EDITORIAL: Crushing Capitalism

the University is setting it- self up for yet another pub- lic relations disaster ______________________________ Only a stone's throw away from that bastion of capitalism known as The Wharton School, the University is throwing stones at free enterprise. The objects of its ire are entrepeneurs in the purest sense – a bunch of college students selling discounted textbooks out of the back of a truck. Adam Smith would be proud of these students, but not the University's General Counsel. Otherwise, he was told, he could look forward to a nasty injunction. Associate General Counsel Robert Terrell said the word "Penn" is a federally-regulated term reserved for use by the University. Terrell's scare tactics, however, lack any kind of legal foundation. While the University owns the rights to the name "University of Pennsylvania," the blue and red split "P" and the University's shield and circular logo, it does not own the word "Penn" unless it is accompanied by the other registered trademarks. Needless to say, text is not a registered trademark. It's interesting to note that the suddenly possessive University is not going after everybody from "Penn" tennis balls to good ol' William Penn sitting on top of City Hall. It wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that PennText is breaking The BookStore's virtual monopoly on textbook sales and causing the University to lose thousands of dollars, now would it? Putting pocketbook before principles is nothing new, of course, but one would expect a little more from an institution whose motto is "Leges Sine Moribus Vanae" – Laws Without Morals are in Vain. Following through with the threatened injunction would not only be morally reprehensible, it could prove to be extremely costly for the University. After being embarassed nationally for the "water buffalo" incident, it is difficult to comprehend how the brain trust at the top of the University could not realize that they are one Wall Street Journal editorial away from further ridicule. First accused of squelching free expression, the University now seems to be on the verge of squelching free market activity. Joseph Wharton would not be pleased.