January 18, 2017

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2017

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

Bonfiglio escapes the heat — no jail time Former Penn student will serve three years of probation TOM NOWLAN News Editor

Lorenzo Bonfiglio, the former College and W ha r ton student cha rged with attempted a rson

related to an October 2015 fire in the Psi Upsilon chapter house, settled his legal case on Dec. 13.

Twenty-two of the 24 charges against Bonfiglio, who was a member of the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business, were dismissed; Bonfiglio pleaded guilty to the remaining

Toiling

two charges. He will not serve any prison time.

The United Kingdom native will serve a total of three years probation. Two of those years are the result of a guilty plea for recklessly endangering another person; the other is for criminal mischief — tampering with property.

Bonfiglio was arrested in October 2015 after allegedly attempting to start a fire in a closet at Psi Upsilon, commonly known as Castle. The fire was quickly extinguished by a sprinkler system and no injuries were reported.

SEE BONFIGLIO PAGE 6

Through

Club Elections Club elections are stressful and competitive — but are they worth it?

REBECCA TAN Staff Reporter

T

he room is abuzz even as the election marches into its fifth hour. With all seats filled, students have taken to sprawling on the floor, raising their placards periodically to vote in the 22nd executive board of the Asian Pacific Student Coalition.

APSC requires a representative from all 23 constituent groups to be present during its election. Most groups distribute one-hour shifts among their executive boards, though

even these are subject to extension since elections can last up to seven hours, current APSC Chair and Wharton junior Yen-Yen Gao said. Last semester, elections ran from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m — the previous year, to 3 a.m.

At Penn, a seven-hour club election is hardly unique. The Mask and Wig Club elections can last up to five or six hours depending on the number of candidates running. Elections for the International Affairs Association can take four hours split between two sessions. Different club leaders said they see comprehensive elections as necessary to select the most suitable SEE ELECTIONS PAGE 3

Controversial protesters greeted with leaf blowers

Forbes criticizes U. for misleading press releases

A maintenance worker said he was told to drown out the protesters

Press release connected drug with heart disease

SYDNEY SCHAEDEL Senior News Editor

WESLEY SHEKER Staff Reporter

For the third time since Sept. 15, controversial Christian preachers littered Locust Walk with speech railing against Muslims, the LGBTQ community and Jews — but the University’s response appeared to be slightly more aggressive this time.

Just before 3:00 p.m., the protesters were stationed in front of Van Pelt Library, and an orange vehicle — often used around campus by Facilities and Real Estate Services employees — was parked in front of them on Locust Walk.

A Daily Pennsylvanian editor approached a FRES employee manning the vehicle and asked if the University requested he be there to drown out the voices of the protesters.

The FRES staffer nodded his head and said, “Yes,” but did not give his name or specify which University personnel had allegedly requested he be there. When walking beside Van Pelt, the noise from the vehicle made it close to impossible to hear the protesters, who were using megaphones.

About 20 minutes before moving to Van Pelt, the protesters were standing, holding signs

ZACH SHELDON | SPORTS PHOTO EDITOR

The press release in question was not universally supported by the staff of Penn Medicine. Professor Garret FitzGerald published a rebuttal of the original.

BIZ FRAT VIOLATIONS PAGE 2

SEE FRES PAGE 6

FOLLOW US @DAILYPENN FOR THE LATEST UPDATES

John LaMattina, a Forbes columnist, criticized a 2012 press release

by Penn about a research publication from the Perelman School of Medicine in his column on Jan. 11.

The headline read, “University of Pennsylvania Should Rethink OverHyped Press Releases.” But Penn faculty claim that LaMattina has conflicts of interest that influenced

We must … presume ‘a reservoir of goodness in others.’”

his position.

The May 2012 press release from the medical school linked certain anti-inflammatory drugs to increased cardiovascular risk, including anti-inflammatory drug Celebrex, which is manufactured by Pfizer. Pfizer sponsored a clinical trial that was presented in November, showing that the risks of Celebrex were no higher than generic ibuprofen and naproxen.

LaMattina is a former president of Pfizer Global Research SEE FORBES PAGE 7

GYMNASTICS ISSUE BACKPAGE

- Taylor Becker PAGE 4

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2 NEWS

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2017

THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM

Are ‘power poses’ really effective?

Alpha Kappa Psi not recruiting this semester

NATALIE KAHN Staff Reporter

ESHA INDANI Staff Reporter

“Power poses” — superherolike stances that supposedly make us feel motivated — have been all over the news. However, fourthyear psychology Ph.D student Kristopher Smith, along with psychology professor in the School of Arts and Sciences Coren Apicella , conducted a study that refutes those recent findings.

Smith sat down with The Daily Pennsylvanian to discuss the study and why it was of importance to him. The interview has been edited for brevity.

Daily Pennsylvanian: What made you want to do the study?

Kristopher Smith: Power poses have gotten a lot of attention lately.

It’s an important finding if it turns out to be true, and there’s already skepticism for the results.

DP: Your experiment sought to replicate other recent work. Can you explain that?

KS: Correct. Ours was a conceptual replication, which means that we were trying to get at the same effect as a previous study with a somewhat different method.

DP: Walk me through the study.

KS: Participants came in and we took a baseline saliva sample to analyze their hormones before they competed in one-on-one tug-ofwar. One participant was declared the winner, the other the loser.

They then were randomly assigned to hold a high-power, low-power or neutral pose. We took a second saliva sample and then measured their feelings of power.

DP: What were you looking for, exactly?

Business fraternity Alpha Kappa Psi will not be recruiting a pledge class this semester.

The Wharton Undergraduate Division’s director of student life Lee Kramer announced that the fraternity will not be permitted to recruit this spring in an email to Wharton freshman and sophomore classes last Friday.

The reason behind the recruitment ban was not disclosed in the email.

Alpha Kappa Psi will be allowed to hold rush again in the fall 2017 semester.

In an email statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian, Kramer stated that the ban, a joint decision of Alpha Kappa Psi National Chapter and the Wharton Undergraduate Division, was prompted

by Alpha Kappa Psi’s violation of probationary terms during the fall 2016 semester. Kramer did not specify which probationary terms were violated.

