November 20, 2017

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2017 VOL. CXXXIII NO. 88

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

DOZENS STUCK IN HOUSING LIMBO

FOUNDED 1885

UChicago grad students unionize ahead of Penn Phila. National Labor Relations Board has slowed Penn students’ efforts to form a union MANLU LIU Staff Reporter

SEE U. REALTY PAGE 3

More than five months have passed since graduate students at Penn petitioned the Philadelphia’s National Labor Relations Board to hold a formal union recognition election, but the process has yet to move forward.

These delays were made clear in light of the recent unionization of graduate students at the University of Chicago, who launched their petition just weeks before Penn did.

On May 30, the pro-union group called Graduate Employees Together - University of Pennsylvania, filed a petition with the regional NLRB to facilitate an election determining if Penn’s graduate and professional students could form a union.

According to NLRB’s website, 98.5 percent of elections in fiscal year 2017 occurred within 56 days of a petition’s submission. The median number of days for a contested case from a petition’s submission to an election is 36 days. However, as of Nov. 19, GET-UP’s petition has gone unanswered for 173 days.

“We’ve been waiting for three times longer than normal.” GET-UP member and Graduate School of Education Ph.D. student Miranda Weinberg said.

University spokesperson Stephen MacCarthy said in an email that the University had no comment on the delays.

To form a labor union, an interested group must present the regional NLRB with signatures from 30 percent of those who they think the union will protect. The NLRB then facilitates a simple majority vote to decide on whether the union can be established. Details of the proposed union can be contested, delaying the process.

After GET-UP submitted its petition in May, the University challenged the petition, resulting in three weeks of hearings starting in mid-June. Penn questioned the composition of the group of students that GET-UP wants to represent, Weinberg said.

She added that the filing of post-hearing briefs, which summarize the arguments made in the hearings, delayed the process for an additional two weeks.

Even accounting for this initial five-week delay, the Philadelphia NLRB has taken months longer to issue a decision than other offices legislating similar petitions. David Rose, a field attorney with the Philadelphia NLRB, said he is not currently authorized to make a

CAMILLE RAPAY | VIDEO PRODUCER-ELECT

SEE GET-UP PAGE 7

Delays on the construction of a new residential building have left students housed in a hotel for months

F

MADELEINE NGO | Contributing Reporter

ree breakfast and housekeeping come at a severe cost for the 70 Penn students displaced because of delayed construction on their apartment building.

For over three months, students who were told that they could move into a new building at 4046 Chestnut St. on Aug. 15 have been shuttled from one temporary location to another as construction on the building continues to delay.

Many students affected by this situation have been residing at an apartment without Wi-Fi located at 3201 Race St., which is a 25-minute walk to campus.

On June 8, the real estate agency University Realty informed tenants who had signed leases for the building that they would not be able to move into their new apartments until mid-October, which was nearly two months after the original start date on their leases.

Residents were given the option to cancel their lease and receive a full refund or live in the Homewood Suites hotel located at 4109 Walnut St. until the building’s completion in October. They were also told that rent for all residents would be reduced from the original rates of $800-$1,000 to $650 for the dura-

June 8

Tenants informed that their move-in date was moved a month later to mid-October

October 10

Move-in date was moved back another week to Oct. 21

October 21

Move-in date was pushed back again.

Residents asked to move from one temporary location to the next

November 13

Residents were told the move-in date would be moved to Nov. 18 or 19

November 14

Move-in date pushed back to Dec. 1

Original Move-In Date: AUG. 15 Latest Stipulated Move-In Date: DEC. 1 Difference of 107 Days

tion of their hotel stay.

On Sept. 22, University Realty sent another email informing residents that they should be able to move into the building between Oct. 10 and 15 while waiting on the city inspection.

Various students have said the conditions at the hotel were less than ideal.

Wharton and Engineering junior Varun Jain said he appreciated the free breakfast offered at the hotel, but added that it was difficult to accommodate three people with one king-size bed and one sofa bed. Others have noticed mice in their rooms as well as in the common eating areas.

Another email dated Oct. 10 notified tenants that due to a change in the city inspection date, University Realty was “targeting” Oct. 21 for move-in and that they would “confirm 100 percent” on Oct. 17 after the inspection.

The next day, residents received another email notifying them that “due [to] these unforeseen circumstances that are completely out of our control, the delay has been extended past” Oct. 21.

University Realty also informed tenants in the email that the com-

Paradise Papers reveal Penn’s private offshore investments

Penn invested nearly $85 million in one such fund CAROLINE SIMON Senior Reporter

Movie stars, business magnates, and princes aren’t the only ones who take advantage of offshore tax havens to hide their money and grow their wealth. Universities like Penn do it too.

Earlier this month, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists released over 13 million documents identifying a range of individuals and organizations that have stored trillions of dollars in offshore tax havens — these documents are commonly referred to as “The Paradise Papers.” Among the entities identified were over 100 top United States universities, including Columbia University, Princeton University, and Penn.

Penn’s most recent Form 990, a tax document that nonprofit organizations must file annually, identifies four “related organizations taxable as organizations or trusts” in the Cayman Islands, a British territory with virtually no taxes.

The four funds, which are called Naya 1740 Fund, Pine River 1740 Fund, Pine River 1740 Tactical Fund, and PAM 1740 Fund, are entirely owned by Penn.

The “1740” in each of their names serves as a nod to Penn’s founding date.

Though obscure, these funds handle massive amounts of money. In the fiscal year of 2015, Penn made a capital contribution of $84,463,005 to PAM 1740 Fund.

These funds almost certainly qualify as “blocker corporations,” said Samuel Brunson, a law professor at the Loyola University Chicago who specializes in tax policy.

Blocker corporations are commonly used by wealthy individuals or organizations looking to skirt American taxes. While Penn’s status as a nonprofit exempts it from taxes that it might otherwise pay on its endowment returns, it is still taxed on income from investments made with borrowed money, including money invested in private equity funds and hedge funds.

These private funds, while riskier than the government equities

that universities have traditionally placed their money in, can also be much more lucrative.

In order to secure the larger returns associated with private funds but avoid their associated taxes, universities can set up special corporations — called blocker corporations — in tax havens like the Cayman Islands. Those corporations then invest the money in private funds, effectively establishing a layer between the university endowment and the funds in which it invests.

“Because it’s in the Cayman Islands, the corporation won’t pay taxes,” Brunson said. “It pays a small annual fee to the Cayman Islands, but it doesn’t pay taxes, so it’s as if it were a pass-through for tax purposes.”

The arrangement, while completely legal and common among nonprofit organizations with large endowments, raises questions of how colleges should be handling their money, especially in an era of climbing tuition prices and mounting student debt. Critics argue the purpose of an endowment is to fund research and learning, not to pursue risky private invest-

OPINION | Holding Penn accountable “… we should ensure that, when we hold ourselves accountable, it doesn’t come at the cost of neglecting to have Penn do the same.” - Cameron Dichter, PAGE 4

SPORTS | The perfect Saturday for Penn Penn Athletics hosted a triple-header with both basketball teams and football competing Saturday — and they got three huge wins BACKPAGE

ments that avoid taxes.

“For universities specifically, they are the institutions that think about how society should work and determine how society should work, and if universities are avoiding taxes and are already given a tax exemption, then they’re setting a bad example for the rest of society,” said Dan Apfel, a senior associate at the Croatan Institute who formerly directed the Responsible Endowments Coalition.

Universities already benefit from many tax exemptions, Apfel noted.

“Universities have started acting more like Wall Street investors,” he said. “Really, their primary focus shouldn’t be how to get involved in risky investments; it’s about education and research, and they should be focused on that.”

Peter Ammon, Penn’s chief investment officer, said the University’s investment strategy isn’t concerned with the structural aspects of funds — what is important is their ability to maximize returns and adhere to ethical standards.

“Penn’s portfolio is broadly

SAMMIE YOON | DESIGN ASSOCIATE

Penn has four private investment funds in the Cayman Islands, all with references in their names to 1740, referring to Penn’s founding year.

diversified across strategies and geographies,” Ammon said in a statement. “We hold investments in many types of funds and partnerships as the managers we invest with choose to structure their investment vehicles in a variety of ways. Ultimately, Penn partners with investment managers based on their investment capabilities and ethical standards, not because

NEWS Common App faces discrimination allegations

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PAGE 2

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of the structures of their funds.”

The funds, whose names link them to major American firms like Pine River Capital Management, were likely set up in partnership with those firms, Brunson said.

But the fact that they are 100 percent owned by the University suggests they were set up for Penn’s SEE PARADISE PAPERS PAGE 7

2 NEWS

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2017

THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM

Asian Coalition slams Common Application

Students celebrate Asian heritage through the arts

Group calls for fewer Asian subcategories

Featured artists included a filmmaker from BuzzFeed

HARRY TRUSTMAN Opinion Editor-elect

The Asian American Coalition for Education — an organization that has called Ivy League admissions policies discriminatory against Asian applicants — has come out against another key player of the college admissions process: The Common Application.

