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(07/08/99 9:00am)
I was propositioned at work the other day. A scruffy guy in his mid twenties leaned towards me and asked if I would care to spend the evening with him and a bottle of Jack Daniels. "I don't like being a third wheel," I told him. Now the really funny thing is that this incident was nothing out of the ordinary. Perfect strangers hit on me at work constantly and after I give them virtually no encouragement. Where do I work, you're probably asking yourself. Am I employed by a bar or a nightclub, do I maybe entertain as a showgirl? And the answer to all of the above is no, no and (honestly) no. I work as a barrista in a suburban coffee shop. I make espresso and cappuccino and serve brownies. Yet somehow, a very motley crew of gentleman have responded rather over zealously to my charms after I give them their change and say, "enjoy." I have made one very hard and fast rule at this job : Never mix work and pleasure. Although, in my case, it's less of an actual rule and more of a survival tactic. As I look back upon my work experiences I realize that over time I really have collected quite a special group of people. I hardly know where to begin -- all of the former potential suitors just pop into my head so vividly. There was a middle aged university professor with one leg. He happened to overhear that I'm an English major and kept offering to give me classic novels. He thought we would really enjoy "talking" about great authors. I kept running away to hide whenever I heard him wheel in. Then there was a slightly younger but equally bizarre conspiracy-theory type. One day he told me that the aspartame in diet soda was really a government mind control agent. He was convinced the government had secret plans to bomb major American cities for suppposed "population control reasons." He kindly asked if I would care to join him in his hideout in the Grainbelt. I was forced to turn down his very attractive offer. Fortunately, this winner also believed that FBI agents were hot on his tracks because he knew too much top secret information. He eventually left town. The list scrolls on and on. I also became acquainted with a high school sophomore who fancied himself as an opera singer. His idea of talking me up was to come in and begin a discourse on Mozart or Brahms. Not that I don't enjoy good music. But please, I never ever want to hear prepubescent boys serenade me with arias from Don Giovanni. Now, I don't want to give you the impression that I hate men. I really don't. In fact, I'm a big fan of men; usually I like them a lot. A whole lot. But clearly fraternizing with my customers is never going to take me to a happy place. And I'm not a militant feminist either. I don't want to drone on about the objectification of women in our society and how women are treated like second-hand citizens. My status as a feminist (although I did attend Gloria Steinem's talk) is admittedly a little vague. I think songmasters Rogers and Hemmerstein put it best in their song, "I enjoy being a girl." I do. I like wearing make up and pink miniskirts. I love having my hair done and watching Gone With the Wind. And I definitely enjoy male attention. I like it when doors are held open for me and heavy objects are carried by stronger arms. So if I actually appreciate male attention, why do I dislike my working environment? Well, I gave the question some thought while I painted my toenails this morning and I've come up with two reasons. The first: While at work I'm very busy serving customers and making drinks. And I'm mildly accident prone so if someone is bothering me I'm likely to burn myself or break something. And since I've already broken more mugs than I care to admit, I don't think I need any more detrimental distractions. And the second reason is far more selfish and far more important. Frankly the other reason I don't like the attention I receive at work is because all the men are, well, to put it kindly, a little bit different. Bluntly put, they're very, very odd -- possibly not human. For example, in addition to others, there is a Rob Zombie look alike that has been lurking around the shop recently. He really gives me the creeps. Maybe I sound unkind and shallow, but the reality is that good looking young guys just don't sit in coffee shops and drink cafe mocha's -- unless they're drinking them with their girlfriends. So I think I'm going to stick to my date-free workplace rule. I'll just start hanging out in the sporting goods store up the street during my breaks.
