March 1, 2017

Page 1

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 2017

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

Who is allowed

on Penn’s campus? Protesters, preachers and the homeless have open access to most of campus ALIZA OHNOUNA | Senior Reporter

Little stands in the way of community members — who aren’t Penn students, faculty or staff — from trekking down Locust Walk, and usually no one thinks much about it. But in light of repeated visits by controversial preachers on campus and protests against university speakers, The Daily Pennsylvanian looked into who exactly is allowed on Penn’s campus, and what they can do while they’re here. *** Until the summer of 1960, Locust Street was a thoroughfare open to vehicular traffic. A series of construction projects, not completed in their entirety until 1972, resulted in the closing of Locust Street to automobiles and the birth of Locust Walk as we know it today, a multi-block passageway open to all pedestrians. Public pedestrians are able to occupy Locust Walk as long as they are not committing a hate crime, Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush said. In Pennsylvania, committing a hate crime means committing a crime against a person because of his or her “race, color, religion,

national origin, or ancestry,” according to the website of the District Attorney of Philadelphia. Notably, crimes committed on the basis of gender and sexuality are not covered in this definition. The website explains that perpetrators typically must act violently, threaten violence or be guilty of stalking or harassment. The state law defines harassment as a behavior that “communicates to or about such other person any lewd, lascivious, threatening or obscene words, language, drawings or caricatures.” Rush said that the Christian preachers that made three appearances on campus in the 2016-17 school year meet none of the criteria for a hate crime offense. “It’s a tricky little thing,” Rush said. Preachers have previously set up signs on campus and chanted insults against “homos” as well as Catholics and Jews. She recalled students complaining that the preachers were terrifying them and insisting that their actions had to be illegal. “It’s not,” Rush said.

She said that the preachers’ goal is to trigger angry listeners to physically assault them and cash in with a lawsuit. A recent panel featuring Nancy Baron-Baer, Philadelphia regional director of the Anti-Defamation League and 1978 Penn Law School graduate, and University Chaplain Rev. Chaz Howard urged students to avoid interaction with the preachers. One loophole that can enable University police to remove the preachers from campus is if they violate, after a fair warning, what’s known as the “unreasonable noise level,” listed in the Office of the Provost’s Guidelines on Open Expression. This includes noises that exceed 85 decibels within 50 feet of a campus building. Most of the time, Rush said, the preachers comply with the sound ordinances because they do not want to leave. College junior Rive Cadwallader said she doesn’t think preachers should be forced to leave campus. SEE CAMPUS PAGE 3

JULIO SOSA | ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR

Blank Canvas: Penn web services hit with outages

Biden discusses cancer research at panel in packed Irvine

Amazon Web Services network issues plague many sites

He stressed that American culture and progress will lead to innovation

HALEY SUH Staff Reporter

STEPHEN IMBURGIA Staff Reporter

Former Vice President Joe Biden came to campus for the first time since the announcement of his new role as a Penn professor on Tuesday afternoon. As part of the David and Lyn Silfen University Forum, Biden participated in a panel discussing the fight to cure cancer, which Penn President Amy Gutmann called a “formidable foe.” After briefly poking fun at Biden’s appearances on the TV show “Parks and Recreation” and his ubiquity in the satirical news outlet The Onion, Gutmann opened by honoring Biden’s accomplishments. “He is the only Penn faculty member in the world to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom with distinction,” Gutmann noted, to applause from the audience. Referring to Gutmann as “Madam President,” Biden joked, “I’m glad I’m still accustomed to being able to address a president.” Biden and Gutmann were joined by Chief Medical Officer of the American Cancer Society Otis Brawley, Director of Clinical Research for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Nancy Davidson, Perelman School of Medicine Professor Carl June and Penn Medicine patient and pancreatic cancer survivor Kim Vernick. Amid discussion about immunotherapy and targeted strategies, Biden argued that the United States

GUYRANDY JEAN-GILLES | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Websites such as Canvas and The Daily Pennsylvanian rely on Amazon Web Services for storage. Amazon’s outages affected much of the internet.

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Canvas and some Penn web services, as well as a number of websites across the internet, experienced outages throughout the day on Tuesday. These network issues stemmed from Amazon Web Services, the nation’s largest cloud computing company, which was experiencing “increased error rates” for their servers. Several Penn services that utilize AWS, including but not limited to Canvas, Zoon and Panopto, were affected by this outage that turned out to be a large-scale networking issue.

… the veil of secrecy is an insult to open discourse that the University supposedly values.”

Canvas announced that it was experiencing an outage that they determined was caused by AWS at 12:50 p.m. on Tuesday — many users were not been able to access the site. An update from Canvas at 2:29 p.m. announced that as Amazon was working to restore availability in their servers, Canvas’ own DevOps team was trying to expedite the process to restore access to Canvas. “People were coming in, clutching their laptops in distress, running over to consult with me in hushed tones about their concern over not being able to submit on Canvas,” English professor Caroline Whitbeck said. “I was happy to see everyone being so conscientious about deadlines, but I was sorry to see it SEE CANVAS PAGE 2

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2 NEWS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 2017

THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM

Penn comedy groups are bored of Trump jokes

Bloomers and Mask and Wig pause political humor STEPHEN IMBURGIA Staff Reporter

Traditionally, the two oldest comedy groups on Penn’s campus take drastically different approaches to politics. While Bloomers was founded on feminist principles and has used politics as a basis for its humor since its inception, The Mask and Wig Club’s embrace of political satire varies depending on the year’s writers. The group remains primarily dedicated to its 129-yearold mission — making people laugh. However, the two groups have come to an agreement on their treatment of President Donald Trump. “Now that he’s president, the joke is really tired,” College junior Gena Basha, the head writer for Bloomers and Under the Button staff member, said. “Almost

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causing distress.” At 2:35 p.m., the services dashboard on AWS site announced that they “believe [they] understand root cause, and are working on implementing what [they] believe will remediate the issue.” An hour an a half later at 3:52 p.m., the services dashboard on the AWS site announced that they were “seeing recovery for S3 object retrievals, listing and deletions,” and that they would “continue to work on recovery for adding new objects to S3 and expect to start seeing improved

TOP: FILE PHOTO | BOTTOM: JULIO SOSA | ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR

The Mask and Wig Club (top) and Bloomers (bottom) have incorporated less political humor following Trump’s election.

naturally, people stopped coming up with ideas revolving around him.” Referring to their number “We Never Ever Ever Ever Ever Want to Talk about Trump,” Mask and Wig Chair and College senior Tim

error rates within the hour.” Canvas announced two minutes later that they were “beginning to see positive indications of recovery and have successfully tested workflows that were previously failing. We are still awaiting full resolution, and we will provide updates as the situation continues to improve.” At 4:15 p.m., the Canvas website said that performance and service recovery continued to progress quickly, although there were still areas of impaired functionality as the team continued to work through the issue. The latest update at 4:37 added that the biggest area of impact was uploads, including

Bloom agreed. “Our fall show this year had a whole ending where we said, ‘We don’t want to take the low hanging fruit again, so we’re not going to touch this.’” “It was more parodying comedy

issues such as student uploads to assignments and instructor grade uploads. The outages were incredibly widespread, affecting websites like Slack, Quora and Trello. USA Today reported that companies including Airbnb, Netflix, Pinterest and Spotify also rely on AWS and have experienced slowdowns. The Daily Pennsylvanian website, which also relies on AWS, was also experiencing problems displaying photos, although this was resolved by late Tuesday afternoon. The Amazon Web Services Twitter posted updates as the situation developed.

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about Trump than it was joking about Trump,” Bloom said. “We’re making fun of ourselves almost. It was on a meta-level about not touching Trump in the comedy world.” And to Basha, a Trump presidency simply isn’t a joke. “We can only take the joke so far, because now it’s reality,” she said. “How funny is it anymore?” Before the election, however, both groups embraced the topic in some way. “Trump was so relevant, everyone was talking about it, and something ridiculous would happen virtually every week — so we had so much material,” Basha said, referencing Bloomers’ show, Joust Kidding. Mask and Wig’s 2015 production “No Country for Old Penn” took a similar strategy. “In our fall show last year, there was a large chunk about Trump,” Bloom said. “But that was all about primary candidate Trump, which I think is very different than

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has an unparalleled capacity for innovation. “We have more high-quality research universities than the rest of the world combined,” the former vice president said. “We have the greatest capacity to make progress as any time in the history of the world.” Noting that every head of state would gladly switch places with the President of the United States, Biden commended the American cultural traits that make breakthroughs possible. “Our country has no respect for orthodoxy — and that’s a good thing. To make new things you have to break the old mold,” Biden said. “We need to get back to: ‘There’s not a damn thing we can’t do if we set our minds to it.’” Otis agreed, noting that universities are incubators for scientific discovery. But panelists stressed that discovery and care go hand in hand. “Between nutritionists, social workers making sure that I’m comfortable and the Nursing Staff — it takes a community,” Vernick said.

President Trump.” And the difference became all too clear for Bloomers on Nov. 9. “The day after the election, Friars was doing this little performing arts coffee shop event, and we were going to do a sketch about Melania Trump,” Basha said. But due to the outcome of the election, Bloomers decided not to run the skit. “It was just not the right mood,” Basha explained. But Bloomers and Mask and Wig continue to value the role of comedy in political discourse. “I think comedy is a way for people to let loose,” Basha said. “It’s cathartic.” “It’s a way for people to unleash what they’re thinking in a way that’s more relaxed and not as heated as an argument,” she added. Similarly, Bloom sees political comedy as an informational mechanism for the audience. “Political topics in general have and will remain super relevant to us,” Bloomers Chair and College

senior Trudel Pare said. “In a lot of ways, everybody — regardless of your political bend — likes to laugh.” Pare, who is also the host of Penn’s “The Late Night” — a sketch variety show — added that comedy also acts as a unifying form of persuasion. “Comedy brings people together in a lot of ways, even as our political climate is so divisive,” Pare said. And for Bloomers, political comedy is here to stay. “Politics is a mainstay of the stuff that we’ve done,” Pare said. “It’s something we’ve always drawn from.” But Bloom cited Mask and Wig as an institution dedicated to more timeless comedy, less rooted in current and fleeting political climates. “I don’t think our style of show lends itself to being super political,” he said. “If we can make an audience of 165 people every night laugh and forget about their problems — Republican or Democrat — that’s what we want to do.”

And for Vernick, that community was Penn. “I’m a native Philadelphian,” Vernick said, while describing her battle with pancreatic cancer. “[For cancer treatment], it’s not ‘why Penn?’ It’s ‘of course Penn!’” However, the panelists were not shy to identify possible areas of improvement in the medical industry. Biden, whose son Beau died of brain cancer in 2015, criticized the research community for not consistently sharing the results of their studies, which he saw as a roadblock to collaborative progress. “No other occupation in the world would be able to get away with that,” Biden said passionately. “It’s time to stop. It’s time to share.” “I’m not upset about it at all,” Biden then said sarcastically, as his passionate speech told the opposite. Biden explained the importance of the Affordable Care Act and the increased societal costs that are incurred when citizens don’t have proper access to healthcare. However, he also noted that cancer research “is the only bipartisan thing left right now,” citing his recent effort to get a research-funding bill through U.S. Congress. The event was in keeping with

Biden’s “cancer moonshot” effort — to which he devoted substantial effort during his final months as Vice President. However, Biden’s role on the Penn faculty will not be related to cancer research advocacy, as he will instead focus on foreign policy at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington, D.C. For some Penn students, the political aspect of the event was the most exciting. “I care about curing cancer, but it’s mainly Joe Biden. I’m a [political science] major, and I’m obsessed with him, so naturally I [had] to see him,” College freshman Isabella Fierro said. Similarly, College sophomore Rebecca Ly was excited to witness the interplay between politics and cancer research during the discussion. “I’ve done cancer research, and it’s a very breaking thing,” Ly said. “Cancer has affected [Biden’s] life directly. But he also brings a political standpoint to this.” And as for Biden, he remains optimistic. “We can change the face of cancer in the next five years,” he said.

