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(11/30/90 10:00am)
Mention the word "laundry" to students, and many cringe in disgust. "Next week," some say, while others just shake their head, declining to disclose the last time they set foot into the laundry rooms around campus. And while their ways of doing laundry may differ, students all must face the stark reality: one day, they will run out of clean underwear. Some stock up in preparation for the eventual end of clean clothes, while others just find the time weekly to do a washload. And although the service sounds like an excellent idea, some students complain that the PSA distributes poor quality linens. One student, Engineering junior Hyunsuk Seung, added he found the service inconvenient, saying he no longer uses the service because the distribution places were not open all of the time. So after experimenting with the service, some students will turn to professionals to handle the dirty work. One manager of Henry's II Cleaners in Houston Hall, which offers dry cleaning services, said earlier this week that nearly 75 percent of their business is from students. Freshmen said they feel especially hard-hit by the responsibility of laundry with most using a laundry machine for the first time. College freshman Seong-Joo Jeong complains that freshmen must not only fit laundry into their weekly schedule, but when laundry time finally rolls around, "there aren't enough machines or laundry rooms" for the students to use. And although South Campus Assistant Director for Residential Serivces Gordon Rickards said there are laundry machines in every renovated dorm, several students complained that the University is unresponsive to the needs of the students. For instance, coupled with trouble of lugging laundry to a room several dorms away, students said they virtually always to wait for empty machines. College freshman Andrew Eisenstein summed it up when he said that "it's stupid to have as many washers as dryers because everyone knows it takes three times longer to dry than it does to wash." Most of the residents of the Quadrangle contacted over the past two weeks, say they are displeased with the cost, scarcity of machines, and the cleanliness of the laundry rooms. University laundry machines cost 75 cents to wash clothes and an additional 50 cents to try them. One student, College freshman Jeanne Mahoney, remarked earlier this week that the Butcher laundry room is infested with ants. Students complain that some dryers don't heat up, while the washers do not drain completely. Students find themselves in a battle to get a good machine. To counter the scarcity of laundry machines on campus, some students said they find odd hours and new ways of doing their wash in order to avoid the long lines for facilities. Wharton freshman Navdeep Singh explained that he washes his clothes between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. But others try to save money and time by asking friends to take care of the mess. Wharton freshman Brian Gustason said that since September he has only done his wash twice. "I bribed some girls to do my laundry -- twice," he said. However, he adds that he "plans on washing it more in the future." "I'm set for the next two months," the Quad resident gloated after having brought his clean clothes back from his home in Arizona. Reliance on mom's cleaning is still the basic motto for freshmen who never set foot in the University's laundry rooms. Michael Izhaky, an Engineering freshman, said that he takes his laundry home to Brooklyn each weekend. Although freshmen seem to find laundry time to be especially difficult, upperclassmen must also deal with the problem. High Rise residents, comprised primarily of upperclassmen, said they are blessed with laundry rooms on every even floor, adding that it is more convienent, safer and more efficient than the Quadrangle. "It's not that bad," said College sophomore Jennifer Shulman as she puts detergent into the washer. She says that doing laundry in the Quad was a hassle because she was always concerned about theft. But she disregarded people's complaints on the lack of laundry machines, saying that students just have to plan ahead. A diligent washer, Shulman does her laundry weekly. But others take the task of laudry less seriously. College junior Chris Geisel, who "mooches" detergent, does his laundry bi-weekly, still complained that its "too expensive" to wash his clothes.
(11/30/90 10:00am)
Two 1986 University graduates have taken their work westward to get more students on the "red and blue express." Regional office directors Timothy Ryan, who works in Texas, and Glenn Singleton, based in Los Angeles, aim to get more students from the West Coast at the University. And as part of their non-traditional approach, they even work to help students fly back to Philadelphia together on the "express" each fall. In 1980, the University founded the California admissions office, and followed suit eight years later in Texas. The offices are intended to spread word about the University and to make the admissions game more competitive by drawing highly qualified West Coast students. Ryan and Singleton say the offices, which concentrate efforts in nearly 10 western states, also help the University attract a more racially diverse student body because the states have significant minority populations. Before they moved west, both Singleton and Ryan spent several years honing their skills as University-based admissions officers who recruited through regional visits. Singleton just moved to the Los Angeles office, replacing Maria Morales-Kent who left to take a fellowship with the Coro Foundation. He said he plans to increase the office's communication with prospective students. Singleton said that he thinks his role is crucial in the admissions process because he attracts undecided students to the University who without his encouragement would have gone elsewhere. "What is gratifying is that a person, at 17, can chose this place because it's right for them," he said in September. Singleton also said that as a black man, he offers an important perspective to students in California where the minority population is growing rapidly. Singleton said he is planning several outreach programs to potential students and their families, including forming a committee of parents of current students to call and accepted students' congratulate parents. He said the parents will be able to address security and other concerns of the parents of prospective matriculants. Ryan said his strength is working as an educator who tells students who do not know about the University how they would benefit by coming here. He said this is much more important in the Southwest than in the traditional feeder states in the Northeast because these student know less about the University. "You have to work a lot harder to get the message out," Ryan said. The University is one of very few schools that has regional offices. Ryan said he is aware of a Swarthmore College office in California and a Cornell University office in Texas. He said the offices demonstrate an obligation to the regional diversity that the University preaches. "It is not just a passing fancy," Ryan said. "There is a committment to geographic diversity on our campus."