(06/17/99 9:00am)
Every year at about this time, my coolness rating drops by about 10 points. It isn't because the temperature rises, but instead because the sun shining overhead affects everyone but me. While those around me quickly turn a nice shade of brown these days just from taking a stroll around the block, I remain -- despite numerous one o'clock bike rides -- an un-missable shade of incredibly pale. Most of the year, I can hide it. After all, I have long-sleeve shirts, pants and even stockings to work with. But in the summer months it's impossible to mask the sad truth: I'm paler than Casper the friendly ghost. For me, summer means constantly reapplying sunblock and turning only lobster red despite my efforts. And although some people claim that their best tans follow their worst burns, it doesn't work that way for me. I go from red straight back to pale. My sunburns just hurt. It wasn't always like this. When I was little I could tan. Not perfectly, mind you, but enough so that my skin color at least matched the light brown of my freckles. For 10 or 12 years my summers were graced with tanned skin, maybe due to endless hours spent playing in the sun. But at just about the point where I was old enough to notice and care about whether or not my skin was tan, most of my pigment seemed to take a permanent vacation. From then on I was always the palest one in the swimming pool. I'll be straight with you, it wasn't a tan, it was a burn, and a bad one at that. But what started out as a burn so painful I had to have a constant supply of aloe soaking it for a day and a half, turned into semi-pink, semi-tan lines on my shoulders outlining where my tank top straps had been on that fateful day. At a quick glance the palest girl on the block had something resembling a tan line. I showed all of my friends. Repeatedly. (I even made new friends, just so I could show them too.) You see, being tanned is just the "cool" way to be. Just look at any bathing suit model and you'll note that besides the perfect figures, those women all share the same toasty brown skin color. A tan is a fashionable accessory to suits of any style. Every year I scan magazines for the "in" look of the summer, thinking that maybe, just this once, it will be cool to be pale in the summer. I've had my hopes up lately especially with all the emphasis on preventing skin cancer. Yet the models remain tanned year after year. To comply with the need to be brown and the dangers of too much sun exposure, the brilliant minds of the world have come up with a beauty product to save girls all over from a colorless fate like mine: self-tanners. I like the idea of self-tanners -- you put the stuff on and ta-da, you're tan. But the actual "put it on" process scares me. The package has all sorts of warnings. You need to wear gloves; make sure you don't put too much on your knees and elbows; exfoliate before applying; the list goes on. The convenience of tan-in-a-bottle loses its appeal to me when I think of the big chance that I will end up with orange streaks all over my body screaming, "I don't tan naturally" to everyone I encounter. That wouldn't be acceptable. Anyway, I don't want to give in to the tan craze. Next year could be the pale year. But the ironic thing is, although I'm resigned to the fact that my skin won't ever be complimented by white fabric and I don't lay out in the sun attempting to become something other than red, I think I'll be the skin cancer candidate in 10 years. Why? Because I'm the girl who gets burned -- with or without sunblock -- every time I go head-to-head with the sun. And even though that is not fair at all, the pale people of the world have to live with it. I once told my friends that I was pale because I was saving all my tanning abilities up so I could give them to my daughters when I grew up and had kids. I've given up on that lie. Unless I marry someone who's tan year-round, the miniature me's will be just as pale as I am. Hopefully by that time, it will be trendy.
(04/22/99 9:00am)
Penn and Philadelphia police came out in full force for last year's Penn Relays, which saw little crime. Penn Relays has quite a track record in University City. For years, the three-day track and field competition that is expected to draw 18,000 athletes and 90,000 spectators from around the world was associated with standstill traffic, increased crime and massive amounts of trash. But with an increased force of visiting Philadelphia Police Department officers on call to help University Police curb traffic and crime and University cleaning crews working to keep sidewalks litter-free, last year's Relays were relatively incident-free -- even with a record 90,000 people in attendance. That's why when University Police started planning for this year's Relays, they decided not to make any changes. So in preparation for this weekend's 105th Penn Relay Carnival, police are dusting off last year's detail sheet, prescribing about the same number of officers for this year as they said had proven effective in 1998. Just like last year, all University Police officers will work extended 12-hour shifts in addition to the cancellation of all Penn Police regular day-off schedules for the Relays weekend, University Police Chief Maureen Rush said. It will be the second weekend in a row that police officers have the chance to rack up lots of overtime pay, as the department implemented similar measures for Spring Fling. Police officials have also contracted to have about 20 Philadelphia Police officers on hand for Friday night and 50 officers for Saturday, which is "the big night" in terms of pedestrian and vehicle traffic, according to Rush. Yellow-jacketed University City District safety ambassadors and "a large contingency" of SpectaGuard security guards will also assist over the weekend, Rush said. The Philadelphia Police Traffic Division, which has "historically" been part of the event, will also be on campus during the weekend, Rush added. "We wanted to eradicate the merry-go-round condition where people would continually ride around the blocks around campus," Rush said, referring to the "considerable gridlock problem" that used to plague the Relays. "Last year, with Philadelphia Police and Penn Police working in conjunction together, was the most successful ever" in terms of Penn Relays traffic conditions, Rush said. In fact, the streets were "almost as normal as any other Saturday night by about 9:15 p.m." -- a far cry from the traffic jams each more than an hour long experienced in previous years. Rush said this weekend's event is different than last week's Spring Fling because so many people are coming from outside of campus by car and bus. "You have tons of pedestrians and tons of vehicles [in a] very closed area with lots of construction," Rush said. "Our job is to look at all the risks that are associated with hosting this kind of event and minimize that risk." During last year's Relays, there were only 10 thefts, one burglary and a simple assault over the Thursday night to Sunday morning period. In 1997, the event was marred by more serious crimes, including a carjacking and five robberies. There was also a riot in the Wawa at 38th and Spruce streets in 1997. About 60 people threw glass bottles and food across the store on the Sunday of Relays.
