Photo courtesy: Ed Yakovich

Philadelphia is a vibrant city worth exploring, so step outside of University City as often as you can. Here are some of Philly’s best to get you started.

Everyone from Philly knows the great cheesesteak debate: Geno’s or Pat’s? The rivalry between Geno’s Steaks and Pat’s King of Steaks is all the hype, and trying both just to pick a winner is a part of the Philadelphia experience. That’s not the only place one can find a quality cheesesteak, however. Jim’s Steaks on South Street more often than not has a line wrapped around the block, for good reason. Philip’s Steaks on Passyunk Avenue is another great stop. [Editor’s note: also consider John’s Roast Pork on Snyder and Weccacoe Avenues.]

South Street in itself is an interesting area to explore. From Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens, a non-profit mosaic installation well worth a Google, to the area’s eclectic collection of Bo, vintage, and specialty storefronts and restaurants.

Philly has enough food options to keep anyone eternally satisfied, including the glorious Reading Terminal Market. Reading Terminal, located in Center City, is the city’s oldest farmer’s market, housing over 80 vendors. It’s conveniently located right beside Chinatown, where shopping, eating and observing can be a unique experience.

Philadelphia is also packed with museums, offering something for everyone. There’s the Philadelphia Museum of Art (where one can be a tourist and run up the steps, Rocky-style), the Barnes Foundation (which houses an impressive collection of French impressionist paintings), the Franklin Institute (“The Art of the Brick” Lego exhibit is open until Oct. 4), the Academy of Natural Sciences (Drexel owns it; you get in for free) and the Mutter Museum, which showcases a number of medical marvels.

For a little of the city’s and nation’s history, check out Old City. Spend an afternoon at the Independence Mall visiting popular sites such as the Liberty Bell, the President’s House and the Constitution Center. Also in the area are the Betsy Ross House, former home of the woman who America’s first flag, and the Ben Franklin Museum, which features exhibits with personal artifacts, computer animations and displays detailing Franklin’s life.

Old City is only a few blocks from Spruce Street Harbor Park, one of the city’s newer hangout spots with food vendors, ambient lighting and relaxing hammocks. Rittenhouse Square is a bit closer to campus and a great spot to do homework or relax.

To keep up with Philly, the Uwishunu blog is a great way to stay up to date with the latest events and happenings.

The post Upperclassmen talk exploring Philly appeared first on The Triangle.

With the term beginning in a few short days, it’s time to think about textbooks. The upperclassmen’s first tip in the way of textbooks is to wait until the professor says you will actually be using the textbook to buy it. Sometimes professors prefer to teach from PowerPoint, or have outdated class registries with books they no longer rely on for their courses. It’s also beneficial to ask if it’s possible to use older editions of a text, which could save a significant amount of money as crucial information rarely changes between editions.

DrexelOne is also helpful as it offers a list of all the required texts for an upcoming term and easy access for purchase through the Drexel bookstore. But, do not click purchase before browsing around! By all means check out prices, in many cases students can save a pretty penny by shopping elsewhere, other than the Drexel bookstore.

There are tons of sites that offer new, used and rented textbooks. Buying a textbook in used condition is always cheaper than buying one in new condition. If it’s a book that won’t come in handy after the class is over, rent it. One can easily knock off $10 by renting textbooks — a small amount, but one that adds up over purchases.

Amazon, Chegg and eBay are a few of the more popular sites to purchase textbooks; all of which have their advantages. (Side note: Signing up for a free six-month trial of Amazon Student packs the bonus of free two-day shipping.) Book.ly. is another highly favored site that shows the cost of used, new and rental texts at multiple vendors, allowing students to easily find the cheapest options. No matter where students buy, it is important to be mindful of shipping costs and the duration of time the package will take to arrive. After all, cheap textbook is useless if it’s not going to arrive until week five.

Aside from the Internet, one great location for texts is the Penn Book Center, an independent bookstore offering a wide variety of texts at a lesser rate, located on 34th and Sansom Streets.

These savvy shopper rules do not apply if the specialized Drexel edition of a text is needed. Then, simply walk into Drexel’s bookstore and hand over the life’s savings (there’s no way out of that one).

