|
|
|
June
1, 2000
CAMPUS BUZZ BY SANDY SMITH Baby, you haven’t changed: Now this was a staff recognition day. For several weeks, School of Nursing faculty and staff tried to match 40 of their colleagues with their baby pictures. The crowd at the school’s year-end party and staff recognition awards program on May 16 found out which face went with which name. Nobody correctly identified all 40 faces, and almost nobody correctly guessed Dean Norma Lang’s baby photo — most had her matched with Associate Professor of Nursing Anne Keane’s pic, according to Nursing School Office Manager Dawn Ryburn. But if you ever doubted that it’s the secretaries who really know who’s who, the two people who submitted the most correct guesses (32 each) were both administrative assistants: Bonita Green and Linda Turner. Staffers also voted for the best baby pictures in four categories. Margaret Smith, administrative assistant in the school’s development office, won the Most Beautiful prize — “It took me 58 years to win it,” she quipped. Professor of Nursing and Perinatal Nursing Program Director Susan Gennaro won the Funniest Expression voting “by a landslide,” said Ryburn. Associate Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Joseph Henderson won Most Likely to Succeed, and Division of Foundational Sciences and Health Systems Vice Chair Carol Germaine was voted Destined to Become a Nurse. Commencement this ’n’ that: For the first time ever, the audience in the Franklin Field got a close-up view of the entire Commencement ceremony, including the parade through campus, thanks to Jumbotron screens on both sides of the stage. The screens also provided closed captioning of the event for the hearing-impaired — or tried to. The people responsible for typing the captions couldn’t keep up with the speakers. ...The most popular honorary degree recipient, judging from the crowd’s enthusiastic response, was Wynton Marsalis. The Pulitzer Prize-winning jazz and classical musician also appeared to be the most excited of the recipients; a few observers said that Marsalis was trying his hardest not to break out in an ear-to-ear grin as his degree citation was read. He did pump his diploma in the air, though, as he went back to his seat. ...One graduate this year made a political statement when he marched into Commencement wearing an Irish flag on his back and posters reading “Disband RUC” — the Royal Ulster Constabulary, Northern Ireland’s police force — on his mortarboard. Was he inspired by Seamus Heaney’s appearance? ...Some Annenbergers at the ASC graduation wondered whether Trustees Walter and Leonore Annenberg would not have liked the politics of graduation speaker Michael Moore. But we’re sure they would have appreciated his effort to be politic: He had nothing but praise in his speech for TV Guide, which Walter founded but no longer owns. “It was the first magazine I ever read, I loved it as a kid, and [it] did give our show [“The Awful Truth,” on the Bravo cable network] a 10 last year and a 10 the year before,” 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.
|
