12.5.18

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EOTW: Callie Holtermann

December 5, 2018 | 34st.com

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Naming Rights Process & Donations

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‘Shoplifters’ Review

deCember 5 , 2018 december 3 WORD ON THE STREET Being a Gay Black Woman

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EOTW: Callie Holtermann, Shiv Nadkarni

6 MUSIC

Blutt Band Slam, Hadji Gaviota Interview

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

Chubby Cattle, Where to Eat at Philly Airport

LOL

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Ethics & Wharton, Naming Rights Process and Donations

LOL 14 FILM & TV

'Shoplifters' Review, 'La Casa De Las Flores'

20 ARTS

'Recessive' Review, 12 Objects & 12 Images, Fine Arts Senior Thesis Review, XFic Class

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Overheards, Finals Study Spots 2

Style Beats: Beatrice Forman, Alice Goulding, Ryan McLaughlin, Teresa Xie, Allie Shapiro, Emma Moore, Jennifer Cullen Film & TV Beats: Zovinar Khrimian, Maryanne Koussa, Anna Collins, Sam Kesler, Kate Lindenburg, Shannon Zhang Arts Beats: Michelle Wan, Christina Lu, Josephine Cheng Design Editors: Lucy Ferry, Gillian Diebold, Ben Zhao, Christine Lam, Alana Shukovsky Associates: Ian Ong, Joy Lee, Alice Heyeh, Nancy Kang, Ava Cruz, Jess Tan, Christy Qiu, Tamara Wurman, Jackie Lou, Gebran Abdulhai, Isabel Liang Lastpage Beats: 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 Staff Photographers: Emma Boey, Kaitlin Rowan, Chloe

Schaefer, Eleanor Shemtov, Olivia Fielding, Riley Merkel, Sophia Dai, Sophia Zhu Video Staff: Jean Chapiro, Abdul Sohu Copy Associates: Kate Poole, Kira Horowitz, Sarah Poss, Serena Miniter, Erin Liebenberg, Lexie Shah, Carmina Hachenburg, Luisa Healey, Agatha Advincula 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 Cover Graphic by Jess Tan 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.

"She was being sluttacious!"

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR T

he amount of times I’ve revised this letter is inexcusable when you consider that I have a final exam on Thursday. But it’s hard to extricate myself from the idea—mostly self–imposed—that whatever I write here will define my tenure as Street’s Editor–in–Chief. But it won't, and the spillage of empty space on the document in front of is a good reminder that I can say pretty much whatever.

So allow me to get personal.

I stumbled into the DP office on an otherwise uneventful evening at the beginning of my freshman year, and walked out having asked, point–blank, for a job I didn’t apply for. I got lucky. They were hiring copyeditors, and before I knew it, I was a “Street person.”

That was the really good thing that happened to me freshman year. The rest of it was bleak, and I remember much of it in black and white. I didn’t accomplish much, to take a utilitarian assessment of that time. But more importantly, I wasn’t happy.

What turned it around for me was Street, and feeling like a part of a community. I got more and more involved, developed friendships, and found myself tied to Street in a way I never anticipated.

Putting together and promoting a completely student–run magazine is no easy task. And every issue of Street involves countless hours of work from over a hundred students. We pour ourselves

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into Street for many reasons, but I like to think the biggest one is that we believe in its mission. We believe in Street as a place for student voices, for creativity, for growth.

I hope that my time at the helm will help develop Street’s narrative, longform journalism style. I hope to train every staffer and editor in what it takes to work for a magazine and think creatively. I hope to cultivate relationships and mentorships and to encourage a collective sense of pride in what the staff accomplishes every week. I hope that every staffer and editor will have the positive experience with Street that I did.

Street asks a lot of people. It’s challenging and maddening. It requires countless late nights and myriad Slack messages. But those difficulties and their associated triumphs create a community that’s incomparable to anything else at Penn. People care.

The people I worked with this year—Nick, Remi, Angela, Autumn, Reb, Lucy, and so many more— care so much. And it’s awe–inspiring.

Penn can be a punishing place, and it’s easy to feel unmoored. I invite anyone and everyone to check out Street specifically and the DP more broadly.

Meander over to our dingy, windowless office tucked away at 4015 Walnut. Street’s been a home for me and I hope it can be a home for you too.

WORD ON THE STREET

word on the

STREET

Growing up in a homogeneous, traditional suburb of Georgia, intersectionality was a concept I didn’t hear about often, let alone understood fully until coming to Penn. But it was the word I had been looking for to describe most of my life.

Being black, gay, and female, not a single day goes by that I’m not aware of how I'm perceived for any one of my identities, that I don’t actively consider how every decision I make reflects on them. Every day, if I’m not stereotyped when shopping, driving, or simply breathing because of my race, it’s my intelligence being insulted because of my sex, or my mental state questioned due to my sexuality.

As if these feelings of constantly being stereotyped and pressured to uphold some sort of model minority image for each of my identities alone aren’t enough, they are only intensified when you consider that they intersect in the same person­ . In a predominantly white and heteronormative country, where men continue to dominate, growing up with little representation and no public figure to look up to who looks exactly like you isn’t easy.

Accepting myself was difficult growing up. Not to mention, it was hard to find a community that accepted me fully.

From homophobia within the black community to white feminism, it’s easy to feel like no one understands you fully.

While I’m very much okay with every identity of myself today, constantly being reminded and hyperaware of each of these stereotypes—and actively com-

A Balancing Act: Being Black,Gay and Female ' From homophobia within the black community to white feminism and more, intersectionality was more than a textbook term for me.

Maria Curry

Jessi Olarsch | Illustrator

bating them daily—is tiring and at times overwhelming.

Stereotypes like the angry black woman prevent me from ever speaking about these issues.

From Serena Williams to the late Kim Porter, the phenomenon of medical professionals disregarding black women’s pain is just one of the most recent serious examples of this.

But this isn’t just happening in hospital rooms. From academic and extracurricular settings at Penn alone, to politics and media in the larger society, the silencing of black women and subsequent labeling of them as “angry” or incompetent when they do speak unfortunately remains very real today.

The intersectional identity of being black and gay comes with its own nuances. Blacks in America, for example, are statistically the most homophobic racial group by percentage, and second most homophobic community when grouped by religion (behind white evangelicals).

Growing up with a liberal but very religious family, I experienced this dynamic firsthand when attending black church every Sunday, and being surrounded by black film and black music. I became increasingly aware of the toxic homophobia in the black community and the real psychological and economic hardships black LGBTQ youth face because of it. And I began to call out the hypocritical belief and the use of religion to justify it.

To accept Christian principles like "love thy neighbor" and to simultaneously “disagree” with the “lifestyle choices” of the LGBTQ community is not only paradoxical but absurd. While getting better, this cultural ignorance and selective religious outrage unfortunately remains a reality for many black youth today.

Being gay and female, like every other intersectional identity, presents its own struggles. Sexism and hypocrisy isn’t limited by race.

From television to film, the overuse of the white gay male caricature has not only profited off the appropriation of traditional black female culture, but propagated the false standard of what “gay” looks like and siloed representation of LGBTQ women. Girl–on–girl relationships are often dismissed as phases.

Constantly having to be aware of any one identity is tiring, but the feeling is compounded when identifying with all three. It's easy to say that we should simply forget about identities and live in a post–judgement society. But not only does the concept of being “race–blind” neglect the beauty and value of individual cultures, it also ignores the fact that my race, sex, and sexuality are all still subject to the implicit biases and historical effects of discrimination imposed and allowed by those in power today.

Simply put, I don’t have the opportunity to mess up. Blacks, females, and LGBTQ people

are still judged in a discriminatory light compared to their counterparts for the same actions. When involved in criminal activity, black youth are delinquents while white youth are “just being kids.”

One identity does not dismiss the discrimination of another.

If anything, identifying as a minority should prompt people to fight for other minorities. Despite every stereotype, every microaggression, every stare I get that’s just a little too long, every racist, sexist, homophobic, off– hand comment or “joke,” I love every single one of my identities and never want to be anything different. While it’s lonely to be isolated by those you care most for, and tiring to feel responsible for upholding a model minority image, every aspect of who I am is too unique. I would never exchange the struggles I face just to conform.

I also know my situation could be much worse. I come from a high socioeconomic background, I have always lived in safe environment, I’m not disabled or chronically ill, and I attend one of the best universities in the country. But the conditions faced by Blacks, women, and LGBTQ individuals in America—let alone the world—are still not where it should be or can be.

While we may not be able to impact racism, sexism and homophobia, we can control how we interact with each other daily. By actively working to understand the challenges we face, we can work to create more inclusive environments that work better not only for minority communities but for everyone.

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EGO

EGO OF THE WEEK

When she’s not answering phone calls for Hillary Clinton or performing pop a cappella ballads at Carnegie Hall, this senior loves relaxing with a good book and the company of friends. An expert nutritionist and a huge education advocate, Callie Holtermann is determined to make the world a better place, one meal at a time.

By Misty Liao 34th Street Magazine: What was it like for you growing up in Jersey?

