October 26, 2016

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2016

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

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Listserv Madness

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Spamming email lists is one student’s public art experiment

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arlier this month, students on a range of email lists — including the freshman-year listserv for the entire Class of 2017 — received a series of emails from College senior Ashley Stinnett and members of her art collective. As a result of the email thread, Stinnett, who is also a Daily Pennsylvanian Opinion columnist, and several other students sent more than 60 emails to the inboxes of close to 2,400 people. Others who received “spam” email messages from Stinnett include: over 30 people on the 34th Street magazine staff, people on the Hub listserv at the Kelly Writers House and students who took Advanced Nonfiction Writing with instructor Buzz Bissinger in fall 2015. Stinnett is currently enrolled in two of the most unorthodox classes at Penn: Religious Studies 356, known colloquially as the “monk class,” and ”Wasting Time on the Internet.” Presumably, Stinnett launched this series of “email experiments” as part of “Wasting Time on the Internet,” in which students are asked to conduct social experiments to find ways that can make wasting time on the Internet a communal rather than solitary activity. However, Stinnett’s precise intentions are difficult to confirm because she has just entered a month of asceticism as part of her

REBECCA TAN Staff Reporter

“monk class” and was unable to speak to the DP for this article. She has pre-written her columns for the DP, which are sent to the opinion editor by her friends. As of last Oct. 21 , Stinnett has had to observe a code of silence and avoid all electronic communication, among other rules. In response to a request for comment sent to Stinnett’s School of Arts and Sciences email, a group of her unidentified friends, some of whom asked to be referred to as the “Bad Monk Ashley” collective, said they were manning her account for the time being and responded with an emailed statement. Her friends think her “email experiment” began when she mistakenly crafted an application for the Truman Scholarship available only to juniors. After realizing her mistake, Stinnett sent her application in anyway but with a note that explained her mistake and contained an appeal for other opportunities that might be suitable for her, the statement said. Following this, she forwarded the entire gaffe to more than 70 of her contacts, including her former professors. Stinnett’s friends said that this was done as an experiment for “Wasting Time on the Internet,” but “also for giving people a good laugh at [Stinnett’s] mistakes.”

“Knowing her personally, she dislikes a holierthan-thou attitude and she also often complains of this complex often at Penn,” her friends wrote in the email. At the same time that Stinnett was forwarding her gaffe to contacts, her account was also sending messages to different listservs. Her classmates in “Wasting Time on the Internet” discussed responses to these “listserv spams” as Stinnett received them. Some recipients to Stinnett’s messages asked to be taken off the listserv. Others stated their displeasure at being drawn into her “email experiment.” One College senior, who received messages because he is part of the Hub listserv wrote, “This whole charade is the most narcissistic thing I’ve ever seen happen at Penn. Since when is ‘experimentation’ an excuse to impose oneself over another?” Stinnett’s friends said that they do not think her emails qualify as spam. They said that every time Stinnett starts a message threat to a listserv, she includes instructions on how to mark emails as spam for those who might be getting annoyed. There were also recipients who responded to SEE MONK PAGE 2

Click here to Reply, Reply to all, or Forward KAREN WHISLER | DESIGN ASSOCIATE

Some College Republicans voting, campaigning for Hillary Clinton

Mac update is not compatible with AirPennNet

One student, Owen O’Hare, has even begun volunteering for the campaign

Wharton Computing emailed undegrads about the issue

CHRIS DOYLE Contributing Reporter

SAM HOLLAND Social Media Staffer

Some of Penn’s College Republicans are doing something unexpected — voicing their support and even campaigning for the Democratic nominee for president. College Republicans Executive Director and College senior Matt Shapiro said he is planning to vote for Hillary Clinton, not because of Republican nominee Donald Trump’s recent scandals, but just from a policy standpoint. “When [Trump] first got the nomination, I was planning on voting for him,” he said. “However, I looked more and more at his polices. I looked at his stances like isolationism … [which] I strongly disagree with … [and] wanting to punish women who got abortions, which, whether you’re pro-choice or pro-life, just sounds vile.” Trump actually clarified this position a few hours after making it, as CNN reported. He released a statement in which he said women who obtain abortions are the victims and that doctors who perform the service should be punished. But Shapiro also took issue with Trump’s comments concerning minorities and women.

Apple released minor updates to its mobile and desktop operating systems on Monday. The new software renders the AirPennNet service unusable across campus, according to an email from Wharton Computing. No University-wide communication has been made yet regarding the lack of Internet access for updated devices.

​COURTESY OF JULIA DE BOER

Although Wharton Computing notified its undergrads about the incompatible software update, no communication was sent to all students as of Tuesday.

WEATHER FORECAST OCTOBER 26 – OCTOBER 27

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SEE REPUBLICANS PAGE 9

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I’d be suspicious of a university message of support for anything, no matter how much I agree with the position.”

Apple’s macOS Sierra Update 10.12.1 was released to improve “stability, compatibility, and security” of Macs and is “recommended for all users,” according to the update page on the Mac App Store. The iPhone and iPad description said that iOS 10.1 includes updates to “Portrait Camera for iPhone 7 Plus and transit directions for Japan.” In an email blast, Wharton Computing informed all Wharton undergraduate students of this issue, stating that Penn SEE UPDATE PAGE 2

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