2018
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2018 VOL. CXXXIV NO. 45
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
FOUNDED 1885
Anita Hill: Kavanaugh hearings were a ‘tragedy’ The attorney spoke to a full audience at Irvine Auditorium on Wednesday AVNI KATARIA Staff Reporter
PHOTO BY ERIC SUCAR | UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Twenty-eight years after her last appearance in Irvine Auditorium, American attorney Anita Hill told a packed audience of mostly women that the Brett Kavanaugh hearings were a “disservice to the American public” and “really a tragedy.” On Wednesday, Hill likened the recent congressional testimony alleging sexual misconduct by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh to her own testimony in 1991, in which she brought forth sexual harassment allegations against current Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas during his confirmation hearings. Her appearance in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1991 has been a topic of public conversation recently, in light of professor Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony that she was sexually assaulted by Kavanaugh. But in light of the hearings’ results in 2018, “it’s like we find out it’s almost as though none of that took place,” Hill told the audience. Welcomed by a standing ovation, Hill dissected the movement to end sexual assault, as well as the Congressional testimonies that alleged sexual harassment and assault.
Kimberlé Crenshaw, a civil rights advocate and a leading scholar of critical race theory who coined the term intersectionality in 1989, joined Hill for the event. It was moderated by Penn Law professor Dorothy Roberts and hosted by the Alice Paul Center and Penn’s Gender Sexuality and Women’s Studies program. Hill and Crenshaw analyzed the way the culture around sexual misconduct has both changed, yet remained the same due to structural asymmetry in the political landscape. Hill said initially, she saw the Kavanaugh hearings as an opportunity for fair process in a sexual misconduct allegation case, but she soon recognized obstacles similar to ones she experienced during her own testimony. For example, Hill said in both cases, the Senate did not initially push for an investigation, did not provide ample preparation time for the women bringing forth the allegations, and placed significant restrictions on witnesses that could be called. “It’s really a tragedy,” Hill said of the lack of witnesses and fact-based questioning at the 2018 hearing. “Their framing of the process and their framing of the questions were not informed by facts and knowledge, and therefore they excluded a whole body of information that has been developed in the past three decades.” SEE ANITA HILL PAGE 7
Penn will install AC in Kings Court and Du Bois
Mold discovered in 100 Quad rooms over fall break
The installation is scheduled for summer 2019
10 freshmen relocated to nearby hotels for a week
JULIA KLAYMAN Staff Reporter
Two of the three remaining college houses at Penn without air conditioning will finally be installing a cooling system this coming summer. Kings Court English College House and Du Bois College House are scheduled to have air conditioning installed in the summer of 2019, Penn’s Business Services Division spokesperson Barbara Lea-Kruger wrote in an email to The Daily Pennsylvanian. Gregory College House — the third dorm without AC — is
also on the plan, but Lea-Kruger said she could not provide a time estimate on the project given that the University is still undergoing the planning phase of the operation. The study phase exploring the options of installing AC in these dorms launched in September 2016, she added. For years, students living in these dorms have suffered from uncomfortable heat. This year, during the hot first few weeks of school, freshmen living in KCECH reported sleeping in lounges, libraries, and computer labs in a desperate effort to avoid their overheated dorm rooms. Even though Facilities and Real Estate Services, as well as Business Services, tried to
alleviate the situation by adding portable air conditioning in some locations and offering Italian ice to residents, students reported still sweltering in the heat. Carol Leavitt, mother of a Wharton and Engineering senior and a 2018 Penn graduate, said it bothered her that her children were living in uncomfortably hot environments, especially knowing other dorms had much nicer amenities. She said her son lived in Gregory for his first two years at Penn and her daughter was assigned to live in KCECH her freshman year. “I’ve been there during the move-in and move-out and it’s SEE DORM W/O AC PAGE 3
ARI STONBERG | CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
This year, during the hot first few weeks of school, freshmen living in KCECH slept in lounges, libraries, and computer labs in a desperate effort to avoid their overheated dorm rooms.
OPINION | Elections: a trap for fools
“Voting is a necrotizing infection that renders our comatose body politic septic.” — Carl-Emmanuel Fulghieri PAGE 5
SPORTS | Rising Stars
It’s rare for college sports teams to lean so heavily on less experienced underclassmen, but Penn cross country’s younger players are leading the way BACKPAGE FOLLOW US @DAILYPENN FOR THE LATEST UPDATES ONLINE AT THEDP.COM
NEWS From Cyprus to Penn: meet the new VP of libraries PAGE 2
JULIA KLAYMAN Staff Reporter
Minor evidence of mold, moisture, and mildew was found in about 100 student rooms in the Quad this past weekend. University administrators said they worked with outside contractors over fall break to address the mold, allowing most residents to return to their rooms by Sunday. However, there are still six rooms under mold remediation, which has forced approximately 10 freshmen to relocate to nearby hotels for a week. Prior to fall break, 22 Quad dorms were reportedly affected by mold, forcing 11 residents to move to alternate locations. Several also reported feeling sick as a result of the mold. According to Director of Communications and External Relations for Business Barbara Lea-Kruger, staff from Penn Residential Services discovered the extent of the mold spread during annual Health and Safety checks of the residential system over fall break. Most of the rooms that initially reported issues with mold were in Ware College House, but during the check, dorm rooms across the Quad were found to have evidence of mold. On Sunday, all Quad residents received an email explaining the results of the inspection. “This year has been one of the wettest on record in terms of inches of rainfall and as a historic building, the Quad is more vulnerable
TAMARA WURMAN | CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
On top of removing the mold, Residential Services cleared the gutters and patched leaks in an effort to prevent the moisture from returning.
to this type of occurrence,” said the email, which was signed by Executive Director of Business Services Douglas Berger and Executive Director of Operations and Maintenance at Facilities and Real Estate Services Faramarz Vakilizadeh. On top of removing the mold, Residential Services cleared gutters and patched leaks in an effort to prevent the moisture from returning, Lea-Kruger said. Despite this, some students have continued to find evidence of mold in their rooms. Wharton freshman Niva Patel,
who was temporarily relocated for two weeks earlier this semester due to mold in her dorm, received an email on Sunday, Oct. 7 informing her that the mold in her room with roommate and Wharton freshman Eliza Thaler had been successfully removed over the break. But when the students returned to campus this week, they found that there were still traces of mold on the wall. They also found mold on their furniture, shoes, and clothes, Patel said. SEE MOLD PAGE 6
NEWS HUP workers stage protest outside of hospital PAGE 7
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