(11/27/90 10:00am)
The school often perceived by its students as "user-friendly" may recently have become even friendlier. Several students in the Nursing School have organized an umbrella group, aimed at increasing interaction between graduate, master's program and undergraduate students. The group will provide everything from mentoring programs and career counseling to a structure for student activities. One of the main goals of the Joint Council, formed last spring, is to combat the "disjointedness" in the organization of the activities within the school, according to Nursing doctoral student Peter Preziosi, who founded the Council. And Nursing senior Christi Smith, president of the Nursing Student Forum, said the group provides an invaluable channel for communication among students in the the undergraduate, master's and doctoral programs, and also promotes contact with the administration. Also, in one of the Council's main programs, Nursing undergraduates are paired with master's and doctoral students who advise them on research and career options. The Joint Council is composed of the leaders of the four main student groups in the Nursing School: the Student Forum, Student Nurses at Penn, the Master's Student Organization, and the Doctoral Student Organization. Several students who sit on the Council said they are better able to approach the administration because the groups work together to pinpoint problems. "If all three schools are together we can go to the administration and say 'These are our concerns,' " Smith said. "We're much stronger combined than individually." Preziosi, president of the Doctoral Student Organization, said the group also broadens students' awareness about post-graduation opportunities. "It exposes the undergraduates to the work that we do at the doctoral and the master's level," he said. "It shows that we are not just hospital nurses but involved in health care policy and clinical research." The forum also provides benefits for the school's master's degree candidates, Preziosi said. "The doctoral students help to ground them and assist them with the system," he said, since the master's program one-year duration allows little time for students to get to know the school and their professors." Preziosi said he expects the bonds students make in the group to pay off later. "When these people are in high-powered nursing positions around the country, we'll call them up and say 'remember working with me on Joint Council?' " he said. "It's that networking ability that we really need more of in the nursing profession," he added. Preziosi said students appreciate the interaction the Council provides and relate more easily with the upper-level students than they might with their professors. "They're not threatened by us because we're not grading them," Preziosi said. "We're still coming from a student perspective." The Council is currently planning a variety of events, ranging from brown-bag lunches with professors to a forum on health-care ethics with the Archbishop of Philadelphia. Preziosi said he expects this type of interaction between students in different degree programs to catch on in other professional schools at the University. "This could be a model for other schools in the University that have doctoral and master's programs," he said. One of the Council's first projects this year was to provide a calendar to coordinate and publicize Nursing student events. "The first thing we examined was how to organize all the information that students are bombarded with," Preziosi said.
(11/20/90 10:00am)
An $18 million fund raised by the sale of a Picasso painting has been dedicated to paying 32 Nursing students' tuition in order to draw them to New York City hospitals. The Alex Hillman Family Foundation sold Picasso's Mother and Child last year to subsidize the students' $13,420 tuition. Eight juniors and eight seniors were selected in October for the $1 million program, and freshmen and sophomores will be selected in the spring of their sophomore years. The scholarships will fund their junior and senior years. Students will be required to work one year in any New York City hospital for each year they receive scholarship money. The foundation will review the program after three years and decide whether it will extend the program. Associate Nursing Professor Ellen Baer said yesterday that the program sprung from Foundation President Rita Hillman's concern that there will not be enough nurses to staff New York City hospitals as they struggle with AIDS and drugs. "The whole purpose of the foundation [in establishing the program] is to entice the students to come to New York," Baer said. The foundation specializes in making art available for museums and schools. Baer said last night that scholarship winners will conduct part of their required field work at the New York Hospital, spending Thursday and Friday of each week at the facility. Students will work under nurses in their field of interest during the second semester of their senior year, and will be supervised by Baer. The experience will let students experience working and living in New York City, Baer said. New York Hospital is located on New York's fashionable Upper East Side, and is the site of the Cornell University Medical School. Baer was introduced to Hillman by a mutual friend who knew both of Hillman's concern and that Baer was a nursing professor at the University. Baer and Hillman met last December, and Hillman met last spring with Nursing Dean Clare Fagin, Undergraduate Nursing Director Mary Naylor and President Sheldon Hackney to hammer out details. Naylor said yesterday that the program strengthens financial aid programs available to Nursing students, allowing students who otherwise would have to work to focus on their studies. During their junior year, scholarship recipients will receive $12,500, which will increase to $13,250 the next year. The program may also serve as a model for financing nursing education at other universities, Naylor said. Nursing senior Carin Julian, a scholarship recipient, said yesterday that she expects the program to be a "good experience," giving her an opportunity to work in New York under a structured environment. She said the program's seniors will be like "guinea pigs" as they are the first to go through the program. Baer said that students are selected for the program based mostly on academic standing, but she said extra-curricular activites and diversity of interests were also considered. "We wanted students who had a certain vitality," Baer said.
(11/19/90 10:00am)
Developing ideas for a bicycle rental and repair business to a temperature-controlled thermos, over 160 high school students converged on the University City Sheraton over the weekend as part of the University-sponsored EntreCon '90. At the four-day conference, the students, through speeches and interactive workshops, merged their entrepreneurial talent and insight to create theoretical products and businesses. The main focus of many of the events is the creation of a "business plan" -- in which participants identify target markets, create a marketing plan, identify product competition, outline management techniques, and provide substantial financial data supporting the implementation of their product or business. Wharton freshman Erica Lapidus, who participated in EntreCon as both a junior and senior in high school and acted as an adviser this year, said the practical experience students gain from the conference is invaluable. "The business plan teaches you how decisions must be made when you work in a group," she said. "You see the problems that may arise and the real situations you may be placed in as a decision-maker." At the end of the weekend, students presented their plans to Wharton juniors Brian Butler and Marek Gootman, who co-directed the program. Butler and Gootman judged the groups on the basis of the quality of overall analysis and presentation of their program for success. Calling themselves, "Muggers International," the winning group won praise from Gootman with their temperture-regulating thermos and their comprehensive analysis. He stressed that the purpose of the weekend was not only product formation but also to develop ideas for the product's implementation. "They were comprehensive and very rational in their study of how they would implement their business," Gootman added. "Because they clearly identified their goals, restraints, and resources, they'd be successful." A large number of the participants viewed EntreCon as a solid foundation for their future business endeavors and studies. Many said they hope that their participation in the conference will augment their chances for admission to the University. Purvi Patel, a high school senior from New Jersey, said she came to EntreCon looking for direction and said that the conference provided that for her. "I wasn't sure what type of business I wanted to go into," Wolfe said. "The speeches gave me an idea of the opportunities out there, and now I know what I want to do."
