March 28, 2002

• Crime stopper
  An advisor to Philadelphia's top cop and to the wife of Britain's prime minister, Lawrence Sherman knows something about how to stop crime before it happens.

• Four new ways to get your life in shape
• A Palm Pilot for the Bard
• First chief privacy officer named

• Research: Neutrino discovery makes a Top 10 list
• Student Spotlight: Grad-student parents form a playgroup
• Staff Q&A: Debra Goldader's had stars in her eyes since she was a kid. So can you.

• Ask Benny: “We Lost” sculpture not linked to Vietnam
• Genes mapped at warp speed
• Take a bow
• Courses to use in your career
• Mommy’s Light helps a grieving family create their own ritual
• Out and About: Arboretum's flower show springs to life

• Event Listings
• Editor's Pick: Invasion of the giant bugs
• Conference Call: A k’atun passes
• People's choice: Philly reads at College and Bennett Halls

• News Briefs
• Bookquick from the University Press
• Quoted Recently
• At work with...Gates Rhodes
• Campus Buzz

Office of University Communications home page

ASK BENNY

“We Lost” sculpture not linked to Vietnam

Illustration by Bo Brown

Dear Benny,
Where is the sculpture “We Lost,” which was moved from Locust Walk and 36th Street?
—Vietnam Vet

Dear Veteran,
“We Lost” was removed from its site of nearly 25 years (where “Love” now stands) in the summer of 1999 for restoration.

The restoration is now complete, and Lee Swisher in the Office of the University Architect assures me that it will return to campus soon, once a site is found for it.

Despite its title, “We Lost” was not a commentary on or memorial to the Vietnam War. Sculptor Tony Smith gave the sculpture its name as a tribute to another project he abandoned when he and his fabricator could not solve a design problem. David Lindquist’s “Peace Sign” in front of Van Pelt-Dietrich Library, a popular spot for campus speeches and memorials, was erected in response to a 1970 campus protest against the Vietnam War.

Dear Benny,
My physician is part of a practice that has canceled its contract with my HMO. I would like to continue seeing my doctor, which means I must switch plans to do so before Open Enrollment begins. May I do this?
—Happy With My Doc

Dear Happy,
You may not switch health plans prior to Open Enrollment unless you have a qualifying life event. Your physician’s contract cancellation is not a qualifying life event.

Human Resources tells me that the IRS requires employees to keep the choices they make during Open Enrollment for the entire plan year (July 1 to June 30) unless they get married or divorced, begin or end a domestic partnership, become a parent through birth or adoption, lose a dependent, or lose or gain coverage due to changes in employment status (either theirs or their spouse/partner’s) or due to relocation by them or a dependent. You must contact the Penn Benefits Center at 1-888-PENN-BEN within 30 days of the event to make changes in your coverage.

Got a question for Benny? Send it to the Current, 200 Sansom Place East, 3600 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19104-6106, e-mail it to current@pobox.upenn.edu or call 215-898-1423.