January 21, 2020 by The Daily Pennsylvanian

TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2020 VOL. CXXXVI NO. 2

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Penn’s oldest black fraternity celebrates centennial Approx. 250 fraternity brothers attended events AMJAD HAMZA Staff Reporter

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housands took to Benjamin Franklin Parkway on Saturday as part of the fourth annual Women’s March on Philadelphia. The diverse crowd held signs that addressed issues like gender equality, the presidential election, and climate change.

The march started at Logan Circle and ended at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Among the event’s speakers were Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, local female Democrats Madeleine Dean, Chrissy Houlahan, and Mary Gay Scanlon, and other local activists. SEE THE PHOTO ESSAY ON PAGE 6.

6B elects new minority coalition chairs The new chairs discuss goals for upcoming year HANNAH GROSS Staff Reporter

Penn’s minority coalition student groups, known as the 6B, have elected new leadership for 2020. The 6B consists of the Asian Pacific Student Coalition, Lambda Alliance, Latinx Coalition, Penn Association for Gender Equity, the United Minorities Council, and UMOJA. The Daily Pennsylvanian interviewed the new chairs about their goals and plans for the coming year. APSC College junior Sarah Kim will take over as chair of external affairs for the Asian Pacific Student Coalition. Kim said her goals are to focus on community building while still maintaining a strong stance on political issues such as feminism and human rights. “Since we represent the Asian

Alpha Phi Alpha’s Psi chapter, Penn’s oldest black fraternity, held a candlelight vigil on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to cap off its centennial celebrations. The chapter celebrated its 100th anniversary with events over the weekend to commemorate its founding on Jan. 21, 1920. The celebrations included a gala on Saturday night at the Franklin Institute which featured keynote speaker Marc Morial, 1980 College graduate and CEO of the National Urban League. Approximately 250 fraternity brothers attended the centennial events, the chapter president and Wharton senior Isaiah Washington said. The vigil, an annual event organized by Alpha Phi Alpha and its sister sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha’s Gamma Epsilon Philadelphia City Chapter, began in Irvine Auditorium with speeches by current and former chapter members and a performance by The Inspiration, a Penn a cappella group which performs music written by artists of African descent. Speaking to the crowded recital hall, University Chaplain

Reverend Charles Howard, who is a 2000 College graduate and former member of the Psi chapter, said that while King attended Crozer Theological Seminary in Upland, Pa., he also took classes at Penn in Fisher Bennett Hall with William Fontaine, the first fully affiliated black professor at Penn. Howard added that King was also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha’s Sigma chapter at Boston University. After a silent march from Irvine to the compass located at 37th Street and Locust Walk, attendees lit candles and sang, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” often referred to as the black national anthem, Washington said. While the Psi chapter was incorporated at Penn, Washington said that the chapter also includes students from institutions including Drexel University, Haverford College, and Swarthmore College. Chapter Vice President and College senior Aaron Davis praised the chapter’s reach to connect with students from other institutions across Philadelphia. “Having a group of black men come together to support each other financially, academically, [and] socially is really powerful and to see that the SEE CENTENNIAL PAGE 2

Penn may lose $1.2M for underpaying security guards Penn does not comply with $15 wage mandate

Pacific Islander community, we feel that in order to take a stance on political issues, we have to have a community first,” Kim said. Kim said she hopes to host events with other members of the 6B to talk about feminism and practice intersectionality, or how an individual’s overlapping identities affect their lived experiences. Lambda Alliance College junior Bryce Nguyen is the newly elected chair for Lambda Alliance. He said he will work to create a stronger sense of community among LGBTQ students this year. “A lot of the problem that Penn undergraduate queer students face is a lack of a cohesive community,” Nguyen said. “I want to focus on building a social community to go to and see and experience.” Nguyen said in the past, the queer community has been

HAWTHORNE RIPLEY Senior Reporter

Penn could lose over $1.2 million in Philadelphia subsidies if they do not comply with the citymandated $15 per hour minimum wage, according to the Service Employees International Union 32BJ Vice President Gabe Morgan and the Mayor’s office. In February 2019, the Philadelphia City Council ruled that security guards employed by Penn and other Philadelphia universities must receive a minimum wage of $15 per hour by July 1, 2019. With this deadline six months past, Penn’s security guards continue to receive the same starting salary of $11.85. The employees and their union await the city’s response to this violation, which Morgan believes is likely to include revoking subsidies for Penn and other private universities. Deputy Communications Director for the Office of the Mayor Lauren Cox confirmed

SEE 6B PAGE 2

EDITORIAL | Don’t be embarrassed by Trump “Instead of passively lamenting Trump’s Penn affiliation, students should use impeachment as an opportunity to fight for policies they believe in.” - DP Editorial Board PAGE 4

SPORTS | Third loss for men’s basketball Poor defense from Penn’s men’s basketball led to the Quakers dropping their third straight contest, an 87-81 defeat to Big 5 rival St. Joe’s on Saturday. BACKPAGE

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in an email to The Daily Pennsylvanian that the $11.85 wages Penn officers receive violates the prevailing wage ordinance under Section §17-107 of the Philadelphia Code. Cox wrote that no legal action has been taken but suspending Penn’s nonprofit water discount is on the table if Penn continues to violate the prevailing wage law. “By not ensuring its contractor is paying building security

guards a prevailing wage, Penn is not in compliance with Philadelphia’s prevailing wage law,” Cox wrote. The law established that all four-year higher education institutions that receive public subsidies would be required to pay the $15 prevailing wage to security guards. Prevailing wage varies by occupation and differs from Philadelphia’s minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.

NEWS Penn alumnus wins ‘Jeopardy!’ two nights in a row

NEWS Grad. student is ﬁrst Quechua Fulbright

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In 2018, Penn received a discount of more than $1.2 million from the city on their water bill, Cox wrote. This estimate does not include discounts to the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which also may be revoked, Cox added. “The law is pretty specific in saying you’re required to pay the prevailing wage in return for reSEE FUNDING PAGE 3

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legacy of support has continued to this day is very powerful to me,” Davis said. For many chapter members, the centennial was a moment to reflect on how far Penn has come as a learning environment for people of color since 1920. “Back in 1920, the University of Pennsylvania was not an easy place to be for people of color,” Davis said. “There was a lot of hard work and a lot of strength that went into being a student, not being able to eat at the dining halls, being forced to the back of

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fragmented and hopes to increase event programming so students can engage more within the queer community. Nguyen added he will work to revitalize QPenn, a cultural week featuring LGBTQ-related events that will take place in late March. He said events will include a drag show, book speaker event, and Shabbat dinner. Nguyen also echoed Kim’s desire to focus on intersectionality this year by hosting more collaborative events with the other members of the 6B. Latinx Coalition College junior Frances Paulino, who will serve as chair of the Latinx Coalition, said she hopes to increase the LC’s presence on campus and make sure that their voices are not misrepresented. “A big thing about Latinx communities is a lot of people think just immigration issues are our main is-

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the class.” Chapter advisor and 1983 College graduate Jeff Hill added that compared to his experience as a student in the 1980s, the chapter is more integrated and accepted into the historically predominantly white Penn community. “I see that a lot of the stereotypes that may have existed back in the ‘80s are now broken and people are more tolerant of other students these days,” Hill said. Hill said that he hopes the Psi chapter continues to build its membership and address the needs of its surrounding communities so that it will be at Penn for another 100 years.

