Impressionist cupcakes and 60 sec. lectures at College Palooza

Which Greek god sprang from the head of Zeus? Who makes more money, MBAs or geologists? These are not the typical questions asked of Penn students, but during yesterday's College Palooza on the Green, visitors were quizzed with such trivia.

If you're curious - the answers are Athena and geologists, respectively.

College Palooza is sponsored by the Dean's Advisory Board, a group of students that serves as the liaison between College Dean Dennis DeTurck and the College's 6,000 students. DeTurck himself took part in the event, playing flute in a classical quartet in front of Van Pelt library .

DAB Outreach Committee co-chairwoman Ami Patel, a College senior, said "there are typically a lot of major fairs but nothing to celebrate Penn's liberal arts [as a whole.]" Twenty-three majors took part in this event.

DAB co-chairman Georgios Drossinos, a College junior, added that College Palooza also helps to publicize the efforts of DAB, which seeks to enhance the social and academic experiences of College students.

Throughout the day, several 60-second lectures were given by faculty from Environmental Studies, Theater Arts and Health and Societies, who discussed global warming, introductory acting techniques and the history of sanitation, respectively.

Candy, pencils, stickers, gift cards to the Bridge movie theater, Dunkin' Donuts and other swag lured students to the booths.

The Modern Middle Eastern Studies booth boasted a belly dancer, while Germanic Studies offered a quiz of famous Germans throughout history.

The Urban Studies department displayed a history of the Philly Cheesesteak and offered free samples of the famous hoagie from Jim's on South Street.

Several science booths used various pieces of laboratory equipment to show the fun side of science. Freshman Reed Plimpton demonstrated the principles of angular momentum, refraction and static electricity at the Physics booth. Chemistry majors made homemade ice cream with just cream, milk, sugar and liquid nitrogen.

While celebrating many of the College departments, College Palooza participants also hope that freshmen and sophomores will gain knowledge about various subjects before declaring their major.

So did it work? According to Brittany Jackson, a College junior and Chemistry major, there were "no converts, but they liked the ice cream nonetheless."

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