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(04/28/95 9:00am)
When Alumni send their kids off to dear ol'Penn Students living in the Quadrangle walk by McClelland Hall, named after past University Provost George W. McClelland, every day. But they might not recognize his great-granddaughter who lived in the Quad last year. Wharton sophomore Karen Krause is a sixth-generation legacy -- members of her family have been attending the University since the 1844. McClelland was Provost of the University from 1939 until 1944. At that time, the Provost was the highest ranking University official. His grandfather, George B. McClelland, attended the University from 1842 until 1844 before transferring to the U.S. Military Academy. Krause said she is reminded of her great-grandfather each time she walks by McClelland Hall -- even though he died before she was born. "Growing up, there are all these baby pictures of me in Penn sweatshirts," Krause said. "My parents were always talking about how good Penn was and how much they enjoyed it here." In eighth grade, Krause went through what she described as her rebellious stage. "I bought and wore all these sweatshirts of other colleges," she said. "I told my parents that I was not going to come here." This incident soon became the family's inside joke. Krause explained that she visited several other colleges during the Spring Break of her junior year in high school, but "out of all the Ivies," she liked the University most. She applied and was accepted early decision. Krause's other relatives who have attended the University include her father James Krause, who graduated in 1968, her grandfather George B. McClelland, who graduated from the College in 1939 and the Law School in 1946 and her mother, Susan, who graduated from the College in 1969. The family's University connections also extend to numerous aunts, uncles and cousins. According to Audrey Bedford, director of the Alumni Council on Admissions, 12 percent of the undergraduate population is made up of children of University alumni. Legacies are defined as those students with one or more parent alumni, Bedford said. Students whose grandparents attended the University -- but not their parents -- are not included in these figures. According to statistics provided by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, 221 legacies applied to the University this year during the early decision process and 132 were accepted. Overall, 765 legacies applied for the class of 1999 and 399 were accepted. College junior Thor Halvorssen can trace his roots at the University back to the beginning of this century. He said that after he graduates next year, his family will be able to claim 11 University degrees. The tradition started with his great-grandfather, Douglas Coburn, who graduated from the Dental School in 1904. Four other relatives graduated from Wharton with both undergraduate and graduate degrees -- his father, also named Thor, in 1966 and 1968, his father's twin brother, Olaf, in 1966 and 1969, his uncle, Erik, in 1963 and 1965, and another uncle, Leopoldo Lopez, in 1966 and 1968. Olaf Halvorssen may be best remembered for dating Candice Bergen, a fellow student at the time. While Thor has achieved some campus prominence as the newly elected editor-in-chief of The Red and Blue, his father was known for running a nightclub called The Classroom with his twin brother Olaf at 39th and Chestnut streets -- where O'Hara's Fish House is located today. "Penn was not my first choice," Halvorssen said. "After I came here for a visit, however, I really liked it and now I have no doubt that I made the right decision in coming here." He came to choose the University over Duke and Georgetown Universities and several other Ivy League schools to which he was accepted. Halvorssen said that although he was allowed to select which college he was to attend, his family members' comments about their positive experiences here helped persuade him to choose the University. And when Halvorssen arrived at the Quad, he found himself smack in the middle of tradition. Literally --Halvorssen's room was the same one his uncle Olaf occupied when he was a first year student in 1962. But for every legacy that can trace their roots to the University, there are also those who do not realize they have an extended branch of alumni relatives. College sophomore Laurie Moldawer, a member of the Undergraduate Assembly, has relatives with diplomas dating as far back as the 1920s. "To be honest, until I visited the alumni admissions office the year before I applied to Penn, I didn't know that any other relatives besides my mother and two cousins had gone here," she said. When Moldawer visited the University in the spring of her junior year in high school, Gay Lacy, then assistant director of the Alumni Council on Admissions, thought it would be fun to check the computer for the Moldawer name. The search revealed that four other Moldawers had attended the University. Her first red and blue relative was her grandfather, Nathan, in the 1920s. "My grandfather passed away while my father was in college so I never met him," Moldawer said. "In some ways, Penn is a connection to my grandfather because we both went through some of the same things here." Moldawer's other alumni relatives include two great-uncles, three cousins, a distant uncle and aunt and her mother, Susan, who graduated from the College for Women in 1968. "The only person who is a bigger Mask & Wig fan than myself is my mother," Laurie Moldawer explained. "I attended my first Mask & Wig show when my mom came back for her 20th reunion." Moldawer was in eighth grade at the time. According to Moldawer, her mother encouraged her to apply to other schools. "If she had told me to go to Penn, I would have probably rebelled and applied elsewhere," Laurie said. "But I thought that if Penn was good enough for my mother, grandfather, aunts and uncles then it was good enough for me." Moldawer applied and was accepted early decision to the University. While some students experienced their first taste of red and blue spirit before they could crawl, others began toasting to "Dear Old Penn" a little bit later. For College junior Norm Hetrick, his earliest memories of the University are visits with his father for Homecoming and Alumni weekends. "At first, my college experience went in a completely opposite direction from [my father's]," Hetrick said. "I spent my entire freshman year in Mask & Wig while he was a student leader, into everything." His father played football, served as president of Delta Tau Delta and as president of the senior class. He was also a member of the Sphinx Senior Honor Society. The younger Hetrick said that after he left Mask & Wig, his path began to blend with his father's -- although not intentionally. He pledged Delta Tau Delta and became more involved with student affairs after attending the Race Relations Summit at Sugarloaf last year. "Some experiences, unfortunately, will never be shared by both of us," Hetrick said. Hetrick's father, like Halvorssen's uncle, dated Bergen. Other relatives who graduated from the University include his sister, Page, in 1993, cousin Norman in 1980, and cousin Matthew in 1988. Norm Hetrick Sr., who graduated in 1965, currently serves as a University Trustee. According to Hetrick Jr., his father never put any pressure on him to attend the University. "When my sister Page went on her college trips, I went with her and waited for a school to grab me like Penn always had," he said. "Nothing did." But even graduation does not stop legacies from returning to the place many learn to call their second home. President Judith Rodin was Judith Seitz when she attended the University. Her father, Morris Seitz, was a student of the University's evening school in the Class of 1930.
(04/24/95 9:00am)
Each year, students discard $100,000 of other students' money. They do it as surely as if they had broken into everyone's bank account, withdrawn the money and thrown it in the trash. How do they do it? Through acts of vandalism, which cost, on average, $100,000 of the money that on-campus students pay in rent. Throughout the year, Resident Advisors write incident reports on nearly every imaginable affront to the residential facilities, ranging from chickens stuffed down toilets, to holes punched in walls, to swastikas carved in doors, to feces left in lounges. Some are disgusting, unsightly or annoying; others pointedly hurtful to other students. In the cases of incidents such as shot off fire extinguishers, smashed exit and hallway lights, pulled fire alarms and burned flyers, they are also a threat to the safety of others. All are expensive. Think of all the money that is wasted as painters, housekeepers, masons, plumbers and electricians take time to respond to all these needless incidents. Then think of all the better ways that money could have been used to enhance the residences. One year's vandalism expenditures might have been used to build a residential fitness center, another to create music practice rooms. Think of all the student programs and activities, or improved service, that $100,000 could buy. Vandalism is not only an affront to the pocketbook, but an affront to the spirit as well. It is demoralizing to live in a community that one's neighbors treat with such disrespect. Before even leaving their buildings in the morning on their way to class, students may be forced to pass: a lounge from which most of the furniture has been stolen; a hole in a corridor wall; a stairwell filled with graffiti; and elevators that have been vandalized and are out of service. These daily encounters surely accumulate to create an overall feeling of alienation and apathy towards one's living environment. Residential Maintenance is forced to buy furnishings for the residences that are as vandal-proof as possible. Rather than aiming for style and comfort, we find ourselves testing new surfaces to see how they will look after they are scribbled on or carved with knives. The University must pay more for furnishings that meet these requirements. Increasingly, we are bolting lounge furniture to the floor, and chaining televisions to the walls to prevent them from "walking" into students' rooms. Now I certainly don't expect that buildings housing hundreds of college students will be in as good condition as Buckingham Palace, but I have seen other colleges with residential lounges that are attractively and comfortably decorated and that manage to survive in that state throughout the year. What can be done? When we are able to identify the culprits, we charge them for the cost of repairing the damage (which is generally far more expensive than students would guess) and take further disciplinary action. But because our staff cannot be everywhere at all times, the culprits are rarely caught. I believe that the only way for this problem to be addressed is for students to take a strong stand on behalf of their communities. They need to intervene and demand that those who engage in this behavior stop. They need to be willing to report other students to their Resident Advisor or to the Department of Residential Living (573-DORM). Students' voices are far more effective than administrators' in letting other students know that they do not want their homes trashed and their money wasted. Join together and let other students know that you're fed up with having your money thrown out the window. Demand that you and your Penn home are treated with the respect both deserve.