HANNAH LAZAR Attendees silently marched from Irvine Auditorium to the compass located at 37th Street and Locust Walk and gathered to light candles.

sues, and while it’s very central to who we are, it’s not the only thing that we’re focused on,” Paulino said. Paulino added another goal of the LC is to get a permanent space on campus for La Casa Latina, with each cultural house, including Pan Asian American Community House and Makuu, having their own building on campus. “My goals for that are making sure we’re on a road to achieve that final want and also making sure we still have some kind of collaborative space between the three houses, because that’s something we really value,” Paulino said. PAGE College junior Angela Yang has been elected the new chair of the Penn Association for Gender Equity. Yang said her two goals for the coming year include getting a new space for cultural centers on campus and expanding PAGE’s “community outreach position,” an initiative launched last spring that connects PAGE with the Philadelphia com-

munity. Yang said that although Penn offered PAACH, La Casa Latina, and Makuu to move out of the basement of ARCH, 6B’s long-term goal is to have the cultural centers on Locust Walk. To expand PAGE’s reach beyond Penn, Yang said she is considering creating a mentorship program with a Philadelphia middle school or high school. Yang added that PAGE also hopes to increase sexual assault awareness on campus by implementing mandatory sexual assault programming for first-year students and diversity and sexual harassment training for staff. UMC College junior Brooke Price will serve as chair of external affairs for the United Minorities Council. Price said her goals also include increasing space for minorities on campus and increasing faculty diversity. “We understand [increasing faculty diversity] is kind of a difficult thing to be like ‘hire new employ-

ees,’ especially when spots aren’t open, so we’re also looking at training existing faculty on diversity and inclusion,” Price said. Similar to the other incoming chairs, Price said she hopes that within the next ten years, the 6B will have free-standing buildings on Locust Walk, either with different houses or floors for each affinity group. Price added she plans to host more social events and build a supportive atmosphere for minority students. Price said UMC’s annual Celebration of Cultures event will take place throughout April to celebrate minority cultures at Penn. In the past, Price said the event has featured open mic nights where people

could share aspects of their identity and culture, guest speaker events, and tables on Locust Walk. UMOJA College juniors Martha Gakunju and Derek Nuamah will serve as co-chairs of UMOJA, the representative voice of black students and black student organizations. With the 2020 presidential election approaching, Nuamah said UMOJA will prioritize the safety of black students on campus and maintain open lines of communication with administration. Nuamah cited an incident in the 2016 election season in which a group of black students at Penn was targeted with threatening, racist messages. Black students at Penn were sent

racist group messages including “daily lynching” and “dumb slave” in November 2016. The University announced in an email to undergraduates that a student at the University of Oklahoma was suspended in connection with the messages. “One of our biggest goals is making sure all black students on this campus feel safe and supported,” Nuamah said. Nuamah also described Makuu’s current location in ARCH as “completely inadequate” to serve the community and said UMOJA is currently talking with the administration about renovations in ARCH and potentially moving the cultural centers to different floors of the building.

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‘Who is Dennis Coffey?’ Penn alumnus wins ‘Jeopardy!’ 1987 College graduate has won $39,202 so far JONAH CHARLTON Staff Reporter

1987 College graduate Dennis Coffey won his second consecutive episode of ‘Jeopardy!’ on Monday night, winning a total of $39,202. He will continue his run again tomorrow night. After graduating from Penn with an Asian & Middle Eastern Studies degree, Coffey said he bounced around between academia, commodities, and bar management. He returned to school and graduated from the University of Southern Maine with a degree in Classics. Coffey currently works as a bartender at Duffy’s Tavern and Grill in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. “I’m a night person now, but when I was at Penn, I would wake up at 4:30 in the morning and hit the books,” Coffey said. “But now I stay up late and am

just a night owl.” Coffey said that he was “academic and bookish” during his time at Penn but that he didn’t fit in with Penn’s pre-professional culture. Coffey said he applied to be on the show three times before being invited on this year. He said that being a contestant was never about making money, but instead for the experience and having fun. The two-time ‘Jeopardy!’ champion, however, described the competition as “pretty mentally challenging at times.” In Coffey’s first game, which aired Jan. 17, he trailed for much of the competition but captured the victory after being the only player to correctly answer the Final Jeopardy! question and successfully knocked off four-day champion Veronica VichitVadakan. His Monday night victory came in a similar fashion. After trailing for the entire game, he once again came out on top af-

ter the final round. “Of the four jobs in George Washington’s cabinet, what two have been filled by women in the 230 years since its creation?” the Final Jeopardy! question read which Coffey answered correctly with “what are the Secretary of State and Attorney General?” Coffey said he only buzzed in first on 26.8% of questions on Friday and Monday, much lower than most ‘Jeopardy!’ winners. He attributes the low percentage to being one of the older competitors on the show but said his strategy of “scrapping it to win,” or edging out the competition, is what has led to his success. To future Penn students looking to compete on the show, Coffey has words of advice: “Stay poised. It’s really challenging at times.” Coffey, now a two-day champion, will compete again on Tuesday night. The episode will air at 7 p.m. EST on ABC.

Coffey graduated from Penn with an Asian & Middle Eastern Studies degree and currently works as a bartender at Duffy’s Tavern and Grill in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. He will compete again on Tuesday.

Penn Vet partners with Penn Dental and Nursing for annual MLK free clinic The clinic offered services to both pets and owners KATIE BUSCH Staff Reporter

Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine worked with the School of Nursing and the School of Dental Medicine at Penn Vet’s annual One Health Dog & Cat vaccination clinic to offer free and low-cost healthcare services to both people and their pets in the West Philadelphia community. Penn Vet offered free pet vaccinations and low-cost microchips to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, an event that has taken place since 2009. But this year for the first time, pet owners were also able to address their own personal dental and health concerns with assistance from registered nurses and students from the Nursing School and the Dental School. The collaborative event, which took place at Penn’s Ryan Veterinary Hospital, was organized by the Shelter Medicine Club, a student organization at Penn Vet which works to improve animal welfare in the Philadelphia community through various programs and events. The Shelter Medicine Club Events Chair and second-year Penn Vet student Kelsey Shampoe said that the clinic is just as beneficial to vet students as it is to patients. Shampoe said that cases she sees during her clinical rounds at Penn Vet are specialized and not necessarily reflective of routine veterinary issues that are common in this free clinic. “We see a very different level of medicine at [Penn Vet], so you kind of lose touch with that day-to-day, on the ground medicine,” Shampoe said. “And that’s what a lot of medicine is and that’s what we’re going to be doing when

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ceiving subsidies from the city or doing business with the city,” Morgan said. “What the city can do under that law if you’re not compliant is end the subsidies, take back subsidies they’ve already been given, or terminate contracts they have.” Cox added the Mayor’s Office of Labor has been in conversation with Penn and several other institutions in an effort to bring them into compliance. “Notification letters were sent to several institutions this summer regarding the potential suspension of their nonprofit water discount if they did not come into compliance with the prevailing wage law,” Cox wrote. “Since then, the Mayor’s Office of Labor has been in conversation with those institutions, including the University of Pennsylvania, in an effort to bring them into compliance. Talks are still ongoing.” University spokesperson Ste-

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Penn Vet has offered free pet vaccinations and low-cost microchips since 2009 to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This year, Penn Dental and Nursing also offered health services to pet owners.

