February 24, 2015

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014

THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

Penn and the Academy Awards John Legend isn’t the only alum that has won an Oscar BENJAMIN ZOU Contributing Reporter

Furda looks back on his days with sprint football

Who said engineers don’t win Oscars?

Cary Phillips, 1991 Ph.D recipient in computer science, officially became the proud recipient of his third Academy Award on Saturday, Feb. 7 — although his face never appeared on screen.

The Scientific and Technical Awards, commonly referred to as Sci-Tech Awards, have been conferred annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since their inception at the fourth annual Academy Awards ceremony in 1931 “in recognition of original developments that result in significant improvements in motion picture production and exhibition,” according to the Academy’s official webpage.

Phillips, the research and development supervisor at Industrial Light & Magic, a visual effects company, has been perfecting ILM’s digital animation methods for more than a decade along with fellow engineers Nicolas Popravka, Philip Peterson and Colette Mullenhoff, who also received honors during the ceremony. Although the Sci-Tech Awards are included among the Academy Awards, they are traditionally presented two weeks earlier than

IAN WENIK Sports Reporter

Every year, more than 25,000 students apply to Penn, their hopes and dreams neatly attached in PDF format and emailed through the Common App website. Ninety percent of those dreams will end with a letter of rejection or deferral.

But a lucky 2,500 or so — a “talented tenth,” so to speak — can eventually click through to a video once they realize they’ve just been admitted. They’ll be greeted by the smiling face of Penn Dean of Admissions Eric Furda, a one-man welcome wagon.

For two minutes, they’ll watch him hop around campus with a permanent smile. At one point, the entire student section at a basketball game shouts in unison with Furda: “WELCOME TO PENN” as he works to whip the new admitted students into a frenzy about the Penn story they’re about to create.

By and large, it works: 65 percent of students that saw “accepted” in 2014 took the plunge and committed to four years on campus.

To the new Penn student, Eric

SEE HOLLYWOOD PAGE 5

Columbia makes Bagnoli hire official

Furda can be one of a few things.

For many, he can be a campus celebrity, a target to be photographed with while out and about. For a select few, he can be their boss, as evidenced by the dozens of students that perennially clamor to fill up work-study jobs in the Admissions Office.

But for Penn sprint football, Eric Furda is something else.

He’s a legend. *** Even before he walked on campus, Furda was Penn sprint football’s center of attention.

When Furda arrived in 1983, it was a momentous occasion for the program. While the varsity football program could recruit players of all shapes, sizes and skill levels from far and wide, sprint football, which requires its players to remain under a maximum weight limit — 172 pounds today, 158 in Furda’s day — lacked the financial means at the time to do little more than accept walk-ons.

But Furda, an offensive line prospect from Amsterdam, N.Y., was a rare talent, a product of a high school that he helped lead to two league championships. The Quakers needed Furda and pursued him heavily.

“Literally standing on Locust SEE FURDA PAGE 7

Introductory press conference scheduled for Tuesday afternoon RILEY STEELE Senior Sports Editor

GREEK LIFE

It’s official: Al Bagnoli is going to Columbia.

After the Columbia Spectator reported on Sunday that Penn football’s all-time winningest coach had agreed to take the reins of the Lions’ football program, Columbia’s athletic department officially confirmed Monday that Bagnoli had been chosen as the Light Blue’s next head coach.

“Over the past decade Columbia Athletics has built a new winning tradition, enhancing the collegiate experience for thousands of student-athletes and our campus community,” Columbia President Lee C. Bollinger said in an email to the media.

“Our hiring of a uniquely accomplished teacher and coach like Al Bagnoli sends a powerful signal that we intend to ensure that Columbia football is part of that new winning tradition.”

The 62-year-old coached the Red and Blue for 23 seasons from 1992 through 2014, amassing an incredible nine Ivy League championships, including two stretches of three Ancient Eight titles in four years in the early 2000s. When Bagnoli announced last spring that he would retire after the 2014 season,

The week involves time and financial commitment for bigs

SEE FOOTBALL PAGE 7

ONE STEP CLOSER TO CHEAPER LIQUOR

Cookies, surprises and traditions during Big-Little Week RUIHONG LIU Staff Reporter

COURTESY OF ELAINE CHAO

During Big-Little Week, many newly joined sorority members share a week full of gifts and surprises.

PHILLY FASHION WEEK PAGE 2

PAGE 2

In the past few weeks, many girls have walked into their dorm rooms to be greeted by colorful posters, warm Wishbone chicken wings and cookies lying on their beds.

During Big-Little Week, many newly joined sorority members share a week full of gifts and

Voices on all sides of the political spectrum have expressed alarm at the lack of due process which the procedures … afford to respondents.”

surprises.

“Every day my Big pretty much showered me with ridiculous amounts of things in my room,” said Wharton freshman and Alpha Delta Pi new member Jaclyn Woodward.

For Zeta Tau Alpha Little and Wharton freshman Elaine Chao, the week is a period of enjoying being part of Greek life after the pledging process.

SEE BIG-LITTLE WEEK PAGE 2

TEAM OF BROTHERLY LOVE BACKPAGE

- Alec Ward

PAGE 4

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2 NEWS

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2015

THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM

PHOTO FEATURE | PHILADELPHIA FASHION WEEK

BIG-LITTLE WEEK

Philly Fashion Week featured ready-to-wear and couture collections by local designers and Project Runway Season 12 contestent Ken Laurence.

KATIE ZHAO AND FREDA ZHAO | CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER AND STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Pa. House brings state closer to cheaper liquor

Vote will decide the fate of state-run liquor stores JONATHAN BAER Staff Reporter

Republican legislators in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives just took the first step to get the state out of the liquor business.

The House Liquor Control Committee voted 15–10 along party lines to pass a bill that would privatize Pennsylvania’s JOYCE VARMA | SPORTS DESIGN EDITOR state-run liquor stores system, which would make the price of The House Liquor Control Committee voted 15–10 along party lines to pass a bill that would privatize alcohol drop. The Republican- Pennsylvania’s state-run liquor stores system, which would make the price of alcohol drop. backed proposal would sell the state-owned liquor stores to pri- Rep. James Roebuck (D-Phila- liquor system is more than just this issue all the way through vate distributors, allow grocery delphia), who represents Penn’s a budgetary issue. “It doesn’t and ask: If we are getting rid stores to sell wine and authorize district in the state House. address the long-term impact of a state system just because over 1,000 new liquor licenses.

Republicans, who unani- that the change would make in of people who reject anything This vote follows a similar at- mously supported the bill in terms of the way we sell alco- state-controlled, is what you get tempt, also from Republicans, 2013, have argued that selling hol and how we distribute it to in exchange any better? I’m not that failed in 2013. the state-run stores gives Penn- communities, and that’s the real convinced of that.”

“There are obviously needs sylvania more revenue at a time issue here,” Roebuck said in reRoebuck added that he needs for reform in the liquor system, when the deficit has reached $2 sponse to the reasoning behind to read the entire bill before he but I’m not certain that priva- billion. the Republican proposal. “I can definitively say how he will tizing is the right reform,” said For Democrats, the state-run think you have to really look at vote on it, but expressed strong

doubts.

While Democrats and Republicans in the state legislature remain divided, a majority of Pennsylvania voters agree with Republicans. A poll conducted by the Commonwealth Foundation in October 2013 found that 66 percent of likely Pennsylvanian voters want to privatize the state-run liquor store system.

The House General Assembly is expected to vote on the bill later this week, but the proposal’s future remains unclear. Although the bill will likely pass the legislature, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf has indicated he will veto the bill if it includes full privatization of state liquor stores.

“I just hope we have a chance for a full-scale debate on this, and it’s not going to be something we try to ram through on a spur-of-the-moment effort,” Roebuck said. “I would like to see us really look at options ... and not throw away everything to get a new system that might not work very well.”

south moon under MARLTON | PHILADELPHIA | WAYNE

SOUTHMOONUNDER.COM

>> PAGE 1

“During pledging you’re putting so much time to be part of something, and at Big-Little Week [you have] a person making sure you have fun,” Chao said.