(11/16/90 10:00am)
Black Student League President Buzz Thomas said last night that the group will radically alter its current passive approach toward the administration and resume an aggressive role in fighting for black students' concerns. The shift could mark a resurgence for the campus' largest black student organization, which has in the past mobilized hundreds of black students behind it. "For the past two years we have done things the way [President Sheldon] Hackney wanted," Thomas said. "The time has come for no longer taking a passive stance and to make the University take a supportive place committed to the minority community and its diversity." Thomas said Hackney and other administrators have been unresponsive to black student demands. "I've been hearing the word 'commitment,' but I'm seeing no actions that demonstrate it exists," Thomas said. "[The administration] uses a quick fix in dealing with students." Thomas said that over the past year the group has tried to work with administrators behind closed doors, responding to administration criticism of previous leaders' combative tactics. Assistant to the President William Epstein declined to comment last night on Thomas' announcement of a new BSL stance. But he said he does not think the administration was critical of former BSL leaders. "I don't see it's the place of the administration to place its judgment on how the BSL is run and I don't think we do frankly," Epstein said. Thomas' statement recalls the bitterness the BSL displayed in earlier years. Previous leaders, including former BSL President Melissa Moody and United Minorities Council Chairperson Travis Richardson, have led black students by taking radical anti-administration stances during their concurrent terms. In the past several years, the BSL denounced the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity for having black strippers at a rush event, brought controversial speakers from the Nation of Islam to campus, and, by strong pressure on the administration, helped to institute the diversity education program. Because the administration refused to make the program mandatory, Moody and Richardson quit the diversity education committee. For the past year, the BSL has taken a far less vocal approach to expressing the concerns of black students. But Thomas has said throughout the semester that he is willing to take a more radical approach if the need arises. And last night he said the time for a new approach has come. The BSL last night issued a statement criticizing President Sheldon Hackney for forbidding the removal of fraternities in the diversification of Locust Walk. "Due to the constraints placed upon the committee, the good faith of President Hackney must be questioned on this issue," the statement reads. "We urge the exploration of all options without giving special consideration to the fraternity system." Thomas said the organization plans to concentrate on a few specific issues this semester, but said BSL members have not yet chosen the issues. As a first step, he said, the BSL will draft letters to the administration and pass around petitions during the first week of December to further the group's cause. Thomas said some issues that concern black students are diversity education, minority attrition and retention, campus atmosphere and minority funding. Thomas received support last night from other minority leaders, who said the administration often overlooks minority concerns. UMC Chairperson Nalini Samuel said she will support the BSL's movements towards actively fighting for minority students' needs. "President Hackney is basically a puppet on a string," Samuel said. "If he is responding to pressure, then maybe we ought to apply some of our own." "People tend to ignore you when you just ask but they listen when you scream," the UMC head added. Black InterGreek Council Chairperson Kathryn Williams, who served on the BSL steering committee under Moody, said the organization has undergone some changes in the past year, centering around "trying to heal ourselves." Williams said the BSL's focus has been on strengthening structures within the organization and within the black community at the University. But Williams also said that the past year's lack of support from the administration, has forged the way for a new method of action. "We've been working affirmatively and it hasn't gotten our needs met," Williams said. "Now we have to make the University take responsibility for taking care of members of our community."
(11/09/90 10:00am)
The take-home exam in last spring's History 451 course that was supposed to take only a week became a five-month case study in cheating, detective work and human nature for History Professor Bruce Kuklick. One of the teaching assistants in Kuklick's War and Diplomacy class brought an exam to the professor last May, because he thought it was strange the student had used two typefaces in a single paper. Suspicious, Kuklick and the TA sifted through the other tests and found an identical paper turned in by someone else. Convinced that some students had cheated, Kuklick and all four course TAs systematically examined the 240 other submissions and found five pairs of matching or similar exams, which he turned over to the Judicial Inquiry Officer. As a result, 10 students were charged with cheating late last spring. Nine received Fs in the course. Five have been suspended. One student's diploma has been withheld. One was cleared. That initial suspicion by a history graduate student led to the University's largest prosecution of students in a single class, a case completed only last week. As part of their punishment, four students had to write anonymous confessions that Kuklick and the JIO are using in an increased campaign against cheating. Kuklick said the fact that students cheated in his upper-level class made him "embarrassed and even humiliated," but hopes the students' punishment and pain deter further academic dishonesty. · Kuklick's office in College Hall is filled with the books and papers collected in 20 years in academia. Sitting behind a seminar table, the American political history specialist said the cheating investigation had no winners. Nine students were punished. An innocent student was investigated for four months. And the professor has become suspicious of his students and somewhat disillusioned overall. Kuklick, a 1963 graduate of the College, said he never considered cheating during his undergraduate years at the University. He had never caught any student cheating in what he called a "premeditated way" in the past. But this semester he is requiring students to provide phone numbers for the people they interview for an oral history project. And he stood in front of a 400-person lecture last month and said, "I beg and urge you not to do anything that even looks shady. The chance of you getting caught, at least in my course, has escalated from last semester." "It really will ruin your lives," he told the class. He said he doesn't like these measures, but feels they are impossible to avoid. "[These are] all sorts of things that make it more like a prison," Kuklick said. "I hate thinking that a university, especially my University, is at all like that. But [cheating] shouldn't be the main thing on your mind when you assign a paper." "It is like picking up a big rock," he said. "I've learned that cheating in various form is more pervasive than I had imagined." For the History 451 final, the students had a week to complete two essay questions. According to Kuklick, the students who were punished each shared information or entire essays with other students. Two pairs of students traded essays with each other. Two pairs traded information and one person copied an entire essay from the other. In these cases, all students received Fs for the class, and five of the six students who copied were suspended for a semester. The other student's diploma has been withheld. One student stole an exam that had already been turned in and retyped it for himself. Kuklick called the last case "the nastiest." The thief never confessed and was found guilty last week only because he had changed the footnote references to incorrect numbers. After it was discovered that the footnotes were fake, the student accepted a settlement under which he received an F and was suspended retroactively for this semester. Kuklick said that the students' excuse that they were under pressure was "weak." "I think it is very weak," he said. "A lot of students, I am told, spend the weekends getting drunk. I think they would have less pressure if they found more helpful ways to spend their weekends." · In their confessions, which Goodman released to be printed without names, most students show pain and regret and some try to justify themselves. All say they were under academic and personal pressure, and all say they would never do it again. "I was looking for the easy way out," wrote one student who turned himself in. "I got overwhelmed by all the work I had to do and couldn't see past it." "My future is much more complicated," wrote another. "I