News Archives

Are kids really safer in SUVs? Researcher says maybe not

Dennis Durbin has spent the last half-decade combing through data on thousands of car crashes, and the injuries suffered by children in those accidents. In recent years, one trend in particular began to catch his eye. The number of SUVs on the road was steadily increasing—as was the number of children injured in crashes involving SUVs.

Kadima faces big questions

By most accounts, the health of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon remains stable—but serious enough that few in the press expect him to return to public life. Sharon suffered his major stroke on Jan. 4, about a month and a half after the prime minister broke from the right-leaning Likud party to form the centrist Kadima party. While many expect Kadima will win a majority in the March 28 general election, based on several polls taken since Sharon was hospitalized, this centrist party has an uncertain future.

Movable Feast: Hoagies

By THE CURRENT STAFF Given that we here at The Current are, at best, amateur foodies, it was probably presumptuous of us to think we could judge who made the best Italian hoagie in University City. This is the Italian hoagie, after all—the sandwich that, were it not for the mighty cheesesteak, would reign supreme over all other Philadelphia sandwiches. Who were we to judge?

ASK BENNY: What happened to Vet Hospital's ‘park’?

Dear Benny, Where do the animals at the Ryan Veterinary Hospital go to “mark their territory” and relieve themselves now that the dog park—which used to be at the corner of 39th and Spruce—has been paved over into a small parking lot? — Curious About Canines Dear Pooch Advocate, We wondered what happened to that little park, too, and so we hounded the Vet School for an answer.

Educating Ben

With celebrations in honor of Ben Franklin’s 300th birthday taking place across the city, it may be difficult to decide where to start. Here’s your answer: the Penn Library.

Evaluating 'just-say-no' programs

EXPERT OPINION/A Penn professor says abstinence education programs may be more benign than we think. Evaluating ‘just-say-no’ programs Since 1995 the Federal Government has plowed millions of dollars into promoting sexual abstinence among American youth—and created its share of controversy in the process.

Barb McKinnon

Secrets to living longer—much longer

LECTURE/Longevity expert talks about what it really takes to reach the age of 100. Secrets to living longer—a lot longer Living to 100 may seem like quite an achievement, but according to longevity expert Thomas Perls, centenarians are the fastest growing segment of the population. Reaching 105, though, is “really very special” says Perls, an associate professor of medicine at Boston University Medical Center and director of the New England Centenarian Study.

"Rap, Race and Black-Asian Relations"

WHO:  Jeff Chang, writer and author of "Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation"Kenyon Farrow, writer, activist, co-editor of "Letters from Young Activists" and culture editor for Clamor magazine Walidah Imarisha, poet, independent journalist and founder of The Rearguard and AWOL magazinesWHAT:      Panel discussion on rap music and race relations WHEN:      Feb. 1, 2006, 6-8 p.m.WHERE:    University of Pennsylvania, Room 360 Huntsman Hall, 3730, Walnut St.

First Impressions of Beauty May Demonstrate Why the Pretty Prosper

PHILADELPHIA -- We might not be able to resist a pretty face after all, according to a report from the University of Pennsylvania.   Experiments in which subjects were given a fraction of a second to judge "attractiveness" offered further evidence that our preference for beauty might be hard-wired.   People who participated in the studies were also more likely to associate pretty faces with positive traits.