Alicia Puglionesi is a College senior from Havertown, Pa. Her e-mail address is puglionesi@dailypennsylvanian.com.
Daniel Schwartz is a College junior from Decatur, Ga. His e-mail address is dschwartz@dailypennsylvanian.com.
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Let's be honest - as college students, we take a lot for granted: no class on Fridays, Wawa and FroGro's late-night hours, our ability to watch daytime television like retirees and often, our health. Sure, we keep Student Health on their toes, but for the most part, the diseases that plague our nation tend not to affect our age group.
One of the first lessons we all learn as freshmen is that you can bursar an iPod at Computer Connection, then have your parents unknowingly pay the bill for it later. Devious, aren't we? "Bursaring" - the practice of getting billed by the University for a wide variety of on-campus purchases instead of paying for them up front - has always seemed a unique aspect of the Penn culture to me.
Straightening historical facts To the Editor: I'm assuming others will write in to debunk Emerson Brooking's offensive defense of the Confederate flag and the racism that it has symbolized through the decades ("In defense of Dixie" 4/15/2009). But I was also struck by the line in his piece that read: "Almost 300,000 Southerners fought and died under the flag of the Confederacy, and the resulting Reconstruction altered the course of the South's economic and cultural development, creating a depression that would linger for generations.
Straightening historical facts To the Editor: I'm assuming others will write in to debunk Emerson Brooking's offensive defense of the Confederate flag and the racism that it has symbolized through the decades ("In defense of Dixie" 4/15/2009). But I was also struck by the line in his piece that read: "Almost 300,000 Southerners fought and died under the flag of the Confederacy, and the resulting Reconstruction altered the course of the South's economic and cultural development, creating a depression that would linger for generations.
Daniel Schwartz is a College junior from Decatur, Ga. His e-mail address is dschwartz@dailypennsylvanian.com.
We entered the room ready to learn, as we always do. But this was no ordinary class, you see. As the sun began to set on the chilly Sunday evening, the group - half Penn students, half Dalits, or India's "untouchables" - carried flowers and refreshments. Then class began.
It'd be pretty awesome to have President Barack Obama speak at Penn. Given his popularity and prestige, I think almost all students and alumni would be honored for him to appear on campus. But apparently not everyone feels the same way, because significant objections have been raised about his invitation to address graduates at the University of Notre Dame next month.
Amira Fawcett is an Engineering senior from Houston. Her e-mail address is fawcett@dailypennsylvanian.com.
Spring Fling is overrated. . Please don't hurt me. Somebody had to say it, though, and I know I'm not the only person on campus who feels that way. (I'm not saying it's a widely held opinion, but there are 10,000 undergrads here. There's some law of probability that says someone else agrees with me.
After seven months of class and only-God-knows-how-many exams and papers, there's little doubt that if Penn students are entitled to anything, it's Spring Fling this weekend. We've worked hard, and now it's time to take a break and bask in some of our favorite Fling things: bounce houses, dunk tanks, a capella performances, trying to sneak alcohol into the Quadrangle (don't try, freshmen, it won't work) and, of course, those fried Oreos.
The most recent turn of events in the never-ending Philadelphia casino saga - a new location for the proposed Foxwoods casino - has the city going all in on the developer's demands. At a Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board meeting last week, Foxwoods revealed that they were now planning to move into the former Strawbridge & Clothier building at 8th & Market streets.
When I came to Penn freshman year, I brought my Confederate flag with me. Growing up in the Georgia heartland, the Confederate flag had been a constant presence, gracing T-shirts and garnishing license plates. It embellished Dixie-themed trinkets and toys, and often flapped proudly alongside the Stars and Stripes.
I am a fan of the show Myth Busters on the Discovery Channel. For those of you unfamiliar with the show, each episode takes a myth, dissects it, tests it and proves it either factually true or not. Let's see what Adam and Jamie might discover when this approach is applied to Colin Kavanaugh's recent column where he called for Wharton to "Open the gates to the ivory tower.
Quite soon, students will hopefully be able to register for more than classes through Penn InTouch. Under a new bill currently being proposed in Congress, nicknamed the VOTER Act, students will be able to register to vote at the same time they register for courses.
Janice Dow is a College sophomore from Los Angeles. Her e-mail address is dow@dailypennsylvanian.com.
During the past year's financial crisis, we have all certainly learned that years of gains can be wiped out in a matter of days if we are not careful. The office of College Houses and Academic Services (CHAS), though, is threatening years of gains in order to find an easier way to solve a long-term problem by deciding to temporarily stop admitting freshmen into Rodin College House.
As we close in on the final days of the school year, Spring Fling and Hey Day begin to overshadow our scholarly duties once again. Fried Oreos and skimmer hats are just a lot more fun than exams, obviously. But unlike last year, when many juniors were uncertain about whether or not they could attend Hey Day because of its scheduling, this year we all find ourselves with a new twist on tradition.
Moving out of campus housing will be a little less hectic this year, as students will have an extra five hours to pack up the wagon and head off from campus. After a survey last year showed widespread dissatisfaction with the quick turnaround between exam period and the move-out deadline, the Undergraduate Assembly and Housing and Conference Services teamed up to extend the deadline by five hours - a change that they estimate will give 98 percent of students at least 24 hours to pack before they have to be out of the dorms.
Ilana Millner is a College junior from Washington Crossing, Pa. Her e-mail address is millner@dailypennsylvanian.com.
