Drexel University

Richard D. Breslin, a former Catholic priest who has been president of the University of Charleston in West Virginia for the last four years, was named yesterday as Drexel University's new president. At a news conference after his unanimous selection during a special meeting of the board of trustees, Breslin, 50, said he expected to be in his new post by the start of classes in September. He said his first priorities would include developing a long-range plan for the 12,451-student university, fashioning a system of governance for the school and launching a major fund-raising campaign in connection with Drexel's centennial celebration in 1991.

Drexel University's next "campus master plan" will shift the school's focus on expansion away from West Philly and toward Center City. "North traditionally was where Drexel expanded, up to Powelton Avenue," the school's new president, John Fry, said Monday, through West Philly blocks now crammed with student rentals. Now Fry wants to redevelop parts of Drexel's "core," including the orange-brick buildings that still give parts of the campus a 1960s feel, and expand east toward the Amtrak yards and the old office buildings between Drexel and the Schuylkill.

Gov. Ridge is set to meet with Drexel University officials in Philadelphia tomorrow, in hopes of sealing a deal for the school to manage the ailing Allegheny University of the Health Sciences. Drexel officials have been reconsidering last week's decision not to manage Allegheny University, which includes the MCP-Hahnemann School of Medicine and schools of nursing, public health and health professions. Drexel's move left Tenet Healthcare scrambling to find another partner to run the university so Tenet can go ahead with its plan to buy Allegheny's eight bankrupt hospitals here.

Thank goodness Drexel University trustees are open to second opinions on the critical question of whether Drexel should join Tenet Healthcare Corp. in picking up the pieces at the Allegheny medical schools. The trustee executive committee is scheduled to meet today to hear a personal plea from Gov. Ridge to reconsider its decision to back away from the Tenet deal. Will it make a difference? That has to be the hope of hundreds of students, faculty and staff who look to the Allegheny University of the Health Sciences for their careers and jobs.

A 22-year-old college senior faces probation after pleading guilty yesterday to leaving the scene of an October accident in which his vehicle struck a jogger who is now disabled and "still in tremendous pain," according to a prosecutor. Under the plea agreement, Jeffrey Birks of Woodlake Drive in Evesham admitted to the four-count charge, which carries a maximum of 18 months in state prison. Burlington County Assistant Prosecutor Frank Hughes agreed to recommend 18 months' probation and community service to be served at the discretion of the judge.

In the next five days, Allegheny University of the Health Sciences must decide how to slash its ranks and come up with a balanced budget to assure its survival. The Drexel University board of trustees, which is scheduled to vote Tuesday on whether to run the Allegheny university in concert with Tenet Healthcare Corp., has said it must first see a balanced budget, Tenet spokesman Lance Ignon said. "There are financial targets that have to be met, and the only way to meet those targets is through some layoffs," Ignon said yesterday.

Brian J. Michalovic used his computer skills to get the things that had always eluded him: a college degree and a good job. Yesterday it got him something he probably won't put on his next resume: a criminal record. Michalovic, 29, of Germantown, was fined $4,000 and put on three years of probation for going into Drexel University's alumni computer, creating himself a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, and then using his newly minted diploma to get a job as a federal asbestos building inspector.

Drexel University and Tenet Healthcare Corp. are negotiating an agreement that would enable Drexel to take permanent control of one of Philadelphia's four medical schools by July 1. Drexel has been running MCP Hahnemann School of Medicine and its affiliated schools of nursing and public health for three years, following the financial collapse of the former Allegheny health system in the largest nonprofit health-care bankruptcy ever. Drexel must indicate by April 1 that it wants to absorb MCP Hahnemann, or its management of the medical university will end July 1. But those involved in the Tenet-Drexel negotiations say the West Philadelphia university has no intention of walking away.

How do 18-year-olds know what they want to do with the rest of their lives? Lives that will last far longer than ever? With retirements that will come way late in the game? It seems odd now, at 21, but only a few years ago, What Will I Do With My Life? wasn't such an intimidating question. I knew. I'd had an odd obsession with houses since childhood. As a kid playing house, I'd be more concerned with my "surroundings" (No, this is the front door) than feeding the baby. When I'd hang out with boys who had cars - long before I could drive - I'd always suggest we cruise around and "look at houses.

Constantine Papadakis ate his first Thanksgiving dinner 32 years ago, while studying for a master's degree in civil engineering at the University of Cincinnati. Coming from Greece, where turkeys are tough and spit-roasted lamb is the preferred centerpiece for a feast, he immediately felt a sentimental attachment to the holiday, and not just because he shared that meal with his girlfriend, Eliana Apostolides, and his future in-laws. "I thought it was terrific," recalled Papadakis, now president of Drexel University and MCP Hahnemann University.