In a letter addressed to 2009 Graduate School of Education doctoral graduate and Common App Executive Director Jenny Rickard, the AACE called on the Common App to “stop the practice of subdividing Asian American applicants into 10 subcategories.�

This is the second time in recent weeks that the Common App has been mired in controversy. In October, the software development company CollegeNET accused the Common App of running “a collusive cartel" in the admissions industry. In response, Rickard called the lawsuit launched by CollegeNET “frivolous.�

Currently, in the optional, selfreported demographics section of the Common App, students who indicate that they identify as Asian are asked to choose from 10 different subcategories based on national origin, such as China, Japan, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

These subcategories are the most specific of their kind on the Common App. In comparison, white applicants are asked to choose from three subcategories: Europe, Middle East, or Other.

Black applicants are asked to select an option from U.S./African

American, Africa, Caribbean, or Other. “There is no more difference between two people originally from Thailand and China, respectively, than two people originally from Ireland and Slovakia,� wrote the letter from the AACE. “If using similar standards across all ethnic groups, Common Application could easily use 50 or more subcategories to reflect the ethnic and ancestral origins of ‘Caucasians.’�

Raymond Wong, a lawyer and a member of the AACE Board of Directors, said the Common App’s unequal number of subcategories is a violation of the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.

Although the demographic information section is optional, Wong said most students feel compelled to complete the section anyway out of a fear of being perceived as “uncooperative.� “Not every student is a lawyer,�

Wong said. “They’re going to worry that, ‘If I don’t do it, it may be a strike against me.’�

Wong added that members of his family had personally been impeded by the admissions policies of elite schools like Penn. “My daughter, who did very well in school — much better than a Caucasian — did not get admitted to UPenn,� Wong said. “But there was another girl who got admitted — a Caucasian — and her grades were far less, and you wonder why.� “You have all these legacy [applicants], all these sportsmen, you have first [generation] to go to college,� Wong said. “The numbers and the policies of admissions are

really stacked against Asians and it’s really unfair.�

The Penn Admissions Office did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

College sophomore Kamal Gill, the vice chair of external affairs of Penn’s Asian Pacific Student Coalition, said he disagrees with AACE’s letter. Gill said the opportunity to provide a national identity beyond a racial classification helps paint a clearer picture of an applicant. “The term ‘Asian American’ is a political identity,� Gill said. “In terms of the cultures within Asia and their histories, they’re completely unique. They’re completely different. Even within India itself, I could literally drive 40 miles away outside my village and not speak the same language or have completely different values.�

Gill added that he would be in favor of the Common App increasing the number of subcategories for all racial groups, rather than decreasing the number of Asian subcategories.

Mitchell Chang, a professor of education at the University of California, Los Angeles, made similar remarks to Inside Higher Ed. “Education researchers have been calling for disaggregated data for Asian-American groups for over a decade,� he said. “When it comes to degree attainment, we have learned through empirical research that there are significant differences between different Asian ethnic groups in the U.S., i.e., Chinese vs. Cambodian. Lumping all Asians together masks those differences and makes invisible important differences in educational opportunity.�

AMY LIU Contributing Reporter

While some Penn students organize walkouts or protests to advocate for what they believe in, five artists featured during the 25th annual Asian Pacific American Heritage Week chose to pursue a different kind of activism.

During the APAHW event, “Art and Activism,� on Nov. 15, artists from Penn and Philadelphia showcased the ways they tackle problems in their communities.

This exhibition came a day after Youtube content creator Anna Akana visited campus to discuss Asian representation in media on Nov. 14, and a day before students hosted a dinner with the Asian American Studies department on Nov. 16. On Friday night, organizers held a workshop addressing Islamophobia, and on Saturday, APAHW will end with student performances in Houston Hall.

Within the Asian Pacific community, art can carry “a cultural stigma,� APAHW Executive Chair and Wharton and Engineering senior Vivian Ge said. “When you’re growing up, most parents don’t really encourage you to become artists.

If you wanted to act, there were very few roles,� she explained.

Despite this stigma, one artist featured in the APAHW exhibition said he has been inspired to create art from his experiences.

College senior Barry Oshiba is the founder of the film company Nexo Productions. Oshiba’s experiences with filming include projects about Middle Eastern identity and documentaries of hospital patients who need medicinal marijuana. “Especially in minority communities, we have this pressure from generations above to prove to society that we can contribute things, and we often think that art doesn’t necessarily contribute,� Oshiba said. “That’s ridiculous.�

Oshiba said he is particularly interested in the business side of filmmaking, emphasiz-

EMILY XU | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Attendees watched a series of videos prepared by the Arts House Dance Company, a student-run dance company.

ing that more people of color to lyrics such as “I only know need to be directing, produc- how to exist when I am wanting, and funding films. ed� and “You are worth more "[Minorities] need to be than a waistline.� the people running the show,�

One of the guest speakers Oshiba said. “That’s how we was filmmaker Imran Sidportray minorities in better and diquee, who writes for the more fruitful contexts and re- Atlantic and BuzzFeed. He duce stereotypes and racism.� spoke about the nuances of the APAHW Marketing Chair Muslim-American identity, the and College senior Michael pressures to conform to tradiKwok agreed, adding that art tional masculinity, and how allows Asian people to “re- those pressures can negatively claim identity, especially in a affect women. These issues time where Asian Americans were all showcased in his short are being mischaracterized.� film �Love Reset.�

Another piece of art show“You bottle it up, but it’s not cased at the exhibition was a as if it doesn’t go anywhere,�

The New York Times 620 you Eighth Aven series of videos from the Penn Siddiquee said. “When student-run dance company, feel weak or challenged For oneInformati Tu Arts House Dance Company, of the things you learnFor to doRelease is which was represented by take power from someone else.

AHDC Artistic Director and The way I coped with feeling College senior Nicole Frazzini targeted was by targeting other as well as AHDC Finance Di- women.� rector and Engineering junior Another guest speaker was Anushka Mahkija.

Carol Zou, a program director One of the videos showcased, Philadelphia-based arts ACROSS at the 26 South Asian 54 Emission fr shade treeArts Initia-radioactive which was entitled �Matthew,�

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19

SAM HOLLAND | SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR-ELECT

FOLLOW US ON21INSTAGRAM

While Asian applicants are asked to choose from 10 subcategories of national origin, white applicants are asked to select from three and black applicants are asked to select from four subcategories.

@DAILYPENN 22

23 25

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PENN AUTHOR F O R UM AUTHOR: JAY KIRK

EVENT DETAILS

43 Size in a lingerie shop 47 Rebel on many T-shirts 48 Wears away 49 â€œâ€Ś ishâ€?

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NEWS 3

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2017

College dean joins Snapchat to connect with students The dean also meets with students every Tuesday ANIA ALBERSKI Contributing Reporter

In an effort to become more relatable to the students he aims to represent, newly-minted College Dean Paul Sniegowski has created a Snapchat account.

Sniegowski formally became dean on July 1, taking over for former College Dean Dennis DeTurck who stepped down last spring. The biology professor, who has been described by his colleagues and students as particularly approachable, sat down with College Dean’s Advisory Board Co-Chairs and College juniors Emily Lurie and Morgan Savige in August to discuss his goals.

The 22 students who make up DAB work alongside various faculty members and administrators, including Sniegowski, to represent College students’ concerns. Lurie said one of Sniegowski’s primary goals coming into the semester

U. REALTY

>> FRONT PAGE

pany had only booked the hotel until Oct. 21, giving them a three-week “cushion” beyond their initial delayed move-in date in case construction was delayed again. However, because the hotel was fully booked after the 21st, residents had to move to a new building, Vue32 at 3201Race St., near Drexel University’s campus.

“At Vue32, we don’t have WiFi and we have to Uber back home late at night,” Jain said.

“I’ve been pretty stressed about it during midterms and recruiting.”

Students said University Realty provided furniture for the students who chose to move into the apartments. They also hired movers and a shuttle to help them move. However, even though the building has Wi-Fi

was to build a social media presence to make himself more relatable to students.

During his tenure, DeTurck, who was also the faculty master of Riepe College House, was known for hosting weekly ”cookie nights" at the college house. Students lined up religiously outside his apartment every Wednesday for free cookies and milk. To replicate that close relationship with students, Sniegowski turned to social media.

After debating between several different social media platforms with DAB members and his children, the dean decided on Snapchat — and signed up as “sniegowskisnaps.”

“We thought Instagram was too formal, and there’s a degree of separation because you never know if he’s doing it or if it’s someone in the College office,” Savige said, adding that the group also considered other factors such as the fact that the dean already has a Facebook page and that few Penn students regularly use Twit-

ter.

Now, Sniegowski has his own Bitmoji and documents his daily activities on his Snapchat story.

“He’s trying to be relatable, so he’ll Snapchat his bike rides in the morning — or even one time, he Snapchatted his donut crawl,” Lurie said, referring to a day last month when he traveled across Center City to try different kinds of donuts.

Lurie and Savige said the dean’s initiatives are aimed at making students feel connected to Penn’s administration.

