The arrival of Pope Francis in Philadelphia last weekend was a mixed blessing. While the Pope’s arrival christened a classless Friday at Penn, the pomp surrounding his visit created a trinity of chaos, store closings and traffic.

By the time this article is published, Pope Francis will be in Philadelphia. While that may excite a huge portion of the school, as it should, I’ve noticed that there’s a portion of students that have simply been uninterested in the pope’s arrival simply because they’re not religious.

The United States government should welcome any person seeking refuge, provided they do not pose a threat to our national security or to the public safety.

For over a century, “The New Colossus,”the sonnet adorning the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, has challenged us to accept the world’s huddled masses.

Breast cancer awareness month begins a week from today, initiating thousands of fundraising campaigns to support breast cancer research.

Don’t get me wrong, I like external validation (almost) as much as the next Quaker. US News’ approval, however, is something I can do without, given what’s necessary to gain it.

I have been groped from virtually every possible angle, dragged to the wall, pulled away from a female friend that I was dancing with and flung onto a guy, been at the retrieving end of “f**k that bitch” one too many times after ignoring men’s thirsty presence and repeatedly grabbed and attempted to be danced with by men that I resisted.

Sometimes I feel like I’m living in an artificially created world, as if I’m part of some big social experiment I don’t quite understand.

As a kid growing up, my parents gave me a daily allowance of what we then called “screen time.” At first 30 minutes, later extended to an hour, this was the single portion of the day when I was allowed to watch TV or use our family’s single computer — my Dad’s office desktop.

There are no neat conclusions to draw from a year at Penn. But if I had to assign a label to my freshman year, it would be “sinusoidal.” The past eight months have been a sequence of peaks and troughs, memories and mishaps.

It strikes me that, in calling for the punishment of images they find offensive, SOUL is calling for the destruction of the very rights which uphold and protect their ability to strive for the achievement of justice as they understand it.

When it comes to pharmaceuticals, the stakes are high as far as identifying proper treatment.

“No other group in America has so had their identity socialized out of existence as have black women... When black people are talked about the focus tends to be on black men; and when women are talked about the focus tends to be on white women.” ? bell hooks Quiet as it’s kept, the denial to protect the black woman in this country belongs to a long American tradition from which this University is not exempt.

The cost of any potentially offensive joke can be redeemed if they’re clever enough — so much so that the audience recognizes the intention and structure is to be funny, and not that its choice of topic matter is inherently funny. In the case of Trevor Noah, he comes off as reckless.

Over the past few days, I’ve tried to explain Fling to my friends back home. “It’s a carnival,” I tried to tell them. “It’s a few days to just relax.” In our work-hard, play-hard environment, Fling means the chance to take a break from Penn, but also to epitomize our dear University.

Thinking about cultural appropriation as it affects my life brings up more questions than I expected. It is a complex topic because of the way it has been handled and regarded over time, and how it has impacted the lives of marginalized minority communities.

I can’t help but think that the language of safety and unsafety just isn’t the right terminology for this conversation.