While the sorority Littles treasured the moments of the week, it usually includes a significant time for their Bigs.

Most sororities have their Big-Little Week during weeks when their members are likely to have midterms.

“I was definitely not focusing on school that week because I was trying to send her to fun activities, make sure everything got delivered to her,” said College sophomore and Sigma Delta Tau member Sophie Beren. “I had two midterms last week, so it definitely interfered, but not in a bad way because I know that after my test, I can do more fun things and send her to do more fun activities.”

According to the Alpha Phi Finance Director and Wharton junior Alexandra Spada, members often help each other out. “ T hey w i l l co ord i nat e throughout the week to find out time that works,” she said. She added that she prepared things for Big-Little Week for her Little-Little when her Little had a lot of midterms.

Besides the time commitment, the week also puts financial pressure on the sorority members. While sororities such as ADPi give money to each Big to spend on gifts and decorations, others including Alpha Phi and SDT leave it up to the Bigs.

“You do what you can and everyone appreciates that you’re in Alpha Phi, no matter how much or little you spend. It’s really about welcoming you into the lineage and the family kind of thing,” Spada said. “Big-Little Week is on the person [who] gets a Little — that being said, it’s what you make of the week.”

To alleviate financial pressures, many lineages pass on gifts from previous years.

“Throughout the weeks, it’s like your own type of thing, but a lot of it is essentially sponsored by the sorority because you’re handing down a lot of the gifts you got from the previous year,” Beren said.

Spada agreed.

“You’re not the only one paying for all of the stuff, things are passed down,” she said. One of her lineage’s traditions is passing down a necklace.

Even though members receive similar gifts, sometimes comparison is inevitable.

“They all give you food, apparel and posters and balloons.

Some sisters might be more artistic, but you can tell each sister really spends a lot of effort. You can tell how much time your Big put in,” Chao said. “I don’t think there is one better than the other — people receive similar things.”

Since ADPi has a relatively early Big-Little Week, Woodward said there was less of an element of peer pressure.

“I don’t feel that there’s peer pressure because I was only focused on giving gifts to one person and at the end of the day we become good friends, so I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about what everyone else is doing,” Beren said.

For many of the new members, the love from their Big is more important than the monetary value of their gifts.

“It is really nice, you feel like you have a older sister. I have a younger sister, so it’s nice to have an older one,” Chao said.

“You have a lot of people who genuinely care about you. I got letters — hand-written, heartfelt letters. In a sense, it’s really nice getting people who care about you."

THEDP.COM | THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN

NEWS 3

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2015

Deciphering the mind of a criminal Penn professor researches social and genetic factors of crime SHOBA BABU Staff Reporter

The clues to a murder mystery may be in a suspect’s head all along.

Criminology Department Chair Adrian Raine is a pioneer in neurocriminology, a branch of criminology that explores the application of neuroscience techniques in understanding crime and violence.

Raine’s inspiration to study neurocriminology stems from his own rambunctious childhood experiences.

“I looked back and I remembered a time in my life between ages 9 to 11 when I was a bit on the antisocial side,” Raine said. During that time, he would engage in fights and even let out car tires.

“I could connect to not caring and fighting. I could connect to thrill seeking ... and I thought to myself, well I could have been on that road but somehow I got off,” Raine said. Although he had turned himself around by his teenage years, Raine continued to wonder what had driven his previous mischief.

Originally, Raine wanted to become a schoolteacher, but looking back at his childhood, he was inspired to take his studies in a new direction. Still, he did not have to sacrifice working with children — he studies childhood factors in criminal tendencies.

The field of neurocriminology was budding when Raine entered the professional world.

After receiving his doctorate from the University of York in England, Raine submitted 67 job applications, all of which resulted in rejections. His 68th application, however, earned him a job as professor at the University of Nottingham.

Today, Raine has been researching neurocriminology for 37 years, during which he has completed various research projects exploring the socio-biological factors of crime. One experiment in particular from 1994, which he considers a starting point for his research, explored the cognitive effects of birth

complications and maternal rejection on criminal tendencies in later stages of life.

After following a group of over 4,000 live male births for 18 years, Raine found that babies separated from their parents for prolonged periods of time during the first year of life or faced an unwelcome maternal reaction, along with birth complications, were three times more likely to commit violent crimes when they grew up compared to groups that had only one or neither of these issues. This suggested that a combination of social and genetic factors leads to criminal behavior.

Raine has also done brain imaging work and has found that criminal brains typically have some distinct features.

Raine found that when the prefrontal cortex — the area of the brain that is involved with checking impulsive behavior and controlling emotions — was damaged by either genetic or environmental factors like shaken baby syndrome or a head injury, an individual was more likely to demonstrate bad decisionmaking, blunting of emotion and psychopathic personality, leading to a lack of consideration for moral

issues.

“If you are not empathic and you don’t have feelings for others, you can imagine that you’re more likely to go out and rob someone because you’re not thinking of others. You’re just thinking of yourself,” Raine said.

In addition, Raine found that psychopaths’ amygdalae — the area of the brain that generates emotions like fear and controls moral decision-making — were physically shrunken by 18 percent. This shrinkage can be either genetic or caused by the environment. Psychopaths are more likely to have been brought up in homes where they do not develop normal social relationships in early life. Raine’s research showed that this neglect can lead to physical shrinkage of that area of the brain, which results in rash actions without consideration of repercussions.

“Coming from England, I like to think that the Beatles were always right,” Raine said of this research.

“All you need is love.”

Raine said neurocriminological research brings up questions on the moral culpability of criminals and has been increasingly prevalent in the courtroom.

“Psychopaths know it’s wrong to kill ... But do they have the feeling, the moral feeling of what is right and wrong?” Raine said. “From our work and brain imaging on psychopaths during moral decision making, we’ve suggested that psychopaths lack the feeling for what is right and wrong and if you lack the feeling of what is right and wrong, well maybe you’ll do the wrong thing ... because emotion and feeling are the engine that drives moral behavior.”

He added that it poses a moral dilemma between punishing people for factors beyond their control and

holding them responsible for their harmful actions.

“If the causes of terrible behavior are produced by factors beyond an individual’s control ... then can we blame them?” Raine said. “On the other hand, we don’t want excuses for crime, we want responsibility.

We want retribution.”

Raine stressed that his research impacts communities far beyond Philadelphia, which is why he published a book titled “The Anatomy of Violence” in 2013. Currently, Raine is working on a television series for PBS entitled, “A Crime to Remember.”

34st.com

CREATIVE WRITING CONTESTS FOR PENN STUDENTS The Creative Writing Program is sponsoring the following contests this spring for Penn students. Contest winners will be selected by judges who have no affiliation with the university. The contests are open to students of any school.

Entries may be left in the designated box at the Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing (CPCW), 3808 Walnut St. Entries should bear: student's name, school, year, address, email address, and category of submission. Do not submit the same piece for more than one contest.

This year’s deadline: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, NOON POETRY: Submit two copies of up to 5 poems (5 page total). Undergraduate $400 first prize, Graduate prize $100.

FICTION ($400 first prize): Submit two copies of one short story only, maximum 7000 words (Undergraduate only) DRAMATIC WRITING ($400 first prize): Submit two copies of one script for stage, screen, television, or radio (Undergraduate or Graduate) REVIEW ($400 first prize) Submit two copies of one review of a current book, play, film, cd, art exhibition, or performance (Undergraduate only) LITERARY TRANSLATION ($400 first prize) Submit two copies of up to 3 pp. of verse or 5 pp. of prose translated into English from any language; include two copies of the original text and a brief note (75 words) about the work and author if not well-known (Undergraduate or Graduate) CREATIVE NONFICTION ($400 first prize) Submit two copies of one nonfiction piece only, maximum 7000 words (Undergraduate only)

CREATIVE • BALANCED • SIMPLE 1608 SOUTH STREET • PHILADELPHIA, PA 215-790-0330 • ENTREEBYOB.COM

STWING

JOURNALISTIC WRITING ($600 prize) Submit two copies of one newspaper or magazine article, feature story, exposé or other piece of investigative journalism, maximum 7000 words work can already have been published (Undergraduate only) http://www.writing.upenn.edu/cw/prizes.html

House AND Kings Court English College

SCience and technology wing PRESENT

the 2015

RUBE GOLDBERG Competition

Teams will build a Rube Goldberg machine, an overcomplicated contraption that performs a very simple task—in this case, a challenge which will be announced at the event. Creations will be judged by faculty and staff, many from the School of Engineering.

