Yearly Archives: 2011

August 29, 2011 · 3:48 pm

Weathering the Storm

Author: Aimee LaBrie

Well, that was a close one. At least, it certainly felt like it, especially if you spent any time watching the developing news stories, which warned of record-breaking winds, rain, flooding, trees through windows, dogs on rooftops, little old ladies flying by in their rocking chairs ala The Wizard of Oz.

At Penn, however, cooler heads prevailed. We were given regular updates on the status of the storm, on the availability of SEPTA and regional rails, and emails with documents attached detailing the best preparedness measures for hurricane-type weather conditions. In addition, the Penn homepage created a link to the most up-to-the-minute information about the hurricane. So,  even as I was receiving frantic emails from my mother (who lives in Florida and has actually witnessed serious  hurricane devastation) advising me to fill my bathtub with water, demand sand bags from  emergency services, and raid the local grocery store for 3 weeks of food and water, I was comforted by the constant and measured stream of useful information Penn provided during this stressful time.

And we made it through without too many casualties, except for the fallen tree branch outside of College Hall, which is currently being cleaned up in preparation for all of the students, new and seasoned, who will be returning to Penn’s campus very soon.

(Photos courtesy of Nicole Maloy, W’95)

Leave a comment

Filed under Aimee L., Campus Life, Nicole M.

August 26, 2011 · 4:14 pm

The Penn Fund Honor Roll Is Live!

Author: Kelly Graf

Today, The Penn Fund is proud to announce the posting of the fiscal year 2011 Class Honor Rolls.

These listings honor those who have made a commitment to the advancement of the University of Pennsylvania with a gift to The Penn Fund as well as gifts to other areas of the University during fiscal year 2011 (July 1, 2010 – June 30, 2011). Following the University’s mission of sustainability, the honor rolls are posted only online in order to save paper and printing resources. We hope you will enjoy finding your name and those of your classmates and friends.

Thank you to all of you who made your annual gift this year in support of Penn and its students! Your generosity at any level is already making a difference on campus and in the lives of Penn students.

Leave a comment

Filed under Kelly G., The Penn Fund

Tagged as

August 25, 2011 · 6:53 pm

The Secret Life of a Penn PhD Student

Author: Elise Betz

I have had the privilege and horror of getting an intimate look inside the life of a Penn PhD student. It is nothing like the leisurely, fun life of a Penn undergrad. There is no Spring Fling, Hey Day or happy hours at Smoke’s.  It consumes you pretty much 24 hours a day for 4, 5, 6, sometimes even 7 years. From my perspective, this is how I have interpreted the experience:  Penn does an excellent job of wooing you into the program because our PhD students are the best and brightest in the world and we are competing with some pretty serious schools.

The students come to Penn to work closely with a faculty member who is world-class in their field.  It’s all sunshine and roses until classes begin, then the reality hits – it’s just not possible to read eleven scholarly books every week or write a research proposal in one semester. The class, entitled “Research Methods,” can bring even the most scholarly scholars to tears. More tears and several classes later, it’s time for the Qualifying Exams. These tests determine whether you can continue in the program or get dropped to go back to the real world in shame. Three full days of writing on topics that you can only try to predict.

This preparation period is when you go “underground” and hunker down with towers of books, articles, charts, notes, videos, gallons of coffee and a variety of sweet and savory snacks. There is a table in the library that is yours – because you are there 14 hours a day.

The PhD students will tell you that the day they begin Qualifying Exams, is the smartest day of their life – they will never be that smart again.   Then there is the dissertation – PhD insiders call it a “journal article on steroids.”Days are spent trolling coffee shops for peaceful places and productive nooks. Oh, and by the way, Penn PhD students are teaching classes too.  I am astounded and amazed by the self-discipline of these brilliant creatures.

PhD students are told there is an easy time management formula you can follow, which varies somewhat by institution and discipline, but proves fairly accurate across the board. It typically looks something like this: you should be spending 75% of your time and effort on research, 50% on teaching, and 40% on classes. The bad news, of course, is that the math doesn’t add up. That becomes the biggest problem – time.

I am in awe of the Penn Ph D students. They are creative, driven, and fun. They are also the future leaders of academia.  I will end with what I have learned NOT to ask PhD students:

  1. How’s the dissertation going?
  2. When do you plan to get real job?
  3. Of what practical importance is your research?
  4. Have you published yet?
  5. So, does this mean you won’t be a “real” doctor?
  6. When do you finish?

