Daily Pennsylvanian

Getting to know the UA vice presidential candidates

rosenstein — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:53:58 -0400

Faye Cheng:
Like most little girls, Wharton sophomore Faye Cheng wanted to grow up to be a ballerina. But when her hand-eye coordination failed her, she decided to enter the business world instead.

Swan Lake’s loss was Penn’s gain, though, according to Cheng’s friends.

Former Sigma Kappa President Lucy Obukowicz, a Wharton senior, praised her sorority sister and Wharton Women colleague’s “passion and dedication” in an e-mail.

Cheng has distinguished herself through her eagerness to “take on more responsibility and give back,” Obukowicz said. She became Wharton Women marketing chairwoman when she was a freshman.

Upon coming to Penn from a Chicago suburb, Cheng knew she wanted to join student government, as well.

Potentially a triple-concentration within Wharton, Cheng has always been interested in “making sure everything works as efficiently as possible” — which is why she was attracted to her current position of UA secretary, she explained.

This attention to detail has informed other parts of her life, too — such as her love of the American Constitution and cleaning her room.

Cheng’s organizational skills, along with her thoughtfulness, are unique, agreed College sophomore and Sigma Kappa sister Ariel Goldenthal.

“I would trust her with anything, to make anything better than I could even imagine,” she said. “Faye keeps the trains running all the time.”

Mark P. Pan:
College junior Mark Pan was more than ready for Penn when he first stepped onto campus.

Having never been to the East Coast before, the San Jose, Calif. native came to “the big city” excited to get involved, he said.

“I wanted something new,” he explained. “I wanted to get involved in politics and civic engagement” in both the Penn and Philadelphia communities.

And he did indeed get involved.

While pursuing a major in Urban Studies and a minor in Education, Pan joined Lift Philadelphia — a group of student social workers — and City Step — an organization that teaches hip-hop to elementary-school students.

Though his primary dance experience comes from “the occasional frat party,” Pan said he loves City Step because it allows him to enjoy himself and engage with the community at the same time.

He has come to love serving on the Undergraduate Assembly, he added, for very similar reasons.

Though he initially joined the UA for the “impractical” reason of pursuing dining dollars’ acceptance at Wawa, he said he has seen that the UA can make an “absolutely amazing” impact on campus.

Pan, also a residential advisor in Harrison College House, brings this same focus on change to everything he does, according to his friend Michelle Lu, a Nursing sophomore.

He is “action oriented,” she wrote in an e-mail. “He takes an idea and fully commits to it — as outrageous as some may be.”

Emily Shaeffer:
Engineering sophomore Emily Shaeffer has gotten very good at breaking down stereotypes.

As a high school freshman, she joined the boys wrestling team because she was “pretty aggressive, probably too aggressive for basketball,” which she had played all her life, she said.

Though Shaeffer thought it was “the coolest sport,” she ultimately gave it up because she said her responsibilities as the sole female wrestler were unlike those of other athletes.

“If you lose, women lose — it’s a lot different than just losing for yourself,” she explained.

Nevertheless, when Shaeffer moved from her Philadelphia suburb to Penn’s campus, she brought with her that same bold attitude.

In fact, the initial reason that Shaeffer joined the Undergraduate Assembly was that she’d learned there were only seven women involved.

The varsity rower also joined Kite and Key and got involved in the LGBT and Engineering communities. She is the vice chairwoman of the Jewish Bisexual Gay and Lesbian student group and the vice chairwoman of Internal Affairs for Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

At the root of Shaeffer’s varied interests is her love of people.

“Any chance to be around lots of undergrads is my favorite thing,” she said.

Engineering sophomore and Schaeffer’s friend Aaron Roth agreed that Shaeffer’s people skills set her apart.

“She knows everyone on campus,” he said. “She cares about people’s problems on a professional level, but she also cares about people on a personal level.”

200 students promised admission

sharf — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 01:25:49 -0400

Brooke Huestis

Unlike their anxious friends, a few regular decision students already know that they’ve gotten into college.

While it is customary for athletes to receive “likely letters” from schools involved in the recruiting process, non-athletes are also being sent letters notifying them of their successful application this month.

Dean of Admissions Eric Furda explained that a likely letter informs a student of their acceptance before April 1. As long as the student maintains solid academic and moral standing, their admission is secure.

This year Penn sent out approximately 200 likely letters — an increase from last year’s 120.

The increase came from targeting those who study natural sciences such as physics and chemistry since these are traditionally “under-enrolled” majors, Furda said.