(03/31/95 10:00am)
This weekend, while the rest of Penn's student body hangs around campus fraternity parties and the library, the men's heavyweight crew team travels to San Diego to compete in its first race of the spring season. Though crew is not as well-known as other sports on campus, that may be because people do not have an understanding of the strategy involved in rowing. What makes crew a unique sport is there are no stars on the team. In fact, the idea of a star goes against almost everything involved in the sport. Though each member of a boat has a specific role, the decisive factor in succeeding is the group's unity. The stroke, seated at the front of the boat, is the rower who sets the pace for the entire boat; motion starts with him. The most important characteristic of a talented stroke is the ability to maintain a consistent pace. The seven man, who sits behind the stroke, must follow him exactly, or the entire boat will be out of sync. The middle four rowers, more commonly known as "the engine room," serve only one purpose: power. Typically, these are the strongest members on the boat. While the other rowers are more concerned with the unity of the boat, the middle four are primarily concerned with speed. The last two rowers function to make sure everyone in the boat rows in unison. The bowman, or the last man, is the only member who is able to watch the timing of everyone else. Finally, there is one member on the boat who does not row. The coxswain sits in front of the stroke, facing backward. His job is to steer and coach the boat through a race. He dictates, to the stroke, the pace at which he wants to row. Ultimately, he is in charge of the boat.
(03/23/95 10:00am)
I was sure I wanted to be a part of it. So I picked up a petition, collected signatures from friends, acquaintances, and even people I didn't know, and began campaigning. Postering the bathrooms, handing out slips with my name, knocking on doors -- like most candidates, I learned the key was catchy slogans, no substance. Fortunately, I lost the election. And that was probably the best thing that could have happened to me at Penn. I have learned a lot about student government since then. And the more I have seen, the more I am dissatisfied and the more I am sure that student government is not the most efficient route to truly effect change at this University. It is now almost three years after my run for office and the dawn of a new era in student government is around the corner -- or so the planners of the constitutional reform proposals say. Less bureaucracy. More efficiency. Less overlap. More advocacy. Less internal fighting. More responsibility. These are indeed lofty goals, which if achieved, will be a huge victory for students on campus. But the issue of student governance is far more complex than changing the structure of the system. A new constitution establishes new rules and new priorities, but it does not necessarily bring with it a change in attitude among those elected to serve on the body. Behind any Undergraduate Senate or Undergraduate Assembly is a group of students who can make or break the campus community. Two years ago, one candidate promised to "install Evian machines in the gyms" -- she was elected. Another stated that she was "Kid-tested, mother-approved" -- she also won. This is not a joke. These are the students who are running and winning seats on the campus student government. And because of this, it's no wonder that student government is being ignored by students, faculty members and administrators alike. The way I see it, reforming student government is a double-edged sword: The system should be in working order, but the students must be competent also. This year, for the first time in several years, 40 candidates are running for 25 positions. Last year, it was more like 29 candidates for 25 spots. While this wider field certainly gives students more of a choice than they have had in the past (except for the Nursing spot which is uncontested), the low numbers are an absolute disgrace for a school with an undergraduate population of nearly 10,000. The obvious question which arises for this miniscule pool of candidates is what students can do to make sure their representatives are competent. The most obvious answer is to let students know what the candidates stand for -- not in the form of sound bites which appear in a DP ad and not in the form of colorful flyers. The solutions are simple: campus forums that allow candidates to answer questions on issues, longer campaigning cycles, permitting candidates to speak to the press without having to worry about violating a gag rule. At a university that prides itself on cranking out the leaders of tomorrow, the students must take notice. Representatives like those on the Student Activities Council who voted against funding The Red and Blue should be sent a message that they have no place on campus. While student government reform certainly changes the structure of the system, it is only half of the solution. If given the choice between systematic reform and better student leaders, I would without a doubt pick the latter. Genuine student leaders can represent students regardless of the structure. Genuine student leaders actively solicit comments and suggestions and work to implement them. Genuine student leaders take it upon themselves to change the system if they see its inefficiencies. Genuine student leaders have not yet found their way to the UA body.
(03/15/95 10:00am)
The Madness is back. The Madness that is March in the crazy world of college basketball. There is nothing in all of sports quite like it. It has new favorites, it has new sleepers. There will be new winners, there will be new losers. This is what makes The Madness so special. On the court and in the office pool, nothing is certain and nothing is safe. There are statistics and there are trends, but there are no guarantees. There is no logic -- there is only The Madness. This is the rule, and there are no exceptions. But something has changed, for there can be no method to The Madness. There is a new variable which has greatly altered the mix for Penn fans. They are not just excited and confident, as in the past -- they are nervous. They are nervous because Penn will start five seniors against Alabama. Shawn Trice, Scott Kegler, Eric Moore, Matt Maloney and Jerome Allen. They are nervous because Penn very well could lose to Alabama. If it does, these five players will never wear the Red and Blue again. It is a paradox of The Madness. Experience has created confidence, but at the same time it has also created fear. For the Penn hoops faithful, it is a paradox most unkind. All is not lost, however. The first-round clash with the Tide will not be the last for Penn's five seniors. The end will surely come quickly -- too quickly for most Quakers fans -- but it not will not come tomorrow night in Baltimore. Penn will beat Alabama. How can I say this? There are several reasons? 1. The Penn backcourt. It has been said over and over again. It's probably been said too often, but that doesn't make it any less true. Allen and Maloney comprise one of the best guard tandems in America. They have proven countless times their ability to execute to perfection. Just look at Penn's victory over St. John's in December, when Maloney dominated the first half and Allen the second. With the exception of the UMass game, Penn has either breezed to victory or gone down to the last possession in each and every contest this year. Maloney and Allen are the reason. They can shoot, pass, defend and handle the ball. Both of them. They can control a game, and their best effort was last year in The Madness against Nebraska. They will control the tempo and not let the Tide run. They will make their teammates better and help Penn win. 2. The Alabama backcourt. There's an old saying that guard play wins tourney games. So if Penn's backcourt is this good, the Alabama guards will need to come up big. They're not good enough. Consider the 'Bama starters, senior Artie Griffin and junior point guard Marvin Orange. Griffin shot just 36 percent from the floor this year, and Orange was even worse at 31 percent. Compare that with 43 percent for Allen and 46 percent for Maloney. Allen and Maloney totaled 39 more assists than the Alabama duo, and they played four less games. Orange and Griffin have been torched by opposing guards all year. Mississippi State's Darryl Wilson burned them for 18 points in one game and 35 in another. Martyn Norris of Auburn tallied 12 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Katu Davis of Georgia hit for 25 points, seven boards and two assists. Louisiana State's Ronnie Henderson poured in 40 points. Unless you've been living in a cave, you know none of these guys can hold a candle to Maloney and Allen. Which certainly doesn't bode well for Alabama. 3. Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Tide. Alabama fans will point to the Crimson Tide's 18-point victory on the road against defending national champion Arkansas. But the truth is you never know which Alabama team will show up. It could be that team, but it could also be the one that somehow lost by 13 at home to LSU. The Tide has been plagued by inconsistency all year. It beat Mississippi State once, but lost to Vanderbilt and Georgia. There is no reason to assume Alabama will bring its best game to Baltimore. It's very possible the opposite will happen, especially against an unranked Ivy League team. 4. The frontcourts. Everyone knows about Alabama's frontcourt of Jamal Faulkner, Jason Caffey and Antonio McDyess. The Tide has more strength up front than most teams in the country. Many have said that Penn's frontcourt will be overmatched. But people have said that before. They said it before the Michigan game, and Shawn Trice had 11 rebounds and Eric Moore scored 18 points. In a near-miss at Villanova, Penn adjusted after a horrid start and held center Jason Lawson to just three points in the second. Penn was whacked by Lou Roe and Marcus Camby, but that is the exception and not the rule. Trice has been unstoppable lately, and junior Tim Krug continues to provide intensity and versatility off the bench. Add Moore's heart and desire and junior Ira Bowman's explosiveness, and the Penn frontcourt will shock some people. 5. Cupcake City. Everyone knows the Ivies can't match the SEC when it comes to level of competition and talent. They can't come close. But let's face it, you play conference foes once or twice each year, so you already know them. The true tests are strong non-conference games. Penn lost close ones to 'Nova, Temple and St. Joe's. Alabama beat up on patsies like Florida International, Florida A&M;, Central Florida and Central Connecticut State. Which experience will prove more valuable in a tight NCAA Tournament game? It's not a hard question to answer. Penn's will. So there you have it. A few reasons why 12th-seeded Penn will get by fifth-seeded Alabama tomorrow night. With all the hype and a tiny Vegas line, this is anything but your typical 5-12 matchup. The upset should surprise no one when it happens. Especially in the world of The Madness. Lee Goldsmith is a College junior from Huntingdon Valley and a sports writer for The Daily Pennsylvanian.