2 Comments

Filed under Academics, Elise B.

Tagged as

August 24, 2011 · 6:50 pm

Anniversary Spotlight: Penn’s Asian Alumni Network Turns Ten

Author: Cecilia Ramirez, C’05, SP2’10

The University of Pennsylvania’s Asian Alumni Network (UPAAN) will be celebrating its tenth anniversary this upcoming school year. Founded in 2001, UPAAN was created to develop and maintain an international network of Asian and Pacific Islander (API) alumni, support the academic and career development of API students and to facilitate the exchange of ideas and information between API alumni and API students at Penn.

Commemoration of this anniversary will begin this Homecoming Weekend, and will feature an exciting lineup of events including UPAAN’s Seventh Annual Mentoring Exchange, a special networking happy hour, a presentation  from the winner of the Asian Pacific American Heritage Wee,k and a 10th Anniversary reception all on Saturday, November 5, 2011.

Laura Lin (ENG’02), Vice President of UPAAN, said, “UPAAN is pleased to honor this special anniversary with a celebration of the strength of our API alumni community over the last 10 years. We are looking forward to developing an even stronger community and network for over the next ten years!”

Another reason this Homecoming Weekend will be extra special for UPAAN is because Calvin Chen (C’97, W’97) President of UPAAN, will be presented with the distinguished Young Alumni Award at the77th Annual Alumni Award of Merit Gala on Friday night, November 4, 2011. Calvin, who has been involved with UPAAN since the beginning, expressed his enthusiasm for the events, “I am honored to be the recipient of the Young Alumni Award, especially during a weekend that is so special to UPAAN. I hope that all alumni will come out to celebrate.”

Be sure to register for Homecoming Weekend featuring arts & culture, Nov. 4-6, and join us to honor a decade of excellence from the Asian Alumni Network. It will be a great opportunity to connect with other alumni, mentor current students while celebrating this wonderful milestone!

Leave a comment

Filed under Alumni Perspective, Cecilia R., Homecoming Weekend featuring arts and culture, Multicultural Outreach

Tagged as

August 24, 2011 · 5:11 pm

Free Movies at Penn

Author: Dan Bernick, SAS’14

With my internship over I returned home to Minnesota for a month of rest and relaxation – err, I mean to find a cure for cancer and start two businesses like us Quakers are apt to do!

When I am home, I love watching movies with my mom.  This is not as lame as it sounds; we see “cool” movies like Planet of the Apes, The Debt, and anything with spies.  Whenever I see previews for movies that do not come out until school starts, I worry I will never see them.  But then I remember that SPEC has me covered.

The Social Planning and Events Commission (SPEC), one of my favorite branches of Penn Student Government, has a Film Society.  This is code for free movies students see before movie is in theaters.  It is the perfect excuse to skip studying and hang out with friends for a night, or take someone on an (inexpensive) date.  It is always fun to watch movies with friends because you generate a ton of jokes to be repeated ad infinitum for weeks. I can’t wait to get back to campus in just a few short weeks and start planning my social calendar.

Leave a comment

Filed under Daniel B., Student Perspective

Tagged as

August 23, 2011 · 3:51 pm

I Remember…Freshgrocer

Author: Elizabeth Kimmelman, C’04

I know, I know.  This one seems kind of obvious.  I went to Whole Foods last weekend to get some produce and I certainly remember that.  Going to a supermarket is not a big event, right?

WRONG.  Unless you are a recent graduate of Penn and therefore think your campus always came with a convenient well-stocked (at times) grocery store, you know what I mean when I say that the arrival of Freshgrocer was an event worthy of a blog post.  When I was a freshman, Penn had no supermarket.  There was Wawa, and there was a sketchy Thriftway on somewhere around 43rd Street.  I never actually found out exactly where it was because I was too scared to go.  One of my friends went there with her parents during orientation week so she could stock up on Easy Mac and Elios pizza and I think it took all they had to not throw her in the car with them and take her back to North Carolina.

Since Thriftway was out, Wawa was my only option when it came to groceries.  I remember going there for my milk and cereal and pints of Ben and Jerry’s (freshman fifteen alert!) and then I’d supplement with the fruit food truck for some fresh produce.  Granted, an 18-year-old’s diet doesn’t require much more than that, but I didn’t have a choice in the matter.  One time I asked my best friend to bring me some fruit.  It was during Passover, I was sick and I really couldn’t eat much.  The fruit truck line was too long (so she claims), so her only other option was bringing me fruit jelly slices that her parents had given her to eat as a treat during Passover.  My poor swollen tonsils just couldn’t handle it.  Penn needed a supermarket, and fast.