we graduate.” Nursing graduate student Aaron Huntley, who worked at the event, added the condition of a pet can also be an indicator for the pet owners’ health. “If you meet an animal that is underfed or not well cared for, maybe it represents that family is also not being cared for or doesn’t have enough food,” Huntley said. “It’s not just the animals in isolation.” Carmen Sanchez, a West Philadelphia resident who attended this year’s clinic said that the event has helped her care for her two dogs for the past few years. “[The clinic] is very important, because the dogs are vaccinated—you don’t have to worry about the dogs running around without vaccinations,” Sanchez said. “It’s an excellent service.” Penn Vet Professor of Surgery David Holt said pet vaccinations are key in preventing pandemics among animal populations. Holt added that he has witnessed horrific consequences of contagious diseases such as parvovirus and

phen MacCarthy, Penn Security Office, Allied Universal, and Penn Office of Human Resources did not respond to requests for comment. Morgan said the union was stunned at Penn’s disregard for the law and its employees but said the city will likely enforce the law. “It’s the city’s responsibility to enforce [the prevailing wage], and it seems like that’s what they’re doing,” Morgan said. Morgan added Mayor Jim Kenney has been more active in enforcing the city’s newer pro-labor laws than any Philadelphia mayor in recent history. Kenney’s administration created the Deputy Mayor of Labor position, held by Rich Lazer, as a pioneer attempt to enforce city laws to protect workers, Morgan said. Representative for SEIU 32BJ Traci Benjamin confirmed in an email that the contract minimum remains at $11.85 for Penn Allied Universal security guards. Although

rabies throughout his career. “These are all preventable diseases that vaccines cover,” Holt said, adding that pet owners are legally responsible to vaccinate their pets in Pennsylvania. “Pet ownership is a responsibility, not just a right,” Holt said. “And one of the things that we’d like to do here is to encourage responsible pet ownership, including vaccination.” Sarah Rivera, a second-year Penn Vet student and member of Shelter Medicine Club, said she hopes the clinic will be able to offer even more services in future years such as flu vaccinations and vision screening. Rivera added the medical schools at Penn often feel isolated and hopes the Vet School can collaborate more with the Nursing School, the Dental School, and Penn Medicine. “Having all of these health professionals together increases the knowledge of all the professionals,” she said. “It’s good to have these conversations.”

salaries may increase marginally for long-time employees every few months of their continued employment, Benjamin wrote that the baseline pay of $11.85 applies to new employees. “We’d rather see workers get what they’re supposed to get than see subsidies removed,” Morgan said. “For us, it’s pretty unbelievable that these security officers who live in the communities around Penn have to ask for what the city law already says they get.” Morgan said that before Philadelphia’s prevailing wage law existed, thousands of security guards fought to raise wages from the state minimum wage to $15 and viewed the prevailing wage ordinance as a decisive victory. “We’re following the legal processes, but it’s unbelievable to us that this institution would look at these workers they see every day and not care whether they make a decent living or not,” Morgan said.

OPINION EDITORIAL

TUESDAY JANUARY 21, 2020 VOL. CXXXVI, NO. 2 136th Year of Publication ISABELLA SIMONETTI President BENJAMIN ZHAO Executive Editor MAX COHEN DP Editor-in-Chief SUKHMANI KAUR Photo Editor AVA CRUZ Design Editor JULIE COLEMAN News Editor ASHLEY AHN News Editor CONOR MURRAY Assignments Editor GRANT BIANCO Opinion Editor WILL DIGRANDE Sports Editor MICHAEL LANDAU Sports Editor ZOEY WEISMAN Copy Editor NAJMA DAYIB Audience Engagement Editor SAGE LEVINE Video Editor

any Penn students may be embarrassed that Donald Trump, the only Penn graduate ever elected to the presidency, was impeached last month. Instead of passively lamenting Trump’s Penn affiliation, students should use impeachment as an opportunity to fight for policies they believe in. Trump, a 1968 Wharton graduate, became the third President in United States history to be impeached following a House of Representatives vote on Dec. 18. The President was charged with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress after a lengthy inquiry into whether he pressured Ukraine to investigate his political rival and former Vice President Joe Biden. While Trump is expected to be acquitted by the Senate, many believe that the impeachment casts a shadow over his presidency and reflects negatively on Penn. Members of the Penn community may feel the urge to try to deny Trump’s connection to the University following the impeachment inquiry. Simply denouncing or dis-

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sociating Trump with Penn is not a productive conversation. He is a product of this school, and rather than denying it, students’ should own it and try to counteract the negative shadow cast on Penn by trying to remedy the issues enacted through Trump’s political agenda. By focusing on Trump’s Penn connection, students allow the President’s actions to play an even greater role in defining the University. This could cause the pub-

lic to eventually associate Penn exclusively with Trump, which would lead many to see the University in a negative light. Rather than passively lamenting this state of affairs, students should see the impeachment as an opportunity to improve the campus that educated Trump and engage in positive activities to counteract Trump’s influence on Penn’s image. These might include civic engagement, political advocacy, or other proj-

to make a substantial difference in politics because they have no physical action backing them up. However, local engagement or political action could have profound effects in the community that ripple even to national politics. Rather than looking at Trump alone, students should focus on which issues matter most to them, then work to create the political landscape they want to see. Engaging with local representatives, attending marches and protests, or helping register voters are just some ways they could help build this change. LINDA TING While Trump certainly is a prominent figure, he is just one ects that let students create positive of Penn’s many alumni. Focusing change by fighting for issues they excessively on Trump’s impeachbelieve in. If students are suffi- ment diminishes the positive conciently disturbed by Trump’s Penn tributions that other alumni have origins, they should show people made. In fields ranging from medithat politics and education at Penn cine to politics to entertainment, are not limited to Trump. Penn graduates are leaders in their Not only is local engagement fields. Rather than denouncing a way of counteracting Trump’s Trump, Penn students should try influence, but it is more effective and fix the institution that eduthan just criticizing the President. cated him, and use other alumni as Student or even administrative their models for creating positive criticisms of Trump are unlikely change.

Soleimani killing as senseless as voting for Republicans in 2020

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Penn, don’t be embarrassed by Trump’s impeachment. Instead, engage politically

GUEST COLUMN BY FRANCOIS BARRILLEAUX

f Iran assassinated the head of the United States Department of Defense tomorrow, how would we respond? Probably not well. Yet on Jan. 3, President Donald Trump ordered an equivalent action, killing Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a drone strike. This was the most extreme military option to push back against Iranian aggression that U.S. generals presented to Trump, and they were taken aback by his decision. Trump’s decision to kill Soleimani was senseless on many levels. First, it was likely an illegal use of force. For use of force in the case of self-defense to be legal under international law, it must be in order to prevent a real and imminent threat. But initially, the Department of Defense simply said the targeted killing was “aimed at deterring fu-

ture Iranian attack plans.” There was nothing said about an imminent attack. Only after coming under scrutiny did the administration insist, and later back down from, claiming there was an imminent threat. Weeks after the strikes, the administration has still yet to provide a shred of evidence. Some officials even admitted there was no imminent threat, and Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) recently called out the Trump administration’s complete lack of explanation as “insulting and demeaning.” Let’s say there was a real threat. Then this surprising and destabilizing decision would make sense, right? Not really. Even if we believe Soleimani was involved in a large plot to kill Americans, killing him likely couldn’t prevent an attack that was to occur in