Before likely letters, Ivy League schools would inform athletes of their acceptance after most other schools. In order to prevent students from having to decline other offers because they are waiting to hear from the Ivies, likely letters were sent out.

Now, they are “used in a strategic fashion for students who are clearly at the top end of their applicant pool,” Furda explained.

Vanna Cairns, upper school dean at the Harvard-Westlake School in California, said they did not see a difference in likely letter numbers this year.

Cairns said a letter creates a “psychological advantage” for the student and college since the student becomes excited about that school in particular.

She did not believe that it affected the students who had applied to the same institutions but did not received letters because they would find out anyway and because applying to schools “isn’t a kind process anyway.”

As for why colleges issue these, Cairns said that it is most likely because “yield of those receiving likely letters is higher.”

Calvin Jones, a senior at the Pingry School in Martinsville, NJ, received a likely letter from Penn.

“Although it’s great to know I’ve been accepted into such a school as prestigious as Penn, receiving a likely letter probably won’t affect what school I choose when I make my decision in May,” he said.

Calling likely letters the college version of “first dibs,” College Confidential advisor Sally Rubenstone wrote in an e-mail that the letters allow colleges to say they really want someone while other schools just want them.

Because the letters “turn up far more heat in the admissions pressure-cooker than they reduce,” Rubenstone wrote that she believes colleges should not send out likely letters.

Since students are very active electronically, Rubenstone wrote that “news travels fast, and stress levels skyrocket for every candidate who doesn’t receive a likely letter.”

While Rubenstone thinks schools should stick to their original date of acceptance releases, Furda said sending likely letters is a “fairly common practice.”

PHIXing medical record sharing

gormisky — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 01:21:17 -0400

Melanie Lei

A new federal grant could revolutionize how Pennsylvania physicians access patient information.

After receiving $17.1 million of federal stimulus funds, the Governor’s Office of Health Care Reform is developing a statewide system to share electronic medical records between health institutions, called the Pennsylvania Health Information Exchange, or PHIX.

Currently, “sharing of information outside of a health system doesn’t happen very often electronically,” said Martin Ciccocioppo, vice president of research at the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania.

When patients are transferred between institutions, their medical records must be communicated by fax, files on a CD or paper records.

If an electronic infrastructure is developed, it could have significant effects on patient care by eliminating duplicate medical services and coordinating care more effectively, according to Ciccocioppo.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System is planning to participate in PHIX, according to Health System spokeswoman Susan Phillips. However, she stressed that “it is too early to tell exactly how it will work.”

“The biggest hurdle that we have to face is how to pay for [PHIX],” said Ciccocioppo.

Because many hospitals and private practices are still computerizing their health records, there are limited resources available for developing infrastructure for health information exchanges.

Such limitations may affect Penn’s involvement in a regional effort to form a health information exchange in southeastern Pennsylvania, as a localized alternative to PHIX.

According to Ciccocioppo, Penn has “disengaged” from discussions to develop a local system.

“It’s a matter of resources,” said Ciccocioppo. “If they think PHIX is going to be available sooner for cheaper, they can’t be distracted by participating in two different health information exchange efforts,” he said.

The Health System is “waiting for more details to enable us to make a decision” on the southeastern Pennsylvania system, Phillips wrote in an e-mail. “We remain supportive of its goals … but it remains to be seen if it will be more effective to focus on a statewide approach.”

Pressure to devote resources to the most effective approach are especially relevant since only 10 percent of cost savings from electronic health information exchanges will go to health providers, according to Ciccocioppo.

“The patient is the ultimate beneficiary because they’re getting better and more timely care, no matter where or when they’re being treated,” he said.

He added that a regional health exchange would be advantageous for the southeastern Pennsylvania area because local providers would have more control over its functions.

“If the local system decides that exchanging diagnostic images is very important, they can implement a structure that supports that,” he said.

The local system “would ultimately connect to PHIX,” Ciccocioppo said. But it “might want to have a different focus,” he said.

Live from Irvine … It’s Thursday night!

sharf — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 01:08:28 -0400

Dana Tom

Seth Meyers is famous for presenting the top stories on Weekend Update Thursdays during election season, but this Thursday he was the top story.

The Social Planning and Events Committee’s Connaissance hosted head writer of Saturday Night Live and national comedian Meyers for over 1,000 students according to Connaissance co-director and event’s publicity manager College senior Shelly Cha.

Katie Hanlon, SPEC advisor and associate director of programs in the Office of Student Life, added that the event attracted a huge cross-section of the Penn community.

