Schools
prestige
By Nora Lockwood Tooher
Knight Bidder/Tribune News Service
PROVIDENCE, R.l.—Emory Uni
versity freshman Kim Harvey bought
a $l5 white Brown University cap for
her younger sister, and a $2O dark
blue one for herself.
A freshman from Long Island,
N.Y., Harvey had driven up from the
Atlanta school with a roommate to
visit a friend at Brown over the holi
days, and was picking up a few sou
venirs at the Brown bookstore on
Thayer Street.
"It's a cool thing to have in high
school," she said, holding up the cap
she had just bought for her sister. "Not
too many have one from Brown."
While Brown counts mainly on its
academic prestige to sell its licensed
merchandise, most colleges in Rhode
Island and the rest of the country rely
n their athletic teams to sell their
caps, T-shirts, sweatshirts, mugs, pens
and other licensed merchandise.
The University of Rhode Island,
whose men's basketball team is hav
ing a strong season, enjoys about a
3.5 percent increase each year in sales
of merchandise with URl's logo.
The university posted $1.3 million
in licensed merchandise sales in
1997. Of that, about $40,000 to
$45,000 will go back into the univer
sity.
Providence College, home of the
popular Friars basketball and hockey
teams, doesn't release sales figures or
disclose how much it receives in li
censing royalties. But Gregg Burke,
associate director of athletics, said
that sales of PC products are grow
ing.
"We have over 100 licenses,"
Burke said, "from T-shirts to coffee
mugs to pen and pencils sets. It can
Stanford
University
to host Bob
Dylan
conference
PALO ALTO, Calif. (Reuters) -
Stanford University will host a
conference on the career of Bob
Dylan, the rock'n'roll icon whose
songs and actions have undergone
intense scrutiny by fans and
academics.
The Jan. 17 conference will
examine the art and cultural legacy
of the man who found fame in the
early 1960 s with poignant folk tunes
such as "Blowin' in the Wind" and
"Masters of War" before going on
to become a fully fledged rock star.
Speakers will address such topics
as "only a pawn in their game: Bob
Dylan and politics" and "the sound
of one dog barking: Bob Dylan and
religious experience."
Dylan himself will not be there as
he is scheduled to perform at New
York's Madison Square Garden that
night in a double bill with Van
Morrison.
Stanford doctoral student and
conference co-organizer Tino
Markworth said the one-day
symposium will be the first of its
kind in the United States. A similar
event was held in Britain in the early
1980 s but failed to generate enough
momentum to establish Dylan in
academic circles, he said.
"It's about time that academia
recognizes that Bob Dylan is one of
this century's most important
artists," Markworth told Reuters.
"We've decided to establish Bob
Dylan in the academic canon, much
like scholars have done with 'beat
generation' figures like Allen
Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac."
cash
in on campus
licensed merchandise
with
get a little crazy."
The college sells caps, shirts and
sweatshirts at a campus bookstore,
run by Barnes & Noble; at its hockey
arena sports shop; and at the Provi
dence Civic Center. Licensees also
sell PC merchandise at local and re
gional sporting good shops, as well
as at department stores such as Bob's
Store, Macy's and J.C. Penney.
"We're very fortunate," Burke said.
"Because of our great academic and
athletic reputation, a lot of local and
regional stores carry our merchan
dise."
PC also sells its products through
"People like brand names, everything from
Ralph Lauren to Ivory Soap."
Gregg Burke
associate director of athletics at Providence College
a catalog. "It's something both Rhode
Islanders and fans living outside the
region order from," Burke said.
Over the next decade, he said, he
expects sales of PC products to grow.
"People like brand names," he said,
"everything from Ralph Lauren to
Ivory Soap."
PC uses a licensing agent, Colle
giate Licensing Co., in Atlanta, to
select licensees for its products.
Collegiate Licensing represents
about 160 colleges, including top sell
ers such as the Universities of Michi
gan, North Carolina, Kentucky and
Florida, and Penn State.
The biggest collegiate brand is
Notre Dame, a national perennial
football power. Collegiate Licensing
does not have that account.