“Both nationals and the Division are requiring the chapter to use the spring 2017 semester for a rebuilding process to focus its energy on improving the internal operations before it accepts any new members,” added Kramer.

President of Alpha Kappa Psi and Wharton junior Joseph

Psychology study casts doubts on the practice

CINDY CHEN | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Power poses often had opposite effects for “winners” and “losers.” A low power pose actually decreased testosterone levels.

KS: We were first looking for how the effect of winning the competition affects hormone levels and feelings of power. We know that winning increases testosterone levels. We were looking at if the effects of power poses depended on whether a participant had won or lost.

DP: And you found that the power poses didn’t work?

KS: Mostly. The majority of effects weren’t significant but we did find one that we think is a false positive. For winners, the power poses had the typical effect: winners who hold a high power pose increased in testosterone and those who held a low power pose decreased in testosterone. Losers, however, decreased in testosterone when they held a low power pose and increased in testosterone when they held a high power pose. In other words, the effects for testosterone were opposite for those who had lost the competition.

DP: Any clue as to why that is?

KS: We’d suspect that this won’t replicate. But, if it were true, we’d

think this is testosterone’s way of saying: “You’re not actually a dominant individual; maybe you should back down.”

DP: Changing the subject a bit — how did you come across this research position?

KS: Typically in psychology, professors and graduate students work together to develop experiments, which is what Dr. Apicella and I did. Dr. Apicella — one of my advisors — came to me with this project in my first year of grad school. She and I developed the project together. It took about a year to develop the experiment itself, and it took about a year and half to collect the data.

DP: What was your favorite part of this research?

KS: It’s always the data analysis. You put all this effort into this project — you develop it; you’ve collected the data, and this one took particularly long, so when you finally get to analyze the data you know you’re on the verge of finally discovering something new.

Probation violations result in recruitment ban

Robillard said that the national chapter, the Undergraduate Division and the fraternity jointly agreed that it was time for the fraternity to focus in on themselves and their pledge process.

“We all felt like this was the most opportune time to restructure our pledge process,” Robillard said. “The business environment is changing and so we’d like to continuously update and improve that process.”

Robillard said that not being able to recruit this semester will be a challenge for Alpha Kappa Psi. However, he remained optimistic about the fraternity’s ability to maintain its presence on campus.

“It’s definitely a challenge but that doesn’t mean we won’t have a presence on campus,” Robillard said. “We just want to showcase ourselves in different ways throughout the semester.

We’ll still be holding our professional and resume building workshops. We’ll continue our Aspire to Excellence speaker series.”

President of Phi Gamma Nu and Wharton and Engineering junior Arvind Raju said he felt the recruitment ban this semester might prove to be an obstacle to Alpha Kappa Psi in the future.

“It can be a little difficult for them, especially with losing a freshman pledge class, because the freshman pledge class tends to become leaders of the

fraternities in the future,” Raju said.

The recruitment ban has not deterred freshmen from choosing to rush business fraternities.

College and Wharton freshman Agnes Pei said she was surprised that Alpha Kappa Psi was not recruiting this semester, but that it did not impact her decision to rush a business fraternity.

“I wasn’t thinking of AKPsi at first, and I also heard that the interview process was very finance oriented and personally I’m not into finance. I’m more of a marketing person,” Pei said.

This reputation as being focused on finance as opposed to other areas of business is something Robillard is planning on changing by renewing the fraternity’s rush and pledge process this semester.

“Our students are really becoming more diverse with their academic and professional interests and I think we need to accommodate that more,” Robillard said. “My goal and the fraternity’s goal here is to ensure that you are 100 percent ready to tackle any OCR challenge.”

Robillard said he was looking forward to begin recruiting again in the fall 2017 semester.

“Reinvigorated. Redesigned,” Robillard said. “You can expect to join a brotherhood that’s more passionate and more committed than ever.”

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ELECTIONS >> PAGE 1

executive team for the organization and ensure that members feel that their voices are represented. But many also say they understand that protracted, intense elections have repercussions not just on students’ time and energy, but also their emotional well-being.

T he duration of A PSC elections has grown with an increase in the club’s constituents, Gao said. She added that elections can stretch because “constituents genuinely care about who is on board [and] take the election process very, very seriously.”

Last fall, 10 candidates ran for seven positions on the APSC board. On election day, all candidates have a question and answer session, which can be extended in time if there is a motion to do so. Then, the candidate exits the room for the period of deliberations that can also be extended with a motion.

“Even though it can be timeconsuming and tiring, I like our process because everyone gets to say their piece,” Gao said.

She added that this is particularly important for a coalition group like APSC that has a

range of constituents, from cultural groups such as Penn Taiwanese Society to professional groups like the Wharton China Business Society.

Mask and Wig Chairman and College senior Timothy Bloom had similar feelings about his own group’s process.

“We put in so much work into our shows that our members really want to make sure that they are set up for the most success,” he said.

As the oldest all-male collegiate musical comedy troupe in the United States, members are “very conscious about leaving [the club] better than [they] started,” Bloom said. Even outgoing seniors are deeply invested in elections.

But long elections also have costs, and club leaders are aware of this. IAA Vice President and College senior Marc Petrine said the group has been taking steps to expedite elections by sending out candidates’ statements beforehand rather than having them delivered on election day. The goal is to lessen the burden of elections on students who are already struggling with packed schedules, he said.

“You’re being put in the spotlight,” Gao added. “It’s very

NEWS 3

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2017 mentally taxing.”

APSC has a drop-down system: candidates not elected to the position they originally applied for can choose to apply for the next one being contested.

This system is aimed to make the election fair, but can also leave candidates without a position after hours of contesting.

Another issue raised is that club elections at Penn are not just long — they can also get personal. APSC has a strict policy that what is said during deliberations should not leave the room, though this rule is hard to enforce.

The IAA has similar experiences.

“One of our biggest problems is behind the scenes whispering,” Petrine said. “But I don’t really know how you would fix that.”

President of 180 Degrees Consulting a nd Engineering and Wharton junior Krish Mehta said he thinks intense competition during club elections is linked to Penn’s pre-professional focus. Students go from competing for leadership positions as underclassmen to competing for internships and jobs as upperclassmen.

“In many ways, I think clubs work as the entryway for this

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entire process of professionalism,” Mehta said.

Chair of Lambda Alliance and College junior Sean Collins agreed. “Some people really view leadership positions as a resume builder, so they are afraid not to have a position like that.”

This competitive process can kick in even before students enter a club. Vigorous club applications can be good practice for the job search, which is even more cutthroat, Mehta said. However, he believes that this should be “moderated” and “done in a healthier way.”

“The first focus of clubs is to find a family on campus,” he said. “Gaining professional experience is valuable but should not be taken so seriously.”

Collins agreed, emphasizing that having a title is not the only way to lead meaningful change.

In Mask and Wig, members who are not elected or appointed to leadership positions can still take ownership over the club’s social activities or tours, Bloom said.

Gao agreed, but added that it can be hard for members to recognize an informal role when clubs occupy such a large part of students’ social and professional lives.

“[Elections] are something that I think a lot of club leaders realize need to be fixed,” she said. “We have to balance

having a well-functioning, tight-knit team without being exclusive and adding to all the stress at Penn.”

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OPINION

Fruit tastes better than seeds CAL’S CORNER | When our intentions fail to intersect with our impacts

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 18, 2017 VOL. CXXXIII, NO. 4 133rd Year of Publication CARTER COUDRIET President DAN SPINELLI Executive Editor LUCIEN WANG Print Director ALEX GRAVES Digital Director ALESSANDRO VAN DEN BRINK Opinion Editor SYDNEY SCHAEDEL Senior News Editor WILL SNOW Senior Sports Editor CHRIS MURACCA Design Editor CAMILLE RAPAY Design Editor JULIA SCHORR Design Editor RONG XIANG Design Editor VIBHA KANNAN Enterprise Editor GENEVIEVE GLATSKY News Editor TOM NOWLAN News Editor

Have you ever bitten into a piece of pizza in a dining hall that you knew was too hot and burned your tongue? Ever thrown a football to someone who wasn’t looking and accidentally hit them in the face?

It’s clear that you didn’t intend to do either, despite the impact of your actions.

While your intention may have been pure and worthwhile, the result of your actions was not. Such philosophy stems all the way back to Immanuel Kant. However, the relationship between intention and result is often skipped over when we discuss our day-to-day choices, political beliefs and way of thinking.

Regardless of political orientation, we all usually mean well when it comes to our interactions with people. Especially in the age of Trump, we often hear “buts.” You know, the classic “I am not racist, but … ,” “I did not mean to offend, but … ” “I am not a sexist, but … .”

However, given events during our time at Penn, I cannot emphasize how much

people have strayed themselves from their own insensitive mistakes and rhetoric by emphasizing what their intent is. But at the end of the day, despite your intentions, it is your impact that leaves a mark on someone.

Not all Trump supporters are racist, sexist or xenophobic. However, all Trump supporters voted for a racist, misogynist and xenophobe and didn’t see those qualities as being a dealbreaker for our next president. They may not have racist, misogynistic or xenophobic intents; however, they have had a racist, misogynistic and xenophobic impact, by supporting Donald Trump.

That’s probably why I couldn’t (and can’t) find one Trump supporter (not even Trump himself) who would openly admit they he or she tolerates racism, sexism and xenophobia. Why? Because they genuinely believe their intentions outweigh their results.

However, although their intention may oddly affirm that Trump is the true can-

didate to combat such social issues, their impact put a man in office who attacked John Lewis on MLK weekend.

And that is something they have to live with. Meaning well does not always corre-

African American history, although it would never dare to do the same with US and European history.

You may have intended to express your opinion on transgender people through

… given events during our time at Penn, I cannot emphasize how much people have strayed themselves from their own insensitive mistakes and rhetoric by emphasizing what their intent is.” late to doing well.

The more I observe this across the recent election results, the more I see it on our campus given virtually every issue we are handed. While the school may have intended to strengthen the Africana Department by combining it with the African Studies Department, the result falsely infused African history with

Facebook in a civil way.

However by doing so, you questioned their humanity, rights and self-autonomy.

You probably didn’t mean to belittle your friend group when you bragged about your Goldman Sachs internship two weeks after you received confirmation, however unintentionally you did. You may have intended to decrease

sexual assault on campus by targeting off-campus groups specifically. However your result may have caused students and administration to overlook what happens across on-campus greek life as well.

So what’s the next step towards minimizing this issue?

Simply, as Harper Lee advises to us in “To Kill A Mockingbird,” “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

In reference to the football analogy above, you would have never threw the football in the first place if you asked your friend if he was paying attention. The realization of the impact of your intentions, whether good or bad, should never come at the expense of who you are engaging with.

I’ve experienced this firsthand, as a number of Trump supporters reached out to me with sorrow and regret during the GroupMe incident, just days after they voted for him. In order to avoid this,

CALVARY ROGERS we must listen to each other with the intention of understanding and moving forward, rather than listening to respond.

What good comes from one’s intention? Not much, outside of its very impact.

While it is easy to highlight your intention in order to justify your result, true societal progress can only occur when we make sure that the impact of our actions correlates with our intentions.

CALVARY ROGERS is a College sophomore from Rochester, N.Y., studying political science.

His email address is calvary@ sas.upenn.edu. “Cal’s Corner” u s u all y ap p e ar s eve r y Wednesday.

ALLY JOHNSON Assignments Editor COLE JACOBSON Sports Editor JONATHAN POLLACK Sports Editor

CARTOON

TOMMY ROTHMAN Sports Editor AMANDA GEISER Copy Editor HARRY TRUSTMAN Copy Editor ANDREW FISCHER Director of Web Development DYLAN REIM Social Media Editor DAKSH CHHOKRA Analytics Editor ANANYA CHANDRA Photo Manager JOY LEE News Photo Editor ZACH SHELDON Sports Photo Editor LUCAS WEINER Video Producer JOYCE VARMA Podcast Editor BRANDON JOHNSON Business Manager MADDY OVERMOYER Advertising Manager SONIA KUMAR Business Analytics Manager MARK PARASKEVAS Circulation Manager HANNAH SHAKNOVICH Marketing Manager

BRAD HONG is a College freshman from Morristown, N.J. His email is bradhong@sas.upenn.edu.

TANVI KAPUR Development Project Lead MEGHA AGARWAL Development Project Lead

THIS ISSUE

The divided states of America

YOSEF WEITZMAN Sports Associate ANNA GARSON Copy Associate HARLEY GEFFNER Copy Associate

RIGHT ANGLES | Overcoming bias and renewing trust in the other

JULIA FINE Copy Associate JEN KOPP Copy Associate LIZZY MACHIELSE Photo Associate AVALON MORELL Photo Associate GISELL GOMEZ Photo Associate TIFFANY PHAM Photo Associate IDIL DEMIRDAG Photo Associate LUCY FERRY Design Associate ZHANAR IRGEBAY Design Associate WENTING SUN Design Associate

LETTERS Have your own opinion? Send your letter to the editor or guest column to letters@thedp.com.

Unsigned editorials appearing on this page represent the opinion of The Daily Pennsylvanian as determined by the majority of the Editorial Board.

All other columns, letters and artwork represent the opinion of their authors and are not necessarily representative of the DP’s position.

Our country faces a crisis that begins with the letter “D.” No, it is not our President-elect Donald Trump.

It is division.

America has seen both soaring heights of unity and despairing depths of division. From the bitter battles of the Civil War, to the landslide, bipartisan passage of the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s, our country is likely neither in the best nor the worst of times. However, we are experiencing something which feels new: a creeping type of division that is slow and gradual but perhaps the most dangerous of all. It is our deep distrust of one another.

It’s been said that our political system is broken.

Some suggest that political dysfunction is to blame.

One of our peers at the University of Chicago posited that it may be a lack of trust in our democracy. But there is something even more basic at play here. We must learn to trust one another before we can ever trust in our institutions, and we are failing to do so today.

The answer to this lies in overcoming our tendency to assume the worst in others.

Why do we distrust one another? An article a couple years ago in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) found that people experience “motive attribution asymmetry,” meaning we assume our own ideology is based in love, whereas the “other side” acts out of hate. Imagine that! Many of us walk through life believing that our own motives are based on love for country and care for one another, whereas others are motivated by hate and malice.

That Republican walking down the street? She hates gays and poor people. That Democrat in your class? He can’t stand Christians and small-business owners. We can’t possibly imagine that someone’s policy disagreements could be driven by love, resulting from a different set of values from our own.

“Irreconcilable differences, right?” asked American Enterprise In-

stitute (AEI) President Arthur Brooks in a TED Talk on this topic. “Wrong,” he concluded, “That is diversity in which lies our strength.” But he goes on to say, “First, let’s be honest: There are differences. Let’s not minimize the differ-

city of Ramallah, we heard from an expert at the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research.

This expert explained, surprisingly, that a majority of Israelis and Palestinians believe in a two-state solution, but peace is impeded

We must learn to trust one another before we can ever trust in our institutions, and we are failing to do so today.” ences. That would be really naive.”

How can we overcome our differences? Perhaps most surprisingly, the PNAS article found similarities between Americans and the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. Over winter break, I witnessed this in person when I traveled to Israel on a political mission and visited the West Bank. While in the major Palestinian

by the fact that each side distrusts the other and underestimates its willingness to compromise. That is to say, each side itself wants to compromise and wants peace, but believes the other side does not. Sound familiar?

There is hope. If the polling is accurate, the very fact that a majority of both Israelis and Palestinians are willing to com-

promise means that peace is possible. And if conciliation is possible in one of the world’s most complex conflicts, surely it is possible in the American setting. But in order for compromise to occur in either of these contexts, we must actively seek to overcome biases.

This must occur even and especially on the issues we hold most dear. Perhaps it’s income inequality, abortion or racial politics; when someone disagrees with us, we must seek to understand how their views could be motivated by love, and not by hate. We must, as President Obama said in his farewell address, presume “a reservoir of goodness in others.”

This may not be as hard as we think. Religious people believe that all humans, though broken, are ultimately created in the image of God, while secular progressives and humanists generally believe that humans are inherently good creatures. We have the tools to believe and trust one an-

TAYLOR BECKER other.

Let us all recognize that our tendency to see the worst in others is dangerous and self-defeating.

Our political enemies here in America are our fellow citizens who love our country equally, and deserve its blessings as much as we do.

My hope is that we can all see that we have more in common — that there is more that unites us — than could ever divide us.

TAYLOR BECKER is a College senior from Lebanon, Oregon, studying political science. His email address is tabe@sas. upenn.edu. “Right Angles” usually appears every other Wednesday.

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NEWS 5

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2017

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6 NEWS

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2017

BONFIGLIO

FRES

A lengthy legal saga ensued, as Bonfiglio’s preliminary and pretrial hearings were pushed back at least nine times, according to legal documents.

Despite being placed on leave and banned from campus by the University, The Daily Pennsylvanian has reported that Bonfiglio remains active in the Penn social scene, attending several events for his off-campus organization, the Owl Society. Bonfiglio was also reportedly employed by i-Comm Connect, a technology company, as of November 2016.

Un iversit y spokesp erson Steve MacCarthy declined to comment about Bonfiglio’s status at Penn.

and shouting through their megaphones in front of Steinberg-Dietrich Hall. Two orange vehicles were parked directly in front of the protesters in the middle of Locust Walk as well.

A number of employees wearing Penn jackets were also using leaf blowers on the side of Locust by Steinberg-Dietrich and on the area beside the path to the Annenberg School for Communication. The protesters vocally responded to the use of the leaf blowers, defending their right to free speech and criticizing the use of leaf blowers near their protest. It was not clear if these workers at the time were knowingly disrupting the protest.

>> PAGE 1

>> PAGE 1

THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM

University spokesperson Stephen MacCarthy denied that FRES staff were specifically following the protesters from Steinberg-Dietrich Hall to Van Pelt in an attempt to drown them out.

“They were assigned to do grounds cleanup in the area, which happens regularly throughout the year,” he wrote in an email. “I’m told the protesters have moved to other parts of the campus.”

When pressed to say explicitly that the maintenance workers had not been sent to drown out the protestors, MacCarthy said, “I was told they were assigned to clean the area.”

