Drexel student found guilty of intimidation

Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Morton Krase found a Drexel University student guilty yesterday of ethnically intimidating two South Asian Penn students in March. Krase found the defendant, Gregory Rosenbaum, guilty of ethnic intimidation, open lewdness and harassment. He was given one year of probation, 250 hours of community service and must pay $476 in court fines. He has 30 days to appeal Krase's ruling. In addition to his conviction -- which will remain on his record permanently --Ehis diploma and transcript from Drexel have been held indefinitely, according to Victim Support Director Maureen Rush. The Penn students, Class of 1995 graduates Bela Shah and Monika Parikh, testified in August that they were ethnically harassed by Drexel students in March. Drexel student Victor Vencus was also charged with harassing the students in the March 23 incident, but charges against him were dropped because he apologized prior to the August court date. Vencus received six months probation in an advanced rehabilitation program and 25 hours of community service. According to Shah and Parikh, Krase was very emotional in yesterday's proceedings, stressing the lack of morality that ethnic intimidation entails. "Though he is not charged with terroristic threats, the defendant tellingly revealed his true hateful stripes when he menaced the women with comments such as 'Go back, you dot heads' and 'I'll kill you,' " Krase wrote in the opinion. Rush, who has handled the case from the start, said she was very satisfied with Krase's decision. "It set an example for [people] not to do it," she added. "People are willing to come forward for their convictions." Rush added that even though the case focused on ethnic intimidation of South Asians, it could have been targeted at any racial group. In the final words of his opinion, Krase asked Rosenbaum to reform his attitude. "Gregory Rosenbaum must change, turn 'a new leaf,' " Krase wrote. "It means breaking with old habits. It means admitting that we have been wrong; and this is never easy. "It means losing face; it means starting all over again, and this is always painful," he added. "It means saying I am sorry." Parikh said that in her quest for justice, she and Shah came across many people who said it is not worth fighting for. "We had to put a lot of effort into this," Parikh said. "We don't feel that we wasted our time." Shah echoed Parikh's sentiments. "If you fight for what you believe in, you don't have to take to take this kind of harassment," she said. Aman Shah, Bela Shah's brother, said he believes his sister has made a difference. "I really feel proud of them," he said. "If something like this had happened [to me] before, I would have done nothing. Now I would go through with it."

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