In a message dated 8/19/2007 10:55:23 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
I'm inclined to give Gutmann two out of four falls. Shaking my head side-to-side, not wanting to be offensive on the UC Civility List #3. In the strictest sense, the Radian should cause a boomlet at least, if its ... the Radian will merely suck hundreds of pricey tenants out of the overall Spruce Hill rental market, easing upward pressure on rents for those of us who don't want to spend that kind of money on a bed. A softening of the rents could create a real challenge for the stretched small investor and create new opportunities for Penn proxies to buy out distressed owners, especially if such owners were to be hit simultaneously with increased real estate taxes and a NID tax. But that's the free market, when local gov gives all kinds of breaks to the 800 lb gorilla so it can forage among and feast upon the lesser. #7. The 40th St. corridor surely is a lot more vibrant today ... plus you can still get your teeth fixed cheaply at the Dental School, ... The dentists and dental clinic of last resort are a huge destination point and service provider for the vast majority of Penn students, not just the Radian Crew (Will they be too old for GAP?). And, apparently, the majority of the List missed the below article back in June reaffirming the Dental School's waning interest in readily serving West/Southwest Philadelphia's truly neediest children. Fortunately, it didn't get by a Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas' jury. While Penn does a lot of truly good things, I tend to view vomit for what it is, something distasteful and difficult to digest. I don't care if it is served up by the conservative new Philadelphia Bulletin or a local freelancing flack. Ciao, Craig Penn ordered to pay $4 million in lawsuit Former Penn dentist Dr. Mark Helpin wins case against the University last Friday By: Jimmy Tobias Posted: 6/28/07 _http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2007/06/2 8/News/Penn-Ordered.To.Pay.4.Million.In.Lawsuit-2919325.shtml?reffeature=htmle mailedition_ (http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2007/06/28/News/Penn-Ordered.To.Pay.4.Million.In.Lawsuit-2919325.shtml?ref feature=htmlemailedition) In a decision last Friday by a Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas jury, Penn was ordered to pay Mark Helpin, a former Penn faculty member, more than $4 million in a workplace dispute centering around a dental clinic he helped start up. Helpin, a dentist, was employed at the University from 1989 to 2003, during which time he helped to found a dental clinic that specialized in treating special-needs children. Helprin was also the Chair of the Department of Pediatric Dentistry at the University. For his work, he was promised 50 percent of the clinic's net profits, which he used primarily to invest back into the clinic, said Patricia Pierce, Helpin's lead attorney. However, when the University named Marjorie Jeffcoat dean of the School of Dental Medicine in 2003, things changed for Helpin. "She dishonored the deal," Pierce said. "She wouldn't pay him the 50 percent, and then they banned him from practicing at" the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, with which Penn is affiliated but doesn't own. Pierce said that Jeffcoat intentionally made Helpin's conditions at Penn so unbearable so as to force him out. "They ran him out of town," she said. "Jeffcoat stripped Helpin of his position as chair of Penn's Department of Pediatric Dentistry, repudiated his contract of employment, exiled him from CHOP to offices in the suburbs, accused him of failing to meet teaching obligations, deprived him of secretarial support and banned him from treating long-term patients," according to Pierce and also noted in a press release that was issued on Sunday. According to Jeffcoat's testimony, Jeffrey Rivest, the former chief operating officer of CHOP, supported her in this effort, Pierce said. Pierce noted that during the trial the University tried to claim it did not really fire him. "However, by not paying him and not letting him practice at CHOP, they cut his compensation by two-thirds," she explained. She also pointed to the fact that special needs children and their families were deprived of Helpin's expertise and the clinic he founded as evidence of the University's misdeeds. "They are the ultimate victims," she said, "The jury was outraged." Penn, however, criticized the decision, saying in a statement Monday that administrators "were surprised and profoundly disappointed by the verdict and will appeal." University spokeswoman Lori Doyle made it clear in an e-mail that University officials would not comment further on the case. "We are not answering questions about the lawsuit or the verdict," she wrote. Helpin is currently an Associate Professor of Pediatric Dentistry at Temple University. ____________________________________ © Copyright 2007 The Daily Pennsylvanian ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour
