Penn in the News

The three judges on the Kansas Court of Appeals flagged from the start of a decision issued Friday that they didn't approve of the content of a series of tweets by Navid Yeasin, whom the University of Kansas expelled in part on the basis of those remarks about his ex-girlfriend. The tweets were "puerile and sexually harassing," the judges wrote. But the judges went on to say that doesn't matter.

Matthew Mendlik of the Perelman School of Medicine comments on the final words of the dying.

A debate that has flared at Wesleyan University for the past two weeks, over where to draw the line between freedom of speech and the need to ensure that the campus is a safe space for students from minority backgrounds, peaked in a students-only meeting here on Sunday night. The campus’s nearly 150-year-old newspaper, The Wesleyan Argus, has been at the center of the debate, and one of the paper’s editors said a potential resolution was discussed that might strip the paper of the funding it uses to print twice weekly.

Emily Owens of the School of Arts & Sciences is cited for finding that college police departments typically adopt a “harm reduction model of crime control.”

We are experiencing one of the greatest threats to the university as we know it. It is not about enrollments, revenues, regulation, rankings, or leadership. It is about the ability to engage in unfettered debate at American colleges. It is about the assurance of intellectual freedom, about what can and cannot be discussed. Colleges face criticism from students and others uncomfortable with the points of view expressed in the classroom and by individual faculty members.

Kate Temme of the Perelman School of Medicine explains the importance of energy availability during the female athlete triad.

Marybeth Gasman of the Graduate School of Education is quoted about the substantial difference in funding for inner city public schools and those in suburban areas.

Lara Wyatt, a high-school sophomore in Hartsville, S.C., loves to sing. She’s performed in 17 productions, playing Ursula in The Little Mermaid, Rizzo in Grease. Soft-spoken and thoughtful, she’s not the kind of 15-year-old who’s likely to worry anyone. Unless you happen to run an admissions office, in which case she might scare you a little. For starters, Ms. Wyatt doesn’t put much stock in websites. When she began her college search last summer, she turned to Tumblr, where photos of Wagner College impressed her.

Treasury Deputy Secretary Sarah Bloom Raskin said it is time for student loan servicers, the middlemen that collect and apply payments, to take responsibility for people falling behind or defaulting on their loans. In a speech Monday at the National Foundation for Credit Counseling conference, the second in command at Treasury, pressed the need for market-wide servicing standards to help borrowers navigate the student loan system. Too many people, she said, are unaware of repayment options or fight to get consistent information and help.

Scott Barry Kaufman of the School of Arts & Sciences is quoted about intelligence research.