News Archives

University of Pennsylvania Deploys Supercomputer to Help Unravel Problems in Gene Therapy, Ozone Depletion

PHILADELPHIA The University of Pennsylvania has installed an IBM supercomputer to help solve some of humanity most perplexing problems, such as research on gene therapy, AIDS accessory proteins and atmospheric ozone depletion. The RS/6000 SP supercomputer is twice as powerful as the IBM Deep Blue supercomputer that defeated world chess champion Garry Kasparov.

Students learn the “habits of successÓ

While critics and proponents of affirmative action have been arguing its merits, a program that began two decades ago at the Wharton School has been quietly demonstrating how affirmative action ought to work. And in the process, it’s created an “old boys’ network” as effective as the ones minorities have spent years trying to break into.

Mall retailers need not apply

The Sundance movie theater under construction on 40th Street presents a huge opportunity to create a destination point for students, neighbors, young professionals, street musicians, chess players, sightseers and movie buffs, all congregating in an area that could potentially become dominated by cafes, international restaurants, antique book and furniture stores, and an electric retail mix.

Alums get eight NSF grants; four undergrads get scholarships

The National Science Foundation has awarded two Penn students and six alumni graduate research grants. The NSF awards grants and fellowships to “strengthen scientific and engineering research potential, and education programs at all levels.” The winners are:

Arctic trees last 45 million years

Above the Arctic Circle, on a Canadian island less than 700 miles south of the North Pole, a multidisciplinary team of scientists spent five weeks this summer exploring a bleak terrain that once was covered with a dense forest of trees that rose 120 feet.

“Bookleggers and Smuthounds: The Trade in Erotica, 1920-1940Ó

Jay A. Gertzman (Gr’72) $35.00 cloth; 424 pages; 53 illustrations

Hurry or you’ll miss the train

It was such a hit last summer, the Morris Arboretum brought it back, bigger and better.

“I was just that much more determined to make it through boot camp because they didn’t think I would.”

Photo by Daniel R. Burke STEPHANIE JOHNSON Position: Receptionist, Health System executive office Length of service: 3 years Other stuff:

Loop de LUCY

Insiders' tips

We asked campus elders — staff, faculty, students — to offer their words of wisdom for the new guys on campus. Here’s what they answered: Norm Mitchell, manager, Facilities Management “Don’t go overboard on the partying. [After your party,] I have to replace and repair furniture, doors, broken glass, unclog toilets from massive amounts of paper towels.”