Paul Richards
Recent articles
Paul Richards | Philadelphia through graduated eyes
Even when not the path planned Philadelphia can have a lot to offer a recent college grad.
Senior Goodbye from Paul Richards | My advice: take it or leave it
I’m going to offer a little bit of advice. Take it, leave it, mock it, it doesn’t matter that much to me.
News Brief | $10 million donated to Cognitive Center
Penn is leading the way in learning how the mind works. The University is part of a consortium that received a $10 million grant for five years from the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences to establish a 21st Century Center for Cognition and Science Instruction.
News Brief: Wharton changes e-mail server
Wharton Computing performed a major upgrade to the school's e-mail server last month by switching to Microsoft Exchange 2007, which offers more space, advanced security and other new features to Wharton students. The upgrade is a response to "student requests for more e-mail storage space," according to the Wharton Computing Web site.
ICA to offer free admission to all
There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but there is such a thing as free admission. At least at Penn's Institute of Contemporary Art, that is, where a donation from '88 Wharton alumnus Glenn Fuhrman will eliminate admission costs for the next five years, beginning July 1.
News Brief | Gov. signs Clean Indoor Air Act into law
Smoke 'em if you got 'em, because in three months you'll be out of luck. Last Friday, Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell signed into law the Clean Indoor Air Act, which will prohibit smoking in most public places, such as restaurants, workplaces and certain parts of casino floors.
Nutter plans to help with foreclosures
Philadelphians affected by the mortgage foreclosure crisis now have more options, thanks to a new public outreach program from Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter. Nutter unveiled the Philadelphia Mortgage Foreclosure Protection Program on Tuesday. The plan aims to help struggling Philadelphians hold onto their homes.
A little bit of Italy in a South Philly nook
Disclaimer: I don't know that much about Italian food. It was only about a month ago that I learned how to pronounce gnocchi, and I'm still not entirely sure what prosciutto is. (Google tells me it's ham, but I'm not convinced) Basically, I'm pretty easy to please.
Online books remain unpopular
Earlier this week College sophomores Melissa Gunderson and Kristen Lange stood in the Penn Bookstore with a bad case of sticker shock. The price tag of their new Chemistry 101 book: nearly $300. "It's highway robbery," Lange said. And though alternative electronic textbooks - high-tech substitutes to pricey print versions - have been available for more than a decade, they have not yet taken root at Penn.
Gutmann joins in on U.N. debate
The chair recognizes the ambassador from the University of Pennsylvania. Penn President Amy Gutmann joined 24 other university presidents from around the globe at the third annual United Nations Global Colloquium of University Presidents, held yesterday at New York University, to discuss climate change.
Calling all military vets: Odd student aid abounds
Wanted: recipient of a Purple Heart applying to the School of Nursing. No, the description is not from a personal ad. Rather, it's a more specific set of requirements for one of Penn's many endowed undergraduate scholarships, which make up about 15 percent of the $92 million financial-aid grant budget.
Iz not cats everywhere? Online trend spreads across campus
Four days until Caturday. That's Saturday for those who haven't yet caught on to the latest phenomenon to dominate the Internet and student lexicon - LOLcats. That's LOL for "laugh out loud." LOLcats are funny pictures of cats with captions attributed to them.
Officials breathe easier with endowment legislation off the table
University endowments are safe from government control - for now, at least. Legislation mandating a minimum 5 percent spending rate on university endowments will not appear before the Senate Finance Committee this year, and Penn officials are breathing a sigh of relief.
Capital Campaign | Resource centers asked to raise funds
With responsibility for raising $310 million of the University's $3.5 billion capital campaign, Penn's six resource centers are charged with making a significant contribution. But undergraduate and graduate schools, for example, have loyal alumni with incentives to give - how do you fundraise when you don't have an obvious constituency? At the six centers - the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Penn Athletics, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Penn Libraries, the Morris Arboretum and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology - development directors are faced with this challenge as they try to mobilize their constituents to reach campaign goals.
Unlike its peers, U. controls credit scams
Back away from the table. That's what Ed Mierzwinski wants you to do when it comes to signing up for a credit card on campus. Mierzwinski, of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, is heading a campaign called FEESA to limit unfair credit card marketing on college campuses, a problem he says plagues students nationwide.
'Casual Penn President' calls party a success
Amy Gutmann was a "casual Penn President" at her Halloween party Wednesday night. Gutmann, who has dressed up as Glinda the Good Witch, Willy Wonka and the Statue of Liberty in previous years, noticeably stood out this year dressed in Penn winter apparel.
Admin. mum on effect of last costume party
Despite the costume controversy that marked Penn President Amy Gutmann's Halloween party last year, there will be no official censorship policy implemented for tonight's annual soiree. Gutmann came under criticism last year for posing with 2007 Penn alumnus Saad Saadi, who was dressed as a suicide bomber.
Hack to end term as dean of Design School
School of Design Dean Gary Hack will leave the University this summer after finishing his twelve-year run as the school's top administrator. Engineering Dean Eduardo Glandt will serve as chairman for the committee responsible for replacing Hack, who will leave the school June 30, 2008.
Presidency extension announced now to show confidence
Five more years. The University Board of Trustees announced at its meeting on Oct. 19 that Penn President Amy Gutmann's contract has been extended for five years, securing her position as Penn's leader until 2014. The extension for Gutmann, who assumed the presidency in June 2004, comes 20 months before her contract was set to expire.
Looking Ahead | Publicity doesn't necessarily mean money
Amy Gutmann is slowly becoming a "world-class rock star." Sort of. Since the kickoff of Penn's $3.5 billion capital "Making History" campaign, news of the school's undertaking has appeared in a variety of publications, from The Philadelphia Inquirer to The Times of India.