Callie Holtermann: I love Jersey. I’m the biggest Jersey fan and people make fun of me for it all the time. But I was lucky to grow up in a really beautiful, rural area. During summers, I would hangout on farms and that made me interested in food and agricultural policy later on in my life. Another cool thing about New Jersey is that there are truly all kinds of people there. I went to a really, really big high school with everybody being from all over and I think that served me really well when I got to Penn.

Street: How did you decide you wanted to major in political science and minor in nutrition?

CH: People always laugh when I say I’m a political science major and a nutrition minor because it just sounds really incongruent, but I realized when I was in high school that I didn’t really know how to eat.

I started taking nutrition classes because I wanted to be able to have knowledge about this really important part of my life and as soon as I started taking those classes, and I also started cooking with kids in elementary schools around the same time. I just became really convinced of how important it is that kids get really good, positive messaging about healthy foods starting young.

Street: What are you working on for your senior thesis?

How’s that been going?

CH: I haven’t written nearly as much as I should, but I’m 4

writing about nutrition education in the U.S. and how it’s changed over time. I work with Rebel Chefs, which is a cooking program in West Philly elementary schools, and that got me interested in hands–on nutrition education and how it really does a good job in engaging students. When I started researching the history of nutrition education in the U.S., I found a lot of evidence that conventional nutrition education classes weren’t all that effective at translating to dietary change. Over time, it’s really interesting to see how USDA and state government resources are being put towards more hands– on interactions with food for kids as well as more environmental change in terms of what foods are available to students.

Street: I heard that you took off a whole semester to volunteer for Hillary Clinton’s Presidential campaign. What made you decide to do that?

CH: Well, I cold–applied through the website. It was not something I planned to do at all, I was just on her website looking for ways I could volunteer because I felt like it was a really important time. It was the first election I got to vote in and I really wanted to feel like I was doing everything I could for that election to go the way that I hoped it would, so I sent in my resume and everything and was given the opportunity to work full–time on the campaign for the fall of my sophomore year. Deciding to take a full semester off was really, really scary at the time, but I’m really glad I did. It was

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a super intensive experience, as I’m sure you can imagine, but it really gave me a lot of clarity about why I want to do what I want to do, and when I got back to school it really put a lot of things in perspective for me.

Street: What first got you into music and singing?

CH: I’ve always loved music.

I like paying attention to the things that you just love regardless of how functional they are in your life. Music is not going to make my grades better, nor will it make me any money, but I just love it and love that it makes me happy no matter what. I sang in an all girls’ choir for my entire childhood (Princeton Girlchoir) and it formed some of the best friendships I had growing up, so I wanted a similar experience to that when I got to Penn. I was a little tired of choral music though, so I was so excited to join Counterparts.

Street: How has Counterparts been?

CH: We are singing at the grand opening of Wawa at 6th and Chestnut later this year on the same day that we are singing at Carnegie Hall, and I think that really speaks to the fact that Counterparts really does it all.

Street: What do you think you will miss most about Penn?

CH: Penn just has a person for everything. Whenever I have a super random question for my thesis or I want to meet someone who worked in this field to hear more about what that’s like, there’s just so many smart, involved people

CALLIE HOLTERMANN HOMETOWN | Pennington, NJ MAJOR | Political Science MINOR | Nutrition ACTIVITIES | President of Counterparts A Cappella, Rebel Chefs, Chi Omega, Dining Advisory Board, Osiris Senior Society Autumn Powell | Media Director

here that you can find someone who is an expert on anything.

It’s just been a really convenient way to learn a lot about a ton of things in a short period of time.

Street: What are your plans for the future?

CH: I think I want to work on a 2020 campaign if I can, because 2016 was such a wild experience and I still just have a lot of energy and it seems like

working on a campaign is a good place to direct your energy towards a specific outcome that you want to see in the country.

After that, I’m heading to law school. I was really lucky to get into Harvard Law through their junior deferral program, so that means I have two years to explore whatever I want to explore and before heading to Boston two years after I graduate.

LIGHTNING ROUND

Street: Something you can’t go anywhere without?

CH: Water bottle Street: Go–to karaoke song?

CH: "No Air" by Jordin Sparks ft. Chris Brown Street: Best place to eat on campus?

CH: Honey’s Sit N’ Eat. They have the best latkes.

Street: What celebrity would you have play you in a documentary about your life?

CH: I can’t say her name, but Saoirse Ronan. She was the main character in Ladybird.

Street: There are two types of people at Penn…

CH: Sunset Blush and what’s that other flavor of Franzia?

Oh, Crisp White.

Street: And you are…

CH: Sunset Blush for sure.

EGO

Fusing of Medicine and Performing Arts with Shiv Nadkarni Penn senior Shiv Nadkarni reveals how his love for both medicine and the performing arts can intersect.

Photo provided by Shiv Nadkarni

Fusion. This is the word that comes to mind when one thinks of Shiv Nadkarni (C ’19).

Speaking with Shiv is like a roller coaster ride. There are so many twists and turns it is hard to believe one human can have so many passions that are seemingly divergent, yet Shiv manages to merge them and work them in harmony. One of the many ways he does this is through his engagement with the American Autism Association.

Shiv has had a passion for medicine and a love for the performing arts—specifically dance, singing, and theatre— since he was a young child. He also loves working with kids and actively pursues community service.

“After a long time of doing performing arts and science alongside each other I was like, ‘How can I tailor my academic trajectory to match that?’,” Shiv says.

Shiv is pre–med, majoring in BBB and working as a research assistant at Penn Med. He is also pursuing a minor in theater and is involved in Counterparts acappella, starred in Penn Players' show Heathers, and is a member of Osiris Senior Society. His passions for science and art are two paths that would seem-

ingly not intersect.

He has also been dancing since he was six years old. Shiv speaks casually about his love of dance, but to call dance his hobby would be far too cavalier. Through years of rigorous instruction, Shiv obtained his bachelor’s degree in Indian Classical Dance known as Kathak.

In addition to holding a bachelor’s degree in Kathak, Shiv was invited to perform at the Parliament of World Religions showcase in Toronto this November in front of world leaders in activism, environmentalism, mental health advocacy, and spirituality, from all different religions.

“It was really cool to be a part of that in a place that’s not the US and see all these world leaders of different religions coming together under the same message of peace and love in this time,” Shiv says.

Spreading “peace and love” has been fundamental to Shiv’s upbringing, specifically his relationship with Hinduism.

“My dad is very spiritual about things. He doesn’t like to follow religion blindly for what it is, because I think it’s easy to get lost in the rituals.

He always tied those things to the greater message of kindness and what we leave,” Shiv

Katie Bontje

says. “I think it’s always important to bring religion back to what it is for you—that peace of mind but also what you impart to other people.

So I think he was important in teaching me that.”

Shiv’s parents were very central in cultivating his passions and life trajectory. Both of his parents were interested in medicine. His mother has her own pediatric practice, which largely influenced Shiv's love of children and medicine. He followed that passion to the American Autism Association this summer, where he worked as a Community Outreach Intern, focusing on medical journalism.

One of his favorite pieces he wrote was about restaurants that hosted an “inclusive night” for families living with autism.

“It was hard to find restaurants that would be inclusive and have an environment that’s conducive, so that their family isn’t stared at when their kid acts up or throws a tantrum,” Shiv says. “So I think just opening it up to those families and having them all be aware of what’s happening allowed the families to have a night to relax and go out, which they might not have the opportunity to do.”

Shiv’s other favorite part of

his internship was running their Ballet for All Kids program, a five–week program in which he alongside other instructors taught seven kids with autism how to learn introductory ballet. Shiv says he loved seeing the kids progress throughout the program.

He recalls that at the beginning many of the kids were “hyperactive” and “distracted from the teacher,” but they improved so much to the point where they were able to perform something for their parents at the end of the program.

Shiv also explained his interest in narrative medicine, a burgeoning field that focuses more on patients’ stories and how that influences their care.

“This past year I sat down and had to think about what all of it means because I’ve always been interested in one vein which is performing arts and one vein which is medicine and science, and then looked for that intersection,” Shiv says. “I think narrative medicine, for example, is a place where storytelling and the narrative of a patient and their experience with whatever artistic outlet they have, you bring that into the illness narrative and help inform their treatment because of that.”

Shiv says that in today’s so-

cial and political climate, he believes narrative medicine is a necessary step in the right direction.

“It’s putting more focus on the story of a person and approaching medicine from a more humanistic angle, which is really interesting to me, because I think in the modern climate we’ve lost sight of the patients and patients’ stories and who they are,” Shiv says.

“Now it’s like ‘Oh we need to return to what it’s actually supposed to be, which is working with the patient for what they think is the best course of action as well as informing it with medical knowledge.’”

Next year Shiv will be working in Boston at ClearView Healthcare Partners, a healthcare consulting company, but he hopes to apply to medical school in the following year and potentially some Master’s programs in narrative medicine.