(03/15/95 10:00am)
The 1979 Quakers knocked off Iona, North Carolina, Syracuse and St. John's en route to the 1979 Final Four in Salt Lake City and a date with Magic Johnson and Michigan State. It is the story of a hard-luck kid from South Bronx whose star shone brightest just when the eyes of the nation were watching. It is the story of a coach with the naive optimism to ask for the improbable from his players -- and get it. It is the story of defying odds and expectations. It is the story of secrets, and the story of Magic. · No one can really be sure how serious second-year Penn coach Bob Weinhauer was when he wrote a letter to each of his players just before the 1978-79 season. The letter outlined five goals Weinhauer had set for his senior-laden team, all of them reasonably attainable except the fifth and final goal. That called for the Quakers to earn a trip to Salt Lake City and the 1979 Final Four -- a feat no team in Penn history had ever accomplished. "I was young, enthusiastic and it was my second year as a college head coach," Weinhauer said. "I tried to be the eternal optimist to the players, but in my own head I was the worst pessimist. But I told the team that when you get to the NCAA playoffs, anybody can win the thing." Weinhauer's goal was not all that far-fetched. The year before, the Quakers had advanced to the Sweet Sixteen and only fallen to eventual runner-up Duke, 84-80, when they blew an eight-point lead in the final minutes. "That game [against Duke] kind of opened our eyes and showed us we were that close," said Tony Price, who averaged 19.8 points per game for Penn in the 1979 season. "We never really talked about how far we could go. We just felt we didn't get a whole lot of respect because we were from the Ivy League." Seeded ninth in the 10-team Eastern Regional bracket in 1979, Penn was the official underdog in every game it played in the tournament that year. Only the handicappers in Las Vegas gave the Quakers any credit, posting them as slight favorites in the opening round against Iona. "When the seedings came out, we laughed about it," said Price, the Eastern Regionals' Most Valuable Player in 1979. "I don't think [the seeding committee] cared for us that much. There was talk about taking away the Ivy League's invitation, but that kind of quieted down after that year." · The Iona game pitted Weinhauer against a fiery, young Jim Valvano, as well as the Quakers' front line against future NBA center Jeff Ruland in what was widely considered an empty battle for the honor of bowing out to top-seeded and No. 3 North Carolina in the second round. Penn opened its tournament run by dancing circles around the Gaels and methodically building a 14-point second-half lead. Suddenly, the Quakers seemed to lose their rhythm. Iona rallied behind Ruland and closed the gap to 59-58 with 6 minutes, 42 seconds remaining. "You know what happened to us?" forward Tim Smith said after the game. "We looked up at the scoreboard in the second half and said, 'Hey, we're 14 points ahead, let's go for the kill.' " Penn proved its poise by hanging on for a 73-69 victory behind Price's 15 points and 12 rebounds and freshman reserve Tom Liefsen's clutch free throw shooting. "My assistants told me we should foul Leifsen," Valvano said after Leifsen broke the Gaels' backs by converting two one-and-ones down the stretch. "They said he shoots 42 percent. Well, maybe he shoots 42 percent in Pennsylvania, but he's a helluva free throw shooter in North Carolina." The Quakers now had themselves a helluva challenge in North Carolina. But then, they also had a secret. According to Penn lore, it was assistant coach Bob Staak who shared the secret with the Quakers players during stretching exercises that fateful Sunday morning in Raleigh, N.C. "Nobody knows it," Staak told them. "But we're going to beat North Carolina." Nobody could have been expected to know it. The Tar Heels, led by Mike O'Koren, Al Wood and Dudley Bradley, had won eight of their last nine entering the tourney. And no ACC school from North Carolina had lost an NCAA Tournament game in its home state in 18 years. With Price and Smith both nursing back injuries, the Quakers' prospects appeared grim. But sharp execution and an airtight zone kept Penn within striking distance. With the Quakers trailing 44-38, Price took over the game. The South Bronx native scored the Quakers' next nine points, while Penn senior center Matt White -- whom UNC coach Dean Smith later called "the most underrated player on the floor" -- assumed command of the paint. And when junior point guard Booney Salters sunk the front end of one-and-one to secure the 72-71 upset, all of Carolina was blue. Princeton coach Pete Carril, whose Tigers had suffered two one-point overtime losses to Penn earlier that season, was quick to celebrate the Ivy League coup. "That was no fluke," Carril said. "If Penn played them again, they would beat them again." · Most media figures across the nation stumbled over one another to label Penn a Cinderella team, but the victory over the Tar Heels had opened some eyes. "Who are we kidding?" Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said before his Eastern regional semifinal game against the Quakers. "Penn is not an Ivy League team. Penn's a Big 5 team, an Eastern team. They don't belong in the Ivy League because they are too good for that league." What Boeheim didn't know then was the Quakers would be too good -- and, surprisingly, too fast -- for the No. 8 Orangemen as well. Syracuse, anchored by 6-foot-11 shot blocker Roosevelt Bouie, was known to be notoriously partial to the up-tempo game. "I don't think Penn will try to run with us," Boeheim said in a pregame press conference. "No team in the East has, and I don't think Penn will try it." The same time the next day, Boeheim was singing a different tune. "They outplayed us and outhustled us in the first half," Boeheim said after watching the Quakers oust his Orangemen, 84-76. "They beat us up the court after 29 teams couldn't do it." Price once again led the assault with 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists, while Smith chipped in 18. "Price is the best forward we've seen all year," an awed Boeheim said. "He absolutely controlled the game." One game away from their goal, the Quakers caught a break when they drew St. John's, an underdog in its own right, in the regional final. The Redmen turned the game into a walk-a-thon from the opening tip, but a dazzling display of long-range bombs from Smith and Salters early in the second half kept the Quakers ahead by a slim margin. St. John's, fresh from last-second upsets over Duke and Rutgers, just wanted to give itself a chance to win, and that's exactly what the Redmen did when they fouled Salters with 15 seconds remaining and the score knotted at 62. But Booney was ice from the line, and when freshman Vincent Ross intercepted a long baseball pass, the Quakers had fulfilled the destiny Weinhauer had spelled out for them months before. · Respect has always been accorded grudgingly to the Penn basketball program, but when the Quakers arrived in Salt Lake City for the 1979 Final Four, Weinhauer thought they had finally earned themselves a place in the national spotlight. He was wrong. According to most experts, Penn's clock had been scheduled to strike midnight two weeks before against North Carolina. Now, after an improbable run through the Eastern Regionals, the upstarts from the Ancient Eight were rubbing elbows with likes of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. "They were all nice and polite," Weinhauer said of the media that Final Four weekend, "all the time thinking we didn't belong there." Carril had a more candid explanation. "They're sorry to see Penn in there," Carril said. "They made a lot of predictions and they didn't come true, so to look good, they're saying those things." Much has been made of the day the Quakers met Magic Johnson, but the one thing on which everyone agrees is it certainly didn't help Penn in its quest for national respect. Philadelphia Inquirer sports writer Chuck Newman called it "the best-advertised public execution in collegiate basketball history." Weinhauer tried to make sense of it, but he could not. "We were getting exactly the type of shots we wanted," he said afterward. "Only we weren't hitting them. The game plan went exactly the way we planned, and it just didn't work." The plain fact was Michigan State dominated the Quakers in every phase of the game to earn one of the most lopsided victories in NCAA Final Four history. Led by Johnson's 29 points, the Spartans ran out to a 32-6 lead and were never challenged on the way to a 101-67 victory. Penn went on to lose the consolation game to DePaul, 96-93 in overtime, but the dream had died two days earlier. · Back on the West Philly campus, rabid Quakers fans embraced their conquered heroes. They welcomed back Price, who outshot Johnson and Larry Bird to lead the tournament in scoring with 142 points. They welcomed back a special team with a chemistry so fine-tuned that five of its members would rank in Penn's top 11 in career assists upon graduation. The Quakers' Final Four appearance was lauded throughout the city as the resurrection of Big 5 basketball. "This will certainly benefit Penn," Temple coach Don Casey said of the Quakers' success. "This is Penn's success. Nobody else's. But it is something we [the Big 5] can utilize in recruiting." But more than anything, the Quakers' success was enjoyed by the students. A week earlier, 8,000 fans had marched through campus and gathered in Franklin Field for a send-off to Salt Lake City. Weinhauer, Eastern Basketball's 1979 coach of the year, stepped forward and captured the sentiment Penn has spent the last 16 years trying to resurrect. "This has to be," he said to the crowd, "right now, one of the greatest feelings that we've ever had as a team, and I hope that you've ever had as a person. This feeling of togetherness that we have on campus right now -- we should never let go of it."
