Drexel 'Triangle' feature questioned

and Mike Madden A feature about a World Wide Web site that appeared in Drexel University's weekly student newspaper The Triangle two weeks ago has outraged Filipinos at Drexel and throughout the Delaware Valley. The feature was part of a weekly feature called "Web Site-O-Rama," that seeks to publicize "cool Web sites," according to Triangle Editorial and Opinions Editor Jonathan Poet, a Drexel junior. Two weeks ago, "Web Site-O-Rama" reviewed a site known as the "Filipino Mail Order Bride catalog." The feature depicted three screen photographs taken from the Web site. An excerpt from the caption below the photographs read: "Cold winter nights, the ideal time to browse through the electronic Filipino Mail Order Bride catalog." The third sentence of the caption read: "If you like broken English, exotic food and the possibility of sex with 18-year-old women, look no further, cro-mag." The name "Brad Li Wiblesan" is printed under the caption. Shortly after the pictures and caption appeared in the newspaper, Leo Arcilla, president of Drexel's Filipino Intercultural Society, sent a letter to the editor of The Triangle protesting the feature, calling it offensive to Filipinos. He also requested a written apology in the next issue of The Triangle. But The Triangle did not include a letter of apology in its next issue, Arcilla said, adding that the newspaper's Entertainment Editor Brad Wribel was responsible for the piece. Poet said the article was intended to satirize the site and its visitors. "Look at the kind of people who would go to this site," Poet said. "Here's among the craziest things you can find on the Web. If you look at [the review] as a piece of satire, you should have no problem with it. There's no need for an apology." But Arcilla said the Web site -- and therefore the review -- is inherently offensive. "We regret that anybody took it as an endorsement of the [Web site]," he said. "Unfortunately, some people took it the wrong way." Martin Silverstein, an attorney representing four Filipino groups in the Delaware Valley, said he received a number of angry phone calls from members of the Filipino community in response to the feature. "The article perpetuates a stereotype and insults the honor and integrity of the entire Filipino community," Silverstein said. In response, he wrote a letter to Drexel President Constantine Papadakis last Friday expressing his concern about the feature. Poet said The Triangle is entirely independent of the Drexel administration, and thereby immune to official university sanctions as a result of anything that it prints. Several student Filipino groups at other universities in the area have joined forces with Drexel's Filipino Intercultural Society in denouncing the feature -- including groups from Penn, Bryn Mawr, La Salle, Temple and Villanova universities. Several Drexel administrators, staff members from The Triangle and members of Drexel's Filipino Intercultural Society will meet at Drexel's MacAllister Hall Thursday at 4:30 p.m. to discuss the review. Further action against the newspaper will depend on the nature of the proceedings tomorrow, Arcilla said.

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