2 NEWS
MONDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2019
THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM
Penn program lets students analyze election polling data Poli Sci prof. John Lapinski founded the program ISABELLA GLASSMAN Staff Reporter
A Penn program gives students the chance to work directly with election polling data ahead of the 2020 presidential election. The Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies, run through Penn’s Political Science department, chooses student fellows each semester to work with faculty on projects related to political outcomes research. Known as PORES, the program was founded by Political Science professor John Lapinski, who is also director of the Elections Unit at NBC News. Capitalizing on Lapinski’s connection, some PORES fellows in past years have had the opportunity to visit NBC News
on election night, making predictions and crunching data at the decision desk. Current fellows hope to have opportunities to do so as well in the 2020 primaries and elections. College sophomore Grayson Peters said he began working as a PORES fellow last spring, working with Lapinski to analyze presidential primary data from the past five election cycles. He hopes to continue his work as the presidential primary elections begin this spring. “I think that the opportunity to work with researchers who are not only at the top of their field privately at a research institution, but are also employed by a major news corporation is an opportunity that’s unparalleled at any other university in the country,” Peters said. “There’s no school in the country right now that is in a similar
position where they can bring their students with them to really contribute and they have the skills to do it,” Lapinski said. Having highly involved professors can also lead to challenges, including changes to course scheduling due to political events. While Lapinski’s “Applied Data Science” course is usually offered in the spring semester, this year it is offered in the fall because Lapinski and his colleagues will be working closely with NBC News next spring to cover the presidential primaries. PORES Director of Operations Andrew Arenge said the only change this brings is that it requires students to look ahead and plan their courses accordingly. Lapinski said he founded PORES to create an interdisciplinary option for students SEE PORES PAGE 3
SOPHIA SWIDEY
Penn students voted for midterm elections in Houston Hall. PORES gives students the chance to work directly with election polling data ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
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