Luckily, with about a week left to go freshman year, our prayers were answered.  Freshgrocer opened at 40th and Walnut and I swear I had tears in my eyes and heard angels singing as I stared up at that glistening building.  It was a miracle, like every Penn student’s collective wish coming true.

My best friend (of fruit slice fame), another friend and I were done with our finals early and decided we needed to celebrate the new supermarket.  So, we went to Freshgrocer and pretty much bought everything we could on our student budgets.  I mainly remember buying a giant baguette, tons of cheese and grapes.  We had a picnic in the quad and were so happy!  Freshgrocer led to other happy times, like visits to their candy wall during finals studying and before movies, late night food runs, and dinners of their surprisingly yummy hoagies.  That supermarket meant so much to us, because we knew what it meant to be at Penn without it.  And, despite some shutdowns because of rodent problems, ridiculously long checkout lines and a layout that was nearly impossible to navigate, we loved that store.

Looking back, Freshgrocer was only the beginning of a 40th street expansion that continued long after I graduated.  There are now things like Bobby’s Burger Palace, Capogiro gelato, one of the prettiest CVS stores I’ve ever seen, Jimmy John’s, etc. lining Walnut Street between 39th and 40th.  Izzy and Zoe’s might be gone (I really don’t know how the students are surviving without their brunches) but the expanded Greek Lady almost makes up for that.  Don’t worry, Smokes is still standing strong.  But, there’s no doubt campus has changed, and definitely for the better.  To think, my classmates and I were there when it started, standing in a checkout line for 15 minutes waiting to buy some cheese!

3 Comments

Filed under Alumni Perspective, Campus Life, Elizabeth K., Food Fiends, Memories of Penn

Tagged as

August 22, 2011 · 8:32 am

To Penn in Ten: My Journey From LOLCats to Sweeten

Author: Leigh Ann P.
It’s true that a person can become quite bored with her morning commute, so it’s always nice to pause and try to appreciate the little things you see along the way.  This is my daily journey.

The hardest part of my morning is bidding farewell to Franco, who I adopted from the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society (PAWS). Here he is pictured in his post-breakfast coma. He is pretty devastated when I have to leave.

I live on Spruce Street just below Rittenhouse Square. I absolutely love this neighborhood, even on a dark, muggy morning such as this.

I do get the opportunity to walk through the park every day on my way to the bus stop. Follow that little white dog!

That object in the distance is the bus I frequently miss.

Hooray! I can always count on SEPTA to send another bus along straight away.

Wow, the sun has come out so quickly! It’s almost as if this picture wasn’t taken on the same day! The Schuylkill River and its sedimentary deposits look lovely this morning. In the distance you will see the beginning stages of a bridge that will connect the riverside park to South Street!

Can you believe how well this picture came out since it was taken on a moving bus? I know I can’t! I have enjoyed watching Penn Park evolve from a construction site into the multi-functional park facility you see before you. The grand opening of Penn Park will take place on Saturday, September 17th from 4 – 6 PM. Be there for fun, games and excitement!

Usually, I pull the cord too early and the bus ends up stopping at 33rd and Walnut, a block ahead of where I need to be. I am just so eager to get to work and see my friends at Sweeten.

Off the bus at 34th and Locust Walk, and already planning my lunchtime visit to get a Magic Meatball from this cart. Or perhaps I’ll go there for a second breakfast. The day has so many culinary possibilities.

Oh, hello there! The Button has been under protective wraps all summer while construction has been going on all around it. It revealed itself recently just in time for the new school year. And what’s that in the distance? Sweeten Alumni House, my home during the work day. Have a great Monday, everyone.

1 Comment

Filed under Leigh Ann P., To Penn in Ten

August 19, 2011 · 8:19 am

My Top Penn List: National Register of Historic Places on Campus

Author: Casey Ryan, C’95

As a member of the GAN alumni network staff, I contribute periodically to the Did You Know?, the weekly Penn update to our Regional Alumni Club Leadership.  We review Penn news, read local newspapers, scan recent and upcoming news magazine shows and more for the leads for our stories that we start off with our stylized phrase: “Did You Know…”, like in the following:

Did you know… that Philadelphia is the site of one of only 21 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the US? Independence Hall was bestowed this honor since it was “directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance.” Obviously the “works of outstanding universal significance” are the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, all of which have influenced lawmakers, politicians and governmental charters around the world.