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“days.” After all, Soleimani himself wasn’t going to attack the U.S. embassy in Iraq, guns blazing. Republicans have also tried to justify the strikes by claiming they were punishment for the American troops killed in attacks planned by Soleimani during the Iraq War. Yes, Soleimani was a terrible individual who deserved what he got, but killing Soleimani has only put American troops at greater risk by moving the United States and Iran closer to war, dramatically destabilizing the region and doing enormous damage to United States-Iranian relations. Even weeks after Soleimani’s death, United States-Iran relations remain fraught with tension and the United States has destroyed its important relationship with Iraq. Destabilization and tensions might sound like an abstract concept to some, but that wasn’t the case for the 176 people on a Ukrainian passenger plane accidentally shot down by Iranian surface to air missiles. It seems the Iranians were on high alert for an American counterattack after retaliating for Soleimani’s death with missile strikes on U.S. bases, and they mistook the jet for a cruise missile. Trump’s actions directly set in motion a chain of events that created the fog of war, or misperceptions

that occur during wartime, and, as a result, he shares responsibility for those who died. Accidents happen when tensions are high. We can’t forget that the United States killed hundreds of innocent people when it accidentally downed an Iranian passenger plane in the late ‘80s. The truth is that killing Soleimani didn’t make sense if the goal was to promote American interests and protect United States citizens. Trump loves to show that he can do whatever he wants — whether it’s his claim that he could walk down New York City’s Fifth Avenue and shoot someone or his flagrant use of his office to persuade foreign countries to interfere in our elections. His decision to strike Soleimani was no different. He was simply following his usual motives: self-aggrandizement and self-interest. And the only reason he gets away with this senselessness is because the Republican Party has completely abandoned any semblance of principles or integrity. From refusing to vote for a resolution condemning Trump’s racist demand for four congresswomen of color to “go back” to the “places from which they came” to defending the president’s leveraging of military aid and other political favors to help himself get re-elected, Republicans have almost completely

capitulated to Trump’s ego. Republicans and Congress are giving the President a green light to engage in whatever acts of “preemptive” war he wants. Last time, that brought us to the Iraq War, and this time it could be worse. That means our generation’s lives and paychecks are on the line. Thankfully it’s 2020 and not 2003, and 2020 is an election year. We can help prevent WWIII and the degradation of the rule of law by getting rid of not only Trump, but also the Republican representatives that refuse to restrict his power. If the Senate won’t vote to remove Trump from office, then here in Pennsylvania, a critical swing state, we can remove Trump. Everyone needs to vote in 2020. And we need to get involved with canvassing door-to-door, phone banking, and voter registration drives. The new year began with Trump destabilizing the entire Middle East. Let’s make it end with a new president. FRANCOIS BARRILLEAUX is a College sophomore studying Political Science and Economics. His email address is legislative@penndems. org. He is the Legislative Director for Penn Democrats.

Law school applications are too expensive

A LETTERS Have your own opinion? Send your letter to the editor or guest column to letters@thedp.com. Editorials represent the majority view of members of The Daily Pennsylvanian, Inc. Editorial Board, which meets regularly to discuss issues relevant to Penn’s campus. Participants in these meetings are not involved in the reporting of articles on related topics.

friend asked me at the end of last semester to proofread an essay that he is submitting in his law school application. The stress in his voice was obvious, and at first, I assumed he was staying up too late trying to force-feed his brain information for finals. Instead, the cause of his stress was something else entirely. “These law school applications are killing me,” he said. “They don’t even use a centralized application system.” Now this surprised me. My friend has been preparing his law school applications for months, carefully selecting the six schools he would be spending the time and money on, and just a few weeks ago, he finished combing through their disparate application systems. He showed me the grand total: $1,055 dollars. That is an unrealistic application cost for low-income students and adds an extra barrier to their pursuit of higher education. An application cost of over $1,000 dollars is not a likely deterrent for students who can afford counselors and LSAT prep books. However, for

THE OXFORD C’MON | There shouldn’t be extra barriers to higher education

students who can’t afford luxuries such as these, an application cost of over $1,000 is a likely deterrent. Law school applications become available between the end of August and the beginning of October, and often enroll students on a rolling basis. In a world that already caters to wealth, putting one more boundary in the way of less privileged students is not the way to ensure equal access to higher education, especially when applications are predicated on a rolling admission cycle. When a student must work or save up money in order to send applications into schools, this can increase the amount of time the student must wait before submitting an application. Students who already have access to the necessary funding for their applications have only the content of the application in their way. To make $1,055 dollars, my friend would have to work 105.5 hours at his work-study job, and, considering the fact that Penn only allows work-study students to work 20 hours a week while classes are in session, he would need to work

for 6 weeks at the maximum hours allowed in order to pay a bill of this expense. This is assuming my friend has the money to pay his rent, buy food, and cover transportation costs without spending any of his paycheck. It sounds ridiculous when I put it like this, right? But that’s the reality of seeking higher education. I haven’t even gotten started on the actual cost of law school. Another example of application costs being an unnecessary barrier hits closer to home, for my twin sister also wishes to apply to law school next year. When I told her that it cost my friend over 650 dollars simply to send his LSAT score to the schools to which he applied, she immediately said, “Well, guess I have to start saving now.” My twin sister, an avid participant of UCLA’s Model United Nations, A student, and work-study at UCLA Hillel, makes 15 dollars an hour. In accordance to how much my friend’s applications cost, she will need to work 43 hours, or over two weeks pay, in order to have the money necessary to send her LSAT scores to

law schools. My sister also needs to eat, pay rent, afford gas for transportation purposes, and will likely have to work double this amount in order to pay this price. Both my sister and my friend are amazing students who work hard both in and out of classes in order to ensure that they are viable candidates for the prestigious law schools of their dreams. They are the kinds of people that law schools would be lucky to have. However, the financial barrier that exists simply within the school’s applications are grossly skewed to deter low-income candidates, giving wealthy applicants an even starker advantage. Additionally, if law school is going to be so expensive to apply to, there should at least be a centralized application system, similar to the Common Application, instead of all schools being able to maintain their own individualized systems, which, to applicants, is confusing at best and infuriating at worst. Low-income students are no less qualified than wealthy students. However, they are less likely to have

SOPHIA DUROSE access to the education they deserve. Applications to higher education highlight this unfortunate truth. My sister wants to become a lawyer to help people and make money. But it seems as if to make money, she has to have money. Working to detangle this paradox could make for a brighter future full of people who have access to the kinds of careers that will help ensure these contradictions don’t continue to persist. SOPHIA DUROSE is a College junior from Orlando, Fla. studying English. Her email address is sdurose@sas. upenn.edu.

The dialogue on mental health needs concrete solutions

BRIDGET BELIEVES | Let’s face it: Penn’s mental health system is flawed

y first year at Penn, I noticed many flaws in the mental health system here at Penn — all flaws that initially hindered me from getting proper and necessary treatment. Many other Penn students have had similar experiences, alleging various flaws in our mental healthcare system. We often address the stigma around mental health and share mental health resources in an effort to combat this. While this is helpful, it is by no means the complete solution. We should also discuss and explore concrete, specific ways we can improve Penn’s overall mental health system. Simply stating the flaws is not enough; we must target and pinpoint concrete solutions if we seek any form of progress. First, we ought to recognize that specific mental health conditions merit specific solutions. According to their own staff directory, none of Penn’s Counseling and Psychological Services psychologists or social workers specialize in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Yet this condition is one of the most common mental health illnesses, especially affecting students our age. It is imperative that at least one CAPS clinician, if not more, is qualified and trained to deal with the condition to a considerable extent. CAPS should therefore seek out clinicians who specialize in this particular condition or hire clinicians who are experienced in a greater range of disorders and specialties. I have personal experience with this problem. A year ago, a social worker at CAPS told me that my Obsessive-Compulsive-Disorder thoughts and obsessions were “just weird,” and she proceeded to give me a strange, judgmental look.

