As goes University City, so goes the University. This mindset permeates the administration's rhetoric so often that it's almost hackneyed. Even the new postal-land developments are being marketed as "forging connections between University City and Center City.
Think of any 10 undergrads at Penn. Would you believe that four or five of them might be depressed? According to a national survey of 13,500 college students published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2005, 45 percent of undergraduates reported experiencing depression severe enough to prevent them from functioning day to day.
Explore Philadelphia! It's an upbeat message which the University (and the DP) often sends, as if students can simply jaunt around the city of brotherly love at their slightest whim. Just a few problems: SEPTA is a pathetic excuse for public transportation, taxis can be prohibitively expensive and most students have neither the time nor the ability to walk everywhere.
Today is the last day you can register to vote before the meaningless mayoral election in November. We're all for voting and fulfilling your civic responsibility. Considering we're supposed to be enlightened, engaged citizens, Penn's past voter-participation rates in past elections have been embarrassing.
Daniel Schwartz is a College sophomore from Decatur, Ga. His e-mail address is schwartz@dailypennsylvanian.com.
Brown kids are hippy pot smokers, Columbia kids are artsy and deep, Harvard kids are arrogant pricks, but what are Penn kids? Are we even important enough to garner any sort of stereotype, whether negative or positive? I visited four other colleges (Drexel, Brown, Yale and Princeton) to find out.
Brown kids are hippy pot smokers, Columbia kids are artsy and deep, Harvard kids are arrogant pricks, but what are Penn kids? Are we even important enough to garner any sort of stereotype, whether negative or positive? I visited four other colleges (Drexel, Brown, Yale and Princeton) to find out.
Think of any 10 undergrads at Penn. Would you believe that four or five of them might be depressed? According to a national survey of 13,500 college students published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2005, 45 percent of undergraduates reported experiencing depression severe enough to prevent them from functioning day to day.
Explore Philadelphia! It's an upbeat message which the University (and the DP) often sends, as if students can simply jaunt around the city of brotherly love at their slightest whim. Just a few problems: SEPTA is a pathetic excuse for public transportation, taxis can be prohibitively expensive and most students have neither the time nor the ability to walk everywhere.
Avery Lawrence is a College senior from Charlottesville, Va. His e-mail address is lawrence@dailypennsylvanian.com.
When taking a brisk stroll down Locust Walk, you can't miss being inundated with flyers advertising "The Real World: Wall Street" or "Finance 101 Information Session" - Penn students troubled by such mind-boggling questions as "what private equity really is" can often find their peace of mind at these Huntsman Hall specialties.
As a teaching assistant the past two years in the Philosophy Department, I was disappointed to read The Daily Pennsylvanian's article ("Hard to follow recitation? You're not alone" 9/17/2007), which implied that the blame for "the classic bad recitation" should be placed squarely and solely on the shoulders of the TA.
UA: Current election system works fine The opinion piece, "Sensible Politics," (9/27/2007) on The Daily Pennsylvanian's Opinion Page, was not only naively construed, but also greatly discounted the capabilities of the freshman candidates. We would first like to point out that the following day the DP ran an article conveying an interview with Class Board presidential candidates that explicitly asked frivolous questions to elicit frivolous responses ("For Class Board hopefuls, toilet covers, jousting" 9/28/2007).
It's every woman's worst nightmare. She's rushed to an emergency room after being raped or sexually assaulted. She's been physically hurt, she's disoriented and humiliated, too. She has to undergo countless interviews and tests before she can even go home and take a shower.
With $150 million in state funding and additional revenues from Monday's fare hike coming in, SEPTA officials finally have a golden ticket to put Philadelphia's mass-transit system on the right track. SEPTA has long postponed ticketing-system improvements because of inadequate state funding.
Joanne Tong is a Wharton senior from Manila, Philippines. Her e-mail address is tong@dailypennsylvanian.com.
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.
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.
Solutions by The State News
