TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2016
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FAMILIES Scarcity in the sectors
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Only five courses fill Living World sector this semester SUN JAE LEE Staff Reporter
IOWA
This semester, the College of Arts and Sciences offered only five courses that fulfilled the Living World sector, four of which were closed a week before the add deadline. 26 courses can fulfill the Society sector, 35 can fulfill the History and Tradition sector and 40 can fulfill the Arts and Letters sector. Over the past few semesters, the number of courses that can fulfill sectors in science and math have been decreasing and many students compete to enroll in the few courses offered. The Daily Pennsylvanian sat down with Associate Dean in the College and Director of Academic Affairs Kent Peterman and College sophomore and director of the Undergraduate Assembly’s Academic Affairs Committee Nathaniel Rome to talk about why there are so few classes that fulfill these required sectors. 1. To be considered for a sector, a course must fulfill certain qualifications. Course selection is based off of recommendations from departments. However, the classes must not have prerequisites and they should be helpful for non-majors as well as majors. “It shouldn’t be a course that is only of interest for students who are going to be doing more work in that field,” Peterman, who is also head of the Sector Requirement Committee, said. “If that was the only course you took in History and Tradition, it should be
Cruz takes Republicans, Democrats remain split DAN SPINELLI City News Editor
CLIVE, IOWA — Just after the first round of votes had been counted, Ben Swartz knew he would have to make a choice: his wife or Bernie Sanders.
At a crowded caucus at Indian Hills Junior High School — a few miles outside of Des Moines — Swartz joined 336 other Democrats in the annual first-in-the-nation Iowa caucus, famous as much for its byzantine rules and procedures as it is for its early date. In order for a Democratic candidate’s votes to count, their supporters must collect at least 15 percent of the
supporters in an individual precinct. Only 17 other Iowans in the Clive-3 precinct supported former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, meaning those unlucky Iowans had to either switch their vote or have them not count. In New Hampshire or South Carolina — the two primaries to follow in consecutive weeks — voters like Swartz and his wife, Joyce, could
have voted for their preferred candidates in private. No hassle or public pressure necessary. Not the case here in Iowa. “My wife may kill me,” he said after replacing his O’Malley sticker with a Sanders one. Hours later, O’Malley would suspend his campaign after yielding less than one SEE IOWA PAGE 7 AMANDA SUAREZ | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
SEE SECTORS PAGE 5
Profs disrupt trend of low rated calculus classes
Adam Grant on the secrets of originality
A few calculus profs get high ratings despite low average in dept.
Grant spoke about his new book, “Originals”
JINAH KIM Staff Reporter
CARTER COUDRIET Digital Director
Google “Math 114 UPenn” and you’ll find yourself on a page that can be summed up in one word: outdated. Blurry headers show a low-resolution picture of Isaac Newton and a Home button that looks like it would have felt antiquated 10 years ago. The link to the syllabus contains the note: “New for Fall 2013.” Penn professor Robert Ghrist, one of the professors teaching Math 114, or Calculus II, was quick to agree that the site needs work. “I know, right?” he said, rolling his eyes. According to Ghrist, the Math Department is currently in the middle of renovating their website. As of yet, very little seems to have changed. A look on the Wayback Machine, an internet archive of website screen captures, shows a virtually identical site on June 22, 2006 — nearly 10 years ago. To be sure, the merit of a class is not dependent on how aesthetically appealing its website is. But the stagnant state of Math 114’s course website seems representative of a larger problem: despite the low ratings and negative student responses it receives year after year, the
Bad ideas and procrastination plague professional and students alike, but according to renowned author and professor Adam Grant, they may be the source of your next great idea. Speaking at Monday night’s Authors@Wharton event, the charismatic Grant gave a preview of his new book Originals, which delves into the value of creativity and
LULU WANG | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Professor Adam Grant speaks to audience of students at Monday night’s Authors@Wharton event in the Penn Museum.
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individuality. “I’m interested in people who are proactive, who take initiative, who don’t just accept the status quo,” Grant said to a nearly full Harrison Auditorium in the Penn Museum. “Original people are nonconformists. They are people who drive creativity and change in the world.” Grant, who was voted as Wharton’s best professor by his students for four years in a row, signed and sold copies of his second book after taking the stage for a lecture and moderated Q&A. Grant SEE GRANT PAGE 2
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-Ben Facey
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