Daily Pennsylvanian

Students graduating from the School of Social Policy and Practice weren’t the only ones who had the chance to see Vice President Joe Biden when he spoke at the school’s commencement ceremony on Monday, May 17.

Biden, whose daughter Ashley Biden received her master of social work degree at the ceremony, arrived in Philadelphia on May 17 — and several Penn students were selected as drivers in his motorcade from the airport to Penn.

“We don’t get involved in the motorcade,” Division of Public Safety Vice President Maureen Rush said, explaining that DPS and Philadelphia Police generally “marry up with the Secret Service” when high profile officials actually arrive on campus from the airport. DPS, Philadelphia Police and the Secret Service then coordinate closely to stop traffic and ensure extra security, Rush added.

The student drivers for the motorcade were selected from volunteers from Penn Democrats, according to the Penn Dems President and College sophomore Emma Ellman-Golan.

“It’s easier for them not to have Secret Services drive,” Ellman-Golan added.

Student drivers are usually only needed whenever the President or Vice-President are in town, according to Ellman-Golan, as “not everyone gets a motorcade.”

“It would have to be for someone they’d close the streets for,” she said.

To be eligible to drive in Biden’s motorcade, volunteers had to be American citizens over 18 years of age with a valid driver’s license. PennDems could not supply the names of selected volunteers.

Volunteers signed up for a block time commitment which was longer than the actual drive to allow time to pick up the vehicles, go through security and then get to the airport.

Ellman-Golan was a driver for President Obama’s motorcade during his last visit to Philadelphia, and described the experience as “exhilarating.”

“It was pretty easy driving on the highways with police escorts to block off the streets,” she said. “The hardest thing was trying to follow the car in front of you pretty closely, especially when trying to make a right turn when driving at 75 miles per hour. My heart was pounding – driving that fast was really exciting.”

Biden was invited to speak at the commencement because has “long supported policy and legislation aimed at social change,” SP2 Dean Richard Gelles said in a press release.

“We are pleased that he has accepted our invitation to be the Commencement speaker at the graduation exercises,” the release continued.

Penn Hospice at Rittenhouse and Good Shepherd Penn Partner rehabilitation patients got a chance to get “Flyered” up just one day after Philadelphia’s ice hockey team reached the Stanley Cup finals, thanks to a May 25 visit from some of the players’ wives and the Fun Patrol, the Flyers’ official pep squad.

The Fun Patrol walked into the hospital with Flyers’ T-shirts, posters, and bandanas, and provided a sense of excitement for the patients, according to Penn Medicine spokeswoman Kim Guenther.

Doreen Holmgren, wife of Flyers’ general Manager Paul Holmgren, said she was concerned when she was asked to visit the hospice center.

“I realized that people there would be sick and in need of help,” Holmgren said.

“I expected to go in and see people who were like ‘what are you doing here, you’re not where I am, you’re healthy and I’m not,’” she added.

Instead, the visitors were met with strong appreciation from the patients.

“As soon as they walked into the room the patients’ faces lit up,” Guenther said.

“They were very excited to see some of the family members of the Flyers and to get a Flyers’ T-shirt or bandana that they could have in their rooms or wear while doing rehabilitation exercises,” she continued.

The visit “brightened the mood in the room and brightened [the patients’] day,” Guenther added.

“We were putting the bandanas on [the patients] and they were saying ‘thank you so much,’” Holmgren said. “One elderly patient was reduced to tears because she’s such a Flyers fan.”

Kellie Page, wife of Comcast Spectacor COO John Page, is a member of the hospice Volunteer Advisory board and was able to put the Flyers in contact with the Penn Hospice staff, Guenther explained.

The Flyers Fun Patrol contacted Penn Hospice to reach out to the community and “really build up the momentum” for the Flyers, who were poised to reach the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup playoffs the day before, according to Guenther.

