Yearly Archives: 2011

April 19, 2011 · 3:12 pm

What I Learned in Austin

Author: Casey Ryan, C’95

Earlier this year, the Penn Club of Austin hosted a kick-off event for South by Southwest, the annual music, film, and interactive conference and festival.  Penn Alumni were invited to LIVESTRONG head quarters to hear from Philippe G. Hills, Executive Vice President for Development and Renee Nicholas, Challenge Director.

Phil and Renee spoke about Lance’s story with his battle with cancer – all before he even won a Tour de France jersey – and the mission of the Lance Armstrong Foundation – to inspire and empower people affected by cancer.  Lance took an active role in educating himself about his disease and underwent aggressive treatment to beat the disease into remission. From this experience, he funneled his work and research on cancer and its treatment into the Lance Armstrong Foundation, LIVESTRONG, in order to provide people affected by cancer, the survivors and their family, with information that they need to continue living with the security that they will be able to access treatment and life has they know it will continue.

Lance’s Seven Yellow Jerseys, one for each Tour de France victory

Renee told her personal story of her involvement with LIVESTRONG.  After losing her father to cancer, she joined her sister in Austin to settle down.  She started to volunteer for LIVESTRONG after hearing a story on the radio about the local Lance Armstrong’s work in cancer support.  Her volunteering led to her being hired as LIVESTRONG’s third employee.  “The sentence, ‘You have cancer,’ is one of the most frightening that you will ever hear,” she said.  Renee then explained how LIVESTRONG’s mission was to provide all the information to a survivor to make decisions for their treatment and well as continuing one’s quality of life after treatment is over.

The wall of all the LIVESTRONG employees

Renee illustrated the work with examples.  Cancer and its treatment can leave a survivor with the need to review current and future financial goals.  Knowing that dealing with financial matters is overwhelming, the organization can help define one’s present financial status, as well as prepare for future needs through planned spending and refocusing of one’s budgets. Chemotherapy can render survivors infertile.  Therefore, the organization developed the Sharing Hope program to connect recently diagnosed cancer patients to discounted fertility preservation options before beginning cancer treatment.  In addition to teaching patients, LIVESTRONG has programs to teach doctors how and what to speak to their patients about in addition to their diagnosis.

A piece from the STAGES exhibition (on loan from Mark Parker, President & CEO of Nike Inc.)

Ten years after she started working with LIVESTRONG, she found herself on the receiving end.  “ ‘You have cancer, ’ my doctor told me,” Renee shared with us.  She, however upset and devastated, didn’t lose hope.  The work that she had been doing for a decade immediately gave her strength.  All the research that she did and the relationships that she forged were going to be at her service to help her survive.  With the resources at LIVESTRONG, she has now been in remission for over three years.

This story instantly affected all of the Penn alumni in the room.  Everyone seemed to exhale at once in awe of Renee’s story.  Some people were wiping their eyes and others were grabbing the tissues on the table.  She is the example of what LIVESTRONG is all about.

Deeply moved, we continued with a tour of the LIVESTRONG facility, including the office space, the event space and the amenities for staff, volunteers, and cancer patients and survivors.  The location in East Austin is a rehabilitated warehouse, and the architects reused most of the original materials to earn a LEED Gold certification for renovations.  The headquarters house several pieces of art from Lance’s private art collection, includes some from STAGES,  LIVESTRONG’s  global, thematic art exhibit aimed at raising worldwide awareness.

At the end of the tour, Phil and Renee brought us back to the boardroom and let us know that any non-profit organization in the greater Austin area can contact LIVESTRONG to use their faculty outside of business hours to hold meetings and to host events since the foundation feels that it is its responsible to help other non-profits success when resources are scarce and meeting space is at a high premium.

The East Austin neighborhood

The evening ended with many people thanking Phil, Renee, and David Hanson, our Penn alumnus who worked with LIVESTRONG to make this event happen.  Several of the alumni attending the event went out of their way to note their appreciation of the access to LIVESTRONG and to express their gratitude to Renee for sharing her story.

A parking lot of food trucks in East Austin

I am always amazed at how connected our alumni are in the world.  Without a Penn alumnus volunteering to host an event for his fellow alumni on the eve of one of the biggest music, media, and film conferences and festivals in the world, we wouldn’t have shared in this wonderful tale of triumph.  Personally, I am grateful beyond words.

