News Archives

Great gifts for famous people

Celebrities, we assume, don’t have to worry about getting the perfect Christmas present—if it’s not under the tree, they can go out and get it themselves. Or can they? After all, Kobe Bryant won’t be able to unwrap his old squeaky-clean reputation on Dec. 25 and put it back on, as one of the people who answered our question “If you could buy just one gift for the famous person of your choice, what would you buy and for whom?” no doubt hoped he could. Some of the other gifts our respondents suggested are just as fitting—and there’s a one-size-fits-all gift in the bunch as well.

At work with Lou DiCampli

Lean on Me: David Pope

We have written stories in these pages about all kinds of resources and services Penn offers employees who are having trouble on the job. But even the most comprehensive problem resolution systems sometimes fail to resolve matters. When all else fails, there’s always the University Ombudsman.

Homeless advocate does the right thing

When representatives from federal agencies within President Bush’s administration gathered to discuss how to end chronic homelessness, they tapped a social activist and Penn professor for advice.

ICA’s early years still Green in his mind

Sam Green claims he didn’t know what he was doing when he arrived in 1965 as the first full-time director of the Institute of Contemporary Art. Despite experience working at New York’s conveniently named Green Gallery and mounting one “pre-pop art” show at Wesleyan University, Green dryly remarked that he landed the job this way: “Well, I don’t think there were any other candidates.”

We prefer to just kind of keep it unexpected

When he’s faced with the question, “What does your band sound like?,” Richard Flom usually says “eclectic” or “weird.” But he’ll be the first to tell you that’s not the whole story. As guitarist, singer and general noisemaker in the band National Eye, Flom and his four mates, including Jeff Love, who temps in the same office where Flom works, put together layered rock music that’s textural, playful and immensely listenable.

How we came to hang Jeff Davis in song

Dear Benny, Can you give me any history of the first few verses of “Hang Jeff Davis”? As a student of the Civil War, I find these words intriguing. —’53 Wharton History Buff

KWH event bridges literary generation gap

Four generations of Penn alumni and students crowded the Kelly Writers House Arts Cafe on Nov. 8 to listen to poetry, drama and a witty take on the art of the letter to the editor.

BOOKQUICK/New from the University Press

"The Yard of Wit: Male Creativity and Sexuality, 1650-1750"   Raymond Stephanson 312 pages, 13 illustrations, $55.00 cloth Literary composition is more than an intellectual affair. Poetry has long been said to spring from the heart, while aspiring writers are frequently encouraged to write “from the gut.” Still another formulation likens the poetic imagination to the pregnant womb, in spite of the fact that most poets historically have been male.

Out and About: A uniformly stimulating exhibit

There is something about a uniform. Whether it’s the schoolgirls’ crisp white blouses and plaid pleated skirts, the marching band’s bright brass buttons and splendid gold braid or College of Cardinals black cassocks and red birettas, they are all freighted with meaning and convey important information about rank, responsibilities and group identity.