October 21, 2021

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2021 VOL. CXXXVII NO. 23

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Disabilities Services testing accommodation center closure inconveniences students The center was closed this semester until early October, frustrating students whose tests were relocated around campus SEJAL SANGANI Staff Reporter

ISABEL LIANG

The University requires that all vaccinated students receive at least one COVID-19 test every two weeks JONAH CHARLTON Senior Reporter

Penn issued 9,130 red PennOpen Passes on Tuesday to students who have failed to comply with the University’s COVID-19 testing requirement within the past two weeks.

The University requires that all vaccinated students receive at least one COVID-19 test every two weeks, and if they fail to do so, they will receive a red PennOpen Pass until they test negative. Students who receive red PennOpen Passes typically are barred from all Penn buildings, but Chief Wellness Officer Benoit Dubé said the University is making an exception this week and allowing students with non-compliance red passes to access most academic spaces through the end of the week.

Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Paul Sniegowski first announced the red PennOpen Passes in an email to students in the College on Tuesday morning, writing that students could still attend class on Tuesday if they had been issued a non-compliance red pass. Students who remain noncompliant with the testing requirement will lose access to all academic spaces beginning Oct. 23.

Dubé said the decision to allow students to access academic buildings this week was made because academic operations would have been considerably hampered otherwise.

“There were a number of exams that would have needed to be rescheduled for over half of the class.

We had to make sure our processes did not impede the academic mission, while also keeping everyone safe,” Dubé said. “That being said, there will be no future exceptions. Students got in their own way today, and we need to acknowledge this and move forward together.”

Dubé said that the 9,130 students who failed to test in the past two weeks are an even split between

undergraduate and graduate students.

Following Sniegowski’s email and students receiving red PennOpen Passes this morning, hundreds of students flocked to the Du Bois COVID-19 testing site, causing long lines, while others called a number of campus health hotlines, creating a backlog, Director of Campus Health Ashlee Halbritter said.

“When people call this much and come to the testing center all at once, this creates major backlogs in our processes,” Halbritter said. “Campus Health can’t answer the calls from students who are actually ill, the [COVID-19 testing] lab gets backed up, and contact tracers can’t make the calls they need to.”

Dubé and Halbritter said students who are looking to flip their non-compliance red passes green should ideally schedule a test to avoid a line. After testing, students should remain patient as it could take up to 24 hours for their testing result to return. Once a stuSEE RED PASSES PAGE 2

Penn hits 99% undergraduate COVID-19 vaccination rate Ninety-seven percent of faculty and staff and 96% of graduate and undergraduate students are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 JONAH CHARLTON Senior Reporter

Penn announced on Tuesday that 99% of undergraduate students are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

The University also reported that 97% of faculty and staff and 96% of all students, both graduate and undergraduate, are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. All students, faculty, and staff, are required to be vaccinated against COVID-19, unless they apply and are granted an exemption for health or religious reasons. The update to the vaccination rate — which sat at 97% among faculty and undergraduates as of Sept. 14 — comes as the COVID-19 positivity rate across the University has remained under 0.50% for the fourth straight week.

A total of 36 Penn community members — four of whom are undergraduate students — tested positive for COVID-19 between Oct. 3 and Oct. 9, out of 11,150 community members who were tested. Chief Wellness Officer Benoit Dubé said he attributes the low case count and lack of transmission in classrooms, labs, and workspaces to the high vaccination rate, as well as continued adherence to the University’s mask

wearing policy in indoor spaces.

“The vaccination rate shows how seriously students are taking [the vaccine requirement], and they are doing what they are supposed to do,” Dubé said. “Everyone wants to see the pandemic end, so people are doing their part to make that a reality.”

Penn’s vaccination rate is comparable to other Ivy League universities. Columbia University, Yale University, Cornell University, Princeton University, and Brown University all have reported undergraduate COVID-19 vaccination rates at or above 99%.

Harvard University’s 96% vaccination rate and Dartmouth College’s community-wide 92% vaccination rate come in just below.

While Dubé and Director of Campus Health Ashlee Halbritter are excited by the high vaccination rate and compliance from students, they said students must still adhere to Penn’s biweekly COVID-19 testing policy.

The majority of students, however, are not following the guidelines.

Every two weeks, the University pulls testing data

CHASE SUTTON

Current Wharton sophomore Drishti Devnani receives a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at Penn’s Gimbel Gymnasium vaccination site on April 21.

for all students from the previous 14-day period, Halbritter explained. All students who have not received at least one COVID-19 test in that period automatically receive a red PennOpen Pass for noncompliance.

Students are able to reverse the red PennOpen Pass by getting tested, but not until the next day, after a negative result is attained, Halbritter explained.

Halbritter said that if Penn were to have pulled data on Oct. 12 for the current testing period, over 11,000 students would have received red PennOpen Passes.

“Obviously, this number is better, but we just want to remind students to keep getting tested and doing their part to keep the campus safe,” she said.

Penn students reported difficulties in receiving testing accommodations during the first several weeks of the semester when the Biotech Commons — which houses Disability Services’ testing center — was closed for construction.

Exams for students with assessment-related accommodations were relocated to different campus buildings until the center reopened in early October, which frustrated students who said they did not receive proper accommodations at these locations and had to familiarize themselves with each building’s accessibility features.

“We understand that it was not ideal,” Director of Disability Services at the Weingarten Center Aaron Spector said. “I think [the renovations] created some confusion from day to day in terms of exam administration and it created some more work for staff as well.”

Disability Services partnered with Biotech Commons to use the reading room on the library’s blue level as a distraction-reduced testing environment, Spector said. During ongoing renovations of the library, the University registrar worked with Disability Services to find alternate testing locations for students with accommodations. More than 800 exams were scheduled in the first six weeks of the fall semester through Disability Services, Spector said.

College sophomore Ellie McKeown took a relocated exam for BIOL 251: Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology in the Jaffe History of Art Building, but said she experienced noise and spacing issues in the testing room.

McKeown is approved to take assessments in quiet, private testing spaces, as well as to receive 50% extended time and typing ability for handwritten exams. In the Jaffe Building, however, she said her exam environment was neither quiet nor isolated. The exam took place in a small classroom with several other students, and noise from an active construction site adjacent to the building was disruptive during the assessment.

“It literally got to the point where I had to accommodate my own self, and just get out my noise-canceling headphones,” McKeown said. “I shouldn’t have to resort to accommodating myself through any means possible because I know a lot of other kids can’t afford to do that like I can, or don’t have a disability that is as dynamic as mine.”

Another one of McKeown’s exams for BIOL 205: Cell Biology took place in the Weingarten Center, which she praised for providing a quieter, cubicle-style testing environment. She encountered difficulties, though, as she was not provided a computer for her typing accommodation. Forced to handwrite her exam, she had to put on arthritis gloves to cope with the pain from her hand cramps.

Like McKeown, students have also encountered issues with receiving their approved accommodations in the alternate testing locations.

A College junior, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation from Disability Services, was not given a laptop for her relocated CRIM 100: Criminology exam, despite needing a typing accommodation and contacting Disability Services in advance. She had to handwrite her exam until a staff member from the Weingarten Center brought a computer to the testing site.

“It was just really, really frustrating because I [could] literally feel my learning disability affecting me as I was taking this exam because they didn’t have the proper materials for me,” the College junior said.

The College junior, however, said that her typed responses to the exam were lost and could not be delivered to her professor because the printer in her relocated testing site was down. While she was told that her exam would be printed and delivered in another building, her professor never received her answers. She added that her professor was understanding of the situation and assured her that her grade would not be negatively impacted.

The computer issues the College junior faced are not a problem in the Biotech Commons testing center, as the room is equipped with two desktop computers with assistive technology as well as SEE ACCOMMODATIONS PAGE 2

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dent gets their negative result back, their PennOpen Pass will turn green, Halbritter explained.

Bi-weekly testing remains a key component of Penn’s multi-layered strategy to preventing the spread of COVID-19 on campus, Dubé said. This semester, the University mandated that all students be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and wear masks indoors. Penn reported last week that 99% of undergraduate students are fully vaccinated.

Dubé emphasized that the University’s polices are working, pointing to the continued low positivity rate on campus. Between Oct. 10 and Oct. 16, 33 Penn community members tested positive for COVID-19 out of a total of 9,203 community members who received tests. The positivity rate was 0.36%, staying on par with positivity rates in the past three weeks of 0.40% between Sept. 19 and Sept. 25, 0.41% between Sept. 26 and Oct. 2, and 0.35% between Oct. 3 and Oct. 9.

Halbritter encouraged students to get tested as soon as possible this week and to schedule their tests for the future. Students who schedule their COVID-19 tests receive a reminder email 24 hours before their appointment, she said.

“The red passes are a reminder to get tested; this is not meant to be punitive,” Halbritter said. “Students have to take ownership of their end of the bargain, and this is what we saw this week. We just need everyone to do their part.”

a Closed Circuit Television for magnification accommodations, Spector said.

College junior Ishani Mehta, who is approved for 50% extended time on assessments and a distractionreduced testing environment, faced a large obstacle when she arrived at Weingarten, her alternate testing center, and learned the proctor did not have her exam.

After about an hour of troubleshooting, a supervisor from the Weingarten Center came to the testing site and brought Mehta to his office, where she took the assessment.

“If it really is supposed to be making life easier, there shouldn’t be so many hoops we have to jump through on our end,” Mehta said.

The College junior also criticized the onus placed on students to ensure they receive their approved accommodations.

“The specific department at Penn that is there to help students with their academic concerns and their academic needs is making my academic life so much harder,” the College junior said. “Now that I have the accommodations, it’s up to me to deal with everything, which doesn’t feel very accommodating.”

The renovations in Biotech Commons also made it so that testing locations for accommodated exams change frequently, often the day before an assessment.

McKeown, who is physically disabled, found this particularly frustrating. She had to familiarize herself with the accessibility features of each building every time her testing location changed before her assessment.

She also noted that she had trouble communicating with Disability Services, after several of her emails were left unanswered or requests for meetings pushed off until after fall break.

“My disability doesn’t go away outside of normal business hours,” McKeown said. “I don’t want to have to wait a week, two weeks, a month to be able to schedule a meeting with you to be able to receive the accommodations that I require in the first place.”

Other students similarly felt that Disability Services should have been more communicative about the testing center’s closure.

The College junior learned of the closure when the portal for scheduling accommodated exams asked her to choose a location for her assessment, as opposed to it just taking place in Biotech Commons as it had in previous semesters.

“I feel like I never got an email or anything saying,

Perry World House’s Global Career Week helps students navigate global job opportunities The in-person events at PWH include panels on careers in human rights, international development, national security, and foreign policy ADELAIDE LYALL Contributing Reporter

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Student Disability Services is a part of the Weingarten Learning Resources Center.

‘Hey, the testing center is closed. Here’s what’s going on,’” she said. “I felt like I was kind of in the dark.”

Spector said some communication delays from Disability Services are due to the increased workload the Biotech Commons’ renovation placed on its staff.

