News Archives

Online Resource for Scholars of Color

Online Resource Established for Scholars of ColorSept. 30, 2003PHILADELPHIA Getting started in any line of work is challenging without the right connections, but an aspiring professor of color has the daunting task of navigating a field in which there are relatively few peers.  Now, scholars of color have a place to turn for guidance.   

Derek Bok to Speak at Penn

WHO:     Derek Bok, president emeritus of Harvard UniversityWHAT:   "The Commercialization of Higher Education"WHEN:   Thursday, Oct. 2, 2003, 4 p.m.WHERE: The Class of 9 Auditorium, Houston Hall, University of Pennsylvania campusBok's address, "The Commercialization of Higher Education," is the inaugural Howard P. and Judith R. Berkowitz Lecture, sponsored by Penn Graduate School of Education.

Computer Scientists Develop a 'Smart' Payment Card That Can Easily Be Programmed to Restrict Spending

PHILADELPHIA -- Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have one-upped "smart" credit cards with embedded microchips.  They've developed a technique that lets ordinary card users program in their own spending parameters.  

Service changes aim to lure riders

The Transit Service Advisory Group has implemented several pilot programs and changes in transportation service for Penn riders. The changes, which took effect Aug. 28, include extending PennBus East service during non-rush hours and adding an additional stop during the peak hours of 6 to 8 p.m. Six new vehicles with more seats have also been added to the fleet.

Give it up for Aaron!

BOOKQUICK/New from the University Press

“Suspicious Readings of Joyce’s ‘Dubliners’”   Margot Norris 296 pages, $49.95 cloth Because the stories in James Joyce’s “Dubliners” seem to function as models of fiction, they are able to stand in for fiction in general in their ability to make the operation of texts explicit and visible.

Staff Q&A: Amy Calhoun

STAFF Q&A/Call it luck or call it craft, but Amy Calhoun has managed to float into her perfect job “I actually have often thought that my career was sort of as if there’s a river and I’m standing on the bank, and various rafts come by, and people are on the raft and they wave and say ‘Hi! Jump on!’ “And I do, and I don’t know where it’s taking me, and I get further downstream, and I get off and another raft appears.”

U.S. falls on social progress index

The bad news is that the United States ranks 27th on the latest Index of Social Progress. The worse news is that we are moving in the wrong direction. The report, produced every five years, measures 40 factors, including the ability of nations to meet the needs of their citizens for health and education, human rights, political participation, improved women’s status, military spending and environmental protection. In 1990, the U.S. was ranked 18th.

Roger LaMay

When Roger LaMay (G’99) created the “Ten O’Clock News” at Fox-owned WTXF (Channel 29), he was not afraid to break the rules. He hired anchors who hardly qualified as “pretty” by TV standards, his reporters had hard to pronounce names like Schratweiser and he reserved valuable time for coverage of arts and culture. Although he was a great success and was promoted from news director to general manager of Fox Philadelphia, somehow it seemed ordained that he would break out of the corporate mold.

Permit-holder asks why car was towed

Illustration by Bo Brown Dear Benny,I have a permit to park in Garage 14 at 38th and Spruce streets. In the past, if you drove a car without your permit sticker into the garage, you received a warning. This time, my car was towed and I was charged $100. When I appealed the bill, they denied my refund. You cannot enter this garage without a key card, so why was my refund denied?— Stuck in Park