Local hero Fortunately for his neighbors — and his city — Pedro Ramos hasn’t forgotten where he came from. And as president of the Board of Public Education, he’s in the thick of the fight over the future of Philadelphia’s public schools. HIV prevention goes to the barrio Student spotlight: Thouron Scholar builds a strong foundation Staff Q&A: Willie Glymph looks back at 35 years on the road for Penn Research: How the brain divides its labors Famous former inmate blasts prison system Asians emerge High anxiety? New center can help Six to receive honorary degrees Sing-along time Current gets gold medals Hip-hop meets Ivy League For What It's Worth: And now, managed learning! Academic All-Ivies Event Listings Editor's Pick What's on WXPN A primer for tomorrow's working women Learn the moves from the champs Readers' Best News Briefs Bookquick Quoted Recently Awards & Honors Appointments Conference Call Campus Buzz

April 20, 2000 NEWS BRIEFS Making the grade In U.S. News & World Report’s April 10 rankings of graduate schools, the University of Pennsylvania had some gains and some losses; in other areas, it held steady. Wharton dropped from a number 2 ranking to 3 (nine Wharton departments rated, including a top ranking in Finance); the Law School held steady at 12, as did the School of Medicine at 3; GSE leaped from 20 to 11; Nursing held steady at 2 and Health Services Administration stayed at 4; Social Work jumped from 18 to 11; the Vet School moved up from 3 to 2. Other top-10 rankings include Architecture and Economics, both at 9. Growing older America needs to get ready for a future in which more people will live longer lives, and more gerontological research is needed to prepare for that time, according to Robert Butler. The president of the International Longevity Center and author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book “Why Survive? Being Old in America” delivered this message at a School of Nursing lecture honoring Neville Strumpf, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, who has been named Edith Clemmer Steinbright Professor of Gerontology. In his talk, Butler surveyed the history of aging in America and predicted that future increases in life expectancy will reshape the way people work, socialize, retire and deal with the end of life. Creeley reads Poet Robert Creeley writes verse because it intrigues him. “It’s delightful that something so simple and so pleasurable should gain me distinction,” he said to a packed Kelly Writers House crowd April 10. The 73-year-old Buffalo native, the second of this year’s three Kelly Writers House Fellows, read a variety of poems from his work, including a poem written in the style of a hip-hop track. He also told the audience that he likes poems where “the patterns can get you moving.”