Penn in the News

While doing fieldwork in 2004, Laura Hamilton, now an associate professor of sociology at the University of California at Merced, observed how parents interacted with their college-age daughters during and after move-in day. Some parents -- those fussing over the arrangements of their daughter’s bedroom or making phone calls to the university to figure out when, exactly, their child should expect the campus shuttle to arrive each morning -- became a regular presence on the residence hall floor throughout the year.

A survey conducted by the Annenberg Public Policy Center on what Philadelphians think about a Zika vaccine is cited.

Undergraduate Sona Dadhania is highlighted for receiving the Science Ambassador Scholarship.

Jeremy Siegel of the Wharton School comments on stocks as risky investments.

Amazon@Penn is included in a list of college pick-up destinations.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison suspended its chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon after a member reported multiple instances of racist, anti-Semitic and anti-gay behavior, including one in which he said he was choked and called a racial slur. The fraternity, one of the biggest in the country with about 15,000 members and 200,000 alumni, drew national attention last year after a video of University of Oklahoma chapter members shouting a racist chant on a bus went viral.

A picture of 16 black female cadets raising their fists triumphantly went viral on social media after sparking an internal investigation at the United States Military Academy. West Point sought to determine whether these graduating cadets violated a defense department ban on "partisan" speech via a physical gesture with ties to black-power-era militancy and contemporary antiracist activism.

Mark Yim and May graduate Foster Collins of the School of Engineering and Applied Science are highlighted for developing a spherical robot arm with a spiral zipper joint.

Andrew Rayo knows Towson University’s policy on sexual consent won’t make him look like a Hollywood stud, swooping in to hustle someone into bed. Today’s sexual climate calls for more caution than that. Instead, Mr. Rayo, a junior English and theater major, follows the rules. At Towson that means getting a green light through "affirmative words or actions" before any intimate contact. He does that, he says, to make sure his partner is truly interested. He also knows it will keep him out of trouble.

The Obama administration Tuesday night released final rules -- feared by many higher education administrators but eagerly awaited by some employees -- that will require employers to make overtime payments to millions of workers who aren't now eligible. The administration also reiterated many exemptions in established law for higher education employees (those who can be seen as teachers). And those exemptions may disappoint some adjuncts, postdocs, graduate student employees and many research assistants who had hoped the new rules would increase their paychecks.