Joanne Tong is a Wharton senior from Manila, Philippines. Her e-mail address is tong@dailypennsylvanian.com.
Meredith Aska McBride | Underestimating the value of transparency
By
Meredith Aska McBride
·
Oct. 3, 2007
It costs almost $50,000 a year to attend Penn, but tuition revenue doesn't come close to supplying the amount of money it takes to run this university. Penn relies on endowment profit to pay for financial aid, new facilities, academic programming and much of the rest of the operating budget.
Last Thursday, the Senate Finance Committee heard testimony from a panel of experts who recommended forcing universities to spend at least 5 percent of their endowments, with the intention of making college more affordable. At first glance, it seems like a fantastic idea.
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BYOB. Europe does it. America used to do it before the Second World War. African nations may soon join in. So will you if the Philadelphia City Council succeeds in banning plastic bags. It's not that hard. Just bring your own bag when you go shopping. If eco-conscious council members have their way, Philly will soon join the ranks of green cities like San Francisco and Paris.
Amira Fawcett is an Engineering junior from Houston. Her e-mail address is fawcett@dailypennsylvanian.com.
Hell hath no fury like a cyclist doored. Last week, that cyclist was me. And that door was attached to the body of a black Chevy pick-up, which collided with my right knee. For campus cyclists, the sound of a car door popping open is a lot like the sound of a cocked gun.
Hell hath no fury like a cyclist doored. Last week, that cyclist was me. And that door was attached to the body of a black Chevy pick-up, which collided with my right knee. For campus cyclists, the sound of a car door popping open is a lot like the sound of a cocked gun.
Meredith Aska McBride | Underestimating the value of transparency
By
Meredith Aska McBride
·
Oct. 3, 2007
It costs almost $50,000 a year to attend Penn, but tuition revenue doesn't come close to supplying the amount of money it takes to run this university. Penn relies on endowment profit to pay for financial aid, new facilities, academic programming and much of the rest of the operating budget.
Last Thursday, the Senate Finance Committee heard testimony from a panel of experts who recommended forcing universities to spend at least 5 percent of their endowments, with the intention of making college more affordable. At first glance, it seems like a fantastic idea.
There's something quintessentially awful about studying at Penn. It goes beyond the fact that you're actually expected to do well in an Ivy League school, and it also goes beyond the fact that the amount of work can, at times, be inordinate. Instead, it's about the cutthroat intensity students adopt to be "competitive," an intensity that is beginning to pollute our social environment.
When it comes to getting a good teaching assistant at Penn, it's a crap-shoot. Some TAs will use creative ways to help a student solve a math problem or become a better writer, while others can't even speak basic English. This astonishing variety reflects the lack of uniformity in TA preparation at Penn.
Alicia Puglionesi is a College junior from Haverton, Pa. Her e-mail address is puglionesi@dailypennsylvanian.com.
Recently, the Senate Finance Committee heard a proposal that would force universities to spend five percent of their endowments on financial-aid and other student-related programs. Penn already spends four percent, so what's one percent going to do to my $110,000? $110,000 is about how much I expect to be in debt when I (hopefully) graduate this May (full disclosure: two years of the debt is from Villanova).
Daniel Schwartz is a College sophomore from Decatur, Ga. His e-mail address is schwartz@dailypennsylvanian.com.
Now that it's On Campus Recruiting season, I think it is safe to say that most of the senior class is freaking out. Because one bad interview, one bombed brainteaser, and you know you've blown your chance at future happiness. But don't fret, dear senior, you haven't.
Does the name Kurt Mitman ring a bell? He's the former Econ grad student who was exposed last January for leading the kind of double life - ambitious Ivy Leaguer by day, jailed sex offender by night - that seemed more suited for HBO than for Penn's campus.
The saying goes, "If a tree falls down in the woods and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" A timelier question would be, "If an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 rally in Jena, Louisiana, in protest of a case of unequal justice ignored by the mainstream media, does it matter?" I'm no philosophy major, but the answer is a resounding yes.
Avery Lawrence is a College senior from Charlottesville, Va. His e-mail address is lawrence@dailypennsylvanian.com.
With the '08 Election fast approaching, presidential hopefuls are busy rolling out their grand plans for our country. John Edwards recently turned his attention to American public schools and the educational disparities that still exist today. "No longer legally separated by race, our children are sorted by economics, often with a racial or ethnic dimension," Edwards said.
Your Voice | Letters to the Editor
Sept. 28, 2007
Responsible reporting To the Editor: In response to the article published about the "Ask a Skeptic" panel ("Student group panel affirms atheist beliefs" 9/20/2007), we would like to clarify important points, the first of which being that Ellen Johnson does not represent our organization.
You've probably seen the video by now - the one where that University of Florida douche bag gets Tasered at a John Kerry town hall meeting. It occupies a special place in viral-video chronology; right after Britney at the VMAs and just before the Swedish hostess who threw up on live TV.
Back in 2002, Beth Linker was a third-year graduate student at Yale. Like all Ph.D. students, she had a lot on her plate - preparing for exams, teaching classes, doing her own research, worrying about the job market. And then she had a baby. That July was when her already busy life got a lot busier.
Opinion Art | Joanner Tong
Sept. 27, 2007
Joanne Tong is a Wharton senior from Manila, Philippines. Her e-mail address is tong@dailypennsylvanian.com.
