Letters to the Editor

At a greater risk

To the Editor:

The Daily Pennsylvanian has committed a disservice to students by not informing them about the Fairmount Park rapist in recent months. The only article corresponding to his previous attacks was published during late August, long before the majority of students arrived on campus. His most recent attack was on Oct. 25, and while the crime made the front page of The Philadelphia Inquirer, the DP made no reference to the assault.

Although Fairmount Park is about two miles from campus -- well outside of the Penn bubble -- on any given day, one can spot Penn students frequenting the popular Kelly Drive paths, both on the east and west side of the Schuylkill River. His attacks have occurred within the eight-mile Falls Bridge loop that provides a scenic route for runners, bicyclists and rollerbladers.

The rapist has assaulted three women to date, and one did not survive his brutal attack this summer. His latest victim escaped after being pulled into the bushes and stabbed several times. Police have a clear description of him and flyers line the path near where the incidents took place. He strikes during the daytime and early evening on the west side of the river, using the tunnels and underpasses as covering before advancing on his victims and then using a bicycle to ride away.

In the unfortunate case that this happens again, please report the incident immediately so students can be alerted to exercise more caution when they visit the area. The police made the mistake of not disclosing the first rape, and two victims fell prey subsequently. Do not put Penn students at a greater risk by failing to release essential information; many do venture off campus to utilize Fairmount Park and need to be aware of these recent heinous activities.

Lindsey Tarman Wharton '06

Not time for appeasement

To the Editor:

I am writing this regarding Hillel's hushed connivance concerning known anti-Semite Bill Baker's recent campus speech.

Purposely and abjectly evil men such as Baker are few in number. History has shown us that it takes the collusion of an appeaser to set free these wicked men onto their fellows. It is frequently the appeaser's craven non-action and intellectual cowardice that extends an invitation for evil to arrive.

Hillel President Jason Auerbach is the personification of "the appeaser." He claims ignorance of Baker's anti-Semitism until it was too late to comment on. Firstly, before Hillel officers put their stamp of approval on the Muslim Students Association's invites, they should probably learn something about these speakers' backgrounds.

Secondly, the hour is never too late to expose evil. When the duped president of Hillel finally learned the true anti-Semitic nature of the future guest, he should have immediately denounced Baker for what he is. Auerbach should have climbed to the top of the bell tower and pulled hard on the rope. But that's not what happened. Instead, we get an attempted hush job followed by another tortured Auerbach apology espousing tolerance. Certain things, such as appeasement of those who would destroy you, are intolerable.

In MSA President Muhammed Mekki's "message of unity," he "apologized to Hillel for burdening students with the baggage that Baker carried." Notice that he conspicuously neither denounces Baker nor repudiates Baker's anti-Semitic ideals (which he downplays as "baggage") -- Mekki merely apologizes for "burdening" others. What is the implicit message in Mekki's remarks?

However, the biggest threat to the Jewish community is not external but internal -- it's the moral self-doubt and equivocation from within. We must proclaim loudly and with moral certainty what we stand for and what we stand against. And if our leaders are unwilling to risk upsetting their questionable alliances, then we need different leaders.

Andrew Geier SAS '07

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