“It’s very difficult to know where I’m going, and the next year could look completely different based on how I sketch it versus how it actually turns out,” Shiv says. “So my life has to be going with the flow and taking hits and opportunities as they come. I’m focusing on growing in all the different realms that I’m involved in.”

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MUSIC

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and EMBRACE THE FUNK What I learned playing funk music for the first time at the Blutt Band Slam.

———Melannie Jay——— With the wind chill, it was of the fall semester, and I realized down to a sturdy 21 degrees out- that this funk band was a serious side, and I was on stage in a T– proposal. Thus came the probshirt, jeans, and the world’s thin- lem: I don’t play funk guitar.

Funk is diametrically opposed nest blazer. While I owned a pair of fingerless gloves that would to my preferred genres of blues have given my hands some pro- and rock. But I decided that I tection, I made no effort to wear just had to roll with it, and that them: they would have ruined our funk would have a little exmy snazzy black–and–white tra punch to it. Yeah, I messaged aesthetic, and it’s not like I was him back, I’d love to join!

Altogether, there were fourdoing anything that needed dexterity. I was just playing guitar. teen people in this ensemble: Last spring, my friend Jack- four vocalists, a bassist, two guison and I were studying to- tarists, a drummer, a keyboardist, gether when he mentioned that two tenor saxes, two trumpets, he wanted to form a funk band and a trombone. For those keepfor the Blutt Band Slam, the ing track at home, that means musical competition on College that, if we won, each member REALTY get $71.43.GROUP I wasn’t in it Green every year after the home- would coming game. Six acts, from for the money, though. I wanted solo performers to supergroups, a chance to get on stage, play, Large Selection of Studio, 1, from Penn students to alumni, and maybe get a cool profile piccompete for a grand prize of ture for Facebook.

Despite the low stakes, I was $1,000. Offhand, I offered up my services on guitar. He mes- nervous for our first rehearsal. saged me again at the beginning Because only six groups make

Photo provided by Power of Penn Palooza

shirt: Bike Repair Shop.

A few weeks later, Jackson announced the good news in our Facebook group: we were playing at Homecoming.

I don’t really get imposter syndrome. If anything, I’m a little too confident in my abilities. I’ve gotten in over my head more than once on the principle of the Bavarian Fire Drill: if you look like you know what you’re doing, nobody will question you. After two hours of rhythm section rehearsal, a week of practice, and another WILLIAM PENN two–hour full group rehearsal, REALTY GROUP the best thing I could say was Large Selection of Studio, 1, 2 & 3 Bdrm that the other sections might WILLIAM PENN REALTY GROUP cover up my mistakes.

REALTY GROUP The day of the band slam was Large Selection of Studio, 1, 2 & 3 Bdrm chaos. Over half of our memof the 1, Arts Rittenhouse Sq. ofAve Large Selection Studio, 2 & 3 Bdrm bers, myself included, were in Art Museum Fitler Square the Penn Band and would have to play with Bike Repair Shop Ave of the Arts Rittenhouse Sq. after playing for three hours Art Museum Fitler Square Live affordably in convienent, in the Homecoming football desirable locations game. The wind players were in danger of overblowing during the game, while I had to switch Live affordably in convienent, leasing@wprg.net Live affordably in convenient, outfits and instruments, swapdesirable locations desirable215-636-0300 locations ping my clarinet for a guitar. williampennrealty.com As for the outfits, none of us leasing@wprg.net had anticipated just how cold it leasing@wprg.net 215-636-0300 would get by the time we went 215-636-0300williampennrealty.com onstage. The general instruction was to wear ‘70s–inspired williampennrealty.com outfits for the funk vibe. I took a different approach: all black it to the actual band slam, everyone who wants to enter the competition has to send a video, from which the judges pick the semifinalists. An hour after walking into that Fisher–Bennett rehearsal room, we had a video and a name and a guitarist who wasn’t the worst. The chose was slapdash: 2name & 3weBdrm realizing we needed a name, we looked around and settled on the words on drummer (and Street staffer) Hailey Noh’s

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save for the white blazer that I put on as a joke in H&M and was soon pressured into buying in an attempt to diversify my grungy all–black wardrobe.

Of course, you can’t win a band slam if you’re not there, and getting onstage was the hardest part. Our trombonist left his instrument in Platt, and I was holding down the fort until he came back. After sprinting across Locust and convincing the security guard to let us get past the gate, we arrived just as the rest of Bike Repair Shop was going on stage. In the adrenaline rush of making it to the Power of Penn Palooza, I forgot how nervous I was. I let muscle memory do the work and hoped that my hands didn’t freeze—maybe I should have worn the gloves after all.

We didn’t win, or even come in second. Those seventy–odd dollars I'd have won never went to a few new books, or yet another pair of burgundy jeggings. I realized that I don’t like playing funk, and if I try to play again next year, it’ll surely be in a blues rock outfit. But when I got home, my phone had blown up with compliments from friends in the crowd—and I got a pretty cool profile picture. So I'd say it was worth it.

MUSIC

Mark Paraskevas, a.k.a. Hadji Gaviota, Talks His New Album 'Captain' Mark Paraskevas, stage name Hadji Gaviota, spills on his new album and what he doesn't miss about Penn. 'Captain' is out Dec. 1, 2018.

Jamie Gobreski

Mark Paraskevas (C ’17) packs the same thing for lunch every day: “a chicken gyro basically, with like pita bread and spinach and cheese.” In between hours spent at the studio, Mark, a former The Daily Pennsylvanian and Street staffer, is a high school teacher in New York City with the two–year placement program Teach For America.

He dutifully packs his lunch every day before setting out to the Bronx high school where he works. As a teacher, multitasking is key to getting through the day, and so over his lunch break, Mark sets out to grab a black coffee from a nearby bodega and we catch up over the phone about his first album Captain, released under the moniker Hadji Gaviota, out on streaming services Dec. 1, 2018.

In many ways, teaching is the “perfect job” for making music because of all the time he has: after the final bell at 3:30 p.m., Mark has the three extra hours in his day not available to friends working nine to five. Music weaves its way into his work, too: Mark runs an after–school music production club on Wednesdays, and has built lesson plans around songs like “Jesus Walks.” “The kids give me a lot of energy,” says Mark, which comes out in the bounding, ambitious, and coherent soundscapes of his first LP. Songs like “Hot Sugar” are the kind of mid–2000s MTV or VHS jam of your cable consuming reverie; Strokes–y guitar progressions confirm that “this has been lovely” (on “Lovely,” fittingly). “Hadji got his groove back,” he announces on “No

Sway.” The “groove” ebbs and flows with a tidal current on the woozy, explorative “Saltwater/Corvette,” or the darker “U Don’t Know Me,” both featuring collaborators. "Saltwater" features Dummyfresh, recent Penn alum Andrew Ellis (C '18).

Early hit “Harajuku,” (which has racked up over 50,000 listens at time of publication and was featured on Spotify curated playlist “Feel Good Dinner” is an explicative post–mortem for a relationship, layered over lo–fi pulsing guitar and synthy percussion. On his varied influences, Mark says, “The fact that the album is kind of all over the place is a testament to that—in a good way, you know?”

The sonic coherence and depth is a product of a partnership with musician and producer Mike Mroz, who goes by Mrozerati, another Astoria, Queens local. Although they're from the same area, “I never knew him in high school or anything,” explains Mark. “I met him because I needed a studio to record at,” and Mroz’s studio came recommended by a mutual friend.

“The two of us together are really like, a superstar team.” They write and produce the songs together—one intensive session last spring resulted in what became much of the album. These songs include “Golden Boy,” “Harajuku,” and “Lovely.”

While his artistic process has evolved since leaving school, Mark traces his inspirations and experimentations back to campus: his senior year, he immersed himself in the music scene, especially in “jam sessions” with

SPEC Jazz & Grooves members, which he served as co–director.

On what he does not miss about Penn, Mark sighs, “People who are close–minded about their future.” He pauses and adds, “Pressure.” Mark has this advice to offer people who want to follow a creative path: “If you wanna do something creative, your friends might support you but they’re not really gonna, like, take you that seriously. And you have to be okay with that, because you have to trust yourself.”

What does Mark miss about Penn? “The chipotle chicken sandwich from Frontera. And

handing out [The Daily Pennsylvanian].”

What's next for Mark right now is apparent: we wrap up the conversation as he hurries to cover a fifth–period class, his final words muffled by the students

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shouting.

What else is on deck remains to be seen. The waters post–album release may be murky, but it's clear Mark is on his own path, captain of whichever route he embarks on.

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7

MUSIC

On 'El mal querer,' Rising Global Superstar Rosalia Fuses Tradition with Pop

You donʼt need to know Spanish to enjoy her music. But her increasing popularity has raised questions of cultural appropriation along the way.

Srinidhi Ramakrishna to the first album and her two Latin Grammys, singles racking up millions of views, a collaboration with J Balvin, and recording sessions with Pharrell. Simply put, people can't stop talking about her.