should have thought about that before, but I didn't. Now it's too late . . . My chances at going to law school are gone. No place will accept a cheater." "I didn't think my grade in the course would affect anyone," wrote a then-senior whose diploma has been held because of the incident. "I truly convinced myself that my TA would not seriously look over my essays since I was pass/fail . . . He would just pass me." Kuklick said he blames the Greek system, intercollegiate athletics, and the Wharton School for perpetuating an atmosphere where cheating is accepted. All nine guilty students were involved with one of the three systems. "If I could get rid of fraternities I would," Kuklick said, adding that brothers' old exam files are one example of the system's unregulated problems. "Their culture breeds this sort of thing." Kuklick said that during the judicial proceedings a football coach who served as a judicial advisor for one of the students told him stories about team members' cheating. According to Kuklick, the coach said one current player has bragged to him that he has never taken an exam or turned in a paper that was completely his own work. He said this was only one example in "a whole series of revelations." "I was so astounded by this that I didn't say what I should have said, like 'why didn't you turn him in,'" Kuklick said. "Penn ought to stop making these overtures to athletes. It is lunatic to make this such a priority." Kuklick said the Wharton School and the business world in general teach students to value the end result, while liberal arts professors stress the learning process. He said he would like the Wharton undergraduate division to be eliminated, but "nobody has the guts to do that." · Goodman said she offered students the option of writing a anonymous confession to The Daily Pennsylvanian instead of receiving a notation on their transcripts, in hopes that publicizing the History 451 case might deter other students. "I've heard recently that kids think it is a joke to cheat," Goodman said. "Somehow we have to change the culture here and have students buy into the idea that cheating is wrong. We are intent on stopping cheating at Penn." Last year, Goodman prosecuted 50 cheating cases, almost double the number of the year before. Over the past two years, cheating cases handled by the JIO have risen almost four-fold. Goodman said she understands academic pressure but she would like students to seek other ways out, like asking a professor for an extension on a paper, rescheduling an exam, talking to an advisor, or seeking help at the tutoring center. · In a letter to Kuklick just after the cheating was discovered, one student made it obvious he or she didn't expect to be seriously punished. "If there is any way that I could make amends, I would like the chance to do so," the student wrote. "Whether it be retaking the course, retaking the final exam, writing a paper, or anything else you deem appropriate." Instead, the student failed the course and was forced out of the University for a semester. Goodman said she thinks explaining the sentence to family members and friends must have been the most humiliating part. She said "being JIO is like being a good parent -- you help children deal with an incident and move on in a healthy way." So far, the only concrete results of the incident in History 451 were the ends of six students' chances at a clean academic record and the beginning of a new crusade against cheating by Goodman and Kuklick. "This lesson is just too painful to learn," one student confessed in a letter Goodman released. "I will never make this mistake again, but I wish I had not learned the hard way. I only hope that someday I will be able to put this behind me." But Goodman and Kuklick both hope the lesson will hit home with current students before they have to feel the pain.
(11/07/90 10:00am)
University and Philadelphia Police have caught the man they think is responsible for a string of stabbings in the University area after three more knifepoint attacks early yesterday morning. Philadelphia Police arrested a West Philadelphia man yesterday just after 7 a.m., moments after he allegedly robbed a resident at knifepoint at 33rd and Market streets. Police immediately linked him to the stabbings of two University students the same morning. University and Philadelphia Police said they believe the man stabbed a Wharton senior at about 6:30 a.m. at a parking lot at 37th and Walnut streets and a Wharton sophomore at 39th and Chestnut streets at about 2:30 a.m. Both students received minor stab wounds to the back. One was also stabbed in the leg and the other slashed across the neck. Both students were treated for their wounds and released. Both students, Philadelphia Police and University Police detectives said yesterday's attacks resemble three others in the University area last week. In all of the incidents, the assailant has stabbed his victims first and then demanded money. Victims described the attacker as extremely agitated. The suspect, Wayne Christian, 30, of West Philadelphia, was charged yesterday with three counts each of robbery, aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment and several other crimes. University Police would not release Christian's address. He is scheduled to appear in court November 14 for a preliminary hearing. As of Tuesday evening, Christian was still awaiting arraignment. At the time of his arrest, Christian was carrying a 10-and-a-half inch butcher knife, believed to have been used in each of the crimes. Philadelphia Police 18th District Captain Edward D'Amato said Christian is a suspect in last week's three other stabbings. "The MOs [methods of operation] are similar and the descriptions are good," D'Amato said. "He is being looked at very seriously for the other incidents." "We're just extremely happy that he's been apprehended," University Police Detective Michael Carrol said. "He's a one-man crime wave." Reports of random stabbings have worried students and police for a week. A 1990 University graduate said he was stabbed at 41st and Chestnut streets on October 28. A Dental School student said he was also stabbed later that same day at 34th and Market streets by a man with a similar description and carrying a butcher knife. A University student said he witnessed another stabbing last Tuesday night at 43rd and Sansom streets in which the attack mirrored previous incidents. D'Amato said some of his officers met with University Police last week about the stabbings and had been planning a joint investigation. A city detective, believing the perpetrator was a local homeless man, said Tuesday morning he had spent much of the previous day fruitlessly staking out the 34th and Market Street subway station. D'Amato said the arrest was a "good break." Philadelphia Police arrested Christian at 32nd and Market streets after a local resident reported she had been attacked by him. She told police he knocked her down and threatened her with the knife but the man did not stab her and stole nothing. After she identified the man as her assailant, the student who was robbed at 37th and Walnut streets 30 minutes earlier also identified the man. In addition to the knife, Christian was also carrying credit cards believed to have been stolen in the 2:30 a.m. robbery. The Wharton sophomore said he was returning to the Hamilton Court apartments at 39th and Chestnut around 2:30 a.m. and was just feet from the door when he was hit from behind. "Suddenly I felt something in my back," he said. "Then a second later I was being hit in the spine and I was on the ground." He said a tall man stood over him and started shaking a butcher knife near his neck. The man struck him in the neck with the knife, opening a small wound. The man then yelled at the student to hand over his money. The man took the student's wallet and fled toward 40th Street. The student was treated at Student Health and released. He said neither of his stab wounds were very serious. "The real problem I'm getting is from swelling and bruises in pretty much every muscle group in my back from being knocked to the ground," he said. The other student said he was walking through the parking lot at 37th and Walnut streets at about 6:30 a.m. when he heard running footsteps behind him. He said he was hit in the back and he fell to the ground. "In front of me was a guy waving a knife and screaming, 'Give it up, give it up,' " he said. The student kicked his assailant once while lying on his back, after which the attacker slashed his leg with the knife. When the man demanded the suspect's wallet, the student stood up, threw his backpack at the man and ran away. The student went to Steinberg-Dietrich Hall where University Police met him. He was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania for treatment and released. He said he was impressed with the quick reaction of both University and Philadelphia Police. University and Philadelphia Police representatives were quick to praise each other for the arrests, saying it was a good example of a joint effort between the two departments.