“We decided it would be best for them to visit the hospice patients and some of the rehab patients at Rittenhouse who were going through trying ordeals and could use a positive event,” Guenther said.

One hospice patient and one rehabilitation patient had been growing a beard for the playoffs season. “In some sort of superstitious mode, if the Flyers won then they wouldn’t shave,” she said. “They were both very big Flyers fans and were really thrilled to see that organization visit,” Guenther explained.

The visit put “everything into perspective” when it comes to what is important in her life, Holmgren said.

“Yes, our husbands’ lives are important to us, and they’ve been given a lot of success this year, but I feel really blessed that I was able to reach out and spend sometime with these people who felt a little happiness just by our being there,” she said.

“I was honored,” she added. “These people were a gift to me. I don’t feel that what we did was a gift to them — I felt that they were a gift to me. It was a very humbling experience.”

The Flyers will play the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Following the May 18th primary, Pennsylvania voters now know who will be on the Senate ballot in November — Democratic U.S. Representative Joe Sestak and former U.S. Republican Pat Toomey.

While Toomey’s victory was expected, Sestak’s 54 percent to 46 percent victory over 30-year incumbent U.S. Senator Arlen Specter came as a political surprise. Although recent polls indicated a significant tightening of the race, just a few months ago polls were projecting that Specter would be ahead by a double-digit margin.

Penn students offered a variety of explanations for Sestak’s victory.

“Eight points is a large margin,” said Penn Democrats President and College sophomore Emma Ellman-Golan. “For 30 years, Democratic voters have been told Arlen Specter is a Republican. It’s really hard for people to make the change right away.”

Philadelphia Student Coordinator for Students for Sestak and former Daily Pennsylvanian Photo Manager Ted Koutsoubas attributed Sestak’s victory to the will of Democratic voters.

“We had the establishment against us,” Koutsoubas explained, “but at the end of the day what matters is who people vote for — and they wanted Congressman Sestak.”

Now that the primary has concluded, attention has turned to Specter’s legacy in the Senate and the general election in November.

College junior Colin Kavanaugh, Southeast Pennsylvania coordinator of Students for Specter and former Daily Pennsylvanian columnist and reporter, hopes that Specter is remembered for his independence.

“The political atmosphere is so partisan and polarized,” Kavanaugh said. “Personally, I always admired Senator Specter’s attention to every issue. He has never been a rubber stamp.”

Specter’s support for the National Institute of Health will be a part of his legacy — funding for the NIH has increased ten-fold since Specter began to appropriate funds to the organization.

Specter won $10 billion in funding for the NIH in exchange for his vote on the 2009 federal stimulus bill — a vote that eventually forced him out of the Republican Party, according to the Washington Post.

Sestak also expressed his support for the NIH, stating in his May 18 victory speech that Specter’s support of the NIH was “a legacy to be proud of.”

“I have fought for increased funding for the NIH — including a request for a 7% increase this year — and other avenues of medical research and will continue to do so in the Senate,” Sestak wrote in a statement.

Many of Penn’s schools receive NIH funding— particularly the School of Nursing, ranked first in federal research funding, and the School of Medicine, which has received a total of $155.4 million from the NIH.

Penn Democrats and Students for Sestak will be campaigning for the Congressman in the fall.

“It’ll be a challenging race, but in the end it’s going to be a pretty clear choice,” said Koutsoubas.

Penn Psychology Professor Martin Seligman’s contributions to the field of psychology were recognized when he received the Philadelphia Behavior Therapy Association’s second Lifetime Achievement Award on May 26.

Following the award ceremony at Drexel University’s Bossone Research Enterprise Center, Seligman gave a lecture, and later there was a wine and cheese reception.

Seligman received the award because of his unique career — “both in terms of scholarship and bringing information to the public,” said Drexel University Associate Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry David Bennett, who also serves on the board of the PBTA.

In addition to serving as the Fox Leadership Professor of Psychology at Penn, Seligman is the Director of the Positive Psychology Network and the former president of the American Psychological Association.

