THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSIT Y OF PENNSYLVANIA
online at thedp.com
THURSDAY, JUNE 19, 2014
m e e d s r e d i s n i s Vagelo l u f s s e c c u s m a r g o pr n o i t i r t t a h g i h despite ws Editor; Graphic
arz, Ne riter; Kristen Grab a Feiner*, Staff W
Laur
Hillary holds book signing in Philadelphia
THE SUMMER N PENNSYLVANIA Vol. 30, No. 4 2014 (215) 898-6585
by Luke Chen
Pennsylvania, nian, University of va syl nn Pe ily Da e Th ceived June 18, 2014 sylvania 19104. Re Philadelphia, Penn chen@thedp.com
es program at ecular Life Scienc The Vagelos Mol n for its high nnsylvania is know the University of Pe e Daily Pennevious article by th attrition rate. A pr ported a 77% † ing on May 10 re sylvanian appear scribing the many students de drop rate, with po re rt corroboogram. Our new difficulty of the pr t finds that the of the program, bu rates the difficulty to different can be attributed low retention rate y believed an m n, we found that factors. In additio metric for or po te was a ra n io nt te re w lo that the ram selects its Because the prog program success. program, to ts applying the en ud st of d ea st class in cted result. attrition is an expe
Any academic program with a 77 percent dropout rate would likely be considered a failure. But most alumni of the Roy and Diana Vagelos Scholars Program in Molecular Life Sciences — even those who transferred out of the program — still consider it a success. Penn boasts a plethora of activities and programs that can elicit a response of “you’re crazy!” from fellow classmates. But the MLS program ranks high on the list of awe-inducing activities. With an average dropout rate of 77 percent in the last 11 years, as previously reported by The Daily Pennsylvanian, MLS is easy to characterize
by a snap judgment as a program effective in rooting out the weak. But while MLS graduates may have experienced a survival of the fittest of sorts, they emphasized in interviews with the DP that even completing the first year of the program is a notable feat in itself. They added that the dropout rate is often indicative of the program’s unique acceptance policy — where Penn invites students from the top 20 percent of the incoming freshman class who have indicated an interest in the natural sciences — not of any failure or lacking on the part of the students who choose not to follow through.
Transformers producer took his MBA to Hollywood
Number of Graduates
ABSTRACT
: Number of graduates e: siz Average initial class
60 50 40 30 20 10 0
‘08
‘09
‘11
‘10
‘12
‘13
each year, about students enter MLS -60 50 h ug ho Alt Figure 1.1 gram year graduate the pro 15-20 students per
“We don’t just kick them out and laugh at them,” Ben Wieder, an 2009 MLS alumnus and current PhD candidate in Physics at Penn, said of MLS dropouts. If the student chooses to take the MLS path, he will complete two natural science majors or submatriculate with one natural science major in four years. This is on top of completing at least two summers of research and fulfilling all of the standard College requirements. “No matter what state you are in you always feel very overwhelmed, but in a healthy way,” Cyndi Chung, 2010 MLS graduate and current Penn MD/MBA candi-
date, said of the workload. She completed the Vagelos program on top of an additional English major, while participating in various activities including writing a column and designing at the DP. Chung wasn’t the only one who was able to branch out of the sciences outside of class. Wieder fenced on both the Penn and U.S. Junior National teams, travelling every weekend of the second half of his sophomore year around the world. When his grades slipped as a result of his busy schedule, MLS advisor Ponzy Lu dished out SEE VAGELOS PAGE 2
Kristen Grabarz/News Editor
Hillary Clinton shook hands with each attendee as they approached the table, comparing the event to the “red carpet of books.”
Penn student Dylan Hewitt was first in line to meet Clinton BY KRISTEN GRABARZ News Editor For mer Secretar y of State Hillary Clinton visited Philadelphia last Friday to sign copies of her new book, “Hard Choices”
— and a Penn student was first in line to meet her. Fels I nst it ut e of G over nment MPA candidate and 2014 College graduate Dylan Hewitt arrived at the Free Library of Philadelphia at 5:30 a.m., about an hour before the next person in line, to secure the first spot in line. SEE HILLARY PAGE 2
Reconstructions, renovations and repairs, oh my!
Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura shares his perspective on Hollywood and career choices BY ALISON ELLIOT Staff Writer “Transformers: Age of Extinction” is scheduled for release later this month — and a Penn alumnus will be high in the credit reel. The Daily Pennsylvanian spoke with producer and Wharton MBA recipient Lorenzo di Bonaventura about his Hollywood career and industry advice. Da ily Pennsylv a nia n: What are you most excited about for the new Transformers movie? Lorenzo di Bonaventura: When you work with Michael Bay, he always wants to top himself, so the movie as a whole is very exciting. But I think the really big news is how much difference casting Mark Wahlberg has made to the movie. Shia was great and he was a young guy, but you can only employ him in a certain way. Now you have Mark
Wahlberg who can pick up a gun and shoot at the bad guy and you feel like you’ve entered, in a way, another genre of a movie. DP: Can you describe your role as producer of the Transformers movies? LDB: I think a lot of producers do different things and each movie demands something different of the producer, which is what I like about it. My job does not have sameness; it doesn’t have monotony. What I do as a producer is find ideas. I come up with my own ideas, I find books, I find graphic novels, remakes of movies, existing scripts ... and begin that process: develop them into a movie, sell it to a studio, try to attach a director or a movie star and then once you actually are lucky SEE TRANSFORMERS PAGE 3
Editorial (215) 898-6585 • Business (215) 898-6581
Andres de los Rios/Staff Photographer
The Penn Bookstore escalators will be closed for construction until June 30. Until then, shoppers and coffee-seekers will have to take the elevator located on the Sansom Street side of the bookstore store get to the second floor.
The Class of 1949 Bridge will be closed until mid-August BY EMILY OFFIT Staff Writer If you’re trying to talk on your cell phone as you walk through campus this summer, the sound of drills and jackhammers might make it difficult.
While the majority of the student population is away for the summer, construction sites are taking over campus. Some of these projects are part of Phase II of a 10 year long campus building project known as Penn Connects, which began in 2006 and will bring big changes to Penn. A c c o r d i n g t o P e n n ’s Real Estates and Facilities (FRES), “Summer is the time of year that FRES
Visit us online at theDP.com
Operations & Maintenance teams take advantage of vacated spaces to do repair, renovation and refinishing projects.” The Class of 1949 Bridge which connects the core of campus to the living facilities, will be closed until the middle of August for “repairs to drainage, paving, donor plaques, railings and the installation of new lighting,” according to a construction
summary from the FRES Associate Director of Communications Heidi Wunder. The Kelly Writers House has begun construction and will feature a new recording studio, publications room and an outdoor reading and performance venue in the fall. The new college house at Hill Field — a $127 million project that began this past SEE RENOVATION PAGE 5
Send story ideas to newstip@theDP.com