“Penn’s a big place and it’s not always is easy to feel like your voice is being heard,” Lurie said.

Disconnection between students and administrators has been an important concern on campus this semester. In an attempt to address challenges such as natural disasters, political instability, and student deaths, Penn’s top administrators organized a “Campus Conversation” in October. However, some students felt that the actual event lacked clear and direct

channels of communication between administrators and students.

So far, DAB has arranged for Sniegowski to interact directly with students in a weekly event called “Snacks with Sniegowski.”

The event, which happens every Tuesday in the lounge of Provost Tower in the Quad, allows students to hang out and eat snacks while getting to know the dean.

Last month, DAB also collaborated with TableTalk to host a CampusCouches event called “Meet the Dean” on College Green.

On top of organizing events with Sniegowski, DAB committees work on issues including mental health, club dues, alumni relations, student outreach, policies relating to examinations, and dean-student interactions.

In the mental health committee, the current goal is to deconstruct “Penn Face” while broadening the number of resources that exist on campus beyond Counseling and Psychological Services, Lurie said. She said DAB members hope to be an intermediary between stu-

dents and administrators by making relationships easier to form and maintain.

“We’re not limiting any student from going to the faculty direct-

ly,” Lurie said. “However, I don’t think a lot of students do that on their own. We, as the board, are giving students the means for creating those relationships.”

in the lobby and rooftop lounge, tenants do not have Wi-Fi access in their units.

Jain said he doesn’t think it is worth the money or the effort for temporary tenants to set up WiFi themselves.

“In the middle of the year, it’s hard to find a new place to live other than the Radian or some other expensive apartment,” Jain said. “We just want some action or greater compensation for everything we’ve been through.”

University Realty Leasing Manager Brian Feller said the company initially planned for everyone to vacate the hotel, but close to 25 percent of tenants were allowed to remain because some reservations were cancelled at the last minute.

After originally moving out of the hotel, Wharton junior Jess Kim asked management to move back and they allowed her to return. A Nursing senior, who

wished to remain anonymous to avoid jeopardizing her housing situation, was also supposed to move out. After calling University Realty, upset about having to relocate, they allowed her to stay. She said they asked her not to tell other residents.

“That just shows they’ve been very manipulative with the information they share with their tenants,” the student said. “It’s a very messy situation.”

On Nov. 13, Feller told residents that “the construction will be completed by the 15th of the month, so we hope to move tenants in by the 18th or 19th.” A day later, residents received another email notifying them that their newest move-in date would be Dec. 1 at the latest because of “electrical issues.”

Moving in on Dec. 1 would be 107 days later than the original move-in date of Aug. 15 that students were told about when sign-

ing their leases.

University Realty initially notified tenants that they would provide a private shuttle between Vue32 and Penn’s campus for tenants, but received multiple complaints about this transportation system. In their Nov. 14 email, University Realty management said they would shut down the shuttle service and give every tenant $100 in Uber credit.

The firm also said it would reimburse tenants for “transportation and storage costs.”

Feller explained University Realty has to wait for a certificate of occupancy before residents can move in. He added that the real estate agency has not experienced issues like this before.

“We’ve been in the student housing industry for over 10 years now and we’ve never had any issue like this before,” Feller said. “We’re responsible for the delay even though it’s out of our

control, but the accommodation has been a significant undertaking on us in terms of working hours and finances.”

Some of the students involved in this housing debacle have already discussed taking legal action.

The Nursing senior said that some residents had already begun reaching out to lawyers.

More than 35 residents have created a shared document titled “Compensation,” detailing the repeated delays in the construction of their building, various factors in the situation that have inconvenienced tenants, as well as text and email exchanges demonstrating poor communication between University Realty and tenants.

But experts say they are skeptical that residents will be able to gain legal recourse. Phil Lord, the executive director of the Tenant Union Representative Net-

work, a tenant service and advocacy organization, explained in an email that due to a clause in University Realty’s lease, the company is not liable for late move-ins.

“If they have breached additional promises made since the original notice of the delay, [that] may be a basis for some legal action,” he said.

Lord added that students with another option should consider cancelling their leases because promises made by the landlord are “unreliable.”

“We try to keep tenants as updated as possible, but we can only give updates when we have them,” Feller said. “We’re very disappointed by the delays.”

Nonetheless, some residents continue to be frustrated with the lack of communication.

“I know they’re dealing with their own problems, but we want more transparency,” Kim said.

SCREENSHOT / SNAPCHAT

The College Dean’s Advisory Board helps organize events with College Dean Paul Sniegowski, who took over after in July of 2017.

Find out about joining our team in the College Houses next year!

RA

INFORMATION SESSION November 30 7:00 PM 223 Houston Hall (Golkin Room) RA applications open November 28.

Learn more at: www.collegehouses.upenn.edu/ra

4

OPINION

In search of more than a flashcard education THE CONVERSATION | The difficulty and importance of remembering the things we learn

MONDAY NOVEMBER 20, 2017 VOL. CXXXIII, NO. 88 133rd Year of Publication CARTER COUDRIET President DAN SPINELLI Executive Editor LUCIEN WANG Print Director ALEX GRAVES Digital Director ALESSANDRO VAN DEN BRINK Opinion Editor REBECCA TAN Senior News Editor WILL SNOW Senior Sports Editor CHRIS MURACCA Design Editor CAMILLE RAPAY Design Editor JULIA SCHORR Design Editor LUCY FERRY Design Editor VIBHA KANNAN Enterprise Editor SARAH FORTINSKY News Editor MADELEINE LAMON News Editor

I’m the kind of person who can’t read stuff on a screen for an extended period of time, so I print out most of my readings assigned for class from Canvas.

Considering my two majors in philosophy, politics, and economics and English, this means that I spend a good amount of time struggling with jammed staplers and despairing at how expensive toner cartridges are.

It also means that by the end of a semester, I end up with a huge stack of paper for each class.

I used to throw all of it away after the final assessment for the course (not entirely without some glee and satisfaction in some cases), but at some point it began to feel strange to dispose of a semester’s worth of material with such ease. So I began to take them, along with quizzes, exams, papers, and projects, and store them in manila file folders.

The towering stack of these is in my room as I write.

My reluctance to part with the material, I think, has to do with a certain desire to take something tangible away from my courses.

It’s not like I do anything with them. I’ve never gone back to open up these folders for any

reason, and can’t imagine a scenario in which they would present themselves as useful. So they serve no real practical purpose.

And certainly not everything I’ve studied has been so engaging that I feel compelled to keep it all.

It’s natural to expect and hope that something from these classes will stay with us. Especially for people studying the humanities or some of the less professional fields, what we learn won’t necessarily be the knowledge we refer to in our lives beyond Penn. And it’s the unfortunate truth that we forget most of what we learn. I certainly wouldn’t be alone in saying that I remember little of the material I studied freshman year.

This is an inevitable and unfortunate result of how universities like Penn work. The methods we use to study are centered around certain assessments, since our grades will be a factor that follows us for the rest of our lives.

All of us at different times cram

or depend on rote learning to get us through an extremely busy schedule. I am always amazed at just how quickly I forget the material I’ve studied for an exam.

Sometimes it’s literally a matter of hours — one can only imagine what it will be like after years away from a classroom.

None of this, of course, is to say that we take nothing away from the things we learn. We understand how different disciplines create and approach dif-

skills lay a foundation for our careers. Yet, while students come away with these enduring skills, not enough seem as concerned about the lasting importance of the actual content we study.

It’s entirely different to want to maintain a lasting connection with the content itself. Yes, our experience engaging with the material in classes will be reflected in our resume, but this seems a somewhat inadequate, incomplete summation of our investment in these courses. And if we accept the fact that we will forget much of what we study, it’s even more concerning. This is especially true if we consider the value of a Penn education as more than a stepping stone towards a successful career.

I’ve been thinking more about this as I near the end of my own college career. While I don’t plan on pursuing a career in academia, I feel a certain admiration and envy towards those who will make it their lives’ goals to connect with the things

An education not only teaches but molds, and we ought to remember the forces that shape us into ourselves.” ferent issues. We learn to analyze data, make and support claims, and understand relationships within and between systems.

The soft and hard skills we come away with will differ by major, but it’s generally true that these

JAMES LEE they study. But I still think that one must make an effort to keep and remember the takeaways we get from each class.

We may forget the dates, details, and exact chronology, but what we felt and thought, the changes in our perceptions of the world, must be noted and kept.

Certainly these provide a basis for our thoughts and actions for times well beyond our time here.

An education not only teaches but molds, and we ought to remember the forces that shape us into ourselves.

JAMES LEE is a College senior from Seoul, South Korea, studying English and philosophy, politics and economics. His email address is jel@ sas.upenn.edu. “The Conversation” usually appears every other Monday.

ALLY JOHNSON Assignments Editor YOSI WEITZMAN Sports Editor

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SARAH KHAN is a College freshman from Lynn Haven, Fla. Her email address is skhan100@sas.upenn.edu.

