Public Safety seeks goal post suspects through Internet site

Even though a picture is said to be worth a thousand words, the fuzzy photographs posted on-line by the Division of Public Safety of students tearing down a Franklin Field goal post won't elicit much talk, according to student leaders. University Police took the pictures of Penn students pulling down the east goal post -- and, as per tradition, subsequently throwing it into the Schuylkill River -- after Penn clinched a tie for the Ivy League football title in November. They won the title outright the next week. The pictures were apparently posted on Public Safety's World Wide Web site earlier this month. Public Safety officials have refused to comment on the matter. The Web site encourages students who can identify anyone in the pictures to turn them in, saying that police will keep all sources totally confidential. The site says the students pictured were "actively engaged in the destruction of property." Undergraduate Assembly President Bill Conway, a Wharton junior, commented that although he understands the police's motives in posting the pictures, he doesn't think students will jump at the chance to turn their fellow students in. "They're doing it because the law was broken, but there are probably more important things for them to be working on," Conway said. "I would doubt they'd get much response." Students rushed the football field after Penn beat Harvard 41-10 on November 14. University Police Chief Maureen Rush told The Daily Pennsylvanian at the time that anyone coming onto the field after the game would be arrested for trespassing. But as the game was nearing its conclusion, it became obvious that the dozens of police officers and security guards would be unable to stop the fans from running onto the field. Instead, the officers guarded the goal posts and sealed the gates to try to minimize the potential for injury and damage. Officials cited security reasons for trying to stop the fans. In recent years, students at other universities have been seriously injured during similar celebrations, and when Penn won the championship in 1994 students nearly threw the goal post onto the busy Schuylkill Expressway instead of into the river. Three students were detained at the game but were quickly released. The students were to be processed by Penn's internal judicial system rather than the city criminal-justice system. Police estimated the damage to the goal post and the gate which was forced open to be in the "thousands of dollars." UA Vice Chairperson Michael Bassik, a College sophomore, said he did not think posting the pictures was the best way for police to handle the incident. "Rather than punish students now, Penn Police, officials and students should work on measures in which to safely promote celebration after Penn wins again next year," Bassik said. The photographs have garnered attention across campus, with information about the site being forwarded to several listservs and discussed on the upenn.talk newsgroup.