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April 19, 2011 · 12:35 pm

Before ENIAC…

Before ENIAC was the calculating machine pictured in 1935 at the Moore School of Engineering. According to the AP archives, it weighed three tons and contained 75,000 parts — makes me think twice about complaining about how heavy the iPhone 4 is…

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April 18, 2011 · 3:46 pm

Office Hours: The Royal Treatment

Author: Lisa Vaccarelli, C’02

We all know that Penn is a globally renowned institution of research and higher education, home to the world’s greatest experts on everything from stem-cell research, neuroscience and genetics, to cultural anthropology, psychology, and nanotechnology.  But what makes Penn really stand out among its peers, in my opinion, is its character.  Rather than losing its distinct personality in the race to the top of that esteemed list of universities, my alma mater remains in touch with its fun, charismatic side.

One example: the Penn Alumni Office Hours series.  While these online webinars often feature faculty speaking on highly intellectual, academic content – including evolutionary psychology, bioethics, and cutting edge robotic technology – they also feature scholarly perspectives on timely, cultural topics.

Join us on Wednesday, April 20 at 1 PM EST

Need another example?  This Wednesday, April 20 at 1 pm EST, Office Hours will take a look at Royal Weddings: Past and Present.  Rosalind Coward, visiting researcher at Penn’s Annenberg School for Communication and a recognized expert on the Royal Family, will share her perspective on the pomp, circumstance and tradition surrounding Great Britain’s royal weddings, with a special focus on the pending nuptials of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.

Britain Royal, Prince William and his fiancee, Kate Middleton

What better way to indulge that guilty pleasure for celebrity gossip than with an academic perspective from one of the world’s greatest institutions for higher learning?

For more information on this and other online webinars, visit www.alumni.upenn.edu/education/officehours.html.

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April 15, 2011 · 11:00 am

Milk, Cookies, and Sculpture

Author: Lynn Carroll, C’93

Penn is a fertile breeding ground for those unlikely juxtapositions that would never happen in real life.  They’re so much fun to watch.  Like when the Balalaika Orchestra and the Amorphous Jugglers perform on College Green at the same time, or when a professor in a tweed blazer with (obligatory) elbow patches runs a gauntlet of students hawking Vagina Monologues tickets.

Case in point: Marian Puro Froehlich is an octogenarian sculptor who graduated from Penn in 1948. Marian was on campus for a tour of Addams Hall, the undergraduate fine arts building, and she graciously offered to talk to a bunch of 2-year-olds in my daughter’s “Rainbow Bears” daycare class about sculpture.  They couldn’t even pronounce “sculpture,” but they loved visitors, so I figured, what the heck?

She didn’t dumb down her work, or talk to them like little idiots—she just told them, pleasantly, that each of them could create sculpture if they wanted to.

All you needed was to use your imagination, then try to express what you see inside your mind.  Something about seeing those children, mesmerized as this woman created a figure with clay, made me smile.

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April 15, 2011 · 9:01 am

You’re the Inspiration

Author: Nicole C. Maloy, W’95

While dining at 1920 Commons with some fellow freshmen in the fall of 1991, I saw a sophomore named Tanisha carrying a stack of those ¼ size sheets of colored paper – you know the ones – from table to table. When she got to us, she looked at me and asked, “Do you sing?”

I shrugged and responded, “A little.”

She smiled, thrust an orange handbill towards me, and said, “Audition for The Inspiration!”

I struck a defensive posture, hands up, palms out. “Oh, no. You don’t want me,” I said.

I’d just heard The Inspiration (often mistakenly referred to as “Inspirations”) at Performing Arts Night. The audience was mesmerized by this incredibly smooth, polished, R&B a cappella group. My singing experience at the time consisted of high school musical showtunes with the drama club, and harmonizing with the radio. Let’s say my style (such as it was) seemed all wrong for The Inspiration.

Honing in on my concern, Tanisha replied, “I auditioned with an opera.”

My hands came down. “Really?”

She nodded.

Hmm…Hmm…

Had anyone else approached me, I would not have taken that flier. But I did. As a result, I would give up every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday night for four academic years. In return, I would gain a room full of new siblings, and memories that still make me smile 15+ years after graduation. An example: a fire drill once interrupted our rehearsal in High Rise East. We gave a brief, impromptu performance for the growing crowd in Superblock until everyone could get back inside. We were asked to sing at all future fire drills, but politely declined.

The real Sopranos

Just being in the group made my singing better, but who knew I would learn how to arrange music for a cappella performance? By the time I was an upperclassman, the group gave me the amazing opportunity to produce full concerts as a Show Coordinator. Our events were meant to educate as well as entertain so, in addition to living a dream and writing sketch comedy, I got to arrange a song by supergroup Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Then I asked a hallmate from South Africa to translate the lyrics from Xhosa to English for us. This way, we could explain to the audience what they were about to hear.

Post-show Happiness

Duet with Byron. T-shirts designed by Ralphy Bead! I still have mine.

