Brawl mars VSA party

5 students taken to HUP Five Penn students were injured during a brawl at a Vietnamese Students Association Party early Saturday morning in Houston Hall, University Police Sgt. Larry Salotti confirmed last night. The fight was reported to have started when two intoxicated people bumped into each other on the dance floor in Bodek Lounge, Salotti said. Details of the fight are sketchy, since the lights were off for the duration of the incident. But according to a University Police report, one party guest challenged the other to a fist fight and the two began swinging at each other. In the midst of this violence, a chair was hurled at Wharton junior Winston Chow, who was serving as the disc jockey. Chow suffered minor head injuries and was treated and released from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania later that morning. Engineering junior Hubert Tong, who was standing near Chow during the fight, was also struck by a chair, creating a laceration on his face that had to be closed with stitches. He too was treated and released from HUP, at about 7 a.m. Saturday. Three other students at the party who tried to break up the fight also sustained injuries, which Salotti described as "minor." They were also treated and released from HUP Saturday. Chow and Tong said they were taken off guard by the assault, and did not get a chance to see who had attacked them. Witnesses to the fight, however, said they did not recognize the assailants and did not think they were Penn students. The VSA party, like most VSA social and cultural events, was advertised with posters in Chinatown as well as on the Penn and Drexel University campuses, VSA Historian Deacon Pham said. "I don't think advertising [in Chinatown] for any reason affected how the fight broke out," said Pham, a Wharton junior. But VSA President Kristen Dang, a College junior, said the VSA will have to "reevaluate" how it distributes its publicity in the future. In addition to the injuries, approximately $4,000 worth of Chow's technical equipment was destroyed during the brawl, Dang said. And Salotti said a window in Bodek Lounge was also broken. The VSA will meet with University officials and members of the Asian-Pacific Student Coalition and the Student Activities Council to discuss how Chow will be compensated, she added. Currently, the VSA does not have enough money in its budget to cover the cost of the equipment. Dang said that the brawl, while an "isolated incident," has left her stunned. "I'm very hurt," she said. "It's very disturbing to know that people can be so inconsiderate."

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