Nationwide, the collegiate market
ing business is a $2.5 billion-a-year
industry.
Colleges with powerhouse athletic
Islamic college students enjoy
togetherness during Ramadan
By Saleema Syed
Knight-Ridder/Tribune News
Service
PHILADELPHIA It's 4 a.m.
Most college students are nestled in
their rooms, cramming some sleep
into their systems in time for their
early-morning classes. But Farid
Sanders, a junior at Drexel
University, quietly crunching away
at a bowl of cereal. Though not very
hungry, he's up and eating because
the sun will be out soon, and he
won't eat again until sunset.
Sanders is not the only one having
an early breakfast. He's among the
many Muslims who alter their
schedules to fast during the Islamic
holy month of Ramadan, which
began last week.
The breakfast, called "Sahoor," is
typically the only part of fasting
Sanders practices alone. Ramadan
is a month of togetherness and
solidarity among Muslims, and
Sanders will spend as much of it as
he can with his Muslim friends.
Ramadan requires a lot of
Muslims. The fast, one of the five
pillars of Islam, requires that they
abstain from food, liquids, and other
pleasures of the flesh such as
smoking and sex from sunrise to
sunset. Many Muslims also attend
a congregational prayer each night
called "Tarawih," which in addition
to the five daily prayers. Some
people read all 30 chapters of the
Koran, a chapter a day.
Those practices are hardly seen as
a burden, though. Most Muslims
welcome Ramadan as a time to
gather and become close to Allah
and one another.
For college students and other
Muslim young adults out on their
own, Ramadan is often the peak
time of the year for personal
observance. Students interviewed
said they and others gladly transfer
their family's practices to the
campus setting.
National Campus Ne ws Thursday, January 15, 1998 The Behrend College Collegian - Page 5
teams can sell well over $1 million a
year in merchandise, and typically
receive up to 8 percent of total sales.
The University of Michigan's roy
alties from sales of licensed merchan
dise totaled nearly $6 million in 1994.
And the university's recent football
success it was named national
champion in one poll and runner-up
in a second is expected to produce
about a $1- million increase in royal
ties this year.
"If you look at the folks wearing
Notre Dame and Georgetown
sweatshirts, they're not the alumni,"
said Bob Coleman, executive direc-
tor of the URI Foundation. "They're
wearing the garment because they
want to emulate the successful ath
letic team at the moment."
AS URI gains more recognition for
its athletic program, he said, "you'll
see sales increase."
But it's not only athletes who are
sporting college logos.
Long the pale bookworms in the
competitive world of collegiate mar
keting, the logos of Ivy League
schools such as Brown are becoming
trendier.
After Julia Roberts sported a long
sleeved Brown T-shirt in the recent
film My Best Friend's Wedding, sales
of the shirt soared, according to Larry
Can, director of Brown's bookstore.
"It was unbelievable, the number
of people calling us for that item,"
Can said.
In addition to its own bookstore,
Brown also sells university merchan-
At the University of Pennsylvania
campus, Hassan Chowdhry, a
senior, and Hanaa Kilany, a graduate
student, said they, like Sanders, feel
an increased solidarity and
spirituality during Ramadan.
Kilany, of Cairo, said she misses
her family gatherings during
Ramadan but finds a similar
togetherness with members of the
Muslim Students Association at
Penn.
"I enjoy Ramadan here because
it's more or less the same as back in
Egypt," said Kilany, who also
teaches Arabic at the university. "We
share a social and spiritual bond, and
we reflect on people's experiences.
The religion brings people
together."
When I don't eat, my mind is more clear and sharp. I'm more
organized because I have to do other things at night."
One aspect of the togetherness,
according to Chowdhry, the MSA
president, is more gatherings.
During Ramadan, students get
together each Saturday for "Iftar,"
the breaking of the fast. The MSA
also holds lectures and invites
speakers to discuss Islam.
Chowdhry, 20, of Pakistan, said
Ramadan bring increased
attendance to the Friday afternoon
prayers in Houston Hall, the student
union, and at the Jamia Masjid, a
mosque at 43rd and Walnut streets.