Prizes will be awarded to the top three machines!

WHEN: OPEN SHOP HOURS

Saturday, February 28, 2 PM – 9 PM Sunday, March 1, 11 AM –2 PM (Participants do not need to be present the entire time)

PRESENTATION AND JUDGING

Sunday, March 1, 3 PM

WHERE: Class of 1938 Lounge,

Kings Court English College House

REGISTER AT: www.stwing.upenn.edu/rgb/register.php Open to all Penn students. Teams of up to four will be formed. Team preferences or general questions can be emailed to beeker@stwing.upenn.edu. Necessary tools and materials will be provided.

www.stwing.upenn.edu/rgb

BY THE

Penn Arts and Sciences’ Knowledge by the Slice lunchtime series offers educational talks led by insightful faculty experts. Did we mention there’s pizza? So sit back, relax—and have a slice on us.

WHAT IS AMERICAN ART? GWENDOLYN DUBOIS SHAW

Associate Professor and Undergraduate Chair, Department of History of Art

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2015 | NOON–1 P.M. Irvine Auditorium, Amado Recital Hall In the U.S.’s increasingly pluralistic society, the idea that works of art should be discussed in separate groups based on a perception of a shared “identity” among the objects’ makers, rather than on the works’ thematic or conceptual affinities, seems increasingly regressive. Shaw will examine the historical, curatorial, and critical strategies and tactics for using such markers as race, gender, sexuality, and regional identity to interpret art today.

Knowledge by the Slice Live Can’t make it to the lecture? Now you can watch Knowledge by the Slice live online! Visit Knowledge by the Slice Live to learn more, sign up for an email reminder, or view the lecture. You can also view past Knowledge by the Slice lectures here: www.sas.upenn.edu/slice

4

OPINION Call the cops

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2015 VOL. CXXXI, NO. 21 131st Year of Publication

MATT MANTICA President JILL CASTELLANO Editor-in-Chief SHAWN KELLEY Opinion Editor LUKE CHEN Director of Online Projects LAUREN FEINER City News Editor KRISTEN GRABARZ Campus News Editor CLAIRE COHEN Assignments Editor STEVEN TYDINGS Social Media Director PAOLA RUANO Copy Editor

TALKING BACKWARD | Penn should sue the government for the right to treat rape as a crime

L

ast Wednesday, a group of faculty at Penn Law School published an open letter criticizing the University’s new procedures for investigating and adjudicating allegations of sexual violence on campus. The letter claims that the new policies infringe upon the due process and fundamental fairness rights of students facing accusations of sexual misconduct in the system which the new policy creates.

The professors’ concerns are well-reasoned and powerfully presented. The letter did not, however, go so far as to suggest that the University should stop attempting to handle allegations of sexual assault — a heinous violent crime — within a campus disciplinary system originally intended to address academic integrity violations and noncriminal conduct infractions.

The University isn’t at immediate liberty to do this, however.

Since it accepts research funding from the federal government, Penn is subject to regulation by the Department of Education, specifically the Office for Civil Rights. Since 2011, OCR has been vigorously enforcing a set of “policy guidelines” which require federally-funded colleges to handle complaints of sexual assault on-campus; that is, they forbid colleges from handing cases off to law enforcement for resolution.

However, the legal status of these requirements is dubious.

The OCR “guidelines” were put in place without being submitted for public notice and comment before taking effect, which is required for all “substantive” changes in regulation by the 1946 Administrative Procedure Act. OCR never submitted them, making it highly doubtful that these regulations would stand up in court.

Penn should use this failure as grounds upon which to seek

offenders, expulsion utterly fails to serve society’s public safety interests or victims’ retributive interests where violent crime is concerned.

In practice, campus proceedings have repeatedly managed to mistreat both complainants and respondents, depending on the school. Even as we continue to hear stories of assaults hushed up by institutions eager to protect their reputations and sports teams, colleges have a lousy record of taking sufficient steps to ensure that innocent students aren’t found guilty. In addition to law professors at Penn and Harvard, voices on all sides of the political spectrum have expressed alarm at the lack of due process which the procedures mandated and recommended by OCR afford to respondents. And their concerns seem to bear out, as there are a number of cases in which either courts found that accused students were treated unfairly in campus proceedings

an injunction against the enforcement of these regulations, which mandate a system which is both deeply flawed in theory and in practice and has an abominably bad record at delivering justice for students. From a theoretical angle, requiring that campus disciplinary systems adjudicate sexual assault forces universities to effectively perform in-house criminal investigations without the expertise, resources or procedural safeguards which come along with the criminal justice system. Even if we do trust the processes which universities employ — and experience tells us we shouldn’t — university disciplinary processes are toothless to adequately remedy a serious crime like sexual assault.

Even when such systems work perfectly, a rapist remains free to walk the streets, potentially victimizing others. Especially with recent research suggesting that a significant portion of those who commit sexual assault are repeat

or in which universities — including our neighbors at Swarthmore and Saint Joe’s — settled lawsuits with students claiming to have been deprived of due process in campus sexual assault investigations.

Advocates for on-campus adjudication often claim that it’s necessary because police tend to mishandle rape cases. However, to my mind, that’s an argument for reforming police practices, not for creating a seperate, “better” justice system open only to those lucky enough to attend college. To be sure, colleges have a role to play in such reforms in addition to taking steps to prevent sexual assault on their campuses and to provide support to victims. As a school with its own private police force, Penn is uniquely positioned to take the lead in developing ways for both victims and the accused to get justice regardless of student status.

By suing the government,

ALEC WARD Penn could give itself room to begin working on a criminal justice-based response policy to campus sexual assault which could at once put rapists away for real while ensuring accused students are treated fairly.

ALEC WARD is a College sophomore from Washington, D.C., studying history. His email address is alecward@ sas.upenn.edu. “Talking Backward” usually appears every Wednesday.

RILEY STEELE Senior Sports Editor HOLDEN MCGINNIS Sports Editor

More than a week for women

CARTOON

LAINE HIGGINS Sports Editor COLIN HENDERSON Sports Editor ANALYN DELOS SANTOS Creative Director

GUEST COLUMN BY JULIA SLATER

A

EMILY CHENG News Design Editor KATE JEON News Design Editor JOYCE VARMA Sports Design Editor HENRY LIN Online Graphics Editor IRINA BIT-BABIK News Photo Editor ILANA WURMAN Sports Photo Editor TIFFANY PHAM Photo Manager CARTER COUDRIET Video Producer CLAIRE HUANG Video Producer

NICK MONCY is a College junior from North Miami, Fla. His email address is nickmon@sas.upenn.edu.

MEGAN YAN Business Manager TAYLOR YATES Finance Manager

Lies my institution told me

SAM RUDE Advertising Manager EMMA HARVEY Analytics Manager CAITLIN LOYD Circulation Manager

THIS ISSUE JEN KOPP Associate Copy Editor JULIA FINE Associate Copy Editor BECKY TAYLOR-ASHFIELD Associate Copy Editor ALLISON LITT Associate Copy Editor NICK BUCHTA Associate Copy Editor TOM NOWLAN Associate Sports Editor COSETTE GASTELU Social Media Producer CATHERINE SAID Social Media Producer JESSICA MCDOWELL Deputy News Editor

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.

LETTERS Have your own opinion? Send your guest column to Opinion Editor Shawn Kelley at kelley@theDP.com.

