Volume 104, No. 5
Features
Passion Plays
After a long string of smash hits and artistic triumphs in film, Marc Platt C’79 is back with his first love—theater—with the Broadway phenomenon Wicked.
By Samuel Hughes
Understanding Pashto
Benedicte Grima Santry Gr’89 spent years in the remote reaches of Afghanistan and Pakistan. What she learned—and now teaches—is invaluable, especially in the wake of 9/11.
By Beebe Bahrami
Quiet Goes the Don
The late Alan Halpern C’47—who invented the modern city magazine in his 30 years at Philadelphia—was more than just a brilliant, groundbreaking editor.
By Samuel Hughes
Continental Drift
In his latest work, an atlas of North American English, legendary Penn sociolinguist William Labov shows that we are talking more differently from one another.
By Susan Frith
Departments
FIRST PERSON : Essays
Notes from the Undergrad: A coach in the classroom
Alumni Voices: Mix-and-match identity
Elsewhere: “I imagined exhumations would be sad, solemn affairs”
Expert Opinion: How to fix the child-welfare system
GAZETTEER : News & Sports
Library exhibit traces Franklin’s educational ideas
Ben, begone?
Steinem: Gender equality “and a great time on the way.”
Commencement complaints (What else is new?)
Siegel says: Embrace foreign investment
Assessing Philadelphia’s building boom
School of Medicine ranked third in U.S. News
Blaik resigns as facilities and real estate VP
Research in brief
Book tells brides how to bargain without blushing
Getting down with Dhamaka
Penn’s “tenured radicals”?
Penn replaces loans with grants for incomes under $50,000
Wharton helps NFL players hold that nest egg
Dunphy headed to Temple
Championship “chess match” in wrestling
ALL THINGS ORNAMENTAL : The Arts
Poetry Remembering Objectivist poet Karl Rakosi SW’40
Books The Economy of Prestige. Rise of the prize
Art An Osvaldo Romberg retrospective at Van Pelt Library
Arts Calendar
ALUMNI : Profiles
Leading litigator John Gross W’64
“Unstoppable force” Elizabeth Prostic C’96
Celebreality star Schatar Sapphira Taylor C’92
Documentary filmmaker Jonathan Hock C’85
Direct-mail pioneer Leon Henry W’54
ALUMNI : Events : Notes : Obituaries