(11/06/90 10:00am)
Two years ago, Brown University students Jennifer Wilcha and David Smith went looking -- unsuccessfully -- for a guide to transferring colleges for a friend. Although U.S. Department of Labor statistics say that one out of five college students changes schools during their college career, Wilcha and Smith could not find a book on the subject. Rather than continuing their search, Wilcha, then a junior, and Smith, then a sophomore, decided to write their own. In The College Student's Guide to Transferring Schools, published this year, Wilcha and Smith present a "Six-Step Plan" to help students get through the application process the second time around. The plan features the "6 Rs": Reevaluation, Renegotiation, Research, Reapplication, Revision and Readjustment. But the authors liven up the book by comparing the student-college relationship to human relationships. Common dating expressions are used to transform the "6 R's" into Breaking Up, Telling the Folks, Playing the Field, Making the First Move, Writing the Love Letter, and Starting Over. Smith said Sunday that the metaphor is appropriate because college is "an intimate four-year relationship." The book includes a large number of personal interviews with students who transferred. The authors obtained their information from questionnaires and interviews with admissions officers, transfer students, and college advisers. Wilcha said she was surprised that so few transfer students had done research on the transferring process before they began reapplying. She said students should have a clear picture of what they are getting into before they begin the process. One of the things the authors say transfer students should prepare for is the fight for transfer credits. David Yudis, a College junior at the University who transferred last year from Temple University, said he was glad that he had kept his course syllabi and exams. The material helped him prove the level of work he had done at Temple, he said. · Russell Klein, the former co-chairperson of Ivy Transfers, said he presided over a fall orientation of approximately 350 students. The group's main goal, said the College senior, is to help "expedite the transition into the Penn environment and Philadelphia." Approximately 60 peer advisers answer questions and plan programs ranging from meetings with administrators to social events such as barbecues, parties, and the annual scavenger hunt. The College Student's Guide To Transferring Schools authors offer nine suggestions for easing the transition to a new school. Number one is "plan ahead," but almost as important as that advice is number two: "don't be shy." Stan Schuldiner, a College sophomore who transferred from the State University of New York at Binghamton, said that transfers should "try to meet as many people as you can early on." College sophomore Lisa Reinherz, who described her transfer from Brandeis University as "the best move ]she[ ever made," said that it is important to make the extra effort to "get involved" and take advantage of school activities. · The book ends with an appendix which details the qualifications a student needs to transfer to 99 United States colleges. The statistics given for the University say that each fall 400 to 450 transfer students are accepted out of 1000 applicants. In the spring, 100 out of 300 are accepted. The book also says that although the University does not have a minimum GPA requirement, it "strongly recommends" a 3.4. Shelley Krause, the assistant director of the University's transfer program, said the transfer acceptance rate ranges from 33 to 37 percent. This is roughly the same percentage of freshmen accepted for each class, Krause said. But she noted that transfers are "much more heterogeneous in terms of age and generally tend to be more focused" than to first-year students. The large amount of work which goes into transferring tends to limit the number of schools to which each student applies. As a result, Krause said, the percentage of accepted transfers who choose to attend -- about 75 percent -- is higher than the matriculation rate for freshmen, around 50 percent.
(11/02/90 10:00am)
While the University and the city grapple with a new recycling program, a group of students is hoping to come up with its own solutions this weekend. Using a 70 foot by 30 foot world map, over 100 students will participate in a role playing game called "Environmental Game," in which players will try to navigate various developmental and resource issues, while preserving the environment. The game was created by the World Game Insitute several years ago to deal with political and social problems. However, according to Institute Workshop Coordinator Walt Tunnessen, the game this weekend will be the first one organized by the Insitute to look specifically at environmental problems. Normally, the Institute charges $3500 to run the workshop, but organizers of the event said this weekend that the Insitute is presenting the simulation free because of the experimental aspect of it. Students, however, will be charged to cover advertising costs. Tunnessen said that the environmental version of the game was developed because of a growing need to address the environment. "Environmental problems are a big crisis right now," he said earlier this week. "There's also a demand for it. People right now are interested in the environment." "You can talk all you want about saving the environment, but what most people don't know is how to go out and do it," he added. Organizers of the event said that both participants and the Institute can learn valuable information about the environment. PERG President Colin Yost, a College junior, said he hopes that players will realize "that environmental problems aren't insurmountable, and that there are enough resources to go around." Tickets are $2 at the gate, $1 if purchased in advance on Locust Walk. The game will be held from noon to 2:30 p.m. tomorrow at Vance Hall.
(10/31/90 10:00am)
Stressing the importance of individuality in literature, author Irving Howe read excerpts from a variety of literary works to a group of about 35 University students and faculty yesterday. In an hour-long speech at the David Rittenhouse Laboratory, Howe read from works by Rousseau, Shakespeare, Whitman and Marx, to trace the development of the idea of the self in literature and to urge audience members to learn about themselves. Howe described this idea as having historical foundations centuries ago, saying people must use the works to become better acquainted with their "inner self." Howe, who is also a professor at the City University of New York, has written over 59 books on the subject of the "self in literature." Howe's speech was mainly theoretical and focused on authors' different approaches to identifying the individual. Citing Whitman's "Song of Myself" as an example of the consciousness of self being, Howe said that human beings often neglect their ability to recognize the full self. Howe also said that it is important to recognize different views of the individual, such as Nietzsche's which rejects it entirely. "The idea of the self has been a liberating and revolutionary step," he said. Most students said they enjoyed Howe's talk, but added that they wish the University would sponsor more intellectually stimulating speeches like this one. Gerry Bocher, a sociology major at Temple University, said he even skipped a class to attend the talk and added that it was well worth it. "I was surprised at his examination of the self," he said. "I was really impressed." Howe's speech was part of the continuing School of Arts and Sciences Leon Lecture series.