If Los ángeles leans more towards classic flamenco, El mal querer takes things in the opposite direction. Mixing together staples of flamenco music like rhythmic hand claps (palmas) with 808s, hip–hop– infused bass lines, auto–tuned harmonies, and unique samples like motorcycle engines or breaking glass, the album’s instrumentation adeptly backs

It’s hard to categorize Spanish singer–songwriter Rosalía.

Her songs are vibrant soundscapes, bursting at the seams in every syllable, beat, and chord with seemingly infinite amounts of color.

Classically trained for over eight years as a flamenco vocalist, Rosalía released her self–recorded debut album, Los ángeles, in 2017 to public and critical acclaim. With death as its central theme, the minimalist album showed her take on flamenco over just a guitar.

Since then, Rosalía has been at the center of a whirlwind of praise, giving us a follow–up

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its melismatic vocals. Based in the cante jondo (“deep song”) style of singing, Rosalía’s voice swings from restrained and wistful to a near–primal cry at others. El mal querer is a modern interpretation of the 13th century Romance novel Flamenca about a bride imprisoned in a castle by her husband. The storyline is divided up into each song, labeled with a song title, a chapter number, and an associated emotion (e.g. “A Ningún Hombre – Cap.11: Poder”).

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with a squadron of gangsters aiming weapons at her neck and loading a gun with literal bull’s eyes, powerfully conveying agency. You don’t need to know Spanish to feel the pull of the suffering, pain, defiance, and musical upheaval.

Rosalía also interpolates Anglophone pop lines as Easter eggs. The opening melody of the haunting, revelatory piece “Bagdad – Cap. 7: Liturgia” recognizably follows the hook of Justin Timberlake’s “Cry Me A River.” In “Di Mi Nombre – Cap. 8: Éxtasis,” the chorus (“Di mi nombre / Cuando no haya nadie cerca”) translates to “Say my name / When no one is around you”—a hidden Destiny’s Child reference. Rosalía subverts ideas about what pop should sound like and what constitutes a crossover.

Rosalía’s meteoric rise hasn’t been without controversy over her apparent cultural appropriation of flamenco, a uniquely Spanish art form with Roma (derogatorily known as Gypsy) origins. As someone from Barcelona, Rosalía is easily the most famous flamenco artist today—yet she is not Roma, nor is she from Andalusia, where flamenco and the Roma cante jondo style hails from.

But as many point out, flamenco is not solely a Roma invention—it’s also a genre with influences from the Moorish, Jewish, Castilian, and native Andalusian communities.

Spain has just about adopted it as part of its national identity.

The historically oppressed Roma community has called the artist out on adopting an Andalusian accent, scattering Roma languages in her songs, and using Roma symbolism in her music videos.

The controversy has no simple answer. Rosalía’s status as a millennial from Barcelona likely helped her succeed over her Roma counterparts, but her flamenco training demonstrates she’s no inexperienced schlep bumbling her way around the centuries–old genre (see: Iggy Azalea). I think Rosalía’s appropriation should be read as a criticism of the music industry’s whitewashing as to who gets to represent a genre, rather than a condemnation of her as a person. There’s room for Rosalía to redeem herself in this situation—she could collaborate with or otherwise promote the work of Roma musicians who haven’t reached her level of success. This discourse shows that as music has grown increasingly globalized, issues of who gets famous and what sounds will survive have been raised, and Rosalía is no exception.

This discussion is vital, and it no doubt will rage on. In the meantime, Rosalía has established herself as a radical artist proving that nothing—not even heavily codified flamenco—is untouchable.

ST YLE

Chubby Cattle Is Revolutionizing Hot Pot

We were all chubby cattle after this amazing meal.

Angela Huang

Photo Courtesy of Chubby Cattle that come in a tiny shopping cart, eliciting a warranted amount of squealing. The noodles—green tea, tomato, and purple yam flavored—dangle from a delicate structure made of chopsticks. The meat, rosy and perfect, is arranged in a bouquet that blooms by order of cut of meat. Our vegetables come to us decorated

in a wooden basket. Damn it, we order a sushi dish that was presented in a puff of liquid nitrogen smoke from beneath a bell jar.

We came out of that meal with questions. How can beef melt in your mouth? Beef is a solid meat. So how was all the Wagyu at Chubby Cattle so damn buttery? Why does the

produce that I’m buying taste nothing like the crispy goodness of the cabbage at the restaurant? How can noodles possibly be that doughy? Why are we turned on after that meal (was it the carnal videos of the head chef massaging flecks of salt into juicy slabs of beef )?

So listen to me: go to Chubby Cattle.

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old tradition with high–tech,” according to partner David Zhao (W '19). The Philadelphia restaurant is the chain’s fourth location, and there’s a chalkboard that proudly advertises the location's ties to Penn—frat letters and alum names are etched into the wall.

It’s in the details: vacuums studded in each table suck out the smoke from each pot so customers don’t leave the restaurant dreaming of dry cleaning. A conveyor belt loops around the center of the restaurant, delivering hot pot ingredients. And of course, you can’t miss the maglev train that spits out hot food from the kitchen, straight–to–consumer.

The gustatory experience is a surprisingly educational one.

The menu details each dish in both Chinese and in English.

A waiter explains the philosophy of “marbling” meat, which explains the white strips of fat that pattern the cuts. And with each dish that arrives comes with it a detailed explanation of flavor profile and ingredient sourcing. The A5 Wagyu beef, we learn, is the highest marbling content of beef and imported from Japan, which makes Chubby Cattle one of the few Wagyu–certified restaurants in Philadelphia.

And what presentation of the food: we order quail eggs

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The last time we went to eat hot pot, it was chaos. We waited two hours for the restaurant to clear a table for six people, and then walked out of the restaurant reeking of smoke and evaporated broth.

We had to flag a waiter down for more boiling water for our soup, and practically had to beg for seasoning recommendations.

A block away from that cursed restaurant is Chubby Cattle. At the corner of 10th and Race, the restaurant is nestled square in the middle of Chinatown. Walk in, and you’ll see bamboo wallpapering the space. Edison bulbs hang from a tiered bamboo lighting fixture over our table: an East–meets–West Elm chandelier. A dazzling LED sign shouts “CHUBBY CATTLE” from an exposed brick wall.

Hotpot is a way of cooking that’s thought to have originated from Mongolia roughly a thousand years ago. In more recent times, it’s become a communal, no–fuss eating experience. You sit around a table with your friends and boil ingredients in a vat, with everything entirely provided for you.

Chubby Cattle wants to revolutionize this latest iteration of hot pot: the restaurant’s goal is to “mix a 1000–year

D E C E M B E R 5 , 2 01 8 3 4 T H S T R E E T M A G A Z I N E

9

Philadelphia Airport ST YLE

WHERE TO EAT AT THE

Jennifer Cullen

Winter break is coming. You know what that means — bringing your suitcase to class and spending way more than time than you want to at the Philadelphia International Airport. But fortunately, there’s something that’ll make your journey much easier — food. Here are the best places to eat in each terminal so that you don't need to grab dinner from the vending machine.

T erminal A

Quick Bite: Bruegger’s Bagels For an early morning pick–me–up, look no further than the bagels and coffee from Bruegger’s.

The joint boasts classic New York style bagels that’ll be ready in a flash for you to run to your gate.

Full Meal: Piattino Believe it or not, you can get quality Italian food in the airport. Piattino offers classic dishes as well as their famous pizza. I would also recommend the sandizza, their version of a panini.

T erminalB

Quick Bite: Pinkberry Treat yourself to a refreshing treat next time you’re at PHL. Pinkberry is a frozen yogurt shop that has multiple delicious flavors and a plethora of toppings to add, including fresh fruit.

Full Meal: Vino Volo If you need a change of pace from classic airport food, check out Vino Volo.

It’s a club–like restaurant and lounge which pairs wine with wine countryinspired foods like smoked salmon, artisanal cheeses, and cured meats.

Patrick Nouhailler | Photographer

T erminalC

Quick Bite: Balducci’s Balducci’s is a grab– and–go option for when you don’t have the time to wait for food. They have a variety of cuisine ready to eat, including sandwiches, salads, snacks, and of course, coffee.

Full Meal: Aldo Lamberti Trattoria Known as the best pizza you can get at an airport, Aldo Lamberti Trattoria offers pizza by the slice. I’d recommend getting a cannoli to go and enjoying it an hour into your flight.

It’ll make the time fly by.

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T erminalD

Quick Bite: Lick Even though Lick may not be the best option for a healthy snack, I couldn’t not include this candy store. They stock pretty much sweet treat imaginable, and you can buy in bulk.

Full Meal: Bar Symon Bar Symon offers a cozy escape from the hustle and bustle of the airport. The spot is known for its comfort food, especially the Pulled Pork Sandwich and Cheese Pierogi. Plus, every table is equipped with power outlets, so you can make sure your laptop is fully charged before takeoff.

T erminalE

Quick Bite: Au Bon Pain Au Bon Pain is available in pretty much every terminal, and for good reason. They offer conveniently packaged food to go, as well as the option to order at the counter. If you’re in a rush, you can order ahead on their app.

