News Archives

Putting the Palestra on film

Mikaelyn Austin remembers visiting the Palestra as a high school senior, during her Penn recruiting trip, and seeing a photo of former Penn basketball star Michael Jordan sitting atop one of the arena’s hoops, swinging the recently cut net over his head after a momentus win.

Bookquick/“Peace and Freedom: The Civil Rights and Antiwar Movements in the 1960s”

Two great social causes held center stage in American politics in the 1960s: the civil rights movement and the antiwar groundswell in the face of a deepening American military commitment in Vietnam. In “Peace and Freedom,” Simon Hall explores two linked themes: the civil rights movement’s response to the war in Vietnam and the relationship between the black groups that opposed the war and the mainstream peace movement.

Strange Brew

So it’s February. It’s dark and gloomy and cold, and spring is forever and a day away. So what better way to pass an otherwise depressing Saturday afternoon than drinking beer and listening to music? The first annual Brewing Exposition and Talent Show, to be held Feb. 12 at World Café Live, will be one part beer festival and one part battle-of-the-bands, as beer tasting and beer-related exhibits will be complimented by live music played by both local bands and the brewers themselves.

Debating creation

Some call it a form of secular creationism. Others argue the human cell is so complex that it must have been created by a higher power. Either way, the discussion of “intelligent design”—the alternative theory to evolution that claims the universe must have been created by a supernatural force—has generated both virulent opposition and support.

Right hijacked faith, left dodged it

On the eve of the Presidential election, Jim Wallis’s six-year-old son looked up at him and said, “Daddy, this election is more important than Halloween, isn’t it?” And it was, Wallis told a standing-room only crowd at the Penn Bookstore Jan. 26. Almost as important, he said, was what happened after, when exit polls indicated that many people who had opted for Bush had voted on “moral values.”

Movable Feast: Drink options for the miserable winter months.

Winter is no time for a margarita. That much we know. Pina Coladas aren’t great February fare either, and Corona, we’re quite certain, is not suitable for drinking when the temperature is sub-freezing. But what exactly should you be drinking during these miserable winter months? That’s what we decided to find out. And, surprisingly, from chocolatey thick winter brews to piping hot cider drinks, we found plenty of winter drink options right here in University City. Maybe this quick guide will tide you over until spring which is, by the way, only 38 days away.

Staff Q&A: Leslie Kruhly

The Secretary of the University is one of those official sounding positions that many universities have on their list of senior administrators but few of us know much about. At Penn the incumbent of this august office is Leslie Kruhly, who has held the post since 2000.

At Work With...Nikki Cyter

Dalí the dreamer

When she began research on a book about Salvador Dalí Ingrid Schaffner says she was sometimes embarrassed to admit to people what she was working on. Though Dalí may beat even Picasso to the title of best-known-artist ever, his reputation in the art world has never caught up with his fame. The artist’s endless self promotion, his zeal for pop culture and his willingness to caricature himself were, says Schaffner, “all things artists weren’t supposed to do,” and consequently his stock has faltered among the high art cognoscenti.

Penn School of Design Partnering with City of Philadelphia and Philadelphia Daily News to Handle Legalized Gambling Issues

Penn School of Design Partnering with City of Philadelphia and Philadelphia Daily News to Handle Legalized Gambling IssuesWHO:Penn School of Design students, Philadelphia Daily News,Mayor John Street, architect Stan EckstutWHAT:Planning session about legalized gambling in PennsylvaniaWHEN:Feb. 10-13, 2005WHERE:University of Pennsylvania campusThe University of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia Daily News are partners in a project to work on city planning and design issues involving legalized gambling in Pennsylvania.