However, his most notable contributions to psychology have been in the field known as positive psychology, particularly in the areas of learned helplessness, depression and the four elements of happiness.

“He’s been the driving force of positive psychology,” Bennett said.

Positive psychology is the study of four modes of happiness: the pleasant life, the engaged life, the meaningful life, and the achieving life, according to a PBTA press release.

Seligman’s books—which are more than 20 in number—are largely about motivation and personality. These include: Learned Optimism, What You Can Change & What You Can’t, and Learned Helplessness.

During his lecture, Seligman gave an overview of positive psychology and outlined ways for increase well-being. He also presented outcome studies on positive education—the teaching of positive psychology skills in schools to help to prevent depression and build lifelong happiness among the youth.

The audience’s response to the lecture was overwhelmingly positive, according to PBTA President Deborah Roth Ledley.

Dr. Seligman “is a fantastic speaker” who had a “lot of insightful things to say,” she said.

The PBTA promotes scientifically-based psychotherapy in the Philadelphia region by sponsoring lectures, workshops, and discussions in order to educate practicioners, clinical scientists, and the public.

No progress has been made with any of the seven forcible sex offenses reported in April, according to Vice President of Public Safety Maureen Rush. The total number of offenses, five of which were classified as rape, is half the number reported in all of 2009.

Several factors determine if a sexual offense case goes to trial, including whether the perpetrator has been arrested, Rush said.

She cited as an example an indecent sexual assault in which a woman was “patted on the bottom” and no arrest was made.

According to Rush, inappropriate patting “happens from time to time.”

“It’s unfortunate. We’ve had situations where we staked out someone hitting in the same area at the same time and same day of the week. It turned out to be a student at another university in the area. Strange people do strange things,” she explained.

Rush confirmed, however, that April’s indecent sex assaults were isolated incidents.

She also said that victims often do not wish to prosecute, but added “that doesn’t stop [DPS] from still supporting [the victims].”

For an article printed May 13, Rush told The Daily Pennsylvanian that the five rapes were acquaintance rapes, occurring between individuals known to one another.

“Rape is rape whether it’s an acquaintance or stranger,” she said.

If the offender is a stranger, there’s a heightened sense of alarm in the community, “but acquaintance rapes across the country are probably one of the most under reported crimes,” Rush continued.

“People drink and blame themselves, and think they gave the green light,” despite repeated efforts from DPS throughout New Student Orientation to tell students they are unable to consent to sex when drunk, Rush said.

“If there’s still chemistry when you’re both sober, go for it.”

The disciplinary action for rape, she explained, can mean a removal from the community whether or not the case proceeds to criminal justice. If “there’s an awareness of who the perpetrator was” the information is “turned over to the Office of Student Conduct.”

One of the rapes reported in April had gone unreported since the incident’s occurrence in 2008. Although the criminal justice system becomes a less viable option the longer a victim waits to report a rape, the fact that the report was made at all is positive, according to DPS.

“Not always, but generally there’s something that makes them want to visit that front, like therapy. In a case like this they want to move on, and we support them,” Rush said.

The volume of offenses is at times hard to reconcile, Rush admitted. “On the one hand we want people to feel they can report sexual assault and know they can get the resources needed. On the other hand, any crime is too much crime.”

Rush said that DPS needs to “put out the dangers” of sexual assault and also make known the resources for support that are out there adding that sexual assault is “one of the hardest crimes to balance for everybody.”

DPS spokeswoman Stef Cella said two of the incidents were currently being investigated, and therefore could not comment on them. Rush explained that all sexual assault on campus is “primarily investigated by the Philadelphia Special Victims Unit but assisted by Penn Police and [DPS’s] Special Services Department.”

She also emphasized the availability of DPS safety resources throughout the year.

“You see just as many Allied Barton security guards and Penn Police in the summer as in the fall. It’s even more important if you’re by yourself — go up to them and say ‘walk me to 43rd and Walnut.’”