He encouraged students to place their accommodated exam requests a week or more in advance so that all arrangements can be properly made in a timely manner.

Now that Biotech Commons is open, the vast majority of accommodated exams take place at the testing center, Spector said.

Mehta praised the usual exam environment that Disability Services utilizes in Biotech Commons.

She said that having all of the necessary materials for accommodated exams in one location made taking assessments easier, and added that the Biotech Commons “had a flow and rhythm about it.”

Connection to AirPennNet is currently weak in the Biotech Commons room, Spector said, meaning that some exams on Canvas proctored by Disability Services continue to be administered at various locations around campus.

In other scenarios where Biotech Commons is not an appropriate exam environment, such as when a student receives accommodations that are incompatible with the library testing center, exams are also scheduled in different locations on a case-by-case basis.

McKeown, who has a breathing disorder and al-

lergic disorder, faced this challenge when taking an exam for GEOL 100: Intro to Geology in Biotech Commons. The testing center was dusty and full of allergens, she said, and by the time her assessment began, she was in tears and her throat had swelled up. The desks inside of the testing room also had fan vents overhead, which were another irritant to McKeown during her exam.

After repeated correspondence with Disability Services over email, McKeown said Disability Services took a health team to Biotech Commons and sanitized it, getting rid of dust and allergens. The desks in the testing center have also been moved slightly off of the wall to avoid drafts from the vents, she said.

McKeown urged Disability Services to consider building accessibility from the perspective of individuals with disabilities, though she understands systemic inequalities and underfunding also contribute to some of the problems they are facing.

Students with physical disabilities also reported earlier this year that they faced long-standing challenges in accessing campus buildings.

“What’s happening right now is that a lot of able-bodied people and neurotypical people are going around accessing these buildings and saying it’s up to code for them,” McKeown said. “[But the buildings are] not necessarily up to code for the community that they’re serving.”

First years report catching ‘freshman plague’ Fisher Fine while testing negative for COVID-19 Arts Library is expanding its hours The library will be open until midnight on Sundays through Thursdays ARUSHI SRIVASTAVA Contributing Reporter

SHEIL DESAI

Penn Abroad Global Programs Manager Amy Wei speaking during the “International Internships’’ event on Oct. 19.

Perry World House is hosting Global Career Week from Oct. 18 to Oct. 21 with a series of events for students interested in pursuing work opportunities around the world.

The in-person events at PWH include panels on careers in human rights, international development, national security, and foreign policy, as well as sessions focused on international internships, fellowships, and graduate opportunities. They are designed to connect current Penn students with alumni and other professionals who can provide advice on pursuing international careers.

Penn Abroad Global Programs Manager Amy Wei led the “International Internships’’ event on Tuesday, Oct. 19. She spoke to 30 to 40 students about international internship and research opportunities, focusing on Penn’s Global Research & Internship Program, which provides internship and research positions to Penn students for eight to 12 weeks over the summer.

The events for the remainder of the week include a “Careers in Foreign Policy and National Security” panel on Oct. 20 at noon and an “International Fellowships and Graduate Opportunities” panel on Oct. 21 at noon.

Wei said global experiences are highly valued by employers because students gain increased cultural awareness and sensitivity, as well as cross-cultural communication skills while working abroad.

Wei said that due to the program’s short-term nature, it is a “low-risk” chance to see a professional environment without requiring commitment to that discipline. GRIP placements from summer 2021 included internships for the World Medical Association in France and social impact projects in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wei said at the event.

Students will find out whether the programs to which they apply are in person or virtual during the spring semester, Wei added.

College sophomore Megha Thomas, who attended the event, is a philosophy, politics, and economics major who is interested in international issues. She said she wants to do a GRIP internship next summer, in part, because COVID-19 has prevented international travel for the past few years.

“I hope to explore international affairs more indepth and I think that doing an international internship would be a super cool opportunity to do that,” Thomas said.

College first year Janice Yoon, an international student from Japan and Korea, said that it is important to her to consider living in places other than the United States after college. Yoon said she wants to utilize the resources and opportunities available to Penn students to pursue global careers. She is particularly interested in living in Ecuador, China, and Argentina.

“Because I am not from here, I am a little bit more aware of how big the world is,” she said.

TYLER KLIEM

Many first-year students have been sick with coughs, sore throats, congestion, and fatigue — but campus positivity rates for COVID-19 remain low JASPER TAYLOR, SARIKA RAU Contributing Reporter, Staff Reporter

Many first-year students have been sick with coughs, sore throats, congestion, and fatigue — but campus positivity rates for COVID-19 remain low.

These students have come down with what is known colloquially as the “freshman plague,” which includes symptoms similar to those of COVID-19. COVID-19 cases have remained low since students returned to campus, with a positivity rate under 0.50% for four straight weeks. Student Health Service Medical Director Vanessa Stoloff said that the low positivity rate means most students are probably experiencing some form of the common cold that shows up on campus every year.

“There’s nothing happening now, except COVID-19, that we don’t experience traditionally at this point of the year, and it’s important that we put that in perspective and be mindful,” Chief Wellness Officer Benoit Dubé said. “We have survived the ‘freshman plague’ before; we will survive this one again.”

Students with the “freshman plague” have various flu-like symptoms, many of which would give students a Red PennOpen Pass if reported. Some of the symptoms listed on the PennOpen Pass daily symptom check include a new cough, unusual fatigue, and fever above 100.0 degrees Fahrenheit or feeling feverish (chills, body aches).

Penn requires students to report their symptoms on PennOpen Pass every day, but it is only checked upon entry to certain campus buildings, including the libraries and COVID-19 testing centers. Students who experienced symptoms that would lead to a Red Pass said they were hesitant to accurately report their symptoms due to concerns about falling behind in class.

College first year Michelle Wen said she has had symptoms of the “freshman plague” since New Student Orientation. Her symptoms started out with a sore throat, cough, and congestion, and fluctuated frequently over several weeks.

“I couldn’t tell if I had a fever or not … which is why I got tested again,” Wen said. “Every day is a new day.”

Wen has been following the University’s COVID-19

testing guidelines and has not tested positive since arriving at Penn.

She worried that by truthfully reporting her symptoms and seeking help from Student Health Service, she would need to miss more class time and fall further behind in school.

University health officials urged students who are experiencing symptoms to avoid exposure to others and take over-the-counter medication to manage symptoms. Although they acknowledged the psychological stress caused by being unable to attend class, they emphasized that staying home to rest is the best way to recover quickly and protect other members of the Penn community.

University health officials also urged students to continue to follow COVID-19 prevention guidelines, including mask-wearing and frequent hand-washing.

Wharton first year Rachel Zhang has been experiencing similar symptoms to Wen for several weeks.

“Sometimes they vary; for the first two weeks, it was just a lot a lot of coughing and a sore throat,” Zhang said. “Now, it’s still some coughing, but not as often, and a lot of congestion and fatigue.”

Zhang has also tested negative for COVID-19 consistently after arriving on campus in August.

Both students said they have experienced academic setbacks due to their illnesses. Although they skipped several large lectures to avoid spreading the “freshman plague,” they eventually returned to in-person classes to avoid falling too far behind.

“It hasn’t been that bad yet, but as we’re hitting midterm season, I’m getting concerned,” Wen said.

“I need to be able to study and actually perform well, and you’re obviously not going to be able to do that if you’re not feeling well.”

Zhang agreed, pointing out that the compounding stress of being unable to attend lectures while sick has made the transition to college more difficult.

On top of the academic strain, students also have concerns about visiting SHS for treatment and care. In order to visit SHS, students must present a Green PennOpen Pass, according to the SHS student portal. Students who don’t have a Green PennOpen Pass on the day of their visit should call to cancel their appointment.

“It’s really hard to actually get ahold of them, and I don’t want to risk getting a Red PennOpen Pass by going,” Wen said. “As a [first year], I don’t really know how to navigate it.”

Senior Reporter Jonah Charlton contributed reporting.

Fisher Fine Arts Library — a “quiet space” known for its architecture — is expanding its hours beginning Oct. 18 to remain open until midnight on Sundays through Thursdays.

Study spaces inside Fisher Fine Arts Library were closed from the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 until the start of the fall semester, when they reopened with limited hours.

After slightly extending the library’s closing time from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sept. 19, the library will now be open on Mondays through Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 12 a.m., Fridays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sundays from 12 p.m. to 12 a.m.

Spaces for individual study are available on the first floor in the Class of 1964 Reading Room and the Seng Tee Lee Reading Room without a reservation, and students can also reserve larger seminar rooms for group work on the library’s website.

While covered beverages are permitted in the library, food is not allowed, with security bag checks at the entrance to ensure this rule is followed. Additionally, patrons are not permitted to talk on cell phones while in the library.

Earlier this semester, Van Pelt Library was one of the only spaces where students in all four undergraduate schools could study and reserve rooms at later times due to Fisher Fine Arts Library’s limited hours.

College sophomores Jeffery Xi and Izzy Zhang said that the expanded hours of Fisher Fine Arts Library are helpful — especially during midterms and finals seasons.

“I’m glad that Fisher extended its hours so I can have another place to go study on weekdays and weekends now,” Zhang said.

GUNDAPPA SAHA

Fisher Fine Arts Library on Sept. 28.

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CHOP occupancy rates are soaring — but not because of COVID-19 patients CHOP’s Chief Medical Officer Ron Keren said the increased occupancy rates are a result of a surge in the transmission of non-COVID-19 respiratory viruses and behavioral health issues worsened by pandemic stress DELANEY PARKS Senior Reporter

After long pandemic isolation periods, weak immune systems and the spread of non-COVID-19 viruses among kids are causing inpatient occupancy rates to soar at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia — reaching near or above capacity.

Despite only one percent of all inpatients testing positive for COVID-19 in early October, which amounted to six total inpatients, CHOP’s Chief Medical Officer Ron Keren said the increased occupancy rates are a result of a surge in the transmission of nonCOVID-19 respiratory viruses and behavioral health issues worsened by pandemic stress.

CHOP is not alone in its struggle: children’s hospital occupancy rates have been on the rise across the United States. The main virus causing this surge is respiratory syncytial virus, a respiratory virus that typically only causes minor cold-like symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Some cities, like Chicago, with high vaccination rates, have experienced a similar problem of heightened RSV transmission. More than 73% of Chicago residents over 12 are vaccinated, while more than 65% of all eligible Philadelphians ages 12 and older are fully vaccinated. The Delta variant has also taken a direct toll on children’s hospitals in COVID-19 hotspots, which are now experiencing a surge in cases that began to develop over the summer, in the wake of loosened pandemic restrictions.

To address the issue, Keren said CHOP increased its capacity in recent weeks to 585 inpatient beds, an increase of about 14 beds. However, Keren said that even with this move and other changes, the facility has been forced to rearrange inpatient room assignments.

“We were frequently having more kids needing beds than we actually have beds to offer, and we’re having to spill those kids over into other sites within the hospital, using treatment rooms, and having to double up kids in rooms where we usually try to avoid it,” Keren said. “The last couple months have been really challenging.”

