Student feedback just isn't enough

After a week of filling in bubbles of teacher-evaluation forms, some students are finding that rating professors on a scale of one to four just doesn't cut it. The Center for Teaching and Learning - a University-run team of officials that helps professors improve their teaching - is currently working with student-government groups to enhance the feedback that instructors receive at the end of every semester.

You've got mail - and clean underwear

Clean laundry is just an e-mail away. Housing and Conference Services will be implementing a new laundry-alert program in Sansom Place next semester. The program will send electronic notifications to students when their laundry is complete, Housing Services spokeswoman Dana Matkevich said.

Delaware faculty abuzz over Harker

Visit the University of Delaware's Web site, and you'll find the smiling face of Wharton Dean Patrick Harker displayed above the celebratory headline "Presidential Search Completed."

Ivies producing fewer Rhodes scholars

No Penn student won a Rhodes scholarship this year, and the loss may be part of a larger decline of the Ivy League monopoly on major international awards. While Penn succeeded in sending 4 students -- out of a total of 32 Penn applicants - to the finals of the U.

An iBook for half price? Try Computer Connection

Being on the cutting edge is tough. The rapid rise in new technology means that brand-new computers may need to be replaced within years in order to keep up with the pace of new software development. Experts say that the time it takes to get a Penn degree is about the lifespan of the average iBook.

Nanotech Pie

How it's done Today a parking lot; tomorrow a nanotechnology research building that could cost upwards of $80 million. That, in a nutshell, is the present and future of a space near 33rd and Walnut streets. The lot, which sits next to the Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter, is slated to hold the new facility as part of Penn's eastward expansion.

Guns and boot camp, before freshman year

Whether it's going to college or getting a job, high-school graduation usually means more freedom. But for Engineering exchange student Weijie Poh and College sophomore Shijie Lu, the end of high school was the beginning of a grueling stint in the Singapore Armed Forces.

For the young and rich, a retreat to learn charity

It happened just like a dream. Karen Pittelman discovered that she was the recipient of a $3 million trust fund when she became a senior at Brown University. Now, Pittelman is working for an organization called Resource Generation, reaching out to other wealthy young people - including Penn students - to help them figure out exactly what to do with newfound millions.

News Brief: Penn plans to keep up on Microsoft changes

The new year will bring a new version of Windows, and Penn officials promise any students with the new software continued compatibility with campus technology. Microsoft is expected to release Windows Vista, the newest Windows operating system, in January.

Kissinger named SPEC fall speaker

The man some have credited with ending the Vietnam War is coming to Penn. Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger - a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize - will speak at Irvine Auditorium at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 14.

Companies increasingly targeting minorities

In the often cruel world of big business, some minority students are finding that getting a job is not so scary after all. In increasing numbers, many businesses are finding their way to Penn's campus to recruit minority students and help calm their job-hunting fears.

At the intersection of art and sex

While the typical art history professor might give a lecture on Picasso's "Guernica," Richard Meyer says he would rather discuss "Picasso's dirty drawings on napkins." "I'm interested in the stories that get left out of art history," Meyer said. A visiting professor from the University of Southern California, Meyer has done extensive work on censorship and the role of sexuality and gender in contemporary art.

As nursing shortage looms, school looks to expand

The School of Nursing is Penn's smallest undergraduate school, but it's looking to get a whole lot bigger. As the nation tries to cope with a projected shortage of 800,000 nurses by the year 2020, Nursing School administrators prepare for a different type of shortage - a lack of research space.

These men are nurses ... and they're proud of it

In certain respects, Ben Eithun is the typical all-American jock - he stands 6 feet 4 inches, weighs 265 pounds and was once a lineman for his football team at Edgewood College. But one thing separates him from the rest of the pack: He is a male nurse.

Late-night dining gets an earlier bedtime

Like many students, Nursing sophomore Jessica Plantulli loves her coffee - especially late at night. But unless she learns to brew her own, getting a latte after 1 a.m. might be a bit of a problem.

Inflated GPAs aren't just for SAS students

Engineering School sophomore Kristen Ying says she didn't study for her finals last year, and she did fine. At least for her College courses, anyway. Her Engineering courses were a whole different story. "During reading days, I studied for my Engineering finals whenever I was awake," she said.

They teach CPR, and they haven't graduated

Jen Morrison, a senior in the School of Nursing, has gotten great career advice at Penn - from her peers. When she was a freshman and needed help choosing classes and buying books, these nurses were there with advice. When she became a junior and needed to get CPR-certified, they were once again there to help.

It's not a student, it's your professor

Crotchety old science professors are becoming a rarer breed, at least for students in the School of Engineering and Applied Science. In the last five years alone, Penn's Engineering School has made a total of 35 new hires, and over half of Engineering faculty were hired within the last eight years, according to Engineering School Dean Eduardo Glandt.

All 8 Engineering departments earn accreditation

After months of deliberation, the verdict on the Engineering School's accreditation status is in.

Mom was wrong - don't eat your spinach

A potentially deadly bacterium is spreading throughout the country, and spinach is the culprit. The recent discovery of E. coli in bagged spinach has prompted restaurants and supermarkets around campus to pull the vegetable from their stores. Warning signs have been put up in Houston Market and spinach - cooked or raw - has been removed from all campus dining locations, according to employees at 1920 Commons.