Category Archives: Casey R.

May 7, 2012 · 1:39 pm

My Top Penn List: Life Lessons from Dr. Gutmann’s Favorite Movies

Author: Casey Ryan, C’95

In anticipation of next week’s commencement after Alumni Weekend, I’m  highlighting “The Top Ten Things You Can Learn from the Favorite Movies of Penn’s President,” from Dr. Gutmann’s address last year, complete with trailers! Happy viewing!

10: The Wizard of Oz teaches us that on life’s journey brains, heart, and courage come in handy.

9: From Casablanca, even if Humphrey Bogart never quite said it, dedicating oneself to a higher purpose and deep loyalties are values to treasure always.

8: As time goes by, The Social Network reminds us that virtual relationships are no substitute for real ones…And remember that nerds can get girls, but not if they’re also…<bleeps>.

7: True Grit teaches us that perseverance pays off.

6: Avatar teaches us to respect nature—and each other.

5: Titanic tells us that no ship—strategy or scheme—is unsinkable.

4: E.T. should remind graduates to “phone home.”

3: Silence of the Lambs gave a whole new meaning to having an old friend for dinner.

2: Julie and Julia reminds us that everything really is better with butter.

1: The King’s Speech teaches us to judge individuals not by their rank, but by their merit as well as it is not always the case that what you say is more important than how you say it.

The complete transcript of Dr. Gutmann’s address can be found here.

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April 18, 2012 · 8:22 pm

Locust Walk Talk: Mr. Cohen Goes to Washington

Author: Casey Ryan, C’95

Earlier in March, I had the privilege of hosting David L. Cohen, L’81, Chair, Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania & Executive Vice President, Comcast Corporation, for an informal reception with Washington area Penn alumni. In collaboration with the Penn Club of Washington and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Advisory Board, we entertained about 50 alumni interested learning more about the chair of Penn’s Trustees.

Brandon Paroly, President of the Penn Club of Washington, and Susan Wegner, Chair of MARAB, welcome the crowd and introduced David.  As a part of their introductory remarks, Brandon and Susan shared the mission of their respective alumni groups with the crowd, and between the two of them, they shared a brief summary of David’s career with the audience.

David graduated from Swarthmore College in 1977 and summa cum laude from Penn Law in 1981. In 1982, Mr. Cohen joined Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. Ten years later, Mr. Cohen resigned his partnership to become Chief of Staff to the Honorable Edward G. Rendell, C’65, Mayor of the City of Philadelphia. In that capacity, he played an important coordinating role in significant budgetary and financial issues and a wide variety of policy and operational issues. Mr. Cohen remained in city government until 1997, when he returned to Ballard Spahr as Chairman before leaving to join Comcast in 2002. At Comcast, Mr. Cohen is responsible for all external affairs of the company and serves as senior counselor to the Chairman and CEO.

David recounted that he became engaged actively as a volunteer at Penn, first as a Trustee of multiple Health System and Medical School boards. In 2002, he was named founding chairman of the Board and Executive Committee of Penn Medicine, the umbrella governance structure created by the University to oversee both the Health System and the University’s School of Medicine. This was during a time when UPHS needed to be taken in a new direction and in his eight years as chair he oversaw the critical decision-making that led to the remarkable financial turnaround of the Health System. Ultimately his work for Penn took him from being a University Trustee and then as chair of Penn Medicine and chair of the Trustees in 2010.

His volunteer experience at the University was built on his commitment and passion for Penn and for the impact that it could have, not only locally and regionally, but nationally and globally. This theme of not only locally and regionally, but nationally and globally is clearly one of David’s mantra, especially since he parallels the University scope and range to Comcast’s, which started out as a small cable company in Tupelo, Missisippi. David’s eye for world-view in everything he does catapults everything he works on moving forward.

He talked about his work at Comcast – in expanding its scope – and about the acquisition of NBC Universal and shared some unconventional knowledge about the two companies. From the time of the acquisition and to this day, Comcast is the larger company with most of its revenue coming from the cable channels like Oxygen, E! and CurrentTV. David also was able to share with us some bragging rights – for the week of ending March 3, 2012, NBC Universal had both the number one movie (The Lorax) and the number one TV show (The Voice). Rarely does any media company in the US hold both number one spots during a week.

What made the evening special was the access to one of Penn’s great leaders. Audience members asked about career advice – how do you get to do what you’re passionate about; the future of Penn; and the means to stay involved with the University.  Alumni stayed well past the reception to mingle with David before he left as well as to catch up with friends and network with new contacts.

 

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Filed under Alumni Perspective, Alumni Profile, Alumni Programming, Campus Life, Casey R., Locust Walk Talk, Philadelphia

March 26, 2012 · 6:24 pm

My Top Penn List: Favorite Pictures from Visits to My Penn Club Cities

I fancy myself to be a very amateur photographer. My tool is the iPhone. So, armed only with a willingness to contort and a gigs of memory, I go out and snap a few photos while I have a free moment in my Penn Club cities.  Here are my 10 favorite pictures that I have taking along my travels in the last year (since the start of this blog.)

10. Washington, DC

Something about the black marble of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in the foreground and the line of sight being drawn up through the Washington Monument under the dusky sky made me pause and wanted this picture. For club information, visit the Penn Club of Washington, DC’s webpage.

9. Austin.

Here is a vista of the neighborhood of East Austin. For more information about alumni activities in the area, please contact our alumni representative for Austin.