CHOP spokesperson Kaila Revello said nobody else was available to comment on the hospital’s recent inpatient surge.

Keren said that because of pandemic precautions and isolation, many kids have not been sick since the start of the pandemic, and infants haven’t encountered viruses at all, making their immune systems more vulnerable — a phenomenon Keren called “immunity debt.”

He added that infants and kids with chronic medical conditions have been the bulk of CHOP’s RSV cases.

“Normally, my kids when they were infants and toddlers, they were in daycare. They built up their immunity by the time they were one, two years old,” Keren said. “So you have kids whose immune systems are completely naive, and you have kids who may have seen viruses in the past but they’ve gone the last two years with hardly any … The thought is that the kids are just more vulnerable right now.”

In the early months of the pandemic when stayat-home orders were enacted across the U.S., Keren said the only virus circulating was COVID-19, which did not dramatically affect kids. But the surge in other respiratory diseases that began in July has continued into the fall season, Keren said, which is now the leading cause of higher inpatient volumes.

An additional problem CHOP has been seeing with patients is the psychological impact of the pandemic and related isolation, Keren said, which has led kids to spend more time online and on social media — leading to more suicidal ideation.

“We’ve seen a lot of kids presenting with suicidal ideation, or even suicide attempts, and we ended up hospitalizing them. We have to hold on to them until we can find an inpatient psychiatric facility that can take them,” Keren said.

Of the 585 inpatient beds, 15 to 30 beds in early October were occupied by children with behavioral health issues — even though Karen said CHOP is typically not an inpatient psychiatric facility.

SERENA JANKOVIC

Inpatient occupancy rates at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia are soaring with sickness and behavioral related cases.

In response to the high inpatient volumes and in anticipation of flu season, Keren said that CHOP is focusing on hiring more doctors and physicians, as well as specialists, front desk workers, and other staff members. This has been especially challenging, he added, because of the health care labor shortage in the United States, which likely is a direct result of the pandemic, according to the American Hospital Organization.

Recent studies shows the U.S. will experience a shortage of up to 122,000 physicians by 2032. A recent Morning Consult poll reported that 79% of health care professionals said the worker shortage has affected them and their place of work, with 18% of health care workers having left their professions during the pandemic.

“Health care workers are really exhausted from what’s happened during the pandemic, and many have left for other professions,” Keren said. “We haven’t had as much of that in pediatrics because COVID-19 didn’t affect kids the same way as it did adults, but

we’ve definitely had some attrition, and so we’re in a hiring mode to make sure we’re fully staffed,” he said.

Keren said CHOP will open a new hospital facility with 52 beds in King of Prussia that will ensure sufficient space to support the increase in patients.

With flu season approaching, Keren added that he hopes the circulation of RSV and similar viruses this winter may be less severe than usual since many children have already been infected with those viruses.

Keren still worries that isolation has caused “one and a half flu seasons with very little flu,” amplifying the immunity debt phenomenon and causing the volume of inpatients to rise. He advised parents to make sure their kids get their flu shots, specifying that all children over the age of six months are eligible to get the shot and those who have never gotten it before need two shots.

“I’m worried that if we have 50% more kids who are vulnerable than we did in previous years, that the number of kids we’re going to see hospitalized will be 50% higher, which is a really big number,” Keren said.

Students talk classroom selfcensorship, role of Greek life at virtual Penn Paideia event About 50 students from a variety of local universities — including Penn, Drexel University, and the University of Delaware — attended the virtual event TORI SOUSA Senior Reporter

About 50 students from Penn and local universities gathered via Zoom Tuesday evening to participate in a civil dialogue on contentious issues young people are debating today, from Greek life to misinformation.

The event, one of the recurring “Can We Talk? Civil Dialogue for Troubled Times” conversations hosted by Penn’s SNF Paideia Program, fostered student discussions on topics such as the role of Greek life on college campuses, mass incarceration in the United States, self-censorship in classrooms, and whether the U.S. is truly a meritocracy. These discussions are part of the Gamba Family Red and Blue Exchange, an initiative of the Paideia Program designed to promote the expression of divergent ideas about issues facing modern society.

Event attendees came from a variety of universities, including Drexel University, Widener University, Marquette University, George Mason University, and the University of Delaware.

Cecelia Vieira, a College senior at Penn who attended the event, said she was most interested in fellow attendees’ beliefs about self-censorship in the classroom, which was one of the assigned discussion topics.

“Although I’ve had a pretty great experience at Penn in terms of feeling comfortable sharing my unvarnished thoughts and opinions, I do feel like people in my classes tend to moderate themselves to avoid seeming too radical — and this comes from people from all ends of the ideological spectrum,” Vieira, a former copy staffer, told The Daily Pennsylvanian.

While Vieira said she was glad she attended the event, she said discussions like this can be self-selective with the kinds of students who choose to attend and engage in these conversations, which she believes can hinder the effectiveness of changing campus culture overall.

“The people who came were clearly people who were already comfortable voicing their opinions and speaking their minds. It was definitely a really interesting experience, but I didn’t feel like anyone there really had to be taught how to engage in civil dialogue, which was the stated goal of the event,” Vieira said. “So at the end of the day, I’m not sure how much impact these voluntary events can really have on campus culture.”

The discussions in this event series are held in accordance with guidelines aimed at promoting a sense of mutual respect and acknowledgement of the diversity of views present in the conversations. Students are encouraged to listen to other perspectives, welcome disagreement, and avoid personal attacks or insults.

Delaney Duricek, a junior at Widener University who participated in the dialogue, said she really enjoyed listening to students’ sentiments on the topics, especially surrounding the role of Greek life on college campuses, in light of recent fraternity-related scandals at both Penn and the University of Delaware.

Last month, a Penn sophomore sustained serious injuries after he was allegedly attacked by a Psi Upsilon

TORI SOUSA

The event is one of the recurring “Can We Talk? Civil Dialogue for Troubled Times” conversations hosted by Penn’s SNF Paideia Program.

fraternity brother at a party held at their chapter house, prompting significant student backlash and campus protests demanding action from the University. The University told the Daily Pennsylvanian they are investigating the incident.

“I felt like there is a level of privilege within the types of people at these institutions that join these [Greek life] organizations, that people weren’t really ready to talk about yet [at the event,]” Duricek said. “They’re usually white, straight men with trust funds. When I think about Greek life, that’s what I think about.”

The conversation helped solidify Duricek’s belief that universities have a role in calling out Greek life culture that promotes the recurrence of assaults on campus.

“I think specifically at Penn and Delaware, the schools did not address the underlying causes of the assault. A lot of the assaults probably go unrecorded every year,” Duricek said. “We’re not doing enough to call out the culture that promotes these assaults.”

In 2019, Association of American Universities Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Sexual Misconduct found that just over one in four Penn undergraduate women, and 21.5% of transgender, non-binary, and genderqueer undergraduate students reported experiencing unwanted sexual contact. Two years prior to the release of that survey, just five of 27 fraternities completed the new member education requirement on sexual assault prevention, former Penn Wellness Advocacy Chair and Penn graduate Kathleen Givan previously told the DP. Chris Satullo and Harris Sokoloff, who co-teach EDUC 244 Civil Dialogue Seminar: Civic Engagement In A Divided Nation, organized the event together.

Satullo said he believes the event’s purpose — to promote viewpoint diversity — is enhanced by the inclusion of students from a variety of campuses.

“We hope to equip people with some tips that they can use all the time — in class, online, at home with family, in the workplace — so that they’re able to take what they learn into the world and share these civic dialogue skills, and the information they learn, with other people, and promote civic discourse more widely,” Satullo said.

Satullo said he was proud to announce that Tuesday’s event featured the largest number of student moderators in the series’ history, a trend that he hopes to continue through increased student involvement and

leadership in the future. or political science,” Nixon said. “In many fields, conflict Echoing Satullo, College junior Sydney Nixon, a Pai- is unavoidable, and these dialogues help to know how to deia fellow who helped moderate the event, said events deal with it in a collaborative sense.” like this help instill conflict resolution Court of Common Pleas for the County of Philadelphia, September Term, and active listening skills in students, 2021, No. 1741 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on September 23, 2021, which can be useful no matter what the petition of Cassandra Jobman was filed, praying for a decree to change they are hoping to pursue as a career.

Cassandra Jobman’s name to Cassandra Sassaman. The Court has fixed “There’s a huge perception that diNovember 5, 2021 at 10:00 A.M., in Room No. 691, City Hall, Phila., Pa. for alogues like these are only beneficial hearing. All persons interested may appear and show cause if any they have, for people who are in the humanities why the prayer of the said petitioner should not be granted.

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NEWS 5

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2021

In Photos: Class of 2022 celebrates Hey Day In a sea of red t-shirts, skimmer hats, and canes, the Class of 2022 was officially declared seniors on Oct. 13 — six months after Hey Day was supposed to be held. The tradition, which is typically held in the spring to mark the junior class’s transition into being seniors, was postponed this year because of the pandemic.

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The Penn Band led the procession from High Rise Field.

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A group of students posed for a photo in front of the 2022 balloons.

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President Amy Gutmann took a bite out of Class Board 2022 President Sam Strickberger’s skimmer hat.

Seniors filled Locust Walk as they made their way to College Green.

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Students lifted their canes into the air while singing “The Red and The Blue.”

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Once the ceremony concluded, students lingered on College Green to take photos and celebrate with each other.

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6 OPINION

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2021

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OPINION THURSDAY OCTOBER 21, 2021 VOL. CXXXVII, NO. 23 137th Year of Publication DANE GREISIGER President ASHLEY AHN Executive Editor HADRIANA LOWENKRON DP Editor-in-Chief ISABEL LIANG Design Editor CONOR MURRAY News Editor PIA SINGH News Editor HANNAH GROSS Assignments Editor BRITTANY DARROW Copy Editor KYLIE COOPER Photo Editor ALFREDO PRATICÒ Opinion Editor SUNNY JANG Audience Engagement Editor BRANDON PRIDE Sports Editor LOCHLAHN MARCH Sports Editor

EDITORIAL

Penn’s ‘breaks’ are a ruse. Here’s how we fix them.

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istorically, Penn students have looked to breaks as times of relaxation. This year, however, not all students have been able to truly enjoy their time off. This past fall break, numerous students reported that assignments, exams, and papers with due dates just after the break have prevented them from properly taking advantage of their class-free schedule, instead being bogged down in academics.

These breaks aren’t just days off; they allow for physical and mental health restoration and visits to family members and friends. To ensure students are able to properly take advantage of their time off, Professors should move exams, projects, and other deliverables away from the days after breaks. Specifically, they should allot a full week after breaks for students to complete assignments and study for exams.

Giving students a week away from assignments, and thus strengthening the impact of breaks, has a plethora of benefits. First, breaks, such as fall break, Thanksgiving break, and spring break, provide students with time to internally recharge. On a campus where students

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

Editorials represent the majority view of members of The Daily Pennsylvanian, Inc. Editorial Board, which meets regularly to discuss issues relevant to Penn’s campus.

