News Archives

Staff Q&A: John Kwon

When “The Today Show” comes calling, seeking insight and sound bites from one of Penn’s professors, there’s no need for the expert in question to travel all the way up the turnpike for a five-minute face to face. That’s because Penn has its very own satellite uplink facility (www.bioethics.upenn.edu/studio/), PennStudio, where academics can connect directly with the media without ever leaving campus.

At Work With...Jeff Barta

Poets tackle translation at KWH

“It’s amazing to us that people are so interested in translation,” marvels Kelly Writers House Director Jennifer Snead. Historically, she says, “It’s been difficult to sell Americans on translation in general. I mean, we have this language thing.” Judging from the success of two recent translation-oriented programs at the Writers House, the Penn community, at least, may be getting over the “language thing.”

Ask Benny: When will we get a Target or Walmart?

Dear Benny, With all the recent retail development at Penn, how come there’s no Walmart or Target on the campus? Any chance we’ll get one soon? —Frustrated Shopper

Looking for the link between immigration and housing values

Immigrant enclaves have been part of U.S. cities for 200 years, changing the faces of neighborhoods from New York to Los Angeles. Today, U.S. cities continue to change, as American borders welcome 800,000 legal immigrants annually. But not much is known about how immigrants change the dynamic of specific neighborhoods. Do people tend to take flight when the demography of the neighborhood changes? Is there a negative reaction or a positive outcome? Albert Saiz and his colleague, Susan Wachter, set out to find these answers.

News briefs

Snow Excuses

Charting the Future of the Middle East

On Ian Lustick’s computer screen, masses of tiny multicolored squares represent thousands of people with different beliefs, economic status and ethnic backgrounds. With a few deft keystrokes, Lustick makes events shift, causing the squares to change position. To the untrained eye, it looks like nothing more than green and red squares. It’s actually much more.

Social issues drive Bush win

When the exit poll numbers began leaking out over the Internet on Election Day, Nov. 2, it seemed as though Senator John Kerry would eek out a victory. As the long election night wore on, though, it became clear that the exit polls were unreliable, and George W. Bush was elected to a second term. A flawed exit polling process wasn’t the only reason for the misleading midday conclusion. Turns out other factors —so-called “sleeper” issues—motivated nearly a quarter of the electorate to go to the polls, presumably to vote Republican.

Hip screening system offers at-risk dogs a better chance

After developing an effective new way to screen dogs for hip dysplasia in 1983, Dr. Gail Smith figured his colleagues in the veterinary world would accept what he believed was obvious: His method worked. Instead, Smith and his followers have for the past decade been forced to make the case that their screening method is, in fact, the best way to determine whether a dog is at risk for hip dysplasia. And, more than 20 years after his discovery, Smith is still working to sell an idea he believes should be selling itself.

Penn Playbook: Penn wins nailbiters vs. Princeton  

It had been more than a decade since Penn’s field hockey team had laid claim to the Ivy League championship when the team traveled north to Princeton early this month to take on the Tigers—a team that has owned Penn in recent years. Though the Quakers entered the game with a better record (12-4, vs. Princeton’s 7-9), the psychological edge probably went to the Tigers. Besides, they hadn’t lost to the Quakers since 1993, and have dominated the Ivy League in recent years, winning a share of the title for 10 straight years.