Yearly Archives: 2011

July 19, 2011 · 6:51 pm

Penn Alumni Webinar: What Do We Know About Autism?

As part of Penn Alumni Education’s commitment to bringing intellectual and academic programming to alumni, Office Hours gives you the chance to learn about and discuss relevant issues with Penn faculty from your own home or office.

Next week, hear from Dr. Jennifer Pinto-Martin, the Viola MacInnes/Independence Professor of Nursing, and Interim Chair in the Bio-behavioral and Health Sciences Division, as she discuss what current sciences can tell us about autism, reviewing what is known about the causes of ASD and ongoing studies, including her CDC funded Study to Explore Early Development (SEED).

Over the past 20 years, the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has increased markedly, spurring increased attention, speculation and research about the cause. Significant media attention has been given to recently published data on the disorder’s genetic heritability, non-genetic risk factors, and risks associated with SSRI’s, one group of commonly used antidepressant medications (see below for links to recent articles in Time and The New York Times), all of which confirms that both genes and environment matter.

The webinar will be held on Tuesday, July 26 from 1-2 PM EST. Registration and additional information available here .  It’s easy to sign up and be part on this timely and important discussion.

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July 19, 2011 · 2:33 pm

Save 2nd Base: 2011 Penn Co-Rec Summer Softball CHAMPIONS!

Author: Stephanie Yee, C’08

I love Penn in the summer because the campus is green and quiet, and the food truck lines are not as long (except maybe at Magic Carpet). Another great Penn summer tradition is co-rec intramural summer softball. Departments around Penn put together softball teams, and the teams are divided into two leagues (National League and American League – just like in MLB). Teams in the same league play each other during the regular season, and then there are play-offs. The winner of each league advances to the Championship Game, which is played on Franklin Field.

After a few years in the summer softball community, you start to recognize some familiar names. For example, Penn Chem Isotopes (Chemistry Department) and Museum Rocks (Penn Museum) have been around for years. My all-time favorite name is the Home RN’s (School of Nursing). Team Captain Troy Majnerick changes the name of his softball team every year, so the big reveal is always exciting. One year we were Dwight’s Army of Champions (The Office, anyone?), and last year we were Habitual Line Steppers. This year, Troy’s softball team, Save 2nd Base, had two great things going for them. First, they were defending champions. Second, they were playing for a great cause. Save 2nd Base is a breast cancer apparel company whose proceeds fund breast cancer research, education, and awareness programs through the Kelly Rooney Foundation.

Save 2nd Base team members donated $1 to the charity for every game they won during the regular season. They went 10-0 this year, so that’s $10 per team member in addition to the $550 they raised as hosts of Socially Conscious Philadelphia’s July event. At the end of the season, the team had collected close to $1,000 for breast cancer awareness and research. AND they won the championship game! AGAIN! These players are true champions.

Save 2nd Base: 2011 Penn Co-Rec Summer Softball CHAMPIONS!

Anyone with a PennCard can play summer softball, so I encourage all Penn staff, graduate students, and undergraduate students who are on campus during the summer to find a team to join. It’s great fun, and you meet Penn people from all over the university. Save 2nd Base lives for summer softball, and I can see why. They are two-time champions now. CONGRATS!

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July 18, 2011 · 7:00 am

Consequence-Free Burrito is No Urban Legend; Lives and Thrives in Our Nation’s Youth

Author: Leigh Ann P.

If my mom had suggested to my 14-year-old self that it would be a good idea for me to spend the summer at venture capitalist camp at Wharton, I would have groaned, “Ugh, MOM!” and stomped back up to the roof to work on my tan sunburn. What is it with parents and their lack of understanding?

These days, when July rolls around on Penn’s campus, I am amazed at the go-getter high school students that infiltrate Locust Walk. It’s amazing to me that these kids have the ambition and the intellectual wherewithal to take advantage of their summer months further educating themselves and getting a leg up in advance of the college admission process.

