'Roadkill' psyches U. for big game

It was no Spring Fling. At least, that is what students passing by the Oktoberfest activities on Superblock this weekend said. "Hey, it's just like Spring Fling only without people," Engineering senior Meng Weng Wong wrote in an Internet newsgroup. "To the band out there, if there are more people on stage than in the audience, then go home." Those who actually participated in the Homecoming pre-game and post-game parties said, however, that Oktoberfest actually was the University's best-kept secret. Wharton junior Gil Beverly, who coordinated this year's Oktoberfest as well as last year's Spring Fling, said attendance may have suffered because participants did not realize the events were free. But Beverly said he thinks the Oktoberfest -- which he said attempted to emulate Fling -- had "a pretty good turnout" despite the mix-up. Many students at the Oktoberfest activities said they were there to show school spirit. For College junior Wilton Levine -- who painted his face red and blue -- being at the events alone was not enough. Levine said he felt the need to wear "lucky" clothing to the game as well. "This hat has never seen an Ivy League loss in football or basketball," he said. "I've worn this shirt to every football game and we never lost a football game [last year]." Alumni at the Bulldog Roadkill before the homecoming event said they returned to the University this weekend to see last year's Ivy League champion football team in action. "[I] came out because our football team did so well last year," said 1994 Wharton graduate Chris Gobalakrishma. "[I] wanted to be part of what has been a great success." Provost Stanley Chodorow, however, credited the change in the University's administration for the enthusiasm at the moderately attended event. "I think there is an enormous amount of excitement about Judy [Rodin] and even about me," he said. "I think everyone feels as if it is a new beginning." But 1993 College graduate David Rosenman said he returned to campus for Homecoming more to relive past memories than to embrace the future. "I know I have the same silly, sentimental look I saw when I was a student," he said. "But I love having it anyway."