09.20.2017

September 20, 2017 34st.com

september 20

LETTERFROMTHEEDITOR

2017

LOL

3 HIGHBROW

overheards, hiding freshmen

4 WORD ON THE STREET

on Puerto Rico and identity

5 MUSIC

Self Help festival; Cecily Chen's vinyl collection

8 EGO

eotw, kite & key

LOL

LOL

10 FEATURE

DACA phase out

13 FILM & TV

Fun fact: I got a mouth guard last year because I constantly clenched my teeth in my sleep. Because of stress.

I go back and forth on it—it's such a Penn thing to complain and throw around your stress and compete with other people's stress.

After all, Penn is hard. Aren't we all stressed? Everyone is doing hard work. Everyone is under an immense amount of pressure. Why does it matter that I'm also stressed out, if really what I'm experiencing is just shared by everyone? My stress doesn't make me different or special—it just makes me another Penn student, also feeling a little overwhelmed.

But then, of course, that's not

CAN WE PAWS FOR A SEC? WE'RE HAVING A RUFF DAY, DOGGONIT. SERIOUSLY, PLEASE BRING A PUPPY TO THE STROFFICE: 4015 'NUT. TY.

ASMR, self–care

16 ARTS

museum exhibitions

18 LOWBROW LOL

street names, handshake

Orly Greenberg, Editor–in–Chief Dani Blum, Managing Editor Chloe Shakin, Audience Engagement Director Teagan Aguirre, Design Director Carissa Zou, Design Director Corey Fader, Photo Director Nick Joyner, Features Editor Julia Bell, Features Editor Angela Huang, Word on the Street Editor Dalton DeStefano, Film & TV Editor Annabelle Williams, Highbrow Editor Haley Weiss, Ego Editor Andreas Pavlou, Vice & Virtue Editor Talia Sterman, Music Editor Colin Lodewick, Arts Editor Claire Schmidt, Lowbrow Editor Catalina Dragoi, Film & TV Beat Michaela Reitano, Film & TV Beat Sabrina Qiao, Ego Beat Maria Riillo, Ego Beat Natalia Sanchez-Nigolian, Ego Beat Lucia Kim, Highbrow Beat Daniel Bulpitt, Highbrow Beat 2

one else's stress, because everyone's individual feelings are legitimate.

However, it also gives us all a commonality, a shared understanding that sometimes this school and this work gets to be a little too much.

I wish I had a list of helpful tips to calm down a bit. To be honest, I'd appreciate them myself. My best advice? Take some deep breaths, and make time for yourself. Oh, and also stop to pet the dogs you come across on Locust. Helps every time.

It review, American Horror Story

14 VICE & VIRTUE

LOL

quite fair. Just because everyone feels what I'm feeling, to varying degrees, doesn't delegitimize my experiences.

So what if everyone else is stressed?

Their stress has no impact on my own levels of anxiety, and my levels of anxiety are pretty damn high right now.

But in a way, this shared stress is kind of comforting. At least we all have something to keep us together: we can all completely empathize with each other. These feelings of dread don't make me special—they make me like everyone else at this school. They give me a way to relate to everyone, because we're all dealing with the same kinds of pressure. So in a way, there's a nice duality to it all. My stress isn't devalued by every-

Angela Lin, Highrow Beat Nick Castoria, Highrow Beat Paul Litwin, Music Beat Amy Marcus, Music Beat Aliya Chaudhry, Music Beat Noah Kest, Music Beat Michelle Pereira, Music Beat Jess Sandoval, Music Beat Shoshana Sternstein, Lowbrow Beat Dano Major, Lowbrow Beat Lily Zirlin, Lowbrow Beat Cami Potter, Lowbrow Beat Noa Baker, Vice & Virtue Beat Lily Snider, Vice & Virtue Beat Morgan Potts, Vice & Virtue Beat Julia Messick, Vice & Virtue Beat Jillian Karande, Vice & Virtue Beat Molly Hessel, Vice & Virtue Beat Gina Alm, Arts Beat Sherry Tseng, Arts Beat Linda Lin, Arts Beat Michaela Tinkey, Arts Beat Staff Writers: EIsabelle Fertel, Caroline Curran,

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Kiana Cruz, Clare Kearns, McKay Norton, Chen Chen Zhang, Brookie McIlvaine, Steph Barron, Lauren Donato, Frankie Reitmeyer, Jamie Gobreski, Brittany Levy, Jessica Li, Maria Formoso Zack Greenstein, Design Editor Christina Piasecki, Design Editor Katherine Waltman, Design Editor Gloria Yuen, Illustrator Anne Marie Grudem, Illustrator Avalon Morell, Photo Editor Autumn Powell, Photo Editor Megan Kyne, Photo Editor Christina Piasecki, Photo Editor Emily Hason, Video Director Daniel Rubin, Video Editor Megan Kyne, Video Editor Lea Eisenstein, Copy Director Sophia Griffith-Gorgati, Copy Editor Nancy Liu, Copy Editor Kimberly Batista, Copy Editor

Colleen Campbell, Copy Editor Kolade Lawal, Copy Editor Cole Bauer, Social Media Editor Maya Rosenberg, Social Media Editor Blake Brashear, Social Media Editor Unless otherwise noted, all photos are by Corey Fader, Autumn Powell, Megan Kyne, Christina Piasecki, and Brinda Ramesh.

Contacting 34th Street Magazine: If you have questions, comments, complaints or letters to the editor, email Orly Greenberg, Editor–in–Chief, at greenberg@dailypennsylvanian.com. You can also call us at (215) 422-4640. www.34st.com "Solipists yearning to get more out of their alienated simulations." ©2017 34th Street Magazine, The Daily Pennsylvanian, Inc. No part may be reproduced in whole or in part without the express, written consent of the editors (but I bet we will give you the a-okay.) All rights reserved. 34th Street Magazine is published by The Daily Pennsylvanian, Inc., 4015 Walnut St., Philadelphia, Pa., 19104, every Wednesday.

HIGHBROW

HOW TO HIDE THE FACT THAT YOU'RE A FRESHMAN By freshmen, for freshmen

With school restarting and clubs re–kicking in, being a freshman no longer seems so fun. Street’s got some tips for those of you looking to channel your inner chameleon.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Losing your PennCard is the worst. You won’t be able to print, access certain buildings, or swipe your curious upperclassman friend into the dining halls for lunch (WE GET IT, JUSTIN, HILL WASN’T THIS NICE WHEN YOU WERE A FRESHMAN). Without your PennCard, how else can you show that frat boy you’re a student here and not a “liability measure?” Put that sexy black lanyard they gave you at move–in to good use.

Prove your knowledge of campus traditions by making a wide arc around the Compass each time you pass it. Bonus points if you dodge a flyerer as you do so. When your friends who obliviously march across Penn’s sacred circular canvas later wonder why they’re failing all their midterms, you’ll know. Oh, you’ll know.

Penn’s third president Harold Stassen didn't envision Locust Walk as a narrow lane of unsociable, single–file shuffling. Embrace the path’s width by traveling exclusively in large packs. Also, chatting with someone in front of/behind you can be a bit cumbersome. It may facilitate conversation if you and your squad move as one horizontal line.

If you choose to foray into the party scene, go super fucking hard to show everyone you’ve done this before. Loudly proclaim something along the lines of: “I’ve done this before.”

Learning the land is easy; all you have to do is carefully scrutinize those giant maps stationed throughout campus (and for increased intellectual effect, tilt your head, rub your chin, and murmur “hmm…” as you do it). But go beyond geographical literacy. Start by updating that dictionary of yours. “Hey Lila, wanna meet up for lunch before Chem?” practically screams “FRESHMAN.” “Hey Lila, wanna LinkedIn for Frontera SABS before jawn?” Much better.

ANGELA LIN

over heard PENN at

Middle–aged man walking into Wharton Women dinner: "That is a lottttttt of females."

Creative and uplifting friend: "I would compare your body to the Olympic village in Rio. It was once occupied, pillaged, and destroyed but now stands alone as an empty wasteland and reminder of a distant past."

Someone we hope is okay: "All I'm saying is that I'm not stepping in to stop her from sleeping with 40 year old men for coke. I'll be too busy banging men whose names I don't know in club bathrooms."

Girl oblivious to this irony when talking about Jewish men: "It's not just a pig. It's a pig in a blanket."

Creative writing prof: "Of course you want to keep your porn."

Drunk entrepreneur singing The Weeknd: "I'm a motherfucking startup."

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3

WORD ON THE STREET

word on the STREET

T

AN OCEAN APART: PUERTO RICO AND PENN

he thing about living away from home while your family is facing a natural disaster is that your mind is in two different places. For days before Hurricane Irma, all of my newsfeed on Facebook and Twitter, all of the texts I got on WhatsApp and iMessage, and all of the news clips I watched told me to stay safe and take precaution. It would take me a few moments to remember that I was 1,500 miles away from danger, safe and sound. It would take me another moment for a panic to set in because even though I was safe, many of my loved ones were not, and there was nothing I could do to reassure them that everything was going to be okay.

All things considered, Irma didn’t have as much of an impact on Puerto Rico as everyone was expecting. We got lucky. While Barbuda, Angula, and parts of Haiti and Cuba were inundated in drastic measures, Puerto Rico mainly had infrastructure problems with getting power back on the island. That said, the few days where I felt entirely disconnected from my surroundings at Penn because of the hurricane made me think a lot about how being here has often felt disorienting.

I knew I wanted to leave Puerto Rico to study in the continental U.S. all throughout high school. It wasn’t that I didn’t love my home, it was just that I was tired of being surrounded by water, unable to go anywhere else if I wanted to explore. I wanted to be in a place where people didn’t think like I did, didn’t look like I did, didn’t speak like I did. Puerto Rico felt too small, and I couldn’t stretch it out to make it fit me anymore. I saw Penn as a thrill I had been waiting years to have, and I longed to be on a campus where the rest of the world could seem so much more accessible.

It didn’t occur to me that living in Puerto Rico had actually sheltered me from a lot of the realities of living in the continental U.S. The fact is that I had never been a woman of color before coming to Penn. At home, I’m just a woman. Here, I’m an admissions decision. For the first time in my life, people made assumptions about my background based on my physical appearance. When they wondered how I spoke English so well, when they asked if I had auditioned for Onda Latina yet, when they wondered if my parents had gone 4

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GABY GIOTA to college, when they just didn’t know that Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens. I came to Penn because I thought it would make me feel limitless, and instead I felt confined within other people’s expectations of who I was supposed to be.

It didn’t help that whenever I actually did go home, I immediately felt alienated from so many of my friends and family members. Because all of my friends stayed at the University of Puerto Rico, there was little I could talk to them about without feeling like I was becoming American.The space between Penn’s campus and my home in San Juan

stretched farther and farther, to the point where I feel like I was two different people, my language and behavior changing depending on where I am.

In the same way I feel like I can’t communicate with my friends and family, I tend to hide a lot of who I am when I’m at Penn. I’m eternally grateful for the Latinx community at La Casa—but I often feel like I can’t relate to a lot of students because I wasn’t raised in the States. I tried joining the Puerto Rican Undergraduate Student Association, but the vast majority of Puerto Ricans from the island who are at Penn come from such affluent backgrounds that the community feels completely inaccessible to me. With my non–Latinx friends,

"I will never quite feel at home on campus."

there are subjects that seem too personal to talk about, even though they shouldn’t be. I do not talk about my family dynamics, as much as I love my family. I do not talk about my religion, even though it’s an incredibly important part of my identity, and it’s intrinsically tied with my life in Puerto Rico. It’s not because I intentionally try to hide things from people I’m close to (and I know everyone has things they don’t like to share)— there are just parts of myself that I haven’t learned how to translate yet.

I have to compartmentalize my life in Puerto Rico and my life at Penn because these places seem irreconcilable, socially as well as politically. Politically speaking, members of the Penn community have actively contributed to neocolonialist policies in Puerto Rico. A current Penn Law Professor sits on the fiscal control board that now oversees our government. Our current Secretary of Education is an American Penn alum who has now closed over 100 public schools and dissolved our Puerto Rican cultural week programming in elementary and middle schools. Navigating my relationships at Penn as a Puerto Rican comes with the added recognition that while I am a U.S. citizen, I do not consider myself American, mainly because this country has never done anything to be compassionate towards my island. We still can’t vote for the President of the United States if we live back home. We only have one non–voting representative in Congress. We are invisible. In a lot of ways, Penn reminds me of the U.S.: it preaches inclusivity while clearly benefiting members of the white upper– class, and it ultimately only cares about money.

If I sound bitter, it’s because I am.

At this point, I’ve accepted that there will always be a small but loud feeling of betrayal stuck in my chest. I left home. I left for reasons that ended up being invalid. That was my decision.

Looking back, I don’t regret coming to Penn because I’ve been able to grow into myself in many ways. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that I’ll always feel conflicted about having come here, and will never feel quite at home on this campus.

For what’s left of my time here, though, I’ll try to let my lives seep into each other just to feel a little less isolated.

MUSIC

CECILY CHEN'S WEIRD AND WONDERFUL VINYL COLLECTION For the record, Cecily has everything from punk rock to William Burroughs on vinyl.

ALIYA CHAUDHRY

Photo by Lauren Zhang This summer, Cecily Chen (C ’20) was front row at a Lydia Lunch concert at the Brooklyn Bazaar in New York City.

“It was like the best concert experience I’ve ever had,” Cecily said.

Cecily blew Lunch a kiss.

Lunch noticed and smiled back at her.

“She knows she’s beautiful,” Cecily said, “but then she leaned over towards me and literally kissed me.”

Cecily remembered thinking, “I’m going to buy everything on this merch table because I have to remember this night.”

What she ended up buying was a remastered copy of Lunch’s first solo album, Queen of Siam, which Lunch signed.

The vinyl had a black strip at the center with blood–red sides.

“On that occasion, it just felt the right thing to do," she said.

This was a special occasion for Cecily, who doesn’t usually buy remastered or new vinyl records. Cecily’s extensive vinyl collection, which she estimates to number about a hundred, consists mostly of secondhand vinyl she’s bought for cheap, usually from record stores. Cecily grew up in Beijing, where the vinyl stores mostly sold new records and there weren’t a lot of used record shops.

“I like the idea of going through a box of old stuff,” she said. “I like the idea of taking ownership of something that’s been owned before.”

In Philadelphia, she shops at Creep Records and Repo Records, as well as Molly’s Books & Records, which sometimes sells secondhand records. She bought a lot of her records at flea markets or morning markets in Europe while traveling.

She also shops for vinyl online at Discogs, but only when she really wants a particular album.

In general, she prefers actually going to a store, as she said, “I like the experience of finding something unexpectedly.”

She listens to her records on her “cheap, small, and pretty” mint–colored Crosley record player in her room during the semester. Her better quality, full gramophone, handed down from her aunt, is at her home in Beijing.

Cecily started collecting vinyl in middle school, when she was into punk rock and the '70s–era counterculture and aesthetic. Her vinyl collection has grown to span a large chunk of musical history, from '70s punk artists such as Iggy Pop, Black Flag, and Patti Smith to '80s and '90s bands and classic rock artists such as The Doors, David Bowie, and Bob Dylan. The first record she ever bought was The Smiths’

The Queen is Dead.

“I was very fascinated by that idea of owning music for yourself and I thought it was very romantic,” she explained.

Her approach to building her collection is to focus on artists she likes, such as Bob Dylan, The Smiths, and her favorite band, '90s Brit–glam act Suede. She owns every Suede album and even got the whole band to sign one of her records.

“The frontman Brett Anderson writes amazingly dark, twisted love songs, like a narrative,” she said, “He will write these sometimes very gothic

and classical—but more so very sinister—love songs.”

When Suede released a limited–edition box set of remastered albums, Cecily was still living in Beijing. She didn’t have VPN (Virtual Private Network), which prevented her from accessing the website, and shipping the album would have been too expensive. Cecily eventually got the box set when her mother’s colleague went on a business trip and brought it back for her.

Cecily is also a big Spotify user. On Spotify, she mainly listens to indie rock artists such as

Molly Nilsson, Slumbers, Soccer Mommy, and Julia Jacklin.

Alhough she describes herself as a “leisurely” and not an intense or expert vinyl collector, Cecily has a developed love for records and enjoys collecting and listening to vinyl.

“I like vinyls because I like the whole package,” she said.

“I like the sleeves, l like looking at if there’s poster inside.

I like touching it, feeling it. I like walking back and forth in my room to switch the sides.

I just think it’s a very physical process. And if you want to get into vinyls, do it. It’s so easy.”

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5

MUSIC

SELF HELP FEST TOLD THROUGH ITS MOST RIDICULOUS MOMENTS A Day To Remember's punk–rock music festival, Self Help, hit Philly last weekend, and it was one of the craziest days of my life.

I’ve been to a lot of concerts and festivals in my day, but A Day To Remember’s punk– rock festival, Self Help, had to have been one of the most ridiculous experiences of my entire life. This festival is the brainchild of ADTR frontman Jeremy McKinnon and was created to provide opportunities for bands in the punk scene that are overlooked by traditional media and other big festivals. This year, Self Help kicked off here in Philly and will also hit Orlando, Detroit, and San Bernardino later this year. The nine–hour festival was a series of increasingly ridiculous moments that wound up creating a festival unlike anything I’ve ever attended.

Even though I arrived 10 minutes after doors were supposed to open, a giant line stretched for blocks and didn’t seem to move at at all. It quickly became clear that the festival had opened its doors late, but that didn’t seem to stop grungy punk band Microwave from taking the stage to what I imagine was a crowd of less than 20 people. To make things worse, they opened with perhaps their best song, “Lighterless,” so those of us stuck in line had a jam–sesh to the faint sound of the track from three blocks away.

The crowd really started to pick up with metal group Bad Omens, and people began shoving up against each other

as a circle pit opened up. The open space quickly filled with your average rowdy and angsty young men throwing kicks and punches at each other, but a couple characters jumped in there. A shirtless man with sagging pants and a gorilla mask threw down while another guy wailed on other moshers with a plaster cast on his broken arm, presumably scaring the fedora off of the young man who looked like he should've been at a Nickelback show. You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen a boy in a fedora, a guy with a broken arm, and a man in a gorilla costume violently face off against each other in a pit.

In the 20–minute gap between the sets of Can’t Swim

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Photo: ronnieradke Instagram Screenshot and Chicago pop–punk band Real Friends, a hearty debate broke out in the crowd over whether Sheetz or Wawa is the better convenience store (Wawa, obviously). Someone near me screamed “FUCK WAWA,” and at least a hundred people started booing.

Real Friends took the stage and frontman Dan Lambton started a Wawa chant, so it’s pretty obvious where the band falls on this debate (I’ve also seen Lambton perform shows in a Wawa sweatshirt, but that’s beside the point).

While waiting for metalcore band Falling In Reverse, I was talking with a guy who warned me, “If you hear cymbals and then someone hissing, that means you’re going to die.”

This set the tone for the entire set.

Falling In Reverse and their lead singer Ronnie Radke are notorious for having as many people who vehemently hate them as people who genuinely like them, so it was unsurprising that the majority of the crowd was completely unwilling to comply with Radke’s outrageous request for everyone in the pit to sit down.

Radke screamed that they were not going to play the next song until everyone sat down, and even went so far as to stop his band from playing when they tried to start the next song. He

actually ended up apologizing in a since–deleted Instagram post for not realizing that the ground was completely sand and dirt.

The entire song “I Am Not A Vampire,” especially the lyrics “Hi, my name is Ronnie / I’m an addict / Hi Ronnie,” is maybe one of the most unfortunate songs I have ever heard in my life.

Metal band Underoath came on next and salvaged the festival from the complete shambles Falling In Reverse left it in. Their set went off almost completely without a hitch, until they walked off stage and someone in the giant circle pit picked up a ripped–out piece of blonde weave from the ground and started waving it around, ultimately throwing it somewhere into the crowd.

About halfway through their full–length headlining set—the only one of the day—A Day To Remember encouraged fans to crowd–surf by literally surfing a friend. As in one person would crowd–surf lying down and another person would stand on top of that person.

People actually bought into this, and I don’t think I have ever seen so many crowd–surfers get dropped on their heads.

We'll see if the festival comes back next year.

AMY MARCUS

EGO

EGOOF THE WEEK: NICHOLAS ESCOBAR 2018's most charismatic composer shares his passion with Street.

Move over, Pablo. There’s a new Escobar on the scene, and you’re far more likely to catch him writing scores for hit TV shows than becoming the subject of one. This English major, who wrote his first composition at the age of 12, has composed pieces for exhibits and events at the Arthur Ross Gallery and the Morris Arboretum, and rarely says no to a classmate in need of a new tune for a film project. This week’s Ego is the proof Penn needs that you can make a career out of doing what you love.

Street: When did your love of music start, and when did you first start composing?

Nick Escobar: I think it goes all the way back to when I was eight years old. While my family was living in DC, I started taking piano lessons, which was my first exposure to playing music. From there I started playing flute in fifth grade. So I was playing two instruments, and for my sixth grade graduation, when I was 12, I just said, “Oh, I’m going to write a piece of piano music!” I don’t know why I did that or where that connection came from, but I wrote this piece of piano music.

I called it “Leaving,” because I was leaving elementary school, but was also leaving DC to move to Wayne, Pennsylvania. I felt like I was taking that whole experience of leaving people who I’d known for my entire childhood and making it into a piece of music. I played it at the graduation. Looking back, it was very nice of them to let me perform it! I was just a 12– year–old, the school was probably really confused.

Street: Did you keep composing when you moved for middle school?

NE: In middle school, I

mostly just focused on being in the band and playing the flute. I took a sort of hiatus from playing the piano. Then we got a piano teacher in Wayne, in this little music shop, and I picked it up again. And that’s actually where I started writing music for film, which was an interesting way for that to start.

Street: Tell me about that.

Had you thought about composing for film?

NE: I’ve always been a big lover of movies, so I was really aware of film music. I’d always ask for film soundtracks for Christmas. So I’d get Pirates of the Caribbean, the Harry Potter soundtracks… all the classics. The sixth Harry Potter soundtrack was one of the first albums I downloaded on iTunes, which makes me sound really old. But I would listen to these soundtracks constantly. I just loved that pop culture orchestral music. And I would always try and think, like, “What makes this track good? What does the composer do to bring out the themes, and the characters?”

And then one day, my piano teacher, for no reason, brought out this scene from an older movie and muted it, and said, “Just watch this scene with no music, and play something on the piano.” I didn’t know why she did that, but, looking back, I was always playing all of these movie soundtracks for my recitals. I’d made a suite of songs from The Lord of the Rings soundtracks at one point, which I wrote in all my own transitions for.

So when she showed me the clip from that film, I had never seen the film before, but I just started playing instinctively.

When I was done, she showed me the scene again, but with the track this time. And my

HALEY WEISS

music was almost exactly like bution, education, sanitation, how they're feeling in certain the score. So she was shocked, and protection. We were cov- moments. That helps me as the and I don’t think I really real- ering all of these in small seg- composer, but I also think, in a ized what I’d done. She sent ments of a larger 40–minute way, it helps the director to reme to her friend who was the documentary how–to video. It’s ally think about the project in composition coordinator at the going to be be shown in their a more overarching way. From Curtis, Daniel Shapiro. He was reception center as a welcome there it just happens really ora PhD student in composition video for new residents of the ganically. I’ll be improvising here at Penn. When I started camp so that they can get a music, seeing what works, playstudying with Daniel, he and I sense of where they are living. ing away with different sounds.

Street: You’ve worked on so I usually don’t sit down and say would talk about film composi“I’m going to write a theme tion. At this point I was a fresh- many different kinds of projright now.” man in high school, but he re- ects at Penn. What’s your ally got me thinking about that process when you compose for a project or as a career path.

Street: You visited Kenya this film?

NE: I try to start out past summer to work on one of these projects. What was that with a synopsis...Then I try to figure like?

NE: I’ve loved working with out the tone Peter Decherney (a cinema for the mustudies professor), and when I sic, and found out he’d gotten a grant so we’ll for Penn in Kenya, I knew I had just start to go. So we went to the Kaku- t a l k i n g ma refugee camp in northwest- a b o u t ern Kenya. I didn’t know a ton the emoabout what refugee camps were t i o n s , like, I’d just pictured a small t h e area with tents, but Kakuma is c h a r like a small city, and it’s been a c around for 25 years or so at this ters— point. I met some people who had grown up there.

We were there to make a documenPhoto by Megan Kyne tary about Kalobeyei, which is a new settlement that’s located LIGHTNING ROUND about 14 kilometers THE COMPOSER WHO I’M MOST INSPIRED BY IS MICHAEL from KaGIACCHINO (COMPOSER FOR LOST). kuma. The MY MUSIC COMPOSITION STYLE CAN BE DESCRIBED AS documenLATE 19TH CENTURY ROMANTIC. tary basically talks MY FAVORITE BUILDING TO STUDY IN IS: VAN PELT. I LOVE THE about difNEW AREA ON THE 5TH FLOOR. ferent aspects of the BEFORE I WAS EIGHT, I WANTED TO BE A DOLPHIN TRAINER. settlement LOVED DOLPHINS. STILL LOVE ‘EM. BUT I THINK DOLPHIN TRAINING IS like health, GOING OUT OF FASHION, WHICH IS PROBABLY FOR THE BEST. food distriS E P T E M B E R 2 0 , 2 017 3 4 T H S T R E E T M A G A Z I N E

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EGO

THE KEY TO PENN Four Kite and Key tour guides show their passion for Penn.

Ryan Leone (CW ’19) smiles as he gives a rundown of the Kite and Key Society, the day–hosting and tour guide group on Penn’s campus. “It feels like I’m doing something that can make a difference,” he says, leaning forward. “I think what makes Kite and Key unique is it’s one of the only university tour guiding organizations and day–hosting organizations that is entirely volunteer–based in the country.

Our members go through intense training and put their time in without being reimbursed by the university.”

Tayla Kramer (C’18) echoes the sentiment. “I don’t think people just stumble onto Kite and Key, so the people who are on it definitely want to be there,” she pauses, adding “I’m even on exec now.” She’s the current Tour Guide Coordinator, and her responsibilities are split between working with admissions, working with current guides, and planning events for prospective students. She’s come a long way from the nervous applicant she was when she auditioned.

“Freshman year I was so nervous. There’s one point where 8

they ask you to wear Penn gear— to show school spirit—and I woke up that morning frantically texting people for clothes.” She admits that she’s actually an introvert, which is surprising considering how affable and warm she’s been this whole conversation. In context, however, her demeanor makes sense, considering how many tours she’s given in her three years as a member.

“You really learn a lot of valuable skills tour guiding, like how to capture and keep people’s attention. I’m a TA for a BBH class now, and I was really nervous until I realized that it isn’t so different from tour guiding.”

For Natalie Munson (C ’20), Kite and Key was the obvious choice after she got to campus.

Crossing her legs, she rests her elbow on her knee as she talks. “I was always in awe of tour guides.

I made a promise that no matter where I got into school I would be a tour guide. When I got to Penn, the first thing I applied to was Kite and Key.” Her enthusiasm for the organization extends to Penn as well. “I love being able to talk about how great a school Penn is to other people—it re-

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minds me how much I like it.”

George Cary (W ’19) has a similar origin story: “My tour was so impactful in my decision to come to Penn. My mom was originally really nervous about Penn’s location, and my tour was really to show me that I shouldn’t come here. But we fell in love with our guide, and it changed my parents' minds about my coming back. Giving back in that way to prospective high school students is why I wanted to join.” However, he’s quick to mention all that he’s gained from the organization: “I’ve gained public speaking skills for sure.

All members get public speaking skills,” he pauses, adding “but I think Kite and Key also provides a lot of opportunities for people to gain leadership skills.”

Ryan says he notices an evolution in his guides as they go through training. Although Kite and Key has a thorough interview process and makes sure to select students who demonstrate strong speaking and presenting skills, they aren’t afraid to take a chance on an applicant if they see potential in them. Ryan explains, “there are definitely certain indi-

viduals in particular who I see really flourish after they’ve gotten used to touring. They become definitely more outgoing than they were from the start. I think they also become more confident in themselves as individuals, so it’s really rewarding to see them get as much out of it as they put into it.”

With nine members on their executive board, three admissions office advisors, three shift captains for “chat and chew,” and 11 shift captains for tour guiding, the tour guides on Kite and Key run a well–organized hub of activity, though sometimes snafus do come up. “I had to give a tour during St. Patty’s day,” Ryan says, laughing, “and when we were standing in front of Dietrich hall near the frats, we had these drunk people come up and yell things, like ‘Fuck this place!

Go to Princeton. This place is a prison!’" He pauses, growing serious, “It definitely puts us in an uncomfortable position. Even though it’s a joke, we have to show parents that that isn’t what Penn is like.” After a moment, he adds, “There are also people who ask really disturbing questions,

like, ‘What’s the average sex life for a Penn student?’ only to follow up with, well, ‘What’s your sex life like then?’”

The occasional funny anecdote aside, Kite and Key members are pillars of professional behavior. Later, Peter Romanello (C ’19) gives a mock tour. Meandering through the Quad listening to his thoughtful, articulate descriptions of buildings makes one wonder: what happens when he doesn’t know the answer to a question? “Normally, if it has to do with Penn I’ll defer to admissions—I’d hate to give wrong information as opposed to no information. Or I’ll try to answer to the best of my knowledge and experience.” Back near the Perelman Quadrangle, he points to College Hall as we pass it. “Once I was asked what kind of stones College Hall was made of, and so I asked the people on the tour what stone they thought it was, and everyone gave guesses. At the end of it I went ‘well, that’s interesting!’ and kept on going.”

He grins playfully, “Gotta get them engaged, you know?”

SABRINA QIAO

VICE & VIRTUE

OCR? MORE LIKE "OH, SEE, BAR!" SERIOUSLY, THOUGH, LET'S TAKE A COLLECTIVE MOMENT TO CHILL OUT. LIGHT UP A J, GRAB A DRANK, GO FOR A RUN, GOOGLE A POEM — TAKE SOME TIME TO RESET. HERE'S YOUR REMINDER: YOU GO TO AN IVY LEAGUE SCHOOL, YOU'RE INCREDIBLY TALENTED & FORTUNATE, IT WILL ALL BE OKAY. STREET'S HERE FOR YOU <3

Live music • Film • Dance • Theater Art Education • Community

Sep 21 2017 @ 8:00 PM

Ars Nova presents: Frode Gjerstad Quart

Ars Nova Workshop is pleased to present the return of Norwegian saxophonist Frode Gjerstad, leading his quartet with trombonist Steve Swell, bassist Johnny Ruun and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love. Admission is FREE arsnovaworkshop.com/events/frode-gjerstadquartet-09-21-2017

Sep 22 2017 @ 8:00 PM 3 Women, a stage play by Alexis Walker

3 short plays about women and the spaces they make for others, in spite of themselves.

Tickets, $20 each Buy advance tickets at fringearts.com/event/3-women/

Remember when PE class was the best part of the school day? It was a time to play, be active and have fun with your friends! It was also a time to play your favorite sports and learn skills that could keep you fit for life! If you loved PE in school and want to help ensure that K-12 West Philadelphia students have an awesome PE experience, join our University-Assisted Community Schools (UACS) PE Support Program today!

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VICE & VIRTUE

A NEWBIE'S TAKE ON ASMR

I have a lot of questions.

Ah yes, autonomous sensory meridian response, better known as ASMR. I’m going to be real with you: I’m new to ASMR. So, like a true scientist I consulted the ASMR subreddit and found the following definition: “ASMR is a physical sensation characterized by a pleasurable tingling that typically begins in the head and scalp. It is commonly triggered by soft or accented voices, personal attention, ambient sounds, or watching people work silently, among other things.”

Basically, it’s a fun, tingly

sensation that’ll help you relax and (hopefully) help you sleep.

Where do you find things that provoke ASMR? If you’re asking that question you obviously spend most of your time on the normal side of YouTube because OH BOY— you don’t know what you’re about to get yourself into.

There's essentially an infinite number of ASMR videos available online, with whispering channels producing new content regularly. So let’s break this down. What types of videos are out there? Why

do I feel like a creep watching these? (Pleasurable tingling?

Photo by Jamin Gray // CC 2.0 C’mon people.)

Does ASMR actually work? ing really specific: Q–tips in There are two methods mannequin ears, gently tappeople tend to take when tryping the pages of old books, ing to produce those good and of course, tenderly ASMR vibes. We have the kneading some slime. classic, “Just some good old Time to dive a little deeper whispering” school of ASMR into ASMR categorization.

Youtube videos and the From my research on ASMR, slightly more complex “OthI’ve determined that there are er weirdly specific sounds three main genres: that make you feel good that aren’t talking.” We’re talk-

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I have a lot of questions but also no words, so we’re just going to move on.

There is so much to make fun of when it comes to ASMR. It’s weirdly intimate.

The videos are bizarrely specific. It really just seems like an excuse to have woman–babies talk at you in the name of relaxation. I wanted to hate this shit SO badly. But the thing is, I didn’t. There is something undeniably relaxing about ASMR. As someone not prone to goosebumps, even that pickle video had me feeling some kind of way. Is ASMR the cure to insomnia? Probably not.

Could watching a video on a study break make you a little calmer? It’s worth a try.

So this category of ASMR is what makes these seemingly

JILLIAN KARANDE

Most ASMR videos tend to speak directly to the viewer, but some videos go above and beyond just talking to the camera. There’s a slew of ASMR channels where the ASMR–er (Actor? Vlogger? If anybody knows what to call ASMR video–makers hit me up) is actually “interacting” with you. Looking for someone to soothingly whisper while painting you?

ASMR. Want to have someone pretend to give you a glam makeover but also speak like there’s baby angel stuck in her throat? ASMR.

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innocent videos feel kind of porn–y. Why is that woman dressed like an anime nurse talking so softly? Why do we need videos like “Bitchy popular girl does your makeup while whispering?” Why am I still getting this weird tingling sensation? I didn’t ask to feel relaxed while watching a woman pretend to be a really quiet flight attendant.

VICE & VIRTUE

JILLIAN KARANDE

SMALL WAYS TO BE A LITTLE KINDER TO YOURSELF IT’S TIME TO

Photo by Moyan Brenn // CC 2.0 A confession: when I think of taking care of myself I always think of the Parks and Recreation “Treat Yo Self ” school of self–care. You know, the one day a year you’re supposed to bathe yourself in champagne and get fed grapes and all that jazz.

Parks and Rec doesn’t have it wrong. Sometimes it’s great to let yourself eat an entire pint of Ben and Jerry’s in one sitting or to splurge on something after acing a test. It’s okay to treat yourself.

But the thing is, actually taking care of yourself involves more than a single day of mimosas and frivolous spending.

There are some smaller steps you can take to make sure that you’re doing okay. Treating yourself isn’t worth much if you aren’t regularly being kind to your body and your mind.

Here’s a few things you can do:

INVEST IN ME–TIME

It’s easy to feel like you’re just going from class to clubs to class to bed without a moment where you can catch a breath. Whether it’s the 15 to 30 minutes after you wake up or right before you go to sleep, pick a half hour during the day and designate it as time for yourself. Try journaling a page in the morning. Do a face mask or figure out a skincare routine that makes your face feel fresher than a newborn baby’s. Read a

chapter of a book that isn’t for school before you sleep. Listen to a short podcast while you’re getting ready. Watch an episode of Arrested Development. Just do something for yourself.

UTILIZE PHONE NOTES

Everyday, pull out your phone and write down a thing or two that you like about yourself, or something that you’re proud of that you did that day, or something that made you happy.

These can be small. “Today I called my mom just to say hi.”

“I made an effort to say hi to more people on Locust.” “I had a killer hair day.” If you’re ever feeling shitty and need to be reminded about the small, good things in your life, pull out your notes and scroll through your little happiness log.

CONSIDER A SOCIAL MEDIA CLEANSE

While it’s great to be able to keep in touch with friends and family, it’s easy to feel bogged down by the constant urge to check every social media app you have which can lead to shitty FOMO feelings and just a general inability to focus on your own life. If you can’t stop scrolling in the deep, try taking the Facebook app off your phone so your interaction with the site is reserved for computer time. This applies to other apps, too!

VOTE! Undergraduate Assembly & Class Board Elections

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voting closes today at 4 pm vote at www.pennstudgov.com

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F E AT U R E

“Education, not deportation,” a swell of 20 students chanted as they formed human chains on either side of Locust Walk.

The rain had dissolved into a misty drizzle, dampening protest signs that read, “No Human Being is Illegal” and “Let Us Be A Part of the American Dream.”

President Trump had finally announced the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which allows young people who came to the U.S. as children to work and study without fear of immediate deportation. During his campaign, he pledged to discontinue the program. After months of oblique hints and veiled warnings, Trump fulfilled his promise and ordered a phaseout for the program on Sept. 5, casting its beneficiaries into uncertainty.

When the news broke, Kareli Lizarraga, the director of La Casa Latina, told affected students at a meeting, “You can only plan your life for the next two years.”

In two years, when the last DACA permit expires, work permits and social security numbers will disappear as well. Most Penn students are just beginning to sketch out their lives and careers, but for some, their fate and future are in the hands of Congress.

“You don't know what's going to happen in two years,” Ale Cabrales (C ‘21), one of the organizers of the Locust Walk demonstration, said. “You don't know if you're going to be in this country in two years.”

Ale organized the demonstration with Eva Lewis (C ‘21) to support students impacted by the end of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Last Wednesday, they gathered a small group of students who knew each other, with a few passerby joining them, in linking arms. As campus bustled around them, they lamented what the end of DACA could mean for students on campus who applied under the program.

In Ale’s words, it’s as if the government told DACA students, “Hey, two years from now, even if you graduate, your diplomas are going to be useless."

There’s a group of students at Penn who applied as international students, even though they live here in the U.S. Many of them, like Pamela (C ‘18), have lived in the 1 0 3 4 T H S T R E E T M A G A Z I N E S E P T E M B E R 2 0 , 2 017

U.S. for most of their lives, and don’t have memories of another place. Pamela, who preferred to omit her last name, was born in Mexico. Her parents immigrated to the U.S. when she was just one year old. Her childhood memories, even the haziest ones, are all of Houston, T.X., where she grew up and went to school.

As a kid, she didn’t really think about her undocumented status. Pamela didn’t begin to feel the weight of her situation until she entered the later years of high school and discovered the barriers in place for college– hopeful students living in the U.S. without citizenship.

"It wasn't until I had to apply for college that I realized my citizenship status would affect me,” Pamela said. “I think that's when I felt a little bit beaten down because of it. But prior to that, it was actually pretty normal."

Pamela didn’t apply to Penn as an undocumented student. She applied under DACA. An executive order issued under President Obama, DACA allows undocumented young adults who immigrated to the U.S. before their 16th birthday to get a job or pursue a degree without fear of immediate deportation. Nationally, only five to ten percent of undocumented students without DACA make it to college, often clearing bureaucratic and financial hurdles to attend.

The envelope with Pamela’s first DACA certification opened opportunities for her that were previously sealed: a driver’s license, state ID, and ability to travel.

And even though the application was unwritten, and an admissions officer hadn’t yet reviewed it, one more door opened: Penn.

In her freshman year, Pamela mentioned her undocumented status to an older friend. That friend referred her to Penn for Immigrant Rights (PIR), an advocacy group for undocumented immigrants. Four years later, Pamela is now the chairwoman of the organization.

The group educates the public on immigration issues, directs advice and resources to undocumented Penn students, and raises money for a scholarship awarded to one undocumented student in Philadelphia.

Maria (C ‘19) is also a member of PIR. She didn’t apply to Penn under DACA: she grew up undocumented and became a U.S. citizen in eighth grade. But she recalls the nagging fear that came attached with her undocumented status, that turned every trivial mistake into a potential catastrophe.

F E AT U R E

“Being undocumented, I know what it’s like to walk around with that fear,” Maria, who preferred to omit her last name, said. “Something that a lot people talk about is, being an immigrant, you have to be perfect.

You can’t get a parking ticket. You can’t do anything.”

Maria does know someone—a friend of her mother’s—who was deported for paying a parking ticket.