Independence Hall

I bring this up because I was recently watching Anderson Cooper 360° and someone made a passing reference to UNESCO World Heritage Sites. I figured that I should read up more on World Heritage Sites, having been to a few like the above mentioned Independence Hall, Great Barrier Reef and Delos.  Since I was using Wikipedia for my research, I searched on so many links, and, as was mentioned in a prior entry, I ended up on an interesting reading journey. I eventually landed on the entry on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania from my starting point of the Independence Hall Wikipedia article.

Independence Hall is the centerpiece of the Independence National Historical Park, a United States National Historical Park.  This NHP, in turn, is on the National Register of Historic Places. Did you know what else is on this register? The University of Pennsylvania Campus Historic District.  This is a significant part of campus is bounded by portions of Woodland and Hamilton Walks, Convention Boulevard,  32nd, Walnut, 36th, Spruce, and 39th Streets. This area comprised of 28 contributing properties.

The Fisher Fine Arts Library, Interior (number 9)

Here are my favorite ten historic contributing properties:

10.          The Quadrangle (a.k.a. University Dormitories) – 1895-1910. The popular dormitory building just had to be on my list.

9.            The Fisher Fine Arts Library (a.k.a. Furness Library) – 1888-1891, and Duhring Wing, 1914-1915. This library is one of the pure architectural gems on campus designed by Frank Furness.

8.            Irvine Auditorium – 1926-1928.  Though there is a false story about the blueprints being an alumnus’s failed thesis, this building holds a grandiose charm.

Towne Building (number 3)

7.            Veterinary School and Hospital – 1906, 1912. Another quadrangular historic building of note on Penn’s campus that hosts Pennsylvania’s only veterinary school (also mentioned in yesterday‘s post).

6.            Richards Medical Research Laboratories – 1964. Like Furness, the Richard Labs are notable for having a famous designer, Louis Kahn.

5.            University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (a.k.a. University Museum) – 1895-1899; additions, 1912, 1929, 1979, 2002. The original proposal for the museum had planned for the building to be 3 times its size, but it was

250 S. 36th Street, "The Castle" (number 2)

4.            Franklin Field – 1904, 1925. The first double tiered collegiate stadium needs to be on this list.

3.            Towne Building – 1903. The astronomy class that I had in this building always had a feel of being the stereotypical Ivy League setting, so I needed to include the building.

2.            250 S. 36th Street (a.k.a. “The Castle” -Tau chapter of Psi Upsilon Fraternity) – 1897–1899. The lead house on Locust Walk dominates many traditional shots to demonstrate college life.

Irvine Auditorium, Interior (number 8)

1.            College Hall – 1871-1872. The oldest building on the register which house the Office of the President and of the Secretary is the administrative and symbol heart of campus.

An honorable mention goes to the building that houses Alumni Relations, E. Craig Sweeten Alumni House (aka Delta Tau Delta), 1914.

College Hall (number 1)

For a complete list of all 28 buildings, visit Wikipedia’s University of Pennsylvania Campus Historic District entry.

4 Comments

Filed under Alumni Perspective, Casey R., Historical, Philadelphia, Top Ten

Tagged as

August 18, 2011 · 4:26 pm

Historical Penn: The School of Veterinary Medicine + Laura Ingalls

Author: Aimee L.

I just realized that my last blog post was about the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library, and how I have been checking out every single Edgar-Award winning book I can get my hands on (just finished The Last Child by John Hart and Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin.  Am now reading Ruth Rendell’s Tigerlily’s Orchids. Don’t spoil the ending for me if you’ve already read it. Though, truthfully, I’m halfway through the book and there doesn’t seem to be much of a mystery. No murders, no kidnappings, no intrigue–just a lot of detailed character studies of fairly unlikable people living in London. It is funny though).  So, fine, I won’t rave about Penn’s library again. Instead, I will post some feel good pictures I received from the School of Veterinary Medicine for the Homecoming Weekend guide (mark your calendars–it’s coming up on Nov. 4-6. It’s my job to remind you).

First, here are a few  vet school related photos from the archives (available through the VPD Library!! I can’t stop).

