WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 6, 2015
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
VIOLENCE THREAT DISRUPTS CLASSES ELIZABETH WINSTON Staff Reporter
A threat of potential violence on Monday kept anxieties on campus running high, leading some Penn professors to cancel classes and some students afraid to even leave their dorms. A recent social media post threatened violence against an unspecified Philadelphia-area university on Monday at 2 p.m. Eastern Time. The Division of Public Safety emailed members of the Penn community on Sunday afternoon, informing them that there would be heightened security across campus and encouraging students, faculty and staff to be cautious and aware of their surroundings. After a day of preparation, 2 p.m. came and went without any reported violence, but speculations from students have varied. Some believe that the threat was in fact hinting
at a terrorist attack, while others felt the threat was too ambiguous to cause significant danger. Many expressed on social media that the University prioritized its schedule over student’s fears and safety. @MrErnestOwens tweeted, “@Penn will cancel classes before Pope visit, snow blizzards that flop, but when getting a potential terrorist threat…no deal. @dailypenn” expressing concern that the threat would come to fruition. @miranathanson tweeted, “Thanks @Penn for the support re: potential terrorist threats against my school Penn Walk has me covered w/ unarmed walking buddy so all good.” @jack ienikpour questioned, “What if @Penn for once prioritized safety over academics? There’s an Oregon copycat threatening Philly SEE REACTIONS PAGE 2
How 4chan has become connected to threats Elements of the site make it apt for posting violence
site make it susceptible to hosting threats.
LOWELL NEUMANN NICKEY Staff Reporter
The Anonymous Effect: 4chan is an anonymous image board, meaning posts are generally independent and not tied to any specific account or username, as compared to sites like Facebook or Twitter. This allows for a great deal of confusion in identifying who posted what. There are some instances in which posters have been identified. For example, in 2011, 19-year-old Ali Saad was arrested after the FBI discovered he had made posts to the site’s “random”
In the wake of the school shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon, public attention has again turned to the anonymous image board 4chan.org. The site was used to announce a potential act of violence against a Philadelphia-area university on Monday, which was not fulfilled. From horrific acts of violence to celebrity photo leaks, the site comes up time and time again in the media, and many elements of the
SEE 4CHAN PAGE 6
In the midst of financial crisis, student meets Greek president
College students aren’t coddled, says bioethics prof.
College sophomore met key EasternMediterranean political figures
Jonathan Moreno discusses sensitive issues in his class
MITCHELL CHAN Staff Reporter
SYDNEY SCHAEDEL Staff Reporter
While many teens spent the summer balancing internships, classes and beach outings, one Penn student was busy questioning a foreign head of state. This past June, College sophomore Elias Gerasoulis joined a delegation of 10 college students who traveled to Cyprus and Greece to meet key political figures in the Eastern Mediterranean. The trip came at a key time in Greek history — the collapse of its economy. The trip, which lasted from June 19 to July 3, was organized by the American Hellenic Institute, a Washington D.C.-based organization dedicated to advancing domestic and foreign policy issues that affect Greeks and Greek Americans. Gerasoulis, who is half-Greek by descent — his father was born in a small farming village in the mountains of northern Greece — had never been to Greece before this summer, nor had he any significant contact with his relatives in Greece. He had regularly talked about politics at home, but those conversations focused mainly on American
OWAIN WEST | CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
In September, The Atlantic published an article called “The Coddling of the American Mind.”
HANGIFY EXPANDS PAGE 2
SEE GREECE PAGE 3
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A Penn professor has weighed in on the recent debate over the overprotection of millennials. Bioethics professor Jonathan Moreno believes that university students can handle sensitive topics maturely. In September, The Atlantic published an article online called “The Coddling of the American Mind,” which sparked
To worry about how you look in front of your peers is to let your educational and intellectual experience be dictated by others.”
conversations on and off college campuses. The article argued that there is a phenomenon at elite American universities, “driven largely by students, to scrub campuses clean of words, ideas, and subjects that might cause discomfort or give offense.” It decried the use of trigger warnings and argued that these privileged, oversensitive college students were continuing the work of their overindulgent parents and further isolating themselves from “the real world.” The impact of the article was such that even President Obama made a statement in SEE TRIGGER WARNINGS PAGE 7
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