ACADEMIC PLANNING Charting the Next Course(s) “Universities don’t change their intrinsic value systems and intrinsic nature lightly or overnight—nor should they,” Provost Robert Barchi Gr’72 M’72 GM’73 was saying. But, he added, “they do have as one of their charges pushing the edges of knowledge, and imparting that new knowledge to our students and to the community that we serve. Continued...

RESEARCH Bigger Baby, Heavier Paycheck A slender physique and a heftier paycheck are often thought to go hand in hand, making up one more facet of workplace discrimination. But while previous studies have confirmed a positive correlation between body weight and earnings, Penn researchers, using new techniques, have found that a leg up in the job market comes not from lower adult weight but from higher birth weight. Continued...

RESEARCH Nintendo, Limp Bizkit, and … God Dr. Ram Cnaan, associate professor in the School of Social Work, was well aware of the historically important role of religion in the United States. He knew that a good 50 percent of American adults belong to a congregation (compared with, say, England, where the rate is less than 20 percent). He had also read de Tocqueville; studied the role of faith-based social services; and, as a foreigner, noticed things that a native might not. Continued...

WEST PHILADELPHIA The Sweet Taste of (Socially Conscious) Success “Coming up with a concept is easy,” says John Doyle. “Figuring out how to do it is something else entirely.” Continued...

Photo by Gina Simoncini

INTERVIEW An Apple a Day Keeps the Writers Block Away Max Apple is the author of six books, including The Oranging of America and Other Stories (1976), I Love Gootie: My Grandmother’s Story (1998) and Roommates: My Grandfather’s Story (1994), as well as the screenplay for the 1995 film Roommates. Continued...

UNIVERSITY HISTORY On the Dreaded Day, an Elusive Burd Visits the Electricity Room The time: April 28, 1765. The place: somewhere in or near the College of Philadelphia. A young student named Edward Burd is writing an overdue letter to his sister Sarah … Continued...

EXHIBITION Finds on Film As part of the festivities surrounding the official opening of its new Mainwaring Wing for storage and study and the adjacent Stoner Courtyard in May (see page 34), the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology mounted an exhibition of photographs from the nearly 400 field projects it has undertaken since its founding in 1887. Continued...

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