Penn in the News

Racist messages were written alongside campaign slogans for presidential candidate Donald Trump on sidewalks at the University of California at San Diego, as a wave of pro-Trump chalk messages has been spreading on campuses across the country.

The majority of the faculty of Oberlin College have signed a statement condemning anti-Semitic statements made by a colleague on social media, though a vocal minority have refused to lend their names. Meanwhile, it appears the college is formally looking into the conduct of Joy Karega, the assistant professor of rhetoric and composition in question. “Bigotry has no place on the Oberlin campus (or anywhere),” reads the statement, with 174 signatories across the arts and sciences.

Salaries for full-time, continuing faculty increased by 3.4 percent this year and 2.7 percent adjusted for inflation, according to the American Association of University Professors’ Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession. That’s down slightly from 2.9 percent last year, adjusted for inflation, when that figure exceeded 2 percent for the first time since the recession (although it should be noted that a one-time tweak to the way some faculty categories were reported this time around make year-over-year comparisons nominally less appropriate).

Researchers Samuel Preston and Irma Elo of the School of Arts & Sciences are cited for their work studying how New York City’s high share of immigrants plays a role in the city’s overall wellness.

Katlyn Grasso, a recent alum and 2015 President Engagement Prize winner, talks about improving gender equality in the workplace.

As the news rippled across the web last week that a Long Island student had won admission to all eight Ivy League universities, thousands of people reacted with messages of praise. But when Peter Kang, a high school senior in Chantilly, Va., saw a New York Times article last week about the student, Augusta Uwamanzu-Nna, on his Facebook feed, he grumbled.

Jonathan Moreno of the Perelman School of Medicine and the School of Arts & Sciences says, “Bioethics has become a territory in which people can talk about human values. There is almost no other place – neutral territory – for us to do that.”

Katherine Kuchenbecker of the School of Engineering and Applied Science is mentioned as one of the organizers for a technology symposium on haptics. Graduate student Eric Young of the School of Engineering and Applied Science is pictured and quoted.

Students at Purdue University soon will be able to apply for education funding in exchange for a percentage of their future earnings, a program that could revolutionize college financial aid at a time when costs are high. Through its research foundation, the public college in West Lafayette, Ind. is rolling out the “Back a Boiler” program next month, using a concept known as an income-share agreement, or ISA, that would be available to rising juniors and seniors. Awards will start at $5,000 and will take into account a student’s cumulative debt.

Cherie Kagan of the School of Engineering and Applied Science is quoted on her work exploring the potential of colloidal nanocrystals to create flexible transistors and other electronic components.