THE VISION | Penn’s “no-loan policy” embodies the University’s hesitance to maintain

I

n the Penn Archives, there exists an article

by Marvin P. Lyon Jr. entitled, “Blacks at Penn, Then and Now.” It describes the stories and experiences of students of color at the University throughout its history. One particularly powerful quote taken from Arthur Huff Fauset, a Penn student in the 1920s, states, “White Penn did not demonstrate ill will (toward black students) … but rather determined ambivalence.”

Lyon continues by saying, “As indicated by these comments, Penn’s environment was not ideal for the success of its black students.” When examining these stories, you can see the parallels between the challenges students faced in the past at this institution, and the challenges that exist today. This is no more evident than when we examine Penn’s stance on its supposed “no-loan policy,” and the indifference the institution shows towards lowincome students who have had no choice but to take out loans while at Penn. The existence of these students is proof positive that this institutional policy is a lie — an abominable form of deceit that our institution has been complicit in for far too long.

On the first of February, The Daily Pennsylvanian reported on the issue of Penn’s supposed “no-loan policy” and the questions that arose from Penn’s low ranking amongst the Ivies in the College Scorecard released by

policies that allow low-income students to thrive the White House. University Director of Financial Aid Joel Carstens brushed off the ranking, stating, “I think what we see most often, as far as the average student, is that they’re borrowing because it’s available to them, not because it’s required.”

Carstens’ misguided perception of students who have taken out loans is an insult to the vast majority of students and families who have taken out loans to afford Penn. When I graduate at the end of this semester, I will have a total of $48,500 owed in both federal and private loans. My parents did not take out these loans

solely to keep up with its rival institutions.

Carstens’ comments move from belittling to willfully ignorant near the end of the DP article, when he expresses a “desire” to discover why students choose to take out loans at Penn.

In my term as UMOJA cochair, I and other board members engaged in several conversations with Carstens.

Throughout these conversations, Student Financial Services has both heard the pleas of student leaders and has seen Penn’s data on student loans — data that is not publicly disclosed. SFS has more than enough informa-

C a rs te ns’ c o m m e nts a re n ot j us t demeaning to the families of students … but a slap in the face.“ in some ill-advised attempt to live more comfortably in the short-term. They took out loans because they had depleted the entirety of their personal savings paying for my education. Taking out loans was our absolute last resort. Carstens’ comments are not just demeaning to the families of students who are ultimately forced to go into debt to fund their education, but a slap in the face. They are a dismissal of the plight of many Penn students in an attempt to save the reputation of a university that designed the “no-loan policy”

tion to come to a conclusion on why Penn students take out loans. SFS knows from examining data from the senior exit survey, that as a student’s household income decreases, the percentage of students who take out loans significantly increases, particularly as we get lower and lower on the income scale.

From a personal appeal standpoint, Penn students from all walks of life have shared with SFS why they take out loans. The vast majority of the time, the answer is simple: Students take out loans because they can’t af-

THE VISION ford to pay what SFS claims that they can.

Whether or not the “noloan policy” is an achievable goal at this time, the fact that Penn continues to sell the fabricated existence of the “no-loan policy,” while subsequently ignoring the pleas of students who are forced to take out loans, shows a “determined ambivalence” on behalf of both the University and Student Financial Services. The University must stop feigning ignorance in regards to the “no-loan policy” in order to save face.

Only then will the University continue to make steps towards creating a true space for low-income students and not a farce designed to make our pamphlet look more attractive when it comes time for high school seniors to apply to Penn.

DENZEL CUMMINGS is a College senior from Laurinburg, N.C., studying PPE. His email address is denzelcu@sas.upenn.edu.

“The Vision” is a column for unfiltered black voices that appears every Tuesday.

fter a two-year hiatus, Women’s Week is back and better than ever. This year’s theme is “We can do anything,” a celebration of the varied experiences and interests of women on campus.

Sometimes it’s easy to sweep sexism under the rug. Sometimes it’s easy to see it as a problem that exists elsewhere — not on college campuses, and certainly not at a place as progressive as Penn. Looking at the inspiring and accomplished women on Penn’s campus, it may be easy to be complacent about women’s issues.

Women’s Week is a reminder that feminism is not a thing of the past. While of course great strides in gender equality have been made, there are still issues to be addressed and work to be done.

This year, Emma Sulkowicz carried the weight of her 50-pound mattress around Columbia University, sparking corresponding movements across college campuses. Here at Penn, women still make up only 33 percent of the incoming Engineering class every year. This year’s commencement speaker will be one of three female speakers in 20 years. These are just examples of a larger national conversation about gender equity in higher education.

The need for feminism — active, inclusive and unapologetic feminism — is greater than ever. This is why the Penn Consortium of Undergraduate Women and our constituents decided to organize a Women’s Week that both celebrates and reflects on the female experience.

Women’s Week is a time to pause and examine the widespread narrative of progress. It’s a time to bring feminism to the individual level and hear personal narratives. We want Women’s Week to showcase the ways in which women on campus have made strides, while uniting them in dialogue about ongoing struggles.

Monday’s Activities Fair showcased the diversity of our constituents’ interests. The rest of the week digs deeper into a range of women’s issues.

Tuesday centers on body image and women’s health issues. Wednesday is on women in the professional

world, with panels hosted by groups like Penn Women’s Biomedical Society and Smart Woman Securities, who strive to empower women in male-dominated fields. Thursday furthers the conversation with a discussion on all types of sisterhood, ranging from Greek life to solidarity between cis and non-cis women. Friday afternoon offers opportunities to talk about the role of women in religious communities, while Friday evening is the annual Vagina Monologues show. Excitingly, Saturday rounds off the week with the keynote speaker, Jessica Williams, the beloved correspondent from “The Daily Show.”

But we don’t want to get too lost in our excitement.

This column is an acknowledgement that Women’s Week is one step of a longer journey.

This year’s theme is “We can do anything.” But for many women on campus, such a line is more aspirational than true. The ability to “do anything” is not always in the realm of possibility, especially for those whose stories have yet to be heard.

One week isn’t enough.

There are stories missing and voices silenced in Penn’s feminist community. Poor women, transgender women, queer women, women of color — how many of our feminist conversations revolve around these groups? In encouraging sex positivity in women, have we excluded those who don’t identify with such a movement?

How can we build a feminism that works to elevate, never alienate?

For that, we need your help. Go to Women’s Week. Attend one event or all of them. Take a moment to step out of your comfort zone and be a part of a larger movement.

Most importantly, join the conversation. Tell us what’s missing. Share your stories as you hear ours.

Together, we’ll make feminism what it should be — active, inclusive and unapologetic.

JULIA SLATER is a College sophomore from Burbank, Calif., studying English. Her email address is juslater@ sas.upenn.edu. She is the co-programming chair for PCUW.

THEDP.COM | THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN

HOLLYWOOD >> PAGE 1

the Oscars are held. This year, the awards were presented by actors Miles Teller and Margot Robbie.

Not that Penn wasn’t represented at the Oscars themselves — 1999 College graduate John Legend took the Oscar for Best Original Song with his piece “Glory,” which appears in the film “Selma.”

But unlike other Academy Awards, achievements receiving Sci-Tech Awards need not have

been introduced during the previous year — rather, they must demonstrate a proven record of significant contribution to filmmaking. Phillips’ ILM Shape Sculpting System has been used extensively in films for the past decade, including the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series, the “Harry Potter” series, the “Transformers” series, “The Avengers” and even “Confessions of a Shopaholic.”

“It’s notoriously difficult to control [the movements of digital characters], and the systems the animators use require a lot of

NEWS 5

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2015 digital expertise,” Phillips said.

While animating digital characters previously required the creation of separate frames and poses which animators would then need to tediously merge for a flawless visual effect, the ILM system “gives direct and immediate sculptural control over the shape of a photorealistic digital character as it moves,” he said.

Phillips has also received Technical Achievement Awards from the Academy for his work in developing the ILM Creature Dynamics System and the Caricature Animation System

in 2001 and 1998, respectively.