Participants in these meetings are not involved in the reporting of articles on related topics.

assignments and study for exams. Doing so would put the University in line with Chief Wellness Officer Benoit Dubé, who before fall break said, “I hope you are able to take time to rest, reset, and prioritize your self-care.”

Breaks are meaningless if students aren’t able to enjoy them properly. Given that Penn students only get one or two per semester, Professors should allow students to enjoy the time off they have and avoid giving assignments and exams that interfere with allotted breaks.

BRANDON LI

Caroline’s Queries | Path@Penn, Penn InTouch’s replacement, will do little without broader innovations in how students choose and plan their course of study

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ollege is where you find yourself — where you explore, discover, and create.

Why else would we be at Penn, if not for the myriad opportunities available here?

When I was accepted, one of my first questions was: what exactly would I study?

Entering Penn as a coordinated dual degree student in Vagelos Integrated Program in Energy Research, I was restricted to majors pertinent to energy research, but I was still indecisive and overwhelmed. How could I declare, in the midst of a pandemic, where it would be harder to communicate with my professors and attend events? Would I even be able to handle the workload of my majors?

At every twist and turn, my academic advisor has been there for me. She recommended courses and connected me to insightful professors and advisors. She helped me navigate the confusing academic planning worksheets on Penn InTouch, and made sense of my rainbow-color-coded four year plans in Google Sheets. Thanks to her, I feel confident in my choice of majors and my academic plan, despite COVID-19.

Not every student is as lucky. In the most recent survey of Penn’s outgoing seniors, 43% reported being generally or very dissatisfied with academic advising before declaring a major. Some students have never met their pre-major advisor, and some advisors have been criticized for giving misinformation and curt responses in the past. But this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Penn’s flawed academic planning system.

Many students and faculty have taken issue with the block scheduling system that Penn’s administration introduced this fall.

Over 150 faculty members signed a petition objecting to this system because they had not been properly consulted before the implementation, and because it was unclear if they would be required to teach for ten

extra minutes, or if they would be compensated for doing so. Many students are also frustrated by the new block system due to the increased difficulty fulfilling degree requirements, the social distancing concerns on a more crowded Locust Walk, and inefficient break periods.

At the moment, Penn does not appear open to receiving and responding to feedback on block scheduling. Sources from

who fail to get into a required course during advance registration must try to obtain a permit — if their professor allows it — or sign up for (often long) waitlists.

Departmental websites that depict major requirements are frequently outdated, featuring courses that haven’t been offered in years. During registration, whether or not a course will have a syllabus attached to it comes down to luck. All of this makes

PARIS ROSEN

Penn Student Government report that feedback collection has been delayed, with the administration concerned over block schedule critiques becoming conflated with a return to in-person classes. Students were supposed to be polled earlier for feedback, but surveys will now be held at the end of the 2021-22 school year, according to a member of Penn Student Government. Why did conflation suddenly become a concern midway through the term, after numerous student critiques of the block schedule were published? It seems more likely to me that Penn is trying to avoid further criticism.

Additionally, there are massive inconsistencies in academic planning and scheduling across departments. Students

Penn’s courses difficult to organize into majors, minors, and planning sheets for students, especially if they do not have reliable academic advisors.

One promising area in Penn’s academic labyrinth is Path@Penn, the replacement for Penn InTouch, launching this spring.

I spoke with Executive Director for Academic Technology and Planning Rob Nelson, who guided me through the many improvements that Path@Penn features.

Path@Penn will be able to recognize a student’s major, eliminating the need for many permits, and it lays the groundwork for a standardized waitlist system for all Penn courses in the future. The registration process will be integrated with the course

planner (formerly known as the Academic Planning Worksheet), which will help facilitate meetings between students and their advisors, as advisors and students will be able to see the same set-ups on their screens in real time.

Path@Penn is a significant step up from Penn InTouch, a decades-old platform which is riddled with errors and can only support 5% of Penn’s student population online at a time. But we still have to consider that it took four years to implement this replacement, and that the students that were here when Path@Penn was announced have already graduated. Why are we just now getting a replacement that has been necessary for so long?

Further, upgraded software cannot fix many underlying issues within Penn’s academic planning. Path@Penn will do little if academic advisors don’t attend the information sessions to learn how to use it, or if they were advising their students poorly to begin with. Similarly, students will struggle to understand their coursework and graduation requirements if departments don’t regularly update their websites, or if department contact information is unclear.

So, Penn, you’re making it easier to communicate. You’ve created a tool that has the potential to foster collaborative conversations with advisors and ease registration and course planning. But will you actually listen when students and faculty express concerns with your systems and make improvements in a timely manner? That remains to be seen.

CAROLINE MAGDOLEN is a College and Engineering sophomore studying environmental science and systems engineering from New York City. Her email address is magdolen@sas.upenn.edu.

Non-Wharton students should not be denied campus resources Joint Column | There are some fundamental services that Penn shouldn’t limit to only a fourth of its student body

SOPHIE NADEL Copy Associate NORA YOUN Copy Associate

Pennsylvania’s stringent laws regarding the amount of time students may spend in the classroom. There are possible workarounds to this, such as slightly shortening summer break in favor of extended intra-semester ones, but the University has shown no signs of changing the length of the school year.

While Penn is unlikely to lengthen the number of days available for break, the University can and should enforce a grace period before and after them, giving students ample time to complete

Penn OutOfTouch: Why our academic planning needs more than a software update

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often report issues with sleep and stress, such time is all the more important. Furthermore, avoiding stress during fall break can benefit students’ academic performances; research has shown that mental health obstacles can interfere with performance in the classroom.

The benefits of fall break go beyond restoring students’ mental and physical health. The nature of fall break, where students don’t have scheduled obligations, means it can and should serve as time to see family members. One student reported that an economics midterm shortly after the break’s conclusion prevented her from seeing her grandfather, who had recently been diagnosed with cancer. Instead, she spent her break studying. Other students have reported similar reductions in the amount of time available to see family members in light of academic workloads.

Some may argue that the onus is on Penn’s administration, not professors, to reduce student stress by increasing breaks. Certainly, there is room to debate this. However, the University has consistently argued that increasing the length of breaks is impossible in light of

W

orld-renowned for its quality of education and notable alumni, Penn is deemed among the top universities for both undergraduate and graduate students alike, and it can be said that the Wharton School plays a considerable role in its prestige.

For the same reason that former President Donald Trump did not waste any opportunity throughout his presidential campaigns, speeches, and interviews to mention his Wharton education, with fewer references to the University as a whole, many students can likely attest to the fact that Penn’s business school tends to receive a disproportionate amount of attention as compared to its other schools.

Ultimately, this translates into a commensurate discrepancy in the resources available to Wharton and non-Wharton students. While differences are certainly to be expected for students in different colleges and programs, there are some fundamental services that Penn need not provide only to a fourth of its student body. Now that we are on campus again, it is more evident than ever that this inequity exists.

For starters, Wharton offers two fullyfunded programs for students and professors to meet off-campus and dine at local restaurants.

Traveling off-campus and meeting outside of the traditional classroom environment provides a meaningful opportunity for students to interact with professors on a personal level and engage in non-academic discussion. Free

BRANDON LI

meals with professors not only facilitate close student-faculty relationships but also offer an excellent way for students to network and develop insight into career paths with advice from experts across many fields. The StudentFaculty Meal Program invites undergraduate and MBA students to dine with a professor, and the Lunch & Learn program provides Wharton undergraduates the option to invite professors out. While such programs are currently on hold due to COVID-19 health concerns, students and professors would normally be given a budget that is fully-funded by the Wharton school.

While non-Wharton students are allowed to participate in the Take Your Professor/ Mentor to Lunch/Dinner program, they can only dine with professors at a dining hall or at the Inn at Penn. Because students already have access to dining hall food, there is evidently a lower budget than that provided in the Wharton programs. The dining hall also remains

an academic environment due to the fact that other students and members of the Penn community regularly congregate in such spaces, while Wharton students receive the unique opportunity to explore local restaurants.

On a more academic note, Huntsman Hall confers a host of exclusive study areas and services on Wharton students. Spread throughout the building are perhaps Huntsman Hall’s most distinctive feature, the group study rooms, which Wharton students can book on for a range of purposes, including peer collaboration, interviews, and presentations. Without a Wharton affiliation, students cannot reserve these rooms, whereas there are no limits to what campus facilities Wharton students are permitted to use. Huntsman Hall also provides Wharton students with a $20 printing budget and access to the public computers in the building, another two perks of attending Wharton which can easily be extended to the rest of the student body.

Some are eager to point out that opening the Huntsman GSRs to the entire student body would be a logistical nightmare. It is already difficult enough to book the GSRs, and multiplying this demand by four would make matters worse, not to mention crowd a building dedicated to Wharton classes. At the same time, many affirm that there are a number of viable alternatives, including the libraries, Weigle GSRs, and countless outdoor study spots.

However, it cannot go both ways. If these

alternatives are equally appealing and as conducive to studying as the Huntsman GSRs, demand would not skyrocket even after a policy shift; it would only sharply increase if other on-campus study areas currently fall short. In other words, either this would not pose a logistical challenge, or we need to acknowledge that Penn should do a better job of creating study areas of similar quality to those in Huntsman Hall for all undergraduates. NonWharton students do in fact attend Wharton classes in this building. Denying access to GSRs, free printing, and public computers for no reason other than exclusivity undermines the experience of studying in the College of Arts & Sciences, School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the School of Nursing.

At the end of the day, this is not a matter of whether or not Wharton students deserve certain benefits. It is a question of why the rest of the student body does not deserve the same treatment. Penn can do much better to guarantee equity regardless of a student’s chosen discipline.

ANDY YOON is a College and Wharton sophomore from Seoul, South Korea. His email address is andyy327@wharton.upenn.edu.

EMILY CHANG is a College sophomore studying sociology from Holmdel, N.J. Her email address is changem@sas.upenn.edu.

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OPINION 7

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2021

The myth of our liberal arts education

Penn should hold off on Wi-Fi ‘upgrades’

Artur’s Dialectic | A case for why we need more radical thinkers on campus

Guest Column | Consider using Ethernet, a much more environmentally friendly option

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hought is dead and the liberal arts have killed it.

How shall we comfort ourselves, in the midst of the murder of all murders?

Penn purports itself to be an archetype of the educational institution that is going to create the leaders of the future, freethinkers, and open communicators. But does this narrative deliver a false promise, a farce project in disguise? Are we truly preparing leaders who are going to change the world or mere productive machines that are going to continue generating wealth and perpetuating the oppressive structures of the socio-economic system in the status quo?

The typical narrative associated with liberal arts education is that even though it may lack in intellectual depth — especially relative to some European counterpart models of higher education — it is a valuable trade-off when evaluated with the intellectual breadth and critical thinking that are the cornerstones of a successful future leader. I claim that in the College of Arts and Sciences, for the most part, we usually trade intellectual depth for being markedly lucrative.