Each time I step back onstage with other alumni (lovingly dubbed, “oldheads”) at a show by the current group, I am moved by the significance of The Inspiration’s continuity on the Penn campus. Having been a part of it, knowing that our shows have added to the quality of life here over the years, is a source of great pride. I offer special thanks to Tanisha Lyon Brown’s background in opera for making it all possible for me.

The Inspiration’s 5th Anniversary show

 

FamilyFeud sketch: Evans (Good Times) vs. Banks (Fresh Prince of Bel Air)

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April 14, 2011 · 1:45 pm

Change is in the Air

Author: Colin Hennessy

On my walk from Center City Philadelphia to Penn this morning, I found myself noticing the increase in activity around the campus. As spring arrives, students are obviously outside much more–jogging, cycling, strolling or  lounging with open books along Hill Field and the Quad.

As I was reminiscing about my own college days and the sudden joy that comes when the sun warms your walk to class, I was brought out of my day-dreaming by the sound of a jack-hammer. You see,  in addition to the personal joys of spring, the warmer weather makes way for construction crews who are working on new buildings and parks.  Projects that were once just architectural drawings are beginning to emerge from out of the muddy ground.

It’s no secret that Penn’s campus is constantly changing and evolving to meet the demands of teaching and learning. At the same time, plans are well underway for new  and improved public spaces. What excites me most is the progress being made on the postal lands – the future home of Penn Park.

Penn Park will serve as a new gateway to University City connecting campus with Center City Philadelphia while also providing lush green space and updated recreation and outdoor activity spaces. Moreover, Penn Park will provide the area with increased storm water mitigation, a long-term plan for carbon reduction, smart land use planning, and increased green space – a sought after luxury at an urban university such as Penn.

Penn Park is one of many examples of how Penn is impacting the world, while starting at home in Philadelphia. I hope you’ll come back to campus soon to see everything that is happening on campus – and make sure to enjoy Penn Park and all it has to offer.

In another year, I imagine my walk to campus will again be transformed as this new initiative and others continue to grow and improve the already amazing campus at Penn.

Plans for Penn Park

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April 14, 2011 · 9:01 am

Naturally, I Chose Penn

Author: John Mosley, C’14

I was born on May 2, 1992, at 9:02 A.M.  Right away, the doctors noticed that something wasn’t quite right: I was blue. They soon discovered that blood wasn’t circulating throughout my body. I was rushed into emergency heart surgery. The surgeons realized one of my pulmonary arteries had been switched with my aorta. They proceeded to switch the two back and, in doing so, saved my life.

Why am I telling you this? Because it happened at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia(CHOP)—a building I can see from my dorm room. The University of Penn has been a vital part of my life since the moment I was born. The University literally saved my life. Perhaps that is why, 18 years later, I became heart-set on being accepted to this University.

Today, I will be missing an afternoon class because I am going to CHOP for the 18th consecutive year for my annual checkup with Dr. Weinberg, my cardiologist. Dr. Weinberg has been with my almost my entire life and has been guiding me through this heart defect. At least once a year for 18 years, I have been on Penn’s campus to receive this checkup. I remember my dad showing me Franklin Field when I was 9 or 10. I remember walking by the Quad in my early adolescence. The University that has been so vital to my well-being, so it makes sense that the University continues to be where I am enriched and prepared for a career. Penn continues to have a profound influence on my life. It is only fitting that I chose Penn.

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

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April 13, 2011 · 1:30 pm

Spring Fling is On Its Way

Author: Lisa V., C’02

With Penn’s annual Spring Fling weekend just days away, I find myself thinking about the origin of this famous (some might say infamous) Penn tradition.

Skimmer Day

According to University Archives, Spring Fling actually grew out of an earlier Penn tradition known as Skimmer. Beginning in 1949, Penn students would gather on a Saturday each spring on the banks of the Schuylkill River to encourage the Penn crew team.  This tradition soon expanded to become a weekend of social, musical, and athletic events both along the river and on-campus. Soon thousands of students from up and down the East Coast flocked to Skimmer, enjoying not just the races, but also the jazz bands, the motorcades, the “co-ed” poster contest, the concerts, the dances, the fraternity parties, and the beer.

Unfortunately, the event turned out to be too popular for its own good. Large crowds, combined with youthful high spirits (and alcohol), eventually led to injuries, property damage, and arrests.  Over time, the focus of Skimmer Day/Spring Weekend shifted more and more away from off-campus activities along the Schuylkill River to organized events on-campus.

Like all traditions, Spring Fling is one that has evolved over time.  As per University Archives,  “The first official Spring Fling was held the weekend of April 21, 1973. Almost all of the weekend’s activities – which included carnival booths, art exhibits, and five hours of square dancing – took place in the Quad, and the concert, then gratis, featured a no-name guitarist named Dave Weinburg, who played from a chair on the grass of the Quad in front of McClelland Hall.”