Phillips is currently involved in the animation processes of “Star Wars Episode 7,” coming out this December, and “Warcraft,” a film based on the popular online game, which premiers in theaters in December 2016.

“In this industry, there’s a constant pressure to push yourself to do things we haven’t been able to do before,” Phillips said. “There was a long period of my career [after winning my second award] when I would think to myself, ‘What am I doing now?’ — so there’s an enormous amount of

validation you feel when you receive the award, validation that your earlier win wasn’t just a fluke.”

But while Phillips is proud of his achievements, admitting that winning is “a great feeling,” he describes his experiences as “also very humbling.”

“Knowing that you were one part of a large collection of really talented people who’ve all made this happen together...and the appreciation I’ve gotten from the artists I’ve worked with over the years is at least as meaningful as the awards themselves,” he said.

At Penn Alexander, video games are used as learning tool Computer science students agree early exposure is helpful JONATHAN WEYAND Contributing Reporter

Snoozing the alarm, checking text messages and playing games of Trivia Crack all come down to lines of code — which students as young as 12 are learning to write.

At Penn Alexander School, Graduate School of Education professor Yasmin Kafai developed a middle school-level coding course to engage students in the art of video game design.

Kafai’s course speaks to a larger trend in advocacy for computer science as a part of formative education.

Besides the basic of reading, writing and math, exposure to coding can add a unique skill to students’ tool kits. According to Kafai, “the goal of the course at Penn Alexander is not to force students to become programmers but rather to provide them with a general literacy in the subject matter.”

Using the scratch software developed by Kafai, students create their own video games, which are then tested by their

peers outside of the class in an arcade day.

“Arcade day, which was held this past week at Penn Alexander, gives young coders the opportunity to see what worked well with their games and what could be improved,” Kafai added.

Upon entrance into high school, students who have been exposed to the beginner coding course have the option to attend the Philadelphia Science Leadership Academy where they are given more complex coding projects and design experiments.

Like the Penn Alexander students, many computer science majors at Penn first developed an interest in coding early in life.

Engineering sophomore Josh Karnofsky said he first became interested in coding when he took AP Computer Science in his senior year of high school.

“The course allowed me to realize early on that I was interested in studying computer science further,” Karnofsky said. “A lot of my friends in computer science at Penn who did not have that opportunity in high school were unsure of whether or not they were really

interested in the field of study or whether they would even be able to understand it. In my experience I have found that a lot of students are interested in computer programming, but really do not know what a computer science curriculum would entail.”

Engineering and College sophomore Lucas Dagostino was one of those students with zero exposure to the field of study when he first arrived on campus.

“I came into the engineering program, curriculum deferred, and I thought that I may be a systems engineer,” Dagastino said. “I took CIS110 and liked it more than all my other classes and decided to pursue it. I personally would have wanted more exposure prior to entrance into Penn because the applicability of computer programming spans many different fields of study and it also gives students a unique way of thinking about how to solve real world problems.”

For many experts, this exposure has real world applications

beyond the classroom.

“Understanding the computer and how it works is empowering,” said Director of the Computer Graphics and Game Technology Masters Program Stephen Lane. “You don’t always necessarily have to be a consumer, but rather you can use the computer to enable your everyday activities and assignments.”

Lane added that “blended, mixed learning,” where computer science is assimilated into the core curriculum of schools, would be the optimal way to incorporate it into the classroom.

Kafai agrees with this idea.

“If you are in science and learning about ecology, why not design program simulations to study experiments? If you are in mathematics, why not work with databases?” she said.

While there are a limited number of certified computer science and programming teachers for high school and design experiments can be expensive, Kafai said that “we are moving in the right direction with technology and education.”

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The Sci-Tech Awards are traditionally presented two weeks earlier than the Oscars are held.

DOCTORAL STUDENT FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITY Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center 2015 Russell Ackoff Doctoral Student Fellowships for Research on Human Decision Processes and Risk Management The Ackoff Doctoral Student Fellowship program of the Wharton Risk and Decision Processes Center provides grants to the University of Pennsylvania Ph.D. students who are pursuing research in decision making under risk and uncertainty. The fellowship awards range from $1,000 - $4,000 and funds may be used for data collection, travel, and other direct research expenses (not stipend support).

PROPOSAL DEADLINE: MARCH 16, 2015 See website for application and proposal instructions: http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/riskcenter For more information: email ccf@wharton.upenn.edu

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6 NEWS

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2015

Ricki freed after years of unbearable treatment Penn employee helps bear escape from ice cream shop MARGARET SCHROEDER Contributing Reporter

For Ursula Bechert, it’s important to speak up for victims of abuse — especially those who can’t speak for themselves.

For 18 years, Ricki the bear lived on display outside Jimmy Mack’s ice cream shop in York, PA. Last year, concerned local residents filed a lawsuit against the ice cream shop’s owner James McDaniel Jr., claiming that the bear’s treatment — her care, feeding and habitat — was a public nuisance. The Animal Legal Defense Fund, a non-profit law organization that aims to protect animal rights, spearheaded the lawsuit on behalf of York locals.

About a year ago, the ALDF contacted Ursula Bechert, a trained veterinarian and the Director of Degree Programs for Liberal and Professional Studies at Penn, and asked

her to observe and comment on Ricki’s condition. Bechert informed the ALDF that in Ricki’s current conditions, “a slow and torturous decline in physical and mental health is inevitable for this bear.�

Ricki’s small cage had concrete flooring and a chain-link fence. The bear was fed by customers who paid 25 cents to release dog food into the cage through a PVC pipe. Ricki’s coat was dull and scr uffy, and she walked with a slight limp. The bear also exhibited clear signs of anxiety, such as pacing. The ALDF used Bechert’s report to bolster their case.

York residents used online and social media platforms to raise awareness of Ricki’s condition and put pressure on Jimmy Mack’s owner to release her. The ALDF sponsored an online pledge to boycott Jimmy Mack’s ice cream shop until McDaniel consented to release Ricki. “I think [the owner] was just

trying to draw people to his ice cream shop by displaying different animals,� Bechert said. “He thought that having the bear was more positive than negative.� Ricki was one of several animals in McDaniel’s menagerie, which also included a peacock and a llama. In 2011, McDaniel denied that Ricki was being mistreated.

Since taking on the case, t he A LDF has adopted a multi-pronged approach. It first brought a lawsuit against McDa niel. Now the A LDF is t r yi ng to i mprove t he guidelines for captive bea r maintenance and transportation.

Despite 18 years of abuse, there is a happy ending for Ricki. Last month, she was moved to a sanctuary in Colorado where she enjoys a much more natural environment, and where she can forage and roam freely. “Even though she spent so much of her life [in a cage], it’s never too late,� Bechert said.

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Ac c o r d i ng t o B e c h e r t , Ricki’s mistreatment was not an isolated incident: Ricki’s case brings up the larger issue of animal abuse and public awareness. A similar case of bea r mistreatment occur red recently at a roadside zoo in North Carolina. “This is an example of how citizens can make a difference,� Bechert said, though she added that the process took a long time.

Bechert believes the debate over animal advocacy is pola r ized between those who oppose blatant animal abuse and those who oppose any type of scientific research involving animals. “You can have people advocate for animals in a very extreme sense, and I think a lot of people associate PETA with that. Scientists can be doing research with animals that’ll actually be helpful to the animals, not just people, and yet some animal rights activists will try to shut the project down,� Bechert said. “Animal advocacy is not black and white; there are a lot of gray areas.�

There are many simple ways in which Penn students can become involved in animal advocacy, Bechert added. She encourages students to volunteer at or fundraise for local animal shelters, which often struggle financially to maintain the animals they house.

Students can also help educate the public on a nimal welfare issues, such as the value of spaying and neutering their pets. Finally, Bechert urges the Penn community to keep an eye out for animals that might be suffering from abuse and intervene if they see anything. “If you see somebody who is torturing animal, that’s really bad not just for the animal, but I think it says something about that person,� Bechert said. “If someone is abusing an animal, they’re probably very close to abusing a person.�

THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM

Mayoral candidate Abraham faces Penn student’s questions Q&A included drug and education issues.