8. Hampton Roads

The unusual juxtaposition of a church from New England, deep in the Tidewater city of Norfolk, VA was a curiosity. For more information about alumni activities in the area, please contact our alumni representative for Hampton Roads.

7. Boston

This is view of Beantown from Cambridge is so quintessentially Boston. For club information, visit the Penn Club of Boston’s webpage.

6. Denver

On the steps leading to the entrance of the State Capitol, one is marked as a mile above sea level. While I don’t think that the iPhone is best for night pictures, I found this to be a fun image to take.For club information, visit the Penn Club of Denver’s webpage.

5. Dallas

While for most Americans Dealey Plaza is known as the backdrop to JFK’s assassination, I found it to be a charming tribute to the pioneer spirit that forged Dallas.For more information about alumni activities in the area, please contact our alumni representative for Dallas and Fort Worth.

4. Baltimore

Usually, I think of Camden Yards or the Bromo Seltzer Tower as typical Baltimore building. So the drama of lines of the building drawing you up to the American flag at the top was a favorite of mine to photograph. For club information, visit the Penn Club of Baltimore’s webpage.

3. Richmond

The beauty in the massive brickwork in this theatre couldn’t go unnoticed and it caught my attention. For more information about alumni activities in the area, please contact our alumni representative for Richmond.

2. San Antonio

I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking about James Bowie, Davey Crockett, William Travis, and the like as well as remembering the Alamo when someone mentions San Antonio. However, did you know that San Antone has stunning Japanese Tea Garden? This charming foot bridge looks inspired by other gardens’ moon bridges and immediately provides me with a sense of calm. For club information, visit the Penn Club of San Antonio’s webpage.

1. Houston

Twenty miles outside the traffic of Space City stands this monument commemorating Texas’ Independence from Mexico in 1836.  Almost 12 feet taller than the Washington Monument, the San Jacinto Monument is this world’s tallest monumental column. It stands at the site of the Battle of San Jacinto and today, commends a grand command over the state park. For club information, visit the Penn Club of Houston’s webpage.

For alumni club activities and more information for our other 110 clubs, please visit the Global Alumni Network main page.

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March 4, 2012 · 4:24 pm

Locust Walk Talk: Penn Alumni Volunteer Leadership Retreat

Author: Casey Ryan, C’95

If you are reading this blog, mostly likely you are one of the 290,000 plus alumni from one of Penn’s undergraduate, graduate, or professional schools.  This outstanding group comprises the association called Penn Alumni. You are a member of Penn Alumni.

In your day-to-day life, you probably don’t always think about your alumni association and what they can do for you.  In Alumni Relations, we do.  In addition to supporting our alumni for their post-college academic needs, we work to organize and train our volunteer leaders to keep them best informed about the University as well as to provide networking opportunities among our Penn volunteers to find synergies to take advantage of and to share lessons to learn and grow from.

To do this, Alumni Relations hosted its annual Penn Alumni Volunteer Leadership Retreat this February for the Board of Directors (Penn Alumni’s governing board of 60 members including our Alumni Trustees), the Council of Representatives (a cadre of 300 members consisting of the presidents of the undergraduate class, regional alumni clubs and Penn Alumni’s constituent groups), and regional alumni clubs leaders (all regional club board members in addition to club presidents). These volunteers were invited to return to campus to be updated on the University, to network with their fellow volunteers, to come together for training, and to have access to their Penn senior administrators and their Penn Alumni liaisons. The retreat, now in its fifth year, came about to supplement the winter Penn Alumni Board and Council Meetings to take advantage of our volunteers’ time together in Philadelphia and provide the programming that they have asked for.

Alumni at dinner watching a demonstration

In planning the retreat, we adopted Penn’s Academic Theme, the Year of Games, to identify many of our retreat speakers to provide an insider’s experience of the impact of the academic theme on our students. This academic theme covers a great number of topics including athletic competition, negotiations, applying gameplay functionality in non-game contexts, and the impact of play on health and political strategies to start. Penn’s Provost Office started this initiative in 2007 to sponsor a series of events around an academic theme chosen by faculty, staff and students. Events featuring the theme that defines the academic year start with the Penn Reading Project and continue all year long with interdisciplinary conferences, symposia, exhibits, performances, and more, all produced on Penn’s campus by our schools, departments, resource centers, and partners.  In keeping with this theme, our volunteers had access to programming to learn about robotics, group dynamic strategies, politics and Penn’s student athletes.

I wanted to share with you what our volunteers learned while back on campus.

Robotics:

Dr. Daniel D. Lee, Evan C Thompson Term Associate Professor and Raymon S. Markowitz Faculty Fellow, and his lab study and research the topic of Robotics and Machine Learning.  His research analyzes on topics ranging from applying knowledge about biological information processing systems to building better artificial sensorimotor systems that can adapt and learn from experience. To illustrate this particular process, Dr. Lee and his students demonstrated this research and its more fun application with the robotic soccer team.  Dr. Lee and his students programmed the robots to analysis all outside stimuli from the location of the red “soccer” ball and then reacting appropriately to the object.  This entertaining exhibition highlighted the lab’s ultimate goal of making machines that better understand what we want them to do. Follow the links to learn more about Professor Lee, the robotics program at the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the GRASP (General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception) Laboratory.

