Category Archives: Uncategorized

April 11, 2012 · 2:04 pm

Teach Me How To Dougie

Author: Liz Pinnie

Yesterday I scurried through my Sweeten closing tasks (close windows, turn lights off, give self a pat on the back) in an effort to leave a few minutes early. Why the hustle? Because I wanted tickets to see First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden who are speaking at Penn today! Now, there are a lot of fantastic things happening on Penn’s campus, and I recently haven’t been making the time to attend them because 1. I just moved into a new place and 2. I just moved into a new place. However, for Michelle (am I allowed to call her that? I feel like she’d be cool with a first name basis thing?), I am throwing caution (and laundry) to the wind and heading out to see her speak. The reasons are two-fold.

One:

To me, Michelle Obama is a fantastic role model for the modern woman. She is an intelligent, strong, and graceful woman, and I am delighted that she is representing our nation as First Lady. Additionally, that lady can move! Please see below video:

Two:

I am thrilled about the initiative that Michelle Obama and Jill Biden are at Penn to present. Both women have made a commitment to support our troops and their families through “Joining Forces”. Joining Forces works to provide much needed support to the men, women, and families who make sacrifices every day in service to our country. Today Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden come to Penn to speak about one of the initiatives of Joining Forces, which is a focus on education and treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury. According to White House data, PTSD and TBI affect approximately one in six of our veterans. Though they are life altering disorders, they often go undiagnosed or untreated. Today in a presentation in conjunction with Penn Nursing, First Lady Obama and Dr. Jill Biden will “announce a major initiative by more than 150 of America’s leading nursing organizations and more than 450 nursing schools in 50 states and territories to ensure our nation’s nurses are prepared to help meet the unique health needs of service members, veterans, and their families”.

I cannot wait to hear about this initiative, and to see a truly inspiring woman speak.

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Filed under Campus Life, Events, Historical, Liz P., Uncategorized, Video, Videos

April 10, 2012 · 9:20 am

RoboCup – Soccer Not Cyborg

Author: Lisa Marie Patzer

During a recent Penn Alumni event, I had the opportunity to see Dr. Dan Lee and three Penn engineering students demonstrate RoboCup. One of Penn’s RoboCup teams, the UPennalizers, describes RoboCup as “an international robotics competition that draws teams from all over the world to build and program robots that play soccer. The overarching aim of the competition is to have, by the mid 21st Century, a team of eleven autonomous robots that will beat the human soccer world champions.” Dr. Lee and the students demonstrated how the robots work using two of the Penn RoboCup players.

RoboCup Team Players

Through the use of sensors that can detect color and distance, dynamic motion that allows the robots to mimic basic human movement and advanced computational power, these cute plastic machines can play soccer independent of human control.

RoboCup player rests after the demonstration.

Penn Engineering has been participating in RoboCup games since the late 1990’s and has traveled throughout the United States as well as internationally to Istanbul, Graz, and Singapore. Team DARwIn, a collaborative effort between Penn and Virginia Tech, won first place in the Humanoid Kid Size competition at the 2011 RoboCup tournament in Istanbul, Turkey.

Team DARwIn

For more information about RoboCup and to see videos of them playing, visit their website!

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Filed under Events, Lisa Marie Patzer, Photos, Uncategorized

April 5, 2012 · 1:16 pm

Two Penn Alumni Take Fitness to a New Level

Author: Stephanie Yee, C’08

A new fitness iPhone app developed by two Penn alums was released last week. Fitocracy started out as just a “what if” for Penn alumni Brian Wang (C’08) and Richard Talens (W’09). Soon it became a website, and now it has taken the Apple world by storm. Fitocracy helps you track your workouts, improve your fitness, and compete against your friends. Penn students and alumni tend to be fit, healthy, and competitive, so the Fitocracy website and app are a perfect fit for the Penn community. I started using Fitocracy a few months ago. I don’t have an iPhone, so I use their user-friendly mobile site to add my workouts. I am inspired by my classmates’ creativity and innovative product every time I enter a new workout. So far, I am only on Level 10 (the top of the leaderboard is at Level 41…) I am hoping to level up quickly in the next few months while I am training for an 8K, 10-miler, and half marathon. Sign up for Fitocracy here (for free!) to begin enjoying this awesome new product.

