Penn in the News

Meggan Hain of the School of Veterinary Medicine is quoted about the impact of fluctuating winter temperatures on animals.

Ken Lum of the School of Design is featured for his experience living in America, specifically Philadelphia, compared to Canada.

Marybeth Gasman of the Graduate School of Education shares her thoughts on the debate on whether or not President Obama disappointed historically black colleges and universities.

Harald Schmidt of the Perelman School of Medicine writes about employers and health plans offering incentives to women to get frequent mammograms.

Most efforts to increase the number of black and other underrepresented minority doctoral recipients in science and engineering have fallen flat. For example, the share of engineering doctorates earned by black students remained unchanged, at 4 percent, from 2004 to 2014, according to the most recent Survey of Earned Doctorates. The problem has many causes — including that most minority-group members enroll in graduate programs at lower rates than white students do — but many observers say a lack of good mentoring is a key factor.

Darrius Sloan, 17, talks about his dreams — about himself — in the past tense. He hoped to go to the University of Arizona. "I wanted to be a civil engineer," he says. "I really loved math, I really did. I really do, I mean." Raised on Navajo land in Tuba City, Ariz., in a trailer with 13 other family members, Mr. Sloan got good grades and earned a spot in a boardinghouse for Native Americans to attend high school in Flagstaff, about 80 miles from the broken schools of home.

Michael Kearns of the School of Engineering and Applied Science is quoted about mass surveillance and citizens’ right to privacy.

Adam Grant of the Wharton School contributes an op-ed about procrastination.

Marybeth Gasman of the Graduate School of Education says, “Understanding the complex and unique return on investment for MSIs is essential as these institutions serve the new majority in higher education.”