, centers on the adventures of Christopher Columbus. "I wouldn't say it's the actual story of Columbus," College sophomore and member Bryan Reid said. "There are a few twists that make it a little more interesting." Normally the show is written by the group's director, Bruce Montgomery. However, for the first time, two students, College sophomore Tom McManus and College junior Stuart Draper, wrote the show. Last spring, the group created a long-range committee consisting of two representatives from each class. "We discussed changes we wanted to make and things we wanted to see in the coming years and this was one of the things that came out of it," McManus said. A typical Glee Club show consists of music, ranging from show tunes to classical to modern, connected by a plot. "It all manages to fit in there somehow," Reid said. "This year it really tells a story rather than a lot of music strung together," Draper said. "People will be able to follow it and appreciate it." While the songs and basic plot were picked last spring, the actual book was not written until winter break. The students who wrote the script were challenged by being separated over Winter Break when they were writing the musical, with Draper in California and McManus in Massachusetts. "It was a bicoastal thing," McManus said. "We each set to work writing dialogues and mailed them to each other," McManus added. "Then we came back from break a day earlier than the other Club members and finished it then." Students also shared the responsibility for directing. Montgomery directed the musical numbers, but Draper, McManus, Coon, Wharton senior Myong Leigh, and Graduate student Rob Biron did the staging. Leigh also did the choreography for the show. "None of us are dancers," said Leigh. "We do things as they come to us, and usually it comes out pretty good. We just try to have fun." "They love us there in Phoenixville," Romeika said. "And we were received really well in Providence and Boston, too." Cross Chris, Cross opens tonight at 8 p.m. in the Zellerbach Theatre in Annenberg Center and continues through this weekend. Tickets are $6 for students, faculty and staff and $8 for the general public and can be bought on Locust Walk or at the door.
(10/29/91 10:00am)
Thomas Pickering, U.S. representative to the United Nations, will speak at 4 p.m. this afternoon in the Annenberg Center's Harold Prince Theater. In his 30-minute speech, titled "The United States at the United Nations: The Gulf War and Its Aftermath," Pickering will discuss the U.S. role in the Middle East in light of recent events. Wolf said she expects Pickering to discuss the American role in the Arab-Israeli talks that begin tomorrow in Madrid. "It's a hot topic." she said, "If he doesn't address it, [PPU] will ask him about it." President Bush appointed Pickering as permanent representative to the U.N. in March 1989. He holds the personal rank of career ambassador, the highest in the U.S. Foreign Service. Pickering served as ambassador to Israel from 1985 to 1988. Previously, he had served as ambassador to El Salvador, Nigeria and Jordan. A question and answer session will follow the speech. The presentation is also being sponsored by the Annenberg Institute, the International Relations Program, and the Middle East Center.
(01/15/91 10:00am)
Additionally, six other people may soon be charged with disorderly conduct in connection with the raid, according to Gary Kardisco, a supervisor at the State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement. Kardisco added that charges would soon be filed to challenge the tavern's liquor license. If convicted, Smokey Joe's could be fined, or have their license suspended or even revoked. In the event that the license was revoked, the tavern would be prohibited from reapplying for a new license for one year. Smokey Joe's could receive a harsher sentence due to a prior record of arrests which includes a October 1988 raid in which 51 underage students were arrested. Despite repeated phone calls to the tavern last night, several members of the Ryan family, which owns the bar, declined to comment on the case. According to students at the bar during the raid, four plainclothes police officers wearing their badges on neck chains entered the tavern shortly after midnight and quietly checked the identification of several suspected underage drinkers. Some people were reported to have slipped out the front and back doors before the police had a chance to check their identification. However, those who did not have valid identification were asked to stand off to the side and await instructions, while others were told the bar was closing early. According to Wharton junior Phil Robinson, one of the students arrested for underage drinking, the police took the remaining people, including a few who were of legal age, downstairs where they conducted short personal interviews. The questions asked included how the people got in, did they show any identification, and did they drink any alcohol. The people were told that if they had drank any alcohol, they should admit it rather than have it showed up on a litmus test. Robinson said the students were told they have three choices: attend an alcohol awareness class, play a $45 fine and have their driver's license suspended for three months; go to court and be found guilty which would result in a $200 fine and a suspended license for one year; or go to court and be found not guilty. College junior Robert Garber, a 21-year-old who was in Smoke's that night, said that shortly before the bust, the rumor spread that there was going to be a raid. But once the search had begun, Garber added, it was not difficult to see what was going on. "It wasn't really discreet," Garber said. "The officers were dressed really cheesily and if anyone had opened their eyes and hadn't had too much to drink, they would've noticed."
