The city’s lawyer: Pedro Ramos C’87, President Judith Rodin’s chief of staff, will be joining his brother, first-term City Councilman Juan, at Broad and Market come March 1. That’s when Ramos’ appointment as city solicitor takes effect. In that post, Ramos will be the lead litigator on cases involving the city and the chief legal advisor to Mayor John Street. Congratulations, Pedro.

Red and blue look good on you: Scholarship was not the only thing celebrated at the news conference announcing Amy Gutmann’s nomination as Penn’s next president. Fashion and frugality also came up in the remarks. James Riepe W’65, WG’67, chair of the Trustees, noted that the Princeton provost dressed for the occasion. “She likes red and blue better than orange and black. At least today,” he said about Gutmann’s red shirt and blue suit. And President Judith Rodin CW’66 noted that in choosing Gutmann, the Trustees honored founder Ben Franklin’s advice on thrift. “I congratulate the Trustees on picking a president who will be able to wear my academic robes,” she said.

Eye on the prize: “Sons of Mississippi,” Washington Post reporter-turned-Professor of English Paul Hendrickson’s meditation on the legacy of segretation and the civil rights movement in the Magnolia State, is one of five non-fiction works nominated for a 2004 National Book Critics Circle Award. The winner will be announced at a March 4 ceremony at New York’s New School University. We offer our congratulations on the honor and our hope that you get to head up to New York to pick up the prize, Paul.

Cheap lunch date: If you act now, you can join Penn’s Faculty Club for half-price. During the club’s mid-year membership drive, faculty and staff can sign up for only $25 for the year. Members can take advantage of the club’s $8.95 lunch buffet, a $4.95 light lunch, a dining room with menu service, special theme dinners, and complimentary morning coffee and pastries. For more information and a membership application, visit www.upenn.edu/facultyclub or call Club Coordinator Natalka Swavely at 215-898-4618.

Penn in ink: Penn’s West Philadelphia Initiatives are making waves on the other side of the pond. Britain’s Times Higher Education Supplement ran a feature article Jan. 9 on the Sadie Tanner Mosell Alexander University of Pennsylvania Partnership School, our showcase project to improve public education in University City. Noting that the school “appeared to be the first in which a university has helped to develop a new public school in collaboration with the local school district and the teachers’ union,” the feature quotes Graduate School of Education Dean Nancy Streim as saying, “We have a moral responsibility to strengthen the pipeline so that there are more young people who are prepared to be contributing citizens to our society.”