THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
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Penn students head to attend and volunteer at the DNC JINAH KIM Staff Reporter
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ext month, Philadelphia will host the Democratic National Convention — and some Penn students are helping make that happen. “I knew when I first heard that Philadelphia got the bid that I wanted to be involved in some way,” rising College junior Karissa Hand said. Since January, Hand has been working as a press intern for the Philadelphia 2016 Host Committee for the DNC, a nonprofit organization chaired by
former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell. Hand took a class taught by Rendell in the fall of 2015, where he encouraged students who wanted to participate in the process to apply for an internship. “I’m definitely interested in public service in some capacity, and specifically political communication, so this internship fits in perfectly with that,” Hand said. While the host committee is not directly in charge of what actually happens
Student offers a slice of capital investing
during the convention, it developed programming and events around Philadelphia for the week leading up to and during the DNC. “One of our big events is Political Fest, which is going to be at the Constitution Center and a few other locations across the city with interactive displays and game shows and some prominent government officials and maybe some celebrities,” Hand said. “I’ll be helping out a lot staffing that and managing all
the other press volunteers. And making sure that the press gets the right information that they need about what’s going on.” While Hand is helping manage press relations for the DNC, rising College and Wharton junior Ben Gendelman will be part of the press corps, working with CBS News to cover the convention. “The position’s called news runner,” he said. “I’m going to be working with the production team organizing the
SEE DNC PAGE 3
Alum dubbed ‘vegan Bernie Madoff,’ arrested for embezzling millions Cheese pizza delivery led police to suspects’ hideout
Solving investing problems with in startups with a new startup
MITCHELL CHAN Staff Reporter
BOWMAN COOPER Staff Reporter
Rising Engineering sophomore Rohan Shah believes that “business comes as a result of you solving a problem.” And that’s just what he’s doing with his startup, Slice Capital — Shah is seeking to make buying and selling shares in startups more accessible. “Slice Capital is a platform that allows anybody to buy and sell shares in the coolest, newest startups,” he said. “We’re looking to democratize the funding space so that the power is not only in the hands of venture capitalists and angels.” Shah feels that allowing people to invest in the startups they believe in creates a more intimate relationship than simply buying a product or a service. “By allowing people to invest in the startups, they’re personally invested in the long-term growth of the company,” he said. Shah started working on his idea in December 2014, and by the next summer, he and co-founder Krish Dholakiya began actually implementing their plan. At the time, they were only planning on allowing people to buy shares, but they’ve since expanded to allowing people to sell them as well. “It’s going to be like a full-on stock market,” Shah said. He thinks the company is going to be a “game changer” by giving people flexibility.
logistics of the event, where various people have to be, actually working with the news crew.” Gendelman hopes to go into broadcasting one day, and he said the position is an opportunity for him to experience a professional news production and to build up contacts within the industry. “One thing that the person who interviewed me mentioned was that when
COURTESY OF WBIR-TV AND MARK CUDDIHEE
Sarma Melngailis, 1994 College and Wharton graduate, is awaiting trial for grand larceny, criminal tax fraud and violation of New York state labor regulations.
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SEE SLICE CAPITAL PAGE 2
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When law enforcement arrested raw food restauranteur and 1994 College and Wharton graduate Sarma Melngailis, it was under the most ignominious of circumstances. The fugitive vegan, who disappeared after embezzling millions from her own business, had been caught because her accomplice had ordered a cheese pizza. Police caught up with Melngailis and her husband and alleged accomplice Anthony Stringis on May 12 while they were hiding in Sevierville, Tenn. The couple had been on the run
In a race for the White House that has been anything but presidential, you do not have to look far for reasons to be disgusted.”
since last July. She now awaits trial for grand larceny, criminal tax fraud and violation of New York state labor regulations after repeatedly failing to pay her employees. She faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted. “These defendants are accused of repeatedly stealing from and lying to their loyal employees and to investors who poured money into their company,” Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson said in a statement. Melngailis, who graduated from Penn with an economics major in the College of Arts and Sciences and an accounting concentration in Wharton, opened Pure Food and Wine, an SEE MELNGAILIS PAGE 5
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