People who won't be speaking at Penn.
We at Under the Button have gotten some good intel this year, including word that Jon Huntsman would be commencement speaker back in July. We were pretty pleased with ourselves, especially since it wasn’t confirmed until February. Now we’re here to break down the rest of the graduation speakers. (Side note: What’s with the serious lack of estrogen?)
BACCALAUREATE
Who: Mitch Albom
Credentials: author of Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven
Our Take: This Oprah fave would have been a more relevant pick about a decade ago, but we dig that he’s in a band with Stephen King and Maya Angelou.
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Who: George Smith
Credentials: 2009 Nobel Laureate in Physics, co-inventor of the charge-coupled device
Our Take: The dude is seriously smart, plus he spent 17 years sailing around the world, but will he be as epic as John Legend?
WHARTON SCHOOL
Who: Phil Nichols
Credentials: Professor of Legal Studies & Business Ethics
Our Take: Phil’s so cool that he actually makes us wish we lived in Stouffer, where he’s the faculty master.
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE
Who: Rajendra Singh
Credentials: Founder of Telcom Ventures, L.L.C.
Our Take: He has great material to draw from: raised without a telephone, his work in telecommunications made him a billionaire. That shit is poetic.
SCHOOL OF NURSING
Who: Greg Mortenson
Credentials: Co-founder and executive director of Central Asia Institute, co-author of Three Cups of Tea
Our Take: We would love to hear this humanitarian talk about how he’s working to make the world a better place. We also like tea.
Check out grad school speaker highlights (and lowlights) after the jump.
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There are just too many jokes to be made about this sign. You know, the one about matzo being plural (substitute “breads” and you’ll see what we mean)… the one about the restaurant’s love of bizarre phrasing… the one about how of course JAP hotspot Gia Pronto has matzo/matzoh/matza/matzah available. Though let’s be real: seeded rolls are too carb-y for post-Pulco/pre-Fling dieters anyway.
Gia isn’t the only place where those living the unleavened lifestyle for the next week can get some KFP grub. Metro is offering obscenely overpriced ($3 a piece!) matzo in olive, sundried tomato, sesame and plain flavors. Seems a little steep to us, so we were delighted to hear a friend of ours received a free (and totally unprompted) side of matzo with his Marathon delivery.
And for those of you who want matzo-as-entree-and-not-side-dish, rumor has it Koch’s — everyone’s favorite deli — will be subbing matzo for bread for Passover-observing patrons. This is definitely worth the walk to 43rd, if only for the excessive amount of samples you’ll get while waiting for your order. Sick of matzo but still want to go breadless? Try Jimmy John’s “Unwich” which replaces bread with lettuce.
Check out our Gia matzo after the jump. (Oh, and did we mention you can go to Hillel? Just make sure to beware of mouse droppings.)
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This is Betty. Betty received a B.F.A .in Education from Penn. Betty posed for this picture in 1928. Betty seems like a badass.
A recent perusing of the University Archives led us to this picture of the Blockley Almshouse from 1920. For those of you unfamiliar with the story surrounding one of campus’s newest watering holes, Blockley has been a hospital, orphanage and insane asylum, among other things. We’ll drink to that?
Yes, seniors, that day has come. What day? The day your Bursar privileges have been taken away. PSYCH! You still have a couple months left to buy a computer/birth control/the entire 90210 DVD series for “free.” What you do need to do, however, is to fill out your graduation application.
Yeah, we thought fulfilling 5,691 requirements would qualify us for graduation, too. Not so. As per an excessively long email from the assistant dean for advising, seniors who are expecting to graduate in May need to fill out a grad application by February 15th.
Read the entire email >>
Old school Penn pics are the BEST, especially when they show us just how cool people used to be. Well, it looks like Scott Schuman (also known as the Sartorialist) digs these photos, too. This weekend our favorite style blogger posted some pictures that looked pretty familiar. We’re not entirely sure, but this totally looks like the Quad, right?
Schuman’s other pics can be found here, but we took it upon ourselves to round up some more stylish Quakers from the University Archives.
Dapper dudes! Fly honeys! >>
Jerome Allen, back in the day.
We gave you our take on the Glen Miller debacle a couple of weeks ago, but today the New York Times weighed in on the ordeal. Thanks to the Gray Lady, we learned that from 1963 to 2007, Penn and/or Princeton won every Ivy League championship except for two. Whoa.