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THEDP.COM | THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN

NEWS 3

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 2017

Want to avoid a life of crime? Get a good night’s sleep Penn professor’s study links lack of sleep to crime MADELEINE LAMON Deputy News Editor

There’s a new reason for teens to get enough sleep — it could keep them out of jail. A recent study from Penn and the University of York has demonstrated that drowsy teenagers are 4.5 times more likely to commit crimes before turning 29 years old. . More than 35 years ago, while earning his Ph.D. at the University of York in the United Kingdom, Adrian Raine — who is now affiliated with both the School of Arts of Sciences and the Perelman School of Medicine as a professor of criminology, psychiatry and

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“Creating a space for people to talk should never be a bad thing,” she said, provided that either party does not act violently. Cadwallader added that she expects a readily-assembled and clear opposition to the preachers every time they show up, as well as resistance to any type of restriction on freedom of expression. On previous occasions, the Christian preachers on Penn’s campus have been drowned out by everything from Kanye West songs to leaf blowers. Christian Urrutia, a Wharton senior who uses the pronouns they and their, said the preachers on campus make them uncomfortable because they are queer. But Urrutia noted that barring these figures from speaking would set a precedent for increased censorship.

psychology — tested a group of 15 year-old boys in the UK. He collected data on their rates of drowsiness in the early afternoon as well as instances of anti-social behavior among the youths. “A lot of the prior research focused on sleep problems, but in our study we measured, very simply, how drowsy the child is during the day,” Raine said in a press release. He found a link between drowsiness among teens and anti-social behavior such as lying and cheating. Along with Peter Venables, a psychology professor at the University of York and Raine’s former Ph.D. research advisor, Raine recently returned to the study. The researchers electronically searched the Central

Criminal Records Office in London to determine which of the members of the sample had criminal records by age 29. Focusing only on violent crimes and criminal offenses for which individuals had been convicted, the researchers found that 17 percent of teens tested had a criminal record 14 years later. “Daytime drowsiness is associated with poor attention. Take poor attention as a proxy for poor brain function. If you’ve got poor brain functioning, you’re more likely to be criminal,” Raine said in the press release. Taking the study one step further, the researchers crossreferenced their data results with the socio-economic status of the participants and found a relationship between these factors.

“Does that mean the men who come around selling chocolate bars or candy on our campus would be detained?” Urrutia asked. *** Preachers have not been the only figures on campus that have sparked debate over free speech and who should be allowed on Penn’s grounds. The many guest speakers that come to Penn tend to draw large crowds — but the audiences do not always agree with the speaker. In April 2016, a group of protesters, including at least one who was Penn affiliated, shut down former CIA Director John Brennan’s talkat the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Penn Law Dean Theodore Ruger returned to the stage to explain the University’s freedom of expression policy during the event, but his voice was quickly drowned out as protesters continued to yell

over him. The administration sent out an email a few days after the incident urging students to remember that “freedom goes both ways.” Provost Vincent Price and Vice Provost for University Life Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum also called on students to familiarize themselves with the University’s Guidelines on Open Expression — though they did not directly address the protest or Brennan’s talk. Urrutia saw the protests as an expression of free speech. “I always get a little bit wary when people talk about students or protesters stifling freedom of speech because freedom of speech is about the government not saying what we can and cannot say,” they said. Urrutia pointed out that the CIA director and other high-ranking government officials will always have a platform to have their voices heard.

VIC | FLICKR

A recent Penn study found that teenagers who frequently become drowsy are more likely to commit crimes and exhibit anti-social behavior such as cheating and lying.

Getting more sleep “could make a difference not just for anti-social behavior at school

with these teenage kids but more importantly, with later serious criminal behavior,” Raine

added. “More sleep won’t solve crime, but it might make a bit of a dent.”

“They [government officials] have the freedom to speak here, and they [protesters] have the freedom to shout over them,” they added. *** Dotting the ends of campus on Locust, Spruce and Walnut streets are clusters of homeless individuals that make up part of the city’s substantial homeless population. According to CBS Philly, the city’s 2016 annual Point in Time count found 705 people living on the streets. Penn Police work with Project HOME and the University City District to relocate homeless near Penn’s campus, and Rush said that Penn Police do not chase homeless people off campus — they try to engage with them, determine their specific issues and help them.

Howard, who worked as a chaplain for Project HOME, also described homelessness as a cause “dear to his heart.” He thinks students should say hello to homeless people they dash by on the way to class instead of simply throwing a quarter in their cup. Rush made clear that homelessness and disturbing the peace are very different matters. “We don’t tolerate panhandling at all [on Penn’s campus],” she said. However, Urrutia does not agree with this policy. They said that homeless people asking for money in or around campus buildings shouldn’t be removed. But Urrutia said that they do endorse the restrictions on accessing campus buildings, which are currently in effect.

Rush said 10 years ago, there were fewer restrictions on who could access Penn libraries, which resulted in a high rate of theft. The greater restrictions imposed now require non-Penn community members to present photo identification, which is copied at the front desk. This system, Rush said, enabled Penn Police to quickly locate the individual who was carrying a machete in Van Pelt Library last year. Cadwallader still thinks that Penn should remain as open as possible, despite certain safety threats. “With a library which is literally and symbolically representative of knowledge and of the power that can come from knowledge,” she said, “I think it’s really important that we don’t try to close that off from other people.”

Fame. Fortune. Prizes from $100 – $500. ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS THROUGH 3/17

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CREATIVE WRITING CONTESTS CREATIVE WRITING CONTESTS FOR PENN STUDENTS 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 The Creative Writing following haveProgram no affiliation withawards the university. the The contests are open to students of any school. prizes annually to University of Pennsylvania students: Entries may be left in the designated box at the Center for Programs in

The William Carlos Williams Prize Writing (CPCW), 3808 Walnut St. Entries should bear: Contemporary student's name, year, address, email address, and category of from the Academy of American Poetsschool, ($100) submission. Do not submit the same piece for more than one contest. Awarded to the best original poetry by a graduate student. Submit up to 5 poems (max. length of entry, 5 pages). This year’s deadline: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, NOON POETRY: Submit two copies of up to 5 poems (5 page total). Undergraduate The College Alumni Society Poetry Prize ($500 first prize) $400 first prize, Graduate prize $100. Awarded to the best original poetry by an undergraduate. Submit up to 5 poems (max. length of entry, 5 pages). FICTION ($400 first prize): Submit two copies of one short story only, maximum 7000 words (Undergraduate only)

The Phi Kappa Sigma Fiction Prize ($400 first prize) DRAMATIC WRITING first prize): Submit two copieswords). of one script for stage, Awarded to the best original short story by an ($400 undergraduate (max. 7,000 screen, television, or radio (Undergraduate or Graduate)

The Judy Lee Award for Dramatic Writing ($400 first prize) REVIEW ($400 first prize) Submit two copies of one review of a current Awarded to a graduate orbook, undergraduate student fororthe best script (stage, screen, play, film, cd, art exhibition, performance (Undergraduate only) television, or radio).