She added that students are “paying for [security] anyway, so we want to utilize that opportunity to make sure [they] stay safe.”

The trial for 28-year-old Upper Darby resident Shacoy McNish, who was accused of stealing the identities of patients at the Hospital of the University of the Pennsylvania in November, was postponed by a Delaware County judge until July 6.

The case was postponed for the fourth time when Judge Patricia Jenkins called for the delay on May 24 on behalf of the commonwealth. Previous postponements were called due to witnesses were not available to attend the trial, but in this case the judge herself was unable to appear.

The case was given priority scheduling in its continuance, solving the witness problem by selecting a date when all parties would be able to appear, according to Delaware County Assistant District Attorney Michael Mattson, The new date has been classified as “date certain,” Mattson said.

Although McNish is charged with 19 counts of identity theft, he accessed 18 patient files, University of Pennsylvania Health System Susan Phillips told The Daily Pennsylvanian in December.

McNish allegedly accessed the files through a former employee of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, Phillips said in an April e-mail.

According to a police affidavit, McNish reportedly purchased about $3,000 of merchandise at an Upper Darby Sears store on Nov. 18, 2009 and Nov. 23, 2009 using social security numbers associated with two Sears credit card accounts — whose holders were unaware the accounts had been opened .

Phillips explained in April that the Health System’s procedures did not undergo any changes as a result of McNish’s arrest, but later added that even if changes were being made she could not divulge any details.

“My change in party will enable me to be reelected,” Sen. Arlen Specter says with a smirk on his face. Damning images and statements follow — a GOP logo, an old endorsement by President George W. Bush, a photograph with Sarah Palin. Specter repeats his earlier line, smirk intact. The narrator concludes, “Arlen Specter switched parties to save one job — his, not yours.”

This ad, titled “The Switch” and released by Rep. Joe Sestak’s campaign, capitalized on voters’ concerns that Specter had switched his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat not on ideological grounds, but simply to remain in power. It charged that Specter was not truly a Democrat. Sure enough, Sestak introduced himself at the beginning of the ad as “the Democrat.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Sestak had spent $1.6 million in distributing the ad and that the average broadcast television viewer in the city had viewed it 12 times. It is being heralded by press as a major reason for Sestak’s recent victory, but it is getting more credit than it deserves.

Various commentators have referred to it as the best political ad this campaign season. The Fix, a political blog run by The Washington Post, said it was perhaps “the turning point in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary.”

Even Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a supporter of Specter, acknowledged the impressiveness of the ad. “What Joe Sestak did right was hire a great campaign group,” Rendell told The Wall Street Journal. “His media outfit did a great job.”

The poll numbers, too, appear to confirm the ad’s importance. A Muhlenberg/Morning Call poll released on May 2 had Specter beating Sestak 48 percent to 42 percent. On May 7, the two were tied at 43 percent apiece. “The Switch” was released in the interim.

But trying to give so much credit to one ad — no matter how good — is too simplistic.

Oddly, with so many sources reiterating the significance of the ad, one of the few contradicting voices is coming from the maker of the ad itself, the political-consulting group known as The Campaign Group.

“It’s superficial to reduce a long, complicated election into one 30-second ad,” said J.J. Balaban, a principal consultant with The Campaign Group, which has been garnering much favorable press because of it. “I make the TV ads, but it’s wrong to give them the undue attention.”

In fact, it is perhaps another ad — a 60-second positive biographical spot about Sestak — that played a larger role in Sestak’s increased popularity. This ad details Sestak’s experience and qualifications, particularly his drive to reform health care in light of his daughter’s battle with a brain tumor.

“In a Democratic primary, people want to vote for something, not just against something,” Balaban said.

