Student offers smiles, veggie dip

Jeremy Brosowsky held his own cocktail party on Locust Walk last night. Although he was missing the drinks, he had plenty of hors d'oeuvres. Claiming that "nobody smiles anymore," the College senior distributed vegetables with dip from a platter as he traveled up Locust Walk to Superblock. He hoped his simple gift would make others laugh and grin. "Everyone thinks there has to be some sort of ulterior motive," he said. "People just need to remember to have fun sometimes just for the sake of fun." Students, faculty, homeless people and police officers were all part of his clientele last night. Occasionally Brosowsky "guests" created a circle of vegetable dippers engaged in conversation. College sophomore Stuart Evans passed through Superblock when Brosowsky was surrounded by hungry takers picking at carrot sticks, zucchini slices, green beans, cherry tomatoes and vegetable dip. "I saw [Brosowsky] standing there with a a plate of vegetables," Evans said. "So I asked for one and he said 'sure.'" Brosowsky and his plate of appetizers received mixed reactions from passersby. Most people smiled -- which was Brosowsky's goal -- but many turned him down and kept walking. One person called him a "freak," to which Brosowsky quickly retorted, "If it takes a freak to make people smile, I'll do it." Some even stopped to question Brosowsky -- asking if the vegetables were poisoned or laced. Finally, the platter, which Brosowsky had originally intended to bring home to share with his roommates, was empty by 6:45 p.m. He took the platter from a reception held by the Office of International Programs welcoming him and fellow students back from studying abroad. Brosowsky, who had just returned from England, said he had received enough smiles to last him awhile and wanted to share them with others.