March 4, 2014

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THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSIT Y OF PENNSYLVANIA

online at thedp.com

TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2014

UA postpones budget after petition to impeach pres.

The petition to impeach the UA president fell short by one vote, sources say BY FIONA GLISSON & KRISTEN GRABARZ Campus News Editor & Staff Writer Each year the Undergraduate Assembly completes their budget negotiations before spring break to avoid the political infighting which can characterizes election season. But this year, infighting seems to have arrived early, the latest hitch in a tumultuous budget process which has failed to produce a finalized budget for the next academic year. It came in a failed petition to impeach UA President and Col-

Waiting on the ward to change

Community leaders hope to increase Penn participation in local party committees BY SAMUEL BYERS Staff Writer

lege and Wharton Senior Abe Sutton, signed by a reported 11 UA members - one short of the necessary 12, or one third, of the UA’s 36 members. This was followed by a closed door meeting, where the Office of Student Affairs mediated between UA members. Budget negotiations were postponed to make room for the event. “Abe was abusing his power, working for the title instead of action,” an anonymous UA member, who said she sympathized with the motives of the authors but chose not sign the petition. Wharton senior and UA treasurer Tiffany Zhu, who did not respond to repeated requests for comment, allegedly was pres-

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Penn’s all-grant, no loan-policy is unique to the University, but how does its undergraduate student aid rank among some of the other Ivies? On Friday afternoon, President Amy Gutmann announced a new initiative - effective immediately - that aims to raise $240 million for undergraduate financial aid. As undergraduate costs rise in the upcoming academic year, the University estimates that the average grant for eligible students will increase to $41,700 for the 2014-2015 school year. This academic year, the total financial aid budget was $188 million and the average grant per student was $40,200. The DP takes a look at financial aid around the Ivy League. Princeton University At Princeton, where the 2013-

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SEE UA PAGE 5

Financial Aid Across the Ivies BY FOLA ONIFADE Staff Writer

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Ward 27 Ward 27 Divisions (on Penn’s campus) Penn’s campus Graphics by Analyn Delos Santos Map tiles by Stamen Design

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2014 total cost of attendance for undergrads was $53,250, the average freshman received $41,450 in grants. The average grant covers the entire cost of tuition, according to Princeton’s Undergraduate Admissions. For expected family contributions, Princeton does not take into account the value of a family’s home when considering their assets. Princeton is one of six colleges that offer need-blind admission and full-need financial aid to international students. The other five schools are Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Amherst College, Yale University and Dartmouth College. Princeton offers its own financial aid application and does not require students to fill out or pay the fee for the CSS Profile. While Princeton’s tuition has increased by 58 percent since

asheen Crews is on a mission. In the basement dining area of the New Deck Tavern, he addressed a crowd of 20 or so community members gathered on a snowy Wednesday night in early February. “We want to fill all of these divisions in,” said Crews, referring to the empty sections of a map of University City that he had given to each table earlier in the evening. The map depicted the 27th ward, one of 66 regions of the city used to organize elections and determine representation. It was further subdivided into 23 “divisions,” each a few square blocks in size. Penn’s campus and the surrounding area where most students reside encompass 10 divisions - over 40 percent of the ward. However, only four of 20 seats near Penn on the Democratic ward committee - a political group which represents the party on a local level - are currently filled, and none of them are held by Penn students or faculty.

SEE GRANT PAGE 3

SEE WARD PAGE 2

THE HUNTSMAN HURDLE

Natalia Revelo/Associate Photo Editor

Editorial (215) 898-6585 • Business (215) 898-6581

Held every four years during Congressional midterms. Elected to represent their political party in the ward. Candidates must acquire 10 valid signatures from registered voters of their party living in their neighborhood and submit them to the City Commissioners before March 18th in order to be nominated. Elected during the party primaries in May.

Number of petition signatures needed for students to run for UA vs local ward committee Ward SAS SEAS Nursing Wharton Vice President

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President

SOURCE: Penn Nominations and Elections Committee

SEPTA to install elevators at 40th and Market street station BY CLAIRE COHEN Deputy News Editor

Students, such as the ones who were studying on the basement floor of Huntsman Hall on Monday, are preparing for all of their last minute work due for classes before spring break begins next week.

Ward Committee Members — Elections:

After years of community advocacy, SEPTA will finally install elevators at the 40th Street Station. Councilwoman Jannie Blackwel l a n nou nced pla ns last Wednesday to install elevators and renovate the station located on 40th and Market streets so that it complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act. This update will allow more than 1,000 residents with limited mobility to access the MarketFrankford Line. Senior citizens and mothers with strollers are people who might face the stairs as “a roadblock” to entering SEPTA at that station, SEPTA Director of Media Relations Jerri Williams said. “We wanted to bring ADA

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compliancy to that station, we know it’s a very active station and we want people able to be able to use the Market-Frankford Line,” Williams added. SEPTA is still in the design phase of the project, but it plans to start and potentially finish it by the end of 2016. Other than new elevators, renovations will include new signs, doors, gates, painting, flooring and ceiling systems. While the elevator location has not yet been decided, potential areas include the northwest corner and southwest corner of the 40th and Market intersection. The estimated cost for the installation will be $6.2 million, Williams said. Despite these changes, the station will not shut down during any point in construction, she added. The changes follow the Jan.

22 death of Penn biochemistry professor Ellis Golub, who fell headfirst down the station’s stairwell after trying to avoid a ladder at the bottom of the stairs. Golub’s wife, Linda Golub, told the Philadelphia Daily News that she wants SEPTA to accept responsibility for his death. “I want somebody to say t hey ’r e sor r y ... t h at t h i s shouldn’t have happened,” she said. “This man died for no reason, and I want to keep it from happening to somebody else.” Williams said that the plans to install elevators at the station were not due to Golub’s death. She declined to comment further about his death due to the possibility of future litigation. Installing elevators at the station has been a community priority since at least August

SEE SEPTA PAGE 6

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