Internal polling by Sestak’s campaign found that he went from trailing Specter by 22 points to trailing by just six points within two weeks of the release of this positive ad, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. This means that the jump seen in the polls after the negative ad aired had been developing for quite some time. “The Switch” was released just 12 days before the election, by which time Sestak’s campaign had already gained a lot of traction.

Sestak couldn’t have defeated a 29-year incumbent who was supported by state and national big wigs with just a 30-second ad. It took a grueling months-long campaign to accomplish what he did.

Prameet Kumar is a rising Wharton junior born in India but raised in New York. His e-mail address is prameet@wharton.upenn.edu.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a 51-page report early this week based on inspections of the 12 Veterans Affairs hospitals that currently have brachytherapy programs. Brachytherapy is a prostate cancer treatments in which radioactive seeds are implanted near cancerous tissue.

The inspections and subsequent report came after former School of Medicine Radiology Professor Gary Kao reportedly misplaced seeds in 97 of 116 procedures at the Philadelphia Veteran Affairs Medical Center.

NRC representative Viktoria Mitlyng said the errors at the Philadelphia VA Hospital were “so severe” that the NRC wanted to ensure “other Veterans Affairs facilities throughout the country didn’t have the same problems.”

In January, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs took responsibility for the botched procedures and in March the NRC — a government agency that regulates that use of nuclear materials — issued the Philadelphia VA hospital a $227,500 fine. This is the second-largest fine the NRC has required for medical mistakes.

The inspections sought to determine whether the VA was correctly performing the functions required by their Master Materials License both in Philadelphia and across the nation, Mitlyng explained.

This special license gives certain government agencies oversight in their own use of nuclear materials. The license is only issued to government agencies that handle nuclear material at multiple locations such as the U.S. Navy, she said.

Under the license, the VA is expected to perform functions typically carried out by the NRC. These include inspecting VA facilities before and after procedures and determining how to enforce regulations.

The NRC found that despite performing the required inspections, the VA “failed to identify specific violations,” according to Mitlyng,

“We have concerns with the overall quality of the Veterans Affairs Master Material License Program. We have concerns with how the program is being implemented,” she said.

The VA is expected to respond to the NRC’s questions and concerns as detailed in the report at a predecisional enforcement conference on June 30.

Since the hospital’s brachytherapy program has been suspended, the Philadelphia VA hospital will not be present at the conference. According to Mitlyng, “they don’t have any plans to restart the program.”

For the 12 VA hospitals maintaining the program, the most drastic potential change is that “oversight of the separate VA hospitals would go back to the NRC.”

The VA hospitals could either voluntarily go back to the NRC or the NRC could revoke the Master Materials license, Mitlyng explained.

Another tournament run by the Penn women’s lacrosse team fell short last weekend — this time a little earlier than usual.

For the first time in three seasons, the Quakers were unable to advance to the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament. Eighth-seeded Penn dropped its quarterfinals match with one-seeded Maryland by a score of 15-10 Saturday in College Park, Md.

The Terrapins (20-1) handed the Quakers one of its three regular season losses, April 2 at Franklin Field, 12-6. And though the Quakers had faced the top-ranked team before, they were unable to make the necessary adjustments to best the Terps, who boast seven scoring threats according to Penn coach Karin Brower Corbett.

Corbett acknowledged that her team struggled defensively Saturday, as they could not fend off the Terps’ versatile offense. Maryland attackers Sarah Mollison and Caitlyn McFadden netted five goals apiece, while teammate Kerri Ellen Johnson was close behind with four.

“Our defense wasn’t what it usually is,” said senior midfield and Teewharton Trophy finalist Ali Deluca. “They’re a great team, and I’m not taking anything away from them, but we were not our best today.”

Offensively, however, the Quakers (15-4) were near the top of their game. DeLuca scored three goals and tallied three assists, which earned her six points on the day. Those six points brought the senior captain up to 73 points in 2009-10, breaking a school record for most points in a season that had remained untouched since 1981.

Fellow senior captain Emma Spiro netted four goals of her own, tying her career high.

