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May
4, 2000
CAMPUS BUZZ BY SANDY SMITH The CD of the decade: Well, make that the CD of the half decade. The University Wind Ensemble’s first-ever CD recording took almost that long to make. Released last month, the CD took its time because everyone involved wanted to be sure to get it right, said Director Ricardo Averbach. That meant spending an entire semester rehearsing a single piece, then schlepping to Swarthmore College’s Lang Hall for the recording sessions because Irvine Auditorium was not up to acoustical snuff at the time. It was a grueling process for all concerned: “It took us three hours to record a six-minute piece,” Averbach said. “One student freaked out during the recording — he couldn’t handle the nervous tension.” The final result, however, is worth the wait — and available in the Penn Bookstore’s CD section. Globetrotter: And speaking of our charismatic conductor: Averbach will be spending part of his summer in Sofia, where he will conduct the National Opera of Bulgaria in a performance of Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” on June 4. Way to teach!: President Rodin put up the money, and the students responded. The committee responsible for handing out the new Penn Prize for Excellence in Teaching by Graduate Students received nominations for more than 130 outstanding graduate teaching assistants. It was a tough job, but the committee finally named 10 winners: Aaron Bloomfield, computer and information science; Christopher Burrows, mathematics; Jeffrey Casello, systems engineering; Gregory Flaxman, comparative literature and literary theory; Tamar Kaplan, history; Eric Kondratieff, ancient history; Jason Parsley, mathematics; Stacey Philbrick, political science; Edward Weinstein, pharmacological sciences; and Gordon Wong, chemical engineering. The winners, who each received a $500 cash prize, were honored at an April 27 reception. Safe to learn: Registration is now under way for the fall Penn Public Safety Institute, which will run on Wednesday evenings from Oct. 4 through Dec. 6. In addition to learning about University Police operations, participants will also learn about the criminal justice system, campus security technology, fire and occupational safety, victim support, and domestic violence. Enrollment is limited to 20. Penn students, faculty, staff and neighbors are invited to enroll. To apply, visit www.upenn.edu/police/institute.htm on the Web or call 215-898-9003.
Penn in ink: Working 9 to 5? Increasingly, working 5 to 9 is more like it, as commuters take to the roads earlier to get to work. In an April 19 New York Times article on the expanding rush hour, Professor of Sociology Jerry Jacobs noted that this phenomenon also shows that the promise of telecommuting remains just that. “We’ve been waiting for the effects of telecommuting to show up, but it seems that we are still waiting,” he said. What's the buzz? Tell us what's happening! Call us at 215-898-1426, send e-mail to current@ pobox.upenn.edu or drop a line to the Current at 200 Sansom East/6106.
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