Even for non-professionals, it is common sense that that’s not something someone with OCD wants to hear. Nobody wants to be reminded of the abnormality of their condition. Moreover, I have often heard from peers that the advice offered by CAPS clinicians are “too general” and not geared toward a specific problem or specific treatment plan. Specializing in OCD, or any other condition for that matter, does not necessarily require extensive knowledge of exposure and response prevention or cognitive-behavioral therapy. However, at the very least, some of the staff should actually have experience with OCD patients (most clinicians I spoke with lacked any sort of experience), along with a comprehensive understanding of targeted treatment plans and mindfulness techniques. Additionally, many students, like myself, have affirmed that CAPS seems to lack a sufficient degree of continuity of care. While CAPS is not meant to be a long-term provider, they often neglect to follow-up or check on students who have been referred to outside providers. Personally, the last I heard from CAPS after my referral process was an impersonal email from the CAPS referral coordinator, stating that she would “appreciate my feedback” if I responded to her provided list of just three quick questions. It is absolutely necessary that CAPS schedules follow-up, in-person appointments with students once they have been referred. Just because a student is on a waiting list or already receiving formal treatment by no means signifies that he or she is in good hands yet. People are especially vulnerable during this time period; treat-

LINDA TING

ment does not necessarily work for everyone and is undoubtedly a stressful, overwhelming time. Sure, CAPS clinicians have many students to see – but an impersonal follow-up email is simply not enough. Having concrete solutions to our mental health crises can be supplemented by encouraging people to seek treatment in the first place. In my previous piece, I addressed and analyzed the stigma around taking a leave of absence. On that note, we can begin to resolve this issue with a more organized leave of absence

process and a smoother transition back to full-time studies. For instance, transfer students at Penn have peer mentors (usually these are students who also transferred to Penn), a Facebook group, and a “transfer student organization” (which hosts formals and other social events). Such groups and opportunities have certainly improved the stigma around transferring to a new and unfamiliar university, but returning students also struggle with adjusting to a fastpaced environment like Penn and certainly deserve the same

opportunities as well. Mental health is a journey, and it is rarely, if ever, a linear one. And just like mental health itself, progress in improving mental health is a rocky journey that invariably includes bumps along the road. In light of recent tragedy, it is of the utmost importance that we adamantly prioritize our mental health system by pinpointing its specific flaws and forming concrete solutions, rather than merely stating the obvious – that Penn’s mental health system has much room for improvement.

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BRIDGET YU is a College sophomore from Los Angeles, Calif. studying psychology. She plans to attend medical school and specialize in psychiatry. Her email address is bridgtyu@sas.upenn.edu.

6 NEWS

TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2020

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NEWS 7

TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2020

UA and SAC look to fund on-campus space rental fees

Grad. student is first Quechua Fulbright Scholar in U.S.

SAC considers using $1.1M reserve fund

The scholar promotes Quechua culture at Penn

ELIZABETH MEISENZAHL Staff Reporter

PIA SINGH Staff Reporter

The Undergraduate Assembly and Students Activities Council are considering using leftover money in the Office of Student Affairs’ $1.1 million reserve, also known informally to students as the “dark” fund, to cover the costs of on-campus spaces for groups that hold large scale conferences. The UA released their Mid-Year Report on Jan. 15 providing status updates on all initiatives UA members are currently working on, including a new pilot program to fund on-campus rental fees for groups using reserve funds which the UA budget committee approved last fall according to College senior and UA budget committee member Elena Hoffman. Hoffman added that the pilot program has not been officially launched yet but that the UA is currently working with SAC and the Office of Student Affairs to finalize a plan to spend the available reserve funds. College junior and UA Treasurer Kevin Zhou said approximately $700,000 of the reserve consists of student organizations’ revenue which the University holds and SAC therefore cannot use. Engineering and Wharton senior and SAC Chair Emily Su said that the UA and SAC are considering spending the remaining approximately $300,000 to help fund an experimental SAC funding policy which could include campus space rental fees or one-time purchases such as new equipment for student groups. “After discussions with OSA about how to best utilize the dark fund, the UA and SAC have made the decision to launch a pilot program that will fund spaces for groups that hold annual, largerscale on-campus conferences,” the report read. “SAC will primarily use its own budget to fund this

Penn graduate student Nico Suárez-Guerrero is the first Quechua Fulbright scholar in the Ivy League and currently the only one in the United States. As a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant, Suárez-Guerrero is helping create a space on campus for his culture through the Penn Quechua Language Program. Suárez-Guerrero and Program Coordinator Américo MendozaMori are leading the Quechua Language Program as it celebrates its fifth anniversary this year. Mendoza-Mori designed the curricula and initiatives for the program, which was founded in response to students’ demonstrated interest as part of the Penn Language Center, according to SuárezGuerrero. “We don’t just offer classes, but an opportunity to bring diverse perspectives,” SuárezGuerrero wrote in an email to The Daily Pennsylvanian. “We have so much to share, and that can be new for many members of the Penn community,” he continued. Penn hosts one of seven programs in the United States that celebrates indigenous language and culture. Quechua is the most commonly spoken indigenous language in South America and is spoken by 8-12 million people worldwide, though UNESCO has deemed it an endangered language. Penn’s program has promoted indigenous language and community issues on a regional and global scale. The program has led activities that have engaged the local communities of Nahuatl and Maya speakers from South

ISABEL LIANG

student government. He said the Social Planning and Events Committee once went into debt, but he could not provide the date. The Office of Student Affairs does not allow SAC to use the reserve fund to bail out student groups, Zhou said, but it has allowed for the fund to cover short term losses until the student group completes a plan for paying off their debt. Wharton sophomore and president of the Penn Debate Society Shreyoshi Das said new guidelines for SAC to fund rental fees would help groups that host tournaments on campus. After renting classrooms in Williams and College Hall and dorm rooms in the Quad, Das said Penn Debate Society’s rental fees can cost up to $4,000 of the $6,000 earned in registration fees from annual tournaments they host. Das added that she also hopes SAC will consider funding travel to the team’s international tournaments, particularly for low-income students. “It really breaks our hearts when we have to limit the number of teams that can go to certain tournaments because we don’t have the funds to send them,” Das said. Zhou said that while the UA is still working out the details with SAC and OSA on how to spend the reserve fund, he and the UA welcome any student ideas.

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Natives at Penn. He also added he wants students to feel that indigenous voices are a part of campus life, even if they do not enroll specifically in the Quechua program. “We are creating and strengthening community and this is important,” he said. “The goal is to add voices that might be unknown: Indigenous people across have so much to say about respect and care of nature.” Suárez-Guerrero wrote he was honored to receive the Fulbright, and he hopes that he will not remain the only Quechua-speaker to earn it. “I hope that this door remains open to many more people not only from Peru, but from other regions where Quechua is spoken,” he wrote. “I don’t want to be the only one.”

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initiative to see if this reduces the amount of money left over at the conclusion of the academic year. If this pilot program leads to SAC going over budget, money from the dark fund will be used to break even.” Su said the $300,000 reserve would serve as insurance and allow SAC to pay for groups’ oncampus space rental fees with the assurance that SAC would not go into debt. The available $300,000 consists of leftover money allocated to clubs’ annual budgets and leftover contingency funds which SAC provides to groups for unexpected costs throughout the year, Su added. Executive Director of the Office of Student Affairs Katie Bonner said that the reserve fund typically does not carry over from year to year and accumulate to the large sum of money it has amounted to today. “The SAC groups have generally been successful the last few years, so we now have a larger accumulation of resources,” Bonner said. Zhou said that last summer, VPUL used some of the reserve fund to renovate Houston Hall and the ARCH building with input from the 6B minority coalition leaders. Zhou added that in past years, the UA has used the reserve fund to support groups that go into debt, including in one case a branch of

Philadelphia, organized a week of activities alongside the United Nations celebration of the 2019 International Year of Indigenous Languages, and hosted a conference in Andean studies in 2017. The program currently offers one to two courses each semester and hosts four graduate students, according to Penn Today. The courses are interdisciplinary with Penn’s Department of Linguistics, Latin American and Latino Studies Program, and Native American and Indigenous Studies minor. Suárez-Guerrero wrote he wants to expand the program to include immersion programs in Quechua-speaking communities, and he is looking for ways to work with other programs involving indigenous people, such as

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44 Wilder who played Willy Wonka 45 Do some downand-dirty fighting 46 Camera setting 47 Word derived from the Japanese for “picture writing” 48 Buicks and Bentleys 49 Ripped bit 50 Downtimes 54 ___ Highness

55 Firefighter’s tool 56 Brewpub offering, for short 57 Cooke who sang “Twistin’ the Night Away” 58 Like a pregnant woman at about 40 weeks 59 Bobby of the Boston Bruins 60 The “G” of L.G.B.T.