“We really struggled on attack stagnant-wise [in the last game],” Corbett said. “I’m proud of the attack [this time around].”

In fact, the Quakers answered almost every Maryland goal with one of their own. In addition, Maryland and Penn took a near-equal amount of shots on goal, with 23 and 22, respectively.

But after the Red and Blue cut their deficit to three with nine minutes remaining, the Terps proved why they were the number-one seed in the tournament, going on a three-goal run from the 8:18 mark to the 6:20 mark. With that, Maryland sealed its victory and advanced to its second consecutive Final Four.

The Quakers now say goodbye to eight seniors, including Spiro, DeLuca — the program’s all-time leading scorer with 148 goals — and goalkeeper Emily Szelest. The class, the winningest in program history, finished with four Ivy titles and eight tournament victories.

“We showed heart,” Corbett said. “I’m really proud of my seniors for all that they’ve accomplished at their time of Penn. Especially Ali—how she plays with so much heart all the time and can put the team on her shoulders.”

Pretenders lead singer, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and animal rights activist Chrissie Hynde is scheduled to lead a demonstration today sponsored by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, according to a PETA press release.

The event, taking place at noon at the McDonald’s on 40th and Walnut streets, will feature Hynde’s “I’m hating it” parody ad and a costumed chicken.

Hynde and the chicken will present McDonald’s customers with “Unhappy Meals” containing a “menacing” Ronald McDonald cutout, a mangled plastic chicken, and a packet of fake blood, according to the release.

PETA’s “McCruelty” campaign urges McDonald’s suppliers to use less cruel slaughter methods, according to PETA’s website.

Hynde has been involved with the campaign for over a year.

PETA has at least 2 million members worldwide, and generally focuses efforts on farms, laboratories, and the clothing and entertainment industries through investigations, public education, legislation, animal rescue, protests and celebrity involvement.

Nearly a month removed from his stellar performance at the Ivy Championships on the famous greens of Baltusrol, Penn sophomore Scotty Williams found himself on an even bigger stage, albeit on a lesser-known course.

Williams was one of 75 golfers competing at the NCAA East Regional on The Course at Yale last Thursday through Saturday. The postseason tournament featured 14 teams as well as five individuals who qualified for bids, Williams among them.

Despite playing as an individual for his first time at Penn, the sophomore said he was not nervous. He did, however, admit to being a bit wide-eyed among competition from high-profile schools like Texas and UCLA.

“It was just a lot more legitimate than anything I had ever played in,” he said.

After three rounds of play at Yale, Williams shot a 70-73-79 (+12), finishing in a four-way tie for 58th place.

And though he struggled on the final day and found himself in the bottom half of the leaderboard, when all was said and done, Williams impressed coach Scott Allen.

“I think he showed he can compete and play with the best teams in the country and he would fit in on just about any team in the country,” Allen said.

The sophomore got off to a hot start in round one, birdying the 18th to finish the day at even-par with a score of 70. Williams’ impressive opening round earned him a nine-way tie for 18th place.

Even so, Allen and Williams sought to make some adjustments heading into the second round of play, particularly in his iron play.

“We felt like he putted real well the first day, but maybe didn’t make as many birdies because he didn’t hit as many iron shots close,” Allen said.

Extra work before the second day yielded mixed results. Though he had two birdies on the back nine, Williams struggled at the tail end of the front-nine and finished the day at three-over and in an eight-way tie for 34th place.

But on the final day, Williams’ putter “went a little cold” Allen said. A rough time on the 18th hole, the same hole the sophomore birdied in the first round, tripped up Williams, who triple bogeyed the par five.

According to Williams, a “terrible drive” turned the hole into a disaster, as he soon struggled hitting through trees and trying to reach the green.

“I was kind of laughing throughout the entire hole because it just sucked so badly,” Williams said. “It kind of threw in the towel for me.”