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April 2, 2012 · 12:56 pm

Continuing Education for Alumni: Tiesto…?

Author: Leigh Ann P.

On most days when I arrive at Sweeten Alumni House in the early morning hours, it is serenely quiet and peaceful on campus. I can spend some time appreciating the fact that I work on this beautiful college campus in the middle of a major urban city. The merry squirrels dart dangerously close around my feet, having grown accustomed to a life of hand-feeding by kind, unsuspecting humans. Sometimes all I can hear at that hour are my own footsteps on Locust Walk. That is, when I wear my super-loud boots.

But most mornings are not Spring Fling ticket-distribution day.

My colleagues and I have seen signs, banners and sidewalk chalk for a few weeks advertising “Tiesto,” and by our powers combined, we deduced that he/she/they/it was/were for Spring Fling. I like to think that working at a college keeps me young and hip, but this is a dirty lie. (Do the kids still say “spaz?”) I have no clue who or what Tiesto is. It makes me feel even older knowning that a couple of years ago when Snoop Dogg was the Spring Fling headliner, it was the students who didn’t know who he was. After all, the incoming students of the Class of 2016 were born after “What’s My Name?” was released.

So thanks to the sleuthing of one N. Elizabeth Pinnie, we have learned that Tiesto is a Dutch trance DJ, and Penn students are willing to camp out on a weeknight for the chance to see him perform live, even sleep on the steps of Sweeten as my fellow Sweeteners are forced to step on their blankets and bags of Doritos just to make it through the front door.

Unfortunately for the students, they’ll have to wait until April 13th for their Tiesto dreams to become reality. You, on the other hand, can enjoy his jams right now!

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Filed under Campus Life, Leigh Ann P., Locust Walk Talk, Squirrels, The Sweeten Life, Traditions, Uncategorized, View from Sweeten

March 23, 2012 · 3:44 pm

Calling Young Alumni in New York City

Author: Drew Feith-Tye Asia, C’09

Join your fellow young alumni tonight at the fabulous Pranna, one of New York’s hottest nightclubs (79 Madison @28th Street). Alumni from the classes of 1997-2011 are invited to this 21+ event featuring dancing, a dj and open bar from 10 PM to 2 AM (cash bar after 2). Cost is $70 online or $80 at the door. Register now!

From yPenn in LA!

Need more incentive? Just check this place out…

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Filed under Drew A., Uncategorized, y-Penn

March 21, 2012 · 6:20 pm

Springtime in University City

Author: Kelly O’Connor

Though it has felt like it for weeks now, it is officially spring. Time for tank tops, flip flops, and Rita’s Water Ice! But don’t let this gorgeous weather fool you, the iPhone is calling for some wet weather and cooler temperatures this weekend, so get out and enjoy campus while you can…

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Tagged as Spring

February 28, 2012 · 4:33 pm

Preserving the Cinematic Experience

Author: Lisa Marie Patzer

The Academy Award Ceremony on Sunday has stirred discussion around the importance of watching cinema on the big screen. This is in part a self-preserving strategy by the movie industry, concerned with the fall in movie ticket sales and their dwindling budgets, but it also points to the idea that the experience of watching a movie in a theater is inherently different than watching it on a computer, a TV or iPad. The significance of the shift from watching cinema in the theater to the living room, airplane, and anywhere you can take a mobile device, has been an ongoing area of research and debate among cinema scholars. It is a subject that brings up questions of ideal spectatorship, visual and auditory immersion, and audience participation. Obviously, this is a topic too vast for me to tackle in what is supposed to a pithy blog post. So rather than try and summarize an entire body of research, I will bring it back to my own experience.