When I was 14, I was thinking about three things: “When I will get my braces off?” “Do I have food stuck in my braces?” and, “What time do the ‘Hey, Dude’ reruns come on Nickelodeon in the afternoons? Am I too old to still be watching ‘Hey, Dude’?” I guess technically that was four things.

What’s really great about having all the high schoolers on campus is that the salad line at Houston Hall is so much shorter than during the regular school year, even when it’s shoulder-to-shoulder traffic down there. Remember when you were a teenager and could eat a steady diet of pizza, burritos and pasta without any consequences? Yeah, me neither. Enjoy your digestive freedom while it lasts, kids.

No salad for me ... not until I'm old like the Alumni Relations staff members.

I laugh in the face of grease and cheese!

 

For more information about Penn’s summer programs for high school students, check out this link.

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July 15, 2011 · 3:15 pm

I Remember…Being Pre-Med

By: Elizabeth K.

At Penn, it felt like everyone knew exactly what they wanted to do when they graduated, from the minute hellos were said to new roommates freshman year.  Especially the Wharton students, who not only knew what they wanted to do but also wanted to go into fields I’d never even heard of!  For instance, consulting.  When someone told me she wanted to do that I thought , “So is that like when a friend tells me about a problem with a boy and I tell her what she should do?”  Thank god I never verbalized my confusion, although honestly I still have no idea what consultants actually do and why they get paid so much for doing it.  Anyway, everyone I knew had their career, in some cases ones I didn’t even know existed, planned out.  In the meantime, I was completely undecided when it came to my major and my life.

At Penn, it was socially acceptable to say you were doing certain things after graduation.  Something Wharton-y like banking, something engineering-y (I’m not even going to pretend to know what their fields are), nursing and if you were in the College you went to either law school or med school.  Anything else and you felt terrified that you were inadequate and doomed for a life of failure.  So, when I found myself undecided I knew I needed to remedy that, and fast.

When I started at Penn I signed up for four classes – Calculus, Biology, The Symphony and Spanish 4.  I signed up for them to fill requirements and because I liked them.  Yes – I liked Calculus and Biology!  I started these classes freshman year and realized almost every single person in my Calc and Bio classes was pre-med.  So, I became friends with the pre-meds and learned about all of the classes I needed to take for medical school.  Before I knew it, I decided to be pre-med too!  It felt awesome to have a life direction!  Now I was part of all of those, “What will you do when you graduate?” conversations!

A page from one of my college scrapbooks – proof that I was taking my pre-med courses! One of my amazing best friends from Penn made me this cake before a big chemistry test.

Close up of the cake! It was delicious

Everything was going fine until junior year hit.  I was sitting in Organic Chemistry, listening to the professor drone on, pretty positive that I would never understand what he was talking about, and I had this little thought, “Elizabeth.  Being a doctor isn’t worth a year of this class.”  A couple days later, my then-boyfriend, who was also pre-med (and today is a wonderful oncologist!), said to me, “You should really volunteer at HUP with me.  I play bingo with cancer patients and it’s great.  Plus, it will look really good on your med school applications.”  I said, “Oh, that’s nice but no thanks.  I don’t really like being around sick people.”

YEAH.  I KNOW.

It dawned on me.  I didn’t actually want to be a doctor.  I just wanted so badly to know what I was going to do with the rest of my life and be a part of the Penn pre-professional culture, that for two years I was pretending I had found my life calling.

I wish I could say it was smooth sailing from there, but it wasn’t.  Since I wasn’t going to be pre-med, I HAD to do something or end up at the dreaded “I don’t know where I’ll be after I graduate” bar during senior week.  Since I was a successful student in the college, I did what any sane undecided junior would do  – I became pre-law!  Only this time I actually followed through, took the LSATs, went to law school (which I loved) and practiced law for a couple of years.  Needless to say it wasn’t for me.  And, after some soul searching and being really honest with myself about what I wanted in a career, I wound up back where I started, at Penn.  I feel very lucky that I can say I truly like my job and while my path to working in Higher Education Administration was roundabout, I know I ended up in the right place for me.