Sanders, 20, of the Philadelphia
area, is president of the Islamic
Society of Drexel. He said spending
time with Muslim friends on
Ramadan enables him to be more
religious.
"During the year, I hang out with
my non-Muslim friends," he said.
"But during Ramadan, I try to be
dise through a catalog that is mailed
to 70,000 alumni, parents and friends
of Brown, and through its Web site:
http://bookstore.brown.edu/
Brown does about $1 million a year
in licensed merchandise sales.
While that pales besides Harvard,
Yale and Duke (the big three of Ivy
League collegiate marketing), Carr is
satisfied.
"I wouldn't want to see the Brown
name simply on any type of garment,"
he said. "You'd want it to maintain
quality."
Ever the iconoclast, the Rhode Is
land School of Design takes an artistic
approach to its licensed merchandise.
"We actually run little contests with
our students for design input," said
Donald Colidrey, general manager of
the RISD store.
"We try not to get into the generic
college wear," he added. "We strive for
the unusual."
In addition to students, alumni buy
a great deal of RISD clothing, Condrey
said both during Alumni Weekend,
in October, and throughout the year,
through the quarterly alumni newslet
ters.
"It's just reliving the days they were
here," he said.
RISD sells about $150,000 in li
censed merchandise a year.
One of its biggest-sellers is a line of
Hitchcock chairs with the RISD logo
on the headpiece. The chairs sell for
$3OO to $5OO apiece and are shipped
throughout the United States.
In clothing, sweatshirts are the hot
test RISD item, followed by T-shirts
and hats.
And the most popular RISD color?
"We sell a lot of black," Condrey
said with a laugh.
with my Muslim friends. You feel
close to God during that time, and
you don't want any distractions."
During Ramadan, Muslims are
encouraged to practice kindness,
patience and graciousness as acts of
purity. Many students take the
opportunity to invite friends to
dinner. "You can become closer to
God by being nice to other people,"
Kilany said. "It makes you happy,
and you want to do more of it."
For all of these students, going
through Ramadan with other
Muslims makes the holy month all
the more meaningful. It's easier to
get up early and have breakfast with
the family, Sanders said, because
they're going through it together.
But when he's on campus, he
Hanaa Kilany
graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania
sometimes feels alone and seeks out
Muslim companionship.
During his freshman year,
Sanders found a Muslim friend who
lived in his dormitory. During
Ramadan, they would wake up early
and meet in a student lounge to have
breakfast together.
That, Sanders said, is what
inspired him to start the Islamic
Society of Drexel. He wanted to
form an organization that would
allow Muslim students to find
companionship, especially during
Ramadan.
Since then, Sanders has found
other Muslim friends on campus.
On most evenings during Ramadan,
they meet in the cafeteria to break
their fast together.
That is, of course, unless they're
in class. For many students, the
rigors of academics cause some
Villanova dumps rugby
team because of
liabilities
VILLANOVA, Pa. (CPS) Rugby
is too rough for the University of
Villanova.
The school, afraid of potential li
abilities that go along with sponsor
ing the sport, dropped its team—
winning record and all— in May
1996. Without official recognition
from the university, the team can't
participate in this year's national
championship, much less defend its
No. 1 national ranking in. Division
Players recently asked adininis
trators to reconsider the decision.
The team paid for its own insurance
policy to lessen the university's li
abilities and for an emergency
medical techniciairtand personal
trainer to attend all games. Players
even offered to clean up the team's
party-hearty reputation by enfOrc
ing strict conduct codes and per
forming community service.
However, school officials have
stuck by their decision'. '
Student sues
dissection
requirement
LOS ALTOS HILLS,.CaIie(CPS'i.
—Beate Broese-Quinn irMithlo he:
come a veterinarian, but dot if
means having to dissect at4oos,
first.
According to wire reportstshe
has filed suit against Foothill-
DeAnza Community e.ollege and a
biology professor who squired her
to dissect a fetal pigif she wtmted
passing grade in his class.