Full Meal: Gachi Sushi & Noodle I know what you’re thinking, never trust airport sushi. But that's where you’re wrong. Gachi has a variety of different Japanese dishes, which all pass the taste test. I’d recommend sitting at the sushi bar, ordering a few things, and taking some time to enjoy.

T erminal F

Quick Bite: Red Mango A smoothie may be the perfect on-the-go snack, and thankfully Red Mango provides. In addition, they have delicious acai bowls, yogurt, and parfaits. If you need a boost, I recommend the Strawberry Energizer smoothie.

Full Meal: Tony Luke’s If you know you’re going to miss Philly over break, make your final meal a classic with a Philly cheese steak. Tony Luke’s serves burgers, fries, and a cheese steak that definitely rivals the best of the best.

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F E AT U R E

F E AT U R E

THE BOTTOM LINE What does it mean to be ethical in Wharton?

By Allison Wu

A

nna Schmitt (C, W’19) recounts an instance from Management 104 during a lecture about the collapse of a factory in Bangladesh that killed over a thousand workers in 2013. A student raised their hand and said something to the effect of: “it’s okay to have these working conditions abroad because people there need employment and we’re increasing shareholder value here.” Anna says that students accepted that comment without question.

Penn alumni are undoubtedly successful. This year’s Forbes’ annual 30 under 30 lists, which recognized 600 young entrepreneurs in various fields, included twenty-six Penn graduates – the fifth most alumni from any university. Penn prides itself on producing countless billionaires, for its professors who conduct the latest groundbreaking research, and for one of the country’s best business schools: Wharton. Sixteen alums out of the 26 listed on Forbes graduated from Wharton.

But what Penn doesn’t celebrate are alum Jho Low’s financial laundering and schemes in Malaysia, President Donald Trump’s “legally dubious” financial actions regarding tax payments, and numerous alumni charges of insider trading, like Woojae “Steve” Jung, Rajiv Goel, and Raj Rajaratnam.

Does a dogged focus on profits undermine the seriousness of ethical teachings and exacerbate Wharton’s already hyper–competitive culture? How does a historically privileged institution like Wharton address important ethical topics like inclusion and diversity? What are the implications of shoving diversity and ethics to the side? These 1 2 3 4 T H S T R E E T M A G A Z I N E D E C E M B E R 5 , 2 01 8

are questions that Penn, and specifically Wharton, doesn’t like to talk about.

“People will justify anything based on the fact that you have to increase your shareholder value. This never gets questioned and I've never felt like I've been in a class where we’ve really dug down into what this means for society.” Anna says.

Through its new curriculum, Wharton aims to allow students entering in the fall of 2017 and beyond to enjoy “increased flexibility for students to more deeply pursue areas of individual interest, a doubling of leadership content, and greater emphasis on innovation and technology, ethics and social values, and the global economy,” Wharton’s Senior Director of Academic and Student Affairs Scott Romeika wrote in a statement.

Specifically, students are now required to take at least one course in Legal Studies and Business Ethics (LGST 100 or LGST 101). Romeika said these two required courses “elevate” the previous curriculum to explore “the role of social values in business decision making and strategy, from legal and philosophical perspectives, respectively.”

But oftentimes, Anna says, students view these courses as “fluffy” and unimportant, and the classes often lack discussion and fail to address what is morally correct and what is not.

Rei Fujita (W’19) says that since morally questionable actions are often legal, “Wharton doesn’t really emphasize that you should take the moral path.”

“A lot of people who are in Wharton will be on the non—moral side that increases profits,” Rei says. “Inherently, they see nothing wrong with it because it’s not like we’re taught that it’s wrong.”

Anna says that in most of her Wharton classes, there is rarely ever room for discourse. Ethics is “completely removed” from many courses outside of the Legal Studies and Business Ethics department, even where ethics principles may be relevant and necessary. “We never talk about what [our actions] mean for people,” she Jess Tan | Illustrator says.

Nina Strohminger and David Zaring, professors in the Legal Studies and Business Ethics department, say that courses outside of the department vary in how they teach students about the ethical implications of course material.

"The faculty has a lot of leeway, not infinite, but a lot of leeway,” Strohminger says. “That's why if you look at the syllabi, you find that although there's some overlap, there's a lot of differences… [There] are very different ways on approaching this topic, and depending on which section you enroll in, you'll get very different perspectives."

Similarly, Zaring says that there are departments where ethics aren’t “really part of the teaching curricula… and places where it is something that comes up inevitably depending on the kind of subject matter being studied.” For example, topics regarding ethics aren’t always a “critical component” of finance courses.

Noah Katcher (C, W ‘19) says that a good ethical foundation is important for students who want to go into business and finance.

“There is theory behind ethics and there is research behind it and there's a reason that this form of research has flourished as much as it has."

Perhaps the competitive nature of Wharton, not just its curriculum, desensitizes students to the ethical consequences of their actions, both at school and in the workforce. In 2016, Wharton’s highest-rated professor Adam Grant was quoted in the Daily Pennsylvanian criticizing Penn’s hyper–competitive culture. “I’ve been at five universities — this

is by far the worst I have ever seen it. The way it is at Penn is far, far, far more damaging than at Harvard [University], or [University of] Michigan, or [University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill].”

Ironically, a course he teaches is “unusually competitive” to get into.

Noah says this competitive atmosphere often drives “people to where they’re so used to doing whatever it takes to achieve the best possible results at little to no penalty.” In school, the stakes are limited: they might get caught cheating. Worst case, they fail the class. But “there's a potential that you can have people who are so oriented on doing whatever it takes to succeed at Wharton [that they] might feel the inclination to take similar actions in the workforce that might be less than legal.”

In addition to its competitive environment, a lack of socioeconomic and racial diversity may be another factor contributing to Wharton’s ethical blind spots, since students might not experience a range of perspectives on inclusion and diversity. "The kinds of viewpoints we get [in Wharton] are from people who are more privileged and who also expect to continue to be privileged in the future,” Anna says. “Not everyone feels hindered in the workplace so it's good for them to learn how they can help other people… and it's really hard to hear other voices when the majority of the people in your class are really rich."

According to a recent New York Times report, 71 percent of Penn students come from the top 20 percent in terms of median family income. And Wharton struggles with racial diversity issues too. Ekunda Wonodi (W’ 19), a black woman, is involved in cultural organizations on campus like contemporary West African dance group African Vibes and traditional dance group African Rhythms, and says that “when I’m not in these groups, I do feel like I'm in a different space and I do have to navigate things a little bit differently […] It's very quick that I walk into a room and I’m like, ‘I'm probably the only black person here.’”

In the Legal Studies and Business Ethics department, teaching about socioeconomic and racial diversity is meant to expose students to all possible situations they might run into. “The whole point is inclusion.

We want the students to buy in and think carefully about these issues,”

Zaring says. But courses in the department often are not required. Even with Wharton’s curriculum change, Management 104—the course that focuses on industrial relations, human resources, and diversity in the workplace—is not required.

Ekunda says that discussions of diversity outside of Management 104 and the Legal Studies and Ethics department do not occur often, and when they do, they are “very removed.” Oftentimes, students don’t consider how diversity is affecting others on campus. “It's like a separate issue that's in its own vacuum.”

Ekunda says Wharton teachers and students often bring up the fact that diversity in the workplace also generates profits for companies in the long run. "While it's a good reason to include diversity because you perform better, that shouldn't be the reason you want to improve the diversity of your organization,” she says. “It shouldn't all be entirely driven by profits."

On the contrary, Maria Curry (C, W ‘19), also a black woman, believes that any form of action that fosters diversity is beneficial, even though intentions might be economically—based. However, she agrees with Ekunda on the perspective that Wharton professors and students “avoid talking about diversity” because of the sensitivity of the topic.

“I don't like the idea that we avoid talking about diversity because it makes white people feel uncomfortable,” Rei says. “But I feel like that's literally how it is.” Rei says that not talking about these topics hinders important questions of ethical behavior and inclusion in the workforce.

Integrating ethics and diversity in the Wharton curriculum, and Penn curricula in general, won’t fix the problem, though Anna says that Wharton should work with the ethics department and integrate these topics into each course curriculum.

Zaring says that although he has had conversations about building a finance course that incorporates legal studies, they have been “preliminary… It takes some doing to get a new course started and a real vision about how exactly it's going to work.”

Some Wharton students, like Rei and Anna, believe these problems exist in the wider Penn student body, where intense competition and pre-professionalism proliferate. Careers in finance and consulting are desirable among those in the College and Engineering, where ethics courses also lack.

Rei says it’s interesting how all the other colleges “hate” on Wharton but are doing the exact same things, such as “trying to take Wharton classes and getting sucked into the Wharton culture anyway… Now it’s not only the Whartonites that are morally questionable.”

"A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO ARE IN WHARTON WILL BE ON THE NON-MORAL SIDE THAT INCREASES PROFITS ... INHERENTLY THEY SEE NOTHING WRONG WITH IT BECAUSE IT'S NOT LIKE WE'RE TAUGHT THAT IT'S WRONG."