The liberal arts aura is an intellectual façade that prepares students, more than anything, to be productive. The peace symbol near the Van Pelt Library, signifying peace as a core idea for a liberal arts education, best signifies the metaphorical misguidance and impotence of liberal arts education today. Peace, outside the context of ongoing military conflict, is not a revolutionary goal. Peace is the unchallenged continuation of a power dynamic. If the power dynamic is exploitative and oppressive, being peaceful means being a reproductive tool of the system rather than the origin of its change.

To think — critically — means to maintain a critical discourse. One could not, after critical analysis, examine a world full of prejudice, economic exploitation, etc., and refrain from demanding radical change, and remain complicit with the status quo.

If one does so, they have failed to think. Peace is a luxury of those privileged to maintain their acquisition of privilege uncompromised. If we want leaders capable of changing the world of tomorrow, we need more radicals.

While the pre-professional focus at Penn is an integral part of our identity, it should not come at the expense of the purpose of liberal arts education.

Specifically, I claim that the College ought not to try to emulate and compete with the level of pre-professionalism fostered at the Wharton School.

As a minor exemplification, because of its preprofessional character, the economics curriculum has a strong quantitative focus and, as a result, one might comfortably graduate as an economist from Penn without ever being required to read Karl Marx’s critique of capitalism, alternative economic schools of thought, or critical approaches to mainstream teachings of economy centered around notions such as perfect competition. We can improve the world with thinkers that are taught to be critical and radical in their demands, not with students who are disconnected from the socio-economic dimension of their being and are manufactured to keep sustaining it peacefully without question.

Albeit guilty of such a transgression, Penn’s

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ALICE CHOI

liberal arts curriculum is not exclusively to blame.

According to Malcolm Harris — author of “Kids These Days: Human Capital and the Making of Millennials” — this is rooted in a bigger problem with higher education in the United States. He believes that higher education has transformed into one of the two: a workplace or a profit machine. The emphasis of his book targets the exponentially growing student debt and the institutional wealth accumulation it has generated. Whereas outsourcing and workforce casualisation have lowered expenses, the price of tuition has increased over 200% over the last three decades. This institutionalized debt machine, he believes, benefits anyone but students. And when the cost to get such education is astronomical, so is the structural incentive on students to make their degrees as market-complicit and efficient as possible.

According to philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, in the natural state, humans formulate ideas while relying on their experience of the world.

Thus, ideas are generated as a consequence of observations and their examinations. He thinks that education inverts this dynamic. The idea precedes the experience. Our observations, as the basis of the ideas presented to us, get substituted by the observations of others. We become so accustomed to the dynamic of possessing ideas without undergoing the generative process. We become passive thinkers, if thinkers at all. In this sense, education perverts the mind. He says, “he has never attempted to abstract fundamental ideas from his own observations and experience because he has got everything ready-made from other people; and it is for this very reason that he and countless others are so insipid and shallow ... Even if their thoughts are correct, they do not know why they are correct.” I think the commodified liberal arts education now is as close to an approximation as one could get to the Schopenhauerian educational dystopia.

He who is void of all radical thought is void of thought itself.

ARTUR VLLAHIU is a College sophomore studying philosophy, politics, and economics from Kosovo. His email is arturvhh@sas. upenn.edu.upenn.edu.

ere’s an idea: maybe the University shouldn’t “upgrade” the Wi-Fi in the College Houses. An article this month about Wi-Fi issues in the dorms briefly mentions a mysterious thing called an “Ethernet cable” as a workaround for Wi-Fi issues, but this doesn’t do it justice. Using an Ethernet cable is the best solution.

Wi-Fi wasn’t designed for fast, reliable, highspeed connectivity. It was designed for mobility or when using wires wasn’t an option. In dorm rooms, using a wire is an option. Students should take full advantage of the Ethernet port every dorm room is equipped with, which provides reliable, fast, low-latency Internet without using Wi-Fi at all.

While desktops are pretty much guaranteed to come with Ethernet ports, many newer laptops may not have onboard Ethernet adapters. Fortunately, USB to Ethernet adapters are inexpensive and easy to use. Unfortunately, Penn makes you jump through a few hoops in order to take advantage of this premium connectivity option. In on-campus housing, Ethernet ports aren’t activated by default. You’ll need to submit a ticket through College Houses and Academic Services’s technology portal and they will activate the port for you in a couple days. Once activated, most internet issues students face will simply disappear. On the off chance there is an issue, a few quick troubleshooting tips should resolve the issue.

Need another reason to hardwire your computer?

Wireless is incredibly energy-inefficient compared to hardwired communications. Plugging your laptop in is the most sustainable way to network it. Most non-industry-funded, peer-reviewed science also overwhelmingly shows negative health and environmental impacts from wireless technologies. By using an Ethernet cable, you avoid negative wireless exposures.

JESSE ZHANG

Climate change is among the most serious issues of this century. It’s also a symptom of larger patterns of rampant environmental destruction. Saying no to wireless technology is an important step that everyone can take to stop further needless destruction.

It’s easy to think of Wi-Fi or mobile hotspots as innocent and harmless — after all, the medium itself is invisible — but their impacts are not. From the manufacturing process, which consumes large amounts of rare earth minerals, to the detrimental effects on ecology and people, wireless internet is increasingly becoming a health and environment hazard. Many European schools have begun removing Wi-Fi from

classrooms, yet Penn continues to invest in campus wireless. Does anyone see a problem yet?

Noticeably absent from the scene are Penn’s so-called “environmentalists.” Our campus is home to many sustainability groups, none of which have taken any meaningful stance on planned obsolescence, the energy consumption of wireless internet, and environmental devastation caused by these technologies. Take QR codes, for instance. I’ve seen environmental groups distribute flyers with only QR codes to learn more about their cause. However, QR codes explicitly promote widespread environmental destruction; they necessitate that you use a mobile device with wireless connectivity, manufactured in appalling conditions in China or other countries which use massive amounts of rare earth minerals and are shipped across the world so that folks like us can use them for a few years, before they become “obsolete” and are thrown away. You thought they were recycled? Most get dumped on Third World countries, where child laborers mine for scrap metal in conditions approaching slavery. But as long as consumers can buy the next iThing, never mind impacts to health or ecology. Big Wireless says “upgrade”, so why shouldn’t you?

At Penn, I’ve seen solar-powered cell phone chargers awarded as prizes by sustainability groups. Never mind that nothing about the manufacturing of solar panels or cell phones is sustainable, or that this actually incentivizes increased consumption, per Jevons paradox. No wonder many environmentalists feel that “environmentalism” has been hijacked by “feel good” shams that allow environmental destruction to continue in less visible ways. No longer is the question “how can we save the planet?”, but “how can we save our way of life?”

This reflects a broader apathy particularly prevalent today. We condemn baby boomers for today’s gas-powered car culture or demand that the university divest from fossil fuels. But this picture of environmentalism is distorted and incomplete. Why aren’t we demanding divestment from tech companies like Apple and Tesla, which fuel ecologically horrific destruction on a massive scale, or criticizing the pervasiveness of iThings in society?

Such seemingly trivial things as further expansion of Wi-Fi at Penn seem benign, but this is the illusion that must be broken, sooner or later. No generation is immune from its own proclivities towards environmental destruction.

Real environmental progress requires a dramatic shift away from these paradigms, a willingness to check your own blind spots, and wrestle with practices that are considered “normal” today.

So, what questions will you start asking? “Free Wi-Fi” or “Wi-Fi-free”?

NAVEEN ALBERT is an Engineering junior studying computer engineering from Waukesha, Wisc. His email is naveen23@ seas.upenn.edu.

The pandemic, Penn faculty, and the presidential search Guest Column | More faculty representation on the search committee is essential to boosting instructors’ morale

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he pandemic has proven that Penn is resilient, but it has also frayed the ties that bind the Penn community together. As a faculty member, I want to describe one challenge that I see, a problem masked by the pandemic to some extent, and propose a way to address it.

One issue that keeps coming up in my experience is that many fellow faculty members do not trust the administration. I obviously haven’t surveyed the whole faculty, but over the last eighteen months, I’ve encountered many colleagues who question whether the University has made the best decisions and do not fully believe what they are told in University communications. I am not saying that the skepticism is always justified, but it is often rooted in real experiences, and it is a challenge that the University ignores to its detriment.

Something else has become apparent to me as well, in part from attending meetings of a newly formed Penn chapter of the American Association of University Professors, an organization established to defend the faculty’s role as part of the governance of the University. Listening to colleagues there and in other contexts made clear to me that the pandemic was magnifying a distrust that already existed within Penn’s culture.

If this sense of alienation predates the pandemic, what motivates it? One of its sources, I have come to realize, is a weak culture of faculty governance, of faculty sharing responsibility for University decision-making. Penn embraces a vision of shared governance, but in practice, faculty do not play a very active role compared to their counterparts at peer institutions. This is partly due to the fact that many faculty are overextended or disengaged, but it is also because of a governance structure that sharply curbs the faculty’s collective ability to shape the direction of the University.

A timely example of this weakened status is the faculty’s role in the search for the next University president. Here is the role of faculty in the search for a new president as envisioned in a joint statement by the AAUP, the American Council of Education, and the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges: “Joint effort of a most critical kind must be taken when an institution chooses a new president.

The selection of a chief administrative officer should follow upon a cooperative search by the governing board and the faculty…”

Times have changed since this statement was formulated in 1966, but the underlying principle has not, and today’s AAUP urges universities to avoid closed searches and reaffirm their commitment to transparency and active faculty

engagement in the process.

Does the ongoing search for a new president of the University of Pennsylvania live up to this ideal?

Part of the process does. In accordance with University rules, the Faculty Senate, which represents faculty interests to the administration, has elected five representatives to a “consultative committee” which is charged with seeking the advice of their respective constituencies on the challenges that a new president will face. The members were elected, and there has been an opportunity to discuss search priorities within the Senate (guilty admission: I did not attend this meeting).

But look a little closer, and there are problems.

The first is not one that would have been on people’s minds during the last presidential search in 2003, but is now recognized as an issue that threatens the future of academia — the marginalization of the many teachers and researchers hired outside the tenure track system.

The Faculty Senate is not fully representative of Penn’s faculty. Membership is limited to tenured and tenure track faculty for the most part, and does not include many faculty employed outside the tenure track. That means excluding a large percentage of those who teach and work as researchers at Penn. These are people vital to the work of the University, and yet they have no representation in this process, even in theory.

The second issue occurs during the second, murkier part of the search process. Football games are won or lost based on what happens in the second half, and that is the part of this process where things go astray.

The consultative committee offers advice important for the opening stages of the search, but at a certain point, the committee is replaced by a specific search committee that actually selects the finalists who will be seriously considered for the role. There will only be two faculty members on that committee, and their identities are not being revealed.

Are two faculty members adequate representation for the faculties of twelve schools — approximately 5,000 professors according to Penn’s website? Is it right to conceal their identities from the faculty they represent?

Contrast the current situation with the last presidential search in 2003, where the consultative committee, formed from an equal number of trustees and faculty, was the body to settle on three finalists. In 2003, it seems that there were faculty who complained about not being properly represented, but they had a bigger role in that process than faculty do in this one, and the rules of

KYLIE COOPER

the search process were clearer as well. The difference between then and now mirrors the decline of faculty governance over the last few decades.