Bruce Wagner, Broese-Quinn's
attorney, said his client "holds a
fundamental moral and ethical be
lie?' that killing animals for re
search is wrong, clai!ns the commu
nity college has violated her rights
to free speech and due process, He
also said Broese-Quinn, who is ask
ing for emotional da*ges,4l4 a
straight A's before fieelyed a
she, ,
fl4ling grade ip the 10160 thss
School adtainiatrators maintain ,
that Broese-Quinn's suit is an at-.,
tack on academic freedom.
"In this situation, the instructor
clearly outlined 'what. the students
had to do,", said Foothill College
Trustee Paul Fong, according to
wire reports. "To make an excep
tion for one particular student that
inconveniences during Ramadan.
Sanders tries to arrange his schedule
so he is not in class at sunset or
during the Friday afternoon prayer.
That isn't always possible.
Chowdhry noted that it is
important to break the fast at the
right time. Tradition dictates that,
following the practice of the prophet
Muhammad, Muslims are to break
their fast with dates and water.
Chowdhry doesn't let classes stand
in the way.
"Sometimes, I have to break the
fast while I'm in class," he said, "so
I have to step outside for a few
minutes and then come back in."
Despite the demands of Ramadan,
the three students do not feel their
academics suffer. On the contrary,
Kilany believes her schoolwork
excels.
"I enjoy working during
Ramadan. It gives me a clarity of
mind," she said. "When I don't eat,
my mind is more clear and sharp.
I'm more organized because I have
to do other things at night."
Chowdhry, too, feels the added
activities force him to manage his
schedule better. But the gain for him
isn't in academics so much as self-
contemplation.
At other times of the year, he said,
he has to take time out to reflect on
his religion. During Ramadan, this
contemplative atmosphere "is
something that's there with you. You
deviated from his policy would be
catastrophic for him as an instruc
tor." Mini-CD Packs Powerful
Punch
Mini-CD packs
powerful punch
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (CPS)
An electrical engineering professor
at the University of Minnesota
claims he has invented a compact
disc about the size of a penny that
holds 800 times more information
than conventional CDs.
If marketed, Stephen Chou's
"Nano-CD" could store massive
amounts of information more effi
ciently, he said. For example, cur
rent CDs can hold only 10 minutes
of high- quality movies, but Chou
says his invention can store up to
five hours of flicks -4-- making it
possible for people to tuck, a
weekend's worth of entertainment
;in their wallets.
Chou also says CAT-scan images,
:which take up large amounts of CD
space, could beittned easily mictin
ventional discs cbrisisting of the ul
tra-tiny circuits found in his nano-
New and laid
form is released
CHICAGO" (CPS) Students
=looking fOk financial aid need to
have their parents compret4 a new
form released Jan4A thil U.S.
Department of Educetion. „..F
Most colleges requireAe
completed form whenstadentsaP-,
ply for , „
federal aid. otult.
"The Free Appliciatfoli for Felt'.
eral Student Aid is theofirst and
most important steptin the finan
cial aid process," said Mark
Rothschild, director of scholarship
services at FastWEß,„, a free
Internet service thatfindi Scholar
ships for students "Even if you
don't think you will qualify for fi
nancial aid, yatill0,101; 0131; r
plete therAFSA *inlay ,
actually qualify to it a if YOU .
•
think you won't."' \
Students can firiakefi‘t
lege rmancial aid officeS;lnbfic li
braries and by calling thi•Federaki
Student Aid Informatlongazier at '
over
2
, :::7
1-800-4-FEDAID. Tbitaim
available on- lineat
http://www.fafsa.edioi. „ :
feel it. It's sort of a passive thing; it
just happens."
Chowdhry said the increased
spirituality derives from religious
activity and physical deprivation.
He also credits Allah.
"This is supposed to be a month
that Allah himself has blessed,"
Chowdhry said. "It's believed that
one way He has done that is that He
has chained the devil. And the devil
isn't able to tempt us."
One of the temptations Chowdhry
is able to avoid during Ramadan is
procrastination. Fasting and prayer
enable him to work efficiently so he
can channel maximum time into
Islam.
His juggling act isn't anything
extraordinary, he said. "Really, it's
just a blessing and an opportunity."
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