Suburban schools concerned about U. suit

A University sticker on the back window of the family station wagon can be the sign of a suburban child's success. But if the University loses its court battle in the Mayor's Scholarship suit this week, area guidance counselors are worried that its logo will be displayed on fewer suburban windows. If the University loses the lawsuit, it will have to allocate 500 scholarships to Philadelphia city students at a given time, rather than the 125 it now grants. How this will impact future area admissions -- while not yet known -- has some Philadelphia suburban schools a little anxious. Guidance counselors from some of the area's best high schools said that they do not want the strong relationships they have built with the University to be put in jeopardy. "If it means we would lose numbers [of students] from getting in there, it would conceivably hurt our kids," Council Rock High School Head Guidance Counselor Vance Maneval said yesterday. Maneval added that the Bucks County high school could be affected because the University "is where we have the most number of kids in as far as Ivy League schools go." Bill Loue, assistant prinicipal in charge of guidance at the Main Line's Harriton High School, said that although he was unaware of the suit, he would be "upset" if there were any strain between the two schools' relationship. "We have some pretty top-notch students that we send to Penn every year," he said. "I think Penn would be the big loser." According to Loue, Harriton sends students in "double digit" numbers each year to the University. University Admissions Dean Willis Stetson would not comment on the impact of the suit while it is in litigation. Other guidance officials said that they could not gauge the impact of a University loss in the Mayor's Scholarship suit. But Carol Frieder, guidance counselor at the Abington Friends School, said she has faith in the quality of her students. "I guess we have enough faith in the college admissions at Penn that they are going to be as equitable as they can," she said. "I hope our students will be strong enough and we won't lose out." This week's Common Pleas Court trial is supposed to settle a lawsuit filed in October 1991 against the University over the number of scholarships the University must give annually to students from schools in Philadelphia. The lawsuit -- filed by a coalition of labor unions, student groups and several individuals -- claims that a 1977 city ordinance requires the University to award high school graduates from Philadelphia schools 125 scholarships a year for a total of 500 at a time. The University, however, maintains that it is required by the disputed ordinance to provide a total of 125 scholarships at a time in return for the rent-free city land.

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