WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
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University questioned following suicide
Philadelphia and Penn work to promote each other PAT ZANCOLLI Senior Reporter
Both current and prospective students expressed concerns CAROLINE SIMON & JESSICA MCDOWELL Campus News Editor & Enterprise Editor
Penn’s campus reacted with shock and sadness to news of Wharton junior Ao “Olivia” Kong’s death on Monday. Students mourned their classmate at a candlelight vigil on Monday night and took to social media to express their memories of Kong as well as their discontent with Penn’s culture. Students on campus have reacted not just to the news of Kong’s death, which was officially ruled a suicide, but also to the University’s handling of the announcement. Current students were not the only group affected — hundreds of prospective students visiting Penn for Quaker Days were also witness to the news. Kong’s death has brought renewed attention to the longstanding issue of mental health at Penn, which has seen 11 student suicides since February 2013 (including one Law student who committed suicide last year, after having graduated less than two weeks prior). The University’s response The first time most students heard of Kong’s death was in an email from the President’s Office, sent at 2:22 p.m. on Monday. The email reported the incident and listed a number of resources for students, but did not provide Kong’s name. Wharton sent an email to its own undergraduate body 20 minutes later, sharing Kong’s name as well as additional details about her life. The email, which was sent before her suicide was confirmed, described her death as an “accident.” Wharton’s only information at the time the email SEE KONG PAGE 3
CRIME TRENDS HOLDING STEADY PAGE 5
Penn is everything I wanted it to be, but nothing of what I needed it to be
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hen Penn released its admissions decisions on March 31, admitted students took to social media to celebrate their excitement. But while students celebrate every year, Penn’s Class of 2020 was able to express their excitement this admissions season with a Penn emoji. As the largest employer in the Greater Philadelphia area and an intellectual hub for students, Penn plays an integral role in Philadelphia. But as much as Penn contributes to the city, Philadelphia enriches the
University as well. Prospective students are drawn to Penn because of its location in the city of Philadelphia, and students and alumni alike reap the benefits offered to them during their time here. This relationship is evident in several new partnerships organized by Philadelphia and Penn, like Penn’s feature on a new Philadelphia Emoji Keyboard created by Visit Philadelphia — the official organization for Philadelphia travel and tourism — and new Quaker Days programming led by Visit
Philadelphia representatives. A New Kind of Relationship While the relationship between Penn and the city of Philadelphia is currently strong and thriving, this was not always the case. Penn’s Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli, who was an undergrad at Penn in the mid-1980s, has seen the relationship change over his lifetime. “It’s all been a progression… I think that the evolution is positive and it has been a
recognition of interdependence that if Penn can grow and thrive, then the city of Philadelphia will grow and thrive as well,” Carnaroli said. Dean of Admissions Eric Furda also agreed that the relationship between Penn and the city has changed with time. “I think the work that happened between the late-90s and early-2000s was the dramatic shift in the relationship between the city and the university,” Furda said, “What has SEE BRANDING PAGE 2
College freshman releases second EP The L.A. native worked with hometown producer
-Guest Column by Debbie Rabinovich
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JULIA BELL Contributing Reporter
FROM PENN TO PROFESSIONAL BACK PAGE
SUSANNA JARAMILLO | VIDEO PRODUCER
This February, College freshman Elizabeth Goran released a new EP titled “Distance.”
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“You say you’ll be back in time, but time’s just a sharpened knife and I can’t stand to be cut from you,” College freshman Elizabeth Goran sings on her new EP titled “Distance.” The EP, which was released this February, is the second in three years for Goran. She has been singing since she her days in elementary school choir at five years old and writing songs since she was eight years old, but she didn’t have formal training as a singer until she was 12 years old. “My parents kind of recognized that these songs were pretty good and they helped foster my singing through voice lessons and helping me pay to make my EPs,” Goran said.
Goran released her first EP, “Fight,” in 2014 when she was just 16 years old. She categorizes her own music in the pop genre, but stresses that music doesn’t neatly fit into labeled boxes. Her biggest influence is English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. Manal Kaddoura, a high school senior in Goran’s hometown of Los Angeles, became friends with Goran before the release of her first EP. “One of the reasons me and Liz became friends was because of music,” Kaddoura said. “It’s always been such a big deal to the both of us. Liz has always had a huge passion for music.” For the past five years, Los Angeles-based vocalist John Deaver has coached Goran. Deaver and Goran have both recorded instrumental piano tracks for the EPs. The EP, “Distance,” was recorded in his studio and was produced by him and his sound engineer Gabe Lopez. “She’s a very talented girl,”
Deaver said. “She writes very commercial songs that work well in the pop medium that she’s going for. Her voice has come a long way as far as having more power and more high notes.” Goran draws some of her inspiration for her music from real life. “It mainly comes from real life, but a lot of the time it will be based off a small concept and I’ll just expand on it,” Goran said. “I was writing love songs at the age of 14. I knew nothing about love. I still know nothing, let’s be real. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t write about those experiences. Or you hear your friends’ stories and that inspires you.” Specifically, she drew the inspiration for the song “2AM” after the end of a friendship. “A lot of people have interpreted it romantically, but interpretation is part of the music experience,” Goran SEE GORAN PAGE 6
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