The School Reform Commission decided yesterday what action to take with dozens of privately run Philadelphia schools by retaining private managers but giving them less funding. The six private managers, which include Penn, will now receive $500 from the district per student, a cut in $250 for the private companies, but an increase of $50 for Penn and Temple University.
Turns out, you don't have to be a celebrity to give a university commencement address. Penn generally brings in a famed speaker from the outside to send off its graduates: Bono, Kofi Annan, Jodie Foster, James Baker. But Temple University in North Philadelphia doesn't have quite the same tradition and this year, seniors at Temple heard from Kathy Hirsh-Pasek.
Patrick Harker, the dean of the Wharton School since 2000, will leave next year to become president of the University of Delaware. He will replace retiring Delaware president David Roselle. In a statement, Penn President Amy Gutmann and Provost Ron Daniels congratulated Harker on winning the post and praised his contributions to the University.
A car caught on fire outside the Penn Bookstore yesterday at around 12:20 p.m. The damage to the car was extensive, resulting in the charring of the front end. No one was injured. Penn's Division of Public Safety reported that it is still unclear why the car, a dark gray Oldsmobile, ignited.
The Associated Press has called Pennsylvania's Senate race in favor of the challenger, state Treasurer Bob Casey Jr. Casey's opponent, Sen. Rick Santorum, has been in the seat since 1994 and is the No. 3 Republican in the Senate leadership. The Pennsylvania seat is one of those the Democrats counted on taking in order to win control of the Senate.
The Associated Press has declared incumbent Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell the victor in his race for a second term. His opponent was Republican Lynn Swann, a political novice and pro football Hall of Famer. Rendell had been heavily favored in recent polls. The AP called the race based on "a statistical analysis of the vote from voter interviews conducted for The Associated Press by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International.
This is a takeout campus, not a restaurant campus. We've got Qdoba, the Greek Lady and food trucks galore.
The jury in the first-degree murder trial of Wharton undergraduate Irina Malinovskaya deliberated all day on Friday but recessed without reaching a verdict.
The Upper Quadrangle was evacuated Thursday night because of a bomb scare, though there turned out to be no threat. At about 7 p.m., SEPTA police investigated a suspicious package on Woodland Walk outside of the 37th Street trolley station.
The jury that will decide the fate of Irina Malinovskaya saw two versions of her ex-boyfriend, Robert Bondar, yesterday.
Solutions by The State News
