Politicians cash in on U. community's deep pockets

The donations offer a window into the issues and causes that concern top University officials and decision-makers. When newly reelected U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) delivered his victory speech late Tuesday night, he should have included a special thank-you to the kind folks at Penn who have funneled tens of thousands of dollars into the 1951 College alumnus' campaign over the past five years. Members of the University community -- particularly the top doctors working in the Health System and the high-profile corporate bigwigs serving on the University Board of Trustees -- often dig into their deep pockets to donate money to various political campaigns. While the contributors do not consistently align themselves with any one party, they do have their favorite candidates, according to Federal Election Commission records obtained from the Center for Responsive Politics. Although such donations do not violate any University policies --Eindeed, Penn spokesperson Ken Wildes said that "what someone does with their own resources and on their own time is their business" -- they do offer an interesting window into the issues of concern to Penn's top officials and decision-makers. Specter's name appeared most frequently as the Republican of choice for University-affiliated contributors in 1997 and 1998, while newly elected U.S. Rep. Joe Hoeffel (D-Abington, Pa.) also received several donations in 1998. Former U.S. Sen. Harris Wofford (D-Pa.) reaped a significant number of donations in 1994, especially from Health System employees. Wofford, who won office in a special election in 1991, lost his bid for re-election in 1994 to Republican U.S. Rep. Rick Santorum. While in office, Wofford put health care on the national agenda, spurring President Clinton to champion the cause in his own campaign in 1992. Public Health and Preventive Medicine Professor William Kissick donated a total of $1,500 to the Wofford campaign in 1994. He said Wofford's varied experience -- in the spheres of academia, public service and health -- made the former Bryn Mawr College president a suitable benefactor. Although Kissick did not contribute to Specter, he cited the senator's support for enlarging the National Institutes of Health budget as one of the reasons University-affiliated individuals rallied behind him in the most recent election cycle. Penn received $217 million in NIH funding last year, ranking third in the nation. The most popular national party committees that received a slice of University-affiliates' paychecks were the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the Republican National Committee. Emily's List, a donor network that supports pro-choice Democratic female candidates, was also a popular choice for Penn-affiliated donors. In speculating what compels some educators to give to political campaigns, Kissick said, "We're responsible citizens as well as professors. And if you believe in the democratic process, you have to put your money where your mouth is." Top Administrators University President Judith Rodin is notably absent from the FEC filings, along with her husband, Paul Verkuil, who is dean of the Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University in New York. That doesn't mean, however, that Rodin never doles out funds to politicians, something she refuses to directly confirm or deny. The FEC only lists contributions made to federal candidates and committees that exceed $200, and it cannot track the majority of so-called "soft money" donations, unrestricted gifts that go to the major parties but cannot be used for specific campaigns. In addition, the commission only deals with federally registered committees, excluding a number of professional associations that lobby on behalf of their University-affiliated members. This may further explain why only about 250 of the approximately 36,000 administrators, faculty and staff working for the University or its health system arm, and fewer than half of the 90 trustees, were listed as contributors. For example, Carol Scheman, the University's top community and governmental affairs official, admitted that she had given donations above and beyond the two listed by the FEC. Similarly, Trustee Ronald Perelman's $250,000 donation three years ago to a Bob Dole-sponsored think-tank also does not appear in FEC records. Kissick explained that many members of the faculty and administration also make smaller donations at open-house parties for candidates. The Penn Lobby Despite the individual donations, the University as a whole has to be careful about its political alignments, Wildes said. According to the Internal Revenue Service's Form 990, a tax document containing all of the University's key financial information, Penn spent more than $185,000 in lobbying activities in the 1997 fiscal year, which ended June 30, 1997. About $101,000, or 54 percent, is in the form of grants to professional groups and lobbyists. For example, the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities lobbies for student aid, while the Association of American Universities is concerned with research funding. Additionally, S.R. Wojdak & Associates, a consulting firm with offices in Philadelphia and