March 15, 2017

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 2017

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

PENN BRACKET SEE PAGE 4 How Admissions avoids unforced errors The Office has protocols to prevent mistaken acceptances BRIAN ZHONG Staff Reporter

Elated reactions to college acceptances abound on Facebook and Twitter. Students hug their friends and parents, order apparel and post their college destinations on social media.

But for 277 applicants to the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, the initial wave of euphoria suddenly turned into disappointment. Last month, Columbia’s graduate program mistakenly sent 277 acceptance letters to applicants who were actually denied. The frequency of similar incidents at other colleges is well-documented. Time Magazine reported that in 2009, the University of

California at San Diego had to apologize to 28,000 applicants who initially received acceptance notices. More recently, in 2015, Carnegie Mellon University’s master’s program in computer science rescinded admission letters that were incorrectly sent to 800 applicants. Laurie Kopp Weingarten, cofounder and director of One-Stop College Counseling and a 1986

Wharton graduate, called errors like this “the cruelest joke you could ever play on somebody.” “I don’t think it’s something kids ever get over, even if they get accepted to a college that they end up loving,” Weingarten said. While Columbia told applicants it was “work ing SEE ADMISSIONS PAGE A2

W. HOOPS | No. 12 seed Penn draws NCAA

Tournament game against No. 5 Texas A&M in L.A. JONATHAN POLLACK Sports Editor

Penn women’s basketball is going back to Cali. After earning the Ivy League’s automatic bid with a victory over Princeton in the Ivy League Tournament final on Sunday, the Quakers drew a 12 seed in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament. Penn (22-7, 15-1 Ivy) will head to Los Angeles, Calif., to face No. 5 seed Texas A&M on Saturday at 9 p.m. Eastern time. The fanfare began early before the 7 p.m. selection show, with each member of the team being introduced as well as interviews with coach Mike McLaughlin and several players. Once the show began, the Red and Blue did not have to wait very long, as their game was the third one to be revealed. SEE MARCH MADNESS PAGE B4

ZACH SHELDON | SPORTS PHOTO EDITOR

Penn students aim to make Phila. March for Science inclusive

Our response must be to guard our commitment to free speech…” - Taylor Becker

Four graduate students lead the diversity committee

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HARRY TRUSTMAN Copy Editor

TRACK & FIELD ISSUE: A LOOK AT THE SEASON BACKPAGE

COURTESY OF JULIANNE RIEDERS

On Earth Day, April 22, Penn scientists plan to ditch their laboratories and take to the streets for the March for Science in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia march, one of over 350 marches that will take place across the United States from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., is intended to be a nonpartisan show of support for public policy based on scientific fact and a celebration of the role science plays in daily life. The march’s leadership structure includes a Diversity and Inclusion Committee, which is led by four Penn students. “What we want to show to the greater community is that we come in all races, religions, gender identities, sexual orientations, ability,

socio-economic backgrounds, political perspectives and nationalities. You name it and it’s in science,” said Adrian Rivera-Reyes, a doctoral candidate in the Perelman School of Medicine who is a leader of the diversity committee. Rivera stressed the importance of diversity in science. “This brings different opinions, different perspectives and different ideas which we know is critical for the scientific process which helps society as a whole,” he said. Rivera has reached out to the deans of diversity and inclusion at Philadelphia colleges such as Drexel University, Temple University and Thomas Jefferson University to publicize the event. School of Medicine doctoral candidate Julianne Rieders, another leader on the committee, said the committee is working to make the march SEE SCIENCE PAGE A3

One of the goals of the march is to improve communication between the scientific community and the general public at large.

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