THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSIT Y OF PENNSYLVANIA
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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2014
Lawsuit: Mental health leave led to retaliation by U.
Federal lawsuit claims GSE staff member was demoted after leave of absence for bipolar II disorder BY SARAH SMITH Senior Writer In the spring of 2013, Janet W hite felt that she couldn’t stay at work anymore. White, who worked as a program manager at the Graduate School of Education, had managed her bipolar II disorder for the past six years without a major episode. In late 2012, the condition flared up again, sending her to cry in the bathroom for 30 minutes at a time at work and experience severe mood swings. She decided to
take an eight-week leave of absence from her job in May 2013. W h it e c l a i m s t h at u p o n returning to work, she got a negative performance review and was subsequently demoted because of her leave. She filed suit against the University on Dec. 2, 2013 in United States D ist r ict Cou r t i n Ca mden , N.J., accusing the University of violating the Family Medical Leave Act. The federal law entitles eligible employees to
SEE LAWSUIT PAGE 5
SHOOTING HOOPS
John Legend to speak at commencement
BY BRENDA WANG Deputy News Editor
John Legend will be telling the class of 2014 that they are no “ordinary people” this May. The nine-time Grammy Awardwinning singer and 1999 College graduate will deliver the commencement address this year. He will receive an honorary Doctor of Music at the ceremony. A mong those who will be awarded honorary degrees is Raymond Perelman, who endowed a record-breaking $225 million to the Perelman School of Medicine, which was subsequently named after him and his wife. In addition, Olympia Snowe, a former U.S. Senator who was the first woman to serve in both houses of Congress and both houses of state legislature and was influential in key policy issues, will be awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws. Although Legend is most famous for his music, he is also a philanthropist and activist who has received many awards for his humanitarian work. He launched the Show Me Campaign in 2007, which seeks to break the cycle of poverty through education in the United States and Africa. Inspired by Legend’s song “Show Me,” which questions the suffering in the world, the campaign partners with educational
DP File Photo/Sam Sherman
John Legend, a 1999 College graduate, spoke at the 12th Annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Lecture in Social Justice in 2013, a topic he is involved in with his humanitarian work.
SEE LEGEND PAGE 6
Jon Hunstman Jr. C’87 Former Ambassador
Jodie Foster
2010
Actress
2006
Geoffrey Canada Education Activist
Bono
2012
Michael Bloomberg
U2 Frontman
Former Mayor of NYC
2004
2008
PREVIOUS PENN COMMENCEMENT SPEAKERS Joe Biden
Kofi Annan
Former UN Secretary General
2005
Eric Schmidt
CEO of Google
2009
Around 200 Philadelphia school children spent their Presidents Day playing games at the first annual Police Athletic League Carnival. Members of the Philadelphia 76ers led basketball drills at the Palestra for the attendees — and the Sixers Dance Team performed for them in the afternoon.
P
enn students currently face heavy workloads and carry many extracurricular responsibilities that cause excessive stress. But some longtime members of the Penn community don’t remember campus always being this way. A combination of work ethic, social pressure and a competitive drive to succeed can push students to achieve great things; but this can surpass a healthy level. The Daily Pennsylvanian discussed stress levels at Penn with long-standing members of the University community to gauge their perceptions of how students approach pressure. Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Dennis DeTurck observed how students take on a wide range of responsibilities rather than focusing on a particular interest.
Alongside an Ivy League workload, this means students are “loading up so much” in terms of all of their work and extracurricular activities, said Gregory House Dean and 1992 College graduate Christopher Donovan. Donovan specifically outlined the idea that students feel “every second of your life must be filled with responsibility.” “Students take on more stress just to take on more stress,” he said. He described it as “a strange dynamic where you feel bad if you don’t have something crazy going on.” Associate Director of the Netter Center and 2005 College graduate Rita Hodges also acknowledged how Penn students are very involved. However, she described that involvement as “powerful,” explaining how “excited and engaged” students working with the Netter Center are.
Editorial (215) 898-6585 • Business (215) 898-6581
2013
Denzel Washington
Analyn Delos Santos/News Design Editor
A Different Perception of Pressure
Vice President
Actor
James A. Baker
2011
Former Secretary of State
2007
Graphic by Laine Higgins
Pressure over Time BY MELISSA LAWFORD & SAMUEL BYERS Staff Writers Dennis DeTurck, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and a faculty master in Riepe College House, said that students now are more concerned about “being employed and being successful” than they did while he was a doctoral student at the University.
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[My generation] didn’t feel that sort of pressure,” he said. “We did what we wanted to do and had the confidence that it would work out.” — Dennis DeTurck
DeTurck speculated that a root cause of students’ stress are their own personal drives
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Origins of Pressure to be successful, a sentiment echoed by DuBois faculty master and former University Chaplain William Gipson,
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[Students are] self possessed... They want to take advantage of every opportunity at Penn.” — William Gipson
who came to Penn in 1996. Both DeTurck and Gipson touched on the idea that students’ drives to succeed were influenced by outside factors — pressure from parents, society and peers that reinforce that drive.
Some faculty members who have also studied at Penn have observed a shift in student approach to pressure over time. Christopher Donovan observed a “significant shift” since his years at Penn. The kind of internal pressure he observes at Penn now “didn’t exist,” during his time as a student. As an academic advisor, he has noticed an increase in the number of students requesting to double major, something that was very uncommon during his time at Penn, he said. In the late 1980s, Donovan said there was a “hype” of pressure at Wharton, because it was like the “center of the universe.” Now, he feels like the whole campus embodies that spirit. Rita Hodges, however, said she has not observed a significant change in approach to student stress
since her time as a student. She outlined a general trend, though, which has impacted stress over time. “Everyone is looking for a competitive edge,” Hodges said, discussing the job market. She added that increasingly competitive admissions to Penn may also be encouraging a competitive mentality in the students who get in. University Chaplain Chaz Howard, a 2000 College graduate, said that new expectations from employers have increased student stress levels by adding to worries about their future job prospects. He explained that students are now far more likely to spend their summers doing internships, as opposed to when he was a student, when they were more likely to travel over the break.
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