News Archives

Ask Benny: Where can I find day care at Penn?

Dear Benny,I’m looking for a day care center for my daughter. Does Penn have any child-care programsóand if so what kind of discount is there for Penn employees? —Need A Sitter Dear Working Parent,First, the good news: Yes, the Penn Children’s Center—the University’s day care center—does offer discounts for faculty, staff and students. Now, the bad: The center is so popular, there are currently lengthy waiting lists to get in.

Time to take debate to a new level?

Stephen Steinberg says civility is overrated. Especially in politics. So as he watches John Kerry and George W. Bush banter during presidential debates, he can't help but wish the candidates would stop being so nice.

Vaccine shortage puts Penn flu shot program in doubt  

As you’ve probably heard by now, the flu vaccine is in short supply. Because of the unexpected shortfall, Penn may or may not run its flu shot program this year. As more information becomes available, Penn’s Human Resources department will keep our community updated.

Voting rights for all?

During the manual recount and examination of Florida ballots from the 2000 Presidential election, late-night comedians and editorial cartoonists had a field day with jokes about aging Florida voters. One cartoon from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune went as far as to call some voters “confused, simple-instructions-challenged Florida retirees.”

Faculty Q&A: Peggy Reeves Sanday

FACULTY Q&A/A renowned anthropologist searches for stories and meaning in the Australian desert. When Peggy Reeves Sanday began researching the sacred stories about Australia’s Wolfe Creek Crater—a crater discovered by her father in 1947—she found the Aborigines who live near the crater decidedly tight-lipped. To them, everything about the 2,850-foot-wide crater is sacred and secret. So Sanday, Penn’s R. Jean Brownlee Term Professor of Anthropology, had to find a way to both tell their story and respect their culture.

Music to their ears...and eyes

Penn’s on-campus radio station, WXPN, has always had a loyal family of fans drawn to the stationís progressive blend of rock, folk, rhythm and blues and American roots. Since it began broadcasting in the 1940s, though, WXPN has operated out of the lowliest of digs, a series of retrofitted campus buildings more suitable for a fraternity than a major radio station.

New garden ready to take root at Morris Arboretum

What better way to remember a plant lover than to design a garden in his honor? That was the thinking behind the J.L. Pennock Garden, currently under construction between the Garden Railway and the Rose Garden at Penn’s Morris Arboretum. J. Liddon Pennock, in whose memory the garden is being created and whose endowment gift to the Arboretum will help maintain it, died last spring at the age of 90. For most of his life, he ran the family business, a Center City flower shop that provided floral decorations for countless society weddings as well as the Nixon White House.

Out & About: Tune in to the issues

The legal issues that captivate our country range from women’s rights to the role of religion in elections, gay marriage to national security, campaign finance reform to medical malpractice. And there’s one forum that ensures a lively, provocative discussion from experts on both sides of an issue—without the yelling and name-calling. That forum is "Justice Talking," the radio show produced by the Annenberg Public Policy Center that airs on National Public Radio (Mondays at 10 p.m. on WHYY-91 FM).

At Work With...Joe Testa

Staff Q&A: John Mark Ockerbloom

While studying computer science in the late 1980s and early 1990s, John Mark Ockerbloom couldn’t help but notice that little invention called the Internet. He was particularly struck by the impact the Web had on university libraries—and the potential it held for revolutionizing the business of books and information.