Sandy Smith

By the end of this month, the Subway should be serving the Penn campus. The sandwich-shop chain is one of three new retail eateries being added to Class of 1920 Commons at 3800 Locust Walk as part of a larger overhaul of Penn’s dining services. The changes are being implemented by Aramark, the Philadelphia-based company chosen as the University’s new food service provider.

The School of Engineering and Applied Science is throwing a two-day birthday party featuring a distinguished engineer and robots duking it out on Penn Commons.

Another networking project: Your Buzz correspondent recently caught up with Aaron Levy (C’99), who has been devoting most of his waking hours (and he’s not been sleeping much of late) to launching a new space for the visual arts in University City.

Ghosts of legendary architects permeate the lobby of the Facilities Services Division office, where Charlie Newman (FA’75, WG’81) works. Frank Furness, Paul Philippe Cret, Louis I. Kahn—their legacies of brick, stone and glass help give Penn its modern character.

To open doors online, you’re going to need your PennKey starting Oct. 14. On that day, Penn systems that require users to authenticate themselves will switch from the PennNet Authentication System to the new PennKey system.

Sculptor to mark a milestone: Associate Professor of Fine Arts Terry Adkins has been chosen to design a memorial for a historic event at the University of Mississippi.

Say bye-bye to Bulmer Italic. Penn’s official typeface has been retired as part of a project to create a unified image for the University in print and on the Web.

Browser alert: The Penn Web site is about to get a major makeover—the first top-to-bottom redesign of the site since 1997, an eternity in Internet time. The site’s look, feel, organization and content are being thoroughly revamped as you read this; keep an eye out for the results in September.

Penn used to be a sleepy place during the summer. Not any more. Much of the increased activity is Valerie Ross’ doing.

There’s a wisecrack that circulates on many college campuses that goes something like this: The junior faculty are allowed to touch the robe of God. The senior faculty get to talk to God. The dean sits at the right hand of God. And the secretary is God. “Sounds good to me,” Afi Roberson (G’95) said of the joke.