THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSIT Y OF PENNSYLVANIA
online at thedp.com
MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014
An $18,000 path to Penn
For Chinese students, hiring an admissions consultant is common — and expensive BY BRENDA WANG Deputy News Editor
When the woman from the Penn Museum visited the T’akdeintaan clan in 1995, she went to show the natives items that the Museum had in their collection from the area. Her trip followed a new federal law called the National American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, or NAGPRA, which required museums to make natives aware of what items they have from their communities. “I was there, and it was such a sig-
For many Chinese students, the cost of attending Penn is higher than the price of tuition. Before receiving a letter of admission, many students from China have already shelled out tens of thousands of dollars for college admissions consulting, which promises to help students get into the U.S. school of their dreams. The competition for a spot in one of China’s top schools is fierce - even more so than in the United States. Students look to the United States for a prestigious degree and a less competitive admissions process. After deciding that he wanted to study in the US, one College sophomore, who preferred to remain anonymous, decided to hire admissions consultants to help, partially because “everyone around you is using consulting companies [as well], so it’s like you’re buying the reassurance.” The company he hired walked
SEE NATIVE PAGE 5
SEE ADMISSIONS PAGE 7
The Penn Museum’s new Native American Voices exhibit features items that Alaskan natives have tried to repatriate
T
he exhibition hall at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology Museum was packed. Native Americans from diverse communities stood next to their elders. Parents wrapped their arms around their children. In the back of the quiet room, a mother soothed her crying baby as she tried to catch a glimpse of the main attraction. The crowd filled the hall of the new Native American Voices exhibit at 11 a.m. on Saturday. The spectators watched as five Native
BY JILL CASTELLANO Staff Writer
Americans from around the country, along with the museum director and exhibit curator, cut a red ribbon to declare the official opening of a project that took at least eight years to complete. The exhibition opening demonstrates the collaboration and efforts of over 80 Native Americans from many backgrounds and cultures, the curator said. But the stories behind some of the new artifacts that line the pristine museum walls have more complicated histories mired in legal battles.
When a representative of the Penn Museum visited a Native American clan in September of 1995, members broke down at the sight of objects sacred to their clan, which had been lost to them for decades. After years of negotiation, hundreds of pages of documents and a federal review panel in a fight for ownership of these cultural artifacts, at least two of them are now part of the new Native American Voices exhibit. And members of the T’akdeintaan clan are still fighting for what they believe is theirs.
A history of controversy
Students content to strut down amateur runways Penn students are hesitant to pursue careers in fashion — but that may be changing BY YUEQI YANG Staff Writer When Won Lee, the creative director of the Hyesoon Kim Hanbok show, wanted to recruit models for his fashion show event which showcased traditional Korean dresses at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Penn students came to mind. He reached out to the student club Liberty in North Korea to spread the word. Within two and a half weeks, about 52 Penn students applied and 15 of them got in, which constitutes 40 percent of his model population. “We took people who had experience in modeling or [were] very interested in modeling, or proud of their body appearance ... [and those] who have been interested in Korean culture,” he said. “Most of the students are from Wharton.”
Yolanda Chen/News Photo Editor
Fifty-two Penn students applied to model traditional Korean dresses at a Philadelphia Museum of Art event. Fifteen students, mostly from the Wharton School, were accepted and walked in the show on Feb. 27. Penn students also take part in charity fashion shows on campus.
Class boards host mental wellness project BY ALEX GETSOS Staff Writer The Class Boards announced in an email Sunday night that they, with nine other student groups, will be hosting a wellness project throughout the month of March. The project is intended as a collaborative effort among student groups who have been combating the stigma of mental health and furthering mental wellness on campus. “We wanted to respond to all of the dialogue that has been happening on campus about mental health issues especially given what our campus has been going through,” Junior Class Board President Ariel Koren said. “We were inspired by all of the efforts by the different groups on campus and people from different walks of life.” Koren explained that they wanted to reach the student body “with an effort that’s centralized, that brings together
different groups already working on these issues.” The project will be occurring throughout the entire month, with “Wellness Wednesdays” hosted by the class boards as well as other events including a speaker event featuring the Chaplain and members of EXCELANO, a reach for wellness movement spearheaded by APO and mental wellness week hosted by the Counseling and Psychological Services student advisory board. “We talked about how different groups can leverage their expertise how we can bring together everyone in a really big and powerful way,” Koren said. Students participating in the speaking event come from all different experiences with mental health. College junior Victoria Ford is one speaker who will be reading a poem that she posted as a Facebook status while abroad in London.
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“It was kind of fate because I’d been thinking about wellness and mental health,” Ford said. “It’s generally talking about certain feelings of unhappiness that everyone can relate to and how we are genetically and physically designed to make ourselves happy.” Ford said she is excited to be involved with this project because it really shows “the power that students have but also the concern we have for each other.” The project is meant to be continuous and extend beyond the limitations of a one-time event. Others who are involved have faced mental illness directly, like College junior Jack Park. “Personal stories are the greatest resource for these types of issues,” Park said. “This is a good event because it has major student representation ... I felt that if I speak up that everyone else would speak up about their stories and it would start the momentum.” ■
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Penn students’ involvement in fashion is increasing both on and off the campus. The WALK Magazine and Penn Fashion Week are some of the most well-known fashion initiatives on campus. However, many of the students who take part in fashion-related events on campus do not plan to extend their extracurriculars into a career. “This might be my only chance to do something like this. I think still being a student is great, because you get all these benefits, doing things you like without having to make a career out of it,” Meicen Sun, a first-year Ph.D. student in political science and a model for the Wharton Charity Show said. “I took it as a good study break. It’s just nothing like I am used to do[ing],” she added. Andrea Shen, a Wharton sophomore and a part-time model who participated in professional runway SEE FASHION PAGE 7
WHOSE HOUSE?
Mounika Kanneganti/Staff Photographer
Arts House Dance Company presented “The Dollhouse” at Iron Gate Theatre this weekend. The dance group, whose Saturday show was sold out in advance, will turn 30 next year.
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