Allison Wu is a freshman in the College.

She is a features staff writer for Street.

D E C E M B E R 5 , 2 01 8 3 4 T H S T R E E T M A G A Z I N E 1 3

F E AT U R E

The Campus Namesakes How Penn Names and Renames Buildings on Campus Three days after Penn alum Steve Wynn (C ’63) was accused of sexual misconduct, his name was defaced on campus. An anonymous hand streaked black paint across the letters that denominated the Commons near Irvine Auditorium. Then the name was boarded up with bricks.

University officials removed it from the scholarship he had established and rescinded his honorary degree. Just like that, every visible trace of Wynn’s connection to Penn was erased.

The decision happened in a matter of days.

On January 27, 2018, the allegations came out in The Wall Street Journal, in which dozens of women came forward accusing Wynn of sexual misconduct. On January 30, Wynn Commons was defaced. A day later, trustees met to discuss how best to “think and act on behalf of what is best for Penn and our core values.” On February 1, President Amy Gutmann and Penn Board of Trustees Chair David Cohen sent out an email to the Penn community, explaining that they had “felt it imperative to examine Mr. Wynn’s recognized presence on Penn’s campus.”

Perhaps it occurred so swiftly because Wynn’s name was

Photo by Anna Callahan 1 4 3 4 T H S T R E E T M A G A Z I N E D E C E M B E R 5 , 2 01 8

so prominent on campus, or because of pressure coming from the #MeToo movement. The University’s response was swift, but it was also murky, and didn’t clarify how the University plans to address similar naming controversies in the future. Wynn’s is far from the only name that has raised eyebrows—and some of them, the names of slave owners and racists, have been around for centuries. With these, however, the renaming process is slower, and it’s unclear whose responsibility it is. And when the issue of renaming arises, so does the issue of whose name gets on the building to begin with.

Penn’s response to Steve Wynn provoked article after article, as controversies involving publicly visible alumni tend to do. When a famous graduate—or even an honorary degree holder like Bill Cosby—attains sudden notoriety, an investigation into the university’s connections is sure to follow. This can involve tracking down any named connections on campus, whether a scholarship, honorary degree, or building that survived their time on campus (in 2016, a Seattle Times reporter tracked down Trump’s name in a Weigle Information Commons seminar room).

Among other things, it is the name that seems to be the damning detail.

This isn’t the first time a name has changed on campus. In 1992, trustees decided to change the Department of Oriental Studies to the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies following demand to change the word “Oriental” due to its imperialist roots. In December 2015, the Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences announced that Penn Faculty Masters would be known as Faculty Directors from then on, due to the t e r m’s

Meerabelle Jesuthasan racist history. Since both of these changes would affect academic titles and departments, they were mediated through the Provost.

But when it comes to renaming buildings, it seems more difficult to find a point of contact— or any kind of policy. According to Senior Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations John Zeller, documents outlining “specifics related to the gift and any recognition associated with the gift,” which might include conditions for the name’s removal, aren’t available to the public so as to ensure donor privacy. Naming guidelines in general are difficult to come by.

Today, naming rights are an accepted feature of university philanthropy. Anything that can be funded—buildings, scholarships, faculty positions—can have a donor–chosen name.

Jean–Marie Kneeley, the Vice Dean for Advancement at the College of Arts and Science, posits that when it comes to naming, “there are as many motivations as there are individuals.”

There seem to be no limitations on the nobility of those motivations—even if they are that students in Van Pelt have to read your name above a toilet in post–urinary relief, as businessman Michael Zinman—who isn’t an alumnus, or in any way connected to Penn—requested in 2005.

In 2008, Logan Hall was renamed Claudia Cohen Hall, in honor of the late gossip columnist. The donation had been made by Ronald O. Perelman, her ex–husband, whose unprecedented $20 million gift sent a powerful message: if you can afford it, you can have your name on it. The campus reaction to a tabloid journalist getting her name on a building led to uproar— chemistry professor Ponzy Lu told The New York Times that the decision was “totally idiotic.” He added: “I, as an academic, am used to seeing buildings with names like Newton, Copernicus, Darwin.”

In reality, names like Newton, Copernicus, and Darwin are far less likely to exist on Penn’s campus than names like Annenberg, Perelman, and Huntsman.

While namesakes' interests range from business to communications, what they seem to have in common is philanthropy, and the money for it.

Beyond substantial monetary donation, it’s unclear what

F E AT U R E

guidelines dictate whose name gets a plaque or fellowship at Penn.

According to Kneeley, naming rights range in price according to the building. She is unsure what criterion is used to determine a donor’s suitability, especially if any “acts and conduct that are inimical to the core values of our University,” like Wynn’s, arise. While faculty–led groups at schools including Yale and Berkeley have released renaming reports or recommendations, at present there are no such policies at Penn. If there are any in future, they may come from the Penn & Slavery Project, an undergraduate–led research project into Penn’s ties to slavery. In an email statement, Vice President for University Communications Stephen MacCarthy said that it would not be possible to comment on the issue until the faculty working group releases a report on their findings in the spring. Penn & Slavery Project supervisor Prof. Kathleen Brown confirmed that students in the project might make recommendations about naming, although this isn’t an explicit priority.

According to Public History fellow VanJessica Gladney (C ’18), it’s not that these people’s names should always be removed. She says the problem is that nobody really knows who they are. “I don’t think there’s anything intrinsically wrong with people who walk on this campus or have something to do with this campus leaving their mark on this campus,” she says. Rather, the issue is in how it’s done— or rather, how it isn’t. Referring specifically to trustees with ties to slavery, she says: “Sometimes you’ll see the plaque and it’ll say something like ‘He was a landowner, or a patriot, or a scientist.’

‘Slave–owner’ should be there.”

Gladney, Carson Eckhard (C ’21), and Ami Diane (C ’21) are all involved in the Penn & Slavery Project. According to their research, at least ten buildings in the Quad alone are named for figures in American history who were slave owners: Franklin, Hopkinson, Provost Smith, Cox, Morgan, Morris, Rodney, Wilson, Provost Tower, and Thomas Penn. They suspect that there are more. The discovery isn’t that surprising to them, given what the Penn & Slavery Project has uncovered so far.

The project addresses more than building names. However, renaming has become a flashpoint in higher education controversies about ties to slavery and racism. Over the past few years in the Ivy League alone, Yale, Harvard, and Princeton have also been confronting their own pasts, embroiled in student outcry against buildings named for racist or otherwise problematic

historical figures.

For buildings with lesser–known names, plaques about the donor are difficult to locate, and provide limited information. A search through the University Archives can provide many of the answers, but that requires actively looking for them. Eckhard believes that the absence of context can be problematic. “It’s really dangerous to just have these buildings and statues randomly throughout campus without really anybody knowing either the good or the bad of those people.”

In most cases, discussing “the good or the bad” is what creates this conversation about names in the first place. Maybe

It’s really dangerous to just have these buildings and statues randomly throughout campus without really anybody knowing either the good or the bad of those people. i f Claudia Cohen Hall had been renamed after the Penn & Slavery Project began, someone would have pointed out that John Logan of Logan Hall was an unsavory character himself: he had been involved in the slave trade, according to a surreptitious receipt in the Penn archives.

And while Cohen may certainly not have been “associated with a pursuit of knowledge,” as Professor Lu remarked, she was the first female Managing Editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian in the 1970s. She’s also one of fewer than twenty women to have a campus building named after her. Of those, many are named for couples, rather than individual women, and only one seems to be named after a woman of color, Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander.

Alexander’s name graces the K–12 Penn Alexander school, which isn’t on campus but is closely affiliated with the Graduate School of Education.

Rather than by donation, her name was chosen through public nominations, which were then voted on and discussed by parents, staff, and Penn students. The guidelines for nominations

suggested that names should be of a “significant person (deceased),” a place, a metaphor, or a combination of these. Guidelines also stated that the name should reflect criteria such as personal achievement, significance to Philadelphia, or diversity in the community.

On campus however, naming a building is rarely ever such a public affair, and even renaming isn’t always a contentious issue. Gladney notes that the general reaction to Wynn was huge—in part, she suspects, because his victims are alive to talk about his abuse. “Everyone was glad that they were doing the right thing,” she notes. In contrast, she finds that people are much more reluctant to address historical wrongs, including slavery. Although buildings named after slave owners may be changed in future, the contrast to Wynn’s case and the lack of urgency is worth noting.

Right now, whenever historical context emerges or a scandal breaks, there seems to be no procedure guiding university response. The Penn & Slavery Project working group may be the first to release recommendations. Until then, trustees and high–ranking university officials seem to be the primary deciders on whose name does and does not get the honor of being associated with the school. The guidelines for this—if they exist—aren’t something that others in the school community are privy to.

Two years before Cosby’s degree was revoked, Vice President for University Communications Steve MacCarthy stated that “while the allegations against Mr. Cosby are deeply troubling, it is not our practice to rescind honorary degrees.”