(04/20/99 9:00am)
From Dina Bass', "No Loss for Words," Fall '99 From Dina Bass', "No Loss for Words," Fall '99It looks like Penn was going for the in loco parentis approach this weekend with regard to the amount of alcohol students of age could bring into Penn dorms. Well at least they got the loco part right. In my own dorm, Hamilton House, policies governing undergraduate possession of alcohol changed daily, with some Spectaguards simply encouraging students to hide alcohol in their bookbags so they didn't have to confiscate it. Going into Fling, the policy was the same as it always had been -- those over 21 could bring alcohol into their rooms. Students were not even sent an e-mail reminding them of the policies, let alone advising them of changes. However, on Thursday, students entering the building were told they could only bring in up to two bottles of spirits. A student who asked when the new policy began and why students were not notified was told by a police officer: "We are making this stuff up as we go along." Despite the hard alcohol limit, on Thursday beer was still free game. By Friday, that too had changed. A friend of mine, along with our faculty master, watched in a combination of dismay and amusement as a quartet of 21 year-old students was made to disassemble a case of beer. Since each student was entitled to import only six beers a piece into Hamilton, the students were told they could each take a six-pack and swipe their cards. The boys could then pass the now-empty case across the lobby barrier and begin to reassemble the case on the other side. Midway through the process the boys realized that since there were four of them, they could all carry the case in at once, one at each corner and symbolically in possession of six bottles of beer. That procedure led the faculty master to declare that this was the "stupidest" thing he had ever seen. According to my bewildered friend, he continued to explain in the elevator that policies like this encourage students to disrespect University rules. Throughout the day, one could find legal drinkers with a couple of Heinekens in their pocket, bringing beer in a few at a time. A junior entering High Rise East had over a hundred dollars of someone else's alcohol confiscated because he was carrying it for a friend with a bad back. The student was also cited and told that if his friend tried to redeem his lost property, he too would be cited. Throughout the week, several students were encouraged by Spectaguards to hide alcohol in bookbags because the guards had not yet been ordered to check those. Well, our faculty master certainly got it right. This type of behavior does not inspire a great deal of respect for University rules. How can students respect rules that authority figures tell them are being made up? I don't think the University ought be regulating the purchase of alcohol by legal adults at all, although they have a right to do so in University dorms. But when the policies are enforced in such a clownish manner, by forcing students not to cut down on their alcohol purchases but simply to run a constant 10-man supply line in the door of High Rise North, they don't inspire much confidence. To top it all off, the policies changed daily and were not advertised to students until Saturday. The fact that no one knew about the rules until they violated them leads one to believe that they were being "made up" with very little thought and had the additional effect of making sure that these rules had no effect on student alcohol purchases. If an alcohol limit is to have any effect at all, students must know about it before they go to the liquor store. Yes, Penn has the right to change the housing rules at any time. It says so in my housing agreement. But this Fling showed a fundamental disrespect for student rights and a failure to treat us like adult members of the University community. As such, we should have a right not only to be consulted in decisions concerning us, but, at the absolute minimum, to be notified of the rules governing our behavior. No student should be met at the entrance to their dorm by a group of Keystone Kops wielding a list of rules they claim to have "made up as they went along."
(04/19/99 9:00am)
Students said the crackdown on drinking on campus resulted in more off-campus house parties. Two words overshadowed Spring Fling this year just like the cloudy gray sky that hung above the Quadrangle: alcohol policy. Many students noted that rather than stopping underage drinking, tighter alcohol restrictions pushed the traditional weekend of drunken revelry off campus into more secretive and unsafe locations. Events of the weekend sent six students to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania for alcohol-related illnesses and 16 students received citations for liquor law violations. Outgoing Undergraduate Assembly Chairperson Bill Conway, a Wharton junior and a member of the provost-appointed alcohol task force, said, "I think that Fling was more unsafe this year than last." Starting on Wednesday night, security guards checked all bags and packages for alcohol at each of the 12 University college houses -- a Fling weekend procedure that has been in place for several years. And an additional measure limited the amount of alcohol that students who are of legal age could bring into the residences -- to two six-packs of beer or one bottle of spirits. Students were not notified of the change until the weekend. The only restriction on alcohol in the residency agreement that all students are required to sign to live on campus is that legal-age students cannot bring in kegs of beer. But it also notes that the University can amend the agreement at any time. While the task force -- composed of seven faculty members and 14 students -- is developing a new alcohol policy, the committee decided not to implement a new policy before Fling. But students on the committee charged that the various unregulated alcohol-related events this weekend jeopardized student safety. Due to the ban, fraternities could not hold the large on-campus parties that are a hallmark of Fling. Although their on-campus houses were off limits, fraternities still held parties at off-campus locations. One fraternity brother acknowledged that the "majority of fraternity brothers had parties elsewhere, outside of [on-campus] houses. But students noted that smaller unofficial events lack the safety and security restrictions that apply to registered fraternity parties. InterFraternity Council Executive Vice President and College junior Andrew Exum, a Daily Pennsylvanian