Penn in the News

The dismal 21.5 percent youth turnout during the 2014 midterm elections had many pundits crowing about apathetic millennials, but presidential elections are a different story for young voters and college students, particularly in the age of Obama. Exit polls put the under-30 cohort of the electorate in 2012 at almost one in five, or 19 percent, which is one point above the rate in 2008 when young people played a decisive role in electing President Obama. For that election college students, who make up more than a third of voters under 24, turned out in droves.

Julie Lythcott-Haims noticed a disturbing trend during her decade as a dean of freshmen at Stanford University. Incoming students were brilliant and accomplished and virtually flawless, on paper. But with each year, more of them seemed incapable of taking care of themselves. At the same time, parents were becoming more and more involved in their children’s lives. They talked to their children multiple times a day and swooped in to personally intervene whenever something difficult happened.

The “grit” study by Angela Duckworth of the School of Arts and Sciences is discussed and challenged.

Joseph A. DiPietro, president of the University of Tennessee system, has been facing some serious tests of his political skills as controversy has swirled around efforts to make the system’s campuses more diverse and inclusive. On Wednesday, Mr. DiPietro faced intense questioning about the university’s spending on diversity at a hearing of the State Senate’s subcommittee on higher education. Lawmakers there questioned whether the system actually has any measurable goals for its diversity efforts, or whether it will always want to spend more to do more.

Stewart Friedman of the Wharton School talks about the purpose of unlimited paid vacation time that some companies offer.

David Dinges of the Perelman School of Medicine expresses his hesitancy in applying a study’s findings about the sleep patterns of preindustrial, hunter-gatherer societies to people in Western society.

Kenneth Shropshire of the Wharton School is cited for his work with professional football coach Stephen M. Ross’ nonprofit organization aimed at using athletes and sports to combat racism.

A majority of faculty members say they are concerned about attacks on scholars for their comments on social media, even though only a small percentage of faculty members use social media to discuss politics and scholarship. At the same time, faculty members say colleges need to do more to encourage civil discourse online. The 2015 Inside Higher Ed Survey of Faculty Attitudes on Technology, available today, provides a snapshot of how faculty members feel about social media and how it relates to their professional and personal lives.

Mitchell Orenstein of the School of Arts & Sciences and undergraduate George Romer write about gas pipeline interests in the Syrian conflict.

Douglas Jerolmack of the School of Arts & Sciences says, “Knowing whether pebbles in a river moved 1 kilometer or 100 kilometers [0.6 miles or 62 miles] could tell us how stable water was on the surface of ancient Mars.”