Ashleigh Thomas, Eng’13, with a “soccer” playing robot

Group Dynamic Strategies:

Santo D. Marabella, GRS’91, MBA, DSW, addressed the attendees with real-life working tactics for the group dynamics of volunteering.  He discussed the complex relationships among the volunteer, his or her peers, and the University staff, and how interactions among all groups should make the participants feel their time and contributions are valued and respected.  Each group was then asked to develop ways of operating on their individual committee level as well as on the overall Penn Alumni level. Before breaking everyone into their respective working groups, Santo gave guidelines for establishing strategic themes for the Board, and for developing activities for the many committees, affinity groups, and alumni societies over the next year.

Santo D. Marabella, GRS’91, MBA, DSW, addressing the group

Politics:

Dick Polman, the full-time Maury Povich Writer in Residence, Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing, serves as a part-time national political columnist at the Philadelphia Inquirer.  Over lunch, Polman gave a fascinating talk about the current political climate, touching upon the seemingly unstructured prevalence of the Occupy Wall Street Movement. He shared his insight to the evolving GOP race to suggest who he thought would be the Republican presidential candidate while also focusing on Mitt Romney and addressing what he called the “Santorum Surge.”  Bringing into play his work covering the 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004 Presidential campaigns, he fielded questions from the group, citing the economy and its recovery as well as rising gas prices as the variables that will influence Americans at the poll.  You can read more by Polman on his blog, American Debate.

Volunteers taking a moment to ask Dick Polman follow up questions

 Student Athletes:

Four of our outstanding student athletes, Kai Peng, W’12 (varsity sprint football), Douglas J. Miller, Jr., C’12 (club lacrosse), Adrienne Lerner, C’12 (varsity soccer), and Matthew Gould, W’14 (intramural basketball), discussed their commitment and desire to play sports at Penn.  Matt, who is also one of Penn Alumni’s work study students, also introduced the Red and Blue crew, the dedicated group of student fans.  The athletes then talked about the differences between varsity, club, and intramural sports, as well as highlighting the NCAA guidelines and how they affect Ivy versus non-Ivy varsity sports teams.  Their commitment to their respective sports and to their studies was obvious; all the athletes reported doing very well in their classes.  Each student also spoke about the fantastic impact of Penn Park on Penn’s athletics programs as a whole and how it has increased the resources for a Penn athlete. For example, Doug, the club lacrosse co-captain, shared that his team’s practice time has significantly improved from happening from 11 PM until 1 AM before Penn Park to a more reasonable 9:30 to 11:30 PM now that Penn Park is open and operational.

Our student athlete, sitting in the order mentioned above

Our volunteer leaders let us know through several anecdotes that the weekend was worth their time. Networking with their peers to share best practices gave them ideas for future endeavors with their Penn group.  Hearing the reports on the University to share with their members when they return was beneficial.  And, having access to some of the University’s best minds was, as they say in the MasterCard commercials, priceless.

 

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February 13, 2012 · 12:26 pm

My Top Penn List: The Year of Did You Know… in Review

Author: Casey Ryan, C’93

The Penn powers that blog have played around with the schedule for this semester, which gave me an extra few weeks off from Frankly Penn.  I’m well-rested from the word-vacation; it was a nice change for the new year.  It also gave me some time to think about my next post.

In a prior post, I had mentioned that members of the Global Alumni Network (GAN) team, our Regional Club program, pen a weekly Penn fact-cum-update to our Regional Alumni Club Leadership – the Did You Know…  These are news stories or tidbits that underscore some of the outstanding work in study and research going on around campus as well as the notable contributions of our faculty, staff, and alumni at Penn and in the world at large.  These short articles are meant to bring the University a little closer to our alumni wherever they may be. To usher in my first post (and first My Ten Penn list) of 2012, I wanted to highlight my favorite “Did You Knows” of 2011, unedited.

10.          Robust Media System in Afghanistan, sent March 20, 2011

Did You Know… that the Annenberg School for Communication is involved with an effort to build a more robust media system in war-torn Afghanistan?

The Annenberg School’s Center for Global Communication Studies (CGCS) is helping to shape and execute a large scale United States Agency for International Development (USAID) effort to foster independent radio, create a supporting legal culture that can sustain a freer communications environment, and analyze what media approaches are most effective in sustaining democratic values. “We’ve assembled a distinguished team to design curricula and work with advocates, media management and regulators,” said Monroe E. Price, Director of CGCS. “This is an investment in the talent key to the operation of media in the future.”

This is the newest initiative to join the CGCS’s other Middle East-related projects including the Jordan Media Strengthening Program, the model for the current Afghan program.

For more information about the CGCS’s specific efforts in the Middle East, please go here.

9.            Global Warming Warning, from June 24, 2011

Did You Know… that Penn researchers link the fastest Sea-Level rise in two Millennia to increasing temperatures? An international research team including Penn scientists has shown that the rate of sea-level rise along the U.S. Atlantic coast is greater now than at any time in the past 2,000 years, and there is a consistent link between changes in global mean surface temperature and sea level. Benjamin Horton, associate professor and director of the Sea Level Research Laboratory, and postdoctoral fellow Andrew Kemp, both of Penn’s School of Arts and Sciences Department of Earth and Environmental Science conducted the study. Their work was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

To view the press release, click here.