columnist, said the events have "moved away from large but controlled to small but unregulated." Conway noted that because parties this year were mostly small off-campus events, there were "more unsafe and unregulated conditions." Students also pointed out that fewer parties were held this year in part because of a heightened police presence throughout the weekend. University Police Chief Maureen Rush said that even though there were fewer citations this year than in the past, police officers were present throughout the weekend checking for noisy or unruly gatherings. Alpha Chi Rho President Adam Tritt, an Engineering senior, said this year there was "definitely less going on," adding that people were "wandering around streets looking for a party that wasn't broken up." Not only did students face stricter policy enforcement throughout the weekend but Penn officials also employed various measures to combat alcohol abuse and use among students who live on campus. Task force members said that they were aware that bag checks would be utilized, but according to Tangible Change Committee Chairperson and College senior Samara Barend, they were not told about the specific rules for the residents who are of legal age. At least four students were cited by the police attempting to smuggle alcohol into the residences. Events over the weekend -- sponsored by the Office of the Vice Provost for University Life -- included a Spring Fling Carnival in Hamilton Village and free tickets to The Matrix and The Mod Squad at Cinemagic on Saturday night. And the Tangible Change Committee sponsored a barbeque on College Green from midnight to 2 a.m. on Saturday morning and a pancake breakfast from midnight to 3 a.m. on Sunday. Barend said that the events were "very successful," adding that approximately 2,500 people attended the barbeque and at least 1,000 attended the pancake breakfast. But Barend added that while this programming "complements" the other events that occur during Fling, it should not replace registered undergraduate parties.
(04/19/99 9:00am)
LCE, weather fail to keep students from 'Fling'ing. Neither rain nor clouds nor a high rise fire could keep Penn students from enjoying their seasonal rite: Spring Fling. Despite being marred by adverse natural conditions and the heated controversy surrounding the University's more stringent alcohol policy, the festive atmosphere of the 27th annual Fling let itself loose on campus Saturday with a vengeance. Friday, however, was a different story, with many saying it was the cold and stormy weather which caused students to remain at home. Still, the usual Fling Friday afternoon rush of students -- retreating from their classes to the Quadrangle -- instead merely trickled through the gauntlet of yellow-jacketed security guards. And the normally bustling halls of Butcher and Speakman were quieter than during a vacation period. Nursing junior Lindsay Steele added that "it's a lot more quiet than last year. It doesn't seem like everyone is coming out." Yet those responsible for the event chalked it up to tradition. "Every Friday during Spring Fling has to suck," said Social Planning and Events Committee Spring Fling Tri-Director Bryan Grossman, a College junior. "It has rained the passed few years." "God is sending an omen that Penn is not supposed to be dry," added College freshman Alexandra Schopf, as the storm clouds thundered in late Friday afternoon. However, despite the rain -- which caused most people to leave early and some musical acts to be canceled -- the majority who did attend said they had a good time. Some back-flipped onto a velcro-padded wall, sparred with their friends wearing over-sized, inflated boxing gloves or got "high" on a bungie apparatus. Others created their own fun by slip-and-sliding on the Lower Quad green as the rain poured down. "Penn is definitely not dry," College freshman Raluca Ioanid said. "I am obviously piss drunk and soaking wet." And when the sun pierced through on Saturday afternoon, large groups of students flocked to the muddy Quad to take in an a cappella concert or listen to the wide variety of bands that hit the stages in upper and lower Quad. Alcohol -- or the lack thereof -- certainly played a role in this year's festivities. Fling organizers said they were trying to encourage "responsible flinging" through the theme of this year's event, "Do the Right Fling." In the Quad, like the rest of campus, officials tried to deter students from drinking, with security guards searching students for alcohol-filled containers at the gates. Guards also searched students' backpacks and packages throughout the end of the week, but many freshmen and some upperclassmen managed to smuggle in alcoholic beverages early last week. And while police officers and agents from the state's Liquor Control Enforcement bureau wandered throughout campus, they handed out just 16 citations. One student called Penn a "police state," noting how police were busting up parties on Baltimore Avenue and Pine Street. But College freshman Rob Levy said, "The whole alcohol thing was a joke. The cops were around, but they were not busting people." Still, most agreed that the alcohol issue did change Fling's atmosphere."The whole alcohol policy has everyone scared," College junior Benjamin Grinberg noted. In the past, "people walked around drunk and with bottles. Here, you can't do that." Incoming Undergraduate Assembly Chairperson and College junior Michael Silver added that the administration's threat of strict enforcement of the alcohol policies led some to remain sober but caused others to drink at off-campus houses later in the day. SPEC Spring Fling Tri-Director Adam Tritt agreed. "I don't think it affected the official parts of Fling," the Engineering senior said. "But it did impact where people went and what they did afterwards." Still, SPEC Spring Fling Evening Entertainment Coordinator Marci Belen, a College senior, said dry events sponsored by the University were well attended. She estimated that more than 1,000 students stopped by various activity tents Saturday night in Hamilton Village -- before the event was broken up by an unexpected fire on the 11th floor of Hamilton House. A post-concert barbeque on College Green, organized by the Tangible Change Committee, was so well attended that students had to shove their way to the front of the line in order to get food. And while a smaller number of students stopped by Gimbel Gymnasium for free equipment use, organizers said they came out in larger numbers for the late-night pancake breakfast at the Class of 1920 Commons.
