News Archives

Q&A: Art Casciato

The first class of American Rhodes Scholars enrolled at Oxford University 100 years ago. Since then, Penn has won very few of the prestigious scholarships compared to its Ivy siblings—15 as opposed to Harvard’s 300, for instance. Why? One reason was that our peer institutions organized and focused on preparing their students for this unusual competition that includes not only personal essays and formal interviews but also even a test of a student’s ability to carry off cocktail party small talk.

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Fitness for all

At Work With...Mihaela Farcas

Advice for aspiring script writers from a pro

Imagine and describe a character for a script and then consider what that character wants more than anything in the world. The key to great writing, according to award-winning screenwriter and director Andy Wolk C’70, is that the story should not be about that desire, but rather a problem thrust on the character that “smacks” them away from the initial want.

No longer children but not yet adults

A 21st birthday used to represent a significant milestone in every American’s life. Not only could you get into bars legally, it was presumed that you had left adolescence behind, achieved psychological maturity and were ready to take on adult responsibilities. “That no longer applies completely,” according to Frank F. Furstenberg, Zellerbach Family Professor of Sociology. “When I ask my graduate students, ‘Are you an adult?’ they smile wistfully.”

Ask Benny: Presidential scholar poses math problem

Dear Benny, I read in your last issue that Amy Gutmann will be the eighth president of the University of Pennsylvania (Current, Jan. 29). Yet in your Jan. 15 issue, a story about the President stated that “Judith Rodin is the ninth person to occupy the office.” Wouldn’t that make Gutmann Penn’s 10th president? — The Figures Don’t Add Up Dear Mathematician, No, it doesn’t, and here’s why.

Editor's Pick: The hidden Middle East

Arabs are not the only people who inhabit the Middle East. This year’s Middle East Week focuses on a non-Arab people much in the news lately, the Kurds. “Scattered Seeds of Hanareh: The New Kurdish Cinema” is the theme of the film series that is the week’s main event. Films by Kurdish filmmakers in Iran, Turkey and further abroad, such as “Marooned in Iraq” by Bahman Ghobadi (photo), examine the awkward cultural and geopolitical space the stateless Kurds occupy.

BOOKQUICK/“Atlantic Virginia: Intercolonial Relations in the Seventeenth Century”

Much 17th-century historiography assumes that each North American colony operated as a largely self-contained entity and interacted with other colonies only indirectly through London. By contrast, in “Atlantic Virginia,” historian April Lee Hatfield of Texas A&M demonstrates that the colonies actually had vibrant exchanges among themselves and with peoples throughout the hemisphere, as well as with Europeans.

Lucky charm

Experts question Mars proposal

Could President Bush’s ambitious plan to send humans back to the moon, to Mars and beyond inspire the same excitement that the first moon race did in the 1950s? “I think people are really turned on by it. It would be fun, there’s no doubt about it,” said Mark Devlin, associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, who added, “There is no new money for this. … Something’s got to give.” In the President’s plan, that may be the International Space Station and shuttle flights; work on the Station and flights are slated to cease by 2010.