“You know what I love about college audiences?” Meyers asked during an interview after the show. “College kids haven’t gotten their dreams crushed yet, so they’re so positive with all this positive energy. It’s easy to make them laugh.”

And he had them laughing.

The event’s mediator, Theater Arts professor Marcia Ferguson, sat across from Meyers. Both situated in oversized arm chairs, she asked the comedian questions, ranging from how he got his start to the transforming media and cyber world of news sources to his favorite memories on the SNL studio site.

Meyers joked about his experience writing the now infamous Sarah Palin sketch during the 2008 presidential election.

Meyers compared it to judo, the martial art: “We like to use subjects’ momentum against them.”

He added that it’s been difficult writing material for this year’s hot button issue of health care. “It’s too bad you can’t be funny with health care like you can with Palin,” he said.

“The overall University response from events past was that students were tired of political and business speakers,” Connaissance co-Director and the event’s floor manager Calvin Gruss, a College senior, said. “They wanted someone more lighthearted and funny.”

SPEC Treasurer and College and Wharton junior Adam Thompson agreed that the Connaissance events allow students to hear incredible speakers, which he said, “is very much a part of the Penn experience.”

Meyers left the audience with words to remember: “In the moments before you start making money for what you do, create a lot of product, get stage time, do something self-motivating because you never know when lightning’s going to strike.”

After a standing ovation, however, Meyers left the audience with words they will actually remember. He read about a dozen Weekend Updates from SNL’s longest recurring sketch that didn’t appear on the show for censorship reasons.

He had the audience laughing at sexual jokes about Paris Hilton and the woman on Oprah with two vaginas.

For Weekend Update, he’s Seth Meyers! Good night!

Quakers will 'D' it up against Bulldogs

silcox — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:40:07 -0400

Ari Seifter

The last three times the Yale women’s lacrosse team faced off with Penn, the Bulldogs attack left not with a bark, but with a whimper.

Yale did not score more than four goals in any of those contests and has not defeated Penn since 2004.

The Bulldogs will have a chance to reverse those fortunes in New Haven, Conn., Saturday, but — at least on paper — the vaunted Penn defense should once again rule the day.

No. 5 Penn is riding the momentum of its first shutout in over 30 years against Saint Joseph’s Wednesday and has allowed an average of only 5.3 goals per game on the season.

Meanwhile, unranked Yale has been outscored by an average of more than 3 goals per game.

But even though the Quakers have now won 23 Ivy League games in a row, Penn isn’t taking anything for granted.

“Every Ivy gets up to play each other,” coach Karin Brower Corbett said. “They’re going to be eager to beat us on their home field. We’ve got to go in there and be cleaner than we were [Wednesday].”

Yale is led offensively by Devon Rhodes, who has taken more than a third of her team’s shots and leads the Bulldogs with 13 goals and five assists.

Meanwhile six Penn players have scored eight or more goals, led by Ali DeLuca’s 17, and five players have reached double digits in points.

But the Penn attack will face a bit of a challenge in Yale goalkeeper Whitney Quackenbush, who has put up an impressive .527 save percentage.

Those numbers are even more impressive due to the high volume of shots that the Bulldogs have allowed. Quackenbush has had 33 more save opportunities than her Penn counterparts, Emily Szelest and Emily Leitner, combined.

In nearly every other statistical category — including scoring margin, forced turnovers, draw controls, ground balls and clear percentage — Penn holds a distinct advantage.

Yet Yale stands in the way of Penn’s goal to once again win the Ivy League, so the Quakers are hardly complacent.

“This year more than any year the Ivies mean everything to us,” senior defense Barb Seaman said “The rivalry is always fun within the Ivies, so we’re all excited.”

Emma Spiro’s status this weekend is still uncertain, which means that freshman Maddie Poplawski will continue to have a big role in the midfield. Poplawski has been a helpful addition to the Penn roster this season, as she has stepped up to score nine goals so far.

Red and Blue take it outside

silcox — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:38:13 -0400

Monica Martin

The Penn women’s tennis players will be more than happy to trade the California sunshine for a more familiar Philadelphia climate tomorrow, especially if it turns their luck around.

After a disappointing performance last weekend at the San Diego Invitational, the Quakers will attempt to improve their 4-7 record when they take on Boston University in their first outdoor home match.

Still struggling to find its footing this season, Penn faces a tough opponent in the Terriers (6-7), who will come into the match riding a four-game winning streak.

But while the Quakers may not have a winning record, many of its losses have come to highly ranked teams, including No. 13 Miami and No. 37 Yale.