FRES spokesperson Heidi Wunder did not immediately respond to request for comment.

SYDNEY SCHAEDEL | SENIOR NEWS EDITOR

Although a FRES employee claims that the University instructed him to drown out the voices of the controversial protestors, a University spokesperson denies any such instructions.

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THEDP.COM | THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN

NEWS 7

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2017

MLK Symposium looks at black lives under Trump Event discussed dismantling systems of oppression ROBERTA NIN FELIZ Staff Reporter

Spoken word artists and community organizers filled the Goodhand Room at the LGBT Center on Sunday, reading poems about the terror of racial violence, lynching and systemic injustice.

The poetry readings marked the kick-off event, “Will Black Lives Matter during the Presidency of Donald Trump?” of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Symposium on Social Change. The symposium is a series of events from Jan. 15 to Feb. 2 on campus honoring King’s legacy.

FORBES >> PAGE 1

and Development. He wrote in his column that, “one might expect that Penn might offer a sort of retraction for the now seemingly outlandish views that were made in its ‘rah-rah’ press release.” He went on to attack both the Penn study on the effects of Celebrex on cardiovascular health and the decision to create a press release based on the study.

Garret FitzGerald, a professor at Penn Medicine who was named in the Forbes column and led the Penn study in question, said he had “no desire to engage” in discussing the column, because he already published a full rebuttal of the Pfizer study in an editorial in the scientific journal Circulation. FitzGerald’s criticisms noted that the Pfizer study did not compare equal doses of Celebrex and the generic drugs.

Another Penn researcher and cardiologist, Tilo Grosser, clarified that Penn’s public relations office, which published the press release, has

GISELL GOMEZ | ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR

The symposium stressed the importance of maintaining financial literacy and community involvement in the wake of Trump’s election.

The kickoff event hosted artists and activists from the National Black Author’s Tour. They spoke

about dismantling systems of oppression, the fear many black people felt living through Jim

experts in communicating medical and research data to the public. He also agreed with FitzGerald’s rebuttal to the Pfizer study, and stood by the research on Celebrex.

“The Forbes contributor was a Pfizer person, and for Pfizer this trial was immensely important because they want Celebrex to go over the counter,” he said. “[Pfizer’s] goal was to prove that their drug has a similar rate of side effects [as other drugs].

They ended up comparing apples to pears by not using equal doses.”

Grosser also discussed the more difficult ethical questions behind broad publication of scientific research, as well as how the media handles such research.

“I think it comes down to having journalists who take the time, and have the training, to understand what was done and make a good judgement call,” Grosser said.

“Together with their colleagues and their news organization [they should decide] whether it should be published and commented on or whether it shouldn’t be published.”

BLOOD DONORS WANTED $$$. Ages 18 and older.

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No one handles the settlement/judgement for my case.

DEAL WITH ME. Case #209-cv-05846-LP for me.

Francis “Hank” P. Madden Jr. 1. There is nothing mentally wrong with me.

2. No one has power of attorney for me.

3. No one handles my money or is my payee. A judge signed a judgement in federal court, a judgement YOU SWITCHED, GOT CAUGHT, AND WENT TO JAIL. 4. The amount at the time was $500 TRILLION plus penalties and interest with the federal laws. BAD FAITH CLAIMS. 5. I will not give any money or percent to any group, anyone, any government, or any college.

6. I did not give anyone the right to handle anything for me, take anything from me, or make any medical decision for me.

7. I DO NOT WORK FOR ANYONE and no one is my agent for sports.

8. I DID NOT SIGN OVER ANYTHING I RECEIVED FROM MY PARENTS OR GRANDPARENTS. I HAVE NOT RECEIVED A CENT YET. 9. I have changed addresses since the judgement.

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Interested in Contributing to Women’s Health Research?

Healthy Volunteers are Needed!

• Are you a healthy woman?

• 18-50 years old?

• NOT taking birth control pills?

• NOT on medication for depression, anxiety, pain or sleep disorders?

You may qualify for a research study to help advance knowledge on stress response in women.

The study involves 4 visits along with questionnaires and health measurements.

Participants will be compensated for their time.

For More Information about the study, please call the Penn Center for Women’s Behavioral Wellness at 215-746-1157

Crow and gave their personal thoughts on how 1968 Wharton graduate Donald Trump’s presidency may affect black people.

Maurice Henderson, a fellow at the Center for Public Health Initiative, who helped facilitate and coordinate the event, gave a disclaimer that the opinions expressed during the panel did not represent the University of Pennsylvania, himself or the LGBT Center.

“The first question I had was: matter to whom?” Lois Moses, an author, filmmaker and playwright on the panel said. “I feel like this is a question that really circles around humanity. The United States of America Incorporated, as I like to call it, is defined by a group of men, the founding fathers,

who were rapists, a part of a genocidal system and enslavement. It’s really a question of: Do human lives matter?”

Other panelists noted the importance of recognizing one’s worth as a black person.

“I can’t let Donald Trump or anyone else define my worth,” Duane Reid, the author of “Righteous Anger: Outcries for Justice” said. “My mere existence should be enough. Because I exist, I will be relevant regardless of those in the White House.”

Other authors and artists on the panel stressed the importance of financial literacy and local community involvement within the

black community. Keith Schenck, president of the Friends of Germantown Northwest, specifically emphasized the importance of making sure black communities are doing well at the local level before moving on to the national scale.

One guest of the panel, 18-yearold Nazir Alston, also emphasized the importance of local community involvement. He has been working on a documentary about Greenwood, Tulsa — popularly known as Black Wall Street — the economically prosperous town which was burned and looted by white racists. “[It] will help shed light on our history and what we can accomplish,” he said.

8 SPORTS

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2017

THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM

2016: A disappointing season for Penn’s gymnasts

Red and Blue failed to recapture Ivy Classic title ANANYA CHANDRA Photo Manager

Overall, the 2015-2016 season was one of improvement for Penn gymnastics.

Starting the season with a score of 190.625 at the Lindsey Ferris Invitational, the Red and Blue finished the ECAC Championships with a team score of 193.050.

But on the road in between these destinations, the Quakers’ campaign was a mix of successes and shortcomings. While Penn had a consistent showing on the floor throughout the year, they underperformed at various meets throughout their season.

