Year in Review Year In Review Year In Review 1995

APRIL As the academic year wound down in April, concerns that had been in the news for months continued to attract attention across campus. Safety and security issues seemed to dominate discussion. Former University Police Commissioner John Kuprevich announced his resignation, and a search for a new public safety commissioner began. In accordance with University President Judith Rodin's master security plan released earlier in the year, five security kiosks were built along strategic walkways both on and off campus. University Police arrested Wharton evening student Douglas Murphy for bringing a loaded 9-mm semiautomatic pistol to class in Steinberg-Dietrich Hall in the middle of the month. And shortly after the bombing of a federal office building in Oklahoma City, several University buildings -- including the Penn Tower hotel -- received bomb threats. Kuprevich said the threats were imitations of the Oklahoma City bombing. Some security issues overlapped with campus social life. Pennsylvania Liquor Control Enforcement officers raided four bars around campus and gave out 32 citations to students for underage drinking. And a block party on Sansom Street during Spring Fling drew University Police officers to clear a crowd of about 3,000 people from the street. Police arrested eight students for disorderly conduct. But while the biggest issues of the month were focused on safety and security, there were also major developments in other areas of the University. Admissions Dean Lee Stetson announced that the University accepted 33 percent of applicants into this year's freshman class. The class is the most selective in the University's history, according to Stetson. Then-College junior Lance Rogers was elected the new chairperson of the Undergraduate Assembly at the UA's annual transition meeting. Gil Beverly, now a Wharton senior, was elected vice-chairperson. The University Medical Center announced a merger with the Presbyterian Medical Center in an effort to ensure the future of both hospitals. The agreement was the product of 35 years of negotiations, according to Presbyterian President Donald Snook. And during a House Appropriations Committee hearing in Harrisburg, state legislators made Rodin defend faculty salaries -- including her own, revealed to be $350,000 -- as she requested $50 million in state funds for the University.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.