Check-out this Office Hours webinar by Professor Benjamin Horton by clicking here. Revisit Dr. Benjamin Horton’s discussion of the geophysical mechanisms behind earthquakes and tsunamis and the history of both in the context of Japan and the greater South/East Pacific.  Note: You must download the GoToMeeting Codec (G2M2 decoder) to view these recorded webinars. Visit www.gotomeeting.com/codec to download the codec.

8.            Penn in the Movies, from December 8, 2011

Did You Know…that Penn alumni wrote, produced, and directed several movies in the theaters? The Mighty Macs, tells the story of tiny Immaculata College winning the inaugural women’s NCAA basketball tournament in 1972. It was written/directed/produced by former Penn Football player Tim Chambers, C’85, and also produced by former Penn Basketball star Vince Curran, ENG’92, W’92. The Muppets, the first Muppets movie in several years, finds the Muppets fighting to save their theater. Todd Lieberman, C’95, and a Mask & Wig alumnus, is a producer on the film.  Mike Karz, C’89, W’89, and Class of 1989 president, produced New Year’s Eve, that shows how the lives of several couples and singles in New York intertwine over the course of New Year’s Eve.

Let’s go to the movies! Read about The Mighty Macs in the Daily Pennsylvanian. Read more about New Year’s Eve and see a video clip of Mike talking about the film here. Read more about Todd Lieberman and why his Muppet cameo was cut from The Muppets.

7.            ENIAC Day, sent February 11, 2011

Did You Know… that Philadelphia City Council has officially declared February 15 as “ENIAC Day,” celebrating the 65th anniversary of the historic computer’s dedication at Penn? The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, or ENIAC, was built to calculate ballistic trajectories for the Army during World War II. Under the direction of John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert of Penn’s Moore School of Electrical Engineering (now the School of Engineering and Applied Science), construction of the 27-ton, 680-square-foot computer began in July 1943 and was announced to the public on February 14, 1946. ENIAC was the first electronic general-purpose computer and its six original programmers were all women.

To read more about ENIAC Day, visit this link. For further reading on ENIAC, go here.

6.            Helping the American Education System Address the Needs of Youth & Industry, from May 31, 2011

Did you know… that the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education and the Penn Institute for Urban Research, co-hosted a two-day conference, “Preparing Today’s Students for Tomorrow’s Jobs in Metropolitan America: The Policy, Practice and Research Issues?”

Leading experts on education and policy-making came to campus to present strategies for innovation and planning to help the American education system address the needs of both youth and industry. In attendance was former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, C’65, who commented on the education system’s failure to train our student to fill positions in the job market. He noted that it takes careful planning to ensure that the education system prepares youth to learn the skills necessary for today’s workforce in order to maintain the US as economic power.  He emphasized this by stating that “the return on investment is to keep America great.”

For more information, visit this site.

5.            Penn’s Pulitzer Prize, from April 21, 2011

Did You Know…that Jennifer Egan, C’85, won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her novel, “A Visit From the Goon Squad?”

Egan, Penn’s first alumna/us to win the Pulitzer for fiction, also won the 2011 National Book Critics Circle award earlier this year. Set mostly in the world of rock music business, the novel’s storyline moves away from a traditional structure by wandering from a one narrative thread; each chapter functions as a self-contained story. However, all of the stories are linked by a common set of characters and themes, that come together throughout the novel.

Egan read at the Kelly Writers House on during Alumni Weekend on May 14, 2011 at 4:00 PM.

For a video excerpt from Egan’s prior engagement at Penn, visit this site.

For more information from the Penn Current, visit this one.

4.            Color a Dinosaur, from July 7, 2011

Did You Know… that paleontologists from the University of Pennsylvania, as part of an international collaboration, believe they may have found a way to see dinosaurs in living color?

Scientists have detected traces of a dark pigment called eumelanin, a form of melanin, in ancient bird fossils through the use of intense X-ray beams. The research was conducted by an international team working with Phillip Manning, an adjunct professor in the School of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Earth and Environmental Science, and Peter Dodson, a professor in both the Department of Earth and Environmental Science and the School of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Animal Biology.

Go here to read the Philadelphia Inquirer story, and here for the Penn News article.

3.            Soccer Playing Robots, from July 29, 2011

Did You Know… that the robots of Penn and Virginia Tech’s Team DARwIn recently won first place in the Humanoid Kid Size competition at the 2011 RoboCup tournament in Istanbul, Turkey? The soccer-playing robots, whose name stands for “Dynamic Anthropomorphic Robot with Intelligence,” were particularly skilled at the throw-in competition where a robot must pick up a soccer ball and throw it back onto the pitch.

Penn Engineering team members who traveled to the competition included Stephen McGill, Seung-Joon Yi (visiting faculty member); Yida Zhang, GEN’12; along with Jordan Brindza, ENG’10 GEN’11; Ashleigh Thomas, EE’13 GEE’13; Spencer Lee, ENG’14; and Nicholas McGill, EE’13 ENG’13 GEN’13, who are undergraduate and graduate students in the General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception (GRASP) Laboratory. For the competition, Penn developed the software framework that provided each robot with artificial intelligence (AI). This AI guided the robots’ walk, vision, and gameplay, among other things.

For more information on Penn’s victory, please see this link.

To watch a video of Penn’s DARwIn robots annihilating the Japanese team in the finals, please go here.

For more information on the RoboCup 2011 Tournament, please see this link.