I loved my time at Penn, but looking back I wish I had enjoyed my academic ride a little bit more.  I should have enjoyed learning just for the sake of learning, and shouldn’t have wasted so much time and stress concerned with what would happen after I got my diploma.  So, to all the Penn undergrads reading this (soapbox alert!) – enjoy your four years of college!  This is such a special time in your lives.  And, if you are in the dreaded “undecided” category, you’ll figure it out along the way, I promise.  Even if your path isn’t obvious or prescribed, you’ll find your way to happiness.

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July 14, 2011 · 2:07 pm

The West Coast Regional Office meets Carmageddon

Author: Kiera Reilly, C’93

Many of you might not realize it, but Penn has a regional development and alumni relations office in Los Angeles. While the location has changed a few times, there has been a Penn presence on the west coast for well over twenty years.

Currently, there are 3 Penn staff people in the LA office, and we wave the Penn flag for the over 9,500 alumni in the greater Los Angeles area, as well as a similar number of alumni in the Bay Area. We also work with alumni, parents and friends in Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii.

Pictured: Penn Western Regional Office Staff: Elizabeth Fields, Kiera Reilly, C’93, and Jonathan Martinez

We have been in our current location for just a year. Last September we invited top volunteer leaders for a breakfast meeting and an update on the latest news from Penn.

We also hosted an open house and invited all alumni to stop by and see our new digs.

Most people, when they think of Los Angeles, probably think of beaches, palm trees and movie stars.

Manhattan Beach Pier with Palos Verdes and Catalina Island in the background

Beach Volleyball is a popular weekend activity at Los Angeles beaches

Summer nights are spent at concerts at the famous Hollywood Bowl

And it’s true, we do have all of that. But we do work too.

There was a huge gathering for a PENNtertainment happy hour last August

And the Penn-Wharton Beach Party is always a hit. This year, the event is August 18th  – maybe you can join us? (click here to purchase tickets: http://www.pennclubla.com/article.html?aid=1157 )

Penn-Wharton Beach Party on the beach in Santa Monica

PennClubLA’s Penn in Pictures event always draws a crowd too. Here’s a photo from the October event.

Penn in Pictures photo credit: Jay Matsueda, W’95

But, this weekend, we are worried. You see, we survived “the Rapture,” but now we have a much more serious omen looming over our beautiful city.

Probably everyone has heard horror stories about LA traffic.

And it can be pretty bad, even on a normal day. Even after rush hour. Even in the middle of the night. But, this weekend, we are facing something entirely different. It’s so ominous there’s an official name for it:

Carmageddon.

It’s even trending on Twitter (#carmageddon) and the Los Angeles Times is posting official updates via @LACarmageddon.

The 405 Freeway, one of the major north-south freeways on the west side of Los Angeles, is being shut down this weekend. Normally 550,000 cars drive on this road each day.

The 405 as it intersects the 10 Freeway, the starting point of the closure this weekend.

The 405 Freeway heading north at the Santa Monica Blvd. exit

The freeway is being widened for a carpool lane, and an overpass is being demolished over the weekend. So the stretch of the 405 between the 10 freeway and the 101 is being closed starting late Friday night through early Monday morning.

There have been signs on the freeway and local streets for months alerting us to this impending “Big Delay.”

Now that the weekend is upon us, people are preparing for the worst. Many businesses are closing. Offices are shutting and asking employees to work from home. Celebrities were asked to tweet about it to their followers. LA County Supervisor Zev Yaroslovsky has some poignant advice for worried motorists:

The best alternative route is to totally avoid the 405 area, completely avoid it, don’t come anywhere near it, don’t even think about coming to it. Stay the heck out of here.

