THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2014
PHOTO FEATURE
A CULMINATION OF CULTURE
More than 30 art and culture organizations came together at the Institute of Contemporary Art today, where students explored the many cultural opportunities available at Penn and in Philadelphia.
Phila. school commission cancels teacher contracts JENNIFER WRIGHT Staff Writer
INSIDE
In an impromptu School Reform Commission meeting on Monday morning, the SRC voted to cancel the contract between the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers and the School District of Philadelphia. The unanimous vote to revoke the teachers’ contract after 21 months of slow negotiations came during a meeting with only one day’s notice and enraged the teachers’ union and its supporters. At Monday’s meeting, the SRC approved changes to health benefits in the teachers’ union contract so that “urgently needed funds” — about $43.8 million — could be reallocated to schools over the course of this year, according to the School District of Philadelphia’s press release. The district said it doesn’t plan to cut current employees’ wages. However, the proposed benefit plan would require employees to contribute to their health plans in amounts based on their salary. “The fiscal stability created by these benefit changes will lessen the dire circumstances facing our teachers and students every day,” Philadel-
NEWS NEW SORORITY LEADERSHIP The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life has a new associate director PAGE 2
TALKING TO SAM HARRIS
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OPINION STRESS TEST Columnist Dani Blum tackles not feeling guilty for free time PAGE 4
SPORTS WEEKEND TOP 10 We take a look at the top 10 moments from the weekend that was BACK PAGE
TAKING THE IVIES BY SURPRISE
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The issue of the exploding employment offer Firms who recruit through OCR don’t always follow Career Services’ rules ESTHER YOON Staff Writer
Is a good thing worth sacrificing the opportunity to look for something better? That is a question that participants in on-campus recruiting have to ask themselves when they are presented with exploding offers and bonuses — employment offers that expire before the formal recruiting process has ended. If the offers “explode” before the end of October, they are in violation of Career Services’ policies governing firms who participate in OCR, but students say exploding offers are still a common issue. One Wharton senior, who agreed to be identified only by the initial C. in order to protect his employment status, was invited to a super day on the West Coast as a junior but was pressured by the firm to indicate whether he would take their offer before they formally extended it to him. “Basically, the head of the firm asked me over video conferencing if I would take the offer,” C. said. “When I asked for a few more days to think about it, he told me … to make up my mind first and get back to him.” A lot of other firms also put pressure on the applicants “in an underhanded way,” C. said. “The school can put whatever policies they want in place, but these guys can obviously think of ways to evade [the policies].”
TIFFANY PHAM/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Eminem collaborator Skylar Grey to play fall concert The concert is scheduled for October 25 at World Cafe Live BOOKYUNG JO Staff Writer
Skylar Grey will headline the Social Planning and Events Committee’s Fall Concert on Oct. 25. This singer-songwriter from Wisconsin debuted in 2006 with the album “Like Blood Like Honey” and has collaborated with various artists. She wrote Eminem and Rihanna’s single “Love the Way You Lie,” and was featured in other
singles such as Fort Minor’s “Where’d You Go” and Dr. Dre’s “I Need a Doctor.” “Traditionally Fall Concerts feature up-and-coming artists,” said College senior Suvadip Choudhury, one of the SPEC concert directors. However, SPEC decided to change up the fall concert by featuring a “well-established artist” to serve a more diverse group of students. Choudhury also said that Grey is a great fit for the new venue because her acoustic music will suit World Cafe Live’s setting well. The cafe is expectSEE SPEC PAGE 7
PHOTO BY MARK TAYLOR LICENSED UNDER CC 2.0
Five-time Grammy nominee Skylar Grey will be headlining the SPEC Fall Concert, with The Lawsuits opening the show.
In the wake of war, Penn team preserves Syrian culture Penn’s Cultural Heritage Center helps Syrians safeguard artifacts EUNICE LIM Staff Writer
This year, Career Services published Oct. 28 as the first day firms can demand responses from students to whom they have extended offers. “Most students are not ready, nor should they be, to make a final decision before completing all of their interviews,” the policy reads. And “regrettably,” the policy
When the Iraqi government was overthrown, looters destroyed religious and cultural artifacts. Now with chaos reigning in Syria, Penn researchers are trying to preserve Syrian heritage before its remnants are destroyed. The Islamic State group has destroyed Byzantine palaces, Christian graves and Roman bath houses in Syria in an attempt to wipe out the country’s non-Islamic history. But since February 2013, Penn’s Cultural Heritage Center has been working with Syrians to safeguard the country’s artifacts and heritage sites from the Islamic State group, President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and looters. The center’s Safeguarding the Heritage of Syria Initiative, started by researchers Richard Leventhal, Salam Al Kuntar and Brian Daniels, is the only organization working to help both Syrian activists and preservationists. “We are trying to understand how cultural heritage
SEE OCR PAGE 5
SEE SYRIA PAGE 5
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SEE TEACHERS PAGE 6
COURTESY OF ALI OTHMAN AND MA’ARRA MUSEUM
Damage to the Eastern Hall of the Ma’arra Museum, Idlib Province, Syria.
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