I had a feeling that wasn¹t really over. Kimm
On 10/9/09 1:42 PM, "KAREN ALLEN" <[email protected]> wrote: > Well, Al, looks like they're "gettin' the band back together", and today's > Daily Pennsylvanian report about the Campus Inn puts yesterday's post into > context. > > It's the same old bullshit: West Philadelphia is a hellhole that we need > Penn/UCD/Tom Lussenhop to rescue us from; unannounced closed-door astroturf > presentations in front of a handful of handpicked so-called "community > leaders" ready to regurgitate Penn's lies and to rubberstamp whatever Penn > shoves in front of them. I guess next the propaganda machine will kick into > gear again to explain to us igoramuses why it's so important that Penn should > be able to do whatever they want. > > Regarding certain "panelists", this just proves that there are some people who > are incapable of embarassment or shame...Even Professor Marvel gave up the > smoke and mirrors once his "Wizard of Oz" persona ("Pay no attention to the > man behind the curtain!") was exposed as a sham. > > See ya at the Zoning Board hearings, folks... luckily I saved my "No Hotel In > the Hood" posters! > > From: [email protected] > Date: Thu, 8 Oct 2009 08:55:59 -0400 > Subject: [UC] Penn and the community -- take, er, I lost count when it hit six > digits > To: [email protected] > > From today's DP. Emphasis (color) and snide remarks (parentheses) added > > You read it here, first, on the ever-popular Popu-List > Courtesy of Al Krigman > > > University seeks to build more bridges with community partnerships > > Maanvi Singh > > While Penn's relationship with the West Philadelphia community has been > tumultuous in the past, last night a group of community leaders and educators > discussed Penn's recent focus on interacting positively with its neighbor. > (Recent focus? Maybe they mean dumping Lewis Wendell.) > > The audience of community members, who filled a little over half the chairs > (nobody I know was aware of this... so -- little wonder that only half the > chairs were filled and I can only imagine who from "the community" was there) > set up in the Arthur Ross Gallery, listened as the panel recounted Penn's > historical interactions with West Philadelphia, as well as the University's > current programs for community involvement. > > Ira Harkavy, associate vice president of Penn's Netter Center for Community > Partnerships, moderated the discussion on what he said was "the single most > important issue that the University is focusing on" - helping to develop > neighboring West Philadelphia. (This is the "single most important issue that > the University is focusing on" ??? I would have thought that a world class > research university would be focusing on less important things like education, > research, bringing their endowment back up to the point where they don't have > to fire people or raise fees to give it's president a big raise and otherwise > stay afloat, etc.) > > West Philadelphia has come a long way since the 1990s, when crime was on a > major upspring, said panelist and member of the Spruce Hill Community Trust > Board of Directors Barry Grossbach. (See. Someone still thinks Barry is a > community "leader." Maybe they don't know about the sad fall from grace and > standing of the Spruce Hill Community Association.) > > Penn faculty and students, as well as West Philadelphia community members, > have many more opportunities today to help ameliorate their neighborhoods, he > added, citing the recent success of tutoring endeavors in the community and > the Penn Alexander Elementary School. (Well, we can give them that one, anyway > -- ignoring the real reason for Penn's involvement with the school.) > > According to Grossbach, these outreach programs have been so successful that > outside organizations have started to follow Penn's footsteps. For instance, > the Teacher's College of Columbia University wants to create a program similar > to that of Alexander Elementary School. (Do you think they hired Omar Blaik as > a consultant?) > > "I've seen the change," Leslie Rogers, a Penn doctoral candidate, said. As a > Penn undergraduate and graduate student, she said, she felt that West > Philadelphia community members were very skeptical of her intentions when she > went to volunteer and later teach there. Now, Penn faculty and students are > more warmly welcomed, she said. > > Rogers said Penn undergraduates getting involved in West Philadelphia is a key > to community-building. > > Thanks to an array of recently established programs, these students now "get > to actually problem-solve in the community," she said. (These students are > like the bright-eyed busy-tailed types that get hired at UCD. They are > enthusiastic and well meaning -- but naive as newborn lambs and haven't a clue > about the "problems" faced by people from a side of the tracks other than > where they, themselves, were born and raised.) > > Still, attendee Glenwood Charles, a Penn graduate who now oversees the Netter > Center's tutoring program and reading initiative, argued that there is still > more to be done. (Yes, but how can they raise the probability of doing more > good than harm? Is there anything in the Penn curriculum that teaches the > facts of life? ... no, not "those" facts; the other facts.) > > "Get more involved," he told students. "There are a lot of opportunities." (As > above... to do harm unless they somehow are brought to understand the > situations in which they are getting involved.) > > ------------ > > plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_French_phrases_used_by_English_speakers# > P> > ----- Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr > >
