11.14.18

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Ego: Malia Szyman

p.9 Food Blogs

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Global Guides at Penn Museum

November 14, 2018 | 34st.com

PUSHED OFF CAMPUS: Mental Health Leave at Penn

november NOVEMBER14 , 2018 3 WORD ON THE STREET Abstinence in College

4 EGO

EOTW: Abhi Suri, Malia Szyman, Penn Dems & Republicans

7 MUSIC

boygenius, Guitar Shopping

Nick Joyner, Editor–in–Chief Remi Lederman, Managing Editor Angela Huang, Audience Engagement Director Annabelle Williams, Assignments Editor Autumn Powell, Media Director Cat Dragoi, Word on the Street Editor Caroline Riise, Ego Editor Jamie Gobreski, Music Editor Colin Lodewick, Senior Features Editor Sabrina Qiao, Special Features Editor Andreas Pavlou, Long–Term Features Editor Naomi Elegant, Developing Features Editor Liz Kim, Style Editor Ana West, Film & TV Editor Sherry Tseng, Arts Editor Eliana Doft, Lastpage Editor Ethan Wu, Photo Editor Morgan Potts, Copy Director Christopher Muracca, Print Director Ego Beats: Sophie Xi, Amanpreet Singh, Michelle Shen, Misty Liao, Katie Bontje Music Beats: Arjun Swaminathan, Sammy Gordon, Sophie Burkholder, Melannie Jay, Aleksei Kuryla, Srinidhi Ramakrishna, Shriya Beesam Features Staff: Angie Lin, Julia Bell, Paige Fishman, Hailey Noh, Chris Schiller, Katrina Janco, Sireesh Ramesh, Allison Wu

9 STYLE

Food Blogs, Anthology Wellness, Shake Shack

LOL

12 FEATURE

University & Risk–Aversion, Teach–ins at Penn

LOL 17 FILM & TV

Suspiria, Disney Remakes

19 ARTS

Global Guides, Penn's Stabile, CaffeiNations

LOL 22 LASTPAGE

Overheards, Penn Course Review 2

Sophia Dai, Sophia Zhu

Style Beats: Beatrice Forman, Alice Goulding, Ryan McLaughlin, Teresa Xie, Allie Shapiro, Emma Moore, Jennifer Cullen

Video Staff: Jean Chapiro, Abdul Sohu

Film & TV Beats: Zovinar Khrimian, Maryanne Koussa, Anna Collins, Sam Kesler, Kate Lindenburg, Shannon Zhang

Copy Associates: Kate Poole, Kira Horowitz, Sarah Poss, Serena Miniter, Erin Liebenberg, Lexie Shah, Carmina Hachenburg, Luisa Healey, Agatha Advincula

Arts Beats: Michelle Wan, Christina Lu, Josephine Cheng

Sofia Price, Analytics Editor Marketing Associates: Brittany Levy, Carly Shoulberg, Daniel Bulpitt, Ha Tran, Lauren Donato , McKay Norton, Merry Gu, Lauren Reiss, Kat Ulich, Serena Zhao

Design Editors: Lucy Ferry, Gillian Diebold, Ben Zhao, Christine Lam, Alana Shukovsky Associates: Ian Ong, Joy Lee, Alice Heyeh, Nancy Kang, Isabel Liang, Gebran Abdulhai, Ava Cruz, Jess Tan Lastpage Beat: Sami Canaan, Abby Goldstein Staff Writers: Margaret Zhang, Riley Wagner, Calista Lopez, Calais Cronin, Sarah Fingerhood, Katie Hartzell, Anjalee Bhuyan, James Morrison, Christy Qiu, Jordan Wachsman, Emily Gelb, Karin Hananel, Bebe Hodges, Claire Ochroch, Shunmel Syau, Rania Zakaria, Amanda Xu, Riley Kennedy Illustrators: Anne Chen, Anne Marie Grudem, Brad Hong, Carly Ryan, Catherine Liang, Jake Lem, Reese Berman, Saranya Sampath, Jessi Olarsch, Diane Lin, Christopher Kwok, Cecelia Vieira, Jacqueline Lou

Cover Illustration by Saranya Sampath Contacting 34th Street Magazine: If you have questions, comments, complaints or letters to the editor, email Nick Joyner, Editor–in–Chief, at joyner@34st. com. You can also call us at (215) 422–4640. www.34st.com ©2018 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.

Staff Photographers: Emma Boey, Kaitlin Rowan, Chloe Schaefer, Eleanor Shemtov, Olivia Fielding, Riley Merkel,

How do you 'just' end up on a stripper boat in Alaska

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR R

emi? Who is she? Some of you may be wondering where our usual Letter from the Editor writer is.

Well, Nick is out of town and that means I am the captain now. That being said, any complaints and angry emails should be directed to joyner@34st.com, thanks.

This past week, I got to walk around in Nick's shoes for a bit as I've taken on some of the responsibilities of Editor in Chief—and he's 6'5" if that tells you anything about how big his shoes are. While we always joke about no one knowing what Nick does, I can now attest that he does a lot. It is a job that keeps you on your toes and you have to handle anything it throws at you. There were decisions to be made and pressure to be had. When unexpected problems would arise or there were challenges outside my department, I was now the go–to representative for Street. I even had to learn cursive to sign this letter! But in all seriousness, I had a newfound respect for Nick and have never appreciated him more. I didn't realize how much of a luxury it was to have the person I trust and lean on most at Street always available. And this week it was my turn to let him lean on me. I can only hope I ran as tight a ship as he does.

But I'm lucky in that Nick isn't the only person in my life that I can depend on. I realized this week that there are so many people in all of our lives that go underappreciated.

We don't realize how much other people do for us or just how much of an impact they have on our lives. There are so many little things people do that may seem inconsequential but, when those things stop, you miss them more than

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you thought you would. We are all guilty of it. When your roommate goes out of town and doesn't do their chores for a week or your usual study partner isn't in your class this semester, you realize how much you lean on each other to make the tedious parts of life more manageable.

Soon, we will be voting on a new board of people to run the DP. Nick and I will be handing off our roles to the next generation of Street leaders. Our exec board was everything I could have hoped for. And everything we did, we did as a team. I hope our successors inherit a team as tight–knit and reliable as mine was. I hope they appreciate each other and express their appreciation for each other often. I could do a better job at that in every aspect of my life. I think everyone could.

Autumn Powell | Media Director

WOTS

word on the

STREET

Although it may not be common in college, I am abstinent. I want to hide when sex enters the conversation—it makes me feel excluded. The way my high school peers used to talk about it put an entire gender into a pool of unidentified bodies. There was no way I could crawl out of the sea and get them to hear me.

Their sexual nonchalance made me an outcast, because I didn’t see them the way they saw me.

The sexual revolution made abstinence a thing of the past. To be part of the present, we are encouraged to sleep with who we want and expect others to do the same. Like fruitcake at a buffet, abstinence is regarded as inedible and even humorous.

I am glad the sexual revolution happened: it was time for women to be sexually liberated. But it seems that society has grown intolerant of other lifestyle choices.

To many, my relationships remain fanciful abstractions because I haven’t proven them physically. My love advice is no longer helpful when people realize I have no experience with sex. Relationships are full of wild complications of which sex does not play a part, but sex has become a prerequisite of the dating world.

The exclusion begins as early as high school.

The most influential high schoolers determine social norms, and abstinence is not

CHOOSING ABSTINENCE IN COLLEGE What might be a sizable proportion of the Penn community is constantly left out of campus sex conversations.

Sarah Beth Gleeson often listed among them. I had spent most of my high school career sheltering myself from unpleasant encounters and strange looks after it became known that I chose to be abstinent. I never had the desire to influence anyone, but I was always nervous the heteronormative establishment was changing people’s opinions against their will.

Leaving high school, I was hopeful. Southern prep could stay behind while I was introduced to an explosion of diverse perspectives.

Instead, here at Penn, I was met with yet another round of intolerance.

The blatant rejection of abstinence as a possible lifestyle choice was evident from the first freshman sexual consent presentation.

The presenters listed all the ways to be sexually active: heterosexual relationships, homosexual relationships, asexual relationships, and open relationships. Abstinence brought up the rear, the last option picked, and the first to be cast aside with peels of laughter. High school memories came back in vivid detail.

It’s easy to say high school ends and we move on. But the lasting desire to feel included only increases as we navigate the dating world and attempt to hold lasting relationships.

In my first few weeks at Penn, I tried to meet new people in the dining halls, figuring it was my best shot

since introductions are daunting during freshman orientation. I noticed a friendly–looking group who seemed to be having a good time. I asked them if I could sit down, and they nodded, but continued to talk.

In less than five minutes, the Rice Purity Test came up, and they were asking about each other’s scores, describing in detail how they planned to improve them.

I was trying to think of an appropriate way to react so I wouldn’t put a damper on the conversation. It’s hard not to look conspicuously quiet in a group of four, and I was frantically keeping my face neutral, even laughing occasionally to show I understood.

In college, we imagine people are having all the sex all the time, but in reality it is a false pretense. I don’t remember the joke that made me grip my seat so tightly at my first Mask and Wig show, but I remember wondering who else in the audience was feeling the same discomfort.

According to Rebecca Huxta—the Associate Director of Campus Health at Penn—a 2016 survey based on the National College Health Assessment II shows that approximately 73%

Cecelia Vieira | Illustrator

percent of Penn students have had zero to one sexual partners in the past year.

The majority of Penn students aren't having as much sex as people think. Many of us feel marginalized by the pressures of conversation and jokes to act more experienced than we are, or want to be.

The obvious conclusion people come to is that I stay abstinent for religious reasons—as in, I am irrationally following a set of codified laws which have brainwashed me and control my life. People choose abstinence for a host of reasons—some even to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancy. Religion isn't the only explanation and it shouldn't be the assumed reason. My personal reasons for abstaining are not dramatic, but practical fulfillments that work for me.

Abstinence is not a removal of sex from life. On the contrary, it is of critical importance to talk about sex in a healthy manner from a young age without negating its importance. And while I agree that abstinence–only programs are not the answer, it should not be overshadowed as a viable option.

The culture surrounding abstinence is one of guilt, silence, and cover–ups, and is largely ineffective at improving adolescent health.

Removing abstinence from the sex conversation is polarizing, and limits potentially diverse conversations across genders and cultures.

Abstinence isn’t for everyone—but some of us do find fruitcakes delicious. We shouldn’t be made to feel like outsiders because of it.

Sarah Beth Gleeson is a freshman in Engineering.

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EGO

EGO OF THE WEEK

Abni Suri, self–taught coder extraordinaire, sat down with Street to discuss his love for Hershelʼs East Side Deli and how he plans to make big impacts on people's lives for the better.

By Michelle Shen 34th Street: What are some of the coolest projects and experiences you’ve had working with Hack4Impact?

Abni Suri: What I think really speaks to Hack4Impact’s true value outside of the technical prowess of our developers, was the project I worked on my first semester with Hack4Impact for Reading Terminal Market. In the market, you have the vendors that sell food, which is what customers regularly see. They also have these vendors that sell food to them.

However, the issue is that if you are a new merchant in Reading Terminal Market, it’s very difficult to build up relationships with these new vendors. Furthermore, you don’t know if you’re getting price gouged or not. What we did was create this online marketplace— you can kind of think of it as this mini–Amazon for Reading Terminal Market. Throughout that time I was interacting with Steven, the owner of Hershel’s

East Side Deli. Not sure if you’ve been there, but there’s really good pastrami, and whenever we went there we would get free pastrami.

Working with him was also a nice way for me to develop my communication skills.

Street: What are some of the surprising things you’ve learned as an instructor?

AS: Whenever we come to Penn, we’re always very high– minded and we think we don’t need any help. It’s very difficult for us to ask for help, and I know this is very prevalent within the CIS department since some of my students and TAs have expressed this to me. There’s this general perception as a student that if you go and ask for help, you’re considered dumber in the eyes of the TA. In reality, that is not the case whatsoever.

Street: As someone who now teaches a course on JavaScript and leads one of the biggest coding clubs at Penn, when

did you first start becoming interested in technology?

AS: It’s not what you would see with a lot of West Coast kids, where they’ve been coding since elementary school. For me, coding was something that I very much stumbled into. In 9th grade, I did robotics; however, I did not know how to code, so I definitely wasn’t on the programming team. There was someone who was superior to me officially in charge of making the website for our robotics team, but they dropped out last minute, so I had to pull together a website in the course of 48 hours. I was just, like, completely dumbfounded. Over the course of five or six months, I was essentially looking at programming tutorials on YouTube. That’s how I really fell in love with what could be loosely called computer programming."

Street: What are the things you love about Philo?

AS: There are a lot of great

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ABHI SURI HOMETOWN | San Antonio, TX (but has also lived in India, Boston, New Haven, and Los Angeles) MAJORS | Biology & CIS MINORS | Classics & Chemistry ACTIVITIES | Co–Director of Hack4Impact, President and Moderator of Philo, CIS 197 Instructor, Chemistry 251 TA Autumn Powell | Media Director

people at Penn—however, it’s very difficult to break through people and get beyond superficial conversations. You have to spend a lot of time with them to get to the point where you can start talking about this topic that isn’t related to homework or recruiting. I found that this was basically a space where you don’t have to spend months and months with people to reach the point where you can have super deep conversations with them.

Street: I would imagine a lot of doors are open for someone with your skill set. What would you be interested in pursuing post graduation?

AS: Seeing the direct impact of how meaningful Hack4Impact was to vendors like Steven throughout the entire process was so rewarding. Ultimately, I think that’s what leads me to choose

a career in medicine. I find that even though I love programming, it ultimately is benefitting a ton of people but indirectly through a screen. For me, that just isn’t as personally satisfying as interacting directly with a patient. Even though I know that I’ll never be able to nearly impact as many patients as I would as a software engineer, having that direct impact is really valuable to me.

Street: Where do you think you can make the most impact?

AS: What my mindset has been towards education in general, and why I chose these disparate fields of computer science and biology, is primarily for this reason. I want to be a doctor not only for patient interaction, but also to bridge this gap between these vastly different fields.

Note: This interview has been condensed and edited.

LIGHTNING ROUND Favorite spot on campus? Philomathean Halls Favorite book? Superintelligence, by Nick Bostrom Favorite on-campus food truck? Cucina Zapata (Mexican–Thai fusion food) Favorite TV show? It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be? Nick Bostrom, Gary Bernhardt, or Dan Abramov

EGO

Hanging out with Nursing Junior Malia Szyman and her Service Dog In–Training, Maui Anjalee Bhuyan

From the outside, it appears to be a typical house, until a knock on the door breaks the silence, spurring a succession of eager barking. A chewed– up dog toy lies out on the rug.

Some dog food sits in a pouch on the side table. Maui, a Golden Retriever and Labrador mix, who regularly turns heads on the sidewalk, treads across the room, wagging her tail excitedly. But Maui is no pet, as Malia Szyman (N '20) will tell you.

Maui intently chews on a bone as Malia talks about Canine Companions for Independence (CCI), the nation’s largest service dog training organization. Headquartered in Santa Rosa, CA, where Malia grew up, the organization breeds puppies until they are eight weeks old, and then sends them to puppy raisers. Over eighteen months, the puppies learn a list of commands, and then are sent to advanced training for six months.

They even learn how to go to the bathroom on command.

Demonstrating a few of Maui’s talents, Malia reaches for the pouch of food as she asks Maui to speak. After a few quiet moments, Maui utters a few sounds and is rewarded with some food.

Malia enthusiastically encourages Maui through every command.

Malia dreamed of training a service dog for CCI since second grade, building her obsession as she paged through book after book about dog training. Growing up with a disabled younger brother also had a major impact

events because of huge piece of Malia’s life This Maui. But Malia belief is the reason why, last year, is committed: “It she created "Step Up,” a club to encourage people to is hard and there designed REALTY GROUP is a lot I have to get involved with service dogs.

Currently, there are four CCI sacrifice for her, Large Selection Studio, 1, campus that the club but I didn’t get her dogs on of to make me happy. helps raise. Volunteers can take It’s not about me.” the puppies on walks and work Service has on commands with them.

Over winter break in the always been a

airport, a woman came up to Malia and asked to say hello to Maui. Dressed in her signature yellow CCI vest, Maui could not react as a pet since she was on duty, so Malia had to 2politely & 3 Bdrm decline. The woman then mentioned that she was a graduate (matched with a service dog), and just wanted to thank Malia for her work.

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Autumn Powell | Media Director

on Malia, furthering her appreciation for the organization. Her dreaming phase was brought to a halt sophomore year when she decided to adopt Maui.

Most mornings, Malia takes Maui out of her kennel, fills up Maui’s food bag, and bikes to class while the dog scampers along. Maui attends Malia’s classes and dance practices with West Philly Swingers, quietly lying down under a table. Since Maui is only six months away from advanced training, she is disciplined enough to obediently follow instructions. Whenever Maui has her CCI vest on she must act like a service dog, but at home she can relax and go to playdates with another CCI dog on campus.

Caring for a service dog is difficult, and Malia has to limit how late she stays out studying, or how often she can go to club

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EGO

A Conversation with Penn Dems' Dylan Milligan and College Republicans' Richard Murphy We sat down with leaders from Penn's two main political groups ahead of the 2018 Midterm Elections.

Amanpreet Singh While most of us are used to seeing political debates in Washington D.C., last month, Houston Hall acted as a forum for Richard Murphy (C ‘19), executive director and acting president of College Republicans, and Dylan Milligan (W ‘20), president of Penn Democrats, to discuss the 2018 midterm elections.

During Richard's freshman year, the culture at Penn pushed him towards conservative thought. Richard calls his politics moderate and says he has no patience for “conspiracy theories.”

Dylan began identifying with Democratic politics while in high school, though his parents voted for George W. Bush twice.

After registering as a Democrat, he caucused in 2016—a “baptism by fire.”

“In 2016, Obama was president,” Dylan said. “[20]18 is the year of ‘What the F is going on?’”

Dylan wasn’t the only Democrat affected by 2016. When he was a freshman, the club took on about 30 active new members.

This year, 170 signed up and around 100 are still active.

Sophia Dai | Photographer

“Each time we canvas we knock on over 2,000 doors…

We easily make 5,000 calls in a phone bank,” He adds, “Hopefully we contribute a couple of bucket–fulls to the Blue Wave.”

Richard feels that the 2016 election was more “emotionally taxing” but that there's more enthusiasm this year: “People are very interested in having their voice heard.”

Dylan mentions that many members of Penn Dems have felt frustrated lately. “We saw family

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separation at the border, we saw the nomination of a justice who had credible threats of sexual assault against him, we saw the president trying to ban Penn students from Muslim–majority countries."

This enthusiasm affects how both clubs approached the midterms. They agree that voter registration is important. The clubs collaborated with other groups on “Penn Leads the Vote,” bringing Joe Biden to campus.

Both groups have endorsed candidates. Members of College Republicans travelled to support Brian Fitzpatrick in Pennsylvania's eighth congressional district, and brought Pearl Kim, who ran in Pennsylvania's fifth congressional district, to campus.

Penn Dems organizes weekly canvases, including for Scott Wallace in Pennsylvania's first congressional district, and Susan Wild in the seventh district. They also run weekly phone banks.

One electrifier in this year’s midterms is Justice Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court. Richard, echoing many College Republicans, called the process "a circus."

While Kavanaugh wasn't his first choice, Richard notes that many College Republicans are “very pleased with the result.”

Dylan disagrees: "If there was a Democratic nominee to this post who had had the same accusations against him, I would think it would be in the best interests of our country and values of this nation for that person to

withdraw.”

He pointed to the Democratic response to accusations against Al Franken, but Richard interjects: “Bill Clinton.”

“Well, sure,” Dylan responds, “This is before #MeToo. If Bill Clinton was in a position of elected office right now, and there were credible accusations of sexual assault against him, I think those should be investigated.”

Both leaders stress that their groups offer diversity of opinion.

Dylan says, “I know two members of our club that are registered Republicans and are independents simply because they…want to elect people who will resist the Trump presidency.

And of course there are people in Penn Dems who are registered socialists.”

Richard notes that he isn't a staunch defender of the Second Amendment, which sets him apart from many other Republicans: “I actually align with Bernie Sanders on the issue of the Second Amendment—much to the chagrin of members in the club.”

Both groups believe in the importance of bipartisanship. Richard said, “A lot of times people don't even talk anymore with people they disagree with.”

Even after moments of tension, Dylan and Richard shook hands. Afterwards, Dylan ran after Richard to ask him about collaborating on an Undergraduate Assembly project, showing a willingness to cooperate that seems more common in Houston Hall than Capitol Hill.

MUSIC

All–Female Supergroup

boygenius's Debut is Unsurprisingly Genius Sophie Burkholder

Cecelia Vieira | Illustrator

The new EP from this all–female supergroup sheds light on what it means to be a woman of indie rock today.

Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus are familiar names to anyone that’s been paying attention to new indie rock music. But to most, they are part of what is now an often referred to trend of female artists finally rising to the kind of prominence they’ve always deserved. And while this more mainstream appreciation of rock music from women is something to be lauded and continued, the new Baker– Bridgers–Dacus supergroup, boygenius, points out the still underlying misogyny in these discussions of successful female musicianship.

The problem is that female artists from varying genres are reductively lumped together because of their gender, even if their respective styles are dramatically different. The three women behind boygenius felt this effect, reading reviews of their individual work that compared them to each other, despite the fact that Dacus is a fuzzy guitar rocker, Bridgers a queen of dreamy folk, and Baker a proponent of hauntingly self–aware emo.

But because they are each female singer–songwriters, critics collected them into

some derivative of the now– overdone headline, “Rock’s not dead, it’s coming from women.” To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure where the basis of that wording came from, because in what may come as a surprise, there have been women making rock music since the genre’s inception. So Baker, Bridgers, and Dacus decided to collaborate on a six–track self–titled EP as boygenius, a name that itself points out the paradox that men in music are identified as examples of individual genius in a way that is rarely seen with female artists.

On the EP, boygenius, each member takes a turn at the helm on different songs. Each track has its own soothing perfection, as ghostly and comforting as darkly bare tree limbs that stand out against a gray autumn sky. Through alternating acoustic and electronic rhythms, couplets stand out that also prove this group’s immense talent in lyricism as well. Heartbreaking song favorites include Baker’s “Stay Down,” Dacus’s “Salt in the Wound” and the final track, “Ketchum, ID.”

This 21–minute EP will leave fans wanting, craving, needing more, but to expect much else from this group would be to misunderstand the point of boygenius completely.

Yes, these songs are beautiful

in the way they demonstrate these artists’ ability to work together so flawlessly and fluidly, but the significance of the group is in the implications of their existence. Together as three young women in an

industry that too often favors loudly confident men, Baker, Bridgers, and Dacus find a comfortable power in their collaboration, and use it to fearlessly express some of their most raw emotions.

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MUSIC

Six Steps to Successfully Buy a Guitar on a College Budget How much is that Fender in the window?

MELANNIE JAY

College is a time for trying new things, which for some of us is an invitation to finally buy that mahogany Gibson Les Paul you’ve been wanting since fourth grade. Then, you go to the Gibson website and see that the guitar of your dreams costs around $3,000 and think maybe playing an instrument isn’t for you.

Fear not! Buying a new instrument has never been easier.

There’s no need to sacrifice quality for price. Budding guitarists often make one of two mistakes: they buy the cheapest guitar in the store and become frustrated by the sound quality, or they buy the most expensive and wonder why they don’t im-

mediately sound like Jimi Hendrix. While there isn’t always that huge a difference between a $300 and $3000 instrument in the hands of someone who knows what they’re doing, below a certain price your guitar just won’t sound right. Luckily, there are great options that won’t blow your budget.

Yamaha offers acoustic and acoustic–electric models under $500, and a few at or under $200, like the FG800.

For those who prefer electric, both Fender and Gibson offer cheaper lines of their signature models: the Fender Squier and Gibson Epiphone lines boast big names like Stratocaster, Telecast-

er, Les Paul, and Flying V in the $350–$500 price range.

You can always look for used options, but don’t rely on online images or review. Make sure to get your hands on a guitar before you commit. The most important thing to consider is how it feels in your hands.

As much as I love the look of a Gibson ES-335, it feels awkward when I try to play it, whereas any Gretsch from the G5425 to the Penguin feels natural. Never buy a guitar without playing it a bit first, even if all you know is “Hot Cross Buns.”

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Philly offers a variety of independent music stores. DiPinto Guitars in Fishtown is one of the more popular options, with vintage instruments and its own line of electric guitars and basses.

On and around South Street, you can find Bluebond Guitars, BridgeSet Sound, Vintage Instruments, and South Street Sounds. The Classical Guitar Store by Rittenhouse Square offers a wide range of nylon–string classical guitars. Because these are all small businesses that deal mostly in used instruments, big names may be difficult to find.

Or, if you’re looking for a specific model, head to these online instrument retail staples. For those hard–bent on a particular model, online is the answer. Guitar Center and Sweetwater have massive collections of musical instruments at retail value, while Reverb is the eBay of musical instruments, allowing for the purchase of high– quality guitars at relatively low price points.

Getting the guitar is just the beginning. Next, you need to think about accessorizing appropriately. Picks come a

Brad Hong | Illustrator

dime a dozen and are mostly interchangeable, while the choice of guitar strap is up to the player’s desired aesthetic. Transporting the instrument necessitates a case, either a lightweight gig bag or a heavier, more protective case. Electric guitarists end up spending more on a cable and amp. Be sure to read the dials before buying: some cheap amplifiers don’t allow you to adjust for midrange tones, lowering sound quality.

Okay, you now have everything you need, but how do you even play this thing? When it comes to lessons, Penn students have a few options. Self– teaching is the cheapest, through Hal Leonard tab books and YouTube tutorials, but it's also the most labor–intensive. Most instrument stores offer lessons, but as a student at Penn you can take music lessons for credit (and a fee) from instructors like Matt McCloskey.

Buying and learning a new instrument is achievable, even on a college budget. You just need a heavy dose of research and a chance to hold a few guitars until the right one calls out at the right price.

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THE

Insta–Famous

FOOD BLOGS OF PENN YOU NEED TO FOLLOW Emma Moore

Running a successful food Instagram takes more than the perfect filter. Street talked to four “insta–famous” food Instagrammers at Penn to learn some tips and tricks. @thecuttingveg, Sarah Schutz (1st year PhD) “It’s a pun,” Sarah Schutz of @ thecuttingveg laughs, explaining her handle.

With over 112,000 followers, her Instagram features healthy, plant–based recipes—think lemomy brussels sprout gnocchi or cauliflower steaks with coconut chutney. Mouthwatering photographs are accompanied by detailed recipes.

Sarah attributes part of her success to timing. “Back in 2015 there were fewer food insta accounts; now the market is saturated—you have to work harder to be different."

But the real appeal is Sarah’s creativity and personality. Along with showcasing original recipes, she details her journey with food in anecdotes and snippets of student life. A pescatarian, Sarah tries to eat mainly plant–based foods and share quick, cheap recipes that don't sacrifice creativity or flavor.

“A lot of health Instagrams portray a lifestyle that many people can’t afford. So for me, my goal is to make it easy for people and accessible." @2HungryLAGals, Megan Lipman (C ’19) Oozing mac 'n' cheese, luscious swirls of spaghetti, crispy soup dumplings, chocolate lava cake—scrolling through @2HungryLAGals is certain to induce your cravings.

Megan Lipman started the account on a whim in the summer of 2017 with her friend Alex Lopes, who attends Washington University in St. Louis. They grew a 20K following in less than a year with a business–minded approach.

“When you have 10K [followers], things start to get more serious,” says Megan. “We gain about 300 to 500 followers per week. It’s now a business account with a separate professional email. Once we realized we could monetize the account, we went for it."

When it comes to what types of posts get lots of likes, she says, “Anything you would consider an unhealthy delicious food does well—pizza, cheeseburgers, mac 'n' cheese. People don’t go to insta for a salad." @eastcoastfoodies, Bevan Cohen (C ’20) Running a famous account comes with perks—as Bevan Cohen (C ’20) of East Coast Foodies can attest. “Best collab?

Probably Ben & Jerry’s," she says. "Last year they flew us out to their factory headquarters in Burlington, Vermont. We spent three days learning about their products and tasting ice cream.”

At 320K followers, East Coast Foodies is a food–porn paradise: nachos drowning in cheese, Nutella–stuffed donuts, and forkfuls of fluffy pancakes.

Bevan started @eastcoastfoodies in 2013, during high school, with her friend Sabrina Epstein.

Now a registered trademark, East Coast Foodies collaborates with businesses such as Oreo.

“We try to post once for every meal—breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert—so at least four

times a day.” To keep up with this demanding schedule, they use a mix of original posts and reposts from other accounts. “Followers submit to us for a chance to featured. We like to help out accounts who are starting out, and we get content to post."

To those who want to try their hand at the world of foodie Instagrams: “Try to differentiate yourself,” she advises. In keeping with their name, they “only feature food on the East Coast.” @northeastfoodies, Natalie Weil (C ’19) This account may not have as many followers as the others on this list, but the foodie be-

Saranya Sampath | Illustrator

More than hashtags and cheese pulls.

hind it is just as passionate. Natalie, one of the student–chefs who produced Penn Appetite’s Whisk Cookbook, uses her account to share her love of baking.

“During the summer I bake every other day. Now I use it to destress like when I have two midterms and just need choco-

late chip cookies. I’ll bake a batch, snap a few pics when they’re hot and gooey out of the oven."

She admits that it’s easy to fall into a comparison game with other food accounts.

Her advice? Simply to “find something you enjoy in the world of food and post it.”

Univ. of Penn’s restaurant choice for student celebrations, special date nights, greek formals, holiday & graduation parties

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Meet Anthology Wellness—the Store Bringing CBD to Philly Location: Northern Liberties 825 N 2nd St. Hours: Mon–Sat: 11 a.m.–7 p.m.

Sun: 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

Price Range: $15–$90

Introducing the most essential oil, CBD oil.

Beatrice Forman

Photo courtesy of Anthology Wellness

In case you needed any more proof that cannabis is the greatest plant of all time, let me introduce you to CBD oil—the health trend endorsed by stoners, doctors, and Instagram fitness gurus alike. An offshoot of marijuana, CBD is a chemical found in the cannabis plant that lacks the mind– altering affects of THC. In other words, CBD has all the short–term benefits of a strain of Indica without the actual high or munchies.

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oil (like coconut oil), CBD is purported to do it all. Studies show that it can relieve pain, reduce anxiety, treat acne, and even alleviate certain cancer symptoms. However, little is still known about the long– term effects of CBD oil and the associated risks. But for the people who have used CBD oil successfully, the natural remedy is just short of a godsend. Just ask Judy Beck, the inspiration behind Anthology Wellness.

Anthology Wellness, located in Northern Liberties, is a store dedicated to all things CBD. The shop, constructed to look like a minimalist’s fantasy, offers two lines of CBD based products. The first is their classic collection of CBD salves and tinctures that blend the chemical with other soothing natural remedies, like beeswax and shea butter. The other is Adaptation, a line of high potency CBD lotions and bath products.

The brand finds its vision in Judy Beck, owner Mike Beck’s mother. After being diagnosed with fibromyalgia and lupus, and treated with a veritable cocktail of complicated medications, Judy turned to a CBD tincture for pain relief.

“The effects of the CBD were immediate,” says Marta Kosseva of Anthology Wellness.

“Her pain nearly vanished.”

Seeing his mom triumph over her chronic pain pushed Mike to help others find their bliss.

Word of Judy’s near miraculous cure spread, causing other chronic pain sufferers to come forward and give CBD a shot.

“Soon there was a growing list of family and friends who were also seeing personal results,“ says Kosseva. Armed with a confidence in CBD and a desire to educate everyone, Mike founded Anthology Wellness.

True to its roots, Anthology Wellness’s best sellers are their tinctures—droppers of CBD oil that you can add to your morning cup of coffee, or place straight under the tongue for a more direct and immediate effect. Other standouts include the Sugar Scrub, a lavender–infused exfoliating scrub made for relaxation, and the Pet Potion, a tincture for dogs. While the Pet Potion won’t turn your puppy into a pothead, it will soothe joint pain and seizures.

Looking to get started with CBD oil? Kosseva recommends beginning with “nanoparticle–micelle formulations,” such as their newly released tincture, “due to their bioavailability, bypassing first pass metabolism and getting directly into the bloodstream.”

In case you’re not a bio major, this means those strains should have the most direct and easily identifiable effects.

If you’re looking for a way to alleviate your most pressing stresses, skip the procrastination and Netflix binge and consider turning to a dropper of CBD oil.

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Shake Shack Just Got Sweeter The popular burger chain has opened a new restaurant on South Street with three totally unique frozen custard treats.

Ryan McLaughlin Ryan McLaughlin | Photographer

Walking into the gothic style restaurant on the corner of South and 12th Street with giant metallic letters spelling out “Shake Shack,” I found myself in Philly’s fourth and newest location of the highly popular burger chain.

While a classic Shake Shack milkshake always satisfies the sweet tooth, this South Street spot has added three additional and exclusive sweet treats to their menu: the Liberty Shell, Shack Attack, and Pie Oh My concretes. Made from custard blended with a variety of mix– ins from cannoli shells to slices of pie, the Shake Shack concrete has put its own spin on ice cream, creating three desserts you won’t want to miss trying out.

The Liberty Shell The South Street Shake Shack has taken the iconic Italian cannoli and put a frozen spin on it with the Liberty Shell concrete.

The concrete is made with a base of vanilla custard, blended together with broken Termini Bros cannoli shells, lemon ricotta cannoli cream, and strawberry puree, creating an ice cream treat containing a variety of textures and tastes.

While the custard is already thick itself, the added cannoli cream elevates the concrete’s creaminess to a whole new level, making it feel absolutely delightful to the tongue. The lemon flavor is also quite subtle, but

blends so well to create a delicate fruity taste. While the strawberry puree gives the concrete a little bit of an artificial taste, the cannoli shell helps to give a sense of crunch that makes it feel like you are biting into a freshly baked cannoli.

Shack Attack When Shake Shack calls the concrete a Shack Attack, it really is an attack of pure chocolate.

Made with chocolate custard, fudge sauce, chocolate truffle cookie dough, Mast Brothers dark chocolate chunks, and topped with chocolate sprinkles, it’s a concrete that would make any chocoholic die on the spot.

The amount of chocolate sounds like it would be too intense, but the chocolate custard is so smooth and rich that it isn't overwhelming at all. The bits of chocolate truffle cookie dough are so soft that they melt in the mouth, contrasting to the crunch of the dark chocolate chunks to create a combination of textures that work extremely well together. The concrete is truly a one–of–a–kind chocolate treat, allowing one's palette to experience many flavors of chocolate in many different ways.

Pie Oh My Taking two desserts and combining them into one, the Pie Oh My concrete takes a whole slice of pie from Four & Twenty Blackbirds and blends it into vanilla custard. The concrete also

changes by the season based on the pie, so I was able to try the blueberry pie blended concrete.

While on first sight the blueberries swirled together with the vanilla custard to create a vibrant and flavor-filled sight, I was a little let down as there was mostly a flavor of vanilla custard. There was only a slight hint of blueberry pie, leaving me feeling unfulfilled as I was left wanting more of a taste

of that fruit–flavored filling.

However, the pie crust created a flakey and buttery texture that gave the concrete an extra depth of flavor that reminded me I was eating a pie and ice cream fusion. The fact that a portion of my purchase from the Pie Oh My will go to Philly's Attic Youth Center, an organization that helps serve LGBTQ youth, made the dessert all the more sweet.

Overall While Shake Shack isn’t a specialty ice cream store, the concretes that are new to South Street make this a spot you need to hit up. If you have any level of love for chocolate, the Shack Attack is the move. Otherwise, the Liberty Shell would be the best option to try, but honestly, you can’t go wrong with any of their concretes, new or old.

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F E AT U R E

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WHY SOME STUDENTS STRUGGLING WITH MENTAL HEALTH FEEL PENN PUSHED THEM OFF CAMPUS

C

Jess Tan | Design Associate 1 2 3 4 T H S T R E E T M A G A Z I N E N O V E M B E R 1 4 , 2 01 8

Are leaves of absence always the best solution for Penn's most vulernable students?

By Chris Schiller

hase, who requested her last name be withheld, entered Penn knowing she had ADHD. Later, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Still, she was excited to be at a school that she had worked so hard to get into and confident that she would be able to get through college okay.

By spring, her advisors were pushing for her to leave campus.

“From the beginning moment when I started to struggle, they were like, ‘Hey why don’t you go off campus.

Go, go away,’” says Chase. “I was like I know I can do this, I want to stay, but they kept telling me—my CAPS therapist, my advisor, everyone kept nudging me, leave, leave, leave, and it really felt like they were afraid that I was going to do something dumb when I was on campus and push up the suicide rate.”

Chase’s story may sound familiar to other students who take leaves of absence. Despite the fact that the University has invested heavily in its mental health and wellness resources in recent years, Penn frequently encourages struggling students to take leaves from campus.

This past summer, Penn hired its first ever Chief Wellness Officer, a move that was part of the Wellness at Penn initiative. The directive aims to “affirm wellness as a core priority” and “open ourselves up to our vulnerabilities and what makes us human,” per the official Wellness at Penn website.

Despite these new resources, Penn’s most vulnerable students are frequently forced off of campus, strong– armed by rigid leave policies that deflect them away from the University. “It felt like I was a liability to them,” says Chase about her leave. “I felt like they were doing it with Penn’s best interest in mind.”

Claire (C '21)**, took a leave of absence during her freshman year after a serious mental health crisis. Though she found being away from campus helpful, the process surrounding her leave was stressful and tiring. She found herself repeatedly explaining her situation. “This was like the worst process for someone who’s just had a crisis, like waiting around in the CAPS office, putting me from one office to another office,” says Claire, whose case was handled primarily by Student Intervention Services (SIS).

Like Claire, Chase also found the processes leading her to leave frustrating: “My academic advisor told me that I should take a leave of absence and I didn’t want to,” she says. “I thought I was capable of finishing the semester until he told me basically that I needed to take a leave of absence or else I would fail.” Despite Chase’s confidence in her academic ability, her support system at Penn insisted that she leave campus instead.

According to the College of Arts and Sciences website, “a leave is a means to a successful completion of a degree, not a barrier to graduating.” Professor Ross Aikins, who manages the Higher Education Department at Penn’s Graduate School of Education and who teaches graduate–level courses in university policy and student mental health, agrees. “I think it is important for the student and the university to have some sort of leave policy but not for that policy to be inflexible. It’s really a case–by–case basis,” Aikins says. “Sometimes it is really in everybody’s best interest for a student to take a leave.”

John**, who is currently on leave from Penn after suffering from serious depression and anxiety last spring, believes that leave was the correct choice for him. “I still don’t regret taking leave,” says John, who is in the process of being reinstated at the University and is preparing to return next semester.

Though John was able to get helpful, intensive treatment during his time away from Penn, he recognizes that many students are not as lucky. His socioeconomic

"

of challenges. While John used his leave to seek out intensive treatment for his mental health and feels like it “was real life–changing stuff,” he was not able to return to school this semester, despite what his clinicians and therapists have told him. “I’m more prepared to take on life’s challenges now than years ago. I was done with intensive treatment more than six months ago.”

In practice, the overly bureaucratic and poorly–managed process that taking a leave of absence and returning from one constitutes adds a layer of stress to an already fraught situation. Once she signed the paperwork, Chase describes a process that belittled and alienated her. “It’s just a sudden uprooting where you have to leave immediately,” Chase says.

Chase’s mother was forced to take time off work to fly to Philadelphia to help her move out because of the short notice that Penn gave her. “They don’t let you linger. It’s like a week from the time your process begins.

You’re just gone. I was upset, I felt betrayed.”

Leaving campus so abruptly has other restrictive im-

It really felt like they were afraid that I was going to do something dumb when I was on campus and push up the suicide rate.

status and family circumstances granted him access to treatments and resources that many students might not have at their disposal. “I know that 90% of kids in my situation are missing a lot of the pieces that I have to keep life livable when everything is on hold.” Though leave is helpful for some, many students don’t have the opportunities for sufficient care or family support that others do.

All leaves are technically leaves from an academic program at a specific school. Student Intervention Services (SIS) is the University’s arm for coordinating the moving pieces of the various academic and health resources at Penn for students going on leave.

Rob Nelson, the point of contact for SIS and the Executive Director for Education and Planning at the Vice Provost’s office, thinks that a leave is generally beneficial to students for whom it is recommended. When a “student is struggling with what’s in his or her best interest,” Nelson says, “there is often an evaluation of the student’s circumstances in which an academic advisor or a member of the SIS team is saying look, request a leave.”

The decision to leave Penn isn’t the only one with multiple parties involved; coming back poses its own set

"

plications. If a student takes a leave any time after the add–drop registration deadline, the rest of that semester is not counted by the University and the student is forced to stay off of campus for another full semester.

This policy is often unclear, and many students who request leave do so not knowing that they’ll likely be away from campus for as long as ten months.

Chase was forced to stay away from campus through the fall semester, despite describing herself as “one hundred percent functional” by the time fall rolled around.

“I was so frustrated and bored that I ended up taking classes at community college while I waited to come back,” she says. Though Chase was on mental health leave, she was back to taking classes and working full– time before the University would have her back.

The University’s caution with students struggling with mental illness might be a result of the legal risk those students pose while enrolled. In 2016, Wharton Junior Olivia Kong committed suicide while at Penn, and a lawsuit filed against the University by Kong’s parents is ongoing. The lawsuit, which is one of three ongoing suits regarding suicide among students, specifically accuses Penn of neglect and not providing the appropriate

mental health resources to Kong.

With universities being held more accountable for instances of self–harm and suicide, it is no surprise that Penn is increasing resources to deal with this issue. Aikins sees this as part of a push towards litigation in higher education. “We live in kind of a more litigious society, a more litigious country, and institutions have been increasingly concerned with limiting liability,” says Aikins.

Behind all of the wellness initiatives and emphasis on mental health, there is backdrop of risk prevention. “So absolutely, colleges and universities are trying to minimize risk. That’s nothing new, but I think that there’s been certain events or sort of a policy wave toward indemnification, in terms of wanting to protect oneself from risk from a variety of factors,” Aikins adds.

Properly addressing a student’s need for a leave of absence is complicated. It requires working with multiple student agencies, taking into account academic life, family life, economic status, and administrative discretion.

It is with this system that John sees the major issue with leave policy. “The big thing is that their entire system for mental health care is really, really loose. It’s more about addressing immediate problems in a band–aid way than really implementing a coherent system that keeps kids healthy,” John says. “Leave of absence is good. But they never really got beyond that immediate band–aid situation. And leave is not coordinated well with CAPS, and CAPS is not coordinated well with your case advisor, and none of that is coordinated with academics. It’s never really been put together in a cohesive whole.”

Despite these struggles and systematic inconsistencies, most students who go on leave do come back and finish school. A 2013 University report on Student Psychological Health and Welfare found that five percent of the graduating class of undergraduates had taken a leave of absence during their time at the school. Almost all of them returned to Penn and completed their degree.

John feels like he would be on campus if “any holistic approach to my situation” had been employed. “I don’t know who’s making the decisions or what information they use to make these decisions,” says John. “I think that liability is a big part of it.” John’s clinicians believe he’s ready to return to campus, but he still doesn’t know whether Penn will have him back next semester. ** Indicates a name has been changed.

CHRIS SCHILLER is a freshman from New York, NY studying English. He is a Features Reporter for Street.

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RADICAL STUDENT ACTIVISM AND THE APPROPRIATION OF TEACH–INS

1970

Uncovering the legacy of teach–ins at Penn, from the 1960s to 2018.

By Naomi Elegant

Antiwar protestors outside VP after Nixon's announcement of US involvement in Cabodia.

Photos from University Archives and Records

1978

Student protest, sit-in in College Hall 1 4 3 4 T H S T R E E T M A G A Z I N E N O V E M B E R 1 4 , 2 01 8

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n 1968, Penn students protesting the war in Vietnam staged rallies outside the on–campus recruiting sessions of Dow Chemical Company, which supplied napalm to the Department of Defense.

The demonstrations forced Dow to cancel recruitment events at Penn two years in a row. Anti–war activism only escalated— between February and March 1969, there had already been a six–day College Hall sit–in, a faculty research strike, and numerous student protests against the university’s involvement in biological and chemical warfare research.

On March 4, 1969, students and faculty organized a teach–in dubbed the “Day of Conscience.” Classes were cancelled across Penn—at the suggestion of the Provost— and over 1,200 students attended the teach–in to hear about “the use and misuse of scientific knowledge” and “the role of the university in society.” It is the legacy of this event that the Faculty Senate invoked for “Teach–in 2018,” held this March.

Teach–in 2018 repurposed the language of the Day of Conscience, stating that it would examine “the University’s role in society” and the “use and misuse of scientific knowledge.” In 1969, the phrases referred to a critical analysis of Penn’s involvement in chemical and biological

warfare research and its impact on surrounding low–income neighborhoods.

In 2018, they entailed expert panels on artificial intelligence, lectures on positive psychology, and an “augmented reality scavenger hunt.”

The official Teach–in 2018 website announces that it is “Penn’s first teach–in since March 1969.” But a trawl through The Daily Pennsylvanian archives reveals a long tradition of teach–ins at Penn, starting before 1969 and continuing through every decade since. Penn students used the teach–in to discuss topics ranging from the Gulf War to the War on Drugs.

Many were critical of the university and explicitly anti–administration, focusing on issues like racism at Penn, tuition and rent increases, graduate student unionization, and gentrification.

As recent as 2011, a group of Penn students and faculty organized a teach–in called “What the Fuck, Penn?” It took place at the Compass on Locust Walk and covered issues including Penn’s role in gentrification, its treatment of dining workers, and hiring processes for faculty of color.

“It was the teach–in at the compass, and we were questioning Penn’s moral compass,” says Social Welfare PhD candidate Meghna Chandra (C ‘13, SWP ‘22), who co–organized the teach–in. In the promotional video for the event, Penn

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issues like “fake news,” rising authoritarianism around the world, and “an increased disquiet and distrust in the body politic.”

Venkatesh says the organizing process for Teach–in 2018 was “driven top–down,” from the Faculty Senate. Teach–ins like the one against Reagan, though, were organized

by Penn students and sympathetic faculty members, often to protest administrative actions, or as part of larger student activist movements, like the 1986 teach–in organized by the Penn Anti–Apartheid Coalition, which campaigned for Penn to divest from companies with ties to South Africa.

Venkatesh also makes the distinction between the “University–wide” Day of Conscience and all the other Penn teach–ins, which he describes as “local,” and “on one specific issue.”

History PhD graduate Emma Teitelman (GR ‘18) does not share this interpretation.

Emma says in an email that “the distinction itself seems to sanitize the politics of older teach–ins at Penn. Faculty and student A student protest against apartheid, to encourage Penn organizations co–sponsored teach–ins not Trustees to divest in South Africa. about abstract, academic questions, but rather about pressing social and political concerns of professor Walter Palmer narrates, “As students, we must the moment [...] Because many of these teach– ask the impertinent question: whose bones and blood are ins implicated Penn as complicit in, for example, chemical we walking on for our privilege?” warfare and American imperialism, they were not exactly In May 1990, around 100 students, faculty, and staff embraced as ‘university–wide.’” braved the rain to attend a teach–in on College Green Ira Harkavy (C ’70, GR ‘79), a prominent student protesting President Ronald Reagan’s appearance as organizer in the College Hall sit–in that preceded the Day keynote speaker for the University’s 250th anniversary of Conscience, says that Teach–in 2018 is distinguished celebration. 19 people—students and professors—spoke by the significant role the Faculty Senate played in its over three hours, highlighting the Reagan administration’s organizing. “In ‘69 I think faculty played a key role, and damaging policies towards higher education, the AIDS in this one faculty played a key role, but it was really led by crisis, and women’s rights, which they said made him an leadership of the faculty senate,” he says. “They really took inappropriate figure to invite to Penn. the lead, with the administration’s support.”

But the teach–in wasn’t just aimed at Penn students.

“Terms like teach–in are always plastic,” says Noakes.

Sociology professor Fred Block told The Daily Pennsylvanian “But I think inherently if you have an event that’s staged at the time that he was speaking at the teach–in because “the by the administration it’s not a challenging event, it’s just University administration has forgotten the consequences a new way to teach, and I have no objection to it, but it’s of Reagan’s policies.” Professor emeritus Edward Herman, not counter–hegemonic or counter–cultural. It’s actually playing on Keats, declared: “The modern university says, something coming from the top.”

‘Money is power. Power is money. That is all ye know on Meghna, the compass teach–in organizer, was also a earth and all ye need to know.’” member of the Student Labor Action Project, which in Neither of these teach–ins were mentioned in the 2013 campaigned with Hillel dining workers who wanted promotional material for Teach–in 2018. John Noakes better employment benefits. With SLAP’s help, the (GR ‘93), who co–organized the 1990 Reagan teach–in workers successfully unionized a month after they went as a graduate student, isn’t too bothered by the lack of public with their demands. Her experiences with SLAP official acknowledgement. “I won’t take personal offense,” and the compass teach–in meant that when she returned he laughs. “I think it’s a much bigger act of cooptation to to Penn for her doctorate and heard about Teach–in 2018, take the term ‘teach–in’ for something that’s sponsored by she was skeptical. the administration than it is to ignore ones that happened “I’d always thought about teach–ins as something in between.” radical and revolutionary, that actually involved asking Teach–in 2018 was the brainchild of the Faculty Senate. critical questions that shine a light on structures of power Engineering professor Santosh Venkatesh, Senate Chair and also get to the politics of knowledge.” When Meghna during the teach–in and one of its principal architects, attended the introductory event for Teach–in 2018, she says he and other members felt a sense of urgency around says, “there wasn’t even a space to ask questions. Like, you

1985

"BACK IN OUR DAY, WHEN WE SAW INJUSTICE IN OUR SCHOOLS, INDUSTRIES, AND COMMUNITIES, WE RAISED QUESTIONS, WE DEMANDED ANSWERS, WE FOUGHT BACK." had to write your question down on an index card.”

The historian Paul Lyons, describing Penn in the early 1960s, wrote that “The campus seemed to be dominated

by Greeks, jocks, and the utilitarian pursuit of careers.”

It’s a description that still rings true today—Penn, largely pre–professional and politically moderate, is not Berkeley.

But that popular image fails to account for the decades of radical student organizing at Penn that in many cases gave way to concrete results. The selective history touted by the organizers of Teach–in 2018 obscures this legacy.

But those other teach–ins happened. It may not have been in the interests of the administration to recall them, but students like Meghna believe it is in the interests of Penn students to do so.

“It shows how important it is to talk about these questions about the purpose of knowledge,” Meghna says, “and we wanted to do our own teach–in just to really have a space for students to ask those questions and hear from people who are more oriented towards finding the truth, which isn’t always taught in university classrooms.”

In the promotional video for the “What the Fuck, Penn?” teach–in, Palmer reminded his audience of the legacy of student activism at Penn. “Back in our day, when we saw injustice in our schools, industries, and communities, we raised questions, we demanded answers, we fought back,” he narrates. “We taught each other, and those around us, that as students, we are able to think critically, and act on our beliefs.”

Palmer’s words are accompanied by black–and–white photographs of students marching with protest signs and crowded sit–ins in College Hall. In one, taken in 1970, after Nixon announced US military involvement in Cambodia, two students are looking out from a balcony onto College Green, where protestors are sitting on the ground from the Peace Sign to the entrance of Van Pelt Library, covering every inch of the grassy expanse. More students perch on building ledges and railings. They number in the thousands.

NAOMI ELEGANT IS A SENIOR FROM KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA STUDYING HISTORY. SHE IS THE DEVELOPING FEATURES EDITOR FOR STREET.

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FILM&TV

'Suspiria' Delivers Highbrow Horror That Fails to Entertain Luca Guadagnino's remake is beautiful but exhausting.

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esthetics reign supreme in Suspiria: powerful, contortionist choreography plays to a soundtrack of low– key piano melodies and the music of the dancer’s sighs, while malicious lighting illuminates the face of the cast in red. A remake of Dario Argento’s 1977 horror film of the same name, Suspiria is director Luca Guadagnino's own spin on the cult classic—with mixed success.

The movie follows Susie Bannion (Dakota Johnson), a girl from Ohio who runs away from home to join Markos Dance Academy in Berlin. Following her stunning audition, Susie quickly ascends the academy's ranks and becomes the protege of Madame Blanc (Tilda Swinton), the premier choreographer. Susie soon learns that the academy is run by a coven of witches and that the choreography she and her fellow dancers are learning are for more sinister purposes. Psychotherapist Josef Klemperer (Tilda Swinton) is suspicious of the dancers' activities. He learns of the coven’s existence through Patricia (Chloë Grace Moretz), his patient and a student at the academy.

A behemoth of a film, Suspiria clocks in at over two and a half hours. With such a lengthy run, the film bides its time, opting for more dialogue–heavy scenes than overt action. That’s not to say that Suspiria doesn’t have its fair share of horror.

Dancers are slammed against walls and contorted into excruciating positions, and blood and gore flows freely, especially at the film’s climax.

Guadagnino expertly and consistently unsettles viewers through jarring cuts, close–

James Morrison

Photo Credit: Alessio Bolzoni; Courtesy of Amazon Studios

ups, and sound changes. Although the movie is never so horrifying as to send lightning down the spine, it is disturbing like an unpleasant dream, and that discomfort only builds as the movie builds to its conclusion.

Although the film is visually and sonically stunning, it still struggles to draw its many aesthetic limbs into a cohesive whole. For example, although the film takes place in a historically and emotionally rich post–World War II Germany, it never leans into the themes of guilt and trauma as fully as it ought to. The setting feels tacked on and underutilized.

The character of Josef feels similarly extraneous. It felt like his character—a Holocaust survivor who lost his wife to a concentration camp—wasn’t as mined as much as it should have been.

The movie’s denseness also weighs it down. When the credits rolled, confusion was my dominating emotion. Although I was able to grasp the general progression of the plot, I had no idea what any of it

meant. The movie pondered themes of motherhood, love, guilt, and femininity, but by the time I left, I was still in the dark as to what the movie was trying to say about any of it.

Although some films like Inception and The Prestige encourage multiple viewings, they do so in a way that keeps

the viewer engaged and excited to see the movie from a new perspective. Suspiria, however, is so long and exhausting that the thought of rewatching it seems more like a chore than anything else.

Suspiria is a divisive film; although it is artistically stunning and well–crafted, its sub-

stance is either confusing or non–existent. For enthusiasts of rich, dense horror, the film is a treasure trove of uncanny images, sounds, and cuts. For everyone else, however, Suspiria is simply too long, too confusing, and too exhausting for a genuinely enjoyable viewing experience.

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FILM & TV

STOP

Remaking Old Disney Films Sophia DuRose

How nostalgia seeps from the big screen to other parts of our lives

I remember the anxious moments of rewinding a VCR tape, pounding my pudgy kid finger on the button and willing it to go faster. We had a whole collection of Disney films on VCR, and even after the major switch to DVDs swept the nation, we kept our tapes out of a sense of what I can only call nostalgia. In 2017, when the live–action Beauty and the Beast hit marquees, I was no exception to the flock of teenage girls paying to rewatch an old classic.

I hunkered down in the movie

theatre seat with my pulse in the tips of my fingers as I reached for the popcorn in my sister’s lap, all too ready to feel a new sense of enlightenment or excitement from an old story. Let’s just say that I was profoundly disappointed.

Disney needs to stop wasting their time and resources on remaking old movies. Though I know Queen Bey will be breathtaking as Nala in the upcoming live–action remake of “Lion King,” I begrudgingly doubt the film will be anything truly profound. Not

to say that all movies need to be profound—because they don’t—but I fail to see the creativity involved in plucking an old script from off the desk of decades prior and simply adding special effects. I grew up loving movies, and love movies to this day, which is why I desperately want some new material.

The issue of representation in the media won’t be resolved by the re–hashing of old movies that perpetuate stale problems.

I can name all too many films off the top of my head with

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cis, white female leads saved by cis, white men. Though many contain entertaining enough plots, kids of today don’t need to consume more of this trope.

Disney, with all its resources and power, has the ability to truly dip their toes into spotlighting under–represented groups. In fact, a cannonball is in order. Disney has literally made billions of dollars off of its productions, whether that be film or theatre, so it can afford to take a risk with some new narratives.

Nostalgia can keep a film franchise alive. Popular culture capitalizes on the promise of nostalgia, using our concepts of “fond childhood memories” to sell us the same story with different and more expensive packaging. I wonder the risk of allowing this nostalgic metronome to commandeer our media, and how this perhaps weasels its way into other spheres of our public lives.

Political platforms have been built on the assertion of a regression to “better times.”

These “better times” depend on a consumer’s subjectivity, and normally exclude marginalized populations. “Make America Great Again” pivots on the use of the word again.

America wasn’t great for huge portions of Americans forty years ago, but cis, white men were definitely allowed cer-

tain permissions that are more called into question today.

This canonization of the past can be dangerous to those who were most vulnerable in it.

Fashion, TV shows, and music all fall into this trap of nostalgia. To emphasize—I’m wearing a scrunchie on my wrist as I type this. Granted, it’s not the velvet scrunchie that Urban Outfitters is selling for $12, but it is an accessory popularized in the '80s, and up until a few months ago, not something considered “cool.”

The cycle of resurgences of old aesthetics spans many aspects of popular culture, making consumption of the tasteful aspects of past years accessible while washing over the things time has corrected. Now, I’m all for scrunchie power, and I love a good romantic comedy trope, but media is so central to our everyday lives that I think it has a responsibility to produce new material current with the climate of today’s pop culture.

We can always watch an old Disney movie, and the creation of new films doesn’t stifle this ability. So why not make some new material? Push some new buttons? Nostalgia has its time and place, but done is its time and place in the movie industry. Agains are boring; bring on the controversy. Bring on the new.

ARTS

The Penn Museum Brings a Personal Touch to Artifacts with Global Guides

They add a personal touch to explaining the artifacts from their own countries.

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Xinyi Wan On a recent Saturday afternoon, Yaroub Al–Obaidi, an Iraqi native, gathered his group of tourists eagerly waiting at the Middle East Galleries. In an animated one–hour trip through the gallery spaces, he revealed countless Penn Museum artifacts, drawing upon his own experiences to add a personal touch.

Having moved with his family from Iraq to the United States two years ago, Al–Obaidi joined a team of three global guides this past February as a part of the Global Guides Program at the Penn Museum. The Program is aimed at promoting a better understanding of not only Middle East galleries, but also the culture behind the artwork. Since the guides are immigrants and refugees themselves, they are not your typical guides. In addition to sharing historical knowledge about the artifacts on display, they relate the objects to their personal experiences and stories to construct unique narratives that shed light on the artifacts from their home countries.

“Right after we opened up our brand new Middle East galleries in May 2018, as part of the big building transformation at the Penn Museum, which is to revitalize 75 percent of our public spaces, we also wanted to think about how we could revitalize our interpretation of the spaces,” said Ellen Owens, the Merle– Smith Director of Learning Programs. “And how we can provide experiences that are deeper, richer, and more relatable for the public, rather than mere facts.”

The Museum has a general

framework of the good places to stop at on a tour based on the rhythm of the group and the general storyline, but guides get to choose any objects within the stop areas that resonate with them. They share their personal experiences with the audience that are related to the artifacts to illuminate the connections between the ancient and the current world.