Those who think faculty are important to the University should push back; this situation is not just an embarrassment for faculty but risks the health of the University.

I trust that the search will yield a world-class president for Penn as it did the last time, but the lack of full representation for contingent faculty, the shrinking faculty role in the process, and the procedural opacity are important to attend to regardless of the outcome of the search. One reason for faculty to be more fully involved in University governance is that they are supposed to serve as a check and balance on the administration and trustees. Further curtailing the role of faculty in the search process reinforces the impression that they are being cut out of shared governance, which further lowers morale and elevates mistrust.

Which brings me to my proposal. The presidential search itself is an opportunity to begin to reverse the erosion of faculty governance by engaging faculty more fully in the process than has been the case in the past. One possibility, maybe not the optimal one but far better than the status quo, is to return to the level of faculty involvement during the last presidential search, which concluded successfully. At that time, it was a rule that there had to be an equal number of faculty and trustees on the committee that performed most of the vetting of candidates. What’s wrong with doing things that way?

Perhaps the reality of recruiting the best applicants requires the secretive process now underway, but it is precisely for that reason that it is important that all the major stake-holders feel they are being adequately represented in the process. More fully involving faculty in decisionmaking may lead to a wiser decision and will help the future president build a strong relationship with faculty, and it will also represent an important gesture of trust from the University that will encourage faculty to be more trusting in turn.

I want a new president who recognizes faculty morale and faculty partnership in University governance as priorities, but the University does not have to wait for that role to be filled to begin strengthening trust, and the present calls for an even greater degree of faculty engagement than may have been the case in the past. Penn is a great university on track to survive the pandemic, but it has the potential to be an even stronger institution after the pandemic if it addresses festering problems — including faculty morale that is lower than it should be, a widespread sense of disempowerment, and suspicion of the administration.

I submit that the more trusted and empowered its faculty feel, the stronger Penn will be in the postpandemic age.

STEVEN WEITZMAN is the Abraham M. Ellis Professor of Hebrew and Semitic Languages in the Religious Studies Department. His email is wsteve@sas.upenn.edu.

8 SPORTS

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2021

THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM

Mendoza | It’s time for Penn football to shift its priorities SPORTS | The Quakers dropped to 0-2 in the Ivy League on Saturday, putting a championship out of reach ANDREA MENDOZA Sports Associate

In its 100th matchup with Columbia, Penn football’s performance fell short, and it amounted to a loss with a score of 23-14.

Despite last week’s big win against Lehigh, I didn’t come into Saturday’s game very optimistic about Penn’s odds. While the Quakers did have an all-time winning record of 75-23-1 against the Lions, they have been unable to measure up against the Lions since 2015.

Additionally, based on the Quakers’ (2-3, 0-2) game play in their previous four games, I knew that the offense needed to be less conservative with their play-calling, and I was also hoping to see more experimentation with switching players in the offense.

Penn should’ve known that this would not be an easy matchup and that it could not afford to make the same mistakes that it got away with last week against an easier opponent.

Fortunately for the Red and Blue, Columbia (4-1, 1-1) also made some mistakes, making this game much closer than it would have been otherwise. The Lions’ two missed field goals made the game a one-score affair in the fourth quarter, but the Quakers failed to capitalize on this opportunity because they simply could not finish and get the ball down the field after the second quarter.

With the second quarter being the highest scoring one of the game for both teams with two touchdowns each, I found the Penn touchdowns to be especially interesting to watch because we saw more of sophomore Maurcus McDaniel, who is listed as a defensive back on the roster but played quarterback out of the shotgun, after senior quarterback John Quinnelly took a rough sack near the middle of the quarter.

We saw a little bit of McDaniel in last week’s game against Lehigh, but it wasn’t until Saturday that the Quakers were able to fully incorporate McDaniel’s rushing skills into their offensive strategy.

After the sack that hurt Quinnelly ended the drive, Penn recovered a muffed ball and McDaniel stepped in for Quinnelly. McDaniel as a rushing quarterback — along with running backs Isaiah Malcome, Trey Flowers, and Jonathan Mulatu — was able to surprise Columbia defense and rush five yards for a touchdown himself. This put Penn in the lead for the first and last time this game with a score of 7-3.

McDaniel has yet to throw a pass for the Quakers, but perhaps that is the next step.

In high school, McDaniel was a star quarterback who was a dynamic dual threat as a runner and a passer for the Episcopal Academy. He led his team to win the Inter-Ac Championships, and he himself earned Inter-Ac MVP. We have now seen that McDaniel is a threat as a runner, but we have yet to see some of his passing at a Penn game. I’m sure I, along with Quaker Nation, would

SUKHMANI KAUR

Graduate student running back Isaiah Malcome runs the ball against Columbia at Wien Stadium on Oct 16.

love to see what more he can do along with other quarterbacks on the depth chart like sophomores Hugh Brady and Ryan Zanelli.

The next touchdown that Penn scored was their last, but a big part of it was a pass interference call in favor of the Quakers giving them a first down and 10 extra yards.

While the call gave them the leverage that they needed, there were definitely mistakes in the drive. Quinnelly only completed two out of six pass attempts in the drive, and Malcome ultimately found a hole for a 30-yard run into the end zone.

The score at this point was 14-17, with Columbia’s touchdowns completed in eight seconds and one play, and 33 seconds and two plays, respectively. Here, we saw that the Lions were effective with their time, and this was where I started to get a little nervous about what the second half would look like.

On the defensive side, I definitely feel more confident in the team than I do the offense. During the game I did feel like they were psyched out a little after the targeting call against Prince Emili, and they allowed two touchdowns pretty much back to back in the second quarter, however they still minimized Columbia possession time in the first half.

Still, the defense came back from halftime unwilling to give up more points, and they did their best to keep the Lion offense off the field, but this doesn’t work if

the offense cannot finish and get in the end zone. It also doesn’t work if the offensive line cannot cover for receivers or for the quarterback to give him enough time.

While Penn definitely showed its strength in running, a team cannot be successful solely on the ground.

It makes the Quakers too predictable, especially when the other team can see that they are struggling with their passing.

In the second half, the Quakers were unable to get past the Columbia 35 and they punted all throughout the third quarter, not attempting to go for a fourth down until the fourth quarter and never attempting a field goal.

Because of this conservative play, they were unable to get anything done in either quarter. The defense was able to limit the Lions score to two field goals in this half, giving the Quakers a chance but they were still unsuccessful.

On Saturday, Quinnelly had a 24% completion rate with only 6 completed passes out of 25 attempts. This is the lowest his completion rate has been the whole season, with the lowest before being 40%.

Yes, it’s important that Penn continues to incorporate its rushing to open up space for Quinnelly or any other quarterback on the field, but they should be able to make sure that they can connect.

While this is definitely something that should be worked on with Quinnelly at practice this week with the

upcoming five games against Ivy competitors, I think it’s time that Penn starts giving younger players more opportunities on the field.

Since 1983, no Ivy League Champion has lost more than one conference game, so with today’s loss against the Lions, the Red and Blue’s chances at an Ivy Championship are slimming.

I personally think that we may have to start shifting goals soon and start thinking about next season.

It would be much more beneficial for the Quakers and the program to use the remainder of the season to build up the team for next season.

I am confident that by giving their younger players experience on the field this season, they will be able to come back next year with a stronger set of skills, and Penn will have a more developed team from the get-go.

The next five games against Yale, Brown, Cornell, Harvard, and Princeton will be difficult regardless of changes in the offense, but the team has nothing left to lose, and this is the perfect time to try new things, be less conservative, and experiment.

ANDREA MENDOZA is a College sophomore from Dallas studying International Relations.

Penn football welcomes well-traveled running backs coach David Sims “I had always known I wanted to coach after football from a very young age, and so after the opportunity with the Bucs didn’t work out, I came into a great position at Shorter through one of my offensive line coaches, Mike Sewak, who knew the offensive JACKSON JOFFE coordinator, Charlie Hopkins, at Shorter,” Sims said.

Sports Reporter “You’d be surprised — it’s two to three degrees of Time and time again in the college football ranks, separation in college football.”

Penn running backs coach David Sims has learned Sims had a lot of early opportunities to make an that it’s not just about what you know, it’s about who impact at Shorter, working with running backs, quaryou know. terbacks, defensive backs, and directly with the head As he has progressed through the coaching ladder, coach. And at Shorter, the staff ran multiple schemes, Sims is never surprised when he meets a former coach giving Sims hard-to-find, versatile coaching experior player when job hunting. He has shared the gridiron ences. and coaching ranks with many accomplished players “My first year, we ran the triple, and the fact that I and coaches at Georgia Tech, Shorter University, and knew the triple scheme well from my playing career Furman University. was one of the main reasons I got hired. But my As a player for the Buzz, Sims was a three-year second year, they brought in a new head coach and we starter as running back from 2011 to 2013, serv- used the pro scheme more,” Sims said. ing as team captain and earning honorable mention After two years at Shorter, Sims saw a coachAll-ACC honors after running for 884 yards and 12 ing position open up at Furman. Sims had touchdowns. Sims finished his career ranked 11th on coached and played with a number of current Georgia Tech’s all-time rushing list with over 2,200 Furman coaches, and after interviewing in 2017, The New York Times Syndication Sales Corporation yards and ranked seventh in rushing620 touchdowns with New he York, agreed to 10018 join Furman’s coaching staff as runEighth Avenue, N.Y. Information 1-800-972-3550 23. He aspired to play in the NFL afterFor graduation, butCall:ning backs coach, where he stayed for four years.

Release Thursday,Sims October 21, 2021himself at Furman for the forehe wasn’t able to sign on anywhereFor despite working envisioned with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in training camp. seeable future.

NEWYORKTIMESCROSSWORDPUZZLE Edited by Will Shortz

No. 0916

Crossword

27 Nudge 28 Old-fashioned possessive 29 Whitman of “Arrested Development” 31 Japanese company with six stars in its logo 33 With 44-Across, bit of consolation … or a feature of this puzzle’s grid?

36 Like 2017 and 2027 37 Something found in strands 39 Easy basket 41 Gore and more 42 Welcome at the front door 44 See 33-Across 46 Parts of soft palates 48 Score specification 49 Some significant others, for short 52 Crop problem

ACROSS 1 Christmas classic covered by Bing Crosby and Bob Dylan, among others 6 Kind of gorilla 10 Second-best era 13 Matrimony 14 ___ Park (neighborhood in central Los Angeles) 15 Neologism for the “best ever” 17 Six Premier League teams play in it 19 Other: Sp. 20 Apt foreign rhyme of “moon” 21 2016 inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame 22 Prom purchase 23 Discharges 25 Do a certain veterinary job

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE T A G S U P

A R L E N E

T E A P O T

E P A I S S E T I C D E S W C L I A L S L C E E D E R V O D E D U R E O T O

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N O N P C

T I T Y U C H E G E R S B O A R O W N E X E D P E R E S N T A R P F I R A R S E F A K E R I E N O D D S

Check NOback next S week forME answers to F H D O O today’s puzzle!