We also got this awesomely Wharton-y quote from Wharton sophomore (and team co-captain/Maccabi stud) Zack Rosen: “Not all C.E.O.’s work out, and that’s what the head coach of a basketball team is. With Coach Miller, there was a disconnect. For whatever reason, his formula just wasn’t working.”
Basically, Jerome Allen has a lot riding on his shoulders, but his stats are super legit and the boys love him. So for the first time in a long time, we’re pretty excited to see what they can do. Allen’s first game as interim head coach is Monday night versus Davidson, and will be broadcast on XPN starting at 7 p.m. Want to actually see some action? Tune into ESPN2 on New Year’s Eve to see the Quakers take on Duke at 6 p.m.
Congratulations on surviving finals week, dear readers. For now, we leave you with some pictures of Penn at its snowiest to tide you over until you’re back on campus (classes officially begin January 13, lest you forget). Thanks to DP photo editors Pete Lodato and Maanvi Singh for the Quad snowball fight pics, and to tipster Dave Dobkin for the ones of campus looking all pretty.
Inquiring minds want to know, so here it is: grades are not due until January 4, two weeks from today. Good luck with all that Penn InTouch refreshing! (But seriously, shouldn’t we get an email or something when a grade is posted?)
Have people already started to compulsively check Penn InTouch for their fall grades? This is what popped up when we tried to log on:
Contrary to popular belief, not all Penn students can get home via train/car/bus. Some people are from LA! And Miami! These unlucky souls have to fly home. But we here at UTB want to make sure your flight home is as pleasant as possible, despite crazy lines and awful delays.
The first thing you need to know about good ol’ Philly International is that wireless is free for students all day, every day. Just head to any info desk, show your student ID and catch up on your UTB reading before your flight takes off. Hitting up any other airports this break? Google is footing the bill for free wireless at 54 US airports through January 15.
Stuck in the airport and need some grub? Philly has all the airport standards (McDonalds, Burger King, Auntie Anne’s, ABP), but we recommend springing for Vino Volo. This place is seriously delicious. Not only is the food incredible (warmed brie and prosciutto with fig jam, anyone?), but the seating (huge sunken chairs with armrests, big wooden tables) is sure to calm those preflight nerves. Need a little extra help taking the edge off? Vino Volo is also a wine bar with a host of reasonably-priced options.
Before you can enjoy these perks, however, you need to figure out how to get to the airport. Let us give you the rundown.
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Resourceful Lowbrow contributor Isabel Friedman hung this disco ball in Van Pelt tonight. In her words, “Sometimes you just have to remind yourself where the real party is.” Rosenparty, that is! And for this, we salute her.
How have you been coping with this most brutal of finals seasons? Let us know in the comments.
Today Amy Gutmann sent out a year-end economic update email to all of Penn’s undergrads. As per usual, it’s a bit lengthy, so here are the highlights:
- The university has saved $56.2 million this year, about $12 million of which has been saved since Gutmann’s last email in August.
- Penn’s endowment lost the least proportionally to its peers.
- Spending on need-based undergraduate grants increased by $20 million, or 19%.
- The tuition increase for 2009-10 was the lowest it has been in 41 years.
There is also mention of all the cool stuff Penn is building (Penn Park, the new nanotech building) and the cool stuff Penn profs are doing (did you know that researchers have been awarded $163.4 million for 303 projects… and counting?). Plus, Marshall Scholar Josh Bennett and Rhodes Scholar Sarah-Jane Littleford get shoutouts.
See the email in full after the jump.
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It’s pretty apparent that we at UTB have a thing for Amy Gutmann. We just do. And one of our favorite things about Amy is her ability to throw sicknasty parties, with her holiday party (you know, the one that’s held at her house!) being the most epic. Take a journey with us as we show you the highlights from this year’s affair.
Um, OMG. This tree is beautiful, and look at all the presents! We wonder if any of those are for Michael or Leah.
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With finals starting tomorrow, Jimmy John’s is joining Huntsman, Houston and everyone else in the quest to win over the hearts of downtrodden, sleep-deprived students. Tonight, from midnight until 2 a.m., Jimmy John’s subs will be just $1. Yum.
