THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2019 VOL. CXXXV
NO. 43
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
New course registration system to replace Penn InTouch
FOUNDED 1885
‘We were completely blindsided’: students frustrated by PennDesign’s renaming
Four graduate student assembly board members resign
The new system will have expanded academic worksheets
The resignations are prompting two special elections
GORDON HO Staff Reporter
HARSHITA GUPTA Staff Reporter
A new course registration application will soon replace Penn InTouch by spring 2021. The new registration system, called PATH, will have an updated interface and expanded academic planning worksheets. Advisors and professors will also see change to the way they notify students of academic issues under the new system. The system that currently runs Penn InTouch is outdated and has functionality from the 1980s, said Rob Nelson, executive director for Academic Technology and Planning. Student leaders say the shift is muchneeded and will improve the user experience when registering for classes. PATH will have an app that allows students to plan their four-year academic path at Penn on worksheets. The new app integrates course registration and academic planning more tightly, Nelson said. Whereas the current worksheet only allows planning for one semester, students can lay out their entire four-year academic plan in the future system. “When you are choosing classes, you will be able to see them and think about them in terms of your overall academic plan, and vice versa,” Nelson said.
think fashion and then they might assume what we do is [fashion] — we don’t even have that in our program,” Architecture graduate student Katarina Marjanovic said. Penn does not currently offer any courses in fashion design. “Weitzman is known for fashion design and we don’t have a fashion design program,” Architecture graduate student Natalia Revelo said. Revelo said the new name might give people the wrong im-
Four members have resigned from the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly executive board, prompting a special election to fill the empty positions on Wednesday evening. The resignations came as a shock to the executive board — which is composed of 14 members — and placed an unexpected burden on other GAPSA leadership, said GAPSA Vice President Matthew Lee, who is also a fourth-year Nursing Ph.D. candidate. The group planned to fill three positions on Wednesday night, but leaders announced a fourth resignation to members at the special election. One of the three positions up for election was not filled because the students nominated needed more time to think through whether they wanted the position, prompting another special election in two weeks. The elected Chair for Equity and Access, Penn Law student B.J. Courville, resigned within a week of being elected in April. She said the main reason for her resignation was a disagreement she had with Penn’s administration, which she said pushed back on her initiative for a pilot program to provide free menstrual products across campus. Courville said the administration was not cooperating with her on the
SEE WEITZMAN PAGE 8
SEE GAPSA PAGE 9
SEE REGISTRATION PAGE 9
KATHARINE COCHERL
PennDesign was renamed the Stuart Weitzman School of Design in February after a donation from the Wharton 1963 graduate and fashion icon. The official naming ceremony for the school takes place today at 5 p.m.
Students unhappy about a lack of school transparency GORDON HO Staff Reporter
Since Penn’s School of Design was renamed the Stuart Weitzman School of Design earlier this year, students have voiced anger over the University’s decision and asserted that the namesake does not accurately represent the school. Students critiqued Weitzman, a fashion icon and 1963 Wharton
graduate, because they say his profession as a designer is not related to any academic program offered at Penn. They also say they are frustrated over the lack of transparency and student input throughout the process. The school’s official naming ceremony, which will feature Weitzman, Penn President Amy Gutmann, and PennDesign Dean Frederick Steiner, will t=ake place Thursday outside of Meyerson Hall at 5 p.m. “[When] people think Stuart Weitzman, they think shoes, they
Where Trump’s fellow Penn grads stand on his impeachment
GRAPHIC BY GILLIAN DIEBOLD
Six of the seven Penn grads in Congress support an inquiry MAX COHEN Senior Reporter
President Donald Trump is facing one of the toughest tests of his presidency as Democrats in the United States House of Representatives move forward with their formal impeachment inquiry against the 1968 Wharton graduate. Trump’s fellow Penn alumni in Congress will be critical players as Democrats continue gathering evidence in the coming months to support their allegation that Trump betrayed his oath of office by enlisting help from a foreign leader to investigate
a political rival. At the heart of the issue is a July call between Trump and Ukraine’s president, in which Trump asked the leader to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a Democratic presidential candidate and a former Penn Presidential Professor of Practice. Biden took an unpaid leave of absence earlier this year after announcing his candidacy. Out of the seven Penn graduates in Congress, six are Democrats — all support an impeachment inquiry. The lone Republican opposes an impeachment inquiry. There are no Penn graduates in the Senate. The Democrats include: Conor Lamb, a 2006 College graduate and 2009 Penn Law School graduate (D-Pa.), Mary Gay Scanlon, a 1984 Penn Law graduate (D-Pa.),
Matt Cartwright, a 1986 Penn Law graduate (D-Pa.), 1997 College graduate Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), 1985 Wharton MBA David Trone (D-Md.), and 1969 Wharton MBA David Scott (D-Ga.). 2004 Wharton graduate Trey Hollingsworth, a Republican who represents Indiana, is the only Penn graduate in Congress who opposes an impeachment inquiry. On May 21, Scanlon was the first Penn graduate to announce her support for an impeachment inquiry. Scanlon is also the Vice Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, a committee that will decide whether the case for impeachment is strong enough to warrant a full House vote. “The President’s refusal to produce evidence or permit witness testimony defies not
only the rule of law but the basic protections of our Constitution. No one is above the rule of law,” Scanlon wrote in a statement at the time. The time has come to start an impeachment inquiry because the American people deserve to know the truth and to have the opportunity to judge the gravity of the evidence and charges leveled against the President.” In the past few weeks, after news reports of Trump’s conversation with Ukraine’s leader emerged last month, her Democratic colleagues have begun to follow her lead. On Sept. 24, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced the House would launch an official impeachment inquiry after months of hesitation. The same day, four Penn graduates in
Congress came out in favor of an impeachment inquiry: Cartwright, Gottheimer, Scott, and Trone. Lamb was a late holdout, announcing his support for an inquiry days later on Sept. 27. Hollingsworth, the Republican member opposed to an impeachment inquiry, told the Indianapolis Star last month that Democrats put “false claims and endless impeachment drama ahead of real solutions for American families.” “This transcript is another example that they will stop at nothing to seek revenge on the 62 million Americans who voted for President Trump and who are relying on him and Congress to focus on real, day-today issues for American families and businesses,” he said.
OPINION | It’s time for Penn to pay PILOTS
NEWS
NEWS
SPORTS | Squash fees surprise community
Penn Museum’s renovation to rebrand Phila.
Junior represents Canada at UN Youth Climate Summit
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“Penn must do what nearly every other person and institution in Philadelphia does: pay taxes.” - DP Editorial Board PAGE 4
The recently renovated Ringe Squash Courts are world-class facilities, but the Penn squash community has concerns about the new fee structure. PAGE 11 FOLLOW US @DAILYPENN FOR THE LATEST UPDATES ONLINE AT THEDP.COM
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