(courtesy of  http://www.autoblog.com/2011/06/07/planned-405-freeway-closure-has-la-motorists-thinking-carmageddo/)

The national media is reporting the story – I’ve seen articles in the New York Times and heard a story on NPR last week. This USA Today article does a good job of explaining the impact this closure will have all over Los Angeles and beyond: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-07-12-traffic-LA-405-closing_n.htm. There’s a website that lists all the specials local businesses are offering for residents that stay local: http://www.car-mageddon.com/cmg/Home.html . JetBlue is even offering $4 fares for flights from Long Beach to Burbank to avoid the gridlock.

It’s pretty much the biggest story to about the 405 since O.J. and his white van were filmed cruising on it in 1994.

Hopefully, Los Angeles will survive this latest inconvenience. After all, we have to get ready for Penn vs. UCLA Basketball in Anaheim on Dec. 10th!

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July 13, 2011 · 7:14 pm

Big Dade on Campus (BDOC)

Author: Emily Siegel

Each year high school students flood the campus in the summer months to determine if Penn might be a good college fit for them.  As a top-notch research university it comes as no surprise the campus receives thousands of visitors each year, but it appears that Penn’s popularity knows no boundaries.  In a first for the University, Penn has officially garnered interest from the canine persuasion as well!

In a recent visit, Daedelus (“Dade” for short) dropped in to learn more about this great place.  Not wanting to discriminate based on fur; we gave him the royal treatment, showing him all that Penn has to offer!

So, we took him to where it all started – Ben Franklin.  He seemed quite impressed.

Dade and Ben are Friends

And any visit to Penn isn’t complete without a stroll down Locust Walk.

The sun-dappled Locust Walk

He loved all of the artwork on campus, especially the LOVE Statue and Peace Sign.

Totally Peaceful

In LOVE

He was particularly impressed by the architecture of the campus buildings, noting the Castle as one of his favorites.

The Castle and Dade


He marveled when told about Penn’s impressive alumni community.  He really thought it was cool that Charles Addams, the creator of The Addams Family, went to Penn too.   Although he admits he was a little hesitant about being walked by Morticia.

Addams Family

Being Walked by One of the Hands on The Gates


After all that walking, he needed a break.

Resting

After the tour, he had a chance to sit down with Steve  from PAARC and have all of his questions answered.

Dade and Steve Discuss Dade's Future at Penn

We think it’s fair to say he seemed to really appreciate the special attention he was given during his visit. And we loved having him!

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July 12, 2011 · 3:44 pm

Locust Walk Talk: The Penn Museum

Author: Casey Ryan, C’95

I love the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.  One of my favorite reasons is its temporary exhibits.  I profoundly remember one exhibit, the “Track of the Rainbow Serpent: Australian Aboriginal Paintings of the Wolfe Creek Crater.”

In 2005, I was planning to travel to Australia and I was consuming anything I could about the country to be more informed.  I watched Rabbit Proof Fence and re-watched Muriel’s Wedding.  I read Neville Shute’s On the Beach and A Town Like Alice (a.k.a. The Legacy), Bill Bryson’s In a Sunburnt Country, Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet and even Colleen McCullough’s classic, The Thornbirds.  There was even an Animal Planet show that I stumbled upon and watched about a marsupial surrogacy program, which paired human volunteers with orphaned marsupial to recreate a pouch-like environment using book bags to help in there development and growth.  (What a tear jerker. If you don’t cry at folks trying to treat a sick wombat with an infection, you have no heart)! If it was Australia-related, I was there.

In the middle of my building excitement, I learned there was an exhibit of Aboriginal work at the Penn Museum. I was thrilled.  I searched on line for some articles to learn more about Aboriginal Art, and soon visited the Museum.

“Red Rock (Ngaimangaima)” by Daisy Kungah from Billiluna, 2002. Image courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

The culture of Aboriginal peoples is one of the world’s oldest continuous cultures, art traditions and belief system.  Though interpreted differently group by group, the creation story centers around the Rainbow Serpent, one of the important creative forces in the cosmology, and his travels to create existence during a mystical state called Dreamtiming that transcends time.