(10/30/90 10:00am)
Several diversity on the Walk committee members yesterday criticized the make-up of this year's most-watched committee, saying they support graduate students' demand for more graduate representation. At this month's University Council meeting, the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly called on President Sheldon Hackney to appoint two more graduate students to the 25-member committee. Currently, GAPSA Chairperson Susan Garfinkel is the committee's only graduate representative. Garfinkel said GAPSA members want openings for one professional student and one international graduate student. President Hackney could not be reached for comment last night. Many Walk committee members said they agree with GAPSA's demand, and plan to support Garfinkel at their next meeting on November 8. "We absolutely do need more graduate student representatives," Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Alliance Co-chairperson Robin Wood said last night. "They're an important part of the Penn community and they're grossly underrepresented on the committee." And Undergraduate Assembly Chairperson Duchess Harris said last night that "graduate students have been slighted and overlooked." But some committee members, including Co-chairperson David Pope, said they do not think it matters how many people represent individual segments of the University because the whole committee is working towards the same goal. "If we look at the committee as a group of people with focuses on different aspects of the University, then it's enough [graduate representation] because everybody represents everybody," Pope said. Pope added that he is confident members will work as a unified group once the committee begins discussion about specific issues of the Walk. Black InterGreek Council President Kathryn Williams said she would not oppose more graduate representation to the committee if she felt adding the members would benefit the group. "The only way this is going to work is if people act as a whole," Williams said. "The reason people are there is to represent their constituencies, but as responsible leaders we will have to decide how we're going to best meet everybody's needs." Garfinkel said she is not certain what she will do if the president does not change the committee's composition. She has considered leaving the committee. "There are two sides to the problem," Garfinkel said. "If the sole graduate representative were to resign from the committee, I would be cutting off access to the information we're going to receive. If I stay on the committee, then graduate students are lending support to the unequal view of the campus community, which is detrimental to graduate students." Other members had considered resigning from the committee if Hackney does not fulfill GAPSA's resolution, but most said last night they would not leave because their constituents would be left unrepresented. "I have a very specific constituency that I have to report to before I can make any move like [resigning from the committee]," UA Chair Harris said. "Undergraduates would not go for that at all." Pope said he and Co-chairperson Kim Morrisson plan to meet with the president this week to discuss committee members' views with him. He also said they plan to resolve the issue of graduate student representation before the Walk committee meets again.
(10/26/90 9:00am)
It's drinking, betting, drinking some more, and paying very little attention to the game. And at 9 p.m. every Monday night in the fall, television sets across the University tune into a tradition that has become as American as apple pie. Monday Night Football events are ubiquitous both on and off campus. In the bars, fraternities, and dormitory rooms, students can be found with friends watching, drinking, and betting on the game. To some, the evening represents a break from the Monday monotony that plagues them after recovering from the weekend excitement. To others, the night is the perfect opportunity to let loose and fill their stomachs with everything from cold beer to hot dogs. However, the game itself often must take a back seat to the rituals behind the event. Many students across the University choose to patronize bars during the evening. One of the more popular sporting scenes, Barley and Hops on the 3900 block of Walnut Street, is jumping with students and area residents who are not only watching the game, but "experiencing" it. Mitch, a college sophomore, explained last Monday that virtually all bars have televisions tuned to football, but said he prefers a warm, friendly atmosphere to view the game. "Every week I come to Barley and Hops," he said. "It's sort of a tradition. I honestly feel at home here." However, the reasonfor many students' exodus to Barley and Hops isn't as nostalgic as Mitch's -- their hunger pangs provide the motivating force. Barley and Hops offers free chicken wings and hot dogs on Monday nights. "I come here [to Barley and Hops] usually, but don't pay much attention to the game," College junior Chris Olsen said. "I come to consume wings in bulk. . . that's about 40 wings. . . and I drink a couple of pitchers [of beer]." Regardless of their immense appetites for free food, University students flock to the bars in unusual patterns, said Sue McDonough, a waitress at Barley and Hops. She added that she looks forward to the crowds and noise the games bring. But the game is only half of the experience according to some bar managers. Smokey Joe's Tavern says that the 40th Street bar is the best place to go after the game, touting their "open mike night" where students can sing along with music. "Football, shmootball, it's open mike night," sums up Smokey Joe's manager Paul Ryan. Chili's Restaurant and Bar promotes a more diverse crowd of football fans from area schools. College senior Jill Ward, said "It's a chance to gather and hang out with kids from Penn, Temple, and Drexel, a chance to see them since during the week you don't get a chance." Other students said that they just use the evening to get together with friends. Added Lauren Horowitz, a College and Wharton junior, "I come, I hang out, it's relaxing." But while there are many who spend their dollars on alcohol, an integral part for many students is trying to multiply their money either through pools, Atlantic City point spreads, and poker games. Wharton freshman Jeff Smith runs a Monday Night Football poker game in various Quadrangle rooms. Like many students, he found that the games were rarely exciting enough to merit undivided attention. "We're bored most of the time," Smith said. "The game is not interesting so we do something to keep us busy." As with all vices, some people go beyond the casual level. Wharton sophomore Mike Brown dismisses the traditional low-stake pools altogether, going for a higher stakes bet. "I'm not in pools," he said. "I'm in with a bookie. [I bet] about $100 a game. . . about six games a week. I lost $300 Saturday and won $400 Sunday." Dan Forman, a College sophomore, said he prefers a more casual betting atmosphere not just for the more moderate wagers, but also for the priceless opportunity to gloat. "I usually bet among friends, $5 a game," Forman added. "I've lost $20 on occasion. . . .Usually [I do] one-on-one bets because it's more personal and you can rag on your friends." Like gambling, drinking has become synonomous with Monday Night Football. However, select groups have even developed beer games to enhance the often dull event on television. Although many students point to the traditional drinking games, including Quarters, a few have developed their own beer sport agenda for the Monday night ritual. College sophomore Mike Alfano said: "If it's at a bar most people will be playing drinking games. You pick a team and when the opposing team scores you have to chug seven. . . " The stakes are often increased when a friend's favorite team is competing. Alfano explained another game called "Stupid Statistic." "When [the announcers] say something like, teams are leading in outdoor stadium in November in the second quarter 'x' percentage of the time -- you have to take a 'social [drink].' " Although countless games and special sales have been developed to justify the drinking, Steve Wall, a junior in the College, said that students don't need these extra motivations. "We drink to football," Wall said.