THEODOROS PAPAZEKOS Sports Associate MARC MARGOLIS Sports Associate JULIO SOSA Photo Associate

We need to hold Penn to our own standards of accountability

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LETTERS Have your own opinion? Send your letter to the editor or guest column to letters@thedp.com.

Unsigned editorials appearing on this page represent the opinion of The Daily Pennsylvanian as determined by the majority of the Editorial Board.

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REAL TALK | Individual responsibility shouldn’t supersede institutional responsibility In the face of overwhelming issues — mental illness, inequality, and the like — it’s easy to feel powerless and resigned to the status quo.

To combat this despondence, we remind ourselves that even our everyday interventions, such as checking in on a stressed-out friend or tutoring in West Philadelphia, can have lasting impacts. We envision a solution powered by individuals who take it upon themselves to better the world around them.

Of course, I would never want to discount the importance of those personal interventions or discourage anyone from trying to live a more impactful life. But I do believe that we should recognize the potential danger of this thinking.

Focusing on the responsibility that individuals have for tackling systemic issues, can, on occasion, obfuscate the even greater responsibility that large institutions and corporations have to do the same.

Take, for example, the fact that anti-littering campaigns — those ubiquitous reminders about our individual duty to dispose of garbage properly — were originally devised by packaging companies who wanted a distraction from their own wasteful practices. Back in the early 1950s, many state legislators were considering bans on nonreusable products, such as Coke bottles and cans, as a way of curb-

ing the amount of loose trash. To combat this legislation, the packaging industry formed Keep America Beautiful, a nonprofit organization that produced media campaigns to frame the issue as the fault of littering consumers rather than of corporations. Ultimately, these campaigns were so successful at changing the narrative that legislators moved away from regulating how items were produced, and they instead began to pass anti-littering ordinances.

At Penn, we have our own versions of the anti-littering campaign. As students, many of our most commendable attempts to improve this school and the world around it have had the inadvertent effect of obscuring the administration’s own responsibilities. And of course, that’s not to say that we shouldn’t look for student-led solutions to our biggest problems.

But we should ensure that, when we hold ourselves accountable, it doesn’t come at the cost of neglecting to have Penn do the same.

Initiatives like “Random Acts of Kindness” — a week wherein jars filled with suggestions for promoting positivity were placed around campus — are commendable in

their attempt to improve Penn’s competitive culture, but do little to address the administration’s complicity in breeding that culture. As my fellow columnist Isabella Simonetti pointed out, asking students to be nice to one another can feel absurd when we have forced grading curves that actively “discourage collaboration.” This absurdity was on full display when someone was overheard instantly replying, “no way, that’ll mess up my curve,” after pulling a suggestion out of a jar that read “share your study guide.”

If the aim of our university is

with the surrounding community.

Many students choose to spend their time working at the Netter Center because they care about supporting West Philadelphia schools. But Penn, in turn, cites the Netter Center’s contributions to the community as a reason for why it doesn’t need to make payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs), which would do even more to support Philadelphia public schools.

As a nonprofit, Penn and other universities are exempt from paying property taxes, but many institutions — including every school in the Ivy League except for Penn and Columbia University — make some form of PILOTs to supplement this lost revenue. The money that Penn fails to pay could mean a great deal to a struggling Philadelphia public school system, one that saw 23 schools close in 2013.

It’s laudable that so many Penn students engage in service through the Netter Center to support West Philadelphia’s underfunded public schools, but the administration betrays that service when it uses it as an argument for why it shouldn’t have to make PILOTs. This is especially true when

… we should ensure that when we hold ourselves accountable it doesn’t come at the cost of neglecting to have Penn do the same.” actually to educate, rather than to reinforce hierarchies, then surely it would abandon a grading policy that is actively hindering its students’ ability to learn and cooperate.

Another instance of Penn undermining the positive work of its students can be found in its interaction

CAMERON DICHTER other universities with similar community partnership programs, such as Brown University, do make these payments. With an endowment that is now over $12 billion, it’s inexcusable that Penn should refuse to pay a few million dollars to help support Philadelphia public schools.

It can be extremely empowering, and often productive, to focus on the ways that we as individuals can better the world. And of course, it’s much easier to adapt one’s own behavior or even the behavior of our peers than to pressure an institution like Penn to do the same. But holding ourselves accountable shouldn’t have to mean letting Penn off the hook.

CAMERON DICHTER is a College senior from Philadelphia, studying English. His email address is camd@ sas.upenn.edu. “Real Talk” usually appears every other Monday.

5

To tread the unfamiliar with sensitivity and humility

Don’t idolize Chelsea Manning.

Others deserve a voice.

MERICAN IN AMERICA | We should take courses that challenge our worldviews

GUEST COLUMN BY FRANK BROOMELL

The foreign sounds of Arabic engulfed my ears as I attempted to make some sense out of it. The professor gently clarified, “This is not an Arabic class, but I want you all to know how a recitation sounds.” Slowly, a pattern of rhyme and rhythm started to materialize. Slowly, my ears became attuned to the rises and falls in the language; its soft intonations and sharp glottal stops.

As I began to read the English translation of the Quran, I stumbled, lost in its chronology, historical context, allusions, voices, and surah divisions. I encountered new words, new figures, new styles, and new structures of worship and adoration.

Taking “Intro to the Quran” this semester has been painfully challenging, yet consistently rewarding. As a Christian enrolled in the course, it was an experience in discovering the foreign and rediscovering the familiar.

Learning more about what we already know is beneficial, but our classrooms also risk becoming echo chambers, reinforcing ideas we already resonate with. There is great education and adventure in taking classes in subjects that are not only foreign to us, but also challenge our fundamental assumptions and beliefs.

For example, if you are a Christian, consider taking a class on Islam or Buddhism. If you are Jewish, consider taking a class on the New Testament. If you are an atheist, take a class on a religion you’ve always been curious about. Male students should fill classrooms on feminism. Asian students in classes on African American literature and cinema. Worshippers of capitalism in a class on communism.

Purveyors of liberal thought in courses leaning towards conserva-

tive belief systems.

Many of these courses, for example, “Communism,” “Intro to New Testament,” “Feminist Political Thought,” and “Black Public Art,” fulfill sectors and foundational approaches, allowing much room for discovery and inquiry while ticking off general education requirements.

I admit that we never enter these classrooms with completely open minds. We carry baggage into these classrooms — born from our ethnic, religious, social, and cultural histories and identities. The syllabi for these classes are also inevitably charged by the professors’ own research interests and backgrounds. These classrooms sometimes feel like minefields — where innocuous questions can unintentionally cause friction. And I have made my fair share of mistakes in my Quran class.

I once innocently asked about “intertextuality” in the Quran, failing to acknowledge that for believers, it is complete, holy, inimitable and incomparable scripture. We have talked about the “authorship” of the Quran, in full awareness that for believers, it is an infallible, unquestionably reliable revelation given to the Prophet Muhammad

by God through the archangel Gabriel.

To take a class in something so foreign is ultimately a lesson in treading with sensitivity and humility. We learn to use more precise language. We learn to recognize the limits of our own worldviews. We cannot see much past the horizon of our own experiences, knowledge, and belief systems. It is where the sky meets land, where our vision meets its zenith. Yet, to speak metaphorically, we can explore and broaden these horizons — to see, perceive,

SARA MERICAN know, and understand more. From sensitive discourse and education, may communal empathy and tolerance spring forth.

College is the best time for us to broaden these horizons, just because of the sheer variety of courses available and the diversity of people we are surrounded by. When we make mistakes in classrooms, we can be corrected by knowledgeable professors with patience and acuity. In the “real world,” we can’t always expect this.

These classes are difficult — not because of a “3.3” difficulty rating on Penn Course Review, but because they threaten to pull the rug from under our feet. These classes ask the hard questions and force us to grapple with our most fundamental beliefs. Though Advance Registration may be over, the Course Selection Period still looms ahead. Though at the end of the day, these classes may not actually pull the metaphorical rug completely from beneath our feet, may we not leave college without at least giving it a tug.

SARA MERICAN is a College sophomore from Singapore, studying English and cinema studies. Her email address is smerican@sas.upenn.edu.

“Merican in America” usually appears every other Monday.

When Chelsea Manning speaks at the Annenberg Center on Nov. 29, the Penn campus will be missing out on an opportunity. Rather than hearing from government transparency activists or transgender veterans who served with honor, the Penn community will hear from someone who betrayed her country, impeded national security, and put hundreds, if not thousands, of civilian lives at risk in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In 2010, Manning illegally transferred 700,000 documents to WikiLeaks, uncaring of the consequences for others. While the full scope of the impact of the leak on United States national security is debated, every report has concluded that at the very least it placed the lives of Iraqi and Afghan civilians at risk. People who provided information to coalition forces because they wanted to live in safer villages, free from the intimidation, threats, and violence of al Qaeda, Shia militias, or the Taliban must now live the rest of their lives fearing reprisals.

