Aliya Puri
Recent articles
Lost in liberal arts? Alums advise
Undecided major? Too many career options to choose from and not enough time to decide? Sometimes, a little help from an alumnus is all you need. At least, that's the premise of the Alumni Mentoring Program at the School of Arts and Sciences. As the program's first semester draws to a close, officials say they are pleased with how it's going so far - but hope even more students decide to participate.
After trading a career for kids, helping Mom return to work
Next semester, some students at Southern California's Pepperdine University might be taking classes next to their moms.
For one class, the U.N.'s the boss
Wharton students will have the chance this fall to show off their business skills at the largest global-development organization in the world - the United Nations. But the students will be the ones doing the grading. As part of Management 353 - also known as the Wharton Field Challenge, a course started by professor Keith Weigelt - the U.
MBAs to aid Peru's silversmiths
Life-sized silver bananas will likely soon be a high priority for a group of five Wharton MBA students. In January, the students will travel to La Oroya, Peru, to help its local silver artisans better sell their products. "The project is designed to impact the overall community," said Lisa Linn De Barona, an administrator from the Global Consulting Practicum, a Wharton-run initiative that pairs business students with "social impact" programs and is sponsoring the trip.
Wharton comes in first, no thanks to policy
Wharton's No. 1 again. But the publication that named it as such isn't too happy with Penn's business school. Last week, national magazine Business Week ranked Wharton as the top business school for undergraduates. Getting enough information to rank Wharton, however, was a bit of a struggle for the magazine.
All stocked up with flu vaccine
The flu season has arrived once again, and many Penn students are expected to line up outside Student Health Services for their flu shots. This year, Student Health officials say they are much better prepared to fight the flu virus than they were last year.
Officials vow more openness after 'Plateau'
The steel structure on 40th Street called "Plateau" may have garnered some vocal student criticism, but school officials promise they will ask for student perspectives the next time they embark on a public art project. "Plateau" - a 150-foot-long series of seats and tables with built-in night-time lighting - was dedicated Saturday by its New York-based artist, Andrea Blum.
Etiquette classes for Indian housewives?
This year, budding entrepreneurs competing for thousands of dollars worth of prizes in the Wharton Business Plan Competition need to fulfill an additional criterion - they must be Indian. The annual competition - which usually requires that candidates be affiliated with the University - recently teamed up with a leading Indian newspaper to offer the same entrepreneurial opportunities to Indian college students.
Senior giving more than doubles
The Class of 2007 is working hard to leave its mark on the University. And if you've seen seniors walking around campus with bright green T-shirts, then you know how they're planning to do it. The shirts are part of an advertising campaign for the Senior Class Gift Drive, a campaign to get every senior to donate money to Penn.
Buying an MBA from 'Newsweek' online
Online degrees usually don't carry much weight in the business world, but one new program promises to be different. At least, its creators are. Newsweek magazine and test-preparation company Kaplan are teaming up to create what the organizations believe is the first Internet-based business program run by a magazine.
Cheating their way to the top?
If corporate ethics start in business school, the industry landscape of the future could be even more scandal-ridden than it is today. A recent study found that business students are more likely to cheat than any other graduate students, though some at Wharton doubt that the data apply to Penn's MBA students, saying that the school's emphasis on its Code of Academic Integrity tends to discourage cheaters.
With small loans, banks aid world, themselves
College junior Jose Palau spent his summer in India and Ecuador helping impoverished people get online. While many of his classmates dealt in mutual funds and money markets, he worked with one of India's major banks to help set up Internet kiosks in the south of that country.
Tomorrow, Wharton turns 125
As Wharton students step into class tomorrow, they will be mirroring the school's very first students, who sat down to class 125 years ago on Sept. 15, 1881. But today's students are a little different "Today's Wharton student is more academically talented, more worldly and definitely more sophisticated and poised," said Management professor Eric Siegel, who graduated from the MBA program himself in 1980.
Taking a bite out of digital music
Although their tastes in music might be very different, there is one thing many Penn students can have in common: a sleek software called iTunes that sells millions of digital songs. But a new program is trying to compete. Having dominated the digital music industry - and the laptops of Penn students - for the past several years, iTunes may soon be challenged by the social-networking Web site MySpace.
'Shrek' singer to headline fall show
You may soon hear "Hallelujah" all over campus: Rufus Wainwright is coming to Penn.