(03/15/95 10:00am)
The NCAA Tournament selection committee has a hard time deciding who will dance, with whom and where during March Madness. Everyone's been there. You get your grades and feel slighted. You say to yourself, "I can't believe I got a B+, I deserved an A-. I knew that teacher hated me." In reality, though, the determination of a grade comes during a very stressful period for many instructors, one when they have to summarize a vast array of students' performances for an entire semester in a matter of days on the heels of marking final exams. No matter how hard they work, or how impartial teachers try to be, a handful of students always end up on the short end of the stick. Much the same can be said for the NCAA Tournament selection process. Within the space of one short weekend a committee of eight individuals must decide who will have the right to play in the land's most spectacular sporting event, how they will be seeded and where they will play. Factor into this equation the work the committee must do to insure the competitiveness and integrity of the tournament. Squeeze the whole mess into a span of a few days, and you've got a headache somewhere near the size of the check CBS sends the NCAA annually for the right to televise the tournament. Last weekend, when committee members converged on Kansas City to draw up the tournament pool, the first decision they had to make was the one that perennially proves to be the most controversial -- the determination of the 34 at-large bids to be distributed. This already tough choice is complicated by the fact that a number of conference tournament games are unfolding simultaneously. "The biggest problem with the seeding process is that there are games with major ramifications on the Sunday [when the selection is completed]," said Davidson University athletic director and selection committee member Terry Holland. Without a doubt, the committee's decisions on the distribution of at-large invites are the most subjective it makes all weekend. While the ultimate decision as to who will go to the big dance boils down to a matter of preference, a number of structured steps are taken en route to that decision. One objective factor considered in every step of the procedure is the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), the vaunted power rankings by which so many fans are mystified. The RPI has been subject to a great deal of conjecture over the years, with even some of the most astute followers of the college game believing it takes anything from point differential to a coach's selection of game day apparel into consideration. On the contrary, the RPI is an astonishingly simple mathematical device, which according to the NCAA, requires "only a calculator and access to the results of every Division I game to compute." The tabulation takes three factors directly into consideration: a team's Division I winning percentage, its opponents' winning percentage, and those opponents' opponents' winning percentage. These considerations take a weight of 25 percent, 50 percent and 25 percent respectively. Notice, nowhere are margins of defeat or victory thrown into the fray. The NCAA also computes a fourth, supplementary factor to serve as a curve of sorts for those teams that went out of their way to schedule tough non-conference games, like Penn's duels with Michigan and UMass. A school receives bonus points if half its non-conference opponents are among the top 50 in the straight RPI, the one based solely on winning percentages. Any wins a team may have notched over such lofty competition further boosts its score. All that aside, when the committee members arrived in Kansas City selection weekend, they were expected to have composed a personal list of teams to which they wanted to extend at-large bids. Although not required, the NCAA recommends these picks come from the top 102 teams in the RPI. "If all anyone used to make the field was the RPI, you wouldn't need a [selection] committee," Harris said. While the NCAA has outlined the at-large determination process in a very detailed manner, the pages of procedures and by-laws can be summarized into one statement -- the best 34 teams that have not received an automatic bid go to the tournament. Of course, it's not that simple. For every team "on the bubble," concerned committee members may request an in-depth analysis of those squads' seasons. When all is said and done, the cream, for the most part, rises. At this point, though, there is still a great deal more to be decided, namely the seeding and geographic placement of teams in the brackets. To this end, the committee begins by voting on the top eight teams in the tournament field, assigning them rankings of 1 to 8. The committee than continues down the line until every team has been assigned a number from 1 to 64. This ordering, called an S-curve, is not used to determine which is the single best team in the field, but rather for the purpose of placing teams in the bracket. Once the S-curve has been established, the committee can begin the tedious process of creating the four regional brackets. Across the regions, each particular seed should represent the same caliber of team. Finally the placement can begin. The committee zips down the S-curve placing each seed in the geographic region closest to the location of the school it represents. If two schools with the same seed are located in the same area of the country, then the one with the higher place on the S-curve gets to stay close to home for the tourney, while the other packs extra socks for a long trip. This part of the process sounds simple enough. All the committee needs to do is pluck the teams into the slots based on how they ranked them. If only it were so easy. At this point the committee has the enviable task of examining the brackets with a fine tooth comb to make sure no possible early round games are repeats of regular season contests or of games in last year's tournament. They also have to be sure no team is playing on its home floor, defined as an arena in which it has played at least three times during the season. All this scrutiny can cause a great shifting of the ideal tournament structure. The committee, however, does not seek to preclude the inevitable home crowds created by a team playing near its home base. Sound like a lot to swallow? Well, quite frankly it is. But the eight dedicated individuals who take it upon themselves to design the tournament field wouldn't have it any other way. While Holland admits "it's not a perfect process," it is indeed quite pure. The fact of the matter is it would be impossible for the committee to satisfy everyone. Omissions are bound to happen. Somebody has to play in Idaho. These are all realities of the selection process.
(03/02/95 10:00am)
student and employee to attend one of its events, White Women Against Racism undermined its own mission. ___________________________ On Tuesday evening, Engineering junior Janili Davis and University employee Bah-Bai Makenta had planned to attend a meeting of the White Women Against Racism because they were curious about the organization. Despite their genuine intentions, both were turned away. Justifying her actions, Women's Center Director Elena DiLapi, who runs the group, said, "Before we can enter into meaningful dialogue about culture and racism, we have to examine ourselves first and examine those issues." DiLapi explains that the Women's Center has programs for black women, just as it does for white women. However, we must remind her that the doctrine of "Separate But Equal" was struck down in this country over 40 years ago by the Supreme Court. At a University plagued by unparalleled racial tension in the last two years, this move is reprehensible and cannot be accepted. Students from across the University should not only be allowed, but encouraged, to participate in discussions about racism and other ills plaguing our society. This incident also raises the issue of a University group's right to close publically advertised meetings and events to members of the University community. Last week, for example, Daily Pennsylvanian staff members were prevented from attending a forum between members of the Black Student League and the Rutgers University Black Student Union because it was believed that their presence would interrupt the flow of the discussion. But in order to have a campus where free expression and dialogue are paramount, all events and forums advertised as open to members of the University community should be open to everyone. To do otherwise constitutes outright discrimination. With regard to the White Women Against Racism, the University administration must send a clear message that the days of Plessy v. Ferguson are over. Whether man or woman, black or white, no one should be turned away at a University event. DiLapi and the Women's Center, already criticized for being exclusive, should take notice that this behavior will not be tolerated. If the center is to receive campus funding and exist on Locust Walk, it must serve the whole University.
(01/19/95 10:00am)
As we begin the spring semester, I want to share some thoughts I have had regarding several recent issues on campus. In just the past six months, three unrelated incidents have understandably disturbed and offended members of our community. Specifically, many were affronted by research funding received by a faculty member from an outside foundation accused of supporting neo-Nazi and racist agendas, by a student's article on Haiti published by a campus publication, and by the retrospective exhibit of Andres Serrano's photographs at the Institute of Contemporary Art, especially the notorious "Piss Christ." Not surprisingly, the common cry in response to each of these incidents has been: "Why doesn't the University stop this!" This is a heartfelt demand and it deserves a clear response. We "permit" these events because, first, in truth, we can never wholly prevent them -- and in each of these recent cases, those responsible acted legally, were clearly identified, and did not hide behind the illicit screens of anonymity or vandalism. Second, we permit them because tolerating the intolerable idea is the price of the freedom of expression without which we cannot survive as an academic institution. But third, and most importantly, we permit them because doing so is the only way to change things. Hearing the hateful is the only way to identify and educate the hater. Seeing the offensive is a necessary step to understanding and rejecting the perspective from which it comes. Seriously considering even the most distasteful idea is the absolute precondition to arguing effectively against it. By mission and by tradition, universities are open forums in which competing beliefs, philosophies, and values contend. Some will appear ill-informed, disrespectful, vengeful; in exposing and challenging them, their flaws become self-evident. That is why we do not close off debate by official pronouncement. That is why we must use such incidents to promote debate, to spotlight the hater, and to expose the hateful to the light of day. In recent months, I have been especially pleased to see the responsible way in which those offended by the Serrano exhibit voiced their protest in outspoken, but reasoned and appropriate arguments, and then worked constructively with the Institute of Contemporary Art to create a forum for the public discussion of their concerns. Those who have been outraged regarding the article published in The Red and Blue have been encouraged to do likewise. We as a community are learning to use public discussion and debate to educate one another and to assert our views. It is my hope that, in the future, those who know they may offend --while free to exercise their right of open expression -- will, as a matter of simple courtesy, open a dialogue ahead of time with groups or individuals they know will be affected by their exercise of that right. It is vital that we reach out to each other in this way, because we can learn to use the freedom of ideas and expression to educate rather than to wound. The University administration's job is to support such dialogue and debate, not to cut it off; to create an environment in which we can educate each other, not one in which doctrine or orthodoxy are legislated from on high. Will we provide "moral leadership" to the Penn community? Absolutely. But moral leadership requires suasion not censorship, conscience not coercion. Most of all, it requires insisting that we -- all of us -- talk about what troubles us. We must all use such occasions to fulfill the University's educational mission for each other. Part of that mission is to educate for leadership, and we must each take responsibility to respond to our own moral compass in ways that better the life of our community. Words are the life-blood of our university. For all their limitations, even if they sometimes drive us apart, words are what bind us together in the academy. Martin Luther King, Jr., understood the power of words. He believed that we must use them to talk about the difficult and painful issues that divide us, about race and about religion, about politics and about power, about gender and about identity. But I urge you to choose carefully the words you use. The words of hatred and bigotry, insult and ignorance, destroy dialogue and community and must be answered. I hope the day will come when no one in our community will use such words or inflict pain on others with intent. But until then, when we are faced with words of offense and awfulness, we must draw those who use them into the dialogue of ideas. That is the essential precondition of the dynamics of change. That is why we may censure speech, but never censor speakers. In the last two years, this community has found that we cannot, with policies and procedures, legislate the unlegislatable. If we can learn this lesson and put it into practice, then we can create together a model community in which individual and group differences form a mosaic, not a melting pot that tries to makes them in a homogenous mix. We are a community of different identities, and we must create a context in which a true diversity of views and opinions, persons and groups, politics and perspectives, is nurtured, valued and shared. But let us raise the level of the discourse, dispense with the intention to hurt, and each take more responsibility for all the members of our community. In that spirit, I welcome you back from winter vacation to the exciting challenges that lie ahead. Judith Rodin has served as president of the University since last July.