At the annual Ivy Classic, senior Elyse Shenberger earned a share of the Ivy title on bars, which was Penn’s only individual title of the meet. Only three Ivy

schools besides Penn have varsity gymnastics teams (Cornell, Yale, and Brown), so the team’s last place finish was disappointing considering Penn entered the year as the team to beat after clinching the Ivy Championship in 2015.

Despite the disappointment at the Ivy Classic, Penn did send ten gymnasts (five seniors and five underclassmen) to St. Louis, Missouri to compete at the USA Gymnastics Women’s Collegiate National Championship. As the top-placing gymnast from Penn, then-junior Rachel Graham competed on the floor in the finals, but the Quakers failed to qualify for the team finals.

Still, the general mood of the gymnasts about last season seems to be one of optimism. “I don’t think any of us walked away with any regrets from last year. We really grew as a team, and we kind of found that everyone could adopt a bunch of different roles that we didn’t know we had before,� junior

captain Kyra Levi said. “The inter-class relationships became stronger, and the coaching staff really grew to know how to work with us individually and as a team.�

And the growth from last year has shown this season.

The team has already started this season with a second-place finish at the 10th annual Lindsey Ferris Invitational. With a score of 193.275, the Quakers have already topped last year’s season best score, setting a high benchmark for the rest of the upcoming year. “I think just overall it served as a huge motivation for everyone ... (to come) into this year with such a strong team,� junior Ally Podsednik said.

In the past six years, the Quakers have taken home three Ivy Classic titles — and with the fuel of last year’s results pushing them, the gymnasts at Rockwell Gymnasium are dead set to get back on this trend.

ILANA WURMAN | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Senior captain Rachel Graham was one of the Quakers’ brightest spots lin a down year last year, as she competed for Penn at the USA Gymnastics Women’s Collegiate National Championships on the floor.

Stipanovich, Swirbalus earn Player of the Week honors PotW award is second straight for a women’s basketball player

onslaught on Yale and Brown this weekend with a combined 152 points between the two games. An all-around offensive effort led by Stipanovich, who earned her fifth Ivy League Player of the Week award in her illustrious college career, allowed the Quakers to remain undefeated in Ivy play.

The reigning Ivy League Player of the Year has been nothing short of fantastic for the Quakers in her final campaign, averaging 12.5 points and 9.7 rebounds per game as one of Penn’s stars on both sides of the ball.

And this weekend was no different.

Against Yale on Friday night, Stipanovich ended the night with a team-high 13 points and 10 rebounds, recording her seventh double-double of the year in just 13 contests.

JONATHAN POLLACK Sports Editor

For Penn women’s basketball, the hardware just keeps on rolling in. And for Penn gymnastics, it didn’t take long to show up.

A pair of athletes were recognized by their respective conferences for their efforts in the past seven days, as senior basketball center Sydney Stipa nov ich a nd sophomore gymnast Nicole Swirbalus were respectively given Ivy League Player of the Week and ECAC Specialist of the Week honors his week.

On the hardwood, the Quakers unleashed an offensive

The following night, Stipanovich put up a season-high 17 points while shooting 67 percent from the field in an 86-60 rout of Brown. She also added seven rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal.

Stipanovich’s award is the second Ivy League Player of the Week nod in a row for the Quakers, as junior forward Michelle Nwokedi claimed the hardware last week. *

EXPECTATIONS

Skill Level:

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>> PAGE 10

Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit 1 to 9.

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full of new talent for this year, one may suppose that the team is maybe missing some needed experience since only three seniors remain: Jill Fordiani, Rachel Graham, and Kelly Tan. However, the team does not believe that this is an issue at all. “Everyone on the team is a leader,� Graham said. “Whether any of us are a freshman in the first week of school or a senior about to graduate, we come in motivated and determined to be leaders within our own team.�

With a determined mentality, strong leadership and teamwork, and an impressive group of recruits, Penn gymnastics is hoping to reach successful heights once again.

New Year, New Beer.

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going to have somebody else who is consistent and ready to go.�

The team will have to take advantage of its depth in order to avoid another fourth-place finish in the Ivy Classics Championship as happened in 2016. A relatively young squad, the Quakers will rely on marquee performances by freshmen in almost every event this season.

Freshman Emma Cullen competed on the uneven bars and beam at the Lindsey Ferris Invitational on Saturday, scoring a 9.725 on bars and 9.650 on the beam. Fellow freshman Tara Mills made her vault debut with a score of 9.600.

The Quakers, knowing they are going to need these consistent performances from their

youngest gymnasts, have already placed a emphasis on performing under pressure. “When we were going to compete, everyone would go and I wasn’t worried about whether we were going to make it. I was confident in every single routine that we did,� Cullen said. “It was fun competing, rather than nervewracking.� “This year we went in really focused on consistency, and focused on what we can control, which is our personal routine,�

Levi said. “We had six people in every lineup focusing on their routine, and then we would get six hit routines. We had calm, consistent people go up and that’s what led to the culmination of our success.�

The Quakers will look to keep the ball rolling this weekend, facing off against Yale in the Palestra on Saturday.

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Meanwhile, Penn gymnastics only recently completed its first competition of the season, but even that was enough time for Swirbalus to make a major impression on the ECAC. The Quakers as a whole had a major breakout performance on Saturday, scoring 193.275 points at the Lindsey Ferris

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Invitational for the team’s highest single-meet effort since February 2015.

And at the forefront of that unprecedented showing was Swirbalus, whose ridiculous effort of 9.850 points on the beam was a career-high and the fifth-best performance in the event in school history. Swirbalus individually took sixth place in the event at the meet, and her performance is the highest beam score across the entire ECAC in the young 2017 season.

In addition to her stellar beam effort, the sophomore also contributed to Penn’s second-place performance with a solid 9.550 showing on the floor. With the stellar seasonopen ing effor t, Swi rba lus brought home her first career honor from the ECAC.

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SPORTS 9

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2017

Red and Blue prep for first dual meet against Yale Penn coming off strong start at season opener COLE JACOBSON Sports Editor

It seemed unprecedented only days ago, but Penn gymnastics has a target on its back.