On the back nine, he posted two bogeys, and double bogeyed the final hole to finish nine-over.

Even with the disappointing final round, Williams’ run at the East Regional capped off a historic season. Williams is just the second player in school history to notch the top spot in the Ivy Championships since the event began 35 years ago.

And according to Allen, the future holds good things for Williams and his teammates.

“I still believe that we have the best squad in the [Ivy] League,” Allen said. “We’re bringing back five of our top seven players.”

Williams hopes a few of those players join him at NCAAs in the near future.

“I really want our team to win Ivies next year,” he said. “That’s my big, big goal.”

Men’s soccer coach Rudy Fuller, along with the rest of the Penn Athletics community, had heard about the University’s plans for the George A. Weiss Pavilion — connected to historic Franklin Field — since they were released last summer.

But during one of his first few times in the Pavilion’s world-class weight room, Fuller said, “nothing could have prepared us for this.”

The formal dedication of the structure, an addition to the north side of Franklin Field at 33rd St., will not take place until this upcoming fall. Since the end of classes, however, Penn’s varsity athletes have packed into the intercollegiate weight room to get started on offseason training.

And, much to their delight, they’ve been introduced to what Fuller called “arguably the top weight room in the country.”

“It’s I think completely transformed the experience for student-athletes,” he said. “It blows people away. They just can’t wait to get in here.”

Strength and Conditioning Manager Jim Steel has witnessed similar responses from student-athletes, noting them some looked like “a kid in a candy store.” With two running tracks spanning the entire room, state-of-the-art equipment — including 30 weightlifting racks, 40 LifeFitness machines and 18 heavy bags for kickboxing — and, most importantly, 18,600 square feet of space, the new weight room opens up a variety of training possibilities.

“We want our athletes to enjoy their workouts and to want to train,” Steel said. “The new facility provides more opportunities for different exercises, expands the workouts we can do … [and] makes the programs more effective.”

The old weight room, located a floor above the new one, encompassed 4,500 square feet of space. With four times that in the new facility, multiple teams can work out at once so scheduling is no longer a “nightmare,” according to Steel.

Soccer player Kaitlin Campbell said she was struck by the size and cleanliness of the new facility. In fact, Campbell was so excited about using it that she decided to stay at Penn for the summer to train for the upcoming season.

“I wish I had more time here,” the rising senior said.

Campbell, who was not even shown the weight room during her visit prior to coming to Penn, believes the addition will help recruiting immensely. Fuller and Steel agreed, pointing out that tours have already seen a boost in interest and frequency.

“This may be the most important improvement to facilities in my time at Penn,” said Fuller, who is entering his 13th season with the Quakers. “This in one fell swoop just improved every athletic team at Penn.”

While the weight room is only available to varsity athletes, the other main section of Weiss Pavilion, the Fox Fitness Center, is set to open Tuesday according to Director of Athletic Communications Mike Mahoney. The center will be available to all Penn undergraduates, as well as people with memberships at the David Pottruck Health and Fitness Center.

Retail space for food and beverages, game-day concessions and catering will make up the final component of the nearly-$26 million project.

“[Weiss Pavilion] molds into the history and tradition of Franklin Field,” Steel said. “It’s definitely gonna become an integral part of the area.”

Beginning in the fall, textbooks will have something in common with cars and DVDs.

The Penn Bookstore recently announced that students will soon be able to rent their textbooks instead of buying them. Although the bookstore has not yet determined the exact discount that will be taken off books that are rented, the ballpark range has been given as 25 to 50 percent. And we think that anything that saves students money on often-exorbitant textbook prices is a good thing.

We applaud the Penn Bookstore for making this commitment to helping students save money at a time when many Penn families are facing severe financial difficulties. And we are especially appreciative that the bookstore has said it is willing to forgo profits on textbooks by renting them to students at lower prices — maybe breaking even, or maybe even losing money — in order to assist students.

