Penn in the News

Wendell Pritchett and third-year student Max Weiss of the Law School contribute their thoughts on the funding crisis of the School District of Philadelphia in comparison to peer cities.

Angela Duckworth of the School of Arts & Sciences is highlighted for her new book, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance.

Mark Cuban is known for mouthing off. Typically it’s from courtside at a Dallas Mavericks basketball game (he owns the NBA team), from a leather armchair on the set of the hit ABC show Shark Tank (he’s a regular), or from the op-ed pages of the business press (where he often rails against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission). His natural milieu isn’t a wonky Twitter debate about education policy. But on a recent Saturday night, when you’d think one of the country’s best-known billionaires might have more entertaining ways to spend his time, Mr.

Katherina Rosqueta of the School of Social Policy & Practice’s Center for High Impact Philanthropy talks about the impact of offering matching money to organizations.

Gov. Nathan Deal of Georgia vetoed legislation on Tuesday that would have made his state the 10th to allow licensed gun holders to carry concealed weapons in most locations on public-college campuses. The governor, a Republican who has supported expanding the right to carry guns in places as sensitive as bars and churches, waited until the final day of a 40-day bill-signing period to announce his decision on the politically explosive issue of campus carry.

Undergraduates Lauren McCann and Bobby Lundquist are highlighted for a new project, “Dear Penn Freshmen,” that uses letters from upperclassmen to encourage younger students.

Undergraduate winners of Wharton’s Business Plan Competition are featured.

Ezekiel Emanuel of the Perelman School of Medicine and the Wharton School writes about a pilot program for elderly Medicare patients which gives them the primary care right where they live.

It sounds awfully nice: A yearlong postponement of schoolwork. The White House announced on Sunday that Malia Obama, the president’s older daughter, would be among the thousands of students to take a gap year between high school and college. The hiatus from classrooms, textbooks and tests has become an increasingly popular choice. The idea is that university-bound students go on an adventure, do something meaningful and, if all goes to plan, arrive at campus a year later more mature, focused and attuned to their goals.

Dean Richardson of the School of Veterinary Medicine is interviewed about Barbaro.