Manning claims to have been troubled by documents she encountered while using the military’s Secret Internet Protocol Router Network, but she did not take advantage of any of the legal outlets available to her. She did not raise concerns to her non-commissioned officer supervisor, to her commanding officer, or through any formal chainof-command process. She never approached any inspector general or member of the U.S. House of Representatives or U.S. Senate Committees overseeing the war in Iraq, U.S. Intelligence Community, or foreign policy. She did not even go through the entire document cache she collected to evaluate what she really had her hands on.

And while the big picture national security impact is uncertain,

the leaks had immediate impacts on the U.S. military and diplomats.The former U.S. State Department’s Under Secretary of State for Management, Patrick Kennedy, testified at Manning’s sentencing hearing that the leaks resulted in a reluctance on the part of foreign officials and private sector leaders to speak with American diplomats. She increased the threat posed to individual soldiers and Marines due to leaked military tactics, techniques, and procedures. While Manning’s actions may not have had a long-term strategic impact on U.S. national security, the lack of long-term effects are of little solace to a Marine facing an ambush designed to exploit U.S. tactics.

Despite the fact that Manning ignored reporting mechanisms and put lives at risk, a number of Penn organizations have invited Manning to speak, noting her transition and advocacy for transgender rights.

Yet if the conversation is to touch on the service of transgender individuals in the military, Manning is a terrible choice. She betrayed her brothers and sisters in uniform and undercut the valuable work done by transgender service members and veterans.

The students at Penn would certainly benefit from the insight of an active duty service member or veteran that identifies as transgender. He or she would be able to offer a unique perspective on military service and the challenges they continue to face. The RAND Corporation, a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy through research and analysis, estimates that there are between 1,320 and 6,630 transgender active duty service members, which means that there are tens of thousands of transgender veterans — tens of thousands of individuals who served their country

with honor and who kept faith with those who wore the uniform alongside them.

From these ranks, numerous activists have stepped forward. Former Navy SEAL Kristen Beck has been outspoken about her transition since her retirement as a member of SEAL Team Six. She has written a book about her experience titled “Warrior Princess,” participated in a documentary with CNN, and has spoken out publicly against President Trump’s actions to curtail service opportunities for transgender individuals. Former U.S. Army Reserve officer Sage Fox was the first transgender soldier invited to serve openly in uniform as her preferred gender identity. While she was unfortunately forced out the Army Reserve when her chain of command reversed its decision, she remains an activist, meeting with congressional staff and other officials.

Beck and Fox are just two examples of transgender service members who served with honor and remained faithful even as they faced setbacks and challenges as a result of their gender identities. The Penn campus would be fortunate to hear from their experiences and learn about their activism.

When so many Penn organizations sponsor an event, it comes with an air of credibility and honor.

These organizations are certainly within their right to invite whomever they wish to have speak on behalf of their organization. But by inviting Manning, the organizations are lifting up the voice of someone who has proven herself unworthy and overlooking the voices of those who could truly bring an engaging conversation to the Penn campus.

FRANK BROOMELL is a secondyear student at Penn Law from Sicklerville, N.J.

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6 NEWS

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2017

THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM

District attorney-elect’s platform proves divisive Krasner hopes to change criminal justice system MICHEL LIU Assignments Editor-elect

The election of Democrat Larry Krasner as Philadelphia’s new district attorney was a significant one for the city.

Penn students and faculty have differing views on what Krasner’s leadership might bring.

Krasner, a civil rights attorney with no prior experience as a prosecutor, was elected to the city’s chief law enforcement office on a campaign focused on progressive criminal justice reform.

Political science professor Marc Meredith said Krasner is a distinct choice for district attorney due to his past legal experience and unique and strong opinions on various policy issues.

“What differentiates Krasner from many people that came before him is that even before he came into office, there was already a bit of tension between

what the district attorney says he wants and what the police department says they want,” Meredith said.

At the end of June, the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police’s board voted unanimously to endorse Republican Beth Grossman, a former Democrat and assistant district attorney, in the race.

Some Penn students have expressed similar concerns about Krasner as those of the FOP board. Co-Director of Penn College Republicans Editorial Board and College and Wharton sophomore Michael Moroz said Krasner’s “anti-police message is troubling,” noting that his supporters chanted “no good cops in a racist system,” on the night of his primary victory.

Moroz also said Krasner’s election made him concerned for the safety of the city, noting Krasner’s resistance to stop and frisk policies, to the use of the death penalty, and to cooperation with immigration authorities to deport undocu-

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“I think all of that creates a demonstrably less safe city.

Nothing [Grossman] ever said would make me nervous about the future of the city, whereas everything about Krasner has made me nervous for the city,” he said.

Moroz added that he thinks Krasner’s policies may contribute to “the Ferguson Effect,” the theory that today’s heightened scrutiny of police has caused officers to be more reluctant to engage in risky situations, thereby possibly increasing overall crime rates.

However, there are also student groups on campus that have indicated support for Krasner months ago. On April 15, Penn Democrats voted to back Krasner as a candidate in the Democratic primary and in the subsequent elections.

College junior and Penn Democrats President Rachel Pomerantz said her group promoted voter registration and student involvement in the local election, adding that she

was very excited by his win.

“He is very progressive on issues of criminal justice reform,” Pomerantz said. “Specifically, he has a lot of concrete policy ideas to end mass incarceration, from ending cash bail to rethinking sentencing of nonviolent drug offenders.”

While Philadelphia’s crime rate has fallen in recent years, the city has the highest rate of incarceration per capita out of the 10 largest cities in the nation, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Pomerantz also said Krasner will likely “be very aggressive in prosecuting perpetrators of sexual assault,” which would heavily benefit students.

J. Jondhi Harrell is the executive director of The Center for Returning Citizens, which provides resources for at-risk children, children of incarcerated parents, and formerly incarcerated individuals. In September, he joined Krasner at an event co-hosted by Beyond Arrests: Re-Thinking Systematic Op-

pression, Penn Dems, and the Penn chapter of the NAACP. “What happened on Nov. 7 was a seismic change for the city of Philadelphia. We have long been known as a city of incarceration,” Harrell said in an interview.

He noted that Philadelphia has the highest number of juveniles serving life sentences out of any American city, adding that Krasner could change Philadelphia’s “culture of prosecution.”

BARS Publication Team member and College sophomore Naeche Vincent said she is interested in interning for the district attorney office once Krasner establishes himself. As a pre-law student, Vincent said that Krasner’s platform, particularly his attitude towards mass incarceration, could make her feel more comfortable working for the district attorney’s office in the future.

However, Meredith said Krasner’s efficacy as district attorney will depend on the support of “subordinates” in

LARRY KRASNER

the district attorney’s office as well as local judges and leaders within the FOP. “It’s hard to know how successful he will be in implementing some of the reforms he wants to put into place; just because he is DA doesn’t mean he is going to get a buy-in from everyone who works in the DA office,” Meredith said. “I think we’ll likely see things like less use of incarceration for minor crime, but how much so — we’ll have to see what actually happens.”

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GET-UP

>> FRONT PAGE

statement about GET-UP’s ongoing petition.

Since August 2016, when the NLRB overturned a previous decision that disallowed graduate students to unionize, graduate student groups at other private universities like Harvard University and Yale University have taken steps to unionize.

A graduate student group of the University of Chicago, Graduate Students United, submitted a petition to unionize to Chicago’s NLRB office on May 8, just three weeks before GETUP filed their petition. UChicago challenged GSU’s petition in a similar set of hearings taking place from mid-May to early June.

However, the NLRB Chicago regional representatives issued an election order on Aug. 8, 92

NEWS 7

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2017

PHOTO FROM MIRANDA WEINBERG

Graduate Employees Together — University of Pennsylvania, a prounion student group, filed a petition on May 30 with the NLRB.

days after GSU submitted their petition. And on Oct. 18, after a two-day election, the group formally voted to unionize with an overwhelming majority of 1,103 to 479.

Ian Heinrich, a pharmacology Ph.D. student, who is a member of No Penn Union, a group that opposes GET-UP becoming a centralized union, said he thinks Penn’s five-month wait time is

unusual.

“Based on other school’s NLRB hearings, we expected a decision to come out in September,” he said in an email.

However, Penn Law School professor and Deputy Dean Sophia Lee wrote in an email that she doesn’t believe “there’s a number of days within which a decision must be rendered.”

Fellow GET-UP member and political science Ph.D. student Danielle Hanley speculated that the lengthy delay could be due to regional differences in processing petitions.

Both Weinberg and Hanley said they are concerned that President Donald Trump’s new conservative appointees to the NLRB could indefinitely obstruct GET-UP’s unionization process.

Weinberg added that even though a poll conducted by The Daily Pennsylvanian in 2003

PARADISE PAPERS

an idea of when the Philadelphia NLRB will issue a decision on their petition.

“It’s a black box. We really can’t know [whether there are reasons for the delay],” Weinberg said. “Until they give us an election order, we don’t know what happens.”

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exclusive use — a reflection of just how much money is involved.

Penn boasts one of the largest endowments in the country. This year, the endowment climbed to a record-high $12.2 billion, boasting a 14.3 percent return on investment, largely driven by equity investment.