However, as few as 15 percent of textbooks sold at the Penn Bookstore may be available to rent. Though the bookstore has promised to make the most expensive textbooks — including many of those required for large lecture classes — available for students to rent, students may still need to purchase the vast majority of their textbooks.

While we understand that some subject areas are going to be better fits for this program than others, we encourage professors to communicate and work with the bookstore between now and July 1 — the deadline for books to be added to the bookstore’s rental list — to ensure that as many books as possible make it on that list. Students are going to be a lot more willing to read those 150 pages in three days if they don’t have to also spend $150 on the book they’re reading.

In a political surprise, U.S. Representative Joe Sestak defeated incumbent Senator Arlen Specter in the Pennsylvania Democratic Senate primary Tuesday.

Sestak’s opponent in Pennsylvania’s general election will be Representative Pat Toomey, who won the Republican senatorial primary over Peg Luksik.

It was the first democratic Senate campaign for Specter, a five term senator who switched from the Republican party to the Democratic party in 2009. At press time, Sestak led Specter 53 to 47 percent according to the Associated Press.

Southeast Pennsylvania coordinator for Students for Specter and College junior Colin Kavanaugh said Specter’s loss was not for lack of campaigning.

“Specter is not Martha Coakley,” he said, adding that more can be attributed to a rise in anti-incumbent feeling. “He made all of the right moves….whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, it is not a good environment to be an incumbent. We couldn’t get over the fact that Specter has been a senator for 30 years.”

Kavanaugh, a former Daily Pennsylvanian columnist and reporter, also cited the weather as an explanation of Specter’s loss. “The rain killed us. Voters didn’t turn out in Specter’s home base of Philadelphia,” he said.

In addition, Kavanaugh feels that President Barack Obama’s support, which Specter had enjoyed on the campaign trail, does not carry as much weight as previously imagined. “At the end of the day it’s not so much what Barack Obama wants, it’s what voters think Barack Obama wants,” he said.

College sophomores Emma Ellman-Golan and Ted Koutsoubas, College sophomore and presidents of Penn Democrats and Students for Sestak respectively, were unavailable for comment.

Addressing the graduating Class of 2010 in Franklin Field, Ambassador to China and Penn alumnus Jon Huntsman, Jr. joked, “No, you didn’t get Lady Gaga.”

“You didn’t get Dick Cheney, he’ll be at Yale,” he said, adding, “Snoop Dog came to spring fling.”

Huntsman combined humor with reflection and advice during his speech at Penn’s 254th commencement ceremony on May 17.

Penn Provost Vincent Price encouraged graduates to learn from Huntsman’s experience as a Penn alumnus.

Huntsman remembered the advice his grandfather had given his father, to follow the path he had by going into education. Huntsman’s father, who became a successful businessman, told his him, “control your destiny, go into business.”

Huntsman, who graduated from the College in 1987, said, “an amazing thing took place at my studies here — I found my passion.”

The former Governor of Utah encouraged the new graduates to seek out their passions as well.

“Life will be uncertain until you do,” he warned.

“The world is still managed at all levels by human beings and human emotions,” Huntsman continued. Successful people, he added, have “the most precious of attributes — good judgment.”

At the end of his address, Huntsman recommended what he called the “The Five F’s” — “find yourself”, “find a cause”, “face failure”, “find someone to love” and “find meaning.”

Penn President Amy Gutmann also offered her advice to the new graduates.

“It’s about to get real,” Gutmann said, but urged the Class of 2010 to “take heart,” because “rumors about the real world have been greatly exaggerated.”

She encouraged graduates to embrace feelings of apprehension as they leave Penn. “Those panicked moments” are actually what will incite students to achieve their potential,” she added.

In order to succeed, graduates must “let go” of perfection, she said. “This is a call to be brave and courageous.”

Other speakers for Penn commencement include U.S. Vice President Joe Biden at the School of Social Policy & Practice’s ceremony and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell at the School of Dental Medicine.