The practice referred to doesn’t seem to be publicly available. Of course, granting honorary degrees and granting naming rights are managed by separate offices, but revoking them happens under the Board of Trustees.

The decision to rename Wynn Commons in February came from “a small group composed of trustees, alumni, deans, and faculty.” The trustees also voted to rescind Cosby’s honorary degree, since the allegations against him were comparable to those against Wynn.

Both men had violated the unwritten code dictating whose name would be worthy of association with Penn. The decision had the tone of setting precedent and defining the University’s values—although whatever those values are, they don’t seem to be publicly available right now.

Meerabelle Jesuthasan is a senior in the College from Singapore studying History.

D E C E M B E R 5 , 2 01 8 3 4 T H S T R E E T M A G A Z I N E 1 5

F&TV

'Shoplifters' Explores The Meaning of Family, With A Twist Director Hirokazu Kore–eda stuns in the new film.

Claire Ochroch

Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

Before I tell you anything else, I want to say that you should go see this movie. It’s a different experience than one I’ve ever had before. I’m telling everyone I know to go see this movie, especially my grandparents, who may be the only ones who will actually listen to me.

I love this movie but I was very apprehensive at first. I normally don’t like films or tv shows with subtitles. I feel like I never get the full nuance with subtitles, and I miss a lot when I don’t get the intonation.

Also, the movie’s title sounds like it’s going to be

a sad movie and I hardly ever purposely watch sad movies. I normally would rather watch something stupid or uplifting. Despite my incoming biases, I went in with an open mind, and was so glad I did so. Otherwise, I would have missed out on a great film.

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The movie asks one of life's greatest questions: what is a family? To try and answer that, you are introduced to the family the drives the story: the grandmother Hatsue Shibata (Kirin Kiki), the mother Nobuyo Shibata (Sakura Ando), the father Osamu Shibata (Lily Frankly), the aunt Aki Shibata (Mayu Matsuoka), and the son Shota Shibata (Kairi Jō).

They are poor—all five live in a tiny, cramped house. The father works construction, the mother in a hotel laundry. But to actually get by they need to shoplift, something that the movie portrays as not a solemn, desperate activity, but as a fun one that brings the family together.

One night after shoplifting, Shota and Osamu come across a young girl sitting out on a porch in the cold and decide to take her home.

The act in some movies would come across as strong, but in this movie is so seamlessly worked–in, it almost feels natural.

They feed the girl, whose name is Juri (Miyu Sasaki), and decide to take her home the next morning. However, when they notice scars and she wets the bed, they sus-

pect she has been abused. So the family decide that she’s better off staying with them.

That decision sets off a string of events which cause the family’s facade to unravel. What seems at first to be a normal family trying to get by turns out to be something completely different.

The twist is one I did not see coming, and I think I have to go back and watch it a second and third time to fully understand it.

The movie was directed, written, and edited by Hirokazu Kore–eda, an absolute master filmmaker. Every frame, line, and visual is deliberate, and adds to the movie in some way, subtly hinting towards a character or plot line. It’s also a visually stunning film, with cinematography that underscores the mood. Kore–eda deliberately reveals a little bit more about the family in every scene of the movie and the viewer is drawn in even further.

The film breaks apart the assumption that your ‘family’ is the one that is related to you. It explores a phenomenon that many have found to be true: your real family is the one that you choose.

FILM & TV

SEX, SCANDAL, DARK HUMOR: AND

' L A C A SA D E L A S FLO R E S ' Add this Mexican telenovela to your Netflix queue.

EMMA MOORE

Sex, scandal and floral arrangements permeate La Casa de Las Flores, Manolo Carlos' latest Mexican telenovela series, now showing on Netflix.

Set in Mexico City, this 13–part series tracks the lives of the Moras—a secretive, affluent family who own a prestigious flower shop. In the opening scene, the camera pans through a beautiful, high–end flower shop and settles on a pair of dangling stilettos—Roberta has hung herself. As we soon find out, Roberta, the narrator, is the estranged mistress of the Mora family patriarch.

Roberta is about to get her revenge, spilling the Mora family secrets and kickstarting a slew of steamy, lurid revelations that threaten to ruin their picture–perfect reputation.

Veronica Castro plays Virginia de la Mora, the matriarch of the Mora family, a chic and wealthy business woman intent on keeping up appearances at any cost.

Think Kris Jenner with fabulous floral scarves and a secret drug–dealing side–hustle. Meanwhile, Paulina de la Mora, the straight–laced eldest sibling, fights for her place as the successor of the family dynasty while manag-

ing her father’s second business, a seedy cabaret also named La Casa de las Flores.

Played by Cecilia Suarez, Paulina’s quirky, control– freak personality and habit of enunciating every syllable somehow manages to both aggravate and endear audiences.

Elena de la Mora is the second–oldest daughter, an architecture student in New York who returns to Mexico City to find her family in chaos. Sweet and wide–eyed, Elena means well but manages to unwittingly trap herself in a salacious love triangle.

Sporting luscious curls and permanent half smirk, Julian is the charming, unemployed, youngest son of the Mora family played by Dario Yazbek Bernal. Julian lives a double–life as the boyfriend to demanding Lucia and the secret lover to silver–fox Diego, the family’s financial advisor.

A hopeless romantic whose sexual exploits range from blowjobs in the office to sex on a squash court, Julian wins over fans with his good looks and puppy–dog demeanor.

Aside from eye candy, Julian presents a progressive depiction of LGBT love and sexuality and the struggle of a bisexual man to come out to his conservative parents.

As a telenovela, some of the plot twists are borderline ridiculous, if not predictable.

Further, one of the characters, Dominique, Elena’s black boyfriend, seems to inexplicably disappear after Episode 4. His name gets tossed around sporadically as Elena falls for the somewhat creepy

Claudio, son of her father’s dead mistress. Nevertheless, what La Casa de Las Flores lacks in originality it makes up in sharp dialogue, dark humor, and endearing characters. The show is downright gorgeous to watch—striking monochromatic outfits, luscious floral scenery, and stud-

ded with fabulous drag queen performances at the cabaret.

Check out the first season of this binge–worthy series on Netflix. The second and third seasons are slated to be released in 2019 and 2020, so watch out for the next installment of Mora family drama.

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D E C E M B E R 5 , 2 01 8 3 4 T H S T R E E T M A G A Z I N E 17

ARTS

o Phot

wn La n-

Recessive by

Courtesy of Alex E ck m a

Alex Eckman–Lawn: Survival Told Through Paper Collages Each layer of paper acts as a dimension of time, illustrating an individual’s relationship with their origins and history.

Christina Lu From within a hollowed–out cavern in an ancient statue, a face peeks through. Shadowed and half–hidden, wearing an expression of guarded innocence, it gazes evenly to the outside world like a child in a hiding place waiting to be found. The layers of cut paper framing its countenance resemble cut–open flesh, as if the statue itself has been tunneled through to reveal a living soul trapped inside.

The piece, titled Antiquity, is one of many featured in Recessive, a solo exhibition of works

by artist Alex Eckman–Lawn, which is on view at the Paradigm Gallery in Queen Village through December 6th.

The Philadelphia–born artist’s debut show with the gallery is comprised of multi–layered, hand–cut paper collages, achieving both emotional and physical depth within the two–dimensional. Each work features an outer shell of some form, whether human or reimagined, with its surface eroded over many layers to reveal its hidden depths. The outer shells of many pieces are

antique sculptures or portraits, embodying living in the ruins of past generations and being caged in by events and decisions that came before.

At its core, Eckman–Lawn’s work hints at the influence of history and family background, and how an individual’s origin shapes and defines their life. In addition, the artist incorporates an anatomical theme that is key. “I’m a hypochondriac,” he says. “I’m convinced I’m dying all the time, so being in control of a collage feels really calming for me. For

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once, I get to decide what’s in a body.” As a result, he assembles interiors from an assortment of images ranging from temples to snakes to leaves to old medical photographs of “weird meat,” as he describes with a laugh.

Due to his experience as an illustrator, Eckman–Lawn drew inspiration from a broad swath of popular culture, from Moebius to movies to music. “I’ve been a huge dork my entire life,” he says. Having done extensive work with digital album cover and comic illustrations, he eventually felt the need to bring his art into a more tangible, material form. “Sometimes you feel like you’re just throwing art into the abyss when you’re doing work on the internet,” he reflects. Creating paper collages allowed him to work handson with paper, mimicking his process on the computer in real life.

Recessive was a culmination

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of t h i s work, allowing Eckman–Lawn to confront aspects of himself, his family, and country that were difficult to face. To some viewers, the exhibition may seem dark upon first glance.

However, from Eckman– Lawn’s perspective, Recessive is not so much about violence or torment as it is about survival and resilience. However, he prefers to leave the slate blank when it comes to interpreting his art. Instead, he is happiest when viewers have the freedom to walk away with their own distinct takeaways.

