Sandy Smith

Good morning, Baltimore: We must be doing something right with our West Philly initiatives—other cities have been picking off the people who made them happen, one by one. The latest catch: Associate Vice President Jack Shannon, who has been tapped to head a new nonprofit organization, East Baltimore Development, Inc.

Imagine a particle of light, zipping along at 186,000 miles a second on its trip from Earth past the constellation Virgo into the great infinity of the universe. It has been on this trip for a few billion years when wham! All of a sudden it’s headed back towards Earth without pulling a U-turn.

Thanks for caring! Judging from the response to this year’s Penn’s Way charitable campaign, you’d never guess that these are tough times. Campaign co-chairs Maureen Rush and Lance Donaldson-Evans announced that the 2003 Penn’s Way campaign raised $452,630, $17,000 over its $435,000 goal and up 7.5 percent from 2002’s total.

It’s Open Enrollment time again, and as in years past, there are changes you need to consider as you make your choices from Penn’s menu of benefits.

“It’s been really terrific,” Anita Mastroieni (G’99) said of the response to the Graduate Student Center (GSC) since the Locust Walk facility opened its doors in September 2001.

The air is thick with talk of education reform. States are tapping new revenue sources to reduce reliance on local property taxes. They are also trying to ensure that every school is adequately funded while grappling with inadequate revenue overall. And school districts wonder how best to spend that money, and which of the many education reforms being pushed actually work.

Dead civilizations aren’t really dead. Each generation reshapes them in part to reflect its own way of seeing the world and its people.

This past January, while half the country was huddled around the TV watching the Super Bowl and scarfing down Buffalo wings, David Berger Professor of Law Stephen Burbank was in sunny San Diego, taking it all in live.

Calling all Cherry Garcia fans: Your fix of your favorite ice cream will be closer than ever starting in April. That goes for you too, Chunky Monkey junkies, because Ben & Jerry’s is coming to campus. The makers of Vermont’s finest all-natural ice cream will be setting up shop in the 40th Street space that housed Papaya King.

Remember when “ethnic cuisine” meant Italian or Chinese? If you do, you’ve been around much longer than I have. But even if you don’t, the University City culinary scene has gone global in the past few years.