(12/10/90 10:00am)
Last fall, Morrisson created the Committee to Restructure Penn Extension to investigate the needs of the University's community service programs. In March, the committee issued a report recommending that an office be established to coordinate different programs and that training, transportation and evaluation of the programs be improved. Morrisson endorsed the report. But since the report was issued, student leaders said, the transportation problem has become so acute that some programs have had to shut down. PVN sent a letter to Morrisson last week telling her that members were concerned that "little action has been taken." They said the only tangible result of the report so far has been the hiring of a professional administrator for the office of Penn Extension, now called the Program for Student-Community Involvement. Student volunteer leaders said they need transportation to help with the delivery of food to needy people and to ensure the safety of their volunteers, many of who travel into dangerous neighborhoods for tutoring and other activities. The Prison Tutoring Program is one outreach service that stopped this semester because it lacked reliable transportation. According to coordinator Amy Dmochowski, a College junior, the program depended on students who owned cars, a method which was not only unreliable, but limiting. Dmochowski said last year she had to turn away volunteers who could not fit into the single car available. Gordon Rucksdeschel, director of PENNpals, said students in the program walk home with the elementary students whom they tutor, often after dark, and that a van would eliminate the long, dangerous walk for both University students and the children. Former PVN Facilitator Colleen McCauley, whose term ended last week, said she assumed that since Morrisson endorsed the committee's report, the Office of University Life was working on the problem. "The issue is just feeling very discouraged at the lack of attention to the problem of transportation," said the Nursing senior. "We had hoped, or assumed, that we wouldn't have to light fires to get things going. I think we were a little naive." McCauley said transportation problems could be solved by providing a van, which would be accessible to the 30 groups that belong to the Penn Volunteer Network and to students involved in other programs in the city. But Barbara Cassel, an assistant to Morrisson, said problems of liability need to be resolved before the University can provide a van. Both Cassel and McCauley said that execution of Morrisson's proposal depends on the creation of a new position in President Sheldon Hackney's office. The new administrator, a director of community partnerships, would be in charge of projects designed to link the University to the surrounding community. But Assistant to the President William Epstein said last week that that position is part of a long-term plan for community outreach, and will not necessarily be filled immediately. Epstein said the PVN can not rely on that future administrator to solve its problems. "There are certainly enough people around to work on that kind of problem," he said.
(11/07/90 10:00am)
At least 60 students, and probably many more, who filled out voter registration forms at CUPID this fall were unable to vote yesterday because they had never been placed on voter rolls. CUPID coordinator Bernie Maccolier said Monday that ROTC, which operated the registration table, was supposed to mail the forms. But ROTC Master Sergeant Steve Nord said Monday that he put registrtaions in a box each evening for CUPID workers to pick up and mail. Maccolier would not comment yesterday, saying that officials wanted to learn how many students were affected "before we had any response." He said that hundreds of students registered at CUPID. Some students discovered that they were not on voter rolls when they called Voter Registration this week. Others did not learn that they were absent from the lists until they went to the polls yesterday. Students said they were frustrated and angry that they were not registered, and unable to get a response from CUPID officials. First-year Wharton MBA student Ben Bentzin said last night that he called Maccolier four weeks ago when he realized he had not never received confirmation that he was registered. Maccolier referred him to Philadelphia election officials. Officials there told him that there was probably not a problem with his registration. But when he went to the polls yesterday, Bentizin was told that he could not vote. The only option for unregistered voters yesterday morning was to argue their case in front of a judge at election court, in hopes of obtaining a court order allowing them to vote. Bentzin, like many students, could not take the time to go to court at 55th and Pine streets, 20th and Pennsylvania streets or 39th and Lancaster streets. Some students who did go were successful. First-year Graduate School of Fine Arts student Gregory Hall went to 20th and Pennsylvania streets, but was denied a court order. He said he was angry at CUPID and ROTC officials. "The attitude of tough luck isn't good enough," Hall said. "If nothing else, a formal letter of apology to everyone who wasn't able to vote would be appropriated." Pennsylvania law mandates that voters must be mailed confirmation that the Voter Registration office has received their application within 48 hours of its arrival at the office. College junior Chris Welbon said yesterday that he noticed that he had not received his registration card, but said he was not worried, because two years ago he received his card only a few days before the election. "If I thought there was a problem before I would have done something about it," said Welbon, who discovered yesterday that he was not registered. Some students, like first-year Wharton Ph.D. student Alan Salzberg, had a relatively easy time getting permission to vote from the courts. Salzberg said he went to the court at 39th and Lancaster streets, where he was granted the court order in five minutes. Students who discovered they were not on voter rolls visited CUPID on different days during the fall.
