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Kalpen Modi, better known as Kal Penn, and as Kumar in the cult classic “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle” will be a guest instructor at the University of Pennsylvania, USA, during the spring ’08 semester.
Modi, 29, will teach two undergrad courses tentatively titled ‘Images of Asian Americans in the Media’ and ‘Contemporary American Teen Films’.
The Asian American Studies Programme is delighted that Modi chose their programme as he is seen as one of the leading Asian American actors of his generation and is particularly aware of how his racial and ethnic identification has affected his professional experiences.
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Bib number 14,000 was among the 24,000-odd runners in the 2007 Boston Marathon. She circled the earth at least twice, running as fast as eight miles per hour but flying more than five miles each second. Indian American astronaut Sunita Williams completed her marathon on a treadmill on board the International Space Station. Williams, who qualified for the marathon when she ran a 3:29:57 in the Houston Marathon last year, clocked four hours and 24 minutes.
On why she ran the Marathon, Williams said: “I would like to encourage kids to start making physical fitness part of their daily lives. I thought a big goal like a marathon would help get this message out there.”
Her biggest challenge running in space was staying harnessed to a specially-designed treadmill with bungee cords.
Williams, who reached space last December, could be in for a prolonged stay on the ISS. According to the initial plan, Williams would have returned home on June 28, but will be forced to indefinitely remain on the station because of shuttle launch delays. But her prolonged stay has a positive aspect—she could break the US record for continuous time in space.
The world record currently belongs to the Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov, with 437 days in space.
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