And the Red and Blue may seem to be the underdogs in this match.

Yet the depth on their roster could give them a needed edge over the Terriers. Boston should expect to face tough opponents up-and-down the Penn lineup — from senior Jacqueline Wong to freshman Jules Rodin, who has won two of her last four singles matches.

The Terriers boast a talented roster of their own, with heavyweights such as sophomore Stefanie Nunic, currently ranked 8th in the Northeast.

Penn heads out on hunt for skidding Hawks

silcox — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:35:03 -0400

Brette Trost

The Penn softball team’s roster may have a new look this season, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

After losing five players from last season and welcoming eight fresh faces, the Quakers are looking to build upon their success against St. Joseph’s Wednesday with another strong showing against Monmouth tomorrow.

As evidence that the younger players will play an important role in the team’s success, King pointed to the fact that her team outscored St. Joe’s, 7-2, despite losing 14-1 to the Hawks last season.

After cracking down defensively in Penn’s first game against St. Joe’s, a 1-0 loss, the team rallied back to an easy 7-1 victory in the night cap.

“Yesterday’s game gave a lot of the young hitter’s some confidence,” King said. “[And] defensively we’re stronger this year and that gives our pitchers a lot of confidence.”

King and her team will look to use that defensive strength against a Monmouth team (1-7) that has gotten off to a slow start this season. The Hawks enter today’s contest in West Long Branch, N.J. looking to put an end to a seven-game skid.

Though Penn (3-6) has been struggling with a smaller pitching rotation this season, sophomores Chelsea Ott and Cailyn Hennessey have both shut down opponents on the mound this season.

Both allowed only one run in complete game efforts Wednesday.

“We’ve asked a lot of them, and they’ve taken it on board to continue to improve,” King said.

The Quakers will rely on junior Alisha Prystowsky to generate run support for the pitching staff. She currently leads the team with a .407 batting average.

“Prystowsky is carrying on from where she left off last year and continuing to lead the charge offensively,” King said.

With a new youthful vigor and sparking play from its stars, Penn is banking on tomorrow’s games to be a strong indication of what’s to come for the rest of the season.

“Monmouth is always a solid team and we’re pretty evenly matched,” said King. “It will be interesting to see what they’re like this season.”

Plotnick | Lax still defying the Ivy odds

sharf — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:33:08 -0400

Lauren Plotnick

The men’s lacrosse team has already shown that it can hang with Duke and Maryland — two powerhouse programs from the Atlantic Coast Conference.

So it seems logical that the Quakers should be able to have their way with an Ivy League foe such as Princeton tomorrow.

After all, in nearly all high-profile men’s varsity sports, the Ivy League simply cannot compete with teams from major athletic conferences like the ACC.

But this reality has one major exception: lacrosse. Penn enters tonight’s contest as underdogs to the No. 5 Tigers.

The Ivy League has made its presence felt among the men’s college lacrosse elite, and it doesn’t seem to be leaving anytime soon.

“Our guys know that we can play with and beat anyone, regardless of conference or location,” Penn coach Mike Murphy said.

The Tigers, along with Cornell, Yale and Brown are among the top 20 teams in the nation.

Princeton has won six national championships, though its last was in 2001, when it went 14-1 overall. Cornell reached the finals of the 16 team NCAA championship tournament last year.

The Ancient Eight’s success on the national stage may come as a surprise to some. The League’s emphasis on academics over athletics has led to strict rules preventing universities from offering athletic scholarships to top recruits.

But while the ramifications of this policy have greatly affected the talent levels of Ivy football, basketball and baseball, lacrosse has somehow managed to buck this trend.

One reason for this deviation is the nature of the athletes that gravitate toward the sport.

Men’s lacrosse has traditionally been popular along the East Coast and in New England. Many top players got their starts at private schools where they began playing at the competitive level when they were kids.

For these athletes, the academic experience and close proximity to home that the Ivy League has to offer certainly holds more weight in their college selection process.

Yet, as lacrosse has become more popular, its recruiting base has expanded as well. This makes it even more remarkable that the Ivy League has remained one of the toughest conferences in the nation despite its recruiting limitations.

But the main area in which the Ivy League has excelled is in its emphasis on cultivating cohesive programs and keeping top coaches within the conference.

And men’s lacrosse should be a model for success that other Ivy League sports should seek to replicate.

While it may not be realistic to expect the basketball or football team to compete with major conferences that spend millions of dollars on their programs, a focus on strong coaching should be a top priority.

