WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2016
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Can’t Catch A
Break
Penn’s winter break will be almost a week shorter than last year’s JACOB WINICK Staff Reporter
JULIO SOSA | ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR
T
his year Penn students will enjoy the shortest winter break in years, with finals ending on Dec. 22 and spring classes beginning on Jan. 11. That gives students a break that’s almost a week shorter than last year’s, when finals ended on Dec. 18 and spring classes did not begin until Jan. 13. While students are fuming about the shortened winter break, Executive Director for Education and Academic Planning
Rob Nelson explained that scheduling breaks can be extremely difficult. In determining the dates for winter break, the Council of Undergraduate Deans had to weigh consistency with flexibility. “One of the main reasons the dates came out the way they did is because we really want to have the spring term always start on a Wednesday,” Nelson said. “That way everything from there, from how far you got until the Martin
Gutmann’s declaration that Penn is a ‘sanctuary campus’ sounded like a promise to do something radical, but it wasn’t.” - Alec Ward
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Luther King holiday to when spring break starts, happens on a similar pattern every year.” Nelson also explained that they could not simply add days to winter break without subtracting them from summer like other colleges can because they have to follow Pennsylvania state law, which requires every class to meet at least 14 times a semester and prohibits having more weeks in the spring term than in the
fall term. These laws apply to all colleges in Pennsylvania, public and private. “Schools like Harvard can simply shorten their school years, like we used to do, because Massachusetts does not have so many requirements,” Nelson said. “It’s a very difficult situation where we are trying to maximize all our breaks, but are bumping up against these state laws, which don’t give us much flexibility.” The markedly shorter break has lead
students to complain that they will not have enough time to rest after finals, and that the especially late end to the term makes traveling home for the holidays incredibly difficult and expensive. College sophomore Liqhwa Ncube said that having finals until Dec. 22 is especially hard for international students who want to get home before Christmas SEE WINTER BREAK PAGE 6
FMC Tower shifts Phila. development west Penn has a 20-year lease in the tower LAUREN SORANTINO Staff Reporter
The developers of University CIty’s new FMC Tower are keen on setting the tone for the future of real estate development in University City. With luxury suites and elevated green spaces, the FMC tower near Walnut and 30th streets is a part of a three-building project called Cira Centre South, which features an elevated urban green space called the Cira Green and the neighboring Evo skyscraper. FMC stands for Food Machinery Corporation, the specialty chemical company who will be an anchoring tenant in the tower. The tower’s developer, Brandywine Realty Trust, calls the Cira Centre South project, “Philadelphia’s first vertical neighborhood” on its website. According to Penn Facilities and Real Estate Services, “the FMC Tower will serve as a dramatic model of pioneering urban development in Philadelphia.” Builders broke ground on the FMC Tower in May 2014, and the project is fast approaching completion. Standing at 730 feet tall, the tower is the sixth tallest building in Philadelphia. Upon completion, it will feature a combination of office, retail and residential space vertically stacked like a neighborhood. The top 19 floors will house 268 luxury apartments and extendedstay suites, while the bottom floors will feature office and retail space.
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SAM HOLLAND | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Penn has been involved with the Cira Centre South project since its inception. The University signed a 20-year lease to occupy the roughly 100,000 square feet of office space in the FMC Tower for four relocated offices.
Along with the FMC Corporation, the University of Pennsylvania will be a main tenant. Penn has been involved with not only the FMC Tower, but alsothe entire Cira Centre South project since its inception. According to FRES, the
University is a “longstanding partner” in Cira Centre South’s development and owns the ground upon which the FMC Tower sits. Penn signed a 20-year lease in the FMC Tower and will occupy approximately 100,000 square feet of office
space. According to FRES Director of Portfolio Management Laura Park Smith, the University has relocated four departments from various locations around campus into the FMC SEE FMC TOWER PAGE 3
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