CAMPUS BRIEFS: U. Alum found dead in NYC's Central Park

Matthew Herman, a 1988 Penn graduate and Fortune magazine advertising executive at the time of his death, left his Manhattan apartment around 7 p.m. on May 9 to go for a walk in Central Park. What happened afterwards, however, is not yet clear to law enforcement officials who, as of last week, knew only that Herman's body had been discovered the following morning by a man walking his dog. According to the Times, the man found Herman lying face down in a patch of dirt around 7 a.m. the following morning. Citing "internal injuries to the neck" and broken blood vessels in the eyes as evidence of a homicide, the Medical Examiner's office claimed last Tuesday that Herman had likely been strangled or choked. But while police are willing to at least temporarily "accept" the ruling, they discovered little substantial evidence to suggest that he had been murdered. "We're not doctors. If they believe it is a homicide, we have to accept that," New York Police Commissioner Howard Safir told the Times -- Eric Tucker