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A College House in Every Dorm
Starting next September, Penn's undergraduate residential system will undergo a major overhaul, one that will affect virtually every aspect of dormitory life. The dorms themselves will be transformed into 12 residential communities, known by the familar term "college houses," which the authors of the recently-released 21st Century College House plan believe will integrate "students' residential, intellectual, cultural, social, and recreational life at Penn." Continued...

Janzen Takes 1997 Kyoto Prize, Gives to Nature
Dr. Daniel Janzen, professor of biology, has been awarded the 1997 Kyoto Prize in basic research, one of Japan's three most highly-valued private awards for lifetime achievement. The award, which includes a cash prize of 50 million yen, or approximately $430,000, recognizes his contributions to the understanding and preservation of tropical biodiversity, particularly in Costa Rica. Continued...

Wash Up or I Won't Say 'Ahhh'
Dr. Maryanne McGuckin, GEd'79, GrD'81, senior researcher at the University Medical Center, has some advice for patients who think their doctors or nurses may not have washed their hands: Ask them to wash up. Over the course of a six-week program, McGuckin and her colleagues had 441 patients in four New Jersey hospitals ask their health-care workers if they had washed their hands -- and, if not, to request that they do so. As a result, she was able to increase the total number of hand-washings in a 24-hour shift from two to 12, which translates to a 34 percent increase. Continued...

An Upstart Emperor of Ice Cream
Jeremy Kraus, W'98, may not have his bachelor's degree yet, but he has a product, a goal, an enemy, and a strategy -- not to mention a business that is expected to take in about a million dollars next year. The product is Jeremy's Microbatch Ice Creams -- a luscious, expensive, high-fat indulgence that comes in three flavors and can be found at some 350 outlets in the mid-Atlantic area. Continued...

Welfare Reform: Flawed Process, Faulty Policy
To give a sense of just how charged and distorted last year's welfare-reform debates sometimes got, Dr. Mary Jo Bane cited two moments in the political discourse. In one, a Republican Congressman held up a picture of an alligator from the Florida Everglades that carried the warning, "Do not feed." In another, a Democratic lawmaker likened Republicans to genocidal Nazis. Continued...

Getting Involved in a Museum of Ideas
Dr. Richard Beeman, professor of history, figures he has taught several thousand students about the Constitution over the past 29 years. But the opportunity to reach millions more -- and thus "have an impact on a subject I care about and think is important to the history of America" -- was something he couldn't pass up.
   As the first senior visiting fellow for the to-be-built National Constitution Center, he will play a key role in the fledgling academic partnership between it and the University. Groundbreaking on Philadelphia's Independence Mall is expected to take place on Constitution Day (September 17) in the year 2000.Continued...

In Eggi's Village, Harmony Rules by Consensus
For the Minangkabau people of West Sumatra, Indonesia, says Dr. Peggy Reeves Sanday, harmony "is as important as power is to us."
   During a series of visits spanning 16 years, Sanday, professor of anthropology, observed the largest and most modern matrilineal society in the world. It was, she found, notable for its egalitarian, non-violent nature. Continued...

Bioinformatics, Anyone
The University has established a Center for Bioinformatics, based on a new discipline that provides a scientific structure for the collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the huge quantities of data being generated from large-scale biology projects throughout the world. Continued...

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Copyright 1997 The Pennsylvania Gazette Last modified 11/10/97