Stories like this can create a blanket fear of organizations that require formal documentation—like universities. They inspire vigilance against visibility. Pamela called it “living in the shadows.”

“I think a lot of Penn students—I don’t want to generalize—but I think a lot of them have no idea there are DACA and undocumented students walking around in class with them,” Maria said.

Pamela got her first DACA certification when she was junior in high school. She used an immigration lawyer’s help to work through the extensive application process, which included proof of residency and background checks. Then, she waited to see if her application was approved. She knew she wanted to go to college no matter what; she would be first in her family to do so.

When she got a letter in her mailbox with news about her DACA status, she didn’t even wait to go inside the house before opening it. When she opened

the envelope and saw she had been approved, she cried from relief, still standing at the curb.

“I knew I had a way in for college,” Pamela said. “But regardless, I knew whatever would have happened, I could now work and help support my family.”

Pamela would renew her DACA permit a few more times. Recipients had to submit a DACA renewal every two years to continue using the program. After Oct. 5, DACA renewals will close. It’s unclear if a program will replace DACA, or what it would look like.

“The future of DACA is something I’m nervous about and something I have to consider,” Pamela said.

“Without it, I don’t have a work permit.”

With the end of DACA looming, the University is once again recalibrating its resources for impacted students. Penn President Amy Gutmann has pledged to “do everything in our power to protect and defend” undocumented students. Eva and Ale suggested that Penn offer other resources for undocumented students during this legislative limbo, such as paying for legal assistance, offering housing during breaks if students feel unsafe leaving Penn, and extending protection to students if they do choose to return home.

This is the second time in a year the University has affirmed their support for undocumented students.

After the 2016 presidential election, Penn professors circulated an open letter urging Gutmann to make a statement in support of undocumented students. PIR members followed with their own petition, calling for her to declare Penn a sanctuary campus. Soon after, Gutmann released a statement that affirmed Penn was a “sanctuary” for undocumented students, which was widely interpreted to mean sanctuary campus, and added her name to a letter supporting DACA. (Philadelphia itself is a sanctuary city.) After her announcement, five undocumented students met with high– level administrators to discuss further protective steps.

Penn accepts applicants who are undocumented, but policies differ across schools. In Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina, undocumented students are banned from even applying to in–state public universities. It can be daunting for an undocumented student to reveal their status to an admissions counselor, a stranger at a school they may have never even visited.

Maria Sotomayor, the deputy director of the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition (PICC),

has found that confusion abounds when students work within different universities’ policies. As a formerly undocumented student who was once illegally barred from public school, she works with DACA and undocumented students as they apply to college. Her advice to undocumented students is to choose carefully when to reveal their status.

“It’s tough for people to figure out how comfortable they are with sharing everything from their immigration status to their story,” Sotomayor said. “Especially nowadays because of everything we’ve seen. People should know what their limits are in terms of how much they want to expose themselves to.”

Ale emphasized the fear and uncertainty that can trail undocumented students, overshadowing their concerns for grades or schoolwork. It’s hard to focus on schoolwork if you’re worried that your family might be deported, she pointed out. It seems futile to work towards a degree if you don’t have a work permit that would allow you to get a job after college.

"Penn has made a lot of reassurances that these students will be safe at Penn, but no one knows what's going to happen after they graduate, you know? They're just basically being thrown into the world, into the shadows,” Ale said, echoing Pamela’s comparison. “Living in fear all the time."

“The truth is that immigration is quite complicated,” the founders’ statement of Penn for Immigrant Rights reads, “but it becomes more real to us when we talk about the humanity behind it.”

However, a conversation can become a cacophony.

Competing voices can drown each other out. Sotomayor has talked to undocumented students at Penn who have struggled to find a space to speak on campus.

“That’s the other experience that I see with students who are currently at Penn or have graduated,” Sotomayor said. “That getting lost and not having their voices being heard in terms of the whole institution.”

Immigrant rights advocates have pointed out that DACA’s strict requirements were exclusionary to some immigrants. And because the measure was an executive order, not a law, it was always tenuous.

“We need to make sure everyone’s okay,” Ale said, “and that it’s a permanent solution—not an executive action.”

The revocation of DACA affirms the ever–present fear Maria mentioned of getting a parking ticket, of revealing immigration status on a college application.

When news about DACA changes by the day, it’s un-

clear how much DACA students—who submitted their personal information to gain permits—should fear the federal government. Trump has challenged Congress to replace DACA with their own program in six months, and has indicated a possible deal with Democratic leaders. As the waiting commences, It’s unclear what the trajectory of Penn’s DACA students will be, or what Congress will decide, or if 20 voices on Locust Walk can be heard.

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VICE & VIRTUE

PENN'S OBSESSION WITH LA CROIX It's not just a drink—it's a lifestyle.

Do you consider yourself a sparkling water aficionado?

Discern the subtle taste between Pamplemousse and Melón Pomelo? Differentiate between seltzer and club soda? Then you are ready to rush La Croix Omega—the newest drink obsession.

So what is so sensational about sparkling? The drink has inspired a cult–like following at Penn. Students are hauling 12–can boxes from FroGro and even over the 38th Street bridge to stock their homes. And inside dorm

mini–fridges, the beverage is occupying precious space once allotted only to Red Bull and Natty Light. No longer just a Midwestern household staple, the drink has now become a cultural phenomenon.

Shiv–Louis Van de Ven (CW' 19) is a devotee of the drink. He always keeps his fridge full—currently with exactly 72 cans.

“Since it’s heavy, it’s hard to carry up and down from FroGro. So I usually just Instacart it in bulk every time I need to restock or do a Whole

Foods run if one of my friends has a car.”

Growing up in a sugar–free household, Shiv–Louis appreciates the drink’s unsweetened taste and prefers it over regular water. According to the La Croix website, the drink includes flavor only by the oils derived from each flavor's fruit. Sometimes, he needs a little extra kick in his La Croix.

“It’s also a really convenient base for other drinks. With a little lime, some source of sugar, you basically have your-

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self a really pleasant cocktail without too much effort.”

Within the sparkling water community, there's a heated debate over which brand is the best. New Englanders stay faithful to Poland Spring while Europeans prefer their Perrier. Shoshanna Israel (W ‘18), despite her roommate’s efforts to convert her to La Croix, would rather drink a different brand. “La Croix tastes very artificial,” she said.

“Trader Joe's actually soak(s) grapefruit in their carbonated water.”

Penn's retailers have yet to fully catch on to the trend.

Gourmet Grocer does not sell the La Croix brand. While you can find sparkling varieties of Dasani and Smartwater, true fans know this is not a perfect substitute. Pret a Manger is also getting in on the action, selling its own version of the water. Next time Penn wants to raise tuition 3.9%, it should consider cashing in on La Croix.

MOLLY HESSEL

FILM & TV

American Horror Story: Cult is grasping at political relevance, but the world moves too fast for that.

They say truth is stranger than fiction. In American Horror Story: Cult, they’re one and the same. The seventh season of the show, which premiered September 5 on FX, centers on post–election America and the unsettling repercussions in one woman’s life.

Ally (Sarah Paulson) struggles with phobias and paranoia reawakened by the stress of a Trump presidency. Her fears—of murderous clowns, confined spaces, and tiny holes on food—seem irrational, but as the show wears on, they become more and more valid. As the world descends into chaos, so does Ally’s mind.

Despite political themes, Cult can’t seem to decide on a political stance, taking aim at both liberal and conservative hypocrisy. Mentions of Nate Silver, truffle oil, and trigger warnings look like jabs at the oft–discussed “liberal bubble.”

But after nine months of an oversaturated political news cycle, talk of the liberal bubble feels worn, like an old SNL skit. Aren’t we talking about Harvey now, and DACA? American Horror Story: Cult is grasping at political relevance, but the world moves too fast for that.

The show is unsettling in

parts, but the scare tactics feel recycled and cartoonish.

The clowns, the going around unseen corners, the monster in the rearview mirror, the creepy babysitter—it’s suspenseful, but all too predictable. The scariest part is the opening sequence: a series of news clips from the election, including Donald Trump’s notorious descent down an escalator after his campaign announcement.

Opposite Ally’s chaotic paranoia is Kai (Evan Peters), an anarchist with a penchant for fluorescent orange cheese puffs. He’s the villain in the story, it seems, with wild grins and volatile rants.

