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THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA • FOUNDED 1885

PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2023

VOL. CXXXIX

BYE BYE, BIRDS

NO. 6

Turn to page 11 to see how the DP captured the Super Bowl and its aftermath on and off campus last Sunday PHOTO BY ANNA VAZHAEPARAMBIL

Instant reactions Engineering Ph.D. students call for increase to to Super Bowl doctoral stipend in letter to administration The letter comes after Penn announced the largest one-time increase to the minimum Ph.D. stipend in December LVII from the streets of Philadelphia KATIE BARTLETT AND NICOLE MURAVSKY Staff Reporters

Thousands gathered downtown after the game, celebrating the season and mourning missed opportunities CALEB CRAIN Sports Editor

As the Kansas City Chiefs were crowned Super Bowl LVII champions, crowds gathered throughout Philadelphia to mourn a season where the Eagles were so close to their second Super Bowl victory. Instead, the Chiefs have their second championship in four years, while the Eagles remain at one. Thousands milled around Center City soon after the final whistle blew and defeat was in hand. The mood was largely somber and bitter as those who had been watching the game downtown spilled out of bars and into the streets. Many students had been watching the Super Bowl at various locations around campus. Several college houses hosted watch parties, and the University sponsored an event at Houston Hall, which was attended by hundreds of students and staff members. At the events, students described how this Eagles season brought them all together. “I consider Philadelphia my new home for these four years,” College sophomore Jake Maeng said from Lauder College House. “I just like to see everyone rally around the Eagles.” Downtown, hundreds of police officers were present to control the crowd and deter violence. Preparations had been underway for days, with the city greasing light poles and Broad Street, closed to traffic for several blocks around City Hall. Of course, these efforts were designed for a celebratory crowd. Instead, those in Center City seemed to have little interest in climbing poles, preferring instead to keep two feet on the ground. Sirens and chants of “F**k the Chiefs” provided the soundtrack for the dejected crowd. While most in attendance were peaceful, elements of the crowd turned violent, with fights breaking out and bottles being smashed. The game was tight throughout, with the Eagles leading for much of the first half. But the Chiefs offense was ruthless in the second half, with Patrick Mahomes, who was named the game’s MVP, making plays to set up a gamewinning field goal. Much of the anger was directed at the referees, with one person downtown, who declined to be named, screaming to the crowd “that ref can rot in hell.” For students who supported the Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday’s result made up for the insults they’d received over the past two weeks. “I totally would have loved to have days off [following an Eagles win], but not more than I See EAGLES, page 7

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PHOTO BY ABHIRAM JUVVADI

Students work in the Peter Detkin Lab, which is part of Penn’s Electrical Systems and Engineering Department, on Feb. 8.

Seventy-two Electrical and Systems Engineering Ph.D. students sent a letter to department leadership demanding an increase in the minimum doctoral stipend to $50,000 for the upcoming academic year. The letter — which was sent to ESE Department Chair George Pappas, Associate Dean for Graduate Programs Boon Thau Loo, and ESE Graduate Chair Troy Olsson — comes after Penn announced the largest one-time increase to the minimum Ph.D. student stipend in December. In the letter, the ESE students requested greater recognition and benefits from the University, citing the increased popularity of their field. The Office of the Provost, which announced the stipend increase, declined to comment on the letter. In November, Penn increased the minimum Ph.D. stipend from $30,547 to $38,000 and will be in effect at the start of the 2023-2024 academic

year. In the letter, the ESE students wrote that "one could only conclude" that the University expects doctoral students to conduct "world-class research" while living "at or below the minimum standard of living." According to a second-year ESE Ph.D. student, who requested anonymity due to fear of academic retaliation, the letter stemmed from a “general feeling” among the department’s graduate students about their Penn experience. “We often discuss our financial situations when we’re sitting around the table at lunch,” the student said. “It got to a point where we felt like we needed to take some action to do something.” In the letter, the students emphasized the benefits that the University gains from ESE research as well as Penn's plans to invest $750 million in engineering and data science infrastructure, which

will attract top students and faculty. “From our phones to the machines we interact with on the streets, the machine learning systems I study permeate many aspects of our lives,” the second-year student said. “To be able to conduct this research, you need to be comfortable and have a livable wage.” Owerko said that a lack of value placed on his work by the University and its resulting toll on graduate students' mental health and quality of life were his main reasons for contributing to and signing the letter. “It can be demoralizing to see my peers from undergrad progress into their careers while I’m still a student,’” Owerko said. “I often ask myself ‘What am I doing here?’ If the University doesn’t value my work, maybe I shouldn’t be here.” See PHD, page 7

New math sequence offered to economics majors The math department created two courses for students in social sciences, replacing MATH 1400 and MATH 1410 YASH RAJPAL Staff Reporter

Economics majors at Penn are no longer required to take MATH 1400: “Calculus I” and MATH 1410: “Calculus II” after the creation of two new math courses. In an attempt to adapt Penn’s math curriculum to students of all disciplines, the Math Department created two new courses tailored to students of the social sciences, specifically the cconomics major. The new courses — MATH 1070: “Mathematics of Change I” and MATH 1080: “Mathematics of Change II” — can now be taken to fulfill the mathematics requirement of the

economics major. Prior to the fall 2022 semester, students who were required to take the introductory and multivariate calculus sequence — such as economics majors — had to take both MATH 1400: “Calculus I” and MATH 1410: “Calculus II.” While the economics major still accepts MATH 1400 and MATH 1410, Department of Economics Undergraduate Chair Francis Diebold said that MATH 1070 and MATH 1080 are now the preferred calculus sequence. These courses, often considered some of the

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least popular courses at the University, have received pushback for their teaching practices, including the f lipped classroom format and weekly quizzes. MATH 1400 and MATH 1410, which were recently adapted to an engineeringfocused curriculum, are also heavy on physical science applications. The new courses, MATH 1070 and the subsequent MATH 1080, do not use the flipped classroom format and are intended to provide a See ECON, page 7