LITERARY TRANSLATION ($400 first prize) Submit two copies of up to 3 pp. of verse or 5 pp.

of prose translated into first English from any language; include two copies of the original text and a The Lilian and Benjamin Levy Award ($400 prize) brief words) about the of work and authorplay, if notfilm, well-known or Graduate) Awarded to the best review bynote an (75 undergraduate a current music(Undergraduate release, book, or performance.

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Awarded to the best English-language translation of verse or prose from any language by a graduate prize)or 5 pages of prose; include a copy of the or undergraduate student.JOURNALISTIC Submit up to 3WRITING pages of($600 poetry Submit copiesabout of one newspaper or magazine article, feature story, original text and a brief note (75two words) the original work and author. exposé or other piece of investigative journalism, maximum 7000 words work can already have been published (Undergraduate only)

The Gibson Peacock Prize for Creative Nonfiction ($400 first prize) Awarded to the best creative nonfiction piece by an undergraduate (max. 7,000 words). http://www.writing.upenn.edu/cw/prizes.html The Parker Prize for Journalistic Writing ($600 prize) Awarded to the best newspaper or magazine article, feature story, exposé or other piece of investigative journalism by an undergraduate, published or unpublished (max. 7,000 words).

DEADLINE FOR ALL ENTRIES: FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 5:00 pm Submit your entry here: writing.upenn.edu/cw/prizes.html These contests are subject to the University Code of Academic Integrity. Open to students of any school at the University of Pennsylvania.


4

OPINION

Why journalism, on campus and beyond, needs your participation LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

WEDNESDAY MARCH 1, 2017 VOL. CXXXIII, NO. 28 133rd Year of Publication CARTER COUDRIET President DAN SPINELLI Executive Editor LUCIEN WANG Print Director ALEX GRAVES Digital Director ALESSANDRO VAN DEN BRINK Opinion Editor SYDNEY SCHAEDEL Senior News Editor WILL SNOW Senior Sports Editor CHRIS MURACCA Design Editor CAMILLE RAPAY Design Editor JULIA SCHORR Design Editor RONG XIANG Design Editor VIBHA KANNAN Enterprise Editor GENEVIEVE GLATSKY News Editor TOM NOWLAN News Editor

Last year, Donald Trump began blitzing the mainstream media at an unprecedented and alarming rate following his victory in the presidential election. Last month, Trump tweeted that The New York Times and most major television networks are the “enemy of the American People!” Last week, the White House barred news outlets including Politico, The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times from a nontelevised briefing. It’s a near-dystopian time to be an American journalist, to say the least. However, what worries me most is not the president’s war on journalism but rather the reaction to these attacks, from people who both agree and disagree with him. Millions of Americans stand by Trump’s distrust of the media, yet it seems that their solution is not to fix the media, but to delete it. On the other end, many who oppose Trump’s actions — such as the suppression of the press — believe that they’re making a difference

by denouncing his actions to their friends on social media, tacking their names on online petitions or protesting for an afternoon. To those on both sides, I say this: Now is the time not just for activism, but for action. The Daily Pennsylvanian wants to be a part of that. We at the DP are pretty self-aware. Is the mainstream media “fake news?” Of course not, but is journalism today of the quality that Americans deserve? Not always. Closer to home, has the DP’s coverage of campus been of the quality that you, the Penn community, deserve? Not always. I’m immensely proud to be part of an organization that usually does fantastic work, but frankly, usually is not good enough, especially not anymore. Now more than ever, it is imperative that we address the problems in our own community so that we can train the nation’s next crop of journalists to be inquisitive, ethical and accountable. The DP will not rest until its staff is only

producing fair and unbiased journalism. However, journalism today needs to be a social contract. I pledge that the DP will strive for excellence, but we need your criticism, guidance and perspective to achieve that. Therefore, I invite every member of

better our journalism. Leaders of organizations like Penn College Republicans, the five groups in the 5B and more have met with our leadership, and we have since maintained honest and valuable dialogues that are helping us attain a better informed, more representa-

Now more than ever, it is imperative that we address the problems in our own community so that we can train the nation’s next crop of journalists to be inquisitive, ethical and accountable.” the Penn community to participate in the betterment of our own campus media — in the following ways or in other ways — and lay the groundwork for a better generation of creators and consumers of media. I am thus far excited by the first steps made by an array of student leaders to

tive voice. I want this to be the story of the DP and any member of our community who has feelings about the DP; whether you want to set up a regular meeting, talk on the phone or even just write a guest column, you are a mere email away from making real change in an orga-

nization that serves tens of thousands of people every day. Additionally, I am proud to announce that, at some point in the next few days, we will be publicly releasing our Journalistic Ethics Policy. The overarching rules of journalism have been an integral part of DP staff training for over a century, but we feel that better educating our readership about journalistic ethics will help our community both understand the work we do and hold us accountable to our own ethical rules. I encourage you to read our ethics policy when we release it and let our leadership know if we ever fail to put our money where our mouths are. And, obviously, a great way to make our organization better is to join it. We want our platform to serve all communities on campus, and your voice can literally be a part of the growth and improvement of ours. We hire columnists, beats, 34th Street editors, Under the Button writers, visuals staffers, podcasters and a

CARTER COUDRIET slew of other entry level po sitions every semester, and somewhere in our organization, we’ve got a spot open for you. However, participating in fair, informed journalism does not require being a journalist. You, our readership, are as important as the journalist in this social contract. You are what makes us matter and, especially today, what will help make us better. I hope you’ll be a part of it. CARTER COUDRIET is a College junior from Franklin Park, N.J., studying political science. His email address is coudriet@ thedp.com. He is the president of the 133rd board of The Daily Pennsylvanian.