(09/12/94 9:00am)
Welcome back, boneheads. As a faculty member, I am impressed by your intellect, your enthusiasm and attitude. However, as co-director of the University's Head Injury Research Center, I am awed by your stupidity and your fathomless reliance on luck as your ride your bicycles throughout campus and West Philadelphia without a helmet. I am perpetually amazed at how many of you supposedly enlightened and semi-educated Ivy Leaguers continue to ride without any protection to your brain. Didn't anyone visit your third grade classroom, drop an egg on the floor and with and without styrofoam protection demonstrate what always happens when your skull chooses to have an argument with the concrete pavement? Weren't you paying attention? Your skull always loses and unfortunately, so does your brain. Forever. I grew up in the free-form sixties, went to Woodstock (yes, that generation) and still believe I know what's cool and what isn't. And I know that for most of you, riding a bicycle with a helmet is not cool. You're right. It isn't cool at all. But I'll tell you what's even less cool -- being entered into one of our clinical head injury protocols here at HUP after you've sustained trauma to your brain by riding your bicycle without head protection. Definitely not cool. So, even though you may not be moved by my message, think about someone else for a change. Think about your girlfriend or boyfriend whom you love, your parents, your brothers and sisters and friends and all the people whose love and caring you take for granted. Think about how their lives would change if you sustained even a minor head injury. And if you won't do it for yourself, do it for them, for your years at Penn, for your careers and livelihoods. I'll see you around campus. I won't be hard to miss. I'm the one yelling at you, riding your bicycle, to get a helmet and get a life. Tracy McIntosh is a professor of Neurosurgery, Bioengineering and Pharmacology at the University.
(07/07/94 9:00am)
House may go to Tri-Delt After being held on probation by its national office for three years, the Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity has lost its charter. All current brothers have been given early alumni status, and last year's class of 21 pledges will not be initiated. And the Delta Delta Delta sorority may move into Phi Kap's house at 3539 Locust Walk, making it the first sorority to be located on the Walk. Phi Kap's suspension, which took place on June 10th, closes the Alpha chapter of the fraternity, the founding chapter which was originally established in 1850. According to Executive Vice President of the national office Alan Preston, the charter was suspended because the chapter didn't meet certain standards of operation. Standards set forth by the fraternity's national office include "responsible risk management practices, achieving certain scholastic goals, participating in community and University service projects, and maintaining safe and desirable living facilities," according to a statement issued by the national office. Preston would not comment on what specific standards were not met by the University chapter, but Phi Kap national Executive Board member Ghery Pettit said the fraternity's standards have always been high. "We have high standards," he said. "The bottom line is that we're going to maintain our standards even if it means an embarrassment to the local chapter." Phi Kap Vice President and College senior Woody Paik said this is not the first time the national office has complained about the chapter's performance. "They haven't been happy with our chapter for a number of years," Paik said. "There was a disparity between what we thought they wanted us to do and what they did want." Pettit said that many chapters which are suspended by their national offices often return to campus after three years. He added that the national office intends to "re-establish the chapter when conditions are better." According to Greek Alumni Council Chairperson Andrea Dobin and Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Director Tricia Phaup, the fraternity was in good standing with the Interfraternity Council and was not on probation with the University. "It was a completely internal matter," Dobin said. "As far as the University knew at the time of suspension, there was nothing identifiable as the cause." The fate of Phi Kap's house is still being discussed. According to the national office, the local alumni association that owns the chapter house, Alpha Inc., intends to lease it to a University sorority for an indefinite period. Several sources have identified Tri-Delt as the top candidate for the lease, and said that the "indefinite period" will probably be three years. "As I understand it, our house corporation was approached by their house corporation about leasing the house," said Tri-Delt President and College senior Melissa London. "We should know in the next couple of weeks [if a lease will be signed]." If Tri-Delt does indeed accept the offer, London said, the sorority would also maintain its Spruce Street house since it has already renewed its lease for the next academic year. Dobin said that maintaining two houses is both rare and difficult, but that Tri-Delt is "one of the strongest chapters on campus" and could possibly manage it. The suspension and loss of the house will leave 33 brothers without a place to live in the fall, Paik said. He added that the 21 men who pledged the fraternity but were never initiated will have the option of pledging another fraternity when they return to school. IFC President and College senior Hayden Horowitz and Phi Kap President and College junior Craig Rutenberg were unavailable for comment.
(06/30/94 9:00am)
Some students do it on the College Green in front of everyone. Others prefer the seclusion of a private corner of the air-conditioned Van Pelt Library, away from prying eyes. Many students invite their partner over to their house for all-night sessions. What could all these students be doing? Studying for final exams in the first session of summer school classes, of course. Students began taking finals Monday, although the majority will be given today and Friday. And most said studying for their finals in the heat of the summer is particularly exhausting. While earlier in the summer Wharton sophomore Santosh Govindaraju was spending his afternoons after class playing basketball or working out at the gym, having two finals this week makes things a lot different. "I take naps on College Green," Govindaraju said. "It is the only time I can find to sleep -- there is just not enough time this week to get everything done." Some students like Wharton and Engineering junior Raja Gupta do most of their work on the computers in Steinberg-Dietrich Hall. "Besides doing practice sets and reviewing readings for Finance 101, I usually spend four hours each night studying in Vance [Hall] with a friend," Gupta said. Engineering senior Shyan Lim said that while studying for his Anthropology 1 exam has turned out to be "straight memorization," he has really learned something about different approaches to staying awake. "I recommend three to four cans of Coke to stay alert for studying," Lim said. "Mountain Dew is too strong and wipes you out." Anyone who thinks that summer courses are easier than their Spring and Fall semester counterparts should talk to College junior Dwight Arakaki, who is taking Organic Chemistry this summer. "It's a very fast-paced class," Arakaki said. "I have less time now than I did during the normal semester when I had four courses." Like many of his fellow students, Arakaki has lost all pretenses of becoming a gourmet chef during the rigorous summer session and subscribes to the fast food summer meal plan. "Since I spend all my time studying or working, I just grab my food from Taco Bell or the food court," he said. "[Or] anywhere that is close to my study area in Steinberg-Dietrich Hall -- and fast."