DAN SPINELLI Staff Reporter

On Monday night, Mayoral Candidate and Former District Attorney Lynne Abraham addressed her stances on marijuana and education at an event hosted by Penn Democrats.

Abraham is the second candidate to visit Penn this month, following Former City Councilman Jim Kenney’s visit last Tuesday. “Challenging the status quo has to be the order of the day,�

Abraham said at the event.

She claimed her record as DA proves she has the support of Philadelphians. “You can’t win in a city like Philadelphia unless there’s a great trust the people repose in you,� she said.

Abraham addressed marijuana decriminalization, a topic for which she has received significant press after adjusting her negative position toward the topic. In February, she said she agreed with decriminalization for small amounts of marijuana for personal use by adults.

Kenney, who helped usher the decriminalization legislation through the City Council, accused Abraham of “flipflopping� on the issue.

Abraham eschewed the controversy in the question and answer session. “Of all the things facing Philadelphia, [marijuana decriminalization] is not a big problem,� she said. “As long as medical marijuana is under the supervision of a physician, I’m OK with it. I am absolutely opposed to young children or adolescents possessing marijuana. The impact on an adolescent’s developing brain

is harmful.�

She also denied the claim that users of small amounts of marijuana constitute a large proportion of city criminals. “Nobody ever went to prison for having small amounts of marijuana for personal use,� she said.

Abraham also affirmed her practice as DA to push drug users toward rehabilitation programs, not prison.

Abraham also addressed education, one of the most controversial topics of the mayoral election.

Describing students in the district as “shortchanged,�

Abraham said that this education disparity is a primary reason why millennials leave Philadelphia after college.

She identified the restoration of a fair funding formula for students in the Philadelphia School District as her primary objective as mayor, but rejected Mayor Michael Nutter’s $2 perunit cigarette tax as a source of funding. Pennsylvania is one of three states without a set equation to distribute education funding. “The state has cheated Philadelphia out of its proper allotment per student for years,� she said.

Abraham criticized the five-member School Reform Commission for not having a deep enough understanding of the education system in Philadelphia. Specifically, she criticized their recent decision to approve five charter school applications. “The Speaker of the [Pennsylvania] House, I think, pushed the SRC to select those five charter schools. I wanted a moratorium on any new charter schools this go-around,� she said of Republican Mike Turzai.

THEDP.COM | THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN

FURDA

>> PAGE 1

Street bridge, looking down across campus, I’m like: ‘This is where I want to be,’” Furda recalls.

At 5-foot-9, the dean still fits the physical profile of the ideal sprint football player, even though it has been 28 years since he last took the field. The bowl cut from his playing days is now close-cropped, but the disarming, toothy smile from old pictures remains. *** A good smile is a useful tool in any extrovert’s arsenal, and it certainly helped Furda win people over as he made the stressful adjustment to socializing at Penn.

While the prep-schoolers and Main Line products took advantage of familiar faces to carve out a niche on campus, Furda — alone and hundreds of miles from home — relied on the warmth of his new sprint football teammates to get acclimated.

“For athletes, I think you’re connected into a network right away, which is really helpful,” Furda recalls. “Otherwise, I really would have felt lost here.”

As his parents left and made the trip back to Amsterdam, Furda turned to quarterback Tommy Frankel, who guided Furda around when he first visited campus, in search of a place to work out.

The senior leader directed the freshman to Hutchinson Gym, and Furda knew then that he wouldn’t need to have classmates around from his high school in order to survive.

“Those first few days were really about finding a place where I was comfortable, because I knew how to play football,” Furda reflects. “I knew I was going to [play] a key role on the team, and there were upperclassmen that were there to help out right away.”

Tapped as a starter from day one, Furda soon faced the unenviable task of helping to lead the turnaround of a moribund program that had won only two games in three seasons since 1980. ***

On and off the field, though, Furda was knocked for a loop.

The Quakers went winless in 1983 and only improved their record by one game the following season. Blowout losses were commonplace.

Yet even in defeat, Furda found lessons in unlikely sources. During a rough 35-6 loss to perennial powerhouse Navy, the then-rookie center couldn’t help but notice how the brutally strong defensive tackle that was pounding him into the turf play after play conducted himself.

“He just destroyed me and destroyed anyone in our backfield, [but] he was the nicest gentleman,” Furda smiles. “You do learn from those things, whether they’re lining up against you or whether they’re lining up next to you.”

Academics proved to be a slog in the early going as well. Juggling history, economics and political science classes, Furda started off his studies a few furlongs behind his classmates that had entered from far more prestigious high schools.

Rather than feel sorry for himself, Furda drew inspiration from the people that he practiced alongside every day, including two teammates who managed to balance ROTC duties alongside classes and football.

“That’s competition,” Furda says. “It makes you do better than you would if you were sitting there on your own.

“You’re on the long bus ride back after getting shellacked by Navy or Army, you’re sitting on the bus, and you’re tired and everything. But some of you are cracking the books … that’s the support network.” *** Before the University opened up Meiklejohn Stadium for Penn baseball next to I-76 in 2000, there was a patchy, empty lot that cowered under the shadow of its adjacent power plant. The sound of the cars whizzing by blends together into a dull roar somewhat akin to TV static.

In the 1980s, that was where sprint football — the lowest of the low on the Penn Athletics totem

pole — made its home.

But who would want to walk 20 minutes to the absolute edge of campus and practice till the sun goes down on a field reserved for second-class citizens?

Lots of people, apparently.

“You’ve got this sort of selfselection process,” recalls Sean Madden, a wide receiver on the team who graduated one year after Furda. “Everyone at Penn is motivated and talented and has a lot to do and has a lot of different opportunities at the University. And so you think about the kind of guy that’s gonna pick this obscure sport no one really pays attention to or cares about other than the people involved with it — and work hard at it.”

The relationship between Madden and Furda is one that goes far beyond the playing field. Furda is the godfather of Madden’s son, Jack. The former teammates’ faces beam in photographs together —

he also indicated that he would accept a position within Penn Athletics.

Bagnoli knew virtually nothing but success while with the Red and Blue. The head coach at Union for 10 years before he came to Penn in the early 1990s, Bagnoli’s final season with the Quakers was also his first year with a losing record.

On the other hand, throughout Bagnoli’s period of success at Penn, the Lions have been one of the worst program’s in the country. Since Columbia beat Cornell in Nov. 2012, the Light Blue have

M. LACROSSE >> PAGE 8

and Blue’s two wins thus far, each in his own way.

“We are kind of opposite style players, he’s a tall, lefty, slasher and I’m a righty shooter,” Reilly said. “I like playing with him because we aren’t similar; we complement each other well.”

With Reilly at attack and Chris now a midfielder, both brothers have already seen success in the team’s first two games of the season. Reilly scored a goal in his first career contest before both

way to get the job done.” *** There’s probably no event at Penn that brings alumni together quite like Homecoming. But instead of taking the morning off, Eric Furda has a job to do: He has scheduled a 9:00 A.M. session with alumni and their high school-aged children to talk about college admissions.

Once settled in, it’s easy to take stock of “the good Dean,” as Madden refers to him. He gets style points for his choice of a red, white and blue checkered dress shirt — which just so happens to colorcoordinate with the Admissions pamphlet that he and his assistant hand out with a smile to each nervous and chattering student that gets ushered in by their parents.

Toting along a few underclassman Class Board members, a Harry Potter robe and a “sorting hat,” it doesn’t take long for Furda to break the silence and win the au-

going the way that you want it to go. And then there’s the responsibility to take ownership. The Penn Sprint alumni group wants other individuals to be able to have that opportunity [to play].”

The players that strap on helmets for the Quakers today don’t have to walk parallel to the highway in order to reach their patch of dirt like Furda did. Franklin Field, once the near-exclusive territory of the varsity team, is now sprint football’s daily home as well. *** A commercial for the NCAA maintains that the majority of its athletes “go pro in something else.”