School of Veterinary Medicine and Veterinary Hospital, July 1909 (exterior, ambulance for small animals, during construction)

I love that this is an ambulance for small animals. How nice that they would just show up at your door if your kitty cat got into your butter churn or your dog ate up all of your coal or your ferret fell into the outhouse (I’m guessing at the details based on my only source of historical knowledge, the Little House on the Prairie series. Again, see previous post).

School of Veterinary Medicine and Veterinary Hospital (built 1883-1884 and demolished ca. 1901, Furness & Evans, architects), exterior

Here is the old vet school building–very bucolic, set in a field of overgrown dandelions.

School of Veterinary Medicine and Veterinary Hospital, interior, class in surgical amphitheater

Look how interested all these men are at seeing the dog having his foot bandaged. That’s because this was before the invention of TV (I’m pretty sure. Laura Ingalls didn’t ever mention watching cable with Pa while Ma put Carrie to bed in the corn crib).

School of Veterinary Medicine and Veterinary Hospital, December 1908

This is either the Vet School or nearby insane asylum during lunch break. Hard to tell from this distance.

School of Veterinary Medicine and Veterinary Hospital, circa 1900, Blacksmith Shop

Here, the students are leanring a second trade, horseshoe-crafting, just in case the whole “vet” thing didn’t take off.

Barbaro, the undefeated Kentucky Derby Race Horse winner, and Penn vet staff member

In case you didn’t realize it, Barbaro was treated for his broken leg at the George D. Widener Large Animal Hospital at the School of Veterinary Medicine’s New Bolton Center. You can read more about it here.

And, as promised, here are some present day photos submitted to me for the Homecoming Weekend guide–all very cute dogs successfully treated at the School of Veterinary Medicine.

And just so you don’t think I’m biased toward dogs, here are a couple of cats for you:

This reminds me of that scene in one of the Little House books where Laura and Mary have toothaches from eating too many handmade sno-cones and Pa pulls out all of their teeth.

You can find even more cuteness at the Penn Vet photo gallery here.

1 Comment

Filed under Aimee L., Historical, Homecoming Weekend featuring arts and culture, Photos

Tagged as ,

August 17, 2011 · 6:16 pm

Falling for Fall

Author: Emily Siegel

I love fall. I love the changing colors and the crisp nights.  Not only that, but fall represents a new year of possibility.  Sure, technically the new year begins in January, but every September since I started kindergarten, the beginning of a school year has brought with it a tickling sense of possibility; the chance to start fresh.  First off, there’s the delight in new school supplies. Out with the worn-down crayons and colored pencils, and in with the pointy-sharp array of the latest trend in colors.  In anticipation, I practically spent all summer debating what design would my Trapper Keeper have this year… bunnies or hearts or horses!?!?!?  Oh, the possibilities!  SUCH. A. DILEMMA.   Most often, I picked horses.

And then, there’s also back to school shopping for clothes and imagining the first day of classes, showing up in a brand new outfit—new shoes, new haircut, new outlook. And the curiosity about my classes and schedule—what my teachers would be like, who I’d be sitting next to in English, if any of my friends would have lunch period with me.  Fall has always seemed like the time for the greatest potential. You don’t know exactly how the year will go, but the chance to start fresh feels like each September brings a new beginning.

One of the things I love most about working on a college campus is that this same anticipation is palatable at the start of every semester.  Right now, prospective students are flooding the campus, with wide-eyes as they learn about and explore the university, trying to picture what their life might look like if they end up studying at Penn.  The excitement in their eyes reminds me of my own college search as I explored different schools and pondered where I might spend those life-changing four years.

As current Penn students slowly trickle back to campus, you can sense their excitement about the upcoming year too – new classes, new friends, new opportunities. The feeling is infectious.

In fact, it’s so contagious that I found myself perusing Penn’s course catalog and dreaming about what class (or classes) I could take this year. Do I sign up for something practical and related to my career like “History of American Higher Education?” Or, do I refine my Spanish speaking-skills by taking “Advanced Conversation?” Or, do I choose something out-of-the-box like “Furniture Design” and learn how to make the ottoman that I’ve been searching for over the last year?  So many options!

I think it’s precisely this sense of the many possibilities that makes this season so exciting. I’d love to know how others are thinking and feeling about the back-to-school aura on campus.  What possibilities of the coming season are you most excited about? And, perhaps most importantly, what kind of Trapper Keeper did you choose?

2 Comments

Filed under Academics, Campus Life, Emily S.