ALLY JOHNSON Assignments Editor COLE JACOBSON Sports Editor

CARTOON

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

THIS ISSUE

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

YOSI WEITZMAN Sports Associate JACOB SNYDER Sports Associate ALEX RABIN Copy Associate COSETTE GASTELU Copy Associate JULIA FINE Copy Associate JEN KOPP Copy Associate GISELL GOMEZ Photo Associate SAM EICHENWALD Photo Associate IDIL DEMIRDAG Photo Associate TIFFANY PHAM Photo Associate LUCY FERRY Design Associate KOBY FRANK Design Associate SABINE NIX Design Associate GRANT WEI Design Associate

LETTERS Have your own opinion? Send your letter to the editor or guest column to letters@thedp.com. In Monday, Feb. 27’s issue, a graphic accompanying an article entitled “Who will the 3.9% tuition hike impact?”, contained multiple errors in data relating to tuition and financial aid. The information, in numerous cases, did not correspond with the correct year and was arranged in the incorrect way. The DP regrets the errors.

Penn should reflect its value for open discourse GUEST COLUMN BY JULIA LESKO Benjamin Franklin argued for the importance of free discourse by noting “that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter.” Considering the administration’s opaque decision on fossil fuel divestment, Penn is not living up to its founder’s values. Last Wednesday at the University Council Open Forum, Fossil Free Penn representative Zach Rissman extended an invitation to one or more members of the University Board of Trustees Executive Committee to engage in an open, public forum with members of FFP during the week of March 13 to discuss fossil fuel divestment. By moving away from a series of interactions characterized by secrecy and off-the-record meetings, Penn would live up to its claim of valuing open discourse. Historically, Fossil Free Penn has engaged in goodfaith dialogue. After a referendum that garnered support of 87.8 percent of the voting student body, in October 2015 Fossil Free

Penn completed the official process and submitted a 50page proposal to consider divestment from the top 200 fossil fuel companies. This proposal directly addressed the official criteria for divestment set out by the trustees. In June 2016, the ad hoc committee (chaired by David Roberts, a senior executive at an investment firm with a “focus on investments in oil and gas”) released a non-published report that recommended against divestment to the trustees. Eleven months later, in September 2016, the Board of Trustees released their decision to reject the proposal, with a statement as long as a tweet. For a committee consisting of leading academics, Penn-trained students and successful industry professionals, one would expect a rigorous rebuttal of the Fossil Free Penn proposal, based on qualitative and quantitative evidence. However, in spite of Penn’s commitment to intellectual vigor, the committee report’s only statement re-

garding the proposal was an asserted claim of 19 words, without supporting data or logic: “The Committee unanimously found that the FFP Divestment proposal did not meet the criteria set forth in the Guidelines.” The lack of concrete reasons as to why the propos-

Many argue that Penn has a duty to remain out of political matters; however, either choice made in regards to fossil fuel divestment is inherently political. By choosing not to divest, Penn actively supports the status quo of companies funding anti-climate lobbying.

It is understandable that Penn may disagree with stakeholders and choose not to divest, but not even starting the discussion in the first place is where the problem lies.” al was inadequate slights Penn’s own value of open discourse; how could a decision as complex as divestment be answered in just one sentence? Does a proposal with the support of 87.8 percent of voters not warrant even an outline of the counterarguments?

As such, Penn has already made a political statement, and, quoting the Penn College Republicans representative from the University Council Open Forum on Feb. 22, Penn “must remain an open forum for political debate.” Following the sit-in of

College Hall by Fossil Free Penn, the campaign has been able to meet with the administration and investment officers, but administrators have demanded all meetings to be completely off-the-record. With no public statements, forums or discussions, the veil of secrecy is an insult to open discourse that the University supposedly values. In order to engage the Penn community that clearly is concerned with climate change — we are all wondering why it is 75 degrees in February — the administration should be more transparent with its stance on a topic that will affect the entire planet. If Penn wants to tout itself as a “marketplace of ideas,” it should act like it — and interact with the community in a constructive and straightforward manner. For corporations, the “business judgement rule” grants power to managers to make important decisions without having to resort to open stakeholder dialogue on every issue. However, this topic is not just any minuscule disagreement

that stakeholders shouldn’t be consulted on. It is understandable that Penn may disagree with stakeholders and choose not to divest, but not even starting the discussion in the first place is where the problem lies. Penn (which is in fact not a corporation) should strive to be an intellectual agora of free discussion and engage openly and honestly with stakeholders before making any decisions. Regardless of the topic, intellectual discussion, rigorously defended arguments and open discourse should be highly valued at an academic institution such as Penn. Instead of dismissive responses, the administration should engage more openly and with more effort with the public on topics that concern much of the Penn community. JULIA LESKO is a College freshman from Venice, Fla., considering studying economics and environmental science. Her email address is leskoj@ sas.upenn.edu. She is a policy coordinator for the Fossil Free Penn campaign.


THEDP.COM | THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN

NEWS 5

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 2017

Penn Libraries donates books to local students Library staff help book donation program flourish SARAH FORTINSKY Staff Reporter

When Van Pelt Library preservation assistant and conservation technician Sibylla Benatova’s oldest son started kindergarten at the Penn Alexander School in 2014, she began donating selections from her 7,000-volume children’s book collection to his classroom. “It became clear that it would be wonderful if they could have additional books in their libraries,” Benatova said. “And then I thought it would be much better if it’s not just one school but two schools in the neighborhood.” This personal project has since developed into the A Book a Day project — an initiative Benatova started under the guidance of Will Noel, Penn Libraries’ director of the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts — that donates 16 total books each month, eight to the Penn Alexander School and eight to the Lea School . This year, A Book a Day is donating

an additional 30 books per school about instructing students on how to draw in response to an expressed desire for more art classes in the public schools. The A Book a Day project is one part of Penn Libraries’ greater Community Outreach Program, which has expanded recently. Over the past two years, the program established a community outreach librarian , made collaborations with local nonprofits and increased the number of students it serves from 500 to nearly 6,000. “It’s a natural extension of Penn Libraries’ mission,” Noel said. “We serve the faculty and the schools, but we’re a university embedded in a city, and we’re interested in the education of our constituents. It felt like a really good community thing that we can do.” Penn Libraries works with the West Philadelphia Alliance for Children to help develop local public school libraries and Benatova has worked closely with WePAC volunteer Linda Kim, who has spent time with students at the Lea School’s library. Kim said that the books from A Book a Day are often the ones

selected to read to large groups when they come to the library, and, in response to the demand from the students, they often have to create waiting lists for students who wish to check out the books after they hear them read out loud. “Particularly because we had a library that had been defunct for many years, we’re still really trying to build up the library’s collection,” Kim said. “There were many books that were old and tattered and the books that are published today look very different than the books from the ‘60s, and I think the kids immediately responded to that.” When selecting books for the schools, Benatova initially focuses on art, music, poetry and science in order to develop visual literacy in young children. “Art and poetry and music are not really heavily taught in the schools, so these books in a way bring them back to the student,” Benatova said. “Art teaches you to think in an abstract way, and whenever I select these books, I really am trying to find things that are really exciting and provocative and beautifully presented.”