In the case of sprint football, where the players are by definition too small to play varsity, that’s a universal truth. Furda’s teammates have gone on to become MIT engineering professors, CFOs and plastic surgeons.

And Furda is here as dean of admissions, invested in far more than

-Eric Furda, Penn Dean of Admissions

whether it be at the 2009 World Series or at a concert.

It’s hard for Madden to imagine what his experience at Penn would have been like without Furda around to help guide him onto the team as a transfer.

“Eric’s a guy who is a very welcoming, warm, sort of approachable guy,” Madden says. “He made it exceptionally easy for a new guy to step in, be comfortable and get integrated, which was great because I needed it and I really wasn’t getting it anywhere else.

“I was exceptionally grateful at the time that this group of guys on this football team welcomed me with open arms.”

Without a positive win-loss record to bond around, the Quakers instead rallied around their shared experiences and brotherhood — even after graduation.

And it’s no coincidence that the program began to turn around once Furda and his classmates — who had suffered through defeat after

COURTESY OF SEAN MADDEN

>> PAGE 1

defeat — had left their mark.

“They were guys like Eric who had a sort of quiet, strong leadership that led by example,” Madden says. “They were very positive and encouraging — even though I had never been on a losing team before, let alone one that didn’t win a game.

“And yet we played hard to the end, we had some close games.

And we could see we were close to turning things around.”

The safety and security the program enjoys today is testament enough to that. *** After 45 years coaching Penn sprint football, Bill Wagner is usually one for fond recollections. But this time, he’s drawing a blank.

“There are lots of war stories that go on, but right now, I really don’t have one,” he says when asked about Furda’s time on the team from 1983 through 1986.

“I’ve been thinking: He’s not a hell-

“That’s competition. It makes you do better than you would if you were sitting there on your own.”

Pictured here with then-Vice President George H. W. Bush, Dean of Admissions Eric Furda (third from the left in the back row) was the first player formally recruited by the Penn sprint football program and started for the team for four seasons.

FOOTBALL

SPORTS 7

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2015

gone winless, losing 21 consecutive matchups through the end of the 2014 season, the longest active losing streak in the country.

“It is with great appreciation and excitement that I begin a new chapter in my coaching life at Columbia,” Bagnoli said. “I eagerly await the opportunity to work alongside a talented group of student athletes, a passionate alumni base and a dedicated university administration.”

A few weeks after the end of last season, Pete Mangurian — fresh off his third season as Columbia’s coach and second straight 0-10 campaign — resigned in the midst of allegations of player abuse and misconduct.

As a result, when Columbia hired Peter Pilling as its new athletic director earlier this month, the former Vice President of IMG College emphasized that finding a football coach to make the program competitive was “priority number one.”

Although unexpected, the result of that search is the first source of excitement for the Lions’ fanbase in a long time.

“Al Bagnoli is one of the most successful coaches to ever work in the Ivy League,” Pilling said in an email. “He is a proven winner whose record speaks for itself, and who teaches his studentathletes to win on the field, in the classroom and in life.

brothers notched scores in Penn’s thrilling win over Saint Joseph’s last Tuesday.

The Quakers are no stranger to players sharing blood. The Hupfeldts join a long line of Penn lacrosse family relations — many of whom have been key players for the Red and Blue and made major contributions.

Reilly and Chris, along with the rest of the undefeated squad, will face their next test against Maryland on Tuesday.

“Hopefully we keep it going against Maryland,” Reilly said. “[It] will probably be our toughest game

so far.”

As the season continues and their relationship grows even stronger, the time dwindles down for the two brothers at opposite ends of their college careers to once again be members of the same squad.

“I’ve had a great time playing with him and I look forward to the rest of the year because I won’t have that much more time to play with him as he gets older,” Reilly said.

“I’m kind of cherishing these moments because we have under 15 games left and we started out at four, five years old or even younger.”

raiser, you know what I mean? And yet he probably had a great social life here.”

Wagner’s office is cramped, with files on recruits seeming as if they’re about to fall down from the narrow shelf they currently occupy.

All in all, the space is about a third of the size of the office that belongs to varsity football coach Ray Priore, if you’re being generous.

Today, sprint football is only played by eight schools on the East Coast — a number that could shrink to seven if Princeton disbands a struggling program that had to forfeit its finale to the Quakers this year due to a lack of available players.

But sprint football at Penn has a tremendous groundswell of alumni support — with perhaps no face more notable than Furda himself, who sits on the sport’s Alumni Advisory Committee. With supporters from all walks of life, the program remains a visible presence at Penn.

If anyone understands the mystique of the sport, it’s Furda.

“He’s certainly an ambassador of our program,” Wagner says.

“He’s not gonna hide it. In fact, it’s a highlight of his career if you ask him.”

In a way, Penn sprint football may have been at its best back then at creating memories off the field.

Wagner is happy to point at a picture in the team’s 75th anniversary yearbook that shows much of the 1984 team surrounding George H.W. Bush in full uniform. As luck would have it, the then-Vice President was taking a pre-debate jog on Franklin Field at the same time as the Red and Blue’s practice.

Furda is instantly recognizable in the top left of the image, the same square jaw of today piercing through the black and white of the photograph.

And perhaps that wasn’t the only sign he showed of things to come.

“Eric had that knack to be able to communicate with people,” Wagner says. “He would talk to people and be honest with them, had a lot of loyalty, and he found a

ditorium over.

“I’ve never seen [Harry Potter] in my life,” he stage-whispers as he strides behind a skinny freshman and places the hat upon his head.

As the freshman repeats “not Wharton” on an endless loop, Furda fires back.

“It’s okay son, you’ll get a job.”

Cue the laughter.

It’s the one-liners that make the 90-minute talk go by in what seemed like a third of the time.

When he waits for volunteers: “I’ll admit you if you talk.”

It’s no surprise that immediately after the session concludes, a mob of 15 parents and students surround him, peppering him with questions about letters of recommendation and recruiting that he receives with a clerical level of patience and openness. The smile never fades. *** There is a plaque on the third row of the bookshelf in Furda’s spacious office in College Hall, tucked away behind the ceremonial baton from the 2008 Penn Relays and baby pictures of his children. The plaque reads: “University of Pennsylvania Sprint Football presents to Eric Furda C’87 this recognition for having endowed position: Center. Dedicated on September 17, 2000.”

Position by position, the sport has been the beneficiary of numerous alumni endowments over the past 15 years that total just north of 2 million dollars. At this year’s annual Alumni Game, the biggest giving event on the team’s calendar, it was announced that the head coaching position would be endowed and named after Wagner.

From Furda’s point of view, his own financial investment in the program is a part of his commitment to the institution’s future.

“A sport like this, it would be very easy not to support it,” Furda says. “I don’t just expect that the University would do that, because there’s a lot of different priorities.

“It’s very, very easy in life to complain about something and to point fingers if something isn’t

a single sport. He’s invested in the whole university, in part because he made himself part of the whole university as an undergraduate.

Yet Furda didn’t know where the admissions office was until the day he walked into College Hall for an interview the summer after graduation.

Having already spurned an OCR offer from Saks Fifth Avenue, Furda entered the field he calls home now based on a tip from two friends in Mask and Wig who had graduated a year earlier and had worked in the office as undergraduates.

“They ended up hiring about six people that year, and I was clearly the last hire,” Furda recalls. “I was the most entry-level person that they hired.

“And from there, I think it does go back to sprint football and other things that you get involved with. I worked hard. I cared about it.”

Sprint football also taught Furda to fail.

The first admissions information session that the then-regional director conducted in the summer after his hire was, by his own estimation, an “absolute disaster” that lasted 20 minutes.

Though life on the road giving high schoolers the Penn spiel was less physically taxing than practice on the dirt patch, the learning process remained the same.

“I unabashedly say if I have one skill set, it’s public speaking,” Furda says. “And that’s because I got out there, I failed, I looked at people who did it really well, I learned from them.

“I think I was a good study of it.

And as with anything, it’s kind of like [practice] repetitions. You have to get out there and keep doing it.”