Keeping a nationally relevant lacrosse program at Penn, or any Ivy, should have major consequences, especially as the marquee sports struggle to compete with big-name teams. Lacrosse remains a viable sport for students to rally behind as they watch their Quakers compete, win and maybe even dance.

LAUREN PLOTNICK is a sophomore economics major from Potomac, Md., and is Sports Editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian. She can be contacted at plotnick@dailypennsylvanian.com.

Wharton junior proposes feature film

gormisky — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:27:06 -0400

Nikki Seligman

Look out for the new Hollywood movie inspired by YouTube’s sensation, My New Haircut.

The idea for the movie based on the web clip came from Wharton junior Ankur Jain.

The creator of My New Haircut, Brett Tietjen, reached out to Jain, who said he then pitched the idea of the “first movie that capitalizes on the social success of short media” to Hollywood. The 26-million hit YouTube clip spotlights what Jain calls the “guido culture” popularized by shows like Jersey Shore.

“We are hoping that this is going to be the first of many that will show Hollywood that the future of content is going to come from internet-generated material,” Jain said. “One of the exciting facts is that the YouTube world is going to mash with the Hollywood world.”

There was a big response from Hollywood concerning this proposal, and the movie was signed by producers Scott Mednick — of 300 and Beerfest fame — and Galen Walker, who produced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

“When Ankur pitched his idea, I thought it was just a brilliant plan because there was such a trend following the internet,” Walker said.

This independent film has potential to really have “brand awareness,” he added.

Walker and Jain both were happy that the hit reality TV series Jersey Shore showed the world that “this is what people want to watch” and that it “spread the guido culture.”

“This will be the first video that will bring the Jersey Shore culture main stream and it couldn’t be a better time to put this movie out,” Jain said.

The movie is in its early stages of production. Although the film has the appropriate funding, the director and the cast are still being finalized.

The cast will star Tietjen, along with various Hollywood actors, according to Jain.

The movie will begin filming early this summer, and it will most likely be released in theaters late this year or early next year, he said.

Walker hopes that this film will create a “cult classic, another movement business equivalent to Jersey Shore,” and he believes that it has potential “to be a runaway hit comedy.”

The YouTube movement shows that through the internet an “average person can be just as influential as a news station,” Jain said.

My New Haircut video:

Nursing number one for NIH grants

gormisky — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:05:37 -0400

Ariela Rosenberg

Despite its relatively small size compared to peer institutions, the School of Nursing was recently ranked first in federal research funding by the National Institute of Health.

The University of California San Francisco was ranked second with $8.8 million and the University of Washington was third with $8.5 million.

The NIH is a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that distributes funding on a “competitive basis” to research institutions and universities, Vice President of the Office of Government and Community Affairs Jeffrey Cooper wrote in an e-mail.

“The School of Nursing’s ranking demonstrates the very strong research priorities of the faculty and the quality of their proposals,” Cooper added.

According to Vice Provost of Research Steven Fluharty, the five NIH top-ranked schools of nursing saw an average of an 11-percent decline in research dollars in the 2008 NIH fiscal year, whereas Penn had a 12-percent increase.

The NIH awards are an indicator of “excellence” in teaching, research and clinical missions, Fluharty added.

Last year, the Nursing School was ranked second. Its jump to first place this year at $10.9 million in 2009 marks a 41-percent increase from 2008. This increase is a result of a “conscientious effort” to improve the funding, said Deborah Bruner, the interim associate dean for research for the Nursing School.

Penn Nursing has consistently been ranked among the top three or four schools for the past couple of years and “will strive to maintain” that position, Bruner said.

Nursing has invested in the recruitment of “stellar researchers,” and has provided an advanced program of research for faculty members, she added.

“In the last year, we have instituted a formal mechanism of internal grant review, peer review — especially for large awards — and we have restructured the office of nursing research in order to better facilitate grant submission and management,” Bruner added.

As a top nursing school, Penn Nursing is better able to recruit the “best pre-doctorate students, post-doctorate fellows and faculty,” Bruner said.

Nursing Dean Afaf Meleis echoed this sentiment.

“Being ranked as one of the top three schools of nursing reflects a commitment from our school and research centers to scientific developments that translate to best nursing practices,” she wrote in an e-mail. “This ranking helps us attract the best students and the most outstanding faculty.”

Students are excited about Penn Nursing’s commitment to research.

“Being ranked number one in NIH funding is not just a recognition of the nursing school’s excellence, but its incredible potential as well. It is exciting to know that my professors will be the ones to make a difference in this field,” Nursing sophomore Tova Miller said.