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(09/11/90 9:00am)
The Law School has begun to require second- and third-year law students to perform 35 hours of free public service work each year. The Public Service Program, announced last summer, allows students to carry out their public service requirement by working with abused women and children or tenant groups, helping provide criminal defense for the indigent, or working for the City Solicitor, among other options. Those who do not complete 35 hours of service by the end of the school year must complete 55 hours - an additional 20 hours - in order to register for classes the following year. Students said that the program, which began September 5, should give them experiences that classroom work does not always cover. A few law students began fulfilling their requirement during the summer. The program is also desigend to improve the image of the University in the community. "People see Penn like all the other top ten schools, for rich people who want to make money," said second-year student Jill Chessen. "We're not just interested in making money, we're interested in helping needy people who need public service." Over 70 percent of the program's placements are in the Center City area, said Judith Bernstein-Baker, director of the program. "They [the University] have been changing their image in the last few years," Bernstein-Baker said. "The University as a whole has been trying to improve it's community outreach work". The University is one of only a few that have such a requirement. Tulane University in New Orleans and the University of Southern California have similar programs, and Harvard University is considering one. Although some students objected when the program was introduced last year, the time commitment has not seemed to disturb them so far. "I don't think 35 hours is a lot to ask," Shapiro said. "It's something you can't learn in law school." "It's only a couple of hours a week," said Chessen."Besides, it's the only way some people would do it."
(09/10/90 9:00am)
Discussing a proposal submitted last year by the United Minorities Council, the Social Planning and Events Committee will meet tonight to debate the role of minority involvement in planning this year's social events. The UMC proposed last year that a UMC representative be given permanent voting position on the SPEC executive board. During its first two semesters of operation last year, SPEC's executive committee included non-voting, ex-officio members of the UMC, Student Activities Council and the Nominations and Elections Committee. But these positions on the executive committee will be abolished at the end of the semester. Tonight's meeting between SPEC's 35-member steering committee and the group's executive board will also include debate over whether to establish permanent positions for SAC and the NEC on the committee. UMC Chairperson Nalini Samuel said last night that the UMC wants a permanent place on SPEC as a "check" to protect minority concerns because members of the social planning committee are not elected. "The sole purpose of the UMC member would be to make sure that SPEC would have events that would encompass the whole University," Samuel said. SPEC chairperson Varsha Rao said that tonight's meeting will focus on how to increase minority involvement in planning events and increasing minority attendance at University-wide functions. Rao said that the group will discuss several options including intensifying minority recruitment for SPEC. Rao said she hopes to attract between 500 and 1000 freshman to work for SPEC this year. She said she wants the organization to plan events that will attract the entire undergraduate community. Tonight's meeting's agenda also allots time for budget discussion and debate about the group's by-laws.
(09/10/90 9:00am)
At high noon last Friday, there was a quiet buzz among students on College Green many of whom resembled hippies from yesteryear. Sporting cut-off ripped jeans, rainbow colored friendship braclets, and tie-dyed shirts, they had gathered to rally behind a cause stirring since the 1960s. They wanted to get high. Legally, that is. And over the next three hours, hundreds of students stopped to listen to impassioned pleas by marijuana activists to legalize the growth and use of the drug. Although the rally initially appeared chaotic, organizers quickly set up booths advocating legalization and banners proclaiming their cause: "Help End Marijuana Prohibition." Friday's rally led by the HEMP organization as part of a nationwide tour began as an open dialogue between HEMP members and students. But having toured for 20 years, members had the experience to quickly rebuke any questions posed by students, leaving vocal opposition absent from the rally. In one of the beginning exchanges, a student asked what HEMP member Shan Clark thought of surgeons and doctors performing their jobs under the influence of pot. Clark became outraged and dismissed the comment as an "insult and irrelevant." The group's message, although it advocated legalization of marijuana, focused primarily on the permission to grow the plant, which speakers said had many enviormental benefits. Clark who spoke for over an hour called marijuana non-toxic, non-carcenigenic, and "the safest theraputic substance known to man." He added that he had interviewed many doctors and researchers at top California institutes on the subject. "It helps nausea, lowers stress and there is no evidence of lung damage," Clark said. "The laws were never based on public health." Clark said that there was an unfounded drug hysteria in the nation and the government was lying to the public about the dangers and benefits of marijuana use. College sophomore Ross Gerber said that students should be able to decide for themselves whether they want to use the drug for recreational purposes. College sophomore Laura Booker, who also helped organize the HEMP group's visit, said she was happy with the student turn out despite attempts to take down posters around campus announcing the rally. Some students attending the rally said afterwards that they agreed with the message of HEMP, adding that the rally would not instigate additional drug abuse on campus.
(09/06/90 9:00am)
Filing onto Hill Field for a barbecue on a sunny afternoon, scores of freshmen separate into smaller groups, many segregated by race or gender. It is not an uncommon scene at the University, whose administration has tried to combat segregation with programs such as diversity education seminars. But the scene was particularly striking on Monday the students had just left the diversity education seminars. Although students voiced overwhelming support for the sessions, their actions showed that achieving diversity awareness will take more than one Labor Day session. But students said the programs are a first step. "The program was very worthwhile," College Freshman Paul Rozelle said Monday. "I learned a lot more of how to communicate with different people, and that people really could be open-minded about differences." Students also said that while the discussions brought out many opposing viewpoints and emotions, they felt comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas with the facilitators and members in the group. But some freshmen said they did not foresee a change in the way they would deal with situations involving harassment or in their relationships with diverse groups of people. Student Life Director Francine Walker said last night that the students' self-separation is not surprising since new students tend to "go with those with whom [they] feel most comfortable." The session, which focused on racial, gender, religious and sexual orientation differences on campus, was the first in a series of diversity awareness programs scheduled for freshmen throughout the year. The programs were initiated last fall after extensive debate. Some professors criticized the programs as values indoctrination, while some minority leaders did not support them because attendance was not required. Approximately three-quarters of last year's freshman class attended the programs. Assistant Student Life Programs Director Robert Schoenberg said approximately 2000 of the 2250 freshmen attended this year's first session. Some organizers said they felt this year's program was even better than last year's, both logistically and in content. And College Junior Seth Wiesen, a facilitator of a small group session, said he was very pleased with his group's insights and participation. "I had a very positive feeling about the people saying their true feelings and listening a lot," he said Monday. In response to student complaints that last year's eight-hour program was too long, Monday's session was shortened to a half day, starting with a keynote address by renowned author and activist Maya Angelou. Angelou encouraged students "to take on responsibilities which for 18 years no one ever told you about," stressing the need for someone to "work out the problems of racism and sexism." Angelou urged the students to "put this idea [of diversity] in your perception." Several students and organizers said later that the author's emotional address was the most memorable part of the day.