Paulson is convincing as she wails and panics, but Ally isn’t likeable enough to be a hero, so the audience is left with a shallow satire. The show addresses real–life fears lazily and haphazardly, a scattered attempt at a convincing topical context.

Perhaps if Cult were more subtle, or its characters more interesting, it would work.

But as is, watching the show feels a bit like reliving election night—simultaneously tiring and maddening, only this time not nearly as unpredictable.

Photo by American Horror Story

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FILM & TV

STREET INTERVIEWS OSCAR–NOMINATED PRODUCER

CATHERINE DE LUNA

TODD LIEBERMAN (C '95)

Lieberman produced this fall's Oscar contender Stronger and, more importantly, is a Penn Alum!

Academy Award nominee Todd Lieberman (C ’95) is one of the most successful producers in Hollywood. As the co–founder of Mandeville Films and Television, he has produced various critically acclaimed films such as The Fighter and the recent live action version of Beauty and the Beast. His new film Stronger, starring Jake Gyllenhaal will be released this Friday. It tells the powerful true story of Jeff Bauman, who lost both of his legs in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. Street reviewed the movie, but we also met up with Lieberman before the screening to discuss his time at Penn, his career, and his new film.

Photo by Kurman Communications // CC 2.0

Street: How did your time at Penn influence your career?

Todd Lieberman: Even though growing up in Cleveland I wrote, acted, directed and produced plays, I have always been a movie fan. When I got to Penn, there was this great creative community outlet to exercise those desires. Sometime during my freshman year, I saw a Mask and Wig performance and was kind of blown away by it. I think in a way those four years of extreme camaraderie that I experienced with those guys certainly aided the idea of what it means to mount a production. I can probably draw a direct parallel to that and what it means to pro-

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Street: What do you look for in a good story?

TL: I directly respond to things that emotionally move me, where I feel like I am taken on a journey, relating to people or characters and then in the end feeling compelled to do something. That doesn't necessarily mean specifically to do something, like go out and run a race, but I like the idea of when a movie is done that I feel better than I did when I went into it. Before I think about who the audience is or how commercial [a film] might be, I am thinking about "Is it emotionally touching me? Do I feel that I benefited somehow from reading this script?" That is what initially compelled me to want to do Stronger.

Street: How did you find the idea for Stronger?

TL: I heard a one–liner, frankly. I was sitting down with an agent and he said that there's a guy [he's] about to work with who's thinking about writing a book about his experience of healing both physically and psychologically from the Boston Marathon bombing after losing both of his legs. So, figuratively and literally, it's about a guy who learns to get back up on two feet again. That to me sounded really compelling. It just so happened that when I started investigating the story and talking to Jeff [Bauman], he is an incredible person and

there were so many more layers to this story than I could have even imagined.

Street: How did you strike a balance between making sure Stronger was a film that was emotional without being sappy?

TL: I think with this movie in particular, the subject matter is so heavy and the real people involved are so unique, that my goal—and then all of our collective filmmaking groups’ goal—from the very beginning was to just be as absolutely authentic as possible. From there we would find the truth. So we didn't schmaltz it up, we did not “Hollywood” it up, to use a cliché term. There is also a sense of humor that Jeff [Bauman] has, and so there's this tightrope of a balancing act that David Gordon Green, the director, and we all accomplish, which I think manages to avoid those cliché traps of a conventional inspirational tale, while still getting the inspiration.

Street: How do you consolidate what you like and what you think an audience will enjoy?

TL: I stick to my taste and what inspires me. That is really regardless of genre. I was making a joke earlier today about when I first moved to L.A.: You're a 22–year–old kid and your experience is basically everything before 22 years. You come out to L.A., and you want to make

FILM & TV

Photo by Beauty and the Beast

movies and you think, “You know what would be a great idea for a TV show? Four guys who move to L.A. and live in a house and they all want to be in the movie business.” Well, that’s your experience, that's what you know up to that point, but maybe not everyone else will want that. My taste has evolved, certainly. But again, whether it's a comedy, drama, action, I am always looking for character at the center of it. I will always sacrifice plot moves for emotion and character.

Stronger is really a character journey. The plot to me was always secondary to the authenticity of this guy’s real inner workings and emotional experience of going through this trauma.

Street: How do you deal with portraying such a specific and horrific historical moment like the Boston Marathon bombing?

TL: Obviously it is a very sensitive subject. It was very important to me from the very beginning to make sure that the real people, Jeff, his family, and also the city of Boston itself were comfortable with the idea of even making a movie and then making a movie in such a way where it portrayed the realism of all the struggles that this particular gentleman went through. I sat with Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, I sat with the head of the Boston Athletics Association who

runs the marathon, I sat with high level city officials, hung out and spent an extraordinary amount of time with Jeff and his family. I basically [told them] my intention for the film. I [told them] that I want[ed] to make a movie about uplift and show to other people how going through pain—which we all experience in one way or another—how you are able to push through that and get to the other side and find the light. It was essential to me that we shoot it in Boston and we hire locals and real people. That was first and foremost. The second part of it was that the film has always been from the very beginning about a family. The event was the launching pad in a way for a family in struggle.

At some point, every one of us will deal with or has dealt with some kind of pain, some kind of tragedy. There is bad stuff that happens and we can’t control that, but what we can control is the way we deal with it. This movie has always been about that to me, less so about the specific event that happened, and more the aftermath of how one deals with it.

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Photo by Stronger

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FILM & TV

IS " " THE SCARIEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR? A lot of people say they would be packed, and the most adorable kids I have ever don't do well with horror energy in the room would seen in my life. Seeing him movies, but I do not do well probably be crazy and fun. run around, building a little with horror movies. I'm a pa- Then I realized that after the paper boat to play with, maranoid and anxious person as movie, I’d have to walk home kes me briefly consider what it is, and nothing makes me to my apartment alone—at it would be like to be older absolutely lose my mind like night. I wasn’t trying to be and have children. I’m yanked some sparse ominous music ambushed by a clown in front out of my daydream about cues, a dark room, and a well– of FroGro, so needless to say I my middle–aged future by placed jump scare. As a movie bought my ticket for a 3 p.m. the sight of It himself peering lover, this has proven to be a showing on Friday instead. out of a sewer. Not only does problem. Whenever a great Here's how that went down: this clown look terrifying, but I walk into the theater, his mannerisms make me unnew horror flick comes out, I’m forced to choose between comforted by the broad believably uncomfortable. I’m missing out on a great film daylight. I immediately re- back curled up into my safe everyone’s talking about and gret my decision to come here little ball; I know something being a nervous wreck for when every single preview is bad is about to happen. No 90–120 minutes. I saw the for a horror movie. After a spoilers, but let's just say I’m trailer for It, the remake of particularly traumatizing trai- right.

Leasing • Rooms The•next hour of the molerSingle for the and new Double Saw movie, the classicFlexible 1990 miniseries • All and Utilities Included is essentially a series of basedIndividual on Stephen Leases King’s noI’mAmenities already completely curled vie vel, and could tell this was up into a ball in my seat. The nightmarish sequences in one of those movies everyone movie finally begins and we’re which this clown terrorizes would be seeing. I refused to introduced to Bill and GeorCall each of the main characters. miss out this time, so I deci- gie—two brothers and two Every time my heart rate recha- covers from the last scare, ded I'd take the plunge come of the most important 215.662.0802 racters in the movie. Georgie Pennywise the clown comes September 7. and back out again with some I considered watching the is wearing a turtleneck Email film on opening night. It a raincoat and is one of the new terrifying imagery

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Street saw the killer clown horror flick on opening day and we're still recovering from it.

for me to wince at while my hands half–cover my eyes. At this point I’m convinced I’m going to have a heart attack in the middle of the University City Cinemark. I’m hoping Street will pay for my medical bills. After a few particularly scary set pieces (there’s basically a 20–minute haunted house sequence smack in the middle of the film) the movie hits a bit of a slow spot. Here’s where I get into my actual critique of the movie: while it is pretty consistently scary, the way the story told is a bit amateurish. The story beats felt all too familiar, right down to the contrived third act fight between the main characters—only for them to reunite 20 minutes later after realizing that they “have to stick together!” Additionally,

DALTON DESTEFANO the final battle between It and our group of protagonists (is that a spoiler?) is pretty sloppy, and the exact mythology behind the clown is hastily explained away in favor of a typical Hollywood fight scene. That being said, director Andrés Muschietti continues to deliver the terrifying imagery throughout the final act—so much so that as the credits began to roll, I realize I've been tensed up for the past two hours.