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8 SPORTS

TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2020

THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM

Sydney Kraez’s strong performance highlights difficult meet for Red and Blue Penn finished third at the Lindsey Ferris Invitational REBEKAH CANTY Sports Reporter

Sunday was a disappointing day for Penn gymnastics. This Sunday, the Quakers traveled to Washington to compete against Cornell, Kent State, and George Washington in the Lindsey Ferris Invitational. This was their second meet of the 2020 season and first on the road. Penn earned the third spot in the competition with a score of 192.850 behind Kent State and George Washington. The meet was highlighted by sophomore Sydney Kraez coming in at sixth in the uneven bars with a 9.775. Meanwhile, on the floor, freshman Rebekah Lashley’s 9.750 also earned her sixth place. Her score was only 0.100 points behind Kent State’s Rachel Decavitch for the top spot. Kraez came in at fourth

place in all-around results with 38.825. Although they fell behind in the beginning of the meet, due to their hard work on the mats the Red and Blue were able to edge out Cornell for the bottom spot. The Quakers shined on the balance beam with a 48.700, their highest score across events. Lashley and juniors Darcy Matsuda and Darby Nelson all came in eighth place with 9.750 on the beam. While gymnastics relies on independent performances, the team’s chemistry is an important factor for overall team success. According to Kraez, the team was able to make a comeback because of their unity as a team. “We had a shaky first two events. For us, usually bar and vault can be pretty strong for us, but we were able to come together and turn it around on beam and bar, which is really important for a meet like this,” Kraez said. Despite dropping their first

two meets, there is still time for the Quakers to make adjustments and get into the win column. The team will look to use their first two meets to further their success as a team. The Quakers particularly struggled on the vault, tallying only a 47.500, their lowest on the day. Kraez led the Quakers on the vault with a 9.675, only good enough for 12th place. “We can look forward and change what we did today and find something that we can improve on,” Lashley said. “There’s always something we can be improving on to make the next meet stronger and the next score higher.” One thing that Lashley and Kraez agree on is the fact that maintaining a sense of team unity is important to their success before and during a meet. “You’re really putting on the routine for the team, so you know the team is supporting you when you’re on your event doing your individual routine,” Kraez said. “We practice team

events during practice. We really try to make it as communal as possible.” The Quakers will look to stay focused on making improvements in practice as their sea-

son heats up. “We’re there for Penn and not for the other teams, so everything we do is for our team. We just focus on ourselves,” Lashley said.

Next up, the Quakers return to the Palestra to go up against Big Ten foe Rutgers next Sunday. They are looking forward to putting up a stronger performance and doing it as a team.

ZACH SHELDON

Sophomore Sydney Kraez finished fourth overall at the Lindsey Ferris Invitational in Washington, D.C. this past weekend. She was a bright spot for a Quakers team that struggled against its competition.

SUDEEP BHARGAVA

Men’s and women’s track and field set records at Penn 8-Team Select Mayyi Mahama entered the record books this weekend JACOB KARLOVSKY Sports Reporter

It’s a brand new decade for the Penn track and field team, and what better way to start it off than with an outstanding performance in New York? After a record-setting opening weekend last month in Annapolis, Md., both the men’s and women’s teams were determined to repeat their success this Saturday at the Penn 8-Team Select in Staten Island, N.Y. And they certainly did, winning nine total events across a variety of different areas. In the weight throw, sophomore Mayyi Mahama outper-

formed her competition with a personal record of 19.89 meters. Her personal record currently stands at No. 2 in Penn program history, as Mahama continues to get better. The Red and Blue also equally impressed in the shot put, with senior Maura Kimmel and freshman Morgan Johnson coming in second and third, respectively. The Quakers also dominated in the short distance events, setting team records in the process. Seniors Cecil Ene and Nia Akins came in first and second respectively in the 400-meter, with junior Uchechi Nwogwugwu coming in fourth. Nwogwugwu is Penn’s all-time record holder in the event, with her teammates Ene and Akins sitting at second and third, respectively,

in the event. In the 60m hurdles, freshman Lauryn Harris, senior Breanne Bygrave, sophomore Skyla Wilson, and freshman Grace O’Shea took the top four spots, each setting new personal records for themselves and the Penn women’s team. For the men, it was no different, with the Red and Blue continuing their hot streak into the new year. Junior Marvin Morgan won the 60m dash at 6.92 seconds, with freshman Josh Bridges coming in a close sixth at 6.99. Three Quakers, senior Anthony Okolo, freshman Emerson Douds, and freshman Robbie Ruppel, stunned their opponents in the 4x400 relay, winning with a final time of 3:16.61. Sophomore Ray Sellaro won the mile, posting the

seventh-best time in the program’s history, while sophomore William Hare took the 3K in an impressive win. And in the field events, it was all the same for the red-hot Red and Blue. Senior Sean Clarke easily took the pole vault competition, with junior Jake Kubiatowicz finishing second in the weight throw with an impressive mark of 18.35m. These events capped a day of all-around success for the track and field team, led by coach Steve Dolan, in the Staten Island competition. The Quakers will look to continue their impressive 2020 run next weekend at the Dr. Sanders/Columbia Challenge in New York as the stakes of the indoor season gradually increase.

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“We’re in that mid-season lull where we’ve got to pick up our training a little bit in this month of January before we start to prepare for the conference tournament, so I think in these next couple of weeks we’re going to turn it up a bit, and then start to taper it down towards the end,” Ferrante said. “For the most part, my [skill] set is still the same, and we’re excited to get into this

BASKETBALL >> BACKPAGE

they struggled to connect, hitting only 20.6% of their threes. Outside of Brodeur, the team was unable to find consistent offensive production, with their next leading scorer being senior guard Ryan Betley, who finished with 14 points. Penn struggled to defend St. Joe’s guard Ryan Daly, who finished with 30 points. His performance was partially a re-

SON NGUYEN

Sophomore Mayyi Mahama impressed for women’s track and field, winning the weight throw with a personal record of 19.89 meters.

conference schedule.” In the heavier weight classes, Urbas shut out his opponent at 197 pounds and won by technical fall, 16-0, with 3:58 of riding time. The narrative was much of the same against LIU (2-16, 0-3), with Penn coasting to a 41-3 win. Kicking off the match at 125 pounds, junior Daniel Planta opened the team scoring with a six-point pin of Brandon Mercado, and the Quakers didn’t look back. The Red and Blue

totaled four pins and two major decisions en route to the victory, which was all but locked up after five bouts and Penn ahead 26-0. Wrestling at heavyweight to close the match, sophomore Ben Goldin earned his second win of the day with a 59-second pin of LIU’s Lawrence Horl, sending the home bench into a frenzy. The Quakers will look to ride this momentum into their next pair of EIWA matches on Feb. 1 against Ivy League opponents Brown and Harvard.

sult of the Quakers’ poor threepoint defense, as the Hawks were able to connect on 44.4% of their shots from beyond the arc. “We’re not playing to the standards that we had earlier [in the season],” Donahue said. “We’ve got to figure it out and get better.” The game was well attended, with Penn fans making plenty of noise as the Quakers made a second half comeback. However, the many Hawks fans who

made the trip across town made their presence felt as well. While the loss is certainly disappointing, the Quakers still have plenty of time to rebound as the most important stretch of the season is still in front of them. Next, the Quakers will finish off the Big 5 season against Temple. With Penn out of Big 5 title contention, they will use the Saturday game as an opportunity to get in sync before Ivy League play resumes.