S O R F

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53 Hairy Tibetan beasts 56 ___ the Saxon (Ivanhoe’s father in “Ivanhoe”) 58 Christmas trees 60 “___ kidding!”

62 Sound heard before many a classic movie 63 Make amends?

64 [Silence] 66 Certain pizza topping, slangily 67 Forthright 68 Game played on a 91’ x 13’ court 69 Attractive older fellow 70 Forks and knives, e.g.

71 Symbol of privilege DOWN 1 Simple solution to a big problem 2 “Just stop already!”

3 Laura of “Ozark” 4 Mine locales 5 Caps or cones preceder 6 Cannellini, e.g.

7 The National Mall has more than 300 of them 8 Shabbily made 9 Famously sleepy animals 10 Terribly eager 11 Monopoly square between Marvin Gardens and Pacific Avenue 12 Extremely catchy tunes

1

2

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PUZZLE BY KEVIN PATTERSON

16 Gift of persuasiveness 18 Like some healthier potato chips 24 “I did NOT need to hear that!,” in brief 26 “Absolutely!”

30 Heinous 32 Crow 33 Compete in the America’s Cup, say 34 Prefix with genetics

35 An ice place to go?

37 Lacking 38 Nearly massless subatomic particle 40 Some flower girls 42 Marvel character with metallic skin 43 Thumbs-down 45 Dec. 31 47 “Here’s an idea …”

49 Player at the highest-elevation N.F.L. stadium

50 Debacle

51 Metonym for the movie industry

54 Super Mario creature that resembles a turtle 55 More confident 57 Sag

59 Pixy ___ (candy brand) 61 Philosopher Descartes

65 Airer of Ken Burns documentaries

Online subscriptions: Today’s puzzle and more than 7,000 past puzzles, nytimes.com/crosswords ($39.95 a year).

Read about and comment on each puzzle: nytimes.com/wordplay.

“I really enjoyed my role at Furman and we had some great running backs, so I wasn’t really looking for other running backs positions. And at Furman, I also got to run pretty much any run scheme you can imagine because we did so many different things on offense. There were only a few places I’d see as a better situation than what I had,” Sims said. “When I heard about [Steven] Downs retiring, a friend of mine at Princeton put in a good word for me, and I ended up going through that interview process and starting here this past July.”

Coming to Penn has been an adjustment for the South Carolina native, who has never lived above the Mason-Dixon line. Even so, Sims is already starting to pay dividends for Penn football — the Quakers ran for a season-high 328 yards against Lehigh.

“The approach at Penn has been the most different aspect I’ve noticed. Georgia Tech, Shorter, and Furman were all very run-dominant schemes where we rotated multiple talented backs throughout the game who also doubled as receivers and tight ends in some cases,” Sims said. “We throw the ball more and do different things personnel-wise, and we rarely play two running backs at once. But at the end of the day, it’s all about finding good matchups for guys like Isaiah [Malcolme], Trey [Flowers], and Jonathan [Mulatu].”

Sims was impressed with his running backs’ performance in the Quakers’ victory over Lehigh. In his words, effort — until the whistle blows — is the biggest factor in getting things going on the ground for the Red and Blue.

“It’s easy to get in a rhythm when you’re on the field for a longer time at the beginning of the game and you’re not playing from behind, but I think the effort our guys gave — even Ryan [Cragun] and Rory [Starkey Jr.] hitting key blocks on some of those long runs — those are difference makers.”

This fall, Sims is excited to be back in fan-filled stadiums staying around the game he loves. Still, he appreciates some of the silver linings of the pandemic.

“Zoom opened up this world of easy access to guys I’ve looked up to my whole career, and all these famous coaches and athletes were really easy to

Running backs coach David Sims joined Penn football in July 2021.

connect with because everyone was in the same boat,” Sims said. “But there’s nothing like being back on the field, building team spirit and going on recruiting trips. I am glad this is a part of my life again.”

Having only been in Philadelphia for a few months, Sims hopes he can find some great eats around the city.

“This is my first time living in Philadelphia, and I did most of the tourist stuff when I visited a few years back, like climbing the Rocky Steps,” Sims said. “Some of the other coaches have good insider information about some family-owned places around the city, and I’m excited to get a chance to explore these.”

Just like coaching, it’s all about who you know to find the best cheesesteak.

SUDOKUPUZZLE

2 1 7 2

9 3 1 4

6 1 7 3 2 4 7 3 1 4 9 2

3 4 9 4 2 1 7 4 8 3 8 7 4

3

Skill Level: Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit 1 to 9.

Solution to Previous Puzzle:

© Puzzles provided by sudokusolver.com

SPORTS | Sims coached at Georgia Tech, Shorter, and Furman before arriving at Penn

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SPORTS 9

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2021

Penn volleyball’s Autumn Leak comfortable in her leadership role SPORTS | The junior from New Jersey leads the Red and Blue with 208 kills and 221.5 points EASHWAR KANTEMNENI Sports Associate

An afternoon hair salon appointment: For most people, this seems like a relatively normal thing. But for junior Autumn Leak, this was the beginning of her volleyball career.

Her mother ran into another customer, whose daughter played on the United States Olympic volleyball team.

She suggested that Leak, and her younger sister Audrey — currently a sophomore playing for Yale — get involved in volleyball. The rest was history.

The New Jersey native and her siblings were always active in sports from a young age. Both her parents played basketball in high school and college, and Leak tried golf, tennis, and, of course, basketball growing up.

After that fateful hair salon appointment, Leak decided to give volleyball a go. She tried out for many clubs, and did not make the cut, but her mom kept pushing her. She eventually made one, and she has been a force on the court ever since.

After coming off a strong yet somewhat shaky freshman year, in which she admitted that “she often had a lot of anxiety before games, and would’ve cracked under pressure,” Leak was excited get back in the gym and keep practicing and improving for the next season.

Only, it didn’t come, as the Ivy League canceled sports throughout the 2020-2021 season due to concerns about COVID-19.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Leak kept practicing in the gym, sometimes with teammates, becoming increasingly motivated to help carry the Quakers to

success this year. And so far, while the team has had a less-than-ideal start to the season, enduring an eightmatch losing streak to currently sit at 5-9, Leak has been enjoying a fabulous season. The junior is putting up monstrous statistics in 14 matches with 208 kills, 83 digs, 20 blocks, and is leading the team overall with 221.5 points.

Leak credits her success this season to a major improvement in her confidence from her freshman season.

Instead of being anxious at times, she realizes that “a lot of underclassmen now look up to [her], and [she] now cannot be scared of the moment so she can set a good example for them.”

Leak now knows she has to be “the guy,” and while admits that she sometimes feels pressure in that role, she is much more comfortable with it now than two years ago.

Before games, she is very focused, methodical, and detailed. She “writes out her intentions of what to do in each moment and repeats them into her head constantly until it sticks and ‘becomes reality.’”

Leak and her teammates set out this year with the intention of proving the team’s preseason Ivy League bottom-finish prediction wrong. She thought that the losing streak was tough to go through, but said “breaking it gave the team a lot of confidence,” and strongly believe that the Quakers are now “a force to be reckoned with.”

Before she graduates, Leak hopes that she has “made a positive impact on the team, helped them earn victories, and hopefully secured an Ivy League championship.”’

Outside of volleyball, Leak is very involved with her schoolwork and other extracurriculars at Penn. She is majoring in political science, serves as the vice president of external affairs for the Black Pre-Law Association,

ANNA VAZHAEPARAMBIL

Junior Autumn Leak kills the ball over the net towards the opposing Dartmouth side at the Palestra on Oct. 2.

and is also a peer career advisor for freshmen in Wharton. She hopes to pursue a career in law following graduation.

First-year coach Meredith Schamun has been really impressed with Leak both on and off the court so far, and credits her and her teammates for making the adjustment process to a new school and situation much easier.

“Autumn is one of the team’s unanimous captains, she has taken a lot on her plate, playing a bigger role than in the past, and she is very confident in herself and constantly trying to make the team better,” Schamun said. “She is a very vocal leader in team meetings, and always tries to find a way to win. Even if she isn’t playing well, she wants to help others have their best day.”

Freshman Leo Burney is a stable presence on men’s soccer defense SPORTS | Burney leads the Quakers with 1112 minutes played ESTHER LIM Sports Associate

Four players on Penn men’s soccer currently rank near the top of the Ivy League for individual statistics in shots, goals, assists, and points. Yet on the same page of the Ivy League website, only a few categories credit defense — with saves and shutouts presenting the only measured distinctions for defensive players.

But for Penn, a rookie playing from the backline has been leading the team in minutes played — freshman center back Leo Burney. He has totaled 1112 minutes on the field as a starting player for all 12 of the Red and Blue’s matches so far.

The Class of 2024 recruit took a gap year to preserve his first season with the Quakers. He is now joining the team as a reliable and perhaps indispensable part of the Penn squad.

“Honestly, it feels great like coming in as a freshman and just having the trust of the coaching staff to give me minutes,” Burney said, “We’re having a good season so far, so it feels good to contribute to the team and hopefully we can keep it going.”

The rookie’s name hasn’t been the one shouted most often from the stands at Rhodes Field, nor is he the starstriking presence to evoke the most attention of the match.

“Leo is a quiet, competitive player. He is a leader in his own way, and I’ll be interested to see how that develops over the course of his time here,” coach Brian Gill said.

But supporters still recognize him for his solid, dependable guard from the backline — or even perhaps for his protective face mask earlier in the season. Burney’s contributions to Penn’s defense go beyond just having played the most minutes so far.

“The combination of being a competitive, winningtype mentality with a reliable, everyday-performing type is really what we’re starting to learn about him, just how he can really impact our team in a number of different ways,” Gill said. “He’s a confident personality as well, which is always really important for the position he plays on the field.”

Players on defense tend to see more minutes than positions farther up the field. Across the five major European leagues, the top spots in most minutes played are routinely dominated by goalkeepers and defensive players.

And with generous substitution rules in college soccer, coaches have more flexibility in pacing their players throughout the match. But with frequent substitution comes the opportunity cost of benching players who may already be better tuned to the rhythm of the game. As with any competitive sport, players are better suited to matchups when they understand their opponents, and only so much knowledge of the game can be

JENNA BOCCHER

Freshman defender Leo Burney heads the ball away from the goal during the Cornell game on Oct. 2.

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fulfilled with prior film analysis compared to having cleats on the field.

As a result, a common attribute amongst players with the most game time — in both the professional leagues and collegiate — is their consistent performances and dependability, which Burney has been proving thus far.

“What is making him very valuable for us now — and I think it will be something where he continues to be valuable for our program here at Penn through the next four years of his career — is going to be his consistency,” Gill said.

But Burney isn’t a stranger to consistently delivering for his team, especially in his experience with the Sounders FC Academy. From serving as captain of his academy team since 2017, to winning the USSDA Playoffs in 2018, and being named Man of the Match in his first USLC appearance, Burney appeared as a proper fit to succeed Penn’s graduating center backs.