2.            100th Ivy Win for Bagnoli, from October 27, 2011

Did You Know… that Penn Football’s victory over Yale in October 2011 was Head Coach Al Bagnoli’s 100th Ivy League win?  Only two other coaches have ever reached that number.  With the win the Quakers, (4-2, 3-0 Ivy) now have an 18 game winning streak in the League.

For a re-cap of the Penn – Yale game, see the Penn Athletics and Daily Pennsylvanian articles here and here.

Photo by Andrew Councill, The New York Times

1.            Zeke Emanuel, 13th PIK Professor, from August 11, 2011

Did You Know… that Penn named globally renowned bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel as its 13th Penn Integrates Knowledge professor? Emanuel will be the Diane v.S. Levy and Robert M. Levy University Professor and vice provost for global initiatives.  His appointment will be shared between the Department of Medical Ethics & Health Policy, which he will chair in Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine, and the Department of Health Care Management in the Wharton School.

Emanuel, one of the world’s leading scholars of bioethics and health care, will be the inaugural chair of the Perelman School’s new Department of Medical Ethics & Health Policy. Prior to coming to Penn, he served as the founding chair of the Department of Bioethics at The Clinical Center of the National Institutes of Health since 1997 and was appointed as a special advisor for health policy to the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget from February 2009 to January 2011.

The Penn Integrates Knowledge program was launched by President Gutmann in 2005 as a University-wide initiative to recruit exceptional faculty members whose research and teaching exemplify the integration of knowledge across disciplines and who are jointly appointed between two schools at Penn.

Read the news release  here.

To read a story in the Philadelphia Inquirer, please see this link.

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December 27, 2011 · 9:25 am

Locust Walk Talk: Penn Nursing at the annual Penn–Cornell Luncheon in Rochester

Author: Casey Ryan, C’95

Penn Nursing has a proud 125-year legacy.  Since 1886, nursing education at Penn has transformed the preparation of nurses and the profession of nursing. Many of the early nurses educated at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and other programs truly changed the world. They managed hospitals and brought clean uniforms, order, and dignity to healthcare, changing the way society viewed nurses and, in the process, turning nursing into a respected and sought-after profession. Today’s nursing students build on that robust foundation as they work with world-renowned faculty to generate new knowledge in research and forward advances in clinical care.  These students join approximately 14,000 alumni from the HUP School of Nursing, Penn’s nursing education programs, and the current Penn School of Nursing. Each one of these students and alumni is caring to change the world through their efforts as practitioners, educators, researchers, community leaders, administrators, and policy advocates.

This year for the annual Penn–Cornell Luncheon, the Penn Club of Rochester hosted Dr. Mary Ersek, Associate Director, Center for Integrative Science in Aging and the John A. Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence, and Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. Her presence at the traditional event highlighted our outstanding Nursing School’s Quasquicentennial.  This annual luncheon between the two school’s alumni clubs in Rochester has been going on for over 70 years.  Originally the gathering served as an affair for the two clubs to get together before the Penn-Cornell football game, which was originally played on Thanksgiving. The luncheon, now held the Monday before Thanksgiving, serves as regional institution with the heart of the event being the keynote speaker who hails from hosting alumni club’s school.  Today, the hosting responsibilities alternate between the University alumni clubs, based on whether Penn or Cornell is the home team that year.

A surviving ticket from the 1938 Luncheon.

Dr. Ersek’s address was titled “It is Your Life, Anyway: Healthcare Decision-Making in the context of Serious Illness,” which she delivered as an engaging and encouraging approach to palliative care.  The talk introduced the specialized area of healthcare that is both family-centered and focused on relieving and preventing the suffering of patients to the attendees. Unlike hospice care, palliative medicine is appropriate for patients in all disease stages, including those undergoing treatment for curable illnesses and those living with chronic diseases, as well as patients who are nearing the end of life. This type of care involves addressing physical, intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual needs and to facilitate patient autonomy, access to information and choices.

An illustration from The New Yorker that Dr. Ersek used to show her point

Though a heavy topic, Dr. Ersek delivered a genuine talk about the importance of having choices in one’s treatment, gaining the adequate information about those choices as well as learning that information from an appropriate health care provider, having conversations with both health care provider and family in light of the options, and finally making the decisions and communicating them successfully to all involved. She focused heavily on having the conversation, since this is the most difficult part in the process.  Insightfully, she relayed anecdotes from her nursing students to demonstrate how to broach the subject.  In class, Dr. Ersek would show a clip from 2007’s The Savages featuring Laura Linney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Philip Bosco having the difficult discussion as two children discovering their father’s ideas for care.  The scene is humorously awkward, but in the end provided her students with the means to be open to having this discussion with future patients as well as with their parents and future health care proxies.

Pennsylvanians and Cornellians alike left the luncheon appreciating the field of palliative care. They noted in passing that they need to be open to talk about end of life care before it should be of any concern.  While not talking about it, any insured person will be given all life-sustaining therapies. However, this may not be in the individual’s own needs.  The best time to discuss this topic is while one is still able to establish her or her own definition of quality of life.

The corresponding football program for the surviving luncheon ticket

Dr. Mary Ersek directs the palliative care minor in the School of Nursing and teaches in courses in this program. She also mentors pre- and post-doctoral fellows and students and is the lead author of the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) Geriatric curriculum. Dr. Ersek’s research centers on pain and palliative care in older adults, with an emphasis on residents of nursing homes, including the investigation of the efficacy of a pain self management group for residents and the examination of the effectiveness of a pain management coupled with intensive support and consultation.

