"former Penn President/possible saint Judith Rodin"
Wow.
Frankus
Sleek. Edgy. Infinitely flexible.
On Oct 10, 2007, at 01:21 AM, UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN wrote:
Craigsolve wrote:
Swallow oral cavity contents completely, before reading the
following copy:
http://www.njra.us/rti/cwp/view.asp?a=3&Q=457999
Kimm Tynan wrote:
Wow. Thanks for that warning....
Now I'm depressed
it gets even better:
http://tinyurl.com/32yavz
[dp editorial]
A real University City Penn should make home
ownership in West Philadelphia more
attractive and feasible for its staff and faculty
by Jim Saksa
As goes University City, so goes the University. This
mindset permeates the administration's rhetoric so often
that it's almost hackneyed. Even the new postal-land
developments are being marketed as "forging connections
between University City and Center City."
But there's one way Penn could inextricably unite itself
with the University City District that we aren't pursuing
vigorously. It's pretty simple: The Penn community should
live in University City.
A few hundred faculty members and staff moving here would
represent a major financial investment for the UCD. "The
viability of this University is intimately linked to
maintaining the vitality and improvement of this community,"
said director of Penn Home Ownership Services Toyin Adegbite
Moore.
If more professors lived here, the merely academic
investigations of the challenges Philly faces would become
quite real for some of the brightest folks in the world,
leading to tangible and immediate reforms. These days, in
Philly, you see more sports championships than substantial
reform.
Home is more than where the heart is; it's where the mind
is. Tired of late trains, Engineering professors might find
a way to fix SEPTA. Fearing the crime from high
unemployment, Wharton professors would brainstorm the best
strategies to attract jobs. Sick of corruption, the Poli Sci
professors could team up to revamp City Hall.
Through Penn Home Ownership Services, eligible faculty and
staff can qualify for preferred mortgages. The home simply
must be within an established boundary encompassing
University City and other parts of West Philly. Another
program offers a five-year, forgivable $7,500 loan for home
improvement. Every year a fifth of the amount is forgiven,
so after five years participants would owe nothing, provided
the home remained their primary residence. Since these
programs began in 1998 about 1,100 faculty and staff have
taken part in the program.
This sounds great - until you realize that 1,100 is only
5 percent of the 20,493 faculty and staff at Penn.
In The University and Urban Revival, former Penn
President/possible saint Judith Rodin wrote, "While there
has been great improvement in the housing market, there is
still a relatively low rate of home ownership and a limited
supply of quality mixed-income housing in the area." Penn
can - and should - do more to encourage home ownership.
The $7,500 loan is laudable, but from 1998 to 2004 they
could get $15,000. Penn should offer this amount again. And
in order to spur more stabilization and economic expansion
in West Philly, we should give even more for employees
living along the periphery of the current boundaries.
Moreover, employees who relocate to West Philly should
have their moving costs covered by the University. It's the
institutional equivalent of helping a friend move into your
neighborhood.
Investments in University City are investments in Penn.
The cost of more loans will be covered by the benefits to
the community. A home improvement loan and no moving costs
wouldn't hurt faculty recruitment, either.
But isn't this just more vile Penntrification? Adegbite
Moore doesn't think so. "The community really supports
people owning homes," she said.
Some of you must be thinking, "Why the hell would any sane
professor want to live next to me?"
No one in their right mind would want to be my neighbor.
Not even Mr. Rogers. I am obnoxiously loud and the pounds of
body hair I shed regularly wreak havoc on plumbing systems.
I'm probably to blame for any flooded basement around here
in the past three years. I'm sorry.
But given the right economic incentives - like larger
loans and reimbursed moving costs - even the most
respectable economics Ph.D. could rationalize living next to
jackasses like me. $15,000 is a lot when homes sell for
under $150,000, which is still the case in some parts of
University City. That Ph.D. could even use the loan to
soundproof his house to drown out the frat next door - or he
could be a huge dick and bitch anyway.
The professor living in Ardmore is no more a part of this
community than I am a part of the Jewish community. One
cannot truly belong to a community without living there;
much like eating at Hillel doesn't really help me with God.
But it does leave me pleasantly free of the post-Commons
runs. Todah rabah, Hillel.
If you're a professor, move here. If you're an employee,
buy a home here. If you're an administrator, help the
professor move here and help more staff afford the American
dream of home ownership.
If what's good for Philly is good for Penn, then this
would be great for both.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
..................
UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN
[aka laserbeam®]
[aka ray]
SERIAL LIAR. CALL FOR RATES.
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these people are. Ray has admitted being
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"Ray's falsehoods are more sophisticated,
more believable" -- Tony West
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