WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SPEC shakes up Fling ticketing Only Penn students will be able to purchase floor passes ELLIE SCHROEDER Staff Reporter
Keep your laptops charged and get ready to click — the Social Planning and Events Committee is using “flash sign-ups” to distribute
Pussy Riot and their ‘Punk Prayer’
approximately 900 coveted floor passes for this year’s Spring Fling concert. Students will have the chance to reserve floor passes beginning on Monday, March 23 until Sunday, March 29. Each day of that week, a Google form will be posted on the SPEC social media pages or website at a random time throughout
THE
The feminist, anti-Putin band spoke at Penn yesterday
the day. The time of the posting will be different each day in order to give students various opportunities to reserve a spot. The first 50 people to fill out the Google form each day will receive a confirmation email allowing them to purchase two floor passes each. The email will contain information on exactly when and where
to purchase the tickets. Last year, floor tickets were sold through a lottery system where all students who entered their names on a Google form had an equal chance of getting a floor ticket. However, this year, SPEC has decided to make the system SEE FLING PAGE 11
BEST SPOT
TO WIN
LILY ZANDI Contributing Reporter
The faces of the Russian counterculture took the floor last night. The Slavic Languages Department and Perry World House brought Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, two of the founders of the Russian band Pussy Riot, to Penn for a question and answer session on Tuesday. Pussy Riot is an all-female, feminist, anti-Putin punk band that advocates for oppressed groups through their provocative performances and lyrics. Pussy Riot seeks to use art as a vehicle through which they can enact change and impact the way people think about culture, politics and social issues in Russia and around the world. “It’s strange to separate performance and activism ... In terms of how human beings perceive issues, it is odd to separate two forms of thoughts,” Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova said. The group made an appearance in the third season of House of Cards, which premiered on Netflix in February. Pussy Riot also released their first English song last month. To begin the session, William Burke-White, the director of the future Perry World House at
Former Cornell coach Steve Donahue introduced as 20th coach in Penn basketball history RILEY STEELE & STEVEN TYDINGS Senior Sports Editor & Senior Sports Reporter
There’s nothing better than coming home. Fifteen years after leaving the Red and Blue to take over the head coaching position at Cornell, former Penn basketball assistant Steve Donahue was formally introduced as the Quakers’ next coach at a press conference at the Palestra on Tuesday. Standing next to Athletic Director Grace Calhoun, Donahue described his return to the Red and Blue as an opportunity that was too good for the 52-year-old to let get away. “This was flat out the best spot to win,” Donahue said. “I have the chance to win with the right type of kids, the right way. This place is one that has everything I ever wanted in an institution, because [it has] the people and the ability for me to really win championships. “I am a Big 5 coach. There are only five of us. To imagine that I am one of them, at this institution, is just incredible.” The 20th coach in program history, Donahue arrives at Penn after a season away from the sidelines, a period in which he did television
SEE PUSSY RIOT PAGE 11
NOT YOUR AVERAGE CHAPLAIN PAGE 9
work for ESPN. An assistant to legendary Red and Blue coach Fran Dunphy from 1990 through 2000, Donahue received his first head coaching opportunity with perennial Ivy bottom-feeder Cornell, spending a decade in Ithaca. However, in ten seasons with the Big Red, he transformed one of the Ivy League’s worst programs into a powerhouse. In his final three years at Cornell, Donahue won three consecutive Ancient Eight titles, becoming the first team outside of Penn and Princeton to ever do so. Following a Sweet 16 appearance in 2010, Donahue was hired at Boston College. Although they finished 21-13 in his first season at the helm, the Eagles won only 33 games in Donahue’s final three years in Chestnut Hill, Mass., claiming less than 10 victories in two of those seasons. Despite Donahue’s struggles in the Atlantic Coast Conference, Calhoun views the hiring as a nobrainer. “I was taken aback by his humility in describing his failures when he could have instead described [them] as circumstances beyond his control,” Calhoun said. “After all, we are ultimately defined by our responses to adversity. SEE DONAHUE PAGE 15
HOLDEN MCGINNIS | SPORTS EDITOR
Local business hosts fundraiser after fire at Cafe Renata The situation in Ferguson was … the government was acting directly against the majority’s interests.” - Alec Ward PAGE 6
TAKING ON THE TOP-RANKED TERPS PAGE 15
The eatery near 43rd Street caught fire last Thursday PATRICK ZANCOLLI Staff Reporter
When a local business struggles, the West Philadelphia community backs it up. Cafe Renata, an eatery located at 4305 Locust St., caught fire last Thursday. The fire started at 1 a.m. when kitchen towels left out after being removed from the dryer allegedly ignited when heat left in them combined with static electricity, general manager Kate Speenstra said. “The cafe was popular among the neighborhood and among students,” she said of the restaurant, known for its Mediterranean and American brunches. A resident living above the cafe was hospitalized, according to the Facebook event “Cafe Renata Tap Takeover Fundraiser.” The event was created by other local businesses to fundraise for Cafe Renata’s renovations. Local business owners, such as Ross Scofield, were upset by the news of the fire and wanted to do something about it. Scofield owns two restaurants near Cafe Renata, SEE CAFE RENATA PAGE 11
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Cafe Renata’s windows were boarded up after the cafe caught fire last Thursday.
TIFFANY PHAM | PHOTO MANAGER
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