Most schools’ endowments are far smaller: a 2015 report from the Congressional Research Service found that 74 percent of the $500 billion-plus accumulated in university endowments was concentrated among just 11 percent of schools.

Especially at schools with sizable endowments, students have focused their activism on where their school’s money is being invested; at Penn, students have spent years lobbying the Trustees to divest from investments related to fossil fuels.

Large endowments have also earned national scrutiny — in early 2016, two congressional committees sent letters to dozens of the nation’s wealthiest universities, seeking information about

indicated that 60.4 percent of eligible voters surveyed supported a graduate student union, a similar conservative shift at the national level partly kept the group from unionizing in 2004.

Weinberg said there is currently no way for GET-UP to expedite the process or to have

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how they manage their endowment funds.

The current House Republican tax plan, which passed on Nov. 16, includes a 1.4 percent tax on the investment income of private

schools with endowment assets of $250,000 or more per student.

That tax, however, would not affect offshore investments.

“There may be bad things about it — I don’t like the fact that we

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PLEASE INDICATE THE TOPIC YOU WOULD LIKE TO DISCUSS. Those who have not so informed the Office of the University Secretary will be permitted to speak at the discretion of the Moderator of University Council and in the event that time remains after the scheduled speakers.

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8 SPORTS

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2017

THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM

Takeaways from Penn’s record-shattering win

Five lessons from the Quakers’ first victory

YOSEF WEITZMAN

JONATHAN POLLACK

M. HOOPS | Simmons, Brodeur lead the way

W. HOOPS | Freshmen, seniors all show promise

Sports Editor

Senior Sports Editor-Elect

On Saturday, Penn men’s basketball opened Penn Athletics’ tripleheader with a 99-40 victory over Penn State Brandywine (0-2), and as the scoreline reflects, the Quakers (2-2) dominated from the very beginning. 15 players scored for the Red and Blue, with freshman forward Jarrod Simmons and senior guard Darnell Foreman leading the way with 16 and 14 points respectively.

Jarrod Simmons has a bright future with the Red and Blue Coming into the day, freshman forward Jarrod Simmons was still looking for his first points in a Penn uniform. After missing his first two shot attempts of the game, Simmons entered the scoring column for the first time as a Quaker with 6:03 left in the first half when he converted two free throws.

After notching these first points, Simmons didn’t take long to add to his total. He scored again on Penn’s next possession, and then he scored again. And again. And again. And again. By the time he was subbed out with a little over two minutes in the first half, Simmons had made five field goal attempts in a row and had scored 14 of the Red and Blue’s last 15 points.

Perhaps what was most impressive about Simmons’ scoring spree was that he got his points in a variety of ways. On one play, Simmons beat the entire defense down the floor to finish a fast break with a one-handed flush, and then, just two possessions later, he faced up from the top of the key to swish a jumper from behind the arc.

Penn’s shooting gives AJ Brodeur

ZACH SHELDON | SPORTS PHOTO EDITOR

Sophomore forward AJ Brodeur may not have lit up the stat sheet against PSU Brandywine, but his composure and passes impressed.

the support he needs If you just looked at the box scores from Penn’s four games this season, you might be wondering if something was going on with sophomore forward AJ Brodeur. After scoring 14 points per game his rookie season, Brodeur was barely averaging 10 heading into Saturday, and he only scored two points in his 15 minutes against PSU Brandywine.

If anything, though, the dip in Brodeur’s scoring just indicates how much the rest of Penn’s roster has improved. Opposing defenses are still focusing just as much attention on Brodeur — if not more — but instead of forcing up shots against double-teams, Brodeur is helping to find the team’s shooters for open looks. Against PSU Brandywine, the Quakers knocked down 15 shots from distance, and the team is averaging an astounding 30 three-point attempts per game.

If the Red and Blue can continue to knock down threes at a high rate, things should only open up more in the paint for Brodeur as the season drags on. Brodeur has struggled a bit with his own shots from the threepoint line, but there’s no reason to

think that he won’t be able to continue his dominant post play from last year if he starts to get some more room to operate.

Other tidbits from Penn’s blowout victory The game marked PSU-Brandywine’s first-ever game against an NCAA Division I opponent. The last time the Nittany Lions played in the Palestra was in 2005, when they fell to Penn’s junior varsity basketball team.

In addition to Simmons, sophomores Jakub Mijakowski and Zack Kaminsky also scored the first points of their Penn careers. Mijakowski tallied his first points on a transition three and ended the game with eight points. Kaminsky hit the second of two free throws to finish the game with one point. Senior Sam Jones got on the board for the first time this season and finished with eight points including two triples.

The 59-point margin of victory is the largest in school history. The previous record was 51 points when the Quakers defeated defeated Cornell 87-36 in 1974. Penn’s 99 points were the most the Quakers have scored since 2006.

For answers to today’s puzzles check out page 2!

MOSES NSEREKO Sports Reporter

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Hoover, along with Dartmouth senior Sarah Tabeek, was one of two Ancient Eight representatives in the exclusive game. Hoover and the other participants were invited to watch the semifinal bouts of the NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship tournament as well.

After watching the undefeated University of Connecticut win its semifinal match on its way to a title, the star seniors took the field. The players were separated into two teams — a “light� team and a “dark� team.

Hoover, wearing Penn’s grey uniform, was on the light team, which ended up falling short in a tight 4-3 contest. But if you ask the Collegeville, Pa. resident, there was more to the game than just the result. “It was just really fun playing with these girls,� Penn’s alltime leading goal scorer said. “These girls are all so amazing and such amazing players, and you can see that they really are

the top. They are the elite girls; the shots these girls were taking, the defense, it was back and forth.�

Whenever you get players at this high of a level on the same field, the goal will always be to win. But in what will be many of these player’s last games in their school jerseys, there was a distinct levity to the game. “It was very light-hearted on the field,� the senior attack said. “We were laughing on the field; we were joking because a lot of us know each other from either playing each other or just growing up.�

A fitting ending.

The same women who grew up together, bonded by love of the same sport, finish out their collegiate careers the way they started: giving everything they have to win against one another, and doing it with the same joy that continues to drive them.

And for a legend like Hoover, the honor could not be more deserved.

us, we competed and played the right way.�

Despite the margin of victory, the final result did leave a bitter taste in the mouths of Red and Blue fans — or a lack of a taste at all, to be more precise. Had Penn scored 100 points, which it hasn’t done in any game since January 2006, all fans in attendance would’ve been treated to free Abner’s cheesesteaks.

But as the crowd became increasingly rowdy hoping for the

chance to make history, the Red and Blue came up just short, choosing to hold the ball instead of shooting on their last possession and thus finishing one point shy of glory. “Is that still in place? Yeah, I probably would have [gone for another shot] just for that sake, that’s a promotional thing,� Donahue admitted, before making a prescient vow. “You know what — we’ll do it again.�

scoring two first-half touchdowns. Senior Tre Solomon and sophomore Abe Willows combined for 73 yards on 18 carries, plus Solomon’s game-winning touchdown.

After allowing just six points to Harvard a week ago, the Penn defense ceded 421 yards of offense to a Cornell unit that entered the game seventh in points scored in Ancient Eight play. All three of Cornell’s touchdown drives included plays of 30+ yards. Shaw had a 35-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter — and almost had a second in the last minute — and Harold Coles had a 44-yard rush and 51-yard

reception that also led to scores.

Banks finished 19-of-28 for 242 yards passing and a touchdown, while Coles had 122 rushing yards and Shaw had five catches for 98 yards and a touchdown.

Penn has now won its last four games and eight of its last 10 against Cornell, which could have secured its first winning season in the Ivy League since 2005 with a win.

Instead, the Red and Blue can take solace in knowing that no matter what drama there might have been earlier in the season, at least they went out on their own terms.

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You would think she would have had enough, right?

But then again, she is a legend.

For senior field hockey attack Alexa Hoover, her legendary career came to a close not on Penn’s Ellen Vagelos Field, but in Louisville, Ky. Hoover participated in the Division I National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Senior All-Star Game this past Friday. “I was just sitting on the sidelines and just looking around like, ‘Wow, this is an amazing thing that I got selected for,� the team captain said. “To be able to play and represent Penn, and the Ivy League, it was just an amazing feeling. I just felt very lucky.�

Skill Level:

2

Keeping their opponents off the offensive glass was one of the Quakers’ biggest weaknesses last year, and it looks like it might be a problem again this year. The Red and Blue gave up 11 offensive rebounds, and many of those were due to poor positioning by the Quakers. Too often Lafayette’s players had the inside spot or an uncontested rebound, and several times the ball came out past the post, and Penn was slow to get there. “It’s not a matter of just the post, getting the easy ones in inside, it’s a matter of all five to the glass... so I think if we get the mindset of everyone crashing the glass we’ll be good,� Nwokedi said.

Lafayette didn’t capitalize too much on its second chance opportunities, but better teams will, which is why the Quakers need to improve in this area.