This year, Spring Fling activities will take place across campus – from the headliner concert at Franklin Field to the carnival in the Quad and everywhere in between – and will attract nearly ten thousand revelers. The headline concert in Franklin Field – featuring Lupe Fiasco, Ratatat and Flo Rida – has already sold out at over 8,000 seats. The campus may have changed over the years, but the spirit of celebration at the start of this new season has not waned. In fact, it grows stronger each year.

Spring Fling: Then

Spring Fling Now

 

 

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April 13, 2011 · 9:02 am

Life of an Engineer

Author: Jonathan C., SEAS ’14

When I joined the Engineering School, I knew there was a reason I was meant to be there.  I understood that being an engineer requires working late into the night.  While I have yet to experience an all-nighter, I had a late night a few weeks ago.  It was for my MEAM-101: Introduction to Mechanical Design class (check out the PRESS project).  The project was to make anything, as long as it used press-fits.  Short explanation: a press fit is where you have a slot and a peg out of a given material, and you make the peg slightly larger than the slot (on the order of a few thousandths of an inch).  Then, when you press the peg into the slot, the peg slightly deforms and will stay firmly fastened, creating a connection between the two parts without needing adhesive.

I decided to build a space shuttle and started with a model on the computer.  I went to the room at 10 PM thinking it would take maybe an hour to cut all the pieces out and put it together.  By the time I was cutting the last piece out, the clock read 1 AM.  Suddenly, I understood the joy of being an engineer.  There are people out there who would have meticulously watched the clock, and would have left the room with a partially-finished product with the intent to come back the next day to finish it.  But I had become so engrossed in the project that I was shocked by the amount of time that had passed.  And, when I got to the end and had a finished product, I was filled a combination of exhaustion and great satisfaction. At that moment, I knew that being an engineer was the right choice for me.

Not my project, but an example of a press-fit project

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April 12, 2011 · 11:40 am

Picnic on the Summit of Sweeten – a Tale of Lunchtime Adventure.

Author: Jason S.

I work in Alumni Relations in the Sweeten Alumni House. I recently realized that in my seven years of working here that I had only been on the roof of our building once (to check why our Carillon wasn’t working) and certainly had never taken the occasion to dine on top of where I work. Since today is the first beautiful spring day in Philadelphia, I decided to have a lunch picnic on the roof and take a few pictures while doing so.

I was hungry early, and excited to get started on my adventure, so I headed over to Houston Hall at around 11, right when the food court opens.

Some of you might say 11 AM is too early for raw fish, but I disagree. I selected a California Roll Combo and a Spicy Shrimp roll. The sushi at Houston isn’t bad, and I needed the protein to fuel my climb up and down the Sweeten precipices.

The back door of the third floor of Sweeten is right next to my office. Feel free to visit sometime. Directly outside of that door is a small walkway with a ladder leading upwards. If my office was base camp of Everest, this was the climb I had to make to get to Camp 1. I would soon be mere feet away from the summit of Sweeten. Tossing my plastic boxes filled with sustainable seafood into the various recyclable bins,  I made my way to the first terrace.

I soon ascended to the first level. Not wanting to lose momentum, I quickly snapped a picture of the new Annenberg Public Policy Center and the Class of 1976 patio, and continued onward and upward…

This was it. Beyond this ladder lay a place where few had tread, and even fewer had taken their lunch hour. Gritting my teeth I began to make the ascent. Hand over hand, rung after rung, I pulled myself skyward, eventually flinging my exhausted body up and over the last ledge. I had made it to the Summit of Sweeten. And it was beautiful.

In the distance was College Hall, its green facade jutting up from the ground. Students walked back and forth below me on Locust Walk looking like tiny ants.

Peering through a stand of beautiful pink blossoms,I could see College Green stretching below me. In the distance, dedicated volunteers were setting up for Penn Preview Days, waiting to greet the recently accepted students of the Class of 2015.

I took a moment to (silently) dedicate my journey to these newly minted Quakers, that my arduous climb might forever remain a testament to those who might study late into the night at Van Pelt Library, or raise a glass in friendship at Smokes. Yes, these academics were the true adventurers, not I.

With that, I sat down and ate my lunch. I knew that my journey had come to an end and I would soon have my own set of questions to answer. Would I be able to attend that ARG meeting next month? Did I have a chance to review the materials for the talk on broadcast email best practices I was to give on Friday? And most importantly, why were my pants and hands covered in black crud halfway through the work day?

Some of these questions had easy answers. Others were more difficult. Luckily, this brave soul keeps a spare pair of Dockers in his desk drawer for just such an occasion.

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