(10/24/90 9:00am)
The College junior had fallen at about 8:20 p.m., and was struck from behind as she began to pick up the bicycle a few seconds later. The car, a Volvo, was driven by a male College junior. The student was thrown, but remained conscious. University Police officers attributed the accident to poor weather and low visibility. "If it hadn't been wet and slippery, she probably would not have fallen," said University Police Officer David McDonald. He said that he has no reason to believe that alcohol was involved and that there is no evidence of reckless driving. Philadelphia Police are investigating the accident. Officer Josh Lachs said that the front grill of the Volvo was torn off. "She must have been lucky," said Lachs. "She was in pretty good spirits when they took her away."
(10/24/90 9:00am)
According to Penn News General Manager Mark Stanley, West campus subscribers will be forced to used drop boxes in the dormitory lobbies, adding that subscribers have been sent letters informing them of the lock combination to access them. A similar system will be instituted in all North campus dormitories by the end of this month. Residents in the Quadrangle will continue to receive doorstep delivery, for now, Stanley said. Stanley said yesterday that the inability to pay deliverers a satisfactory wage, theft, and difficulties getting newspapers distributed by the vans early enough for student deliverers were the main reasons for stopping the popular delivery service. "For every newspaper that's going out door-to-door, we're losing money," he added. "In order to continue the service, we would have to charge more than cover price. I'm sure there are a lot of people willing to pay, but we wouldn't be providing what is an important factor for the majority of students, the discount price." Since Penn News' separation from Penn Student Agencies over the summer, the delivery organization has run into several financial and operational difficulties. Stanley said that in the past, subsidies from the University and from the newspaper companies have allowed for the doorstep service. He added that these subsidies were cut this year and since then, the agency has been unable to draw early morning deliverers with an attractive wage. Currently, Penn News -- which delivers newspapers to approximately 1000 students -- still hires van service from PSA to distribute the newspapers to the dorms. Stanley called PSA's service "marginal," but said that he hopes to work with PSA managers to resolve the problem. Tom Hauber, the associate director of Student Life Facilities, said that he was surprised that doorstep delivery was stopped. He also said that PSA has no plans to resume the newspaper delivery service. Students voiced anger that doorstep delivery was discontinued, and many said they were considering cancelling their subscription. "The good thing about it is getting it right at your door, said Bill Loller, a Wharton sophomore. "Otherwise, there's no point. I might as well go to a street corner and buy it." Richard Lau, the assistant director of the Penn Consumer Board, said that they have received numerous phone calls from students wondering what Penn News' contractual obligations to students are. (***CLARIFICATION: The Consumer Board's advice is based on the Pennsylvania Bar Association) He added that since Penn News has breached a verbal contract of doorstep delivery, students are entitled to a full refund of the undelivered newspapers. Stanley said yesterday that students who want to cancel their subscription will be entitled to a refund on newspapers for the rest of the semester but added that as of yesterday only 10 students had canceled their subscriptions. Dennis Lin, a College junior, said that the drop boxes are only the latest in a saga of bad service and inefficient delivery. "I feel cheated. I expected it to be delivered," he said. "There's not too much difference between going to Wawa and going downstairs."
(10/23/90 9:00am)
A female College sophomore was injured last night when a would-be car thief got behind the wheel of her car, drove it into her and pinned her against a fence. University Police and witnesses said they believe the thief trapped the student against the fence as she was attempting to stop the theft. She was pinned by the side of the car to a fence in a parking lot on Irving Street, between 40th and 41st streets, at about 8:45 p.m. Irving Street lies between Locust and Spruce streets. The student's name was not available. According to the student's housemate, a College sophomore who requested anonymity, the woman was trying to re-arrange two cars in a fenced-in lot that faces Irving Street. The thief jumped into the vacant car, where she had left the keys. When the woman ran over to the car, the thief moved the car to pin her against the fence, the housemate said. The thief then fled toward 40th Street, and housemates who heard the student's screams called University Police. Students said they had to lift the subcompact car to free her. When they moved it, witnesses said, the student collapsed and was caught by another student. A plainclothes police officer arrived on the scene as they were moving the car. About half a dozen other officers arrived within moments.
(10/22/90 9:00am)
When College junior Marisa Sifontes looked at University performing arts at the end of her freshman year, she noticed a gap. The University, she felt, needed another a cappella group. It is not that there was a shortage of groups. The campus was already flooded with all-male, all-female and coed groups that dominated the program at every Performing Arts Night. What was missing was a group devoted to black music, she thought. "There was a need for an a cappella group where African-American interests could be expressed," said Sifontes, who also sings with Counterparts. She raised the idea with Ozuma Ogbuokiri, at the time a Glee Club member, who agreed that the gap had to be filled. "We figured there should be at least some representation for African-American culture in the performing arts field," Ogbuokiri said. "Besides, I had arranged [Michael Jackson's] Man in the Mirror and I had nobody to sing it." "We've had a very positive impact on the performing arts community," Sifontes said. "We've breathed some life into it. We're not just another coed a cappella singing group." The Inspiration has also been well received by the black community, according to Sifontes. It offers an outlet for students who want to perform and want to use their talent to enrich black life on campus or who are reluctant to audition for mostly white arts groups. Obuokiri said he believes The Inspiration will attract a new group of black spectators and performers to the performing arts community as a whole. "When people started watching the Inspiration, they would start opening themselves up to the performing arts field in general," he said. "It would make them more interested in what's going on in performing arts on this campus." The Inspiration's membership is currently all black, and both founders say this helps create a close, family-like atmosphere within the group. "Most of the people who are in the group knew each other before because the African-American society here is really close-knit," said Ogbuokiri. Sifontes said that the group is open to singers of all races. "We go for the best voices we can, and in the past two years, the best voices have been African-Americans'," she said. "Regardless of who's in the group, we focus on African-American music." The Inspiration's fall show, with Quaker Notes, will be November 1 and 3 at the Gold Standard.