Image courtesy of Shreyans Bhansali, C’05, ENG’05

In particular, this exhibit is comprised of works from the Djaru Aboriginal people living by the Wolfe Creek Crater in Western Australia.  The story of a meteorite landing was interpreted as a star falling to Earth.  Wrapped around the light of the falling star is the Rainbow Serpent. The Serpent makes the hole in the new crater upon impact, then he continues to burrow and move underground and through the area to create waterways, landscape features. The Serpent’s movements and creation opened the land up for the Aboriginals’ First Ancestors to come and live.

The Djaru are stewards of this land and due to sacredness of the area custom prohibits them from directly discussing the story. Yet, through painting, using traditional techniques and colors, they can share the stories through art. The art is bold, using bright colors and traditional symbols for water, watering holes, stars and people.  Without speaking, these paintings tell the stories of the traditional way of life for the Djaru.

“Kandimalal (Wolfe Creek Crater) and the Rainbow Serpent” by Boxer Milner from Billiluna, 2000. Image courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

Thanks to the efforts of the Penn Museum, I had an Australian cultural experience that I wouldn’t have had anywhere in the world as I prepared for my trip.  I gained an appreciation for Aboriginal culture and I didn’t have to leave my figurative backyard to get it.

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July 11, 2011 · 7:23 pm

Nerd Alert: Why I Love the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library

Author: Aimee LaBrie

I’ve had a library card ever since I was in kindergarten. My mom has always been a reader-of-novels and she passed this love on to me, starting with the Little House on the Prairie series. I can still remember the feeling I used to get when I would leave the library with half a dozen books in my backpack—giddy with the possibilities each book offered. Even if I didn’t read all of the books I borrowed (and I seldom did), I liked having all those choices—an adventure story about mice, a story about a misunderstood doll, a detective story where the kids were smarter than the adults.  As an adult, I still feel the same way about reading and about the library; almost like I’m getting away with something when I go inside and emerge with a stack of books; it seems too good to be true.

Here at Penn, you might think that the libraries on campus are very academic-focused, and it’s true that they have hundreds of scholarly texts and journals and numerous online resources. But they also have an excellent fiction section, a new books collection on the first floor of the Van Pelt-Dietrich library, and a substantial DVD collection that I’ve borrowed from numerous times (I just rented Philadelphia Story starring  Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn a few weeks ago. Have you seen that film lately? If not, get it).

In addition, if the library doesn’t have the book you want, they will get it for you. For instance, I recently visited Gettysburg for the first time in my life, and someone mentioned the book Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War, by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tony Horwitz. When I got back to work that Monday, I found that though the library didn’t have the book available, they could secure it for me through inter-library loan. In two days time, I had the book in my hot little hands, borrowed directly from the Dartmouth Library. It was like magic. (Book synopsis: Civil War re-enactors are alive and kicking all throughout the South. For a fictionalized account of this crowd, I highly recommend Civilwarland in Bad Decline by George Saunders. It’s dark and twisty and very funny).

About a week ago, I read a  New York Times review of the recently published crime novel, A Death in Summer and thought how nice it would be to check it out from the library that very same day, though it seemed unlikely that the VPD Library would have it, since it was pretty much right off the presses.  I walked straight toward the new fiction, and voile! There it was on the top shelf of the collection, as if waiting for me. Again, magic.  I devoured the book over the weekend. It’s written by Benjamin Black, the pseudonym for Booker Prize winning writer, John Banville. You can read a review of the book here or learn more about Banville’s alter ego in the most recent issue of The New Yorker (book synposis: a rich man appears to have committed suicide. But did he??? His strange death is investigated by an alcoholic medical examiner and a detective who, along the way, encounter seduction, betrayal, a corrupt organization for boys, martinis, hundreds of cigarettes, and ponies.  Thumbs up).

I don’t know what’s next on my reading list, but I am certain that when I do decide, I’ll only have to go a little ways down Locust Walk and into the library. It still feels exciting to me, to know that I can enter the library with nothing, and leave with my arms full of possibilities.