(04/16/99 9:00am)
Two students were cited separately by police for trying to bring alcohol into Penn dormitories. Most if not all University dormitories have been cracking down over the past two nights on students trying to bring alcohol into their rooms, with at least two students being cited for underage drinking Wednesday night and several more who are 21 being stopped from bringing more than two bottles of alcohol inside. And last night, there were reports of several parties being busted by police all over campus, including a block party on Baltimore Avenue and a Zeta Beta Tau event. The number of citations from those events last night was not immediately available. In preparation for Spring Fling, University Police cited at least two underage students attempting to bring alcohol into their dormitories in two separate incidents on Wednesday, according to official police records. There were reports of more last night, though only one was immediately confirmed by police. The state police's Liquor Control Enforcement agency -- which the University has invited to campus to help enforce state liquor laws during Spring Fling -- also cited six Penn students in Center City on Wednesday. University Police have invited Philadelphia Police and 15 to 25 LCE agents, as they have in previous years, to campus this weekend to help curb student alcohol abuse and underage drinking. The citations come three weeks after the University implemented a stricter version of its alcohol policy which forbids alcohol at all registered undergraduate events on campus and specifically singles out Fling as a time when all drinking rules and regulations will be strictly enforced. Guards in at least six University dormitories were conducting bag checks for alcohol yesterday, including the Quadrangle and the three high rises. And several students have reported police and security guards telling students who are of age that they may only bring in two bottles of alcohol into the dormitories at a time. In the first incident involving an underage student, a SpectaGuard stopped a male carrying a box containing alcohol into Harnwell House at about 5 p.m. and asked to see his identification. When the student admitted he was only 20 years old, the guard called University Police, who cited the student and confiscated the seven bottles of liquor he was carrying, police said. The student said he was surprised to have been cited because he knew of students who had carried alcohol in plain view into the high rises on previous occasions without being stopped. About two hours later, a Spectaguard stopped an 18-year-old male student attempting to bring two six-packs of beer into the Quad at about 7:30 p.m. The guard called University Police when the student failed to produce identification proving he was of age. The student received a citation for possessing alcohol as a minor. Also on Wednesday, LCE agents stopped six University students downtown at 11th and Cypress streets. The students, who were all underage, were cited for attempting to purchase alcohol. University officials have stressed that despite their desire to curb underage drinking, students' safety will come first and students should not hesitate to bring their friends to the hospital if necessary.
(04/05/99 9:00am)
To the Editor: This fall, when feminist activist Gloria Steinem visited Penn's campus, she reminded us of how far women have come in the struggle for equality and how far we have yet to go. As Penn students, most of us have never experienced overt differential treatment in the classroom or faced limitations in our career choices because of our gender. Certainly, as women on Penn's campus, it is easy to forget that sexism still exists. Lori Sherman Nursing Grad '01 Greening the Green To the Editor: Keep College Green clean. It's not that difficult. I go out to the Green almost every day. It's a nice place to sit down and eat lunch and run into friends and just while the day away. Unfortunately, there are lots of people who trash the Green. They are too lazy to throw out their bottles or their brown lunch bags and they let the wind have its way with their DPs. The Green is a beautiful place in the spring, it is one place where we can go and relax and for a brief time forget that we are in the middle of a city. The Green is the closest thing to nature that we have on campus and leaving garbage strewn all over it everyday is just disgusting. I do what I can when I am out there, picking up trash and such. But I can't keep College Green clean all by myself. So let's all do our part, pick up after yourself, give dirty looks to the slobs who are used to being picked up after, yell insults to people who get up and leave in their wake a sea of napkins and bottles and newspapers. Or humbly pick up after others and hope your example will catch on. But keep it clean. Louis Zahner Wharton '01 Alumnus weighs in To the Editor: Last weekend I and other Off the Beat alumni returned to campus for the group's spring show. I talked with my fellow alumni, and with a few current students as well, about the University's new and, in my view, misguided gloss on an otherwise sensible alcohol policy. Alcohol can kill. There is no debating that. Yet the laws of Pennsylvania allows adults to drink. Citizens over a certain age are permitted to choose for themselves whether to consume alcohol; the law has at least that much faith in our judgment. Apparently, in response to tragedy, the University administration has had a crisis of faith. So it has decided to treat even those Penn undergraduates who are permitted by law to drink as children unable to make informed choices. I would have thought the administration had more respect for the intelligence of its students. Neil Gever College '90
