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Numbers look good In three Penn-sponsored West Philadelphia schools, students have improved math test scores more than counterparts in chartered or privately managed sites, according to a recent report by The Philadelphia Inquirer. According to a school district report, restructured schools, like Penn Alexander, reduced the number of students scoring below basic levels on the annual Pennsylvania System of School Assessment test by 15 percent in math and 11.3 percent in reading.

Penn's Arthur Ross Gallery to Show Works by Ayón

PHILADELPHIA -- Works by the late Cuban artist Belkis Ayn will be on display at the Arthur Ross Gallery at the University of Pennsylvania Oct. 10 through Jan. 4.  Other of her works will be shown concurrently at Philadelphia's Brandywine Workshop.  

Dental Simulator Lab Lets Penn Students Practice Skills Before They Drill

PHILADELPHIA -- Have you ever wondered how dentists learn to fix cavities?  How many teeth did they work on to perfect their skills before tackling your pearly whites? Whose teeth were they, by the way?Studies at the University of Pennsylvania suggest that a new computerized teaching method helps future dentists learn these skills twice as fast as in previous instructional techniques.

In Welfare-to-Work Programs, Success Has Many Faces

PHILADELPHIA A new study of five types of welfare-to-work programs in Los Angeles County shows that no one kind has a lock on providing the best service.  The best way to move welfare recipients into the workforce is an amalgam of different approaches.The study was conducted by the Center for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society at the University of Pennsylvania and by the Manhattan Institute.

Penn Engineering to Honor UNIX Co-Creators Dennis Ritchie and Kenneth Thompson with Pender Award

PHILADELPHIA -- Dennis Ritchie and Kenneth Thompson, the world-renowned computer scientists who invented the UNIX operating system at Bell Labs in 1969, are the recipients of this year's Harold Pender Award, the highest honor bestowed by the University of Pennsylvania's School of Engineering and Applied Science.  A Nov. 12 lecture, reception and awards dinner at Penn will honor their pioneering accomplishments in the development of the UNIX operating system and the C programming language.

Solar System 'Fossils' Discovered by Hubble Telescope

PHILADELPHIA -- Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have discovered three of the faintest and smallest objects ever detected beyond Neptune.  Each lump of ice and rock is roughly the size of Philadelphia and orbits just beyond Neptune and Pluto, where they may have rested since the formation of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago.  The objects reside in a ring-shaped region called the Kuiper Belt, which houses a swarm of icy rocks that are leftover building blocks, or "planetesimals," from the solar system's creation.

Seeds of better health grow in U-City

Band of pioneers

Wharton West, the Wharton School’s new Left Coast facility in San Francisco, graduated its first class of MBA for Executives students on August 24, 2003. The 59 graduates began their MBA studies in August, 2001, when the Wharton School opened its new facility in the historic Folger Building, near the city’s business and financial district. “This graduating class represents the fulfillment of an important outreach goal of the school,” said Wharton Dean Patrick Harker.

New cafes, retail options debut this fall

The menu of campus dining options is getting a makeover this fall, with new facilities and options both on campus and off. On campus, two new cafés offer light fare and a place to relax.

Penn VIPS harnesses the impulse to do good

Spiral notebooks and three-ring binders fight for space in a small corner of Isabel Mapp’s office. One might think that the director of Penn Volunteers in Public Service was overly fond of office supplies. But the materials are not meant for her; they will soon be claimed by school children in the surrounding neighborhood.