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Articles by Pamela Ellerman
Snow boosts local business
Penn students worked up an appetite throwing snowballs and sledding down the Locust Walk bridge during last week’s snowstorms, which boosted traffic at some local businesses.
Rainbow food trucks liven up lunch
Four food trucks around the city have been decorated as part of the Lunch Truck Project by ArtWorks!, an after-school arts program for Philadelphia youth run by the Mural Arts Program.
New owners acquire Bridge theater
The Bridge Cinema de Lux, located at 4012 Walnut St., has been acquired by Rave Motion Pictures — but according to the company, the theater’s operations will remain the same for customers in the immediate future.
SHS shares costs for HPV vaccine
After two years of negotiations with the insurance provider Aetna, the human papillomavirus vaccine is now more affordable for students under the Penn Student Insurance Plan. The $140 shot will now cost $40 under a co-pay program for eligible women insured by PSIP.
Group gets active about mental health
Look for 1,100 backpacks to be spread across College Green today. These backpacks represent the 1,100 college students who commit suicide each year. The event, Send Silence Packing, is part of the 5th National Active Minds conference, which is being held on campus today and tomorrow.
City Council serves up nutrition information
That juicy burger or seductive dessert will come with an unexpected add-on in 2010: a calorie count. Philadelphia City Council passed a bill last week requiring chain restaurants to provide nutritional information on their menu boards. Chains with more than 15 locations, including national giants like McDonald's and Starbucks, as well as regional chains such as Saladworks, are now required to provide calorie counts, grams of saturated and trans fats, as well as carbohydrate and sodium information for their menu items.
In tough economy, study abroad holds steady
Wall Street's crisis, with all its influence, does not seem to be preventing students from going abroad. With rising flight prices - an 8.1-percent increase in the second quarter alone according to the Transportation Department - and the dollar's slide against currencies such as the euro and the pound, students have many things to consider before embarking on that four-month international trek.
Alcohol and your body: No clear wisdom
You might want to think again before downing that third drink. Researchers at Wellesley College have found that drinking more than two servings of alcohol a day can increase the rate at which the brain naturally shrinks. The study, carried out on an adult population with an average age of 60, reported rates that are a quarter faster than the natural rate of brain shrinking, which on average is 1.
Few fumes on campus: Penn students don't light up
Penn students, it turns out, aren't lighting up as much as your average college kid. Four percent of Penn students smoke tobacco at least 10 times a month, according to last year's Penn Health and Wellness Survey. American Lung Association figures show that the national average is 20 percent, five times the Penn average.
With 3,000 vaccines, SHS preps to fight flu
Health officials have started preparing for the upcoming flu season - but they're not making any predictions about its severity. Predictions for upcoming seasons are difficult to make, as many factors change from one year to the next. Besides ordering vaccinations, making sure students have all the resources for immunization and being vigilant, little else can be done in anticipation of the season.