(12/16/93 10:00am)
For the past year or so, racism has been a characteristic more and more often ascribed to the University campus. From the "water buffalo" incident, to the DP theft, to the threatening phone calls at W.E.B. DuBois College house and the recent debate over Part II of the Racial Harassment Policy, it is becoming conventional wisdom that there is a tremendous race problem at the University. That's right. Racists, sexists and homophobes are now the norm at Penn. That person you passed on the Walk going to lunch? He probably fits into one of those categories, or more likely all of them. Here at Penn, after all, racial intolerance is the norm. I cannot imagine how this idea of Penn's racial problem became so prominent. It is simply a load of crap, utterly ridiculous. This is not to say that racism does not exist here at all. It clearly does, and in every case is indefensible. What I object to is this preposterous general characterization of Penn as a school permeated by racism. For this to be true, most of the students would have to be racists. For instance, if someone claimed that a college had a reputation for being ardently pro-choice, you would assume that a large percentage of the student body was in favor of abortion rights. This university consists of over nine thousand undergraduates and we are asked to believe that most of them are racist. After all, that's the norm. How anyone can take a few instances of racial tension, or even outright harassment, and from this extrapolate the overall racial attitudes of the students who comprise the University of Pennsylvania, is simply amazing. The ironic and unfortunate thing is that by doing this, race relations worsen. The average Penn student is an intelligent, decent person, not some sort of bigot, and he is offended to be thought of as one. Look at the threats made to W.E.B. DuBois College House. The fact that these calls were made is horrible (not to mention illegal and subject to prosecution), but all it proves is that there are evil people with access to a phone. And what was the campus reaction? Overwhelming condemnation of the incident and support for the DuBois residents. Can anyone believe that this was not sincere? Yet this incident is used as an example of the intolerance now pervading the campus. How does every student who was appalled by the threats feel when he or she is labeled one of the intolerant? The debate over the Racial Harassment Policy was also inappropriately framed in terms of racism. First off, some seem to have a need to believe that the members of the Penn community, prejudiced miscreants that they are, are only constrained from unleashing their epithets by the fear of University prosecution. Right. I'm sure that's exactly the case. More importantly however, advocates of abandoning the policy should not be accused of accepting or condoning harassment. They believe that freedom of conscience and of expression are philosophically too important to give up even when that expression is offensive or inappropriate. Everyone wants harassers to be punished from a moral standpoint, but a legal standpoint is dicier. It is a complex issue of competing rights and liberties. Unfortunately, there seem to be too many people who hold unfair, unsubstantiated beliefs about the Penn student body. Rashad Ibrahim claims that "people don't want to see women and minorities on the Walk, but they won't come out and say it. They can't come out and say, 'I don't like black people, they shouldn't be at Penn,' so they say other stupid things." I would be curious to hear examples of the "other stupid things" referred to, because I have difficulty conceiving of anything stupider than this statement. Things like this damage race relations more than anything Greg Pavlik ever wrote. If people want to accuse the majority of Penn's nine thousand students of intolerance, maybe by doing it enough they will actually succeed. Hopefully though, people will come to their senses, lay to rest this myth of prevalent campus racism, and build relationships based on the values so many of us all share. This way in the future, when confronted with problems, we can face them with a unified front, not a fragmented one, and work on finding solutions together. David Ragsdale is a senior Intellectual History major from Princeton, New Jersey.
(12/03/93 10:00am)
The Vision Staff Writer I had no problem telling white students where I was from, and they had no problem with my response. But as I let the word "Boston" creep cautiously off my lips in response to black students' inquiries, I became painfully aware of the dark legacy that my hometown bears. In the opinion of most black Americans today, Boston, Massachusetts does not have the greatest reputation for race relations. Many blacks refer to Boston as, "up South," equating its poor racial reputation with the South's infamous racial reputation. In the 60s, 70s, and even 90s, racial riots have occurred in Boston due to school desegregation and court ordered bussing. But that's just the beginning of the chaos that has served to racially stratify Boston. Just a few years ago, a white man named Charles Stewart murdered his wife and unborn child in a predominantly black and Latino area of Boston. He then convinced the police and media for weeks that the crime had been committed by a black man. Understanding the racial biases that pervade the city, Stewart felt that the alibi was perfect. It was almost perfect until it was later discovered that Stewart himself had committed the murders for insurance money, and he ultimately killed himself. Boston's bad reputation has even spread to its professional sports teams which many blacks have traditionally condemned as racist and discriminatory. Needless to say, most black people do not view Boston as a "City of Brotherly Love." My experience at Penn here in the "real" City of Brotherly Love has been very much influenced by my birthplace. Being from Boston has endowed me with an acute awareness of racial tension, while at the same time, I have almost been desensitized toward racist attacks. By being surrounded with the type of racial adversity that my city is famous for, I have never been allowed for a day to forget how much my blackness effects the course of my life. But the more aware I have become of that adversity, the less the impact it has maintained over me. I got used to it. And on campus, I am still used to it. The other day I walked into Gimbel Gym. As I stood in line, I watched the attendant take the I.D.'s of the white students in front of me, quickly slice them through the card reader without looking at their pictures, and smile. Not only did the attendant's smile melt slowly from her face when I handed her my card, but her behavior changed as well. She began to study my card, looking up at me and back at the card several times in stern suspicion, before letting me pass. But she was just doing her job, right? I also remember standing in the Bookstore the other day trying to find something that cost $2.98 so that I would have a large enough purchase to charge it on my Penn card. I'm not quite sure why, but people kept asking me questions like, "Where's the toilet paper", as if I worked there. I just told them where it was and went about my business. I guess I just looked knowledgeable, right? Well, regardless of why events such as these happen on a daily basis to me, the bottom line is that there are a hundred more events like these and worse that I have either decided to forget, or never felt worthy of remembering. I just got used to them. I am used to people looking at me funny, I am used to people being afraid of me, and I am used to not being respected. It may sound like a trail of tears, and you may not believe it. But regardless of whether you want to believe it or not, it's still true. I don't really have the time, nor the energy to be preoccupied with what other people think of me. I have a job, I have papers to write, and I do have a life to live. But sometimes my daily experience leaves me no choice but to be concerned. When what people think of me based on the color of my skin begins to affect everything I do, and everything I am able to do, I honestly do tend to get a little angry. Being black in America, and being black at Penn, can do that to a person. Whether I am forced to justify where I was born to my friends, or I have to deal with campus police following me around like a criminal rather than a tuition paying student, it isn't easy being a black Bostonian at Penn. Boston and Penn clearly have some serious racial problems. But I am not going to allow that awareness to cripple my feelings of self worth, or destroy my concept of home. I dislike the racial tension that exists at Penn and at home with a passion. But for the next two and a half years, Penn is my school, and Boston will always be my home, whether I live there or not. I don't know if it's good for me to be used to racism or not. But the fact that I, and many other African-Americans like myself, are used to it speaks volumes about our times. Wherever we as a race – a human race – go from here, we've all got to make it there together. But,we need to keep in mind that everyone knows a different route, and not everyone is going to choose the same path. And the trifling ones who refuse to come along? I guess they'll just have to be dragged along for the trip. Chris Lake is a sophomore from Boston, Massachusetts. He is a staff writer for The Vision.
(11/04/93 10:00am)
From Bertie Bregman's "On Call," Fall '93 For the next few hours, you discuss what you've read and work on problems and cases. Sometimes the doctor presents a case to the group and asks for suggestions, elaborating on students' input and emphasizing key concepts. Sometimes the doctor lists problems on the board and has you pair up to solve them. The sound of animated discussion and debate fills the room. You are an odd number of students in the class, so the doctor pairs up with a different student each time, and has by now developed a personal relationship with each of you.... Suddenly an alarm goes off. At first you think of fire, but as your fellow students turn into blueberries which the doctor pops into her mouth, you realize that you are dreaming. You have overslept and your lecture on hypertension starts in 15 minutes. Your blood pressure begins to rise. You arrive at school and sit with a 150 of your fellow students in the lecture hall. The lecturer presents material from your course notes, and you follow passively along. If you reviewed the material beforehand, you are bored; if not, you are lost. Periodically, the lecturer strays from the text, and the room fills with the sound of rustling paper as everyone frantically tries to find the place. If you're Jewish, this evokes the endless days of prayer on Yom Kippur. As in synagogue, you do a quick calculation: it'll be over in 10 pages or 20 minutes – whichever comes first. You are momentarily hopeful – maybe you'll get to build a diorama about hypertension – but it turns into yet another lecture with a smaller audience. You leave school exhausted although you haven't actually done anything. You remember that you used to be such a happy child, and think to yourself, there must be a better way. If I were magically appointed dean of the Medical School, I would draft a constitution that read in part like this: We hold it self-evident that all learning should be dynamic and interactive; that lectures should be a tool of last resort, and that small groups and team projects should rule the day. Toward that end, we will limit class sections to a maximum of 10 students, and class time to a maximum of four hours a day. Students will be responsible for learning a body of material before class, and precious class time shall be used to solve problems and place the material in some relevant scientific and clinical context. We will make every effort to create a humane environment, conducive to an active life of the mind. Classes will be held around conference tables, with students facing one other instead of looking at the backs of heads. To develop into personal relationships with students, doctors will have ongoing relationships with groups. My constitution would go on, but at its heart would lie three sacred points: Seminars not lectures. Active learning. Mentoring. How crazy! How radical! And yet, how very much like so many other graduate school experiences! If Medical School administrators need a model to follow, they need look no further than the liberal arts. History or English graduate students come to class prepared to discuss the material. If you are reading Melville, you don't go to a huge lecture and listen to the professor read aloud from Moby Dick. You read the book at home and analyze it in class. You sit in a small group, around a table, and the professor moderates the general discussion. You come to class prepared because you don't want to look like an idiot, and the seminar dynamics make you an agent of your own education. If the liberal arts seem too foreign, then look at other medical schools, such as Harvard or the Medical College of Pensylvania, where students give rave reviews toEsmall group, case-study based learning. Or simply look at the literature, where studies show what common sense already knows: give students an active role in the process of their education, and they learn better and feel happier. Twelve percent of students develop a major depression during the first two years of medical school, more than twice the lifetime rate of the general population. Traditional wisdom attributes this to the stress of a heavy workload and the fear of failure, but really it has more to do with simple alienation. Alienation from our professors, whom we never get to know; alienation from the passive role of medical student, which requires the erasing of personality. But mostly, alienation from the curriculum, which is presented as an endless mountain of facts, whose nooks and crannies we are encouraged to note but not explore. Speaking for myself and for the minority of my class whom I know well, a slave mentality has set in. Resigned to our fate, we perform our tasks well enough to avoid the whip, but without joy or pride in accomplishment. We escape from the thought and reality of medical school at every opportunity. The more clever of us don't bother to attend class, and everyone devotes their energy and enthusiasm to other pursuits. I'm baffled by the 88 percent who don't get depressed. So what can we do, and who can we blame? Without ruling out a Masonic conspiracy, I think the problem is mainly structural. Thinking back on my college years, I realize that my outstanding classes were all seminars. Two of my seminar professors became close friends, and continue to inspire me professionally and personally. In contrast, the best of my lecturers I remember as you would actors in a play – characters painted in broad, but impersonal strokes. As a scientist would say, class size and structure was the best predictor of class quality; better than subject matter, better than reading list, even better than professor. We need administrators with the courage to overhaul the system, and create a school where inspiration replaces alienation. Medicine is intrinsically exciting, so why are our medical students so bored and depressed? Band-aid approaches like psychiatric counseling or evening seminars on top of a 30-hour weekly lecture load don't help. They're like putting architectural flourishes on a rickety old tenement. We need to start from the ground up, maybe with an alternative, parallel program, based on sound educational principles, that students can attend voluntarily. That way, comprehensive reform can be instituted incrementally, and without a huge capital outlay. I don't envy the dean who takes up the cause. Like Gorbachev, he or she will face conservative resistance at every turn, without even the consolation of a Nobel Peace Prize. But at the end of the day, we will have that dean to thank. Because the depressed, frustrated medical students that the system creates, are the cynical doctors that we all eventually get. Bertie Bregman is a second year Medical School student from New York, New York. On Call appears alternate Thursdays.
