Foreign exchange

Nearly 3,000 of Penn's students come from other countries. That makes Penn 11th in foreign enrollments among U.S. research institutions, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported Dec. 12. The research institution with the highest number of foreign enrollments is Boston University, a school that actively recruits, followed by NYU and USC. In terms of percentages, Penn ranks fifth highest: 2,949 foreign students translates to 13.3 percent of students here. Tops in percentages is Columbia, followed by Harvard. Penn is second among U.S. research institutions in the number of students -- 1,126 -- studying abroad, outranked only by BU.

Cherchez le Penn

The first foreign-language World Wide Web tour of an Ivy-caliber university is right here, virtually at Penn, says its designer, Steven Morgan Friedman (C '98). Produced for the French Institute for Culture and Technology by Friedman, the same Webmeister extraordinaire who last year brought us a virtual tour of Penn in 1830, the site at http://www.upenn.edu/FI/guide.htm, includes campus photos, campus resources for foreign students, and facts about l'université.

C'est formidable.

Resurrection of church stones

Responding to a request from neighborhood activists, Penn has donated brownstone and white limestone blocks from the former Asbury Methodist Church at 33rd and Chestnut streets.

The neighborhood group will use the stones in flower beds as part of the Baltimore Avenue in Bloom project, which has been planting trees and flowers from 38th street west.

The historic church had burned down during renovations to convert it into studios for students in the Department of Fine Arts.

In another recent donation from Penn to Baltimore in Bloom, the grounds department donated150 chrysanthemum plants.