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Benatova said she has always made an effort to include books with characters that are racially and ethnically diverse, which Kim says “look[s] much more like [the] world in which the children at Lea Elementary live in as opposed to the books published in the ‘60s that are like white kids living in the suburbs.” As of recently, Benatova has been selecting books specifically with an immigration theme. “As a diverse school, with immigrant students, some that have just arrived in the last year, I can’t think of a more relevant topic right now for our school community, but also for our larger community in the context of what’s been happening,” Penn Alexander Principal Michael Farrell said. “And what a beautiful way to talk about it with kids, by using literature and children’s books.” On every book donated through

FILE PHOTO

The book donation initiative helps students experience a wide variety of literary content that reaches beyond typical classroom curricula.

the A Book a Day project is a bookplate with an illustration of an apple tree with “University of Pennsylvania Libraries” across the top. “When the kids see that a local library closely adjacent to the

University is donating books to them,” Benatova said, “It might give them the idea that higher education is really possible; it’s something just around the corner; it’s something to really strive and look forward to.”

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6 SPORTS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 2017

THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM

Freshmen deal with adjustments on the fly M. TENNIS | Cancilla,

by yourself. Now you have that team aspect, and doing all those things with a team. It now shifts from an individual sport to a team sport.� Funk, a Florida native, can simply look at the substance of the court as a marker of how different the college game is for him. The 19 year-old grew up playing on the Har-Tru clay courts commonly found at some of the top tennis academies in southern Florida. To him tennis in the indoor hardcourt season lends itself to a slightly different style of play. “[In Florida,] there is a lot of slow play with balls with higher margins over the net and longer points,� Funk said. “Once you transition to college, the indoor courts make points a lot shorter and makes balls move a lot quicker because there are less elements taking away from the flight of the ball.� Funk’s solution? “Relentless dictation with margin.� “Dictation� and “margin.� A hybrid style enforced into all of Geatz’s charges. Combining the aggressive mindset of a

Funk thrust into lineup MOSES NSEREKO Associate Sports Editor

78 by 36. These are the dimensions, measured in feet, for a standard tennis court. The dimensions of the game never really change. The distance from the service line to the net will always be 21 feet. And the center net chord will always sit three-and-a-half feet above the court at the net posts. But while the dimensions of the court are rigid, for Penn men’s tennis‘ newest members, the opening segment of their season hasn’t come without an adjustment period. Two of the Red and Blue’s freshmen, Max Cancilla and Kaden Funk, have had to learn the ropes of college tennis on the fly. The two have made regular appearances on coach David Geatz’s singles lineup, most recently posting a a pair of straight-sets wins in a match against Navy. And while the pair of freshmen have

SPRINT

>> BACKPAGE

a healthful way,� Penn sports nutritionist Jill Joseph said. “I try to educate them well before they ever have to start really making weight and talk about healthy practices, so that we’re within a certain range before that weigh-in.� On top of the many important health and safety considerations, the weight change will likely affect gameplay and

COURTESY OF PENN ATHLETICS

Despite being a rookie, freshman Max Cancilla has made significant contributions to the team. Cancilla and fellow freshman Kaden Funk have relied heavily on their teammates during their transition period.

performed like veterans, they will both admit that college tennis is still a different version

of the sport they grew up with. “Throughout high school, the junior circuit is very much

strategy as well. Though all players who struggled to make the previous 172-pound limit may benefit from the change, the style of play in the trenches may be particularly impacted by the groundbreaking move. And while it remains to be seen just how much the weightincrease will affect the game, the Quakers are hoping that it might help recruit some new players too. “178 is a big difference from 172, and we just wanted to let

people know that we’re always welcoming new prospective players,� Jones said. “We just hope that the weight change and the fact that we brought a championship to Penn would make things more interesting to students.� It’s a nybody’s guess if these changes will help make sprint football more popular on campus, but change or no change, the Red and Blue will be hungry to defend their title in new ways come September.

individual,� Funk said. “You are travelling by yourself, and you are training and going to fitness

hardcourt player with the consistency of a clay courter. For Funk, the green clay courts of Florida have already taught him how to play with the margin. The task at college will be for him to use that margin to dictate the shorter rallies of the indoor courts. For Cancilla and Funk, the greatest asset in making the transition to playing college tennis is relying on those who have experienced it before. Cancilla was particularly bashful in his praise of the influence that senior captain Matt Nardella has had on their development as Quakers. “He’s really sort of been our idol,� the No. 4 singles player for Penn said. “He’s accepting of all players, whether you are the last guy on the team or the best guy. He makes you want to do well for the team.� For these two freshmen, the opponents they face on the other side of the net are bigger, the points are more aggressive, and even the court surface has changed. Yet one change — the introduction of teammates to an otherwise individual sport — has balanced out all those other unknowns.

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Standing at 6-foot-2, junior wide receiver Marcus Jones will be one of serveral Quakers who will greatly appreciate the Collegiate Sprint Football League’s decision to raise its maximum weight for its players.

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SPORTS 7

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 2017

Though Penn career is done, Bethea continues to shine WRESTLING | Former

Penn wrestler finishes career at UVA

STEVEN JACOBSON Sports Reporter

On Penn wrestling’s Senior Day in February 2016, thensenior 165-pounder Ray Bethea thought that it might be one of the last times he took the mat as a collegiate grappler. Yet, his wrestling career has managed to find one last year of life — but instead of donning the Red and Blue, Bethea’s final season of collegiate wrestling has come at the University of Virginia, where he is a graduate student.