(03/31/99 10:00am)
Students protested vocally at a rally on College Green. Engaging in chants of "What do we want? Beer! When do we want it? Now!" between approximately 800 and 1,000 students gathered on College Green yesterday afternoon to protest the recent decisions made by the administration regarding the University's alcohol policy. The predominantly undergraduate protesters -- who chanted and held up signs comparing the administration to Soviet Russia and its new policies to Prohibition -- were enthusiastic in expressing their disapproval of the implementation last Thursday of new temporary restrictions that ban alcohol at registered undergraduate events. "Take away my alcohol, I'll take away my tuition," one student's sign read. Another student challenged University Police, saying, "Cite me, I'm sober," while another declared, "I'm drunk right now." The afternoon had the ironic atmosphere of an outdoor fraternity party, as music blasted from speakers and the students in attendance socialized with friends over cups of root beer that flowed from a centrally located keg. Fittingly, the theme song for the afternoon was the Beastie Boys' "Fight for Your Right," which played before and after the rally and seemed to match the mood of the crowd. Undergraduate Assembly Chairperson Bill Conway, a Wharton junior, headlined as the event's first speaker, proclaiming to the assembled students and members of the local news media, "We are here to defend our rights as students." Motioning toward leaders of several student organizations, Conway said, "The University has decided to turn a deaf ear to our collective voices. We are being completely ignored and silenced.? Perhaps they will listen to you, the student body." Conway's message was echoed by six other student leaders who spoke to the crowd within a 30-minute period, all of whom emphasized the administration's lack of consultation with students in formulating the alcohol policy. "We're all participants in Penn's social events," said College junior Miriam Joffe-Block, a member of the Progressive Activist Network. "We deserve input in how they are run." Tangible Change Committee Chairperson Samara Barend, a College senior, called the administration's responses "knee-jerk reactions" that "affront the progress students have already made" in preventing alcohol abuse on campus. "Our outrage stems from outright disregard for student input," Barend added. The rally was organized by "concerned students [who] felt the administration should have consulted us," said UA Vice Chairperson Michael Bassik, a College sophomore. "We're hoping that the administration realizes that students are extremely concerned with the policies the administration creates and enforces that affect all undergraduates here at Penn," Bassik said. "The message we're trying to send is that the University cannot turn a deaf ear to student interests while creating policies that affect us all." As much as the rally's organizers stressed that the focus of the protest was on the administration's lack of consultation with students, and not alcohol, protesters clearly had their own ideas. While some of the signs at the rally focused on alcohol, as expected, others were aimed personally at University President Judith Rodin. "Even Commies can drink freely. Judy, go back to Russia," one banner said. Another student sold shirts with a quote by Benjamin Franklin printed on the front and a picture of Rodin's face in a vodka bottle on the back. "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy," the front of the shirt read, with the back adding, "Absolute Judy Corrupts Absolutely." Beneath the rally's party-like atmosphere, however, lay an acrimonious tone of resentment directed by students against the administration. Repeatedly yelling expletives aimed at Rodin and University Provost Robert Barchi, the crowd erupted into boos at every mention of the names of the two top administrators. One student held up a picture of Rodin and set it on fire, leading to a cheer of approval from the crowd. Despite student actions, however, organizers of the protest were pleased with the event. Conway expressed his excitement at the level of student turn-out, saying, "We are all united on one principle." "This is an issue that's important to all students, Greek, non-Greek, Republican, Democrat, male or female," Conway said. Scott Goldstein, the former spokesperson for the University City Vendors Alliance, also spoke at the rally, comparing the alcohol situation to the University's lack of consultation with food vendors during the vending ordinance discussions of 1997 and 1998. After the rally ended, three male freshmen were stopped by University Police driving in an unmarked car for rolling the empty root beer keg up Walnut Street. The officers took down the students' names and addresses but did not say how they would use the information, according to one student.
