March 23, 2015

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MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2015

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

Connections are the key to admission at UT Austin Dean Furda talks line between input and influence for Penn Admissions CAROLINE SIMON Staff Reporter

In college admissions, connections mean a lot. It was recently uncovered that applicants with connections to the University of Texas at Austin were more likely to be accepted to the school than those without connections. This phenomenon occurs subtly at colleges everywhere, with Penn being no exception. Following concerns raised by a member of UT Austin’s Board of Regents — the equivalent of Penn’s Board of Trustees — the investigative firm Kroll, Inc. performed a study to determine whether applicants to UT Austin who submit a letter of recommendation from an influential individual, like a state legislator, have admissions advantages. According to the study, applicants with this kind of recommendation have significantly higher rates of acceptance. When these students apply, they are placed into a category called “hold.” The investigation found that students on hold have an acceptance rate of 72 percent, compared to the university’s overall acceptance rate of 40 percent. SEE ADMISSIONS PAGE 9

Kesha to headline Spring Fling ELLIE SCHROEDER & JESSICA MCDOWELL Staff Reporters

Get ready to party like you’re going to “Die Young” — artists Kesha and Kygo are coming to Penn’s 2015 Spring Fling for a performance students won’t forget. With hit songs including “Your Love is my Drug,” “TiK

The behind-the-scenes story on how SPEC landed Kesha

News of this year’s Spring Fling headliner broke amidst a flurry of Facebook posts on Saturday afternoon. But the story that took less than half

an hour to circle all of campus took months to come together. The planned release of the lineup was scheduled for Sunday night, but Kesha, who will headline the concert, beat the Social Planning and Events Committee to the announcement with a status about it on Facebook. While SPEC has typically not had issues with artists releasing performances

JONATHAN BAER Staff Reporter

SEE JSTREET PAGE 2

influential in the process of selecting an artist. Although Spring Fling has featured electronic music artists for the past several years, such as David Guetta in 2014, electronic was once again the most popular genre favored in the survey. “We still heard that a lot of people were tired with electronic, which is why we think Kygo is a good option” SEE FLING ARTISTS PAGE 9

ahead of their announcement, they have experienced leaks in the past, SPEC Concert Director Suvadip Choudhury said, citing Tiesto in 2010, whose appearance at Fling was released in a blog more than a month in advance of the announcement. However, Penn is not the only one who has had issues with leaked announcements this year. Last week, rapper

Waka Flocka Flame announced on his official tour date schedule an appearance at Brown University before the Brown Concert Agency released the information. Kesha, an alternative and pop sensation will headline the concert taking place on April 17 at Franklin SEE FLING PAGE 9

Work-study a labor of love for some Penn students

The Penn student’s column says the coalition’s mission too polarizing

While the re-election of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on March 17 sparked worldwide debate over the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, student groups at Penn have been engaged in their own dialogue about the issue. Although Penn students recently formed the Think Peace Coalition — a new group made up of pro-Israel student leaders — the group has experienced continued conflict regarding the wording of its mission statement. In a Daily Pennsylvanian guest column published on March 19, Chair of J Street U Penn and College sophomore Liza Bernstein criticized the Coalition’s mission statement as too polarizing. While J Street is a part of the Think Peace Coalition, Bernstein argued that a more nuanced dialogue is important

remixes include “I See Fire” by Ed Sheeran, “Midnight” by Coldplay and his single “Firestone” with vocals by Conrad. The headliner was released on Facebook when Kesha herself posted a status saying she will be performing at Penn, which SPEC confirmed with the video released on their Youtube channel. Choudhury said the student survey that SPEC administered last semester was

BENEATH ALL THE GLITTER JESSICA MCDOWELL Deputy News Editor

Column sparks internal turmoil for Israel-Palestine coalition

ToK” and “We R Who We R,” Kesha is an “iconic” pop artist,” Social Planning and Events Committee Concerts co-Director Suvadip Choudhury said. Her first of many chart-topping singles was released in 2010. Opening act Kygo, a Norwegian DJ now famous in the United States, gained a following at Penn after his concert in Philadelphia last semester, Choudhury said. His hit

Dissastisfaction with workstudy leads to protests at Yale JACK CAHN Staff Reporter

DP FILE PHOTO

Work-study jobs at Penn can provide students with new skills and lessons in financial independence.

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While Yale students protested student income contributions to financial aid outside their president’s office, Penn students contribute gladly. One hundred Yale protesters argued that by asking low-income students to work a job to pay their tuition, Yale’s administration was dividing its students along

socioeconomic lines. While some Penn students share similar concerns, others feel that Penn’s work-study grant system, which asks students to take jobs during the academic year to pay part of their tuition, is fair. “A lot of the discussion has been about how [student income contributions] create two classes of Yale students: those who pay and those who don’t,” said Tyler Blackmon, a Yale College Council member who spearheaded Yale’s effort to eliminate student income contributions. SEE WORK-STUDY PAGE 2

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