Dr. Ersek referenced the New Yorker article, “Letting Go: What should medicine do when it can’t save your life?” by Atul Gawande.  It is a very powerful read, accentuating many of Dr Ersek’s themes and points.

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December 9, 2011 · 3:10 pm

My Ten Penn List: Bookstore Gifts for the Holidays

Author:  Casey Ryan, C’95

I’m assuming that most of you, like me, are in the middle of holiday shopping.  I’m busily trying to get all of my gifts sooner rather than later .  However, I eschew the malls and do most of my shopping on-line.  Usually, I get free shipping on my purchases or I find some good discount codes on Retail Me Not. When my packages arrive, our front desk receptionist will buzz me or e-mail me to let me know and it’s like I’m the one who is receiving the gift as I knock one more name off my long list.

To balance out my on-line purchases, I will venture out into our little neighborhood in West Philly and visit the nice little shopping area along Walnut Street.   There’s Douglas (for Mom), GAP (for my nephew and niece), American Apparel (for my friends) and CVS (for wrapping paper and cards!)  Lest I forget, there’s also the Penn Bookstore.  Luckily for me, my brother and sister-in-law are Proud Penn Alumni (C’99 and GEN’06, respectively) and my folks (including a CGS’97 alumna) still love wearing Penn gear.

Here are my choices for Penn-themed gifts at the bookstore. I’ve including the link to each item since you probably can’t just hop down to campus for a quick purchase.  Though, you can order it on-line and have it mailed to your office.  When your receptionist buzzes you, you can feel as good as I do when the mail comes.

Remember the Penn Bookstore Official Site is a Barnes and Noble site. Many B&N coupons, gift cards and promo codes can be applied to your purchase.

10. Alta Gracia Hoodie for $27.73
There’s nothing like a good hoodie to have around the house for a lazy day of watching movies or snuggling up with a good book.

9. Storm Duds Large Golf Umbrella for $28.98
I love a golf umbrella to keep me dry on a rainy day.  Though I don’t play, I appreciate the cover it provides.

8. Penn Gear Polar Fleece Full Zip Jacket for $33.73
A fleece is a good choice in jackets. It can be warm separately or paired up with a windbreaker or a vest when it’s colder out.

7. Penn Legacy Adjustable Twill Hat for $19.98
I love a good, simple split P hat to wear.  I wear it everywhere – to sporting functions, on road trips and out Holiday shopping when I forgot that I’m avoiding the malls.

6. Penn Men’s Wristwatch with Leather Strap (or Women’s) for $109.98
Keep the time with Penn on your wrist.  Stylish and functional, it keeps in line with Franklin’s appreciation of the most useful and the most ornamental

5. Penn Foam Basketball for $14.98
For a less serious gift, a foam basketball is a great toy for the future Penn student as well as young at heart alumnus or alumna.

4. Penn Business Card Holder for $42.98
Tasteful and reserved, this card holder exhibits Penn Pride in a confident manner.  I know there’s a Princeton joke that I could make here about how orange isn’t reserved.  However, I’ll be nice; it is the holidays.

3. Varsi-Tee Blanket for $124.98
I think that this is a great and different Penn accessory… so much so that I want this! So, Mom or Dad, if you’re reading, I would love to open this up when we exchange presents…

2. Penn Hydro Nalgene Bottle for $32.98
Be green and health-conscience in one fell swoop.  Let everyone at the gym know that you went to Penn.

1. Penn Yikes! Rolled T-Shirt for $14.99
A gift for all budgets, this Penn T-shirt is comfortable and durable.  Choose your favorite color and almost literally wear your Penn Pride on your sleeve.

So, those are my seasonal Penn-related recommendations. I would love to hear other ideas from those of you who have started your holiday shopping early this year.

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November 11, 2011 · 3:06 pm

My Top Penn List: Memories of Homecoming 2011

Author: Casey Ryan, C’95

Homecoming this year was amazing.  The fall weekend was glorious with its bright light blue sky slightly dusted with clouds and the crispy cool air keeping any rain at bay.  The combination of great weather and engaging programming drew record numbers of alumni back home to Penn.  There is my list highlighting some of the incredible events from this past weekend.

10.          Pre-Game Coming Home Tribute: From Penn to Princeton — A Dedication to Lenape Land.

Penn and Princeton reside on Lenape soil and to pay tribute to their ancestors, the Association of Native Alumni and Natives at Penn came together for a touching ceremony honoring their land home.  The attendees found it poignant that this observance was held on the newest use of Lenape land, Penn Park.

9.            77th Annual Alumni Award of Merit Gala

The event to kick-off the Homecoming Weekend festivities, the Gala is the formal hallmark event of Homecoming.   President Amy Gutmann and Board of Trustees Chair, David Cohen, L’81, paid tribute to the following outstanding alumni, classes and club in a black and white game-themed party that accentuated the many years of love and appreciate that these alumni have for Penn.

  • Edward Anderson, C’65, M’69;
  • Susanna Lachs, CW’74, ASC’76;
  • Mae Agnes Pasquariello, CW’53, GRD’85;
  • Roy Vagelos, C’50; and
  • Paul Williams, W’67
  • Calvin Chen, C’97, W’97, Young Alumni Award of Merit
  • Catherine “Kaki” Marshall, CW’45, Creative Spirit Award
  • Class of 1986, Alumni Class Award of Merit
  • Class Award of Merit; Class of 2006, David N. Tyre Class Communications Award
  • PennClub of LA, Alumni Club Award of Merit.