(03/29/99 10:00am)
Many students said the University's alcohol plan will not work and decried a lack of consultation in the process. Last week, the administration sent a message to undergraduates: Alcohol abuse would no longer be tolerated. And now, after the first weekend under a policy which bars alcohol from all registered campus parties indefinitely, many outraged students have a message they'd like to send right back: Stay out of our social life and treat us like adults. The policy seems likely to affect the social lives of almost all undergraduates, and with Skimmer and Spring Fling on the horizon, students across campus are expressing their discontent with the actions of University President Judith Rodin and Provost Robert Barchi. "I absolutely think it's the most ridiculous thing on earth," College senior Scott Melker said of the new policies, which include a ban on alcohol service at registered undergraduate events and stricter enforcement of existing alcohol policies. "I feel worse for someone who's a freshman now," added Melker, a Tau Epsilon Phi brother. "I'm blessed to be getting out of this place." And while a group of student leaders is organizing a rally tomorrow at 3 p.m. to protest the changes in the campus alcohol policy, its focus is not on the decision administrators reached, but on how they got there. Although the rally's actual format has not yet been finalized, UA Vice Chairperson Michael Bassik emphasized that the rally is "not about alcohol. It's not about going dry. It's not about Michael Tobin." Instead, Bassik, a College sophomore and Zeta Beta Tau brother, said the rally is mainly to protest the administration's failure to consult the student body prior to making a decision of this magnitude. Tangible Change Committee Chairperson and College senior Samara Barend expressed a similar sentiment, writing in a statement that non-alcoholic activities, many of which the committee helped create, "were never intended as a replacement for the existing culture of campus life," and that "the solution lies in the active engagement of those most affected by these decisions -- students." Barend added, "We challenge the administration to begin an immediate dialogue with undergraduates to address these serious issues." The 26-year-old Tobin's alcohol-related death last weekend after a party at Phi Gamma Delta has made many students think that the University must act -- even if the partial alcohol ban was not the correct action. College senior Stephen Parks said he feels that "something needed to be done" but thinks that the new crack-down is the "wrong answer" and will have some "adverse effects" on the campus' social life. The University's new stance has been criticized by many as punishing everyone for the actions of just a few people. "There are so many organizations on this campus that have never, ever had a problem with the University in terms of alcohol," College senior and Sigma Chi brother Scott Glosserman said. Last night, Barchi insisted that the University's actions are "not punitive." "We are not interested in punishing anyone here," he said. "We are interested in provoking a campus-wide discussion about how to deal with the culture of alcohol abuse that's taken hold at Penn and campuses across the country." Still, Melker blamed the University for "making a political platform out of a really unfortunate accident." Other student leaders emphasized that judging from the many past events conducted safely, there isn't a drastic need to deal with the "culture" Barchi described. According to Senior Class President Sarah Gleit, a Phi Sigma Sigma sister, there were no alcohol-related incidents in 12 senior screamers in February, nor were there any citations for underage drinking given to students at Skimmer last year. "Students go out of the way to be responsible," Gleit said, adding that the "University made a foolish decision." Another common criticism has been that the ban will force drinking off-campus into venues that are much less monitored than fraternity parties. "[The policy] is encouraging freshmen to sit in their rooms with a bottle of vodka? and get excessively drunk and sick," Gleit said. According to Barchi, the University's first priority is always "the health and safety of our students," but he said that administrators remain confident that the "overwhelming majority of students behave in a responsible manner in regard to the use of alcohol."
(03/23/99 10:00am)
Witnesses said that Michael Tobin, 26, had been drinking for hours before his fatal fall. Sunday's death of University alumnus Michael Tobin outside of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house was officially ruled an accident yesterday by the Philadelphia medical examiner, who determined that Tobin died from multiple internal injuries and a fractured skull resulting from a fall down an outdoor stairway. "We are confident from the investigations that he did fall down the steps," Penn Vice President for Public Safety Tom Seamon said at a news conference yesterday. "[In] exactly what manner we may never know, because there were no witnesses." Tobin, who graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences in 1994, was at the FIJI house for an annual alumni dinner. A toxicology report that will reveal Tobin's blood alcohol content and whether there were any other drugs in his system will take up to two more weeks to complete, police said. But police interviews with about 20 FIJI alumni and current brothers who were with Tobin the night of his death indicate that he had been drinking since late afternoon on Saturday. "We do know that Mr. Tobin, along with many other individuals, did start drinking early in the afternoon and certainly he was drinking for quite a period of time in the evening at a number of locations," Seamon said. Police said Tobin and the FIJI brothers drank in the house and also at various other locations in University City, including Smokey Joe's and Club Wizzards. FIJI brothers ended the night with "a social gathering" in their house and Tobin was last seen by brothers at about 4 a.m. At about 6:30 a.m., a brother came out of the back of the house, saw Tobin's body and immediately called 911, police said. Although police have ruled Tobin's death accidental, University Police Deputy Chief of Investigations Tom King said both Philadelphia Police's Homicide Division and University Police detectives will continue to investigate the incident to determine a more precise chronology of events leading up to Tobin's fall and the exact time of death. The University will be conducting internal investigations to determine whether the fraternity violated any of the school's alcohol policies the night before Tobin's death. Seamon would not comment on which specific policy violations the University was investigating. Police noted on Sunday that there were large amounts of empty and half-empty alcohol bottles throughout the first floor of the house. Investigations are also continuing inside the FIJI house, which police sealed off and labeled a crime scene on Sunday. Yesterday, the building was being guarded by police officers and a bio-hazardous waste company cleaned and removed all blood and contaminated items from the area. The University has temporarily relocated FIJI brothers to empty dorm rooms and a local hotel. University Police Chief Maureen Rush said the main reason the house remains closed is because during the investigation of the scene, authorities discovered several violations of the fire and safety codes. Rush would not speculate yesterday as to when they might be allowed back into the house. "We're moving as swiftly as possible but at the same time we want to be sure that all bases are covered," she said. Occupancy issues will be addressed once the fire and safety code breaches are corrected and the alcohol policy violations investigations are completed, Rush said. Police said the steps behind the FIJI house lead to the house's kitchen but they did not know why Tobin went outside. Seamon said it was unclear how often the brothers use the outside stairs. Tobin's family members, who were still in Philadelphia yesterday, are "on an emotional rollercoaster," Rush said. "At this point they are devastated." No funeral arrangements have been announced.
