News Archives

Safer bikes through research

Current staff picks recreation favorites

Articles in this special report:

Outdoor adventures

Fresh air and healthy hearts partner up at Outdoor Adventure events, sponsored by the Department of Recreation. Approximately two trips are planned each month, March through October, and guided by organizations throughout the Delaware Valley, including Penn’s Outing Club. Past activities have included hiking, kayaking and horseback riding. Trips are open to all Penn students, faculty, staff and Department of Recreation members. Pre-registration is required at the Membership and Services Office in Hutchinson Gym.

Editor's Pick: Docufest comes of age

For its 10th anniversary, the Margaret Mead Traveling Film and Video Festival pays tribute to its namesake. The festival’s opening program, “Coming of Age,” on Friday, April 19 at 7:30 p.m., features works that offer a glimpse of Mead herself (Jean Rouch’s “Margaret Mead: A Portrait by a Friend”) and contemporary perspectives on two of the worlds she inhabited, Samoa and Greenwich Village (Amiel Courtin-Wilson’s “Islands” and Remy Weber’s “Why Pay Two Rents,” respectively).

News briefs

Kids enroll now While the school year isn’t over yet, the Penn-assisted school is already thinking about next year’s batch of new students. Registration for students enrolling in kindergarten and grades 1, 2, 5 and 6 is now taking place noon to 5 p.m. Mondays and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesdays at the school’s Planning Office, located at 43rd and Spruce streets. If the child is already in the Philadelphia public schools, bring proof of residency in the catchment area.

At Work With...Stefany Jones

Record-setting gift goes to bioengineering

Thanks to a $10 million gift from Penn Trustee and Engineering School Overseer J. Peter Skirkanich (W’65) and his wife, Geri, Penn’s Bioengineering Department will be moving to a new home, Skirkanich Hall. The gift is the largest by an individual donor in SEAS history. The 58,400-square-foot facility, to be built near the School of Medicine, will be part of the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Ask Benny: The readers weigh in on the Addams house

Dear Readers,Your humble scribe was overwhelmed by the responses he received to our inaugural column on the Addams Family house (“Ask Benny,” Current, Jan. 21). Apparently, there are a number of structures out there that claim to serve as inspiration for Charles Addams’ fictional abode, including the Ebenezer Maxwell House in Germantown and the Faculty House at Colgate University.

Camps for good sports

You don’t have to enroll at Penn to experience the thrill of Quaker sports. The people who coach Penn’s varsity teams teach athletic skills to children ages 5 to 18. Also, the National Youth Sports Program summer camp gives disadvantaged kids from West Philadelphia the opportunity to learn a variety of sports and outdoor activities for free. The camps meet on campus unless otherwise noted. Here’s the rundown on this summer’s camp programs. All fees are per person unless otherwise noted.

Penn Relays: The oldest, the biggest, the best in the nation

The Penn Relays are not only America’s largest amateur track meet and the world’s oldest and largest relay meet. They are also the place where track fans get to see tomorrow’s Olympic stars today. “At some point in life,” said Penn Relays Director Dave Johnson, “you’ll be able to say [of an Olympic runner], Oh, I saw him before he was an Olympic star at the Relays.” At the 108th Penn Relays, from April 25 to 27, some of the nation’s—and the world’s—top track athletes will be at the starting line.