The offense has to be more consistent in order for Penn to succeed The Red and Blue’s offense struggled today: the Quakers shot 28 percent from the floor, and just 17 percent from beyond the arc. But that’s not the performance they had in their season opener, where they shot 40 percent and put up 72 points. If the Quakers can get both the quality shooting that they are capable of plus the stout defense they had today, then they will be a force to reckon with. They just need to be able to perform like that day in and day out.

Alexa Hoover finishes legendary career at national all-star game SPORTS | Despite loss, Hoover ends career in style

SUDOKUPUZZLE

4

Penn women’s basketball rounded out Penn Athletics’ triple-header with a 55-42 win over Lafayette for its first victory of the year. Senior forward Michelle Nwokedi led the way for the Red and Blue (1-1) with her 34th career double-double, and Penn’s defense held Lafayette to just 25 percent shooting. Here are a few takeaways from the game.

Penn has a deep bench that it can trust This is one of the most talented and deep rosters the Quakers have had in years, and coach Mike McLaughlin knows it.

McLaughlin went to his bench early and often today, and his decisions paid off: the Quakers had 18 points off the bench. All 11 players who saw the court recorded points, and four different bench players recorded doubledigit minutes. But the biggest indication that McLaughlin trusts his bench is this: sophomore Kendall Grasela and junior Princess Aghayere were on the court for almost the entirety of the fourth quarter. The fact that McLaughlin can rely on his bench this early in the season is a big strength for this team.

Michelle Nwokedi and Eleah Parker make a fearsome duo on defense

When they are on the court at the same time, Nwokedi and Parker make it extremely tough for teams to score in the paint.

The pair combined for a total of seven of Penn’s nine blocks, and helped limit the Leopards to just 10 points in the paint. At 6-foot3 and 6-foot-4 respectively, they have the height to dominate most guards trying to drive and the strength to battle with other teams’ bigger players. With the perimeter defense struggling a bit early in the season, Nwokedi and Parker provide Penn with a consistent presence on the inside.

Katie Kinum has a lot of potential Everyone knew Parker was going to come in and have an immediate impact as a freshman, but Katie Kinum might as well.

The guard from New Providence, N.J. logged 12 minutes, during which she had three points, two rebounds, and an assist. But that underscores how well she played.

She was pesky on defense, always moving and getting in the way, and she helped the Quakers force multiple turnovers. “I wanted to get Katie Kinum an opportunity, I thought she did a good job at times,� McLaughlin said.

There are definitely things Kinum can work on — she missed a few open shots — but with a little more experience, she can play a vital role on this team moving forward.

Penn needs to learn how to box out

M.HOOPS

>> BACKPAGE

“It’s perfect, because you love playing games, but you don’t wanna wear guys out, especially after a double-overtime game [against La Salle on Monday],�

Donahue said. “And we’re still trying to figure out this rotation, and a couple of guys helped their case, so I was pleased with how we approached this game. Even though it was a big advantage for

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FOOTBALL

>> BACKPAGE

10 yard-line, while another was under-thrown to an open Watson who had sprinted past multiple Big Red defenders. Robinson completed five of seven passes for 75 yards on his only drive.

Priore said after the game that Fischer-Colbrie took a hit to the ribs during the game and was trying to play through injury, and Priore decided the switch to Robinson was needed.

The Quakers again had success on the ground, with sophomore running back Karekin Brooks gaining 147 yards and

THEDP.COM | THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN

SPORTS 9

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2017

Results aside, Penn football’s season was a great ride TOM NOWLAN

JUSTIN WATSON

10

1st at Penn All-Time A touchdown as time expired.

A walk-off touchdown in overtime. A missed field goal as the clock neared 0:00. Are you noticing a trend here?

Penn football’s nail biter of a win Saturday — made possible when Cornell failed to score from one yard out on the final play of the game — was yet another entry to the Quakers’ litany of dramatic 2017 contests.

Of the Red and Blue’s seven Ivy League games this season, five were decided by one score or less — and four were decided on the very last play of the game.

“I’ve had to take my Lipitor,” Penn coach Ray Priore joked following Saturday’s season finale.

While 2017 may not have been easy on Priore’s heart health, it certainly provided a hefty dose of entertainment for Penn fans. While not all of those

286

receptions

3,777 33

consecutive games with touchdown catch receiving yards

1st in ivy league

receiving touchdowns zach sheldon | sports photo editor christine lam | design editor elect

close contests went Penn’s way — the Quakers lost their first three Ivy games by a combined 11 points — fans at Franklin Field were glued to their seats for nearly every play of the season.

And while Penn was unable to defend its back-to-back Ivy

titles, the Quakers did pull off a 2004 Red Sox comeback of sorts, winning their final four Ivy games after starting 0-3 in conference play.

“When you get knocked down the way we got knocked down with those devastating losses … the way they came back and

fought was a testament to them,” Priore said.

The excitement of 2017 didn’t come via the dramatic finishes alone. Justin Watson was a oneman highlight reel in his senior season, putting the finishing touches on a career that Cornell head coach David Archer called

“the best of all time.” With 192 yards and a touchdown on Saturday, Watson completed his streak of scoring in each one of the season’s games.

Watson continued his stellar play this season despite the graduation of Alek Torgersen, Penn’s all-time leader in touchdown passes. Despite quarterback play that sometimes bordered on unwatchable — for example, starter Will FischerColbrie threw four interceptions Saturday before being benched — Watson managed to avoid a substantial statistical regression from his previous two seasons.

A diving catch on Penn’s final, game-winning drive set Penn up at the Cornell three, a opportunity they would convert into a touchdown on the next play. Seconds later, Watson pulled in a Nick Robinson pass to secure a two-point conversion and put Penn up by seven.

That sequence of events — the final plays of Watson’s career — was yet another entry into the captain’s collection of dramatic moments, which includes last minute touchdowns against

Princeton on Nov. 4 and Harvard in 2016.

Next season will bring many changes for the Red and Blue.

Watson will be gone (quite possibly to the NFL), as will running back Tre Solomon and a pair of starting offensive linemen, and the team will need to find answers at quarterback.

2017, at least compared to Priore’s first two seasons at the helm, was something of a disappointment for the Red and Blue. However, what the season lacked in championships, it made up for in drama: from nail-biting finishes to a late-season standings surge to the heroics of Watson, Penn football in 2017 was must-see TV. The Red and Blue may very well win more games in 2018.

One thing, however, is guaranteed: they will not have a more entertaining season than they did this year.

TOM NOWLAN is a College senior from Montpellier, Vt., and is an associate sports editor for The Daily Pennsylvanian. He can be reached at dpsports@thedp.com.

Watson’s spectacular final game for Penn wins him Player of the Week FOOTBALL | Senior captain broke even more records YOSEF WEITZMAN Sports Editor

Who else could it be?

Playing in his final game for Penn football, senior wide receiver and captain Justin Watson did what he does best — dominate. Watson torched Cornell’s defense to lift the Quakers to a thrilling 29-22 victory and earned one last DP Sports’ Player of the Week award in the process.

Watson finished the day with 13 catches, 192 yards, and one touchdown reception. Perhaps his biggest play of the game, however, was a

34-yard catch with just over two minutes left that gave the Red and Blue a first-and-goal from the threeyard line. The Quakers would score on the very next play, and Watson caught a crucial two-point conversion to give Penn the 29-22 lead.

Watson’s monster game increased his season totals to a mindblowing 81 receptions, 1,083 receiving yards, and 14 touchdowns.

He also finishes his career at the top of several Penn record books, including in career receptions and in career receiving yards. Watson’s clutch performance also earns him his third DP Sports’ Player of the Week award.

While Penn fans won’t ever get to see Watson compete wearing

the Red and Blue again, this season might not have been his last on the gridiron. Despite playing in the FCS, Watson’s production has caught the attention of scouts across the NFL, and he figures to have a chance to be Penn’s first NFL draft pick since 2002. Even if left undrafted, the senior could seek to join the ranks of current Penn alums trying to make it in the big league, with last year’s star quarterback Alek Torgersen one of several still fighting for a roster spot.

Only time will tell whether or not Watson gets a shot to play football professionally, but if Saturday’s win turns out to be the last competitive game Watson ever plays, it wasn’t a bad way to go out.

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2017 VOL. CXXXIII NO. 88

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

FOUNDED 1885

THE PERFECT SATURDAY

Penn’s three biggest teams played back-to-back-to-back in a weekend triple-header on 33rd Street, taking three huge wins and breaking records in the process

Men’s basketball earns biggest win in program history

Penn football comes from behind to defeat Cornell in season finale

Women’s hoops finishes strong for first win of season

Quakers beat non-NCAA side by 59 in final tuneup before a month-long stretch on the road

Sophomore Jacob Martin bats down potential touchdown pass on last play to ensure winning season for Penn

Late surge downs Lafayette to end the perfect day from Penn Athletics in home triple-header

COLE JACOBSON

JACOB ADLER

KARMAN CHEEMA

Sports Editor-Elect

Associate Sports Editor

Sports Reporter

M. HOOPS

PENN PSU - BRANDYWINE

99 40

ZACH SHELDON | SPORTS PHOTO EDITOR

FOOTBALL PENN CORNELL

29 22

ILANA WURMAN | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

W. HOOPS PENN LAFAYETTE

55 42

CHASE SUTTON | SPORTS PHOTO EDITOR-ELECT

Senior guard Darnell Foreman scored 14 points and added four assists in the blowout win over PSU Brandywine.

