October 2, 2017

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MONDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2017 VOL. CXXXIII NO. 75

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

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Students, faculty fear new travel ban’s effects President Trump will implement a revised travel ban that goes into effect on Oct. 18. MANLU LIU Staff Reporter

When Persian literature professor Fatemeh Shams woke up the morning of Sept. 27, she was devastated to hear that officials of the United States Embassy in Dubai had rejected her Iranian mother’s visitor visa without reason, prolonging the amount of time that she has been unable to see her mother in person. This incident came just days after President Donald Trump signed a presidential proclamation restricting travel to the United States for certain nationals from Chad, Iran, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen. The order was signed on Sept. 24 — the last day of Trump’s revised travel ban, which had barred most foreigners from six Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for 90 days. When Trump’s latest proclamation goes into effect on Oct. 18, Shams said that neither she nor her mother will be able to visit each other. Shams said she goes to sleep every night fearing that she won’t have the opportunity to see her parents, who are in poor health, while they are still alive. Even though the majority of the proclamation’s restrictions won’t be implemented until next month, Trump’s announcement included a provision that called for its immediate application to nationals who are not judged to have a “bona fide relationship” with someone in the United States. An immediate family member lawfully residing in the United States is a typical example of a bona fide relationship. Even though her mother’s visa application contained solid evidence for such a relationship, Shams said officials of the U.S. Embassy in Dubai denied her visa application without opening her file and accused her mother of lying about her daughter’s visa status in order to get into the United States. “Not giving a visa to someone is one thing, treating them like the way they treated my mom is another,” she said. “They mistreated her, they called her a liar, they told her, ‘You’re going there to stay and not come back.’” SEE TRAVEL BAN PAGE 6

Angel Fan | Staff Photographer Cassandra Jobman | Design Associate Sammie Yoon | Design Associate

Hundreds of people joined together Sept. 30 to attend the March to End Rape Culture in Philadelphia. The march, which started at Thomas Paine Plaza, included speakers from prominent organizations like Take Back the Night that advocate for an end to sexual assault and provide resources for survivors. Various students from schools across Philadelphia attended the march, including many from Penn.

Penn will now accept alternative to Common App The Coalition aims to increase accessibility HARRY TRUSTMAN Copy Editor

Almost all current Penn students were admitted through The Common Application, an organization used by 731 colleges that offers a method for students to apply to multiple universities using one application. In the past, students could gain admission to Penn only through the Common App or, for a select few, through the QuestBridge National College Match program. For the first time, however, the Class of 2022 will also have the option of applying through a new service: the Coalition Application. The Coalition for Access, Affordability, and Success officially launched last year for the 2016-17 application cycle and offered 46 member school applications, including Yale University. According to Coalition Executive Director Annie Reznik, roughly 100 confirmed member schools will accept applicants using the Coalition for the 2017-18 cycle, including the entire Ivy League and state flagship schools, such as

Pennsylvania State University and University of Pittsburgh. “We’re really fortunate to have Penn as [a member] in particular,” Reznik said. “There is such a great opportunity for students in the state of Pennsylvania to have Pennsylvania’s Ivy League institution, as well as Pennsylvania’s leading public universities.” While Penn is a member of the Common App, Penn State and Pitt are not. Reznik said the Coalition has made it possible for students to apply to all three using one application. “It’s a really nice setup for students who want to stay in their home state, and the state in general to retain talent,” she added. Part of the Coalition’s mission is focused on making the college application process easier and more affordable, particularly for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. For College sophomore and Penn First Co-Mentorship Chair Daniel Gonzalez, the Coalition’s transparent process of obtaining application fee waivers is an example of such an improvement. He said that when he applied to college, getting a fee waiver was “a fickle process, where you get it or

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Dean of Admissions Eric Furda said, “Students with both The Common Application and The Coalition are held to the same high standards and Penn Admissions does not favor one application over the other.”

you don’t, and you don’t even know why.” Gonzalez said that, were he applying to Penn today, he would opt to use the Coalition Application. As a newer program, the Coalition also has a couple key techno-

OPINION | Toe the Line: Trump's tax plan

This week, Penn Democrats and College Republicans discuss President Trump’s recently proposed tax plan PAGE 4

SPORTS | A game of inches vs. Dartmouth Penn football lost to Dartmouth on the last play of the game Friday night in the Quakers’ Ivy League opener BACKPAGE

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logical advantages over the Common App. The “Coalition Locker” is a cloud-storage space that enables students to upload digital media, such as essays and resumes, at any point throughout high school, with

NEWS Fossil Free Penn protests at Trustees meeting PAGE 2

the intention of eventually including these items in their college applications. The feature is intended to be particularly useful for low-income students without access to a computer. Nancy Griesemer, the founder of

college counseling service College Explorations LLC, highlighted the ability to upload a personal essay to the Coalition Application, rather than manually entering text into the Common App, as a major benefit. “They can turn their essays into PDFs which gives them a great deal of flexibility in terms of content and also gives them the opportunity to really control how their essay looks,” Griesemer said. “That’s a real difference right there.” But some critics say the service also has flaws. Brian Taylor, the managing director of the college counseling service Ivy Coach, said the Coalition Application has a smaller number of member colleges than the Common App. “Why should you have to go to the great length of filling out this whole other application when so many schools don’t subscribe to the Coalition Application?” Taylor said. “Why not just do it all on one application? It’s easier for everybody.” Penn Dean of Admissions Eric Furda, the former Board of Directors chair of the Common App, said SEE ADMISSIONS PAGE 3

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