Heather A. Davis

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.

TALK/Penn Professor talks about the birth of luxury, style and finer things in life The French have long cornered the market on high fashion, fine wine and flavorful food. We can thank them for introducing champagne as a luxury drink and diamonds as the most sought-after of jewels.

What happens to presidents in their second term? In recent memory, plenty. Nixon faced Watergate. Reagan coped with Iran-Contra. Clinton had Monica. Even before that, FDR’s plan to pack the courts with judges friendly to his New Deal plan failed, while Eisenhower’s Chief of Staff Sherman Adams was forced to resign in 1958.

As Jerry Rudasill sees it, some people take up golf as their hobby, others pick up a pencil to draw. He takes to the stage. Rudasill, 34, has been pursuing his hobby for 20 years in everything from serious drama to musicals, to his most recent gig as an extended ensemble member of Philly’s sketch comedy troupe, The Waitstaff.

Quick—who wrote the Pulitzer Prize winning novel, “Tales of the South Pacific?” What was the 1980s movie with the tagline, “If you can’t get a date, make one?” Who holds the baseball record for the highest lifetime batting average?

At first glance, painters Robert Slutzsky and Neil Welliver would seem to have little in common. Welliver painted large-scale depictions of the wooded Maine landscape while Slutzsky created bold abstract compositions of geometric forms. Welliver’s painterly brush strokes are visible on the canvas, while Slutzsky’s work emits a cool precision.

  Top Stories Fox, others on non-profit c

If a short stroll to work sounds more appealing than rushing to catch the train or girding yourself to face angry fellow drivers you’ve probably toyed with the idea of living closer to campus. Penn’s mortgage programs offer one way to do that. A new luxury apartment building at 34th and Chestnut, cattycorner to Hill Field, will soon offer another.

  Top Stories Living between the covers

On a recent Friday night, with a light drizzle falling, my friends and I stood in line at the gate of Eastern State Penitentiary to sign waivers proffered by actors in gory makeup. Though it’s standard procedure at the crumbling historic site, it was faintly alarming still.