Last week I attended the first screening of the Penn Humanities Forum film series “Adaptations” and was reminded of why I love to watch cinema in a theater. The film was Jean-Luc Godard’s 1963 Contempt, projected from a 35mm print in the unusually wide Cinemascope aspect ratio.

Contempt Poster from Screening

As described in the program, “Contempt (Le Mépris) stars Michel Piccoli as a screenwriter torn between the demands of a proud European filmmaker (played by legendary director Fritz Lang), the crude and arrogant American producer (Jack Palance), and his disillusioned wife Camille (Brigitte Bardot), as he attempts to doctor the script for a new film version of The Odyssey.” The film, typical of Godard’s style, was layered with commentary and innuendo, making the narrative at times inaccessible and difficult to watch. And for all of these qualities of the film, I was thrilled to be sitting in a seat, surrounded by other viewers.

Together we were awed by the rare chance to see a 35mm film in Cinemascope format, with the scratches, hairs and depth of resolution that came with it. And when Fritz Lang referred to the Cinemascope as not ideal for shooting a story but better suited for showing snakes and funerals, the audience had a level of appreciation that would not be possible on a small screen. And in those moments when I felt completely and utterly bored, restless, aching to get up out of my seat, the presence of the others kept me there. Sure, I could have stood up and walked out, but the thought of disturbing a room full of attentive people who seemed stronger than I, kept me in my seat and glued to the image on the screen. To be completely honest, I don’t think I would have made it through the entire film if I were watching it on Netflix.

I embrace new technology and feel the film industry needs to adjust to changes in models of viewership, however, I do feel there is something unique and special about theatrical screenings that needs to be preserved. I am grateful to the Penn Humanities Forum, the Cinema Studies Program at Penn and other advocates of cinema for doing so.

There are three additional screenings in the Film Series “Adaptations”

All films begin at 7:00pm
Ibrahim Theater @ International House, 3701 Chestnut Street
Registration for films is not required.

29 February
Adaptation, Spike Jonze (2002)
Intro and Discussion: Timothy Corrigan, English and Cinema Studies, Penn

21 March
Le Million, René Clair (1931)
Intro and Discussion: Carolyn Abbate, Music, Penn

28 March
Day and Night
The Green Wave
Jack Smith Tumbling
Another Occupation
Seeking The Monkey King
Ken Jacobs (2010-2011)
Intro and Discussion: Charles Bernstein, English, Penn
and Ken Jacobs, Filmmaker

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Filed under Film, Lisa Marie Patzer, The Arts, The Arts at Penn, Uncategorized

February 20, 2012 · 7:09 pm

Happy President’s Day!

Author: Aimee LaBrie

I didn’t realize until today that the 9th United States President, Mr. William Henry Harrison, was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. Sadly, he only held office for 32 days, before falling victim to complications from pnemonia.

Here are five other surprising facts about this distinguished alumnus:

1. At age 68 during the time of his inauguration, he was the oldest president elected into office until Ronald Reagan’s election in 1980.

2. He was also the last president to be born before the United States Declaration of Independence was written.

3. His inaugural address was the longest and the coldest in history–lasting nearly two hours in the bitter March wind (could this have been why he died of pnemonia one month later)?

4.Last President born as a British subject, before American independence.

5. His grandson, Benjamin Harrison, was the 23th President of the United States.

For more interesting info about President W. Harrison’s campaign against Van Buren and ultimate election, courtesy of the History Channel:

http://www.history.com/flash/VideoPlayer.swf?vid=6031377701

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Filed under Academics, Aimee L., Historical, Uncategorized

