News Archives

Suburban Sprawl, Non-Traditional Cities

Susan Nigra Snyder is a lecturer in architecture and fine arts at the University of Pennsylvania, a partner at Company for the Civic Arts in Philadelphia and a member of the public art committee for the Redevelopment Authority of Philadelphia. Her research focuses on the effect commercial property in urban developments. Snyder says that sprawl development is not the city spreading out too far or the suburbs endlessly expanding -- people live in one area, work in another and shop in others. She sees the suburban development as a new type of city.

Tribute to Du Bois Being Held at Arthur Ross Gallery

PHILADELPHIA  The Arthur Ross Gallery, in cooperation with the Center for Africana Studies, is presenting Darkwater: Recital in Four Dominions, Terry Adkins after W.E.B. Du Bois, an exhibition celebrating 30 years of African American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, from Dec. 14-March 2, 2003.

Fisher-Hassenfeld Joint Gift Helps Transform Residential Life at Penn

PHILADELPHIA -- The University of Pennsylvania's historic Quadrangle has received a joint $11.5 million commitment from Penn alumni Alan Hassenfeld and Jerome Fisher and Fisher's wife Anne. In recognition of the gifts, Woodland College House will be renamed Fisher Hassenfeld College House, and an entrance to the Quad will be named the Fisher Hassenfeld Memorial Tower Gate. The Fisher-Hassenfeld commitment is the lead gift in the transformation of the Quad into three distinct college houses.

Hope for new drug

Nancy Bonini, a professor of biology, and her colleagues are using fruit flies to investigate Parkinson’s disease, the second most common human neurodegenerative disorder. They found that medication prevented the onset of a similar disorder in genetically-predisposed Drosophila melanogaster.

Ask Benny: Penn's Way donations get put to good use

Dear Benny,How much of my Penn’s Way donation actually goes to support the charities I choose, and how much goes to overhead? —Wants to Make Every Dollar Count Dear Green Eyeshade, Overhead is a necessary part of any operation. Charities call it the “administrative rate.” The Penn’s Way staff tell me that the United Way / Donor Choice administrative rate is 10.2 percent. That means that 89.8 cents of every dollar you give to United Way agencies goes to the charities of your choice.

Pleased to meet you, Sir

One world, one hope

It’s the most wonderful time of the year—the season when people of various faiths, cultures and nationalities stop to express their hope for peace and goodwill. The University of Pennsylvania Museum’s salute to this global desire is the “Peace Around the World” celebration, held this year on Dec. 8.

News briefs

’Tis the season Consider spreading some holiday cheer by participating in the Annual Penn Volunteers in Public Service Christmas Drive. Toys and gifts donated will support the efforts of organizations like the People’s Emergency Shelter, Potter’s Mission, Our Lady of the Rosary and Intercultural Family Services. All items for the holiday drive must be new. Please specify the gender and age-appropriateness of all gifts. Contact Isabel Mapp, director of Penn VIPS, at 215-898-2020 for donation drop-off locations.

At Work With...Alice Parker and Baseemah El-Amin

Word gamers achieve syzygy

SCRABBLE, the board game found in everyone’s living room, took on an obsessive dimension at a Nov. 14 reading at the Penn Bookstore. Stefan Fatsis (C’85), author of “Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive SCRABBLE Players,” spoke before about 30 people, some of whom were competitive SCRABBLE players of the sort described in his book.