The post Upperclassmen talk textbooks appeared first on The Triangle.

Never would I have anticipated starting spring term of my junior year with the feeling of being lost. But as I searched for places to do homework in between classes, I found myself walking in circles, in and out of buildings and changing seats once I’d been settled — but let’s blame anxiety for that last one.

This is the first term I feel without a place at Drexel University. As a commuter, I try to stay on campus for long periods of time, forcing myself to be productive instead of traveling back home and falling under Netflix’s spell. Prior to this term, I would go to The Triangle office or even the Drexel Writing Center — both of which are in MacAlister Hall. (I’m sure all this time in MacAlister will result in poor health effects due to lack of sunlight per the writing center being in the basement and Chestnut Square obstructing the windows at The Triangle.)

Each day I would spend hours in The Triangle office, either doing work for the organization or working on my own studies. But last term I decided would be my last with The Triangle. As much as I love the organization and being involved with the newspaper, I accomplished all I could during my time there, and it was time to move on.

The same goes for the Drexel Writing Center where I worked as a peer reader. A heavy course load and another part-time job led to me taking the term off from working there, and having one less place to go.

The first week of spring term I found myself doing homework in Hagerty Library, the English and Philosophy department lounge, the MacAlister Hall lounge, Gerri Hall and the Library Learning Terrace — all places I’ve been, but very rarely with the intent of spending hours at a time there.

As I wandered around campus feeling lost, I realized that places like The Triangle and Drexel Writing Center had become more than just a place of work; they had become a home. I’m grateful for my time with both groups and could not be more thankful for the friendships and memories, but I’m also happy to be forced to “explore” campus. I will finally be utilizing the resources Drexel offers in exchange for the thousands of dollars I throw at them each year.

I started to question whether other students take the opportunity to force themselves out of routine and find what else Drexel has to offer, not just in places of study, but with student groups and the like. Now that I have removed myself from one student organization, I am looking at other groups I may want to get involved in.

And no, I’m not looking for a group to join in hopes of having a new study space; I’m looking for a group to join that will offer new insights into the world around me while getting involved with another community of people. It’s important we do this as a bit of a refresher every now and again.

Julia Casciato is an English major at Drexel University. She can be contacted at op-ed@thetriangle.org.

The post Spring term brings new beginnings appeared first on The Triangle.

President Obama recently made a budget proposal with the usual ridiculous ideas that have come to seem normal from the White House over the past seven years, such as reallocating Environmental Protection Agency funding in favor of “public-private partnerships” (corporate sell-outs) or funneling more education money into the hands of fat-cat university presidents like Juan Fry. It’s all smoke and mirrors, of course, since the Republican Congress had its counterproposal ready by March 17.

Yes, the Republicans are giving Americans what everyone has been asking for: cuts to everything except the military — the Pentagon has bargained its way into a major funding increase so that it can fight the Islamic State today, and hopefully create the next big-budget boogeyman for tomorrow. More than ever, American blood money will be funding the ruin of other nations and provide free public relations for our enemies, like Iran, North Korea, Russia, Israel, ebola and cholesterol.

It is not even blood money well-spent. If developing novel ways to figuratively light the taxpayer’s money on fire isn’t bad enough, the military can’t even use the excuse of scary foreigners for all the funds it wastes at home. You know who lives in military housing? Joe Biden, you know, the one with the goofy smile, lives large at the U.S. Naval Observatory—which I have always considered the most wasteful part of our military, since you can’t even see the ocean from Washington.

You know what, forget the budget. Let me level with you: I can’t stand Joe Biden. He’s only got two facial expressions: a sheepish grin and a drooping sad face. That’s how politicians have been stealing elections for decades — by trying to get Americans to believe that our country is better than ever, except for all of the horrible, terrifying problems that the government needs more power to solve. Cotton-Eyed Joe should instead adopt a face more representative of the American people: apathetic and confused.

Honestly, I would’ve preferred Sarah Palin over Joe Biden. At least she stood for something—she wanted to shoot wolves from helicopters and not read any newspapers, and she wasn’t afraid to say it. How’s that for honesty? “Robinette,” like the corporate masters he and Obama serve, is two-faced.

Evidence from Russia Today, my personal favorite source of news, suggests that Biden is involved with the Hilary Clinton email scandal, drone strikes, the theft of the Barnes Foundation from Lower Merion, the 16th Amendment, twerking and non-alcoholic beer. Why did we ever elect this guy? I certainly didn’t vote for him — in 1971 I burned my voter ID because I mistook it for a draft card and I haven’t looked back since.

I encourage you to do the same. We may not have the draft anymore, but at Drexel University, there’s always plenty of things to burn — your coursework, your money, or President Fry  in effigy. If there’s one way that America is behind the rest of the world, it’s that we don’t burn things enough in
political protest.

As a Drexel faculty member, I’ve burned lots of things, especially bridges. I’m still here — that’s the power of tenure. (You do have tenure, don’t you?) What was I talking about? Ah, I remember. Think about things for once, and take stance: Take some funds from the military budget to burn one of Joe Biden’s paintings.

Last month was the annual celebration of Pi Day, an important holiday that’s enjoyed worldwide by math enthusiasts. Interestingly, people who develop severe allergic reactions to a simple 2+2=4 math problem also celebrate Pi Day because of free food.

The Pi Day of 2015 is uniquely significant, since 3/14/15, 9:26:53 corresponds to the first 10 digits of pi. Several studies have reported that hungry math devotees consumed over 10 billion tons of pie at that time.

Hardly a social person, I celebrated Pi Day by treating myself with a simple cherry pie and a glass of cherry wine. Surrounded by a gigantic library of esoteric math books I gathered over the course of my studies, I deeply contemplated the history behind pi.

At 3/14/15 9:26:53, I was struck by a troubling epiphany. The pie I was eating was circular. Circles, like triangles and rectangles, are simple and elegant shapes. So much aesthetic value can be realized just by looking at a circle.

What do circles have to do with pi? By definition, pi is defined as the ratio of circumference to diameter. Who cares about diameters? Usually, pies are cut only up to the center, so radii are important. Hence, the ratio of circumference to radius should be used, and this ratio is simply two times pi.

Moving once around a circle is called a revolution. Thanks to an arbitrary system invented by Babylonian astronomers, a revolution is equal to 360 degrees. A degree is equal to pi divided by 180 radians, which implies that a revolution is equal to two times pi radians.

That doesn’t make sense! Why should pie be called pi if a revolution around pie is only two pi radians? Why is a quadrant marked by pi divided by two radians, instead of pi divided by 4 radians? Both problems constitute the so-called Pi-Pie Paradox, indicating a rather uncomfortable coexistence between the two great wonders.

The Pi-Pie Paradox can be resolved in two ways. The first method is to offer pies as semicircle-shaped desserts. However, semicircles are aesthetically unsuitable, and there have been cases whereby sharp edges and pointy corners were used as lethal weapons.

Semicircles aren’t the only option. Pies can be triangular as well, since the sum of the angles inside a triangle is 180 degrees, or pi radians. Triangles are always convex, and can be constructed from any three noncollinear points. Many important solids, like tetrahedrons and octahedrons, contain triangular faces.

Yet, there’s a caveat: Triangles aren’t aesthetically pleasing. The only beautiful shape as declared by Euclid is the rectangle. After all, four is the only number that has the same number of characters as its value. The most important solid is the cube, which consists of square faces.

The sum of the angles inside a rectangle is 360 degrees, or two pi radians. Curiously, the sum of the angles outside any convex polygon is also 360 degrees, or two pi radians.

Consequently, the Pi-Pie Paradox can be resolved geometrically only by shaping pies as circles or rectangles. Naturally, this is a problem since both shapes claim two pi to be a superior value, which brings the centuries-old tradition of pi into question.

The second method resolves the paradox by replacing pi with tau, which is equal to two pi. In addition to its geometric significance, tau is used popularly in factorial approximations, normal distributions, error functions, coordinate conversions, Fourier transforms, Planck’s constant, and Maxwell’s equations.