HOWARD

>> BACKPAGE

he tells his teammates. “It really takes consistency to be good. I think down the stretch we have done that.” Howard exemplifies this message. For the past two seasons he has started every game for the Red and Blue and set the tempo for the squad with his hustle, defense and rebounding ability. “He’s been so consistent with rebounding, defense, playing around the rim,” coach Steve Donahue said. “Even when his shot isn’t going, I think he’s been a really consistent performer.” His tenacity, athleticism and knowledge have always been key components of his game and are why Howard remains a focal point of Penn’s rotation, even when he goes through a shooting slump. But it has been the development of his jump shot that has elevated his game. “He came here as just an athletic kid, and I think now with coach Donahue’s system, he’s become more of a shooter,” assistant coach Ira Bowman says. “He’s always been a slasher, but

“I thought maybe my last season was just going to be right there at Penn,” Bethea said. “But I’m really happy with the way things did fall into place.” Even though he graduated from Penn in 2016, Bethea has been eligible to compete this year since he missed almost all of his freshman season in 20122013 with an injury. This meant that he had used only three of his four years of eligibility as a member of the Quakers. With this fact in mind, in early 2016, Bethea began talking to Virginia wrestling coach Steve Garland about attending a graduate program there and competing on the team. Eleven months later, Bethea took the mat for the first time

for Virginia at the Clarion Open with a commanding 15-4 victory in his opening match, finishing sixth in his weight class overall. Bethea compiled a storied career at Penn, going 48-27, which included a first-place finish at the East Stroudsburg Open and a second team AllIvy nod during his sophomore season. Given this record of success, it wasn’t hard for his new teammates to welcome him to the team. “Coach Garland, his staff, and the rest of the team really embraced me with open arms,” Bethea said. “It’s been easy to fit right in with things on the team.” B e t h e a h a s s m o o t h ly

obviously now he’s been able to play multiple positions and has become more versatile.” That evolution has been critical to the Quakers’ development this season. Howard is now able to slot in at four positions, affording Donahue the opportunity to exploit more match-ups. That has been critical because it allows Howard to influence the game from multiple levels while he’s on the court. “His perimeter game has evolved, and his understanding of how to play has evolved,” Donahue explained. “At this point, he’s an elite defender and rebounder in this league. In particular because we’re so young, to have someone like that in the lineup really helps us.” While his play has improved, his leadership has also rubbed off on the rookies. “I think that’s the biggest part of growth,” Bowman said. “He’s always been someone who led by example, he’s become more vocal. Whenever you get to this point and you have a senior, that’s a big part of why a team is successful or not successful.” Of course, Penn men’s

basketball has never been in this situation during Howard’s career with the Red and Blue. They have a chance this weekend to finish the season playing legit postseason basketball. That is what means the most to Howard this weekend. “I’m proud of this season, winning games and competing at a high level,” Howard explained. “It was kind of discouraging the first couple seasons losing, some games were blowouts and things like that. “We’ve gotten better every year I’ve been here. I’ve improved aspects of my game every year I’ve been here. It’s just exciting to see that this program is going in the right direction.” This weekend Howard will be honored for his devotion to Penn basketball over the last four years. If all goes according to plan, he’ll have earned at least one, but possibly two more games at the Palestra. “I think we have a lot left in store for the rest of this year,” Howard said. Amazingly, he’s only four wins away from the NCAA Tournament. Let the madness begin.

adjusted to new competition, as he moved from wrestling in the EIWA for three years to the ACC — a conference that includes top-ranked programs such as Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, North Carolina and North Carolina State. He has helped the Cavaliers attain their No. 23 national ranking this year on the back of a 20-11 record. “They’re both really good competition. The EIWA is a really good conference — they have a lot of guys wrestling at [the NCAA Championships],” Bethea said. “The ACC is no different — it’s a really high level of competition, and we have a tough schedule. Wrestling at Penn and in the EIWA definitely, at the least, prepared

me for the ACC.” Despite Bethea’s smooth transition, there has been one area where it’s been particularly hard to adjust — the absence of his brother, May, currently a junior 157-pounder who still wrestles for Penn. “My brother has played a really big role in my wrestling career in my life and in my time at Penn,” the elder Bethea said. “We practice together a lot, we do extra workouts together, and he supports, encourages and motivates me. It took me a little awhile to adjust to not having him right there in the same room.” Bethea still keeps in touch with his former teammates, making the trip from Charlottesville to Philadelphia for

Senior Day ceremonies when Penn faced Drexel last weekend. While Bethea hasn’t had a chance to face any of his former Red and Blue teammates on the mat this season, he may have the opportunity to do so if he qualifies for the NCAA Championships, taking place from March 16-18 in St. Louis. While this season will be Bethea’s last as a collegiate wrestler (for certain, this time), he will by no means be saying goodbye to the sport for good. Currently studying for a degree in higher education, Bethea sees the possibility that he will coach in the future. “I definitely plan to be around the sport,” Bethea said, “and have it involved in my life for a very long time.”

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LAST CHANCE

A DIFFERENT PACE

Former Penn wrestler Ray Bethea finishes out his eligibility at UVA

Pair of freshman adjusting to the nuances of college tennis

>> SEE PAGE 7

>> SEE PAGE 6

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 2017

NOT SAYING GOODBYE YET

Rule changes to alter sprint football landscape More lenient weight maximum opens sport up to more prospective players YOSEF WEITZMAN Associate Sports Editor

Senior Matt Howard has sights on playoff birth THOMAS MUNSON Sports Reporter

In every previous season, Senior Night was the final game that the fourth-year players on Penn men’s basketball would play in the Palestra. This year, with the inaugural Ivy League tournament on the horizon and Penn tied with Columbia

for the final berth in the field, there could be more basketball yet to play at the Cathedral of Basketball. Thus, accepting that this weekend is his goodbye to the home crowd is not even on senior forward Matt Howard’s radar. “It might be Senior Night, but I’m looking forward to playing the week after that in the Palestra in the tournament,” the captain confidently stated. A few weeks ago, Penn’s tournament hopes were on life support.

