MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2018 VOL. CXXXIV NO. 56
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
FOUNDED 1885
Uptick in students joining workforce before law school Students nationwide are entering workforce first SETH SCHUSTER Staff Reporter
Penn Law students are taking time off after college graduation at a higher rate than in previous years, following a national trend toward delaying law school to
join the workforce temporarily. At Penn Law, this phenomenon exists in the pools of both applicants and admitted students. Of the current first-year students at Penn Law, 75 percent have spent one or more years out of school before enrolling in law school. Associate Dean of Admis-
sions and Financial Aid at Penn Law Renee Post wrote in an email to The Daily Pennsylvanian that the trend of taking time off before coming to Penn, whether that be to work or to pursue other endeavors, is seen across all applicants. “In recent years we’ve seen an uptick in applicants who do not enroll immediately fol-
lowing the completion of their undergraduate degree,” Post wrote. “This year, for example, 75 percent of our first-year class did not enroll directly from undergrad, which directly correlates to the percentage of applicants in our pool last cycle who have been out of undergrad for at least one year.” When looking at the total
number of Penn students admitted to law school each year, a smaller share of them comes directly from the current graduating class, and a larger share of students are taking time off first. Of Penn undergraduate students admitted to law schools in the 2016-2017 application cycle, 21 percent applied to go to law school directly from Penn
Over Thanksgiving break, ‘highly-aided’ students to receive debit cards for meals The program has received positive feedback
as an undergrad. For the 20152016 application cycle, 25 percent came directly from college, and in 2014-2015, 49 percent enrolled directly from Penn. “This is a somewhat recent trend,” said Career Services Associate Director of Graduate and Professional School AdvisSEE HARVARD PAGE 6
Police to arrest stabbing pranksters
GIANNA FERRARIN Staff Reporter
The fake stabbing incident occurred at Terakawa Ramen on Nov. 13
Students categorized as “highly-aided” will have more subsidized meal options than in previous years for those staying on campus over Thanksgiving break. Approximately 350 highlyaided students will receive reloadable debit cards from Student Registration and Financial Services to pay for meals over the break. This is an increase from the roughly 125 students who participated in the program last year. The students will receive $20 for every day of break that they are on campus, except for Sunday, when they will receive $10 and have access to dining halls and retail dining options. Last year, the program’s availability to “high-need” students sparked confusion about who within the first-generation, lowincome community qualified as high-need. Following the terminology change from “high-need” to “highly-aided,” however, the eligible population for the program will remain the same. “Occasionally, we’ve been able to make exceptions for people with extenuating circumstances, but by and large we’re sticking to the population of highly-aided students,” Director of Communications in the Division of Finance Paul Richards said, adding that there have been “very few” requests from FGLI
MANLU LIU Deputy News Editor
said this option is a considerable improvement from the services provided during her freshman year. Shah, who is highly-aided, remained on
In an apparent prank, two men staged a stabbing in the crowded Terakawa Ramen restaurant on 40th Street, causing some Penn students to flee the crowded restaurant and run outside on Nov. 13. On Nov. 17, Philadelphia Police announced they would issue arrest warrants for the two men involved, with plans to charge them with risking a catastrophe and false reporting, 6ABC reported. The night of the staged stabbing, however, students said police told them the men were not arrested and would not be charged with a crime unless Terakawa pressed charges. At approximately 7:30 p.m., students said a man in his late teens ran into the restaurant screaming, “Somebody help me.” He wore a white shirt with what looked like a large bloodstain. Immediately following him was another man around the same age, who looked like he was about to stab or shoot the other man, students at the restaurant said. Some Penn students fled out the back door while others ducked under the table. One of the students at a table near to the door was Wharton senior Lea Chen. She said that she and her friend dove under the table within 20 seconds of the two men entering the restaurant. “It felt so real, I literally thought I was going to die,” Chen said. Chen said that the man pursuing the other teen was holding something that she believed was a gun or knife. When she emerged from the table, both men had exited the restaurant. Penn students at a nearby table said they saw
SEE THANKSGIVING PAGE 7
SEE TERAKAWA PAGE 7
MONA LEE | NEWS PHOTO EDITOR
Last spring break, SRFS piloted a program where about 220 students received $20 gift cards to Fresh Grocer for each day on campus. SFRS then modified this program to provide re-loadable debit cards rather than Fresh Grocer gift cards.
students who are not highly-aided to participate in the program. This re-loadable debit card system, Richard said, will be used for Thanksgiving, winter, and spring break for this academic year.