In one memorable instance, a woman relayed that one of his collages—a Classical sculpture with a tooth dangling in her hollowed–out mouth— helped her reflect on her own personal struggle with ovarian cancer. Eckman–Lawn equates the audience’s ownership of the art with his own. “The art is personal, but it’s not all about me,” he says. “Once it’s on the wall, I dons’t feel like it’s mine anymore.”

ARTS

12 Objects & 12 Images: PennDesign in Venice How the exhibition changes the way we perceive foregrounds and backgrounds.

Xinyi Wan Every day we come across various architectural designs and we automatically divide them into object forms that leap forward into the foreground and those that recede into the background, oftentimes regardless of their actual distance to us. This seemingly simple concept, however, belies profound questions of how we perceive our temporal–spatial environment and how we ascribe meaning and value to architecture itself. Members of PennDesign faculty, along with teaching assistants and students, together explored these questions through their projects that culminate in the exhibition “12 Objects & 12 Images.”

Curated by PennDesign professor Ferda Kolatan, “12 Objects & 12 Images” was showcased at the esteemed Venice Biennale of Architecture. The objects and images were respectively hung on the two walls of the same corridor.

On one side, there are twelve images of various sizes, pictures of architectural designs photoshopped into actual sceneries. Turn around and on the other side are pictures of the twelve objects, all in the same format and size floating against a white background.

In the design of a ventilation tower by Kolatan himself, the inner structure of the tower is brought forward and becomes a part of the overall expression

of the design. Background in this case means what is usually hidden in the wall or underground, what is not generally understood or valued. These things are by themselves a background, but when they’re rendered in an exhibition, they become the foreground.

That’s the entire idea. The foregrounds and backgrounds are essentially just two modes of representation. They’re not different in their values.

“The way we bring things that are typically in the background into the foreground and make them part of an exhibition at Venice is a play that points towards the meaninglessness of the way we give value to a design,” Kolatan explained. “We somehow have agreed overtime that a building is beautiful when the exterior looks in a certain way.

We’ve agreed to say that shafts and pipes are not beautiful and think that they belong into a building just because of their function.”

According to Kolatan, design students rarely render a mechanical infrastructure building like how it is presented in the projects exhibited. It’s also quite atypical for a design class to ask students to work with infrastructure building designs because of their aesthetics rather than their function. “What’s special is the format, the thinking, and the way you present the project,

not a particular design but the whole project itself,” Kolantan said. “I had a hard time explaining them because they shouldn’t be explained. People should just go there and try to figure these things out.”

The objects and images are in two different formats using different representational tools, but they both explore the relationship between an architectural object that presents itself visually in the foreground

Photo Courtesy of Ferda Kolatan

of an environment and images that fade and melt into the background. When considering the gap and the junction where these foregrounds and backgrounds intersect, design-

ers are actually exploring the concepts of content, meaning, value, and power in architecture.

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ARTS

Then/Now/What: The Fine Arts Senior Thesis 2019 Preview Exhibition You Should Not Miss A look into the artistic masterpieces of the class of 2019.

Josephine Cheng

Behind the hand–adorned gates of Charles Addams Fine Arts Hall lies a culmination of the 2019 fine arts seniors' sweat and blood, an encapsulation of their semester's worth of work, a visual telos of their four years at Penn. Bronze hands wave at you as you walk in, reminiscent of metal birds in flight, all of them beckoning your entrance.

The exhibition is a maze of white–washed walls, some showcasing oil paintings, others lined with photography pieces and hanging sculptures. Walk–in exhibits are complemented with audio recordings to heighten the visual experience, while hand drawn animations are projected onto blank plaster, pushing the traditional boundaries.

All throughout are crowds: friends, professors, and aspiring artists intrigued by the work of a senior. They pack the sides of hallways and cluster at corners,

greeting each other in excitement, their smiles painting the otherwise stark walls a warmer shade of white.

At an exhibit of paper letters tacked to a wall, a girl tells her friend, "Apparently she made the recycled paper," a nod to the work's central theme, environmental friendliness. Created by JaHyun Yang (C '19), "Write to a Tree" showcases a collection of recycled paper letters in varying shades of beige and cream.

The paper's rough, almost nibbled edges, frame paragraphs in delicate serif typewriter font, all them written by fellow Penn students and addressed to a tree of their choice. "To the Sapling Across the Street..." one letter begins, reminiscing how lonely it must be to always stand, "... evenly spaced, some thirty feet apart along all the sidewalks of the blocks nearby. "Another letter begins, "Dear Norway Maple

Photo by Sherry Tseng buddy (Acer plantanoides)..." It is a thank—you note, a recollection of the childhood years spent "hanging out in your branches, swinging from them, until I [JaHyun] grew too tall...I moved

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on from climbing your branches to climbing bigger trees and to climbing mountains."

Esther Jeon (C '19) exhibits "displaced memory" in a collection of light boxes, their acrylic surfaces throwing out dappled violet and blue light. In her words, Esther notes, "the frosted light boxes are a visualization of emotions imbedded in memories—the cloudy perception of a memory with its strong evocation of past feelings." Each shade of light is like a ribbon, twisted together then pulled apart. Crafted from layered prints in boxes, the mix of texture, lighting, and space questions why memories seep through our fingers water to leave an emotional residue.

Michael Ferrin's (C '19) is a jumbled collection of notched wooden bars. The smooth dapples of beige against a light creamy grain are punctured with rectangular holes at irregular intervals, making space so another wooden bar might fit through and clasp hands with it. Each

bar is interlocked at different angles. They remind me of Jenga blocks, but instead of being built together to fall apart, this is a sculpture pulled apart to be put together. Penciled in gangly font on a white wall above the sculpture, a note reads "Don't be shy.

This is an interactive sculpture.

Make anything you like. Take previous constructions apart. Invite the person next to you. Work together. Have fun." Unadorned with loud color or moving audio, synergy is the most moving adornment.

Having circled through the whole exhibit, I make my way to the entrance. Throwing a final scan across my shoulder, I skim over the crowds, the vibrant strokes of paint, the pixels of color from photographic works, and the outlines of sculptures.

Savoring the warmth for one final moment, I take a deep breath before splaying my hands against the chilled glass of the door. I push out into the bitter November night.

ARTS

ENGL1 4 5: The Class That Gets You Published In Penn's own experimental fiction literary journal, Penn students find a place for expression.

In Professor Jay Kirk’s English class, there's talk of Bitcoin, the history of fashion, and the latest Wing Bowl, which is an annual buffalo wing eating contest. Not exactly the usual topics of discussion in class. This is ENGL145, Advanced Nonfiction Writing: XFic, where students take the raw material of experience and transform it into a compelling narrative that will be bound in XFic, Penn’s premier literary journal in experimental nonfiction.

Experimental nonfiction, also known as creative nonfiction, is a genre that presents real people and events in a compelling, vivid manner. It’s like jazz—a rich mix of flavors, ideas, and techniques, some of which are newly invented and others as old as writing itself. An essay, a journal, a personal diary, a poem, or a combination of everything.

“I thought it was one thing, something like a history book, but this course showed me that nonfiction can be a hundred percent of what you want it to be. It showed me ways of taking what we have in the world and make it really creative, engaging, and beautiful,” Nicole de Almeida (C ’19) said. “If you invent a world, you have free reign to do whatever you want, but if you talk about something real, there’s only so much you can do. But if you manage to reconstruct it in a very compelling way, you extend people’s horizons by attracting them to learn new things about the planet they live in.”

Every narrative starts with writers directly engaging with the reality of their experiences.

For example, Marina Gialanella (C '20) is particularly interested in fashion and the history of fashion design. She marries this interest with the contents of the class, designing clothes and documenting her thought process— all while receiving credit.

Each week, the class is format-

Xinyi Wan

Ha Tran | Photographer

ted as a workshop, with students pairing off in editor/writer relationships. Stories are subject to “a battery of rigorous and boundary–defying tests,” Kirk described. “The hope is that by enacting a few thought experiments, and being as conscious as possible about the process of arranging and composing our collected material—how do we perceive, how do we interpret, how do we arrive at meaning—and by engaging the literary superpower of daring to take the Radical Choice at every possible turn, we will make more authentic and mind–blowing discoveries.”

The sheer diversity of students the class attracts also lends value to the writing process. The pairing off of students allows each writer to reevaluate their understanding and see their original topics through new lenses.

From a student working at the Penn hospital to another from the Curtis Institute of Music to the Wharton professor sitting in at times, there’s a plethora of knowledge to draw from to shape the student’s own experience.

By the end of the semester, students need to submit a full draft, but Kirk encourages them

to still see it as a work in progress. “Something Jay always told us is that it’s always a draft. So

never did he expect a complete piece, nor did he want us to regard our pieces as finished works.

And that gave me a lot of room to breathe, because I didn’t have to worry about it being done,” Nicole said.

The concept of perceiving a piece of writing as a work in progress extends its life beyond the class; it’s no longer something “for the class” but something more personal. In the environment of always having the pressure to finish things on time, we are so focused on finishing a task and proceeding to the next, but having the liberty to view an assignment as something that doesn’t need to be finished is creative and cool in itself. And this is what Kirk’s class brings to the students.

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