July 17, 2003
NEWS BRIEFS
New Loft on campus
The former bank space at 36th and Walnut streets is going casual. Ann Taylor Loft, a retailer offering casual women’s clothing for the twentysomething crowd, will open on the street floor of the West Philadelphia Title and Trust buildings later this fall. “We think Ann Taylor Loft will help us attract other retail options to the area,” said Omar Blaik, senior vice president for facilities and real estate services. Facilities Services has also reached a deal that will bring a Marathon Grill to campus in the space next to the Bridge cinema at 40th and Walnut next spring.
Much safer now
Two leading campus-safety activists have honored the University for improvements in its Public Safety Department. Penn is one of three recipients of this year’s Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Award, presented annually by Howard and Connie Clery in honor of their daughter, who was murdered in her Lehigh University dorm room in 1986 by a fellow student. “We wanted to honor the University of Pennsylvania for its innovative technological programs as well as its campus and community patrols,” said Howard Clery. The Clerys founded Security on Campus Inc. in 1987 to raise awareness of campus safety issues and spur improvements to campus safety.
From DC to UP
Penn has plucked its new top Federal liaison from the halls of Congress. Julius Lloyd Horwich, the new director of federal relations, comes from the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, where he served as education counsel to Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn. Prior to working for Congress, Lloyd was a policy analyst in the Office of Student Financial Assistance of the U.S. Department of Education.
Meet the new ref
Professor of Materials Science and Engineering David Pope has been named to a two-year term as University ombudsman effective July 1. Pope was chosen for his knowledge of the University and his engagement in Penn’s civic life, including service as co-chair of the Academic Integrity Task Force in 2001 and the joint University Council/ Provost Committee on Assessing the Evaluation of Teaching in 2001-02. Pope succeeds Professor Emeritus of Business and Public Policy Anita Summers, whose two-year term ended in June. The Office of the Ombudsman works to resolve disputes that cannot be settled through normal channels.
Cash flows
The developer of software that unclogs Internet bottlenecks is flush with cash for expansion, thanks to $6 million in venture capital financing. The funding will allow Professor of Electrical and Systems Engineering Roch Guerin to further refine his Route Dynamics software, which automates the currently labor-intensive process of locating and clearing traffic jams on Internet Protocol networks. The funds come from New York-based Rho Ventures and Dallas/Palo Alto financier Sevin Rosin, who also provided the initial $1.5 million financing that allowed Guerin to launch Ipsum Networks, which makes Route Dynamics, in 2001.
History or bust
A Michigan grade-school teacher’s crusade to right a historical wrong passed through Penn on June 10, when a bust of inventor Nikola Tesla was unveiled in the lobby of David Rittenhouse Laboratories. On hand for the event were the teacher, John W. Wagner, and Mary Amanda Wood Professor of Physics Tom Lubensky, who championed Wagner’s cause on campus. Wagner has so far dedicated displays devoted to Tesla at 12 American universities in an effort to restore the inventor of alternating current to his rightful place in the history of electricity alongside Thomas Edison. Lubensky noted, “This is rather ironic, as Penn had close ties to Edison.” A display of early Edison light bulbs is just a few feet away from the Tesla bust.
Plants teach
Roses won’t be blooming in this garden but bright minds will. A new teaching garden containing toxic and poisonous plants has been established at the New Bolton Center in cooperation with the Penn State Cooperative Extension. The only garden of its type in the mid-Atlantic region, the garden brings together in one spot plants of veterinary concern, giving students the chance to observe species of plants that can sicken or poison large domestic animals.
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