Last spring break, SRFS piloted a program where about 220 students received $20 gift cards to Fresh Grocer for each day they were on campus. Richards said surveys suggested students “almost universally” preferred
the card because of its flexibility. Based on this feedback, Richards said that SRFS then modified this program to provide re-loadable debit cards rather than Fresh Grocer gift cards. College senior Raisa Shah
Wong Fu Productions speaks at APAHW sold-out event They spoke on Asian American representation LAUREN MELENDEZ Contributing Reporter
“Hello, America. I’m an Asian. We’re the ones in your high school that you always wanna cheat off of. And we’re that porn tag you’re not so ashamed about ... you think you know us. And that’s why you never ask about us.” These first few lines of the pilot episode of “Yappie,” the latest television series from Wong Fu Productions, provided a backdrop for the keynote event of Asian Pacific American Heritage Week at Penn. This year, Wong Fu Productions members Wesley Chan, Taylor Chan, and Jessica Lin
came to Penn to talk about challenges of representing Asian Americans in media. Wong Fu Productions spoke to a sold-out crowd at Penn’s Bodek Hall for the keynote event of APAHW, which featured workshops, a cooking contest, and a talent show throughout the week. Wong Fu Productions is an Asian American filmmaking group that got its start on YouTube and now has over 3 million subscribers. The week’s theme was “Dimensions,” which emphasized the need to recognize all people as complex and to recognize the inadequacies of cultural stereotypes, 34th Street Magazine reported. For many in attendance, Wong Fu Productions was the perfect
keynote speaker for this year’s theme. “I think their work is important because it’s a lot of topics that are really relevant to our demographic as Asian Americans and the things that we think about and the struggles that we have,” said Emma Loh, a first-year graduate student and self-proclaimed long-time fan of Wong Fu Productions. “I think that it’s cool to see things that I can relate to that are part of my identity reflected in mass media ... which is something that I really felt like I didn’t have growing up,” Loh said of Wong Fu Productions. The event’s Q&A session addressed stereotypes of Asian Americans and their
OPINION | Divest from fossil fuels
“Penn’s billion-dollar endowment continues to reap returns from investments in the fossil fuel industry, and is thus funding a primary driver of climate change” — Maeve Masterson PAGE 5
SPORTS | LIMPING TO THE FINISH
Penn football’s season ended with a trip to No. 9 Princeton on Saturday. The game predictably ended in a blowout loss for the Quakers, who now have all offseason to reconsider their quarterback situation. BACKPAGE FOLLOW US @DAILYPENN FOR THE LATEST UPDATES ONLINE AT THEDP.COM
portrayal in media. Sporting a t-shirt that read “remodel minority,” Taylor Chan discussed the difficulties the group encountered when approaching television networks with a pilot version of “Yappie.” “A lot of people just didn’t understand why this story needed to be told,” Chan said. Wesley Chan said the show was created to represent “the stories and voices you haven’t heard and seen on mainstream media for a long time.” “We’re all fighting for the same thing, which is balance,” Wesley Chan said. Wesley Chan said while Asian Americans sometimes do pursue “comfortable” steSEE APAHW PAGE 3
NEWS Penn initiative studies virtual reality technologies PAGE 2
MONA LEE | NEWS PHOTO EDITOR
Wong Fu Productions, an Asian American filmmaking group, spoke to a sold-out crowd at Penn’s Bodek Hall for the keynote event of Asian Pacific American Heritage Week..
NEWS Phila. neighborhood faces flooding problem PAGE 7
SEND NEWS TIPS TO NEWSTIP@THEDP.COM CONTACT US: 215-422-4640