34th Street Magazine's "Toast" is a semi-weekly newsletter with the latest on Penn's campus culture and arts scene. Delivered Monday-Wednesday-Friday.
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It's possible that, irrespective of my actual political beliefs, I've been subconsciously rooting for Senator Clinton these past two months.
Like many Penn students, I was more than a little jealous of college campuses in states with primaries and caucuses falling on or before February 5, Super Tuesday.
What's the difference between Mike Nifong and Lynne Abraham? One is a disgraced former prosecutor involved in the Duke Lacrosse case who was disbarred and sent to jail after an independent investigation.
The other is a prosecutor whose actions must be probed by an independent investigation to determine if she, too, should be subject to significant sanctions.
Ivy League-educated professionals can't always afford to serve in public sector positions.
Harvard Law School's recent move to provide a tuition-free third year to students who pledge to spend the next five years working in public service has drawn new attention to this issue, but Penn Law's Public Interest Loan Repayment Assistance Program provides similar benefits with less commitment.
Lorenzo Buffa is like a lot of young people in West Philadelphia. He wears skinny jeans and carries a messenger bag; he takes art classes and does face painting for kids to earn a living.
And of course, he doesn't have health insurance.
I've written columns before about what it's like to be a twenty-something without insurance.
When you grow up in a medical professional's home, you kind of get used to the fact that every pen and notepad is emblazoned with the name of a drug company or one of its high-priced prescription drugs.
In my house, Pfizer always provided more pens than Bic.
It's not an uncommon scenario. You're waiting in line for the $2.50 egg white sandwich at Bui's Food Truck, and an unshaven man in scruffed-up Timberlands, reeking of stale cigarettes, asks you for change.
Sister, can you spare a dime? Will you help a brother out? God bless.
To the untrained eye, the line between Class Boards and the Undergraduate Assembly is pretty blurry.
The two groups do serve very different functions: While the UA lobbies administrators, the Class Boards focus on promoting school spirit.
But many students often confuse the two organizations, especially during elections.
'Isn't she beeeeauutiful?" whispered the suited woman standing next to me. "There's just nothing like being in the presence of someone with that much charisma."
We were caught in the middle of the pushing and crowding in Houston's Hall of Flags last Monday, flush from our meeting with Hillary Clinton herself.
As the Philadelphia School District discusses a partnership with Penn and Drexel, University officials need to take the community's needs into account.
The plan would involve the transformation of University City High into a combination neighborhood-and-magnet school.
Today marks the beginning of SCUE's annual Education Week. For two decades, students have used this week as a time to reflect beyond requirements and recruiting, deciding for themselves what it means to be an active learner at Penn.
During a semester in France, I saw my classmates physically barricade their university for four weeks: occupying the buildings, shutting down debate and scuffling with riot police to show their dissatisfaction with the government's university reform proposal.
I was sitting in Van Pelt the other day when I noticed the girl in front of me procrastinating on Facebook, looking at photo albums. Pretty normal and I usually wouldn't give it a second thought, except she was looking at pictures of me in a friend's photo album.
If I'm not with them, I'm against them.
A sidebar in the QPenn supplement on Monday labeled me a heterosexist for thinking that "LGBT people are too outspoken about LGBT rights." Ironically, this same sidebar implored readers to think of gay people as interesting people who exist beyond their sexuality.
It starts with an innocent e-mail at the end of junior year, encouraging us to consider the importance of fundraising.
And before we know it, we've graduated to become the recipients of nightly phone calls from chipper-voiced undergraduates soliciting us for hundreds of dollars' worth of donations.
English is the
common link
To the Editor:
As a first generation American and son of Indian immigrants, I wholeheartedly disagree with David Kanter's opinion ("This is America-tolerate some diversity", March 26, 2008).
Although David may think he is defending the cause of immigrants, I believe he is sorely mistaken.
Remember when P. Diddy was screaming at everyone to Vote or Die? That's how Locust Walk feels now. People yell about how important it is for college students to vote in this historic election. (Has there ever been a non-historic election?)
But is it really that important for young people to vote? It's often cited that only 46.