Harrisburg, Pa., identifies state issues that affect Penn while acting as a University mouthpiece in discussing legislative initiatives with politicians, Scheman said. The remaining $75,000 in lobbying expenses supports Scheman and her staff in their frequent excursions to Harrisburg and Capitol Hill to tout the University's importance to the community and to the national government. A portion of the money also pays their salaries. Scheman noted that since Penn receives about $35 million annually in state appropriations, it is important for the institution to communicate its desires to higher authorities. She added that the University's primary purpose is not to influence policy, but to convey information. "It is more appropriate [for candidates] to get money from law firms or businesses," she said. Scheman herself occasionally sends a dime a candidate's way. The top University official, who makes her living lobbying politicians on behalf of Penn, gave $250 to the campaign for Democratic congressional candidate Ruth Katz in 1996. Katz, a Penn alumna, ran in southern New Jersey and lost to incumbent Frank LoBiondo. Scheman also donated $250 in 1995 to her childhood friend John Murtha, a Democrat who represents the 12th Congressional District in Southwestern Pennsylvania. In dismissing concerns that such gifts might constitute a conflict of interest, Scheman contended that "just because I do a lot of work for the government doesn't mean I lose my right to make private contributions." The High Rollers The number of zeros in a donation, however, often depends on an individual's position along the University and corporate food chains. "We don't make a huge amount of money," said Law Professor Stephen Burbank, who gave $250 in August to his Harvard Law School classmate Daniel Feldman's congressional campaign. Feldman, a Democrat, lost the September primary for the 9th Congressional District of New York, which includes Brooklyn and Queens. Kissick reinforced Burbank's point: "I'm not a high roller. I'm not the tobacco companies who can contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars in soft money." But Philip Morris isn't the only one wooing political bigwigs. University Trustee Ronald Perelman, who gave $20 million and his name to the Perelman Quadrangle project in 1996, is consistently at the head of the pack in soft- and hard-money contributions. Under federal law, the maximum an individual can contribute to a national party committee is $25,000. The limit is lowered to $5,000 when the donation goes to political action committees, and no more than $2,000 can be earmarked for an individual candidate in one election cycle. But any individual can make unlimited contributions in soft money, which is not regulated by federal election laws. Several years ago, Perelman, the chairperson and chief executive officer of New York-based MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc., gave $250,000 to Bob Dole's Better America Foundation, a non-profit think-tank for Republican issues. The organization closed its doors in 1995 after Dole had been accused of indirectly using a total of $4.9 million in donations for his presidential bid. Perelman also donated $170,000 to then-Arkansas Gov. Clinton's campaign in 1992, $200,000 to former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo's campaigns in 1988 and 1994 and more than $100,000 to both Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis and former President George Bush for their presidential campaigns in 1988. Within the past five years, Perelman has also contributed over $110,000 in hard-money contributions to both parties, including a $25,000 donation to the Democratic National Committee in 1996. While single donations made by Penn administrators and faculty rarely topped the $1,000 mark, several other University Trustees contributed upwards of $10,000 to a single cause. Trustee Charles Heimbold, the head of New York-based drug- and consumer-products-maker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., gave $25,000 to the NRSC in November 1997. He also gave $10,000 to New York Salute, a fund-raising committee for state Republicans in 1996. All told, he made $85,000 worth of hard money contributions in the last five years. Trustees Ralph Landau and David Mahoney also gave individual contributions of $10,000 to the NRSC. Landau, a chemical-engineering technology expert with Listowel Inc., ranked third on the list of top Trustee contributors, with donations totaling more than $73,000 since 1993. Contributions made by administrators and faculty are small potatoes compared to those made by the 40 trustees who filed with the FEC. Topping the list of total contributions is Reproductive Biology and Physiology Professor Emeritus Bayard Storey, who gave more than $33,000 to Democratic candidates and causes. Storey declined to comment on his contributions, saying his political affiliations are a private matter. Second to Storey is Medical School Dean William Kelley, who is also the CEO of the Penn Health System. Kelley donated more than $7,000 within the last five years, offering repeated contributions to the Specter campaign and to the Republican National Committee. He could not be reached for comment.

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