So when the Quakers take to the mats for the first time since last weekend’s eye-opening performance in a home showdown against Yale, the task for coach John Ceralde’s squad will be simple: prove that their stellar season opener was no fluke.

After Penn (2-1, 1-0 Ivy) finished in last place at the 2016 Ivy Classic and proceeded to graduate a quintet of seniors who all qualified for last spring’s USA Gymnastics Collegiate Nationals, few outside the Quakers’ locker room expected the Red and Blue to immediately vault back into title contention.

But after a second-place effort last week including a team score of 193.275 — Penn’s best in any

meet since February 2015 — the nation quickly learned that the twelve-time Ivy Classic champions are back in business.

The breakout performance catapulted Penn up to No. 42 in Division I, the highest out of the Ivy League and the entire ECAC, making the Quakers the prohibitive league favorites early on.

“We had confidence coming in, but I think we ended up doing better than we thought we could; everyone was just really excited and really focused, and it all fell together,” said junior captain Kyra Levi, who was Penn’s only gymnast to individually win an event with a phenomenal 9.850 on the bars. “We had heard we were capable of it — everyone told us we were capable of it — but we proved it to ourselves, and it’s exciting knowing we can build off that.”

Having already topped one Ivy League rival last weekend in No. 55 Cornell, the Red and Blue will get a chance to ride that momentum against a No. 58 Yale

ALEX FISHER | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Junior Kyra Levi scored a 9.850 on the uneven bars, helping the Quakers take home second place at the Lindsey Ferris Invitational this past weekend, The score was good for fifth-best in program history..

(0-4, 0-0) team that they’ve built quite a bit of familiarity with.

In 2016, the Quakers bested the Bulldogs by a mere 0.850 points in a dual meet, finished one place behind Yale at the Ivy Classic, then responded to finish two spots ahead of the Elis at the ECAC Championships to take the season series.

Despite the recent history, though, athletes and coaches insist there’s no rivalry brewing.

“We compete the same against any team,” said senior captain Rachel Graham, the team’s lone USAG Nationals finalist a year ago. “Going into each meet, we do the same routines, and we’re just as focused against anybody.”

If the name on the opponents’ uniforms doesn’t add extra emotion to the meet, though, the competition’s setting has to give an extra boost to athletes and fans alike.

Not only will Saturday represent the home opener — and just one of three home meets all season — for the Quakers,

but it is also part of Penn’s firstever “Beauty and the Beast” joint-sport event, as both Penn gymnastics and wrestling will simultaneously be competing in the Palestra.

“This is something I think all of us have heard of other schools doing, and it seemed to be really successful in other situations,” Levi said. “It’s pretty cool to come together with another Penn team, since we don’t ever really get to do that in different sports.”

Once the judges signal the start of competition, though, it will be all business for the Quakers — and if all goes as planned, the Red and Blue will leave no doubt on their status as conference title contenders.

“I think [last week] really set the tone for the rest of this season, and everyone’s just really pumped up to get back into the gym and keep improving,” said sophomore captain Caroline Moore, whose 29.275 points was Penn’s highest all-around total in that meet. “Every meet counts more than the last one.”

Quakers take momentum into Big 5 matchup with Villanova

W. HOOPS | Penn riding

on Wednesday.

In Villanova (8-9), Penn will The Quakers (9-4, 3-0 Ivy) are face a surging team that has won six game win streak fresh off two double-digit wins four of its last five contests. The against Ivy opponents, most nota- Wildcats’ defense has been strong JONATHAN POLLACK bly an 86-60 drubbing of Brown lately, giving up just 54.2 points per Sports Editor on Saturday that saw four players game over that stretch. Villanova reach double figures in scoring. has given the Quakers fits in recent TONIGHT The two wins stretched the Red years, as the Wildcats have won and Blue’s win streak to six, and the previous 14 meetings, dating Villanova they have not lost in over a month. all the way back to the 2001-2002 (8-9) The wins also represented the season. The matchup also has an Quakers’ first victories at home interesting side-storyline: Penn and 7 p.m.

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performance in coach Mike McLaughlin’s tenure. That game also featured the most assists, three pointers and field goals made, and the best field goal percentage of any game in all of McLaughlin’s eight years as coach.

The Quakers’ offensive efforts in the past few weeks have not been top-heavy though. Although the team continues to run through senior center Sydney Stipanovich and junior forward Michelle Nwokedi, everyone has stepped up lately, from Ross’ dropping 19 points on Brown to junior Beth Brzozowski’s clutch treys against Princeton. With so many players contributing, McLaughlin can feel confident with any lineup he throws out there.

“I think they’re just starting to get really comfortable with each other, their spacing is a lot better, and we made shots,” he said. “I think that kind of spiraled in a positive way, credit the way we played, but the ball went in and I think we really fed off that.”

On the other side of the ball, the Red and Blue just passed perhaps their biggest test of the season by limiting Brown’s Ivy-leading offense to just 60 points. Penn has been dominant on the defensive side of the ball all season, leading the Ancient Eight with just 52.3 points against per game.

“We came out and we played [Brown] the way we usually play, and they did a really good job, they attacked us from the middle and

we adjusted,” McLaughlin said.

“That’s what I was happier about...

I think it was a good in-game adjustment the girls made and I thought we defended a really good offensive team really well.”

The Villanova game marks the first game of a nearly three-week break from Ivy play for the Red and Blue. Such a break might derail the momentum of some teams, but the Quakers are not concerned.

“I don’t think it matters at all,” Ross said. “It’s fun to play in the Big 5 too, and we’re really excited, so we’re not letting any energy go away from what we got from the Ivy play.”

If all goes well on Wednesday, the Quakers can reverse one streak while extending another.

Check out this Thursday’s feature in

SUPER ‘NOVA

A YEAR TO FORGET

Penn women’s basketball is on a roll, but their next opponent is too. They take on ‘Nova tonight

2016 saw gymnastics finish last in the Ivy. In order to move forward, they must look back

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2017

ALEX FISHER | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

g n i v

o M on UP

S

aturday was just the beginning.

After recording its highest team score since February 2015 in the first meet of the season this past Saturday in Washington DC, Penn gymnastics looks poised to have a breakout season in 2017.