Harriet Fleisher Berger, 94, of East Falls, a Drexel University professor from 1967 to 1988 whose life was shaped by progressive causes, died of Parkinson's disease on Friday, May 4, at her home. Mrs. Berger was the former wife of David Berger, city solicitor from 1956 to 1963 in the Democratic administration of Mayor Richardson Dilworth, which ended in 1962. Mr. Berger's later career focused on class-action lawsuits involving the likes of the Three Mile Island and Exxon Valdez disasters.

Community College of Philadelphia's graduation Saturday was filled with success stories — triumphs over hardship that led to the dark blue regalia and a diploma. For one of the 2,258 students, class speaker Christopher Thomas, 37, of Germantown, the journey nearly ended with his dropping out. But a scholarship at a particularly low moment turned him around. "I was thinking about quitting to address some things that were going on in my personal life," Thomas said before the ceremony.

What had been a dormant trend of robbers targeting college drug-dealing operations around Philadelphia resurfaced Sunday night, when - a block from Temple University - armed men robbed a student rowhouse from which marijuana was being sold, police said. The four Temple students home at the time had left the front door unlocked, allowing the three men believed to have been watching the house to walk right in, police said. With handguns trained on them, one of the students took a robber upstairs, where the student handed over an unspecified amount of cash and drugs.

During more than 40 years as a professor and practitioner of international law, Roger S. Clark has occasionally asked himself this question. What's a little boy from Wanganui doing here? Wanganui (wong-a-noo-ee) is the New Zealand city where Clark, 71, grew up. And "here" could be his office at the Rutgers School of Law in Camden, the United Nations headquarters in New York, or the International Court of Justice in the Hague, where he once got 30 minutes to make a case against nuclear warfare.

Second in a series of Daily News profiles of runners entered in the 33rd annual 10-mile Blue Cross Broad Street Run May 6. Who: John Domzalski Residence: Germantown Age: 70 Occupation: Drexel University professor; he teaches biomedical ethics and law, plus health policy. Education: Bloomsburg University; master's degree in public health, University of Pittsburgh; law degree, Temple. Previous career stop: Philadelphia Health Commissioner. Broad Street Run history: This will be his seventh BSR. "It's such a breathtakingly positive experience.

ALISA MELEKHINA didn't write her first children's book until she was 6, took two full years to graduate Drexel University, and only now, at age 20, is at Penn Law. What a slacker! The Rhawnhurst-raised Melekhina is off to St. Louis on May 8 to compete in the U.S. Women's Chess Championship. Melekhina, who has also been studying ballet since she was 6, says her father, Aleksandr, who taught her chess but soon after stopped playing against her because she kept beating him. The Ukraine-born Melekhina came with her family to the U.S. when she was 2 months old. They lived in Brooklyn until she was 5 and then moved to the Northeast.

EAGLE TODD HERREMANS loves golf so much that he traveled to Los Angeles for a tournament. Did we mention it was the Playboy Golf Finals, which kicked off with an opening reception at the Playboy Mansion? Herremans represented the Eagles and competed against Rob Gronkowski of the Patriots, Michael Richardson of the Seahawks, comedian Josh Wolf and some cast members from Bravo's "Shahs of Sunset. " Herremans, who is reportedly dating April 2010 Playmate Amy Leigh Andrews , hung out with Miss May 2007 Shannon James , of Bucks County, who recently split from Phillies outfielder Hunter Pence , and Miss August 2004 Pilar Lastra at the Playboy Golf Finals Pajama and Lingerie Party at the Playboy Mansion.

Repertory Films Abington Free Library 1030 Old York Rd., Abington; 215-885-5180. abg.mclinc.org/. Sherlock Holmes: A Talk by Sam Feinberg. 4/4. 7 pm. Ambler Theater 108 E. Butler Ave., Ambler; 215-345-7855. www.amblertheater.com. The Sandlot (1993) $4. 3/31. 11 am. Film 101: Inside Otto Preminger's "Laura. " $9.75; $7.25 seniors, students and children. 4/5. 7:30 pm. Bryn Mawr Film Institute 824 W. Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr; 610-527-9898. www.brynmawrfilm.org. Going Gaga.

A BODY PULLED from the Schuylkill Tuesday has been identified as that of a Drexel University professor from Lower Merion Township. Nagesh Idupulapati, 29, an assistant research professor in mechanical engineering, had been reported missing by the Lower Merion Police Department March 11, police said. Originally from India, Idupulapati had written in a suicide note that he was going to jump off a bridge, police said. The day after he disappeared, police found his car near the Strawberry Mansion Bridge.