COLUMN: "The DP, ZBT, Wilbur and Me"

From Zelig Kurland's "Bacon for Breakfast," Spring '92 And before I'm branded and classified, let me state my position on fraternities: I make no generalizations about Greeks as a whole, but I do about houses. In other words, I like several houses. Simultaneously, I think several of them suck to the core. As for Zeta Beta Tau -- which has got a lot of attention recently -- I don't know any brothers so I don't have much of an opinion. But maybe I'm still a little biased because of that stripper-cucumber-ketchup bottle scandal. Either way, the opinions contained in this column are those of Wilbur. He's a guinea pig so go easy on him. Wilbur would like to comment on statements made in a letter to the DP written by Matthew Feinsod, president of Penn's ZBT chapter, which I will distort and exaggerate for rhetorical purposes: Feinsod writes: "It is unfortunate that the DP has chosen to brand indirectly all ZBT brothers as rapists by repeatedly referring to the University student as a 'ZBT brother.' " It's no secret that the DP isn't particularly excited about the Greek system. The pattern never changes: the DP nails fraternities collectively whenever it can grab the opportunity for exciting and provocative front page journalism. There's no question that an inch-high headline including the phrase "ZBT frat brother" brands the entire house. The location could have been disclosed with a lot more subtlety. So . . . fraternities protest on the grounds that misbehavior is the aberration of a particular misguided brother snuck in by communists. Also, they argue, the DP doesn't properly recognize the many wonderful philanthropic deeds that brothers have performed. For example, we keep hearing over and over that the founders of Stand Up Against Comedy are fraternity brothers. How nice. Naturally, it's contradictory to ask for bad actions to be treated as aberrations, and good actions to be treated as a reflection of the Greek system as a whole. The Greeks and the DP staff can get together and decide whether the actions of brothers should be treated individually or as representing the collective whole. Then they should treat all actions in the same manner. House functions and fundraisers, of course, can still be credited to the houses. We all know the joke: How many frat brothers does it take to change a light bulb? Five. One to do it and four to make T-shirts. In regard to comments made by University officials to the DP and The Philadelphia Inquirer, Feinsod writes: "These comments were made in total disregard of the [University's] confidentiality rules . . . and are unfair to the individuals -- the accuser and the accused -- involved in the process." Confidentiality rules should be in place primarily to protect the accuser and secondarily to protect the innocent-till-proven-guilty accused. They should not exist in order to preserve the prestige of the University or the fraternity system. Given that the accuser in this case consented to a front page interview, the "comments" were in no way unfair to the accused. "Rather than applaud the so-called achievements of the University in this case, all University officials must maintain the confidence and confidentiality required of them by the regulations," Feinsod writes. "Those University officials who are unable or unwilling to do so must be disciplined." It would be a sad day if any given rape case were to be buried by University regulations. You'd think that in the wake of the recent Oliver Stone movie "JFK," disclosure would be the hip thing. Only fools follow arbitrary bureaucratic regulation to the letter. Do we want the administration to turn its back like Minnesota's Carleton College did last year? The administration there refused to expel an accused rapist, so he raped again. Imagine that. At Penn -- and regardless of the location of any incident -- the signal should be sent out that if students rape, there is a chance of suffering consequences if they get caught. An example is more effective education than hype or propaganda can ever hope to be. How effective are the University's confidentiality policies anyway? Last semester a student was allegedly raped in the Quad, and the University's Almanac listed the location -- against the wishes of the accuser. This information may have been limited in scope had the DP not jumped all over the story and printed the location on the front page -- in inch-high lettering, of course. But oddly enough, no one wrote letters to the DP concerning violations of trust. I don't understand, why this double standard? What is it about this recent case that makes disclosure to the public so repugnant, especially after the accuser had consented to the coverage? Students have the right to know that students have been raped in frat houses, just as they have the right to know students are raped in the dorms. The flow of information in these cases should be controlled by the accuser -- not by the University and not by the DP. Feinsod concludes his remarks by suggesting that breaches of confidentiality "encourage . . . a lack of trust and respect for University officials, which unfortunately already exists on this campus." One word: brownnoser. Zelig Kurland is a sophomore English major from Charleston, West Virginia. "Bacon for Breakfast" appears alternate Tuesdays.