Columnists report threats

College junior John Shu, who published a column in Wednesday's DP which sharply criticized Interfraternity Council fraternities, told University Police yesterday that he had received several harassing calls since the column ran. And Wharton sophomore Susan Stone said she received a letter in her Steinberg-Dietrich Hall mailbox Wednesday which contained a sexually explicit message. Both columnists reported the incidents to University Police yesterday afternoon. Shu said that although he had already received several threatening calls from individuals, he decided to file a complaint after one caller told him "we're gonna kick your ass. You're a dead motherfucker." Shu said he did not know who threatened him, but that he suspected it had been a group of fraternity brothers. He said he is upset, but not suprised, that he has received anonymous phone calls complaining about his column. "I think it's unfortunate because if these fraternities want to be sensitive and diverse, then they need to accept that there are people who think their system is not the best," Shu said. Shu said he thinks it is possible that someone might try to take more direct action against him. Stone, who has written several columns this semester dealing with Christain views of controversial issues such as abortion, said that the she assumed she received the letter because of her columns. She said that she thinks the letter was written by a male student. She would not reveal what the letter said. Interfraternity Council officers and fraternity members and Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Assistant Director Eric Newman said yesterday that they are upset that Shu has received threats, saying that free expression should not be compromised. But IFC Vice President for Rush Dave Hecht, whom Shu singled out in his column, said that while some of the things Shu said are "worth looking into," the columnist offends people in the ways he presents his information and opinions. Hecht added that he believes Shu is lying about receiving death threats. "I think he is so radical in his approach that no one takes him seriously," Hecht said. OFSA Assistant Director Newman said that the calls should be investigated. "It's not an action that's acceptable to the University community," Newman said IFC President Bret Kinsella said yesterday that while he does not agree with Shu's characterization of fraternities, he would "fight to the death for his right to say it." "I don't even pretend to comprehend the mind that would issue a death threat as a joke or seriously," Kinsella said. Hecht said he opposes any kind of harassment, "including the form of harassment that John Shu did against me." In his column, Shu said Hecht held the "arrogant attitude that causes much of the friction between the IFC and the rest of the student body." "If we think someone might kill someone for an article in The Daily Pennsylvanian, then we need to reassess exactly where our society is headed," Hecht said.

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