(11/16/92 10:00am)
University Police has been working to their fullest abilities to increase safety on and off the Penn campus. While they have been very successful in many of their efforts, they can not focus on all problems at once, and crime still continues to plague the campus. According to the November 3 issue of The Almanac, the Penn community suffered 54 thefts for the week beginning October 26 -- including 15 thefts of bicycles and parts, 14 crimes against persons and nine burglaries. The news is very depressing. One of the messages found on many of University Police's excellent brochures and pamphlets simply states, "Safety - Everyone's right, everyone's responsibility." Clearly, students must take an active role in ensuring their safety, and the Penn police department wants to work with students to increase their safety. They are doing their jobs for the students, and do not wish to be seen as the "bad guys." They are putting their lives on the line daily to catch the real bad guys. With our thorough transit systems, over 200 blue-light phones on and off-campus, a comprehensive victim support service and the other components of the department, it is no wonder that "USA Today" recently awarded Penn the highest possible scores for overall crime prevention and for rape crisis response. Unfortunately, we have had a rough fall so far. The bicycle theft crisis is being attacked, and University Police has been making more arrests than it ever has in the past for bike thefts. In light of the thefts, the Undergraduate Assembly, along with Victim Support, is coordinating a bike registration drive for November 17 to 19 on Locust Walk. Registration is a strong deterrent against theft. The procedure, which takes a matter of minutes, includes engraving the owner's social security number on the frame and each of the wheels, and filling out a card pertaining to the bike which can be used for insurance purposes. A bright orange sticker is also affixed on a visible part of the frame. Every bike owner should own a registered bike. It is the only way to track the bike after a theft. In addition to bicycle issues, the UA Safety and Security Committee has an interest in all safety matters pertaining to the University. We are working for you. In our committee, you have a resource for safety concerns. Should the lighting be better on the 40th and Pine block? Tell us. Do we need more bike racks near the engineering buildings? Tell us. Do you think you know how the Escort System should be fine tuned? Tell us. Are you pissed about the amount of crime on campus? Tell us. Do you have any kind of recommendation? Tell us. Do you want to help in improving campus safety? Tell us. As fellow students, we understand people's concerns and have a strong desire to make Penn a safer community for all members. Especially with the Thanksgiving break, a time of low campus occupancy rapidly approaching, we would like to make some specific recommendations to people. Register your bike. Do not lock it outside during break. During break, off-campus residents may wish to move their valuables to friends' rooms in campus dorms. Keep your bike in your building during the winter. Securely close and lock every opening to your dwelling before break. Never hesitate to contact University Police when you feel it to be appropriate. They would rather find your call to be without incident than to come out later to file a report. Be aware. Ride Escort. Walk in groups. No one is a wimp for not wanting to walk alone. Let us all have a safe and happy Thanksgiving. Mark Frederick is a junior Accounting and Finance major from Bedford, Massachusetts, and chairperson of the Undergraduate Assembly's Safety and Security Committee. The committee can be reached at 898-8908.
(04/09/92 9:00am)
Two years ago on nationwide television, Oprah Winfrey rolled out a wagon of meat corresponding to the 60 pounds she had lost on a liquid diet. The episode garnered her highest ratings ever. Why were we so inspired and why did Oprah suddenly become America's role model? Because she chose to conform to society's ideals of beauty and lose weight in the fastest way possible? Why did we even care? Our image of beauty is one word -- thin. This "beauty myth," as it is sometimes called, is supplied by the media, parents and peers, and is perpetuated by society. And how about your emaciated roommate who is convinced she is fat? What about that hot guy in your chem class who gets all the women? Or that beautiful blond in your history class -- you know, the gorgeous one every guy is in love with? Are these people really happy? They may look good on the outside, but many are suffering. They may have very low self esteem, and could be destroying their bodies. Isn't it usually that hot jock who you suddenly find out is using steroids, and that gorgeous woman who cries herself to sleep because she thinks she is too fat? This is a reflection on society's values today. Thinness is the rule we play by -- only in this game there isn't any room for exception. Before we superficially judge those around us, maybe we should all take a deeper inward look. "Mirror, mirror on the wall . . . " Maybe you've seen these signs around campus during the past week. This has been GUIDE's attempt to encourage that deeper look. GUIDE -- Guidance for Understanding Image, Dieting and Eating -- is a two-year-old peer education group whose workshops explore society's mixed messages on body image. We address how to recognize destructive behaviors, and provide techniques to offer support and assistance. If you have not heard of us, this may be because body image and self esteem are not considered critical issues at Penn in comparison to issues of sexual assault, sexual health and alcoholism. In actuality, body image and self esteem are contributing factors to these problems, although we often fail to recognize it. Destructive patterns are especially prevalent in a college environment where peer pressure and desire to fit in are the norms. Still think this isn't a big deal? Okay, let's take it to a more personal level . . . Pick a friend -- you must have more than one who constantly talks about how much weight she has to lose before summer. Okay, now think of another one, one who flips out if he misses a day at the gym. Or your girlfriend who only orders salad and will only make love when the lights are off. And more seriously, how about your emaciated roommate who is so skinny you can't imagine how she has the strength to make it through the day? Or the athlete who chews his or her food and then spits it out to maintain a proper competing weight? You may not be worried about these people -- these behaviors are extremely commonplace. However, it is important to realize that these actions are signs of negative self esteem and can develop into more serious problems, such as excessive dieting, compulsive exercising, anorexia or bulimia. Most of us accept the images presented to us without question until we see the extreme effects of negative body image in anorexics or bulimics. But everyone can be negatively affected by images and ideals, even if they are not starving themselves or throwing up. These images can subtly chisel our self esteem away. We know that we should love ourselves for who we are, yet few of us actually do. How can we feel good about ourselves when we are told by society how we should look and feel? Remaining silent and ignoring the problem are not solutions and will not make it go away. Maybe the next time you hear a negative comment about that fat person, you will speak out -- if only to make your friend stop and think twice. There is no easy solution. The power to change comes from within us. It takes courage to stand up and challenge society's values, and it takes equal courage to love yourself the way you are. Bodies come in different shapes and sizes, yet rarely is this diversity seen as positive. Two of our slogans are "Relax, you're more than okay," and "Love your body, it's the only one you've got." Words to live by? Maybe not. But we should think about them before we are so quick to judge ourselves and one another. Oprah is one of the most successful women in television, yet we still focus on the fact that she is "overweight" and gained back the weight she lost. Despite the scrutiny, Oprah claims she is happier now than ever before. She has come to terms with her body and has learned to accept herself for the person she is. Can we? Marci Gluck is a senior Psychology major from Princeton Junction, New Jersey, and founder of GUIDE. Kammie Gormezanno is a College sophomore from Brooklyn, New York, and a GUIDE Peer Health Educator. Students are invited to attend an open workshop tonight at 6:00 p.m. in Houston Hall's Ben Franklin Room. For more information or to schedule a group workshop, call 662-7126.