Penn football celebrates senior wide receiver Justin Watson’s touchdown in a fourth straight Ivy League win in season finale against Cornell.

Penn women’s basketball rookie center Eleah Parker scored six points and formed a potent partnership with Michelle Nwokedi.

If you thought Penn men’s basketball was dominant in Wednesday’s win over Navy, you hadn’t seen anything yet.

In one of the most impressive performances in program history, Penn made mincemeat of Penn State Brandywine from start to finish, opening up a 39-point lead at the half and cruising to a 99-40 win, setting an all-time record for the biggest margin of victory in school history. "[First-year PSU Brandywine coach] Ben [Kay] is building a program there, and they’re a young program, so it’s a lot, and I knew they were gonna have a hard time with us,” Penn coach Steve Donahue said. “But that being said, I’ve been on the coaching side where the players don’t take this seriously, and the teams hang around. And we don’t have any of that – we have kids that respect the game, respect the opponent and in all those things I look for, we did a great job.”

It was obvious from the start that Penn (2-2) would give PSU Brandywine no life early, picking apart the overmatched Nittany Lions with precise ball movement and outside shooting. A pair of three-pointers each from guards Antonio Woods and Darnell Foreman gave Penn a double-digit lead within the first three minutes, and by the time the starting unit collectively came out, the Quakers held a 20-5 lead.

As the names on the floor changed, though, the Red and Blue’s superiority over the Nittany Lions (0-2) didn’t — in fact, it was a Penn sub that was the star of the game. Having gone scoreless in 10 total minutes in his short collegiate career entering the afternoon, freshman forward Jarrod Simmons gave glimpses of what’s to come in a dominant late first-half stretch.

Scoring in a variety of ways inside and out — ranging from a three-pointer from the top of the key to a strong one-handed jam off a nice feed from Jake Silpe in transition — the rookie scored 14 points in a four-minute stretch, boosting Penn to a huge lead it would never look back from.

“Yeah, I would say it’s just respect for the game; you have to respect the other team and give it your all every time you step on the court,” Simmons said on the team’s mental approach to its first game against a non-Division I foe in two years. “As a team, we wanna make sure we hold ourselves to a standard, and meet that standard every time we step on the court.”

Though the game was out of reach by the second half, the contest still produced some memorable moments for the Red and Blue. Besides Simmons’ outburst, the team also saw the first points of the season from senior Sam Jones and the first career ones from sophomores Kuba Mijakowski and Zack Kaminsky, in addition to the first career three-pointer from freshman Eddie Scott. The team collectively shot a season-best 38.5 percent from deep, with 10 different players making three-pointers.

Overall, the game against PSU Brandywine — which is one of Penn State’s “commonwealth campuses,” and does not compete in the NCAA but rather the U.S. Collegiate Athletic Association — represented a chance for the Red and Blue to tune up and rest ahead of their tough Thanksgiving stretch. No Quakers played more than 20 minutes, which could pay off dividends for the team down the road.

Now that’s how you clinch a winning record.

On Saturday, Penn football defeated Cornell, 29-22, in a thriller at Franklin Field. The Quakers (6-4, 4-3 Ivy) end the season on a high note, taking four consecutive Ivy battles after three one-possession losses to start their conference slate. Cornell (3-7, 3-4) lost its last three conference games after standing atop the Ivy League a few weeks back at 3-1. Neither team was in contention for the Ivy League championship entering the afternoon, which Yale won with a 6-1 record in conference play.

Sophomore quarterback Nick Robinson replaced senior Will FischerColbrie with 8:21 remaining in the fourth quarter and Penn trailing, 22-21, and proceeded to lead a six-minute, 15-second touchdown drive of 97 yards — one that would stand as the game-winning drive.

The Quakers had four plays on that drive gain at least 10 yards, including an acrobatic diving catch from senior wide receiver Justin Watson for 34 yards that set Penn up with first-and-goal from the Cornell 3 with just over two minutes remaining. Senior running back Tre Solomon ran it in the very next play, and Robinson found Watson for the two-point conversion.

Now, Penn led 29-22, and Cornell would get one last drive to try to force overtime or possibly win outright.

Starting its final drive with 2:01 left in the game, Cornell drove 72 yards down to the Penn 1. Junior defensive back Sam Philippi thought he had a game-clinching interception about halfway through the drive, but it was called off due to penalty. Three plays later, Cornell quarterback Dalton Banks hit receiver Collin Shaw for 28 yards down the left sideline, and Shaw nearly scored but went out of bounds at the 1-yard line with 18 seconds left.

Cornell’s handoff on first-and-goal was thwarted, and Banks then rushed to spike the ball, as the Big Red were out of timeouts. While some Penn players and fans thought Banks’ spike was too late, the officials said Cornell had one more shot. Defensive back Jacob Martin then sniffed out and deflected Banks’ pass attempt to close the game.

Martin described that last play from his perspective.

“I honestly thought he didn’t spike it in time,” Martin said. “We lined up in our goal-line formation as a defense, he motioned in, I almost tripped because I was trying to get all the way across really fast, came back out. I just ran with my man and he threw it and I batted it down.”

In his final game for the Quakers, Watson was his usual self, finishing with 13 catches for 192 yards and a touchdown. That brought his season line to 80 catches, 1,083 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns — the latter a school record.

“It always feels good to win. Everyone always talks about how you remember your last game more than any others, so I’m glad I’m going to be able to remember this one with smiles,” Watson said. “It encapsulates our senior class and season, just rolling with the punches.”

Watson also made Ivy League history, becoming the first player to reach 1,000 receiving yards in three individual seasons, and also to catch at least one pass in 40 consecutive games. He finished his collegiate career with 286 receptions, 3,777 yards and 34 receiving touchdowns — all Penn records.

He also extended his streak of games with a touchdown to 10, which already was a school and conference record.

The Red and Blue had little trouble moving the ball, only needing to punt twice all game. However, turnovers remained an issue for the Quakers, particularly with Fischer-Colbrie. He threw for 204 yards and a touchdown on 25 attempts, but threw four interceptions. Two were inside the Cornell

SEE M.HOOPS PAGE 8

SEE FOOTBALL PAGE 8

It is often said that a good defense is the best offense, and Penn women’s basketball proved that on Saturday in the Quakers’ home opener.

After losing to Binghamton in New York last Wednesday in a close contest, the Quakers returned to their winning ways with a 55-42 win over the Lafayette Leopards.

Coming into the game, the regional rivals had split their all-time series at 20 wins apiece. The Quakers were especially motivated after their 2016-2017 Ivy League championship banner was unveiled prior to tip-off.

The first half saw sluggish offensive play from both sides, but the Quakers (1-1) were eventually able to overpower the Leopards (0-3) through elite defense and a stellar all-around performance from reigning Ivy League Player of the Year Michelle Nwokedi (16 points, 10 rebounds, six blocks, two steals).

Both teams were missing many shots early on, with the exception of some Leopards’ three-pointers. In fact, the only thing keeping the Leopards in the game was their efficient three-point shooting, as they shot 7-for-16 behind the arc.

Gradually, the Quakers turned on their defensive pressure.

Nwokedi and freshman center Eleah Paker shined, as they collectively played smothering defense in the paint. Nwokedi would end the half with five blocks, as the Quakers went into the locker room with a 28-22 lead.

The second half was nearly the same story offensively; however, Nwokedi began to finish more of her layups inside and became more assertive as the game unfolded. The bench unit was particularly effective, as junior forward Princess Aghayere and sophomore guard Kendall Grasela contributed each contributed over 16 minutes.

With a few minutes left to play, the Quakers hit some timely threes (courtesy of Grasela and senior guard Lauren Whitlatch) to seal the victory.

By the end of the game, the Leopards’ turnover rate (26 percent) exceeded field goal percentage (24.7 percent), and they were limited to just three points in the fourth quarter — both testaments to the Quakers’ superb defensive effort.

“We were nervous defending our home court, because the banner went up and there was a lot of emotion behind tonight’s game. Once those things settled down, we were able to play the Penn way and execute,” Nwokedi said.

Prowess in defense has long been at the heart of Penn women’s basketball, and the team will look to further hone it as the season goes on.

“Defense is critical to our identity. In this game, we were able to get key defensive stops which led to offense, and coach has always told us that offense will come when we play efficient defense and rebound the ball,” Nwokedi said.

Coach Mike McLaughlin believes that the squad will have to address boxing out and three-point defense to improve.

“We have to rebound better and put a body on people more effectively. Closing out on the three also needs work; the separation from where the shooters received the ball was a bit too large at times,” McLaughlin said.

Next up for the Quakers is the 15th annual Junkanoo Jam in the Bahamas. The squad is slated to face off against Georgia Tech on Thanksgiving Day at 5:15 P.M.

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