Understandably, there is a popular opposition to banning the lovable pi, declaring that the area of a circle will always be elegantly expressed as A=π×r^2, instead of the ugly A=½×τ×r^2. On the contrary, the ½ term is fascinating, since it connects between integrals and areas of triangles.

From a non-mathematical viewpoint, hungry critics argue that shifting from Pi Day to Tau Day will eliminate the serving of pies. Clearly, this is misleading, since everyone will be offered twice as much pie on June 28!

Besides, who has time to celebrate Pi Day on the weekend before final exams? Instead, we can relax and enjoy the warm sunny weather on Tau Day, while eating twice as much pie.

Back when I was looking at a bunch of different colleges as a recent GED-recipient, I remember loving everything about Drexel University — except the lack of a quad. Sure, it’s got some great benefits, like a bunch of non-flammable surfaces and having dorms close enough to classes that I can get there while on house arrest.

But for once, I’m going to be honest and say that there are some days I wish I had a big green space to lay out in and think about peaceful things, like bonfires and the smell of fresh lighter fluid, and not be distracted from my reverie by the glare of Perelman Plaza’s shiny new concrete.

There are some days, like when I found out a particularly rude professor’s office, who I have taken class with, was lined with fireproof asbestos, when I know just laying out in an open quad and feeling the burn of the sun on my skin would do me some good.

Not having a place to truly relax, especially since they took my matches away, has been really hard on me, and I’m sure a bunch of other Drexel students and their parole officers can agree. The thing is I may hate that our school doesn’t have a proper quad, but I still love this school, and that’s why I’ve got a plan of action.

But I’ll need the help of as many students as I can get to pull this off. Because here’s the thing — they can’t sue all of us, right? Right.

It was while I was on the roof of the Main Building setting up my short range missiles for testing when a realization hit me like the detonation of a C4 slab. Sitting directly across from our beautiful main buildings stands a structure with the architectural intrigue of an office cubicle — Left Bank Apartments.

The more I thought about it, Left Bank rests atop the perfect location for our new quad! Close your eyes and imagine — instead of a big, old, stuffy building, a soft green lawn sprawled out in front of Drexel’s oldest building. Wouldn’t that be a much nicer spot for students to collapse?

Rhetorical. Of course it would be. It’s certainly a step up from the dingy chairs they’ve lined Perelman with across the street.

Actions speak louder than words. But what speaks louder than actions? Explosions. You can’t hear anything over explosions. Not the screams of the innocent, not your own conscience, not anything — not even police sirens, though that isn’t always a good thing (take it from me).

Sure, Drexel might not have any open space for us to add in our own quad, but I’m thinking it’s the right time to make damn space. Now Left Bank has great ruin potential sure, but knowing the building habits of Philadelphia, I would venture that the building is potentially lined with asbestos, which, even worse than its carcinogenic properties, makes it near completely fireproof, meaning we have to blow this building up right.

There’s quite a few ways we could go about this, with some of the options being a bit more fun than others.

First, there’s the tried-and-true method involving lots of gasoline and a match. It would be easy enough to pass this off as homage to our mascot. (I mean come on, let’s be honest, most of the students only came to this school because they thought we’d get to see actual fire-breathers! I know I did.)

Another method for clearing the space would involve an “accident” taking place in the kitchens of Wahoo’s, which would actually take care of both giving us our quad and directly align with my mission to stop sub-par tacos sales on campus.

The last and best option we have is to use explosives. Not only would this provide a beautiful light show, but would be near untraceable, what with all of us involved, and would take care of the problem without any of the mess that a large-scale fire might cause. Now I know what you’re thinking — where are we going to get that big of
a payload?

Worry not, dear friends! I can’t reveal too much, as I’m out on probation right now, but I can assure you that the unused fourth floor of one of Drexel’s very own buildings is currently playing host to my collection of fireworks and plastic explosives that is larger than you can shake a stick of dynamite at!

The crowning gem of my arsenal has to be a working replica of the dragon missile used in Mulan, scaled up for maximum blast radius. It wouldn’t be that hard to enlist some local artisans to resculpt this weapon into the face of our very own dragon mascot Mario for maximum shock.