(10/22/90 9:00am)
Andrea Mitchell, the chief Congressional correspondent for NBC News, will speak at the University tonight on the current budget crisis and the power struggle between Congress and President Bush. Mitchell, a 1967 College graduate, will appear on NBC Nightly News from Washington at about 6:30 p.m., and then shuttle to the University to speak and answer questions posed by students. "We're expecting a lot of questions about the budget," said Emily Nichols, chairperson of Connaissance, which is among the groups sponsoring the speech. "Right now, all eyes are focused on the budget process in Congress, and I'm sure she'll give a lot of insight." Mitchell's speech kicks off a new Distinguished Alumni Lecture Series. The next part of the series will feature an informal discussion Wednesday night with two members from the rock group The Hooters. The speech will begin at 9:30 p.m. in the Zellerbach Theater. Richard Smith, vice chairperson of Connaissance, said that Mitchell will most likely concentrate on the budget crisis, the balance between Congress and President Bush, and trends in the upcoming presidential and congressional elections. "The budget is her main story now, but she's right on top of all the issues so I'm sure she'll be able to answer just about anything," said Smith, a junior in the College and Wharton. Mitchell began her career as the program director of the University's radio station, WXPN--FM. After graduating, she covered Pennsylvania politics for KYW--AM, Philadelphia's all-news station. In 1978, Mitchell joined NBC News as a Washington-based correspondent. She's covered the Energy Department and energy legislation on Capitol Hill, including reporting on the aftermath of the Three Mile Island incident. Mitchell was a key correspondent covering the 1988 Presidential race, from the Iowa Caucuses to election night. She's also reported on Reagan's 1984 campaign former Vice President Walter Mondale's election campaign in 1980. The Distinguished Alumni Lecture Series began this semester as part of the 250th anniversary celebrations and is co-sponsored by Connaissance, the Student 250th Committee, and the Alumni Relations Student Advisory Committee. Hooters band members Rob Hyman and Eric Bazilian and producer Rick Chertoff are expected to talk about censorship in the music industry, their own careers and how they began at the University, and how to get started in music. They will speak Wednesday night at 8 p.m. in the rooftop lounge of High Rise East.
(10/22/90 9:00am)
A University student was seriously injured Friday night when she was run over by a van during a robbery on the 4000 block of Locust Street. Robbers in a van grabbed the student's book bag as she got out of a car parked near 41st Street at 10:20 p.m. She was dragged for approximately 30 feet before hitting a parked car which knocked her under the van, according to University and Philadelphia Police. University Police spokesperson Sylvia Canada said the student initially struggled to hold onto the bag while the van was driving away. The student, College junior Roberta Koeppel, 20, was taken by ambulance to the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital trauma center. Friends said yesterday she remained in intensive care. Details about her condition were not available. The student's family has requested that no information be released on her condition. The University and the family have also requested that the student's name not be published. A hospital spokesperson told The Philadelphia Inquirer yesterday that the student remained in critical condition. University Chaplain Stanley Johnson said Koeppel is alert and aware of what happened, adding that she underwent surgery yesterday afternoon. Friends and Johnson said published reports that she was in a coma are unfounded. Plainclothes Philadelphia Police officers from the Anti-Crime Team, who were on patrol in the area, heard Koeppel's screams for help and called for backup. Police arrested two suspects after a 12-block car chase when the van hit three parked cars at 50th Street and Osage Avenue. Police charged Allan Waters, 23, of the 1300 block of S. Ruby Street, and Christopher Turner, 27, of Baltimore, Maryland, with robbery, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and other offenses. Friends and University officials were reluctant to discuss the accident or Koeppel's condition, saying they wanted to maintain the victim's privacy and that the family did not want the accident to attract attention. College sophomore Eliza Feuerstein said she and other friends have been at the hospital along with Koeppel's family almost nonstop since the accident. "She's a great girl and we all hope she gets better really soon," Feuerstein said. "She's filled with energy. She has time for all her friends when they need her. She's got so many beautiful characteristics." Since the accident, University officials have taken several steps to help Koeppel's friends and family. The University found a place for her family to stay, and University Chaplain Johnson has visited the hospital several times. Officials also contacted her friends and offered them counseling services. College junior Jeffrey Jacobson, co-chairperson of University Council's Safety and Security Committee, said the Friday incident is especially frightening for students since there was little Koeppel could have done to prevent it. He said students can avoid injury in robbery attempts by giving up their property without a struggle. One of Koeppel's friends was with her as the van drove by, and rushed to Koeppel's aid after she was hurt. Several students living on the block ran out into the street when they heard Koeppel screaming and watched as police and an ambulance arrived to help her. Onlookers said she was conscious the entire time. "One of the most disturbing things is to hear a girl scream and know you can't do anything about it," one student said. Several students said they were surprised that the crowd of approximately 20 people did not panic. They said prompt police response helped keep the crowd calm. They said police cars were on the scene within minutes, and officers kept people from getting too close to the victim. Emergency Medical Services officials said Sunday that Koeppel was taken to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Center City because it was the nearest hospital with an open trauma center. The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania has a certified trauma center but the center was closed Friday and Sunday and will be closed again Thursday because of a lack of available surgeons, according a letter from the hospital to the city ambulance directors. Staff writers Emily Culbertson, Christine Lutton and Andrew Libby contributed to this story.
(10/19/90 9:00am)
Playwright Megan Terry, considered by many to be the "mother of American feminist theater," will conduct an acting workshop tomorrow on campus to call attention to women's theater. Terry's workshop, which is sponsored by several campus organizations and is open to the public, will focus on her play Approaching Simone. That play is scheduled to open in Philadelphia next month. The workshop comes on the heels of last spring's Women's Theater Festival, which featured several works by and about women. Tamarah Long, a 1990 College graduate who is organizing the workshop, said last week that since last semester's festival, there has been a growth of interest in the feminist theater genre on campus. English professor Lynda Hart, who produced last year's festival and suggested that Long contact Terry, said she was pleased that a former student is bringing the playwright to campus. Terry, whose show Body Leaks premieres at the Painted Bride Theater tonight, is founder of the Omaha Magic Theater, and according to Hart, she has written over 100 plays including Calm Down Mother and The Glooming. Long is also producing a Philadelphia performance of Approaching Simone, and there will be auditions for University students after the workshop. The Penn Women's Center, the Women's Studies Department and the Performing Arts Council are all sponsoring the project. According to PAC Executive Secretary David Simon, the group's donation is an unprecedented gift from the student organization. The workshop will be held in Bennett Hall's Penniman Library tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. Admission is $7.50 for University students.
