Pullout: Report of the Provost's Committee on Distributed Learning

News in Brief

Update on Vending

Thursday, April 23, is the scheduled date for the final reading at Philadelphia City Council of the proposed ordinance to regulate street and sidewalk vending in University City. The City Council's Committee of the Whole last week accepted nine amendments and a letter to the Council President filed by Vice President Carol Scheman. (See the amendments and the text of the letter.) Some amendments resulted from testimonies of City Council or City agency origin, according to the Office of Community and City Relations. A summary of three:

Based on Licenses & Inspection testimony that only the Mayor can officially create and appoint an Advisory Board, references to a "Vending Advisory Board" have been deleted.
The Whole Council, through facilitation of President John Street and at the urging of L&I, "promulgated regulations devising procedures to choose among applicants for particular locations" with preference that may be based on, but is not limited to, seniority.
After the Parking Authority's testimony on potential loss of meter revenue, the Whole Council agreed to impose an annual fee of $2750 per street vendor, to be deposited into the City's general fund.

Campus Deliberations: The University Council's regular meeting at 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 22, includes a discussion item on the University Council's role in the vending ordinance; and a special meeting is scheduled to begin at 5:45 p.m.

Leaving College House: Dr. Filreis

With the announcement that Dr. Alan Filreis and his family will move to a home of their own in University City to coincide with the start of Dr. Filreis's sabbatical, the Provost's Office has issued a call for nominations for a new Faculty Master for Gregory House.

Dr. Filreis, professor of English and Director of the Writing Program, became a Faculty Master three years ago, moving to Van Pelt College House with his wife Dr. Susan Albertine, the former assistant to the provost for the 21st Century Project who is now Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies at Temple, and their children Ben and Hannah, now 6 and 3. He has also served as Chair of the Residential Faculty Council, the committee of all Faculty Masters.

The first buyers of a home in University City under the new incentive program announced last month, the family will move to a 1923 twin on the 4600 block of Osage Avenue. Dr. Filreis will use his sabbatical to work on a book about the American 1950s, and will continue as head of the Kelly Writers House during his leave.

English Fluency: Revisions Made

The Interim Provost outlines changes made in Penn's evaluation procedures for English fluency of instructional personnel.

NEH Award: Dr. Bushnell

Dr. Rebecca Bushnell, professor of English, is co-recipient of one of the National Endowment for the Humanities awards announced last week, but her name was inadvertently omitted from the NEH announcment on the web. Dr. Bushnell will collaborate with Special Collections Director Michael T. Ryan of the Library on The English Renaissance in Historical Context: Teaching Shakespeare with the World Wide Web.

Almanac, Vol. 44, No. 30, April 21, 1998