News Briefs

Hostages taken at Tennessee college Fourteen people were taken hostage and held for over nine hours on Wednesday in a classroom at Dyersburg State Community College in Tennessee. The armed assailant, who claimed to be affiliated with al Qaeda, was killed by police. None of the hostages were killed or seriously injured, according to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokesman John Mayer. Before taking hostages at approximately 1 p.m., Harold Kilpatrick, of Memphis, Tenn., was "making a lot of racket and talking real loud" in the school's hallways, Mayer said. However, no school staff attempted to subdue him, and by the time the police arrived, the situation had escalated. Though Kilpatrick asserted that he was a member of the terrorist group al Qaeda, and had spoken with Osama bin Laden, Mayer said that police investigations had debunked those claims. Kilpatrick was armed and fired one shot late in the evening, around 9 or 9:30 p.m., at which point police entered the classroom and fatally shot him. Prior to that, however, ongoing negotiations had secured the release of five hostages. Mayer would not comment on any demands that Kilpatrick might have made, nor what went on during the nine-hour crisis. Though Kilpatrick lived in Memphis, he was staying with his sister in Dyersburg. A suicide note was found in her house, but Mayer would not say what was written. Dyersburg State Community College officials could not be reached for comment. -- Josh Gordon Class of '42 garden at Writers House complete A new seating area is now available to Penn's future authors and book lovers. Thanks to a gift from the Class of 1942, a garden has been created at the Kelly Writers House, located at 3805 Locust Walk. The donation was given in May 2002 at the class' 60th reunion, and while Kelly Writers House Director Al Filreis did not specify the dollar amount, he noted that the gift was "substantive." Filreis, an English professor, has been in communication with members of the Class of 1942 since before he became the Kelly Writers House director -- so when the class was thinking of gift ideas, Writers House came to mind. "They loved the Writers House," Filreis said. "We gave them a bunch of options," he added, noting that they "seized" upon the plan for the garden. A dedication ceremony for the garden -- the construction of which began last spring and was completed just last week -- will take place on Homecoming Weekend. -- Madlen Read