A score of 193.275 propelled the Quakers (2-1, 1-0 Ivy) to a second-place finish in their first contest of the season, beating out UNC and Ivy rival Cornell while yielding the top spot to No. 10 George Washington. The meet came with benchmark performances across the board. The Red and Blue came away with a team score of 47.800 on the uneven bars, good for fifth

place all-time in the Penn record books.

Sophomore Nicole Swirbalus also put in a career-high score of 9.850 on the balance beam, again good for fifth place in the Penn record books. Several gymnasts hit careerhighs in their respective events over the weekend.

Despite their early success, the team claims the only direction they can go from here is up.

“That definitely wasn’t our best showing, and it was still pretty good,” junior Kyra Levi said.

“We definitely still have areas to improve on, which is exciting,” sophomore Caroline

Moore added. “With a start to the season like that, we can only build more from here.”

The team agrees that they have gotten better in every event since last year, with deeper lineups at every position.

“For example, with beam, we have like two times the number of girls who can compete, who are ready at any moment to compete,” said Levi. “For the coaching staff and for us, it’s exciting and it takes a lot of the pressure off. Things happen, but we know that no matter what happens, we’re SEE EXPECTATIONS PAGE 8

Marquee showing for Quakers at opening meet Penn earns its highest team score since 2015 PAUL HARRYHILL Sports Reporter

With a second place finish in last weekend’s Lindsey Fer ris Invitational, Penn gymnastics could not have asked for a better start to its season.

The four-team competition featured the Quakers, North Carolina, Cornell, and then-10th ranked George Washington, who hosted the event. After a somewhat disappointing 2016 season where the team failed to defend its title at the Ivy Classic, Penn came into this meet with many new faces and a firm belief in the team’s ability to succeed this season.

“I want to be a part of one of the best teams Penn has ever had,” freshman Tara Mills told Penn Athletics before the season started.

Through one meet, Mills and her teammates are off to a pretty good start.

The first event of the day was the uneven bars, and the Red and Blue (2-1, 1-0 Ivy), fielding a relatively inexperienced lineup, scored a 47.800. While this was the lowest event score of the tournament for the Quakers, there were some standout performances.

Three freshmen – Kellie Flavin, Alex Kothe, and Emma Cullen – scored 9.525 or higher, but the star of this event was junior captain Kyra Levi, who scored a 9.850, which won the meet and is the fifth-best score in the event Penn gymnastics history.

Next, the Quakers made their way to the beam, where the team scored a 48.700,

which was the team’s best event score of the day and the meet’s second-highest beam score behind only the Colonials. Unlike Penn’s uneven bars lineup, this group of six was brimming with experience. Sophomore Nicole Swirbalus led the way with a 9.850, a personal best and fifth-highest score in program history, followed by sophomore Caroline Moore with a 9.775, and senior Rachel Graham with a 9.750.

At this point the Quakers had established themselves in second place, and they would hold that position for the rest of the meet.

The Red and Blue put together another great perfor ma nce on the f loor, scoring a 48.675, which was again second best of the tournament behind George Washington. Junior Alex Hartke starred in this event, notching a 9.775. Kyra Levi, riding the momentum of her historic uneven bars showing, put up a 9.750, a nd sophomore Morga n Hunker scored a 9.725, which equaled her personal best.

A solid 48.100 point showing in the day’s concluding event, the vault, was more than enough to hold off North Carolina and Cornell for second place. Moore put up another 9.775, a personal best performance, to earn top marks for the Quakers.

Junior Ally Podsednik had a 9.650, and freshman Tara Mills scored a very strong 9.600 in her first competition at the collegiate level.

The Quakers finished the day with a combined score of 193.275, the program’s best performance since posting a 193.775 in a dual meet way back in February 2015. So as the team approaches its home opener against Yale on Saturday, it’s clear that the preseason optimism is more than justified.

Strong recruiting class looks to help Quakers rebound

Large freshman class to provide boost, offset small senior class CHRIS PROANO Sports Reporter

Penn gymnastics is looking for a fresh start.

After placing a disappointing fourth place at the Ivy Classic last season, Penn is hoping to raise its performance level with an impressive group of six new recruits.

And if the opening meet of the season was any indication, this class is ready to help the Red and Blue get back to the top right now.

The team’s freshmen thrived at the Lindsey Ferris Invitational, where Kellie Flavin started with a

score of 9.650 on the uneven bars and fellow rookie Alex Kothe added a 9.525. Tara Mills completed her collegiate debut with a mark of 9.600 on the vault towards the end of the meet.

Emma Cullen, who scored a 9.725 on the bars, spoke about her impressions of college gymnastics so far.

“The main difference between college and high school gymnastics is the sense of teamwork,” Cullen said. “In my past experiences, the sport has been mainly focused on individual performances rather than as being part of a team.”

Cullen’s resume does show that her individual abilities should be regarded highly; she has competed in the Level 10 Junior Olympic National Qualifier. But

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despite her individual accolades, her greatest satisfaction comes from the girls wearing the Red and Blue around her.

“Coming into Penn has been a difficult transition for many of us, but we were still able to feel welcome and quickly fit in with the rest of the team,” she said. “It was definitely an eye-opening experience to see everyone else cheer for me during the meet. I appreciate them, because this is a side of the sport I really have not experienced before.”

The other recruits also have their own list of notable accolades: Natalie Borden is a three-time Level 10 qualifier to the Region 5 Championships, both Kothe and Flavin qualified to the Level 10 Junior Olympic National Championships in 2016,

Mills led her high school team to two state titles and an undefeated season, and Caroline Mitsch has been a Level 10 competitor for three years.

But while the Red and Blue are gaining plenty in terms of new skill and ability, the rookie gymnasts have made an equal impact outside the arena by bringing their own excitement and winning mentality to the team.

“Like all the other previous classes, the new group is also bringing a high amount of camaraderie,” coach John Ceralde said.

“Expectations are different for us this year since we know that we have a great opportunity to achieve a lot of goals.”

Although Penn gymnastics is

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SEE FRESHMEN PAGE 8

ALEX FISHER | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Penn gymnastics coach John Ceralde will need big contributions from his freshman if his team is to compete for the Ivy Classic title.

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