I walk out of the theater pretty proud of myself. I had successfully sat through a horror movie and only audibly gasped a couple of times. The movie is already slated for a sequel, so who knows; maybe I’ll be back in the next couple of years to go through this trauma all over again.

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ARTS

THE BENJAMIN FRANKLIN PARKWAY WILL BE LIT FOR THE NEXT MONTH

The parkway gets a makeover for its centennial by internationally renowned artist Cai Guo–Qiang.

Photo by Autumn Powell How would the Benjamin Franklin parkway celebrate its 100th birthday, you ask?

Well, Jay–Z just performed at the annual Made In America Festival, but the Association of Public Art (APA) and the Fung Collaboratives had another plan—commissioning a site–specific public art piece titled Fireflies on the occasion of the parkway’s centennial.

The artist, Cai Guo–Qiang, is internationally acclaimed for his provocative and spectacular use of gunpowder and fireworks.

Running until October 8, Thursdays through Sundays from 6 to 10 p.m., Fireflies will light up the grand boulevard with over 900 illuminated lanterns in various colors and shapes, held aloft by 27 customized, moving pedicabs.

Handcrafted in the artist’s hometown, Quanzhou, China, these lanterns represent the artist’s personal childhood memories. However, the designs on the lanterns are meant to be culturally diverse—featuring emojis, donuts, sushi, panda, tigers,

submarines—so that people from different backgrounds can collectively enjoy the artwork. As a public art event, Fireflies invites everyone to board the vehicles and join for a ride up and down the parkway from Sister Cities Park at Logan Square to

Iroquois Park, temporarily escaping into a childlike, dreamy nightscape.

The exhibit is accessible and relevant, and it demonstrates how equitable art can be to the general public.

As Cai said through an interpreter at the premiere, “I

wish to give the parkway back to the people and let them participate in this celebration... Fireflies will symbolize the spirit of multiculturalism, the spirit of coming together as well as dream.”

LINDA LIN

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ARTS

DECONSTRUCTED: PHILADELPHIA ASSEMBLED Philly: home of BYOs, the 76ers, and too many problems

Photo by Joseph Hu Spread across the ground floor of Perelman Building of the Philadelphia Museum of Art are five giant murals, each accompanied by a different word: Rise, Claim, Root, Care, and Move.

This is Philadelphia Assembled, an exhibit that bridges art and civic engagement.

Initiated by artist Jeanne van Heeswijk, who led a team of over a hundred collaborators, Philadelphia Assembled tells the story

of resilience in the face of regressive change. Each mural details some aspect of resistance. In one, it’s land sovereignty; in another, it’s economic autonomy. The murals are maps of Philadelphia with images, drawings, and diagrams to illustrate these issues.

At the bottom is a timeline of events related to these community problems on a local, national, and global scale, along with documented acts of resilience

and resistance. From Christopher Columbus arriving to “the Indies” to Beyoncé winning the Peabody Award, the timeline recognizes the biggest and most trivial setbacks and achievements.

As a social engagement artist, Heeswijk was approached by the lead curator of the PMA to create a piece that would establish a relationship between an institution like the museum with the

broader city. For her, the project “started as a series of conversations about how we can collectively come together to imagine our city to think about acts of resilience and alternative ways of growth.” The entire piece culminated after over 500 conversations across community institutions, such as the Broad Street Church and public gardens.

Take a step further into the exhibit, and you will encounter a

room full of objects under a letter of the alphabet. Called “Sovereignty A to Z,” this portion of the exhibit seeks to understand sovereignty through three different perspectives: personal, financial, and cultural. The use of the alphabet is intended to create a new language paradigm, to change the way we speak about sovereignty over ourselves and our surroundings every day.

Her main goal is to answer five questions surrounding reconstruction, sovereignty, sanctuary, futures, and movement. How does our written history reflect its realities? How is self–determination and unity defined? How do we provide safe spaces for all?

What does our tomorrow look like and how do we shape it?

How do we convey knowledge and information to do so?

The exhibit enables you to get out of the Penn Bubble, understand civic engagement in Philadelphia—its history, its current progression, and its future—and to learn about the social problems right under your nose.

Philadelphia Assembled will remain open until December 10, 2017. Admission is free with membership at the PMA and every Wednesday night.

SHERRY TSENG

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ARTS

Photo by Joseph Hu

Photo by Joseph Hu Photo by Joseph Hu

Photo by Joseph Hu

Photo Page 20: PHLA EXH IMAGE 7: Philadelphia Assembled city panorama.

Photos Page 21, clockwise: 1. PHLA EXH IMAGE 4: The framework of an affordable house with re-purposed real-estate ads and solicitations in the background 2. PHLA EXH IMAGE 2: The Perelman Cafe is the Philadelphia Assembled kitchen, operating through December 10, 2017 3. PHLA EXH IMAGE 1: Philadelphia Assembled lobby and city panorama mural in the background 4. PHLA EXH IMAGE 8: The Philadelphia Assembled artistic team.

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It all started last February when everyone around me was talking about their summer jobs. You could say the stress got to me, but really... it was just curiosity. I didn’t necessarily plan on applying to any jobs that night; I just wanted to see what was out there.

But from the moment I opened that first application and felt the sensation of filling out the application questions, the rush of attaching my resume, and the excited nervousness that came when my mouse moved across that “apply” button at the bottom of the screen and clicked, I knew I was hooked. Now I can’t go more than half an hour without searching LinkedIn and finding an application to fill out. I’ve got a rhythm down: every morning, hit Handshake bright and early. Then I hit Glassdoor, Monster, even Indeed sometimes when I’m desperate, because I just can’t let any job slip by. The fields don’t matter to me—finance, marketing, engineering, entertainment, animal rights activism, artist assisting, prop styling, food testing, and sometimes even the rare ferret training are all fields willing to accept my application.

The green check marks, the feeling for ten seconds as if

I’m doing something actually productive—what a rush.

What’s happened in the time since this addiction started?

Well, it’s been seven months since I applied for my first job, and six since I got my first offer. Since then I’ve gotten 236 offers, but I haven’t had time to respond to any of them. I feel it’s important to keep an open mind, in case anything better comes along.

Now that the summer is over, it’s getting harder and harder to find summer jobs to apply for. I often worry how I’ll be able to feed my addiction once December hits and Handshake goes dark. It’s…too upsetting to consider. To be honest, those sketchy Craigslist listings to be an unlicensed massage therapist or sexy stripper are getting more and more attractive to me.

It’s September now, though, and I’m faithful that summer internship applications will be released for next summer soon enough. Until then, please keep me in mind for any summer job openings you hear of. I’m quite desperate and feel kind of behind, as I’ve heard that for full time post grad jobs, companies won’t even accept applicants without summer experience.

SHOSHANA STERNSTEIN

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THE STREETS OF PENN:

PERSONIFIED Ugh, why won't Locust just shut up?

Locust: The coked–out, overworked, exhausted one.

Why is he always up? Why is he never quiet? Doesn’t he need to sleep for at least like, four hours a night? He always leaves his trash on the street and it’s just the worst.

Walnut: The basic. Only seen eating salads and wearing black.

Spruce: The unreliable one. Would text you back three days later like nothing happened. Also, spends way too much time at Wawa, Allegro, and Copabanana. They’re essentially made of fried food eaten between the hours of 1:00 and 2:00 a.m.

Pine: Amazing at appearing like she has her shit together. She seems gorgeous and pretty and quiet, but in reality, she hosts parties every weekend and literally never shuts up.

Also, why does she always take so long to go places?

Delancey: Thinks it’s adorable that she’s tiny and wears pastels. Goes to darties to take pictures, but leaves when she gets a stain on her pinstriped jumpsuit.

Baltimore: That guy who everyone’s ghosted. No one ever consciously hangs out with him. He’s that guy in class who can’t stay focused and goes on ridiculously annoying tangents at all times.

LILY ZIRLIN

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