THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2017
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
FLING SAFE
Task force aims to regulate off-campus organizations The University formed the task force after the OZ email incident CAROLINE SIMON Senior Reporter
A University task force recommended that Penn register off-campus groups, expand education on anti-hazing efforts and update the alcohol and other drug policies, in a report issued Wednesday afternoon. Off-campus organizations, which often function like underground fraternities and sororities, might also need to register their events in offcampus locations and comply with University anti-hazing regulations. The task force’s eight general recommendations were announced by Provost Vincent Price, who said that he and Penn President Amy Gutmann had already accepted them and will work to implement them immediately. Penn created the Task Force on a Safe and Responsible Campus Community earlier this year, largely in response to an incident last fall when an off-campus organization known as OZ sent sexually suggestive emails to freshmen women. The administrators, faculty, staff and students on the committee spent the last three months deliberating how to combat sexual harassment and violence, substance abuse and other student conduct code violations. The task force also met with a series of student groups, including affiliated fraternities and sororities, athletic teams and The Daily Pennsylvanian, to brainstorm solutions. One major recommendation involves the creation of a new category for off-campus organizations — which were a specific focus of the task force — called “Identified Off-Campus Groups.” If Penn adopts the recommendations, groups designated as “Identified Off-Campus Groups” would have to provide Penn with members lists, leader contacts and addresses. They would be held to the same behavioral standards as on-campus groups — including being subject to alcohol and hazing policies. And they would be eligible for the same kinds of educational programming that on-campus groups like Greek organizations require of their SEE TASK FORCE PAGE 7
If culture change is going to happen, it must be a product of effort by administrators, faculty and students alike.” - The Daily Pennsylvanian Opinion Board on the task force’s suggestion to the administration PAGE 4
FILE PHOTO JULIO SOSA | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER, LULU WANG | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
How professors adjust to Fling Some noticed that few students come to class on Friday
PENN GOLF SEEK WINS AT IVY CHAMPS
NINA SELIPSKY Staff Reporter
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GUYRANDY JEAN-GILLES | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Physics professor Elliot Lipeles, math professor Nakia Rimmer and history professor Ann Farnsworth-Alvear have made changes to their course schedules.
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Physics professor Elliot Lipeles teaches a course on Fridays at 10 a.m. But during Spring Fling each year, he knows to expect less than perfect student attendance. Lipeles is one of several Penn professors who adjust their course schedules so students can enjoy Fling and also make the most of their last few classes of the year. This Friday, he will be doing an optional “fun lecture” that is an extension of the coursework in his combined section of Physics 141 and 151.
“I decided to do something where it would still be an interesting lecture relevant to the class but not something that everybody needed to know,” Lipeles said. “If people didn’t come, it wouldn’t be confusing or set things back.” He plans to focus his lecture on electromagnetism and relativity, a topic that is “a little bit beyond the scope of the class.” Lipeles has learned from past experience that holding a regular class during Fling is not the best idea. “In the past, I’ve shown up with a lesson plan and there are very few people there — maybe a third of the class,” he said. He began making a different SEE CLASS PAGE 3
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