Entrance Examination

"When a politician talks, a dean listens." That, according to Dr. Joseph DiPalma, dean of Philadelphia's Hahnemann Medical College, is the way some would-be students endorsed by legislators get into professional schools--at least those schools heavily supported by the state. Normally, no one is the wiser, but this month a federal trial in Philadelphia threw unexpected light on what apparently has been a time-honored custom. Herbert Fineman, 56, the powerful speaker of Pennsylvania's house of representatives, was found guilty of obstructing justice during a U.S. probe into admissions practices of Philadelphia's medical and graduate schools.

Federal prosecutors introduced letters Fineman had written to deans of Pennsylvania schools in which he extolled candidates for admission. One, sent to the Temple University School of Law (the university received $66 million last year from the state), bluntly stated: "I think it would be extremely helpful to Temple if the application were favorably acted upon." (The student was accepted.) Mark Allam, retired dean of the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine, testified that he had jumped a Fineman candidate over candidates who were better qualified because he did not want to jeopardize state funding for the school--which comes to about $2 million per year. Allam admitted he reserved ten spots a year for "special applicants."

The jury found Fineman guilty of urging two medical schools to get rid of his letters of recommendation after federal agents began their investigations. Fineman could be sent to jail for as long as ten years. At the same time, the jury acquitted Fineman of charges that he took bribes totaling $52,000 from parents desperate to get their children into professional schools. Fineman resigned from the state's house of representatives.

Two other Pennsylvania political figures are awaiting trial. State Senator Francis Lynch and former State Representative Stephen Wojdak have been charged with extorting $15,000 from a dentist to obtain his son's admission to the Temple University School of Dentistry. The U.S. investigation is continuing, and the pressure has shifted from the dean's office to the statehouse.

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