Just an aside, I have physical proof of how much my mom loves reading. This is a quilt that she recently made called “Book Brain.” If you look closely (by clicking on the photograph), you’ll see that the whole quilt is filled with hand-written quotes from her favorite books. She dedicated the quilt to me.

A Quilt about the Love of Reading

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July 8, 2011 · 5:39 pm

Hidden Gems

Author: Lynn Carroll, C’93

Can you guess where on campus this photo was taken? It’s my favorite place on campus for peace, quiet, and a bit of perspective—and no, it’s not near the Bio Pond!

This is the Class of 1957 Geology Garden, located just south of Hayden Hall near 33rd Street and Smith Walk. When you have about 10 minutes, call the “Discover Penn” audio tour at 215-525-1562 and enter 11#. You will hear Dr. Hermann Pfefferkorn, Professor of Earth and Environmental Science, describe the geology of each and every boulder in the garden, the oldest of which—gneiss and serpentinite—are an estimated 1 billion years old.

More about Discover Penn …And a bit about Dr. Pfefferkorn.

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July 8, 2011 · 12:00 am

Down (to) the Shore

Author:  Nicole C. Maloy, W’95

The first time I heard someone speak of “going down the shore,” I imagined a map of a shoreline on a wall, with an animated stick figure starting at one point on the shore and traveling downward. Going down the shore sounded like a process. I would eventually learn that it is a destination; the word “to” is implied. To non-natives of this area, “down the shore” translates as “to the beach.” It sounds like “downa shore.” No relation to Dinah Shore. She’s from Tennessee.

I never once explored the Jersey Shore when I was a Penn student. To be fair, my spring semester weekends were spent at track meets, and my summers were generally spent in Ohio. Still, what a shame not to take advantage of Philadelphia’s relative proximity to the ocean! It’s only an hour to Ocean City, where I took my first surfing lesson  a few years ago.

Yes, surfing. Who knew there was surfing anywhere around here? Not I. And, let’s face it, it’s not Hawaii, by any stretch. But for a total beginner like me, Jersey-sized waves were just fine; the Hawaii Five-0 theme song would be in my head either way. And Jersey’s a heck of a lot closer to home. And I bet they don’t serve funnel cake at the Banzai Pipeline in Oahu. Sign me up for a trip to the Jersey Shore! Ahem – downa shore.

With the legendary Matt, who teaches at 7th Street Surf Shop in Ocean City, NJ. He is hilarious.

Turns out I’m a “goofy foot” surfer. Somehow this seemed fitting. This actually means I lead with my right foot, where most lead with their left (those boring souls would be “regular foot”). My high jump takeoff foot was my right when most others used their left, so at least I’m consistent.

Paddling out for the first time, before I even tried to pop up on my first wave – right foot forward – I knew I would return. I have always loved the water, and frolicking in the waves on a sunny day is standard-issue fun, but this was different. Going past the waves, getting away from the crowds, anticipating the ride back in and, most of all, just being out in the water felt pretty amazing. Didn’t taste so amazing, but that’s part of the deal.

It intrigues me that you have to fight the waves to get away from land for the express purpose of collaborating with them to get you back. There’s a life lesson in there somewhere. For the record, there are real waves, and real surfers, at the Jersey Shore. If your timing is right, you’ll get to see some pretty impressive moves. And you know what? The view is even better from the water, on a board. If you can stand, if you can swim, if you can get downa shore, then you can take a surfing lesson. So…do it!

You pass this on the way to the water. Duly noted.

The sign said I had to “share my stoke,” so I have since organized several trips for others who want to learn to surf. Here, Matt is teaching the sequence of movements these people are about to try out in the water.

And they’re off!

Heading out on a different morning with friends and rented boards.

By the time this photo was taken whatever I was riding was nothing but foam. But I was still on the board, baby! Woo!

After a somewhat less successful attempt, yet still smiling. If this is life downa shore, sign me up!

On a beautiful day like this, even *waiting* for a wave is fun. Life is good when you’re floating on a surfboard, hanging out with friends. You gotta try this sometime.

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