It’s been seven years now since Furda returned to campus following a 17-year tenure at Columbia that included nearly eight years as its executive director of admissions.

Forever enmeshed in the fabric of the team that got him his start, he won’t be leaving anytime soon.

“We are thrilled that he has decided to commit his widely admired leadership to building the long-term success of Columbia football.”

After the Quakers wrapped up their season in November, Bagnoli formally handed control of the program over to defensive coordinator and head coach-inwaiting, Ray Priore.

“We are sad to see Al leave, but remain extremely excited about the future of our program,” Priore

said in a statement. “Our goal is the same, and that is to bring Penn back to the top of the Ivy League.”

Director of Athletics and Recreation Dr. Grace Calhoun, who oversaw Bagnoli’s efforts as Director of Special Projects over the past two months, also wished the coach well in his new job.

“We are thankful for Al Bagnoli’s 23 years of success and service to the University of Pennsylvania,” Calhoun said in a

statement. “He will always hold a special place here at Penn. We wish him the best.”

Bagnoli will be formally introduced as the Lions’ coach in a press conference at Columbia on Tuesday.

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LEGENDARY

TODAY IN SPORTS

M. LACROSSE

Now Penn’s Dean of Admissions, Eric Furda was a four-year starter for the sprint football team

at Maryland College Park, Md 5 p.m.

>> SEE PAGE 1 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2015

Penn takes advantage of brotherly love | Hupfeldt brothers find success for Red and Blue

M. LACROSSE

ALEXIS ZIEBELMAN Senior Sports Reporter

IVY HOOPS

POWER

RANKINGS 1 YALE 2 PRINCETON 3 COLUMBIA 4 CORNELL 5 BROWN 6 DARTMOUTH 7 PENN 8 HARVARD 19-5, 9-1 Ivy

19-8, 8-2 Ivy

COURTESY OF CHRIS HUPFELDT

Brothers Chris and Reilly Hupfeldt have both helped the Red and Blue get off to a strong start to the young season.

Two games in, two wins down No. 11 Maryland and it’s two broth(1-1) ers who helped the team get there.

5 p.m.

If you see two College Park, Md. tall, red-headed guys sporting Penn lacrosse gear, chances are you’re looking at Chris and Reilly Hupfeldt. Chris is a senior; his little brother, Reilly, a freshman who has recorded more goals than his seasoned brother.

After their father, Christopher, played college lacrosse, it was no surprise that his sons followed suit.

“When we were younger we played together and had a great time,” Reilly said.

“We’ve been playing together for a while through Ashbee, our club team when we were little and in high school,” Chris added.

Chris — who was injured in his freshman season — has played all 30 games since the beginning of his sophomore year for the Red and Blue, scoring 12 goals and recording 22 total points.

Beyond his success on the field, Chris’ love for Penn was infectious and, as natives of the Philadelphia area, Reilly caught it too.

“I visited a lot when he was here,” Reilly said.

“From freshman year I came to a lot of the games so I knew his friends and I liked the culture and the family aspect.

“So when I got older and it came time for me to start looking at schools, Penn was definitely on the radar. It was a good fit, and everything fell into place.”

“He knew [Penn was] where he wanted to go,” Chris said. “It means a lot that he came to Penn to play with me. It’s very special for me and him and also our parents, it’s meant a lot.”

Both brothers have been integral parts in the Red TODAY

SEE M. LACROSSE PAGE 7

Going into the weekend, Harvard was tied atop the conference with perennial rival Yale, but that has since changed. The Crimson came away with a clean sweep of Penn and Princeton, cementing their place at the top of the conference. Senior Wesley Saunders fueled the Crimson once again, earning Ivy League co-Player of the Week while averaging 19.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.

The Elis couldn’t maintain their hold on first place after Columbia took them down, 56-50, in New Haven. While Yale managed to split the weekend with a strong showing against Cornell, their shot at the Ivy League title may come down to a March 6 matchup in Cambridge.

12-13, 5-4 Ivy

Princeton gave Harvard a bit of a scare in Cambridge, taking a 37-29 lead into the break before the Crimson pulled away in the second half.

While it’s nearly impossible for the Tigers to catch up to Harvard and Yale, they have established themselves as the next-best team in the conference.

13-11, 4-6 Ivy

After being swept on the road against Harvard and Dartmouth last weekend, junior guard Maodo Lo and the Lions reversed their fortunes against Brown and Yale, coming away with two huge wins. Lo continues to have one of the best seasons in the Ivy League, as he leads the conference in scoring at 17.1 points per game, including a career-high 35 points against Brown.

12-14, 4-6 Ivy

12-15, 3-7 Ivy

10-14, 3-7 Ivy

7-16, 2-7 Ivy

It’s still cold up in Ithaca, and the Big Red’s performance has followed suit. Since starting the season off with a winning record overall and a winning conference record through its first seven Ivy contests, Cornell has migrated south of the .500 line for the winter courtesy of a threegame losing streak. The squad still holds a positive scoring margin, but it has struggled to win close games of late.

The Bears are coming off of an exhilarating one-point victory over Cornell on Saturday, a win they owe in large part to an off-balance, game-winning jumper from junior Cedric Kuakumensah with only 1.4 seconds remaining. However, at four games under .500 in the Ivy League, Brown is still finds itself clearly in the lower half of the Ancient Eight.

The Big Green are another team in the bottom half of the Ivies coming off a victory after a 67-62 win on Saturday over the Quakers (more on them to come). However, although they have righted the ship marginally of late, a five-game losing streak from earlier in the year has put them in a tough position.

It hasn’t been pretty as of late for the Red and Blue. They currently have only one player – recently-suspended guard Tony Hicks – within the Ivy League’s top 20 scorers. They are ranked 303rd out of 351 teams in the Pomeroy rankings. And coming off of five consecutive losses, it doesn’t look like things will be getting easier for the Quakers any time soon.

THE BUZZ

Nwokedi, Woods top Ivy TOM NOWLAN

From The Daily Pennsylvanian’s sports blog, THE BUZZ

ILANA WURMAN | SPORTS PHOTO EDITOR

Freshman guard Antonio Woods provided a bright spot in an otherwise dismal weekend for the Quakers, as his 11.5 points per game earned him the Ivy League’s Rookie of the Week award.

SEND STORY IDEAS TO DPSPORTS@THEDP.COM

There’s a youth movement underway for Penn’s basketball programs.

Following standout weekends, freshmen Michelle Nwokedi and Antonio Woods notched Ivy League Rookie of the Week awards. It was Nwokedi’s fifth nod of the season and Woods’ third.

Nwokedi guided the women’s squad to a perfect weekend, averaging 12.5 points, eight rebounds and two blocks per game as the Red and Blue logged a pair of home victories over Harvard and Dartmouth.

Nwokedi was actually co-rookie of the week, sharing the honor with

ONLINE AT THEDP.COM

Columbia’s Camille Zimmerman.

The Texas native was particularly impressive against the Crimson on Friday, putting up 16 points and a game-high 11 rebounds in a 71-61 triumph. Nwokedi now has season averages of 8.1 points and 6.3 boards per game despite starting only five games and averaging just 16.1 minutes per contest.

The Rookie of the Week honor was Nwokedi’s fourth nod in the last five weeks.

Despite a disappointing weekend for the men’s squad, Woods was a bright spot in a pair of tough losses for Penn. Given extra playing time in the absence of suspended junior guard Tony Hicks, the Cincinnati native dropped a team-high 12

points in Friday’s loss to Harvard before adding 11 points and six assists the following night in Hanover.

Woods’ play has given the men’s squad optimism for the future as the Quakers find themselves in the Ancient Eight’s cellar. Despite underwhelming seasons from established veterans such as Hicks and junior center Darien Nelson-Henry, Woods has averaged 7.6 points per game — good for fourth on the team — and has totaled a team-high 74 assists.

Both rookie sensations will be back in action this weekend, as the men travel to Brown and Yale while the women play their final home games of the season against the Bears and Bulldogs.

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