Heather Davis

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There’s a difference between something being racial and it being racist, according to Michael Eric Dyson, Penn’s Avalon Professor of Humanities. The government’s sluggish and inadequate response to the stranded, hungry and scared flood victims of Hurricane Katrina, he says, was racial, but not overtly racist.

Close to every inch of the Spiral Q Puppet Theater museum is covered in original art. Giant puppets—some several feet high—hang on the walls and dangle from the rafters. Some depict presidents or community heroes. Others assume the form of butterflies or vultures. A few puppets on display in the cool, dark room show the influence of African masks, while others are more abstract.

In many ways, bowling is the perfect group activity. People of all skill levels can play together—the league player can take the lane alongside a novice—and for the most part, it’s still a reasonably priced activity. Also, it’s rare that anyone gets hurt (though you may get a sore muscle or two from crouching and hurling an eight to 14-pound ball down an oiled lane).

By most accounts, the health of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon remains stable—but serious enough that few in the press expect him to return to public life. Sharon suffered his major stroke on Jan. 4, about a month and a half after the prime minister broke from the right-leaning Likud party to form the centrist Kadima party.

STAFF Q&A/A booster for the local music scene, Maria Tessa Sciarrino can’t get enough of the Philadelphia sound. “I think it’s great that everybody’s getting the attention.” Maria Tessa Sciarrino studied photography in college, but admits she wasn’t the best student: “I was too busy going to concerts.”

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First came the turkey and stuffing. Then came pumpkin pie, followed closely by chocolates, cookies and eggnog. Now comes the New Year’s resolution: Get in shape. Granted, bracing the frigid temperatures for a jog or finding the time for a round at the gym is hard work. Some of us need a little help.

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Three traditional letterpresses recently took up residence in the basement studio of the Morgan Building, home to Penn’s undergraduate fine arts program. Two of the presses are from the 1960s and one is from the mid 19th century, and except for the electricity that powers one of the rollers on the 20th-century presses, the entire printing process is done by hand.