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Penn men’s and women’s squash drop matches to undefeated Trinity Quakers continue to hang on with tough competition JESS MIXON Senior Sports Associate

The collegiate squash circuit is dominated by programs with talent from around the world. Trinity and Harvard have sat solidly atop the rankings for the past few years, fueled by deep squads. Even though the competition has only gotten fiercer, Penn squash is continuing to close the gap. After playing Harvard and Dartmouth last weekend, the Red and Blue traveled to Hartford, Conn. Saturday morning to face off against No. 2 Trinity. In two tightly contested matches, both the men’s and women’s squash teams fell to the Bantams. On the men’s side, the No. 3 Quakers (7-2) offered Trinity (11-0) its toughest contest of the season. It was the first match the Trinity men had played this season where the contest was undecided until the third wave of playing. After the first two rounds, the score was tightly

SPORTS 9

TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2020

contested at 4-2, but the Red and Blue eventually fell 6-3. The men have now faced off with the only two teams ranked above them in the CSA. The Quakers fell to the No. 1 Crimson earlier in January, 8-1. “What we were really looking forward to was to have another opportunity to compete at a high level against another team who is ranked ahead of us,” said coach Gilly Lane. “Trinity, historically, has had unbelievable teams and ha[s] won a number of national championships. Last year, we were able to push them to a 6-3 loss, which was the best we had done against them in a really long time.” Trinity is home to some of the top players on the collegiate squash circuit, making it all the more impressive that three Quakers were able to hold their own on the court again this year. Sophomore Aly Abou Eleinen secured a hard-fought win on Court 2, alongside junior Yash Bhargava and freshman Saksham Choudhary on Courts 5 and 7, respectively. Choudhary continued his winning streak, as he has not dropped a match since

KAITLIN ROWAN

The No. 3 Quakers were No. 2 Trinity’s most formidable opponent this season so far, giving the Bantams their closest matches of the year.

his collegiate squash debut. “It’s a great confidence booster that I haven’t dropped a game yet, but at the same time I try to approach each new match as a new match and opportunity to get better and provide a new win for the team,” Choudhary said. On the women’s side, the No. 7 Quakers were only able to capture one point from the No. 2 Bantams (90), from freshman Amina Abou El Enin, who is undefeated in her collegiate campaign. Despite their failure to claim points on other courts, the majority of the matches against Trinity were very tightly contested. Coming off a win over Dartmouth, the women’s (5-3) only two previous losses of the season were at top-ranked Harvard in early January and No. 4 Stanford in November. The men also came into the weekend off a sweep over Dartmouth, which was the sixth 9-0 win of the season for the team. The men have already recorded six shutout victories in just nine games this season — just one shy of the season total from last year. These early, concise victories are indicative of the team’s trajectory this season. “We have a very talented team, but we haven’t all played well on the same day yet. We haven’t had a day where all nine starters have played their best. That is very rare, so we still have a lot we can improve on,” Lane said. The men and women will see more opportunities to test themselves within the Ivy League, as they will face off with Princeton in Penn Squash Center next Wednesday, followed by Brown on Saturday.

DP Sports Player of the Week: Penn women’s track and field senior Nia Akins

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Akins placed second in the 400m this weekend TYIRA BUNCHE Senior Sports Associate

Penn track and field is bound to have a recordbreaking season, and Nia Akins is shaping up to be a large part of that, earning her DP Sports Player of the Week. It may be early in the season, but Penn women’s track and field has gotten off to a hot start this year. On Saturday, the Red and Blue trav-

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elled to Staten Island, N.Y. for the Penn 8-Team Select meet, where the Quakers tallied a total of eight wins across the men’s and women’s events. On the women’s side, a large part of the team’s success can be attributed to senior middle distance runner Nia Akins. Her success this weekend not only contributed to the team’s performance, but also landed her in the program record books. Akins played an important role by placing second in the 400-meter race with a time of 54.90, only .01 seconds off of the top spot. Akins’ time was her career best and moved her into

third all-time in program history for that event. Akins also raced in the 4x400 relay event leading the squad to a 4:00.04 time. Akins comes into this year with several accolades including 2019 NCAA Outdoor first team All-American in the 800-meter race and 2019 Penn Relays College Athlete of the Meet. While her performance on the track is going to be impactful, her leadership as a senior is going to make her invaluable for the team. As Akins enters the final months of her college career, she still has more to give, and Penn will need her dominance to continue as the season heats up.

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2020 VOL. CXXXVI NO. 2

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

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Big 5 foe St. Joe’s hands men’s basketball third straight loss Penn’s Big 5 title chances end with the home defeat BRANDON PRIDE Senior Sports Associate

MEN’S BASKETBALL ST. JOE’S PENN

87 81

The new year has not been treating Penn men’s basketball well so far. Looking to rebound from two consecutive losses to Princeton to begin Ivy League play, the Quakers couldn’t get the job done against Saint Joseph’s, losing by a score of 87-81. With the loss to the Hawks (4-14, 1-2 Big 5), Penn (7-7, 1-2) is officially out of contention to repeat as Big 5 champions. “St. Joe’s was the better team. They played better, and they were mentally and physically tougher,” coach Steve Donahue said.

The game did not start out as planned for the Quakers. They struggled defensively, allowing St. Joe’s to make 12 of its first 16 shots. Additionally, the Quakers were unable to stay out of foul trouble early on, committing five within the first 10 minutes. As a result, the Hawks entered the bonus early and were able to accumulate six first-half points off bonus free throws. Given the final score, those foul shots ended up being crucial. However, the Red and Blue were able to end the first half on a high note as they went on an 8-0 run, capped by a Max Martz buzzer-beating three-pointer. Despite their poor play throughout much of the game, Penn was miraculously only down six at halftime. Despite briefly taking the lead towards the beginning of the second half, the Hawks quickly took back the lead with a 16-2 run that put the game out of

reach. Throughout the game, the Quakers relied heavily on senior forward AJ Brodeur, as they have a lot in recent games. Most of Penn’s possessions began with Brodeur attempting to find an inside shot. He ended up attempting a season-high 22 field goals. He also made it to the charity stripe seven times, connecting on five as he totaled 33 points altogether on the afternoon, which was also a season high. “He played a great game,” Donahue said. “We’ve relied on him for so long throughout his four years.” When Brodeur was unable to get a good look inside, he dished out to his teammates on the perimeter to look for a three-point shot. However, St. Joe’s defended the three-point line very well, and even when the Quakers found open shots from outside, SEE BASKETBALL PAGE 8

Penn wrestling picks up two big wins, falls to Army in weekend of EIWA dual matches Quakers won three bouts against the Black Knights EMILY CONDON Sports Reporter

While most students are easing back into the first week of classes following winter break, Penn wrestling’s version of getting back into the swing of things looked a little different. This weekend, the Quakers opened their Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association competition season with three dual matches between Friday and Sunday. The end result of the opening weekend left the Quakers with an early loss to Army West Point and a pair of wins over Binghamton and Long Island University. On Friday, the Quakers (3-4,

2-1 EIWA) headed up to New York to wrestle against Army West Point (7-2, 2-0), which is ranked No. 2 in the conference and No. 17 nationally. For the Quakers, freshmen Michael Colaiocco and Jesse Quatse sat out along with sophomore Anthony Artalona. Colaiocco and Artalona are nationally-ranked, already sitting within the top 10 in the nation in their weight classes. The lack of star power was felt, however, and Penn would drop its match to the Black Knights, 27-9. “We had three starters out up against Army, and three starters out today too, so that was a pretty gritty performance, and we’re getting some of the younger guys some more experience with these injuries out,” coach Roger Reina said. “Some of the younger guys are stepping in, which is good in the long run.”