After opening the conference slate 0-6, the Quakers were in the cellar with only eight league games remaining. But five straight victories got the Red and Blue back in the conversation. As a result, the next two games could be the biggest of Howard’s career. While this opportunity is new for him as well, Howard has imparted wisdom upon the young roster. “Be ready to play every game,” SEE HOWARD PAGE 7

ILANA WURMAN | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Penn sprint football may still be celebrating its 2016 undefeated championship season, but defending its title will be a little different due to recent changes made by the Collegiate Sprint Football League (CSFL). With the addition of Caldwell University, the CSFL will now be split into a North and South division. This change allows the CSFL to hold a championship game between the two division winners to determine the league champion. Before these changes, the league’s champion was determined only by the best regular season record. “I really like that idea,” junior wide receiver and captain Marcus Jones said, “because it allows us actually to have a clear winner — like there’s no chance for a co-champion or anything like that, and I think it makes some games more important.” For Penn to make the inaugural championship game, the Quakers will have to come out on top of a loaded South division. In addition to Navy, who has won a league-high 28 CSFL championships, Penn will also have to overcome Chestnut Hill, Mansfield and the newly-added Caldwell. The league’s expansion means that Penn will not play Franklin Pierce in 2017, but the Red and Blue will still have regular season games against Army, Cornell and Post, who make up all the other teams in the fourteam North division. The new championship game will also mean that the two teams taking part will have most likely already met earlier in the regular season. “And we’re using that kind of as motivation now,” Jones said, “just to get ready, because I know we play Army once and then we can look at them and have a little bit of a better idea of what they’re going to be doing for when we play them in the championship game too.” In addition to the championship game, next season will also feature a weight-increase for players. Up until this past season, players could not weigh in at more than 172 pounds. This year, that limit will be raised to 178. With players only having to make weight at one weigh-in scheduled for four days before every game, expect some players to be competing at weights several pounds heavier than 178. And while the weight-increase has been welcomed by players seeking extra flexibility, any sport involving weight-limits always requires extra precautions. “Anytime there is a weight consideration, we really like to make sure that any kind of changes in weight or making weight are done in a really safe way and SEE SPRINT PAGE 6

Plenty of routes remain for M. Hoops to score an Ivy playoff berth The loss to Columbia has not totally dera THEODOROS PAPAZEKOS Sports Reporter

Last week, Penn men’s basketball coach Steve Donahue dismissed the importance of looking ahead to tiebreaker scenarios. “All those things that [the media] thinks about, and fans, and alumni ... it’s all fun, but it doesn’t do us any good, so we don’t think like that,” Donahue said. Here at the Daily Pennsylvanian, we do. Especially after Penn’s loss to Columbia over the weekend, which made its playoff prospects far murkier. So with that in mind, here’s a rundown of all the scenarios where Penn makes the inaugural Ivy League Tournament. Amazingly, entering the final weekend in the Ivy League regular season, six teams still have a chance to make the NCAA Tournament. Two teams, Princeton and Harvard, have already clinched spots in the Ivy tournament, and Yale is overwhelmingly likely to take third, leaving Penn, Columbia

and Dartmouth to fight for the final spot. None of these three control their own destiny – each needs a result outside of their own games to clinch a spot. For Dartmouth to affect a potential Penn-Columbia tiebreaker, the Big Green would have to sweep both Penn and Princeton. For all practical purposes, that possibility is unlikely enough to ignore. The Quakers do have a tougher schedule than Columbia, as they play two teams they lost to earlier in the season, Dartmouth and second place Harvard. Meanwhile, Columbia gets Brown and Yale. The most obvious scenarios are those where Penn and Columbia win a different amount of games. The team with the most wins this weekend is in, without any tiebreakers necessary. The simplest path for the Quakers, and the one Donahue is likely focused on, is to win out and hope Columbia drops a game. Splitting the final two games would also be enough for Penn if Columbia lost both. Three-way tie for third at 7-7: If the Lions and Quakers both win out to reach 7-7, and Yale loses both upcoming games, all

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three would be tied for third. The tiebreakers dictate that Penn and Columbia would both make the tournament over Yale, seeing as Yale would be the only team of the three to lack a win against Harvard. Whether Penn becomes the third or fourth seed would then

depend on the teams below the Quakers – Cornell, Brown and Dartmouth. Either way, Penn is in. Two-way tie for fourth at 7-7: If Yale beats Cornell on Friday, it would clinch the third spot, leaving only Penn and Columbia in a tie. The fourth seed would then be

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awarded to the team with the best record against the winner of the Cornell-Brown game in Providence on Saturday. If the winner is Cornell, that team is Penn. If Brown wins, the Quakers are eliminated. Two-way tie for fourth at 6-8: If the Quakers and Lions tie at 6-8, fourth place would depend on which game each team won. A Penn loss to Harvard eliminates the Quakers provided Columbia wins at least one of two this weekend. However, if Penn’s loss comes against Dartmouth, and Columbia’s lone win is at Brown, Penn is in the tournament, since it would own a win over Yale and the Lions would not. A Penn loss to Dartmouth and Columbia win at Yale would result in further tiebreakers decided by the aforementioned Brown-Cornell game. Assuming Dartmouth is incapable of beating undefeated Princeton away, Penn would likely qualify as the fourth-place team. A Dartmouth sweep makes things complicated and would likely result in Penn missing the tournament. Two-way tie for fourth at 5-9:

The two-way tie scenario involves Penn and Columbia going winless, Princeton beating Dartmouth and Cornell beating Brown, but losing to Yale. The tie would be broken by Columbia’s win over Harvard and thus eliminate Penn. Three-way tie for fourth at 5-9. A three-way tie would result if Penn and Columbia lost both games and either Brown or Cornell swept. If the third team is Cornell, Penn wins the tiebreaker via its 3-1 combined record against the New York schools — otherwise, it is eliminated. Thankfully for basketball fans, the simpler scenarios are far more likely that the outrageous ones. Yale’s Sports Analytics Group has calculated the chances of each team making the playoffs. Their analysis puts Dartmouth’s chances of making the tournament at .01%. It also gives Penn a 59% chance of making the tournament, including a 1% chance of getting the third seed. For Quakers’ fans, this means cheering against Columbia and for the Big Red alongside Penn. Let’s just hope the math doesn’t get too complicated.

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