Tagged as President's Day

February 16, 2012 · 3:40 pm

The Locust Walk Experience

Author: Jonathan Cousins, SEAS ’14

One of the most iconic locations on Penn’s campus is Locust Walk, the bustling, beautiful, tree-lined central pathway through campus. Stretching from 34^th to 40^th, every Penn student has dozens if not hundreds of trips down this path. During the winter, lit globes fill the trees, and add a spot of light during the cold winter nights. But, there is another side to Locust, one that only shows itself in the middle of the day, during the prime walking hours. Fliers. The ultimate elevator pitch, various campus groups attempt to entice students into taking their sheet of paper, and ultimately attending their show or concert. The only problem is, most people don’t want anything to do with the fliers. Students have been known to use various tactics to avoid the sales pitches, from pretending to absorbed in their iPods and cell phones to just plain walking with their heads down.

Early on during my Penn career, I experience phenomenon, and it changed Locust Walk for me. Suddenly, I had to make a tradeoff – take the scenic walk and deal with the fliers, or walk down Walnut and avoid it entirely? Fortunately, as an engineering student who lived in Hill and then Sansom West, my route to the Engineering Quad rarely required me to take this pathway. This was a relief, because I found the constant calls for attention to be on the annoying side, while at the same time feeling bad ignoring someone who is working hard to represent their event.

So, imagine how I felt when suddenly. Red and Blue Crew decided to sell Princeton basketball tickets on Locust Walk. As a prominent member of the Crew, I signed up to do my share of shifts, and immediately I was thrust onto the other side. Now, I was the one yelling my pitch across the Walk, hoping people would notice and take action. It was during this process that I discovered something: I truly enjoyed it. Every time someone came up to buy a ticket, or told me that they already had one, I knew one more person was hooked on Penn basketball. I got to really experience what the buzz on campus was like for that game, and it was exciting! And it also paid off in the end, as the Princeton game ended up drawing over 600 students.

Even more fun was the week leading up to the Harvard game, where we were giving tickets away. While other tables were desperately recruiting walkers, we had people coming up to us without provocation to ask about the free tickets. Overnight, the Harvard game became the place to be on a Friday night, and we drew 1,800 students – the largest number who attended in years! So now whenever I take a stroll down Locust Walk and see people yelling about their group, I know how it feels. My saying “no” will have little to no effect on them, because that’s not what they are waiting for. They are waiting for a chance to connect with people who are excited about the same things as them, and it is this network of connections that makes Locust Walk, even at its loudest in the middle of the day, a beautiful place.

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Filed under Campus Life, Jonathan C., Student Perspective, Uncategorized

February 14, 2012 · 3:48 pm

LOVE, by Robert Indiana

Author: Lisa Marie Patzer

Today is Valentine’s Day, and being highly aware of the controversy surrounding this holiday, I am going to cleverly avoid talking directly about the notion of celebrating romantic love and instead write about one of the most famous works of art at the University of Pennsylvania.

LOVE, by Robert Indiana, University of Pennsylvania

LOVE, gifted by Jeffrey and Sivia Loriato to the University in 1998, was installed on Locust Walk across from Sweeten Alumni House. LOVE is a sculpture by American artist Robert Indiana (born Robert Clark) and is one of several variations of the sculpture Indiana created between 1966 and 1998. The image was originally designed as a Christmas card (I realize I’m stretching the Valentine’s Day connection) for the Museum of Modern Art in 1965.

In the book Artists and Prints: Masterworks from The Museum of Modern Art, Judith Hecker states, “Few Pop images are more widely recognized than Indiana’s LOVE. Originally designed as a Christmas card commissioned by The Museum of Modern Art in 1965, LOVE has appeared in prints, paintings, sculptures, banners, rings, tapestries, and stamps. Full of erotic, religious, autobiographical, and political underpinnings—especially when it was co-opted as an emblem of 1960s idealism—LOVE is both accessible and complex in meaning. In printed works, Indiana has rendered LOVE in a variety of colors, compositions, and techniques. He even translated it into Hebrew for a print and a sculpture at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.” (166)

The original sculpture was made of steel and has been on exhibit at the Indianapolis Museum of Art since 1970.