    Festive decor at the Gala.

8.            Alumnus Stefan Fatsis, C’85, Celebrates the Creative Powers of Scrabble.

As Words with Friends takes over everyone smart phones, it’s refreshing to take a moment and recall the tiled game that started our love affair with making words.  Fatsis and follow alumni enjoyed a lively special discussion in celebration of the tenth anniversary release of his bestselling book, Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabble Players.

7.            Alumni Bacchanal/Platt Fifth Anniversary Party

Those in the performing arts at Penn recall the annual Bacchanal, the end of the year costume party, fondly.  Capturing those memories, the Platt Student Performing Arts House invited alumni back to revel in the boisterous Alumni Bacchanal to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Performing Arts’ newest home on campus.

Platt House 5 Years at the Alumni Bacchanal

6.            Free-at-Noon Concert featuring Frank Turner

WXPN’s weekly “Free-at-Noon” concert at World Cafe Live featured Frank Turner. Turner is an English folk/punk singer-songwriter from Meonstoke, Winchester and formally the lead vocalist of post-hardcore band Million Dead. His musical style seems to be counter to his upbringing – educated on a scholarship at Eton College and studied alongside Prince William. Yet, his current directions are now acoustic-based which have critics calling his work “a fearless venture for an artist with something interesting to say.”

For the “Free-at-Noon” concert in its entirety, visit NPR: here.

5.            Feature Film Screening: Thunder Soul Presented by the Penn Alumni Film Festival

The pinnacle of Penn’s newest Homecoming tradition, the Penn Alumni Film Festival, this feature film did not disappoint. Jamie Foxx’s rousing documentary tells the story of Conrad O. Johnson, a music teacher at a predominantly black high school in Houston. Johnson replaced the mundane standards that students of the Kashmere Stage Band were learning to play with contemporary funk, jazz, and original compositions. He not only got their attention and their active participation in class, he changed their lives forever.

A darkened auditorium watching Thunder Soul

4.            Old Guard Brunch

This is the perennial favorite event for those in Alumni Relations and alumni alike.  Our distinguished alumni who have passed their 50th reunion are invited to this buffet brunch.  Our staff is enchanted by the stories of the Woodland Avenue Trolley, Althea Kratz Hottel, the Mungermen, and Rowbottoms, told so vividly by our alumni that they could have happened yesterday.  Fellow alumni are always excited to see and catch up with old friends as welling as making a new one along the way.  The gathering always ends with festive singing and cheering before folks head over to the game.

Our revered alumni enjoying each other’s company

3.            QuakerFest

The weather couldn’t have been better on this perfect fall day.  Music filled College Green and tents for food and tables for groups to meet up dotted Blanche Levy Park.  Partnered with the Penn Alumni Arts Fair, QuakerFest was the place to be to tailgate before kickoff. In time for the game, the Quaker mascot joined the crowd to lead alumni and friends to Franklin Field!

College Green full of Penn Pride

2.            Taste of Penn: A Global Celebration

Taste of Penn is the flagship festival of the Penn Alumni Diversity Alliance. This year’s party was a tour de force celebrating Penn’s cultural diversity – accentuating its global scope.  Complete with a globe centerpiece with all roads leading to Philadelphia, alumni and friends danced to hip-hop, rock, reggae, salsa, and pop as well as enjoying the flavors from these rich cultural identities in savory entrees and refreshing cocktails.

Peruvian courtship dance by Cynthia Paniagua, who the subject of “Soy Andina,” directed by Mitch Teplitsky, W'80, and featured in this Homecoming’s Penn Alumni Film Festival

1.            Penn Football:  Homecoming Game vs. Princeton

We have a saying in Alumni Relations, “Homecoming isn’t just about the game, but it IS about the game.”  This is always the biggest draw for the weekend. Alumni and friends travel from New York, Washington, Boston, and beyond to be back in Franklin Field and cheer on our football team. The Quakers Homecoming victory over the Tigers continues to give Pennsylvania the chance of being Ivy Champs this year.  It was a thrilling match up, but thankfully, a definitive win, which fueled our hope for another Ivy Title.

Below, you can view for yourself the post game  press conference given by head coach Al Bagnoli, wideout Ryan Calvert, C’12, and linebacker Erik Rask, W’12,  held to celebrate the Quaker’s fifth straight win over Princeton.

Thanks to everyone who returned and we hope to see you back on campus for Alumni Weekend 2012, May 11-14!

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November 1, 2011 · 2:40 pm

Locust Walk Talk: A Night in Boston

Author: Casey Ryan, C’95

I had the opportunity to host an Alumni Relations gathering in Boston this October featuring Eric J. Furda, Dean of Admissions.  In conjunction with the Admissions Office’s “Introduction to Penn” program the night prior, Alumni Relations partnered with the dean for a general reception.  Our event was open to all alumni in the Boston area and we were thrilled by the great response.

The Pru Building as seen from Back Bay

In my last Top Penn List post, I alluded to going into more detail about this great evening in Boston. Our room in the Marriott was set up in Penn navy to contract the reds in the carpet.  With a few simple touches, the reception was the subtly Penn themed-background for the evening.