There are a few questions that need to be answered before we give this the green light, surely, but the most important of those questions is about the launch location. From what reconnaissance I’ve conducted, Towers Hall is looking to be our best bet.

Not only is it tall enough that we can launch with a high ground advantage, but it’s also occupied with freshmen who will be far too timid to ask questions when we haul up rockets and boxes of binoculars. (Towers will also provide a beautiful view of the explosions once they go off.) But I mean feel free to watch from your own dorm lobbies or rooftops.

Heck, roll out some lawn chairs, pour yourself a cold beverage and toast to the dawn Drexel’s new quad.

I know that right now this all sounds a bit crazy, and if you go by my doctor’s note, it probably is. But that’s the beauty of it, really, and I can promise you that one day, when you’re out playing Frisbee on the new quad with your accomplices or friends or whatever, all those lost lives and damage fees will be the last thing on your mind.

I know there’s been a lot of conversation lately about some changes to campus, so I’d like to shed some light on a few of these issues. As the director of Administrative and Business Services, I help make sure Drexel University’s money is being used wisely.

Drexel is known for having a vibrant modern urban campus, and in fact we see ourselves as being at the forefront of urban campus innovation (take that New York University). Since this is the single most important aspect of the University, we’re focusing many of our efforts on becoming moderner and urban…er.

For example, we have purchased The Gallery at Market East — you know the one, it’s connected to the subway, the stores are knock-offs, it smells like a public toilet, all the jewelry is fake and when local high school student say, “Meet me at the mall, it’s going down,” this is the place they are referring to.

We feel that its prime Center City location, nestled between Chinatown and the Department of Transportation, is essential to the new direction the University is moving in. The Gallery will require $1 billion in renovations in order to pay off the mafi— or should I say, our Italian-American Heritage Association partnership dues; to pay for advertising for our “maker spaces” which will look exactly like mall kiosks; and to remove all of the existing cold hard mass-manufactured metal furniture, and replace it with identical furniture from the Millennium Hall collection at three times the price. And there’ll be a broom closet for the design and merchandising students or whatever.

We received some irritating bratty student pushback that this time, who are spouting nonsense like money and space should really go towards a more “worthwhile” investment like student club space, an intercultural center, a student lounge, faculty offices, sports facilities, or some other entitlement crap like that.

We took a full 15 minutes of a lunch meeting to “thoroughly examine” the possibility of all, or any, of these and determined that 1,080,002 square foot space and $1 billion budget simply would not permit any such requests at this time,  but that we will look into future spaces for these.

Back on the University City campus, it has recently become apparent that a campus as clean, orderly and gentrified as ours cannot ever be truly urban. So we’re installing grime misters for the street, sidewalk and buildings, as well as automatically tipping trashcans, E-Z peel paint for our brick buildings and a team of hired actors to play aggressive beggars for that authentic city feel.

And this is just Phase I of President Juan Fry’s new Soviet-style Five-Year Plan. (We say “Soviet-style” to connect to our international students, since we only actively recruit in Communist countries.) Phase II includes refocusing our efforts to grow the endowment.

We’ve been trying to provide the best student experience possible and leave positive impressions on our high-achieving students so they might make a generous donation after graduation, but that is far too slow and respectable. Instead, we are branching out into being a full-fledged real-estate development company and functioning as a tax haven for big spenders.

We developed many partners at a recent international conference to further these efforts, with representatives from places like the Canary Islands, Monaco, the United Arab Emirates and New Jersey.

New developments will include twelve new ultra-luxury hotels; a mixed-use development with executive office suites and a combination Ferrari and Bugatti dealership; two Vegas-style casinos (made possible by our nonprofit status and offering a single part-time unpaid co-op position the casino management program); and a chrome-clad presidential palace on the southwest corner of 33rd and Market streets.

Phase IV will feature the latest roll-out of our campus safety program, featuring 360-degree view high-definition security cameras on all solid surfaces, irremovable GPS tracking chips in all on-campus and online student’s necks and our new guest policy, which is simply called “None.”

Phase V is still being edited, but we have commissioned an artist to create the new cornerstone of campus art: a 50-foot oil painting of President Frito with a ghostly outline of Mario holding a Taser in the background, to be hung on the outside of the University Crossings Housing Block for Comrades.

