Campus & Community

The histories of Penn and West Philadelphia are closely intertwined. Just as it could be said that Penn has directly informed the development of West Philadelphia, it’s also true that West Philadelphia has largely shaped the evolution of Penn.

The “Gwendolyn” in Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw is a salute from her parents to Gwendolyn Brooks, the celebrated poet who in 1950 became the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize.

Oxygen makes up about 21 percent of the air we breathe, with each breath bringing luxuriant, life-sustaining nutrients to the lungs, blood, brain, and body. In its purest form, oxygen, when inhaled at high pressure, can have rejuvenating therapeutic and physiological effects, such as treating radiation damage from cancer treatment and non-healing wounds.

On a particularly rain-soaked spring afternoon at the Community Farm and Resource Center at Bartram’s Garden, located in Southwest Philadelphia, curly kale seedlings are going into the ground.

The fifth annual Philadelphia Science Festival will be held from April 24 to May 2, bringing together people of all ages and backgrounds to learn about science through dozens of interactive events. Once again, Penn students, faculty, and staff will be well-represented at the festivities.

For a host of health reasons, such as a decreased risk for heart disease, stroke, and cancer, it is vital for people who are obese to lose weight. A new study from the Wharton School finds that there are professional and career reasons for losing weight, as well.

Members of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) have released the first in a series of maps that show the concentration of dark matter in the cosmos.

SOCIAL LIFE: Jason Fernandes, the 2014-15 president of the executive board of the Social Planning & Events Committee (SPEC), knows a thing or two about hosting a good event.

As he was preparing to graduate from high school last year, Jacob Gardenswartz, a University of Pennsylvania freshman from San Diego, started laying the groundwork to expand a local anti-bullying theater project he helped develop into a national program.

By Madeleine Stone @themadstone        (This is the second in a series of features introducing the inaugural Penn President’s Engagement Prize winners.)