Excited alumni started showing up 15 minutes early and were enthusiastic to engage in conversation with older friends and new acquaintances.  I was delighted to feel the enthusiasm of our Boston alumni and I was happy that two of my colleagues, Cat from Admissions and Brett from Wharton, were present to mingle and join in the exchange.

Event Set Up

As soon as the Dean showed up, he entered the lively conversations, learning what was of interest to our alumni that evening.  I followed him into the room where he was greeted by groups of alumni huddled around in chat.  Energy in the room of the great, engaging discussions that folks were having was so impressive.

Almost apologetically, Eric asked for everyone’s attention to give an update on the Admissions process as well as the state of the student body.  The rapt crowd appreciated the insider’s view of life at Penn and eagerly awaited the right time to ask their questions.  Folks were inquisitive and ask direct questions.  The Dean answered the queries with aplomb and encouraged the interaction.  The allotted time for remarks was doubled and almost tripled as alumni wanted to know more.

The energy of the room

After Eric spoke, I was able to slip into the event.  I had the rare opportunity to be an alumnus at an event that I just happened to be running.  In working behind the scene, I don’t get to experience the impact of these events.  However I was able to find two classmates: Clé, a fellow reunion volunteer, and Ari, one of my Class’s Vice Presidents.  We had a wonderful time catching up.

Both we’re candid about the event.  They told me how impressed they were at the Dean’s message and earnest his work is.  Also, they were very interested in staying updated on the Dean’s mission.  I was encouraged that they will be at later events.  It was great to see them and we made plans for one of the next times I’m up in Boston.

The Dean chatting with alumni

I know why our alumni events are so important – to inform us about Penn, to provide access to our thought leaders and to reconnect with our Penn friends.  Now, I have a greater appreciation for our work since having the quick occasion to see an event like this from the alumni side and enjoying its great energy.

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October 14, 2011 · 9:19 am

My Top Penn List: The Class of 95’s Top Singles

Author: Casey Ryan, C’95

I jetted up to Boston for an alumni event with Eric Furda this Monday. While that event will be a future Locust Walk Talk entry, some of the particulars of the day inspired me to pursue a nostalgic topic for my Top Penn list today.

I had scheduled 6:05am flight to Boston. I rushed to the gate and learned there was a major delay with the flight. While I was waiting in line at the counter to learn about the delay’s impact on my travel I saw a fellow classmate and reunion planning committee member, Christine, heading down to her gate for an early morning flight too. We said “Hi” and waved, like two ship passing the night.

While finally en route, I cursorily scanned the invite list, so I didn’t notice that surprised that laid in store for me. Finally in town and at the Boston Marriott Copley Place, I set up the event and I remained oblivious to my future good fortune. As I was checking in attendees, someone called my name and I knew that she wasn’t reading my name tag. It was one of my Class’s Vice Presidents, Ari. We caught up a little as I checked her in and directed her into the reception.

Before the Dean arrived, I looked up and saw yet another classmate. I shared with Clé, who was on the reunion planning committee also, that I saw Christine in the morning. We also had a nice moment to chat before the program started and I was generally energized by seeing three of my classmates unexpectedly that day.

At the end of the program, I was able to chat a little longer with my classmates and we all were pleased about our very mini-reunion. Musing on our last quinquennial reunion, we all had remembered how good the song list was. I know from my days in Classes and Reunions how diligently our student volunteers, College House Alumni Ambassadors (CHAA) , worked to come of with a good list of songs for our DJ to use to plan the reunion’s music. I remember in one meeting that we, the committee, suggested that the CHAA students look up the top singles from our last year at Penn. That would be a great source of songs that would be evocative of our senior year. They did it and it brought us back to 1995.

Reminiscent from seeing my classmates, I looked up the 10 Billboard Hot 100 songs for our last year at Penn. This list ranks the best-performing singles in the United States on a weekly basis. Ending with the best performing single of our senior week, I give you the last Ten Hot 100 number-one singles for the Class of 1995.

10. “Bump n’ Grind,” R. Kelly

9. “The Sign,” by Ace of Base first hit the best single list on March 12, 1994, and ran for four weeks until R. Kelly dethroned it.  After a month of “Bump n’ Grind,” “The Sign” came back an bumped R. Kelly from the number-one position and earned the top spot in time for the Class of 1994’s senior week.

8. “I Swear,” All-4-One held on for eleven weeks as number one during the summer before our senior year.

7. “Stay (I Missed You),” Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories

6. “I’ll Make Love to You,” Boyz II Men ruled the airwaves for 14 weeks, defining our fall semester.

5. “On Bended Knee,” Boyz II Men

4. “Here Comes the Hotstepper” Ini Kamoze

4a. “On Bended Knee,” Boyz II Men took a break for two weeks for “Here Comes the Hotstepper” and resurged back on the list. Our senior year was the year of Boyz II Men; their two singles were on the list for a total of 17 weeks!

3. “Creep,” TLC

2. “Take a Bow” Madonna, and, if you know me, you know that I’m very happy to include her!

As the class of 1995 donned its graduation robes and lined up in Superblock (now known as Hamilton Village), the Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of the day was:

1. “This Is How We Do It” Montell Jordan, which is a great song for the Class of 1995, and this is the song that heralded us onto College Green as we marched in the parade for our 15th reunion.

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