Penn in the News

The Supreme Court will hear Abigail Fisher’s affirmative action lawsuit against the University of Texas at Austin. The court relisted the case several times before granting Fisher’s petition for a writ of certiorari this morning. Justice Elena Kagan took no part in the decision, the court noted. Fisher’s closely watched case dates back to her 2008 rejection from the University of Texas System’s flagship institution, which she argued was because of its affirmative action policy.

China is spending hundreds of billions of dollars annually in an effort to become a leader in biomedical research, building scores of laboratories and training thousands of scientists. But the rush to the front ranks of science may come at a price: Some experts worry that medical researchers in China are stepping over ethical boundaries long accepted in the West. Scientists around the world were shocked in April when a team led by Huang Junjiu, 34, at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, published the results of an experiment in editing the genes of human embryos.

Laura Modafferi of the Perelman School of Medicine writes a collaborative blog about cold medicines containing dextromethorphan.

Mary-Linda Merrium Armacost and Laura Perna of the Graduate School of Education comment on college closings.

Kermit Roosevelt of the Law School offers his opinion on a possible shift in the Supreme Court’s political leanings.

The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to take a second look at the use of race in admissions decisions by the University of Texas at Austin, reviving a potent challenge to affirmative action in higher education. The move, which supporters of race-conscious admissions programs called baffling and ominous, signaled that the court may limit or even end such affirmative action. The advocates speculated that the court’s most conservative members had cast the four votes needed to grant review of the case in the hope that Justice Anthony M.

Friday's Supreme Court decision that states must authorize and recognize gay and lesbian marriages could create major legal challenges for religious colleges -- primarily evangelical Christian colleges that bar same-sex relationships among students and faculty members. Or the decision may not create much of a legal challenge at all. Or it may create challenges, but not soon. Legal experts are divided. But the question of whether same-sex marriage as a national right changes the legal status of Christian colleges is no longer just theoretical.

Data privacy research from the Annenberg School for Communication is highlighted.

Doctoral candidate Alex Williams of the Annenberg School for Communication writes about pitching academic research to non-academic outlets.

Kermit Roosevelt of the Law School joins a discussion about the ruling by the Supreme Court on legalizing gay marriage in all states.