(11/07/90 10:00am)
At least 60 students, and probably many more, who filled out voter registration forms at CUPID this fall were unable to vote yesterday because they had never been placed on voter rolls. CUPID coordinator Bernie Maccolier said Monday that ROTC, which operated the registration table, was supposed to mail the forms. But ROTC Master Sergeant Steve Nord said Monday that he put registrations in a box each evening for CUPID workers to pick up and mail. Maccolier would not comment yesterday, saying that officials wanted to learn how many students were affected "before we had any response." He said that hundreds of students registered at CUPID. Some students discovered that they were not on voter rolls when they called Voter Registration this week. Others did not learn that they were absent from the lists until they went to the polls yesterday. Students said they were frustrated and angry that they were not registered, and unable to get a response from CUPID officials. First-year Wharton MBA student Ben Bentzin said last night that he called Maccolier four weeks ago when he realized he had not never received confirmation that he was registered. Maccolier referred him to Philadelphia election officials. Officials there told him that there was probably not a problem with his registration. But when he went to the polls yesterday, Bentizin was told that he could not vote. The only option for unregistered voters yesterday morning was to argue their case in front of a judge at election court, in hopes of obtaining a court order allowing them to vote. Bentzin, like many students, could not take the time to go to court at 55th and Pine streets, 20th and Pennsylvania streets or 39th and Lancaster streets. Some students who did go were successful. First-year Graduate School of Fine Arts student Gregory Hall went to 20th and Pennsylvania streets, but was denied a court order. He said he was angry at CUPID and ROTC officials. "The attitude of tough luck isn't good enough," Hall said. "If nothing else, a formal letter of apology to everyone who wasn't able to vote would be appropriate." Pennsylvania law mandates that voters must be mailed confirmation that the Voter Registration office has received their application within 48 hours of its arrival at the office. College junior Chris Welbon said yesterday that he noticed that he had not received his registration card, but said he was not worried, because two years ago he received his card only a few days before the election. "If I thought there was a problem before, I would have done something about it," said Welbon, who discovered yesterday that he was not registered. Some students, like first-year Wharton Ph.D. student Alan Salzberg, had a relatively easy time getting permission to vote from the courts. Salzberg said he went to the court at 39th and Lancaster streets, where he was granted the court order in five minutes. Students who discovered they were not on voter rolls visited CUPID on different days during the fall.
(11/06/90 10:00am)
Several students who filled out state voter registration forms at CUPID this fall have discovered that they were never registered to vote in today's elections, the result of an apparent mix-up in the mailing of registration forms. It could not be determined whether the mix-up affected one batch or all of the CUPID voter registration forms. At least eight students who completed registration forms at CUPID said yesterday that they were never notified by the state that their application had been received. Four of them had called Voter Registration and discovered that they are not on voter rolls. Voters who were officially registered were sent confirmation notices by mail. Maccolier and Reserve Officer Training Corps instructors, who organized CUPID voter registration this year, gave different explanations yesterday of how the registrations were mailed. Maccolier said that ROTC workers mailed the registrations. But Master Sergeant Don Ruff said that he put them in a box each evening for CUPID workers to pick up and mail. He said yesterday that one day, he and Master Sergeant Steve Nord saw a CUPID worker carry the registrations away. Maccolier said later that although he did not remember CUPID workers mailing voter registrations, it is possible that they did. Bob Lee, an election finance document specialist, said that Pennsylvania law mandates that voters must be mailed confirmation of receipt of their application within 48 hours of its arrival at the Voter Registration office. Generally, a registration would only be rejected if it does not contain date of birth, party affiliation, address or signature. "I knew I was supposed to get something, but I figured it was the Quad mail situation," Engineering sophomore Benjamin Mourad said last night. Mourad has not received a confirmation, but has not telephoned to see if he is registered. Maccolier said yesterday that he regrets that registrations were lost in the mail and that he had written a letter for one student who was not listed on the voter roles explaining that the voter did try to register.