“When we were recruiting in Leo’s class, we knew we wanted to be bringing in a center back who would have top-level quality because we were going to be replacing a couple upperclassmen — who at the time were Casey Barone and Alex Touche,” Gill said. “We were expecting leaders to come in and be somebody that could contribute.”

Every name currently on Penn men’s soccer has also previously appeared on the rosters of a youth club or academy, meaning each player was deemed among the best of their peers as young recruits. So each player courses their own period of adjusting to the Penn shirt after spending many seasons as the top talents of their home teams.

“I’ve had to adjust a little bit to playing in a different style. There are definitely some things at the start of the season, like in preseason, that I was doing that the coaches wanted me to change — with positioning defensively, especially,” Burney said. “And I kind of had to learn how to play on the left side as a center back — I usually played on the right side at Sounders — so that was kind of a change. The coaches have been really helpful in getting my positioning better and just learning how to better protect the goal.”

Yet for Burney, his acclimation to the team has been notably quick.

“He had a lot of opportunities there to experience the game at a high level — both with the teams he was playing with, but also with the pro teams above the academy teams. And so I think to some extent he was prepared to make that transition,” Gill said.

“Sometimes [players] are able to transition fully in their freshman year; sometimes it might take a year. But Leo seems to have been able to come in and make some pretty good strides early going.”

At heart, soccer is a balancing act between the 11 players on the field. Outstanding players on offense

must be supported with a solid defense to prevent counterattacks from progressing too far up the field. And in between, good communication bridges every role to form a solid team.

When sitting defensively, Penn has been comfortable with three or four players at the back — relying on clear communication to either clear the ball away from the goal or guide it into their goalkeeper’s gloves.

Yet this communication has greatly improved from matches earlier in the season, when Penn conceded several goals only a few minutes after scoring. With a new season and new teammates, Burney was soon aware of what he needed to contribute to mend the gap.

“I think some of the improvement is coming from just watching film with the coaches after games and learning — both individually and as a group: how we can improve positionally, decision making, and also how we can be a more cohesive backline especially,” Burney said. “And we’re making better plays now than the start of the year because we’re more used to each other. And the communication is a big thing; it’s definitely gotten better between the defenders, so I think it’s only going to get better from here too.”

A tough 1-0 win against an unyielding Monmouth proved a true test of the progress of Penn’s defense.

After frequently giving up aerials from the start, Penn tested a change in approach by sitting conservatively — a crucial decision as Monmouth failed to finish any close chances.

While Burney wears No. 2 on his jersey, he does not play the number’s respective role of a right-winger —as is frequently the case in college soccer.

“I’m most comfortable as a center back,” Burney said. “I’ve played center back for probably the last, like, eight or nine years of my life. I started out as a winger, and then moved to outside back, and now the past eight years, I’ve been a center back and that’s where I’m most comfortable.”

As a fan, Burney has been supporting the club of perhaps one of the best to ever wear the number two: Manchester United’s Gary Neville. Burney reflects the historical winning qualities of his favorite team in his own game.

“I grew up watching Wayne Rooney,” Burney said, “But my favorite center back of all time is Nemanja Vidić. He’s a rock in the back and, I think, a very underappreciated center back.”

When asked how close he is to being the best version of himself as a player on the pitch, Burney expressed immense desires to improve both for himself and the team.

“I think I still have quite a ways to go. I think I’m doing things well right now and I’m in a good running form, but I can definitely improve my decision making,” Burney said. “I want to help the team get clean sheets more consistently, and I think that I can really just keep improving.”

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Penn men’s

soccer wins bragging rights in 2-1 showdown against Temple Freshman forward Stas Korzeniowski dribbles the ball down the field during Tuesday’s game on Oct. 19 against Temple at Rhodes Field.

SPORTS | The Quakers finish their season with four straight Ivy League matches ESTHER LIM Sports Associate

Another Tuesday night at home presented another battle for the rights to the city, as Penn men’s soccer hosted the Owls — one week after Penn’s win against Drexel at home.

For the second consecutive week, the Quakers were heading into a Tuesday night game three days after running overtime only three days prior. This Tuesday night, the Red and Blue (7-3-2, 1-1-1 Ivy) bested Philly rival Temple (2-8-2) in a 2-1 match at Rhodes Field.

Last Tuesday’s win against Drexel was a follow-up to the team’s overtime draw against Columbia. This game, however, Penn was coming into the slate with a tightly contested overtime win against Dartmouth.

Coach Brian Gill employed some necessary depth in much of his lineup, with only seven of Saturday’s starting 11 appearing on the lineup once again.

“We have a deep bench, so a lot of the guys could come on and make an impact. Today we had different guys step up,” junior midfielder Alex Kades said. “We’ve had that throughout the season, which is a big deal.”

Both teams pushed the ball with pace from the initial whistle. Penn was quick on its feet after the ball, as the

team focused on winning possession. Voices from players on both teams shouted directions as the pace of play accelerated.

Several long passes emerged from Penn’s midfield early on, but few turned into effective plays at goal.

A mistake from Temple’s goalkeeper early on presented a chance for Penn after the ball slipped from his gloves. Temple’s defenders were quick to clean up, but so was Penn’s attack in searching for chances to score.

Kades and sophomore Jacob Muchnick recognized the defensive duties early on, as they cleaned up from the midfield — each picking up on Temple’s patterns and predicting their plays. Temple’s left wing seemed like a potential problem for Penn, but the Quakers were quick to adapt and defend.

But right as the clock approached 10 minutes, the Owls pushed up through the right side of the pitch and slipped through Penn’s central defense, as Temple’s Amir Cohen launched a strong volley into the bottom left corner of the net.

Penn responded by continuing to press up the pitch, and a chance arrived three minutes after Temple’s goal, as Joey Bhangdia was well-positioned to receive a cross from the right and strike it into the top right of the goal.

“We never want to give up an early goal; we never want to go down, but we’ve shown over the past three, four games that we can come back, and we’re never out of it,” Muchnick said. “We’ve learned just to always believe that

we can get back in the game.”

After leveling the score, Penn pushed to control the game in their own half; countering every attempt by Temple, who was pushing high up the field. Penn was keen on securing the midfield, and the Owls pressed to find chances through the wings.

Temple attempted another run very similar to the one that played a role in its first goal, but Penn’s defense looked much more solid, as they were quicker to fall back in position and defend. The Quakers would not repeat the same error for the rest of the game.

A substitution to bring Stas Korzeniowski into the match allowed the Quakers more chances to advance the ball through the midfield, as the freshman’s height advantage seemed a likely choice for a build-up to goal, but any attempts were heavily countered, as the freshman was up against a densely positioned defense by the Owls.

Halftime substitutions included Dane Jacomen to replace starting goalkeeper Nick Christoffersen. Jacomen would make three saves — the first coming six minutes into the second half.

A main challenge in the first half for the Quakers was connecting effective passes after winning aerials, which continued for the remainder of the game. The Owls never eased pressure, as the Quakers were frequently dispossessed.

But Penn looked for opportunities, as Temple failed to connect their passes more frequently.

EDWIN MEJIA

Substitutions were frequent in the second half, as both teams attempted to remedy stalemates by bringing new players onto the field.

The game-winning goal arrived after substitutions brought veteran players Bhangdia and senior Matt Leigh back on the field. Penn connected multiple consecutive passes, which gave possession to Leigh, who netted the ball off an assist by Ben Stitz.

Temple continued to advance the ball with longer passes across the field but was starved of any hope to get near the goal. A solid performance from Penn’s defensive midfielders prevented the Owls’ chances up to the last minute, and a save from Jacomen in the final 20 seconds sealed the record for a three-game winning streak for Penn.

“We just finished with six wins in non-conference, so having those wins, being able to go into this year’s last few games in Ivy in a good place, and to move ourselves up to the table, it’s huge,” Kades said. “I think all the guys are in a good mood, in a good way … Huge couple of wins back to back.”

With only four matches left in the regular season for the seniors and fifth-year players, the Quakers are headed into tough Ivy League matchups to close off the season.

“I’m just excited for the opportunity to play four competitive games,” Muchnick said. “The team showed that we can kind of compete with anybody. I’m just excited to go get four more wins.”

Penn women’s soccer preserves perfect home record over the weekend SPORTS | The Quakers beat Dartmouth and Delaware State ANUSHA MATHUR Sports Associate

In a successful weekend for Penn women’s soccer, the team took down Dartmouth 3-1 on Saturday and Delaware State 4-0 on Monday.

The Monday game was an easy victory for the Quakers (8-3-2, 2-2 Ivy), but Saturday’s was a tougher fight. As a result of their efforts, the Quakers remain undefeated on Rhodes Field for this season.

On Saturday, the Big Green (5-5-1, 1-3) took an early lead against the Red and Blue. Dartmouth scored a goal in the third minute of the game, but it was called back after the Big Green were declared offside. Dartmouth quickly followed up with more offensive maneuvering, scoring its first official goal just nine minutes into the game. In the first half, Dartmouth took eight shots and three corner kicks, compared to Penn’s five shots and just one corner kick.

However, the Quakers found their rhythm and were quickly able to reassert their dominance.

Freshman Isobel Glass scored in the 23rd minute, assisted by sophomore Lauren Teuschl. This goal evened up the score at a pivotal time for the Quakers.

From then on, it was smooth sailing. Neither Dartmouth nor Penn were able to score for the remainder of the first half; however, Penn emerged as the clear victor in the second. Assisted by junior Sizzy Lawton, freshman Janae Stewart sent the ball sailing past the Big Green’s goalie, scoring the Quakers’ second goal of the game. This was soon followed by another successful shot from senior Lucy Kellogg in the 72nd minute, assisted by Stewart.

The Red and Blue achieved their next victory against Delaware State (2-11) just two days later, solidifying their record on Rhodes Field to 8-0.

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CAROL GAO

Freshman forward Janae Stewart dribbles the ball up the field towards the goal during the game against Dartmouth at Rhodes Field on Oct.16.

Junior Miranda Farman scored the first goal of the game just four minutes in. Not only was this Farman’s first goal of her college career, but it turned out to be the game-winning moment, as Delaware was never able to get past sophomore goalkeeper Laurence Gladu.

The score remained 1-0 for the entirety of the first half, with the Quakers attempting a total of five shots on Delaware’s goal. However, the action

quickly picked up during the second half. The Quakers took 15 shots and eight corner kicks, compared to Delaware’s two shots and one corner kick. Glass scored two goals in quick succession in the 68th and 71st minute of the game.

In the 90th minute, the Quakers put the game away with another goal. Freshman Andrea Escobio launched a pass to senior Mia Shenk, who turned

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and passed to sophomore Paige Kenton. Kenton then neatly tucked the ball into Delaware’s goal.

While the Quakers’ confidence may have been boosted on Monday, they return to Ivy League play on Saturday, Oct. 23 against Yale. While Penn women’s soccer’s history against Yale is promising, the team will still have to fight hard to maintain its perfect record on Rhodes Field.

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