One of the artifacts that Al– Obaidi particularly likes is a group of cylinder seals from the Sumerian city–state Ur, which is known today as Tall al Muqayyar, in Iraq. In addition to explaining the story behind the seals, what they meant, and what they were used for, Al–Obaidi explains how seals had been logo concepts 1000 years back, and how his first class at the University of Baghdad was also about logo design. Those ancient cylinder seals were like users’ personal brands, similar to company logo design today which also reflects a brand’s ideology.

Al–Obaidi also relates Mesopotamia, which is situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, to his attachment to rivers as he grew up and how living near rivers offers fertile land for populations to grow and thrive.

All these conversations are supported by maps and photos. As Al–Obaidi discusses how his life has always been connected to rivers, he shows the audience a photo taken next to the Schuylkill River. To his surprise, the audience looks at the photo as if “it’s their first time seeing Schuylkill.”

“It’s an amazing time every week,” Al–Obaidi added. “I try

Photo Courtesy of Penn Museum

to build connections with visitors and make them enjoy and engage in the stories, and conveying how my life is connected with rivers is really an effective way.” In engaging with the audience, the personal connections he establishes with the visitors lead to many inviting him to lunch or coffee after the tour. “One of the visitors left a note with his email, saying that he and his wife like[d] the tour so much that they would like to be in touch with me,” he said.

In addition to his role as a guide, Al–Obaidi also works as a community liaison for Swarthmore College in a project called

Friends, Peace, and Sanctuary, which is a series of workshops that teach Syrian and Iraqi refugees in Philly the art of design and bookmaking.

Between the two, there has been a surge in interest in Middle Eastern culture. “Both programs bring people together. There’s a huge Middle Eastern population in Philly, but a lot of people don't necessarily have interactions with them,” Owens commented. “We did an evaluation that revealed more than half of those surveyed have informal or no experience with people from the Middle East, and about 20 percent have

never interacted with any. But people are interested in learning more about the Middle East, their culture, and food. We didn’t expect such powerful results from the tours. But people do understand their neighbors more and start to connect on a personal level with them.”

The global guides, like the others that intend to reinvigorate museum tours, bring in a variety of perspectives, engaging audience of different expertise levels with deep historical knowledge as well as what the culture is like today through their personal stories.

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ARTS

Jerusalem ' Stabile:' The Big Red Structure Outside Meyerson Xinyi Wan Sitting squarely outside the Meyerson Building is a monumental, seemingly indiscernible structure of red.

From one side, it looks to be some sort of spider, its legs crawling out of its body. On the other, a flat face. While it’s so easy to simply pass by it without

Emma Boey | Photographer

Alexander Calder was inspired to create this work by unrest in Israel in the '70s. giving it a second look, the structure is actually the work of Alexander Calder, an American sculptor whose pieces have graced the likes of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Guggenheim.

Called Jerusalem Stabile, the red structure is not actually the

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original Stabile. In fact, the original one dates back to Calder’s visit to Israel in 1975. At the time, the region was in a state of disarray after an Arab–sponsored resolution at the United Nations condemned the Jewish state. This provoked mass demonstrations of Israeli support Tues - Thurs 4 - 10pm Sun 4 - 10pm Fri - Sat 4 - 11pm

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from many intellectuals and artists, among them Calder.

Stabile was created among the host of outdoor pieces intended to increase beauty and raise cultural awareness in Jerusalem.

Installed in Jerusalem's Mt. Herzl two years after Calder’s first visit, the year after he died, it was his last signed piece.

The process of building this final monument gave birth to the production of six maquettes, the preliminary models. But the one at Penn isn’t even one of these. It’s the same form, but was actually created after the final one was constructed. In this way, there are small details distinguishing the original Stabile and the one at Penn, such as its bolt pattern. Because of this, it’s one of the two hybrids existing independently of the original project in Jerusalem. By itself, it is its own unique piece.

Calder is undoubtedly one of the most celebrated pioneers of modern sculpture. His cut–out and abstract objects that move in the air or rest firmly on the ground can be found throughout the world, whether in museums or in gardens and public plazas, ranking him among the first and most prolific sculptors of large–scale outdoor works.

But what he’s most famous for are the mobiles: light structures

suspended from the ceiling and set in motion through a breath of air. Think the baby mobiles hanging over a crib, but magnified by a factor of 100. The concept would later go on to inspire Marcel Duchamp, who applied “mobiles” to formalize movement in sculpture.

But aside from Duchamp, Calder further developed his own work, leading him to invent a parallel category of stabiles. The term was coined by Calder’s friend and fellow artist Jean Arp, meant to signify how large sheets of metal are assembled to create seemingly dynamic structures, sometimes in very large dimensions. Hence the word Stabile in the title.

Though he didn’t go to Penn, Calder’s piece graces Penn campus as his others have in Jerusalem and other cities across the world. With the brick red Jerusalem Stabile, he’s continuing his family legacy, with the enormous bronze statue of William Penn atop City Hall by his grandfather and the Swann Memorial Fountain at Logan Square by his father.

Next time when you pass by Jerusalem Stabile, try to give a closer look. As Calder famously said, “You have to walk around a stabile or through it—a mobile dances in front of you.”

ARTS

CaffeiNations: A Celebration of Coffee Around the World

How your average cup of joe is not just a café staple but a cultural staple, too.

Josephine Cheng While October wind rails against the floor–to–ceiling glass of Harnwell's rooftop lounge, I am warm with a cup of freshly brewed espresso folded in my fingers. Breathing in deep, the scent of coffee grounds fills my nose, complementing the hush of gentle conversation. The clinking of a moka pot breaks my lull, and I savor the last of my espresso, acidic and bitter notes sinking into my tongue. Scanning the circle of booths, I move to the Vietnamese coffee booth, lips already poised to ask for a taste.

Hosted by the Penn Coffee Club and a multitude of cultural groups, including the Penn Brazil Community, Penn Ethiopian Club, and Penn Japan Student Association to name a few, the event was rightly dubbed CaffeiNations—a fitting pun for a borderless nation of college caffeine addicts, each with their own unique cultural take on the beloved drink. Featuring coffee samples and displaying excerpts on the drink's historical or cultural background, each booth was manned by members of a cultural group. The Vietnamese booth offered black coffee with condensed milk, a regional mix–in made popular by Vietnam's lack of a dairy industry.

"Kopi Luwak," or coffee brewed from part–digested coffee cherries eaten and defecated by the Asian palm civet, was presented as a novelty drink to braver taste testers. Turkish coffee, thick with finely powdered coffee and sweet with sugar, was poured pipping hot out of a pot into paper cups at the Turkish booth, its aroma rich and enticing. The Japanese booth offered pour overs, capital-

izing on Japanese innovation in cold brew and pour over equipment design.

Each sip of the bitter, brown drink was a glimpse into a region's culture—the groups that form them, the ties that bind them, and the connections between them. An adoption from Vietnam's colonial past, coffee has become a mainstream social staple tailored to regional climate: coffee drunk during cool misted mornings is never the same as that drunk in the stifling heat of a tropical afternoon. Indonesia's Kopi Luwak speaks of the serendipity that leads native coffee plantation farmers to brew coffee from coffee seeds found in civets' droppings, as a method around Dutch colonizers' restrictions on brewing their own coffee crop.

Innovation allowed them to taste the fruits of their labor—literally.

The result was an internationally acclaimed drink, one now exported predominantly by Indonesia and known for its unique depth of flavor after fermentation in civets' intestines.

Turkish coffee, famous for its strong aroma, is a drink unlimited to its namesake region, as it has found a following in the Middle East and become rooted in local tradition as well. Culture has no boundaries to speak of, and neither does coffee. Japanese coffee culture is one of silent speed. Not only are coffeeshop visits surprisingly brief, but they are also quiet in atmosphere, without the boisterous chatter or lively banter one might find in American or Italian cafes. Perhaps one can see it as a reflection of their local population—a valuation of humble industriousness.

Diane Lin | Illustrator

Regardless of which cultural variation these coffee connoisseurs are more fond of, they all seem to reach a consensus on the iconic drink's role as a conversation starter. A student manning the Japanese booth smiles as he elaborates, "Coffee in its essence is a medium for social interaction. So like, you go get a cup of coffee, not because you want coffee itself but because you want to go talk to that per-

son, spend time with that person, stuff like that. So I think that, it helps people connect a little bit more, and it helps create a reason to be able to spend time with other people."

Staring down at the stack of assorted paper and plastic cups in my left hand, remnants of my previous taste testings, I tip my head back to savor bitter brown dregs out of a cup in my right.

Here, coffee and culture inter-

sect to draw out warm chatter.

While savoring a steaming cup of espresso, perhaps his fifth or sixth of the day, one member of the Penn Italian Community contemplates, "...we never drink coffee while walking, we rarely drink coffee while working. We always take a break to go drink coffee and we do that with friends and coworkers...It's really a social moment, rather than a drinking moment."

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