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Wrestling at 141 pounds, sophomore Doug Zapf won both of his matches on Sunday to improve to 6-1 in dual meets this year.

The first match began on a competitive note, with sophomore Doug Zapf winning by decision at 144 pounds by a score of 7-5. Penn would only win two more of the 10 matches against Army, with the other two victories going to sophomore Carmen Ferrante at 133 pounds and freshman Cole Urbas at 197. Due to Colaiocco’s absence, Penn also had to forfeit the 125-pound weight class. But upon their return to the Palestra, the Quakers returned to their winning ways. Binghamton (2-7, 1-5) had defeated the Red and Blue in their two previous meetings, but Penn got revenge against the Bearcats on Sunday with a big 31-6 victory. “Today, this was really important for us,” Reina said. “Our first home dual meet in the Palestra: a chance for us to redeem the last two years when Binghamton has beaten us … It’s great to be back here. We’ve been on the road for a long time, and this is our home.” Ferrante finished strong for the Quakers with a near-closeout, 10-1, with 3:20 of riding time. Zapf also swept the competition, winning 19-5 with over three minutes of riding time. SEE WRESTLING PAGE 8

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Senior forward AJ Brodeur put up 33 points for Penn men’s basketball, but his efforts weren’t enough for the Quakers to come away with a win on Saturday. He attempted a season-high 22 field goals and made 14.

Men’s and women’s swimming lose to reigning League champions Harvard

Catherine Buroker finished first in the 1000-yard free BRANDON PRIDE Senior Sports Associate

Penn men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams both lost close matchups against Harvard in a dual meet on Saturday. The men’s team fell by a score of 169-128, while the Red and Blue women lost, 187-113. Even in the losses, the teams had respectable performances against the reigning Ivy League champions. They won a combined nine events in the afternoon and finished with 40 top-three finishes out of the 32 total events. In the close loss, several male Quakers stood out. Sophomore Jacob Furlong finished first in the 200-yard freestyle, out-touching a Harvard swimmer by a mere .08 seconds with a time of 1:39.60. Later on, junior Sean Lee continued his strong season by winning the 200 butterfly in his team’s second victory of the day. His teammate and fellow junior Nathaniel Cunnan followed up Lee’s performance by winning the 50 free with an impressive time of 20.50 seconds.

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Sophomore Catherine Buroker barely beat out her teammate, sophomore Grace Giddings, to capture first place in the 1000 free.

For the women, sophomore Catherine Buroker continued to shine, as her 10:06.43 time in the 1000 free was good enough for a first-place finish. Not far behind, her teammate and fellow sophomore Grace Giddings finished in second with a time of 10:09.10. This success is nothing unusual for Buroker, as she was a qualifier for the 2019 NCAA Championships and holds two Ivy League titles. The Quakers saw another 1-2 finish later in the afternoon, as sophomores Monika Burzynska and Anna Newnam finished back to back in the 200 fly, with the former winning by just .02 seconds.

The women put up another strong performance in the 400 relay, as the ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams finished first and second. The ‘A’ team consisted of senior Meredith Newman, freshman Margot Kaczorowski, freshman Camryn Carter, and senior Emily Layne and finished with a time of 3:33.11. The ‘B’ team finished close behind in 3:38.61. The matchup against Harvard was Penn’s final Ivy League dual meet of the season, and the Quakers will now shift gears as they prepare to host West Chester in a dual meet on Feb. 1. In what will be their final dual of the season, the Red and Blue will look to finish off strong.

Men’s and women’s fencing find success in Philadelphia Invitational Both teams swept their matches on the first day LOCHLAHN MARCH Sports Reporter

At the second tournament of the year on home turf, the Quakers showed who owns the Tse Center. Penn men’s and women’s fencing were back in action at the Tse Center this weekend, hosting the Philadelphia Invitational. Continuing their momentum from the Penn State Invitational the previous week, the men won 10-of-11 matches, while the women won 10-of-12. Both the men and the women swept the first day of competition, with each team winning all six of their matches. The men opened the Invitational with a commanding 20-7 win over Haverford, led by the foil squad’s impressive 8-1 performance. Junior Michael Li and sophomore Jerry Wu pushed the Quakers over the

top, as each won all three of their bouts against the Fords. In their second matchup, Duke proved to be formidable competition, but the Quakers ultimately edged the Blue Devils by a score of 14-13. A 6-3 victory provided by the sabre team offset a pair of 5-4 losses from the foil and epee, giving the men their second win. The Quakers continued to impress throughout Saturday, beating Johns Hopkins, NYU, and NJIT by scores of 16-11, 22-5, and 1710, respectively. Their final match of the day brought an 18-9 victory against Sacred Heart. Notably, the sabre squad pulled off a 9-0 clean sweep of their round, as sophomore Xiteng Lin, junior Andrew Sun, and senior Adam Green came together to each win all three of their individual matches. The women’s team started off with a vengeance on Saturday, as proven by their opening 26-1 win over Haverford in which the epee and saber groups each swept all nine of their bouts. This winning

TAMARA WURMAN

Junior Michael Li won all three of his bouts against Haverford, leading Penn to a 20-7 win in the opening match of the Philadelphia Invitational.

momentum then spurred the Red and Blue to a 17-10 victory over Duke. The women faced Cornell for the Quakers’ only Ivy League matchup of the Invitational. The epee squad,

powered by the freshman trio of Jessica Liang, Chloe Daniel, and Madeline Adams-Kim, pulled off an 8-1 victory to edge Penn over the Big Red, 14-13. The epee weapon group contin-

ued to shine on Saturday, helping the Quakers to a 19-8 win over NYU, followed by a pair of 24-3 victories against Sacred Heart and Wagner to complete the sweep of that day of competition. The men’s squad continued their hot streak Sunday morning against Wayne State with a score of 18-9, followed by a long-awaited victory against Ohio State, which had previously beaten the Quakers the last time they met at the Tse Center at the Elite Invitational in November. The Red and Blue continued with wins against Drew and Brandeis by scores of 17-10 and 19-8, respectively. “We try to keep a clear mindset,” Li said. “We don’t try to get too hyped up or too down, we just treat each match as our own individual match and take it seriously. Obviously it feels good to go on a winning streak and we’re pretty happy with our fencing, and I think that helped to amp us up a lot more for each match.” Penn dropped the last match of

the tournament to St. Johns, falling by a score of 17-10, ending their winning streak at 10. However, the team’s strong showing this weekend bodes well for the rest of the season as Ivy Championships approach. “I think this is a great step towards winning Ivies,” Li said. “Obviously, we were trying to improve as a team, and I think that our performance this weekend really showed that we’ve gotten stronger.” The women’s team started off strong on Sunday with a 23-4 victory against Wayne State, but their winning streak came to an end at seven with a pair of losses against Ohio State and Temple by respective scores of 16-11 and 14-13. The Quakers were able to rebound in their final three matches, handily beating Northwestern and St. John’s by a score of 14-13 and Brandeis by a score of 23-4. Penn fencing will return to the strip on Feb. 1 in Waltham, Mass. for the Sollee Invitational and will look to continue their impressive performances.

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