Penn in the News

Everyone knows that college costs are soaring. One quick look at the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ price index for college tuition and fees shows that. According to these data tuition costs are rising faster than even medical care. Although this is now the conventional wisdom, it’s quite wrong. We are not the first to point out the problems with the BLS measure of college prices.

Adam Grant of the Wharton School is cited for his book Give and Take and the “power of the ‘5 minute favor.’”

Are we living through a plague of hypersensitivity? Most readers will be aware of campaigns to dampen hateful speech, to stop "microaggressions," and to get professors to supply students with "trigger warnings" — verbal trailers or coming attractions — when anticipating visual and verbal disturbances. It’s as if we need the equivalent of G, PG, PG-13, R, and X ratings for both texts and talk.

Art instruction -- which has long featured nude models -- is not the same as instruction in other subjects. But a complaint from the parent of a student at the University of California at San Diego has drawn attention to the pedagogy behind a course in which all students (and the professor) are naked for a class session.

Jason Karlawish of the Perelman School of Medicine comments on how difficulty making financial decisions might indicate cognitive aging or a neurodegenerative disease.

Judith Long of the Perelman School of Medicine is cited for studying the effect of peer mentorship of veterans who are on blood sugar control.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, appearing at a Manhattan college with Representative Nancy Pelosi, on Monday called for the passage of “the toughest law in the nation” on campus sexual assault, a message aimed at state lawmakers who have expressed some reservations about his proposals. Mr.

Penn is mentioned for partnering with Novartis to build a research center to work on genetically altering a patient’s immune cells to battle cancer.

Mitesh Patel of the Perelman School of Medicine talks about the impact of wearable fitness trackers on exercise behavior.

Undergraduate students, including Peter Zachares of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, are featured for creating DORA, a robot that mimics movements and sends visual information through a virtual reality headset.