(03/05/92 10:00am)
From Sumeet Goel's "I'm From Joisey! You From Joisey?", Spring '92 Personally, I become self-actualized (remember Maslow's hierarchy?) every time I walk through there now. Self-actualized to the extent that I now realize Penn's stupidity when it comes to spending huge sums of money on projects that are not really necessary, with funds that would be better spent elsewhere. Just some random numbers that I want to throw at you: $2.1 million, $65 million, $60 million, $16 million and $14 million. · 1. Class of '62 Walk: Probably the biggest waste of time and money I have seen -- or will ever see -- here at Penn. I don't care who gave the money for this, or how it was earmarked, you can't tell me that there's no other way to spend that money more responsibly or to convince the people who donated it to reallocate the funds. I don't know, but with some of that $2.1 million isn't it possible to take out and permanently replace the blocks on Locust that are either six inches below or above ground, and still have enough money left over to do about 20 other more beneficial projects? 1. Winter Wonderland: Sure it's a nice idea, but did we really get our money's worth of doughnuts and decorative lights over the last two years? It boggles my to think about how we can pay this much for ice sculptures that last for only a few hours, but can't get enough hot water to take a shower in the high rises at 10 a.m. 3. Institute for Advanced Science and Technology: For those of you who are under the assumption that the demolition of Smith Hall and subsequent construction of the research facility will be totally United States government funded, think again. Our friendly benefactors from D.C. will probably bestow upon Penn the sum total of $10 million for a project currently approximated -- more on those approximations below -- to cost around $75 million. For those non-math majors among us, that $65 million for Penn to come up with. 4. Revlon Center: Penn needs another campus (read: shopping) center about as much as it needs another tuition hike, but can they make up their minds as to how much we are going to get ripped off? The original estimates (in 1990) had the total cost approximated at $30,000,000, with groundbreaking in 1991 and completion by 1993. Now, the approximations are $60,000,000 -- groundbreaking by 1994, completion in 199?. Anyone want to bet that the numbers reach $100,000,000, 1996, 200? by next year sometime? 5. Logan Hall: Do you realize that this year's freshmen have not, and probably will never, see Logan Hall without that damn scaffolding surrounding it? Plus, the administration's kicked everyone out of there and sent them to the far reaches of campus. The scaffolding has been up on Logan Hall for so long that birds are now making nests in the pole corners. 7. Wharton Quadrangle/Mack Plaza: Did anyone count how many times they tried out different flowers and trees in front of Vance Hall last year? I'll grant you that the walk from Vance to Career Planning and Placement is now much more aesthetically pleasing, but did you know that -- according to what one administrator said last year -- the thing is supposed to resemble a second College Green, with trees and places for frisbee throwing? Yeah, okay . . . We don't know how much money was spent on all this, because the donations and budgets weren't disclosed. Further, as soon as you come over the 38th Street bridge, heading east, just opposite the Bookstore -- need more directions? -- you see a fenced-off area. Pleasant, isn't it? Well, some of the money for the Quadrangle is going to this area's much needed restoration. The traffic between McNeil and the Computing Resource Center right at that juncture was so heavy that the move was, without a doubt, entirely necessary. Let's take a vote: How many of you would rather see the money go towards more security on campus, so we don't have to deal with muggings right on Locust Walk? · Sure, the money for some of these projects is specifically earmarked ahead of time, and the financial contributors for them obviously want something more than some replaced Locust Walk blocks named after themselves. However, isn't it nice to dream about what life would be like if Penn used the non-earmarked monies for more beneficial projects, and spent as much effort trying to convince alumni and companies to fund projects worth something valuable, as they do kissing their respective asses so that they can have a section of campus named after them? Let's see, from what we know about their budgets, the above projects total $157 million dollars, plus an undisclosed amount for the Shearson-Lehman Hutton Quadrangle, plus several hundred brownies and sundry other items for Winter Wonderland. And with 20,000 undergraduate and graduate students at the University, if we divide that by 20,000 it comes to . . . about $9000 a student. Wow, think about what you could do with $9,000: go to Cancun for 25 spring breaks in a row, buy a decent Honda, build speed bumps for those oh-so-dangerous Penn bikers . . . or here's a novel idea: a 75-percent-off sale. Go to Penn for a whole year for the cost of a quarter-year's tuition! · JUST WONDERING: I think Peter Gabriel is an awesome singer, but sometimes he can be so incomprehensible. Does anyone know the opening words to "Sledgehammer"? Eh-heh-oo-bee, Eh-bow-dee-oo-zem . . . and then later on in the song: I'm your sledgehammer, Let there be no doubt about it, Sledge, sledge, sledge, I get ________! I kicked the habit . . . (and if it is what I think it is, why would you want to kick the habit?) Sumeet Goel is a sophomore Communications and Finance major from Parsippany, New Jersey. "I'm From Joisey! You From Joisey?" appears alternate Thursdays.
(03/05/92 10:00am)
Chen spoke to approximately 45 University students at the University Museum as part of the Campus Organized Lectures On Racial Sensitivity program. COLORS was started in 1989 as a collaborative effort between Sigma Chi and Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. The program was founded to combat racial prejudice on campus and encourage unifying or educational events. Chen illustrated the state of race relations now by comparing it to 1972. "In 1972, we were just coming off the Civil Rights Movement, the assassination of Martin Luther King and the Vietnam War," Chen said. "Now it seems as though most people are just concerned with big jobs, big money and big offices." According to Chen, the major problem Americans face in 1992 is which direction to go. Some examples that Chen used to point to the state of America today were that affirmative action and equal opportunity are seen as dirty words, that television shows are filled with violence and hatred and that racial tensions are on the rise in universities across the U.S. "It is worse in colleges and universities than it is in society," Chen said. "I don't see the turning points or shining lights in higher education." Two problems that Chen pointed to in higher education were obsolete curricula and racial violence. In his field of psychology, Chen said the theories that are being taught today are old and do not apply to Asians or blacks. He also pointed to the rising numbers of racial or ethnic related violent incidents on campuses as a disturbing trend. Chen stressed the need for demystifying stereotypes. "If we turn out the lights, we are all black," Chen said. "Even with the lights out, though, we still are different in background, knowledge and experience." Chen cited statistics that one-fourth of all white Americans have some black genes or traits and three-fourths of all blacks have white genes or traits. Chen predicted that those factors identifying races as separate will start to disappear over the next several years. He said he believes that even terms such as minorities and majorities are outdated. "Minority seems to suggest powerless and majority seems to represent a government group," Chen said. He said that in 50 years or less, caucasian Americans will make up less than 30 percent of America. Chen compared different races to a mosiac, with each person being a diamond, a ruby, or an emerald. He suggested that each student share their radiance or cultural heritage with other students. "This process of sharing will bring about productive and enlightening education both at Penn and other institutes of higher learning," Chen said. Reaction from the audience was generally positive. College sophomore Scott Carpenter thought the speech was interesting. "It's too bad he couldn't stay longer," he said. Wharton and College senior Saad Khairi was excited that Chen could fly out for the event. "I felt his speech was a call to action for us," he said.
(03/04/92 10:00am)
Nearly all University students have a large debt on their shoulders after receiving a degree. And for medical students, this figure can reach as high as $100,000. While medical students currently are able to hold off on paying back their loans for up to 30 months due, the federal law which includes the deferment clause may be changed, eliminating the deferment option and forcing students to begin immediate repayment of their loans. Medical School Government President Mark Weiner said yesterday the Title IV reauthorization bill was passed on the Senate floor two weeks ago. But the bill has not yet passed in the House of Representatives, and may be sent back for a compromise if it fails. "He seemed very sympathetic to our needs," Weiner said. "But I was very disappointed to hear that he was unaware of our letter-writing campaign." According to Weiner, the revised Title IV would have a generous grandfather clause covering all students currently attending medical school, and possibly current undergraduate students who are planning to attend medical school. Medical School Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Gaye Sheffler said she is uncertain how the new law will affect the University. "We don't know what shape the new deferment policy will take until we know the exact wording of the change," she said. "My concern is that not all medical students have the income to repay their loans in such a short period [of time.]" Sheffler pointed out that the average indebtedness of medical students graduating from the University is $52,000, while the average first year income is $27,000 to $29,000. This first year is part of medical students' residency, a period in which they are paid but are still considered in training. Sheffler added that she is impressed with the letter-writing campaign the students have organized. She said the inclusion of a grandfather clause is a result of letters written by students all over the country. "Until a firm decision is made, we will watchfully wait and see what happens, then we will adjust to the decision," she said. "But hopefully, we want to influence the decision."