I think now it is a little more clear how great the changes to campus will be and how much the board of trustees — I mean, student body — will appreciate these great steps forward in Drexel’s legacy.

Dear reader: Fuck you. Fuck you in your fucking face, you fucking fuck. No, seriously. The Rectangle Editorial Board hates every single one of you who wastes space on this planet, and each and every one of you pricks should die in a fire.

The truth is, here at The Rectangle, we hate our readers. We hate your comments. We hate it when you come in to our meetings and try to join our club. We’d really rather you just left us alone, because The Rectangle is a one-way conduit of information. We publish, you read. That’s how it works. That’s why The Rectangle has no social media: We don’t want to know what you think. We tell you what to think. We’re the media; it’s our job.

Lucky for you, you foul-smelling grade-grubbing overachieving millennial dorks, we hate the Drexel University administration just as much, those greedy fat cats in 3010 MacAlister Hall who steal our money to pay for their hookers and their blow addiction. And we hate them even more than we hate you, because they keep us up at night. We hear them late at night when we’re publishing the paper, with Juan Fry hooting and hollering as he does the third line of the night off his escort’s boobs, and it lasts well past when we send the paper to the printer.

It’s not jealousy, The Rectangle’s Editorial Board cocaine parties are just as good, and there aren’t any old people there. It’s just that Juan Fry and his cronies are partying with our money. And that’s why we hate them, with a burning passion, unrivaled by any except for our hatred of you, our readers. That’s why we publish this paper, to convey our hatred of them to a group we hate ever so slightly less. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that’s a compliment.

And that’s why we ask you, readers, to stop leaving comments on our articles. Stop coming to our meetings. If we find you useful, we will contact you first. Just shut up and read the paper, and realize that you have no say in the world, and that our word is the law.

To close, fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, you piece of filth unsuitable for a dog to piss on. Our only solace is that most of you will die alone and unloved, to an early and well-deserved grave and will be disrespectfully entombed in the Drexel mandatory after-death residency program. Good riddance to
bad rubbish.

We all make bad decisions; it’s human nature. Sometimes you avoid work until it’s too late and you have to spend all night working on it. Sometimes you drink too much and wake up in your bathroom with no recollection of where you were or how you got home. Sometimes you close school when it’s unwarranted, as Drexel University did some weeks ago for a 20-inch storm that failed to materialize. Evening classes were canceled nonetheless, and some productivity and class time was lost. Big whoop. We recovered.

On March 5, in an attempt to save face or something, even with mountains of snow falling and eminently dangerous conditions (our editor-in-chief, for instance, fell twice on the way to an early-morning exam, and at time of writing is still complaining of head pains), the University did not close until noon. That’s great if you live on campus — you can go home pretty easily. If you live in Bucks County, South Philly or even Fairmount, well, now you’re trapped on campus. Hope you have money for the Sheraton, because sleeping in campus buildings is prohibited.

When faced with a decision to close for weather, organizations can’t make a “good” decision. What needs to occur is the “least-bad” decision. Either A: the organization closes, and productivity is lost, or B: the organization remains open, putting those traveling to work or classes at risk of injury and damage to personal property.

For certain organizations, like emergency call centers, industrial plants with continuous production, this newspaper you are reading today, option “A” is impossible. People have to come in no matter what as work has to be done because emergencies need to be handled, or because the industrial plant will explode, or because it would be really embarrassing for there not to be a new Triangle on the racks on Friday.

For everyone else, the loss of productivity associated with option “A” needs to be evaluated alongside the risk of option “B.”

Drexel, of course, experiences no direct risk, in a business sense, from taking option “B:” If students are injured or killed in another 56-car pile-up on I-76, like the one during the Jan. 18 ice storm, they’ve already paid their tuition money. Take them off the roster and advertise smaller class sizes. (It’s a win-win!)

This is also incredibly callous, heartless and just plain mean from a humane perspective, and frankly, unnecessary. We can afford to lose some class time; but putting students’ safety at risk is unacceptable.

The post University shuts down too late appeared first on The Triangle.