(03/19/99 10:00am)
Auto TheftAuto TheftMarch 15 -- A female University employee reported that her 1995 Nissan Pathfinder was stolen from a parking lot at 514 Osler Circle. She left the car to talk to the parking attendants after noticing that the lock was damaged. When she and the attendants returned to the lot at 3:50 p.m., the car was gone. Auto TheftMarch 15 -- A female University employee reported that her 1995 Nissan Pathfinder was stolen from a parking lot at 514 Osler Circle. She left the car to talk to the parking attendants after noticing that the lock was damaged. When she and the attendants returned to the lot at 3:50 p.m., the car was gone.BurglaryAuto TheftMarch 15 -- A female University employee reported that her 1995 Nissan Pathfinder was stolen from a parking lot at 514 Osler Circle. She left the car to talk to the parking attendants after noticing that the lock was damaged. When she and the attendants returned to the lot at 3:50 p.m., the car was gone.BurglaryMarch 15 -- A male University student reported that someone stole $250 in cash, a $200 Panasonic telephone and a $40 bottle of men's cologne from his room in the Quadrangle at 3700 Spruce Street between March 4 and March 15. There was no sign of forced entry. Auto TheftMarch 15 -- A female University employee reported that her 1995 Nissan Pathfinder was stolen from a parking lot at 514 Osler Circle. She left the car to talk to the parking attendants after noticing that the lock was damaged. When she and the attendants returned to the lot at 3:50 p.m., the car was gone.BurglaryMarch 15 -- A male University student reported that someone stole $250 in cash, a $200 Panasonic telephone and a $40 bottle of men's cologne from his room in the Quadrangle at 3700 Spruce Street between March 4 and March 15. There was no sign of forced entry.March 15 -- A male University student reported that someone entered his room in the Quad and took a $40 bottle of Hugo Boss cologne between March 5 and March 15. There was no sign of forced entry. Auto TheftMarch 15 -- A female University employee reported that her 1995 Nissan Pathfinder was stolen from a parking lot at 514 Osler Circle. She left the car to talk to the parking attendants after noticing that the lock was damaged. When she and the attendants returned to the lot at 3:50 p.m., the car was gone.BurglaryMarch 15 -- A male University student reported that someone stole $250 in cash, a $200 Panasonic telephone and a $40 bottle of men's cologne from his room in the Quadrangle at 3700 Spruce Street between March 4 and March 15. There was no sign of forced entry.March 15 -- A male University student reported that someone entered his room in the Quad and took a $40 bottle of Hugo Boss cologne between March 5 and March 15. There was no sign of forced entry.March 14 -- A male University student reported that someone broke into his apartment on the 3900 block of Chestnut Street and took a $4,000 computer between March 6 and March 14. There was no sign of forced entry. Auto TheftMarch 15 -- A female University employee reported that her 1995 Nissan Pathfinder was stolen from a parking lot at 514 Osler Circle. She left the car to talk to the parking attendants after noticing that the lock was damaged. When she and the attendants returned to the lot at 3:50 p.m., the car was gone.BurglaryMarch 15 -- A male University student reported that someone stole $250 in cash, a $200 Panasonic telephone and a $40 bottle of men's cologne from his room in the Quadrangle at 3700 Spruce Street between March 4 and March 15. There was no sign of forced entry.March 15 -- A male University student reported that someone entered his room in the Quad and took a $40 bottle of Hugo Boss cologne between March 5 and March 15. There was no sign of forced entry.March 14 -- A male University student reported that someone broke into his apartment on the 3900 block of Chestnut Street and took a $4,000 computer between March 6 and March 14. There was no sign of forced entry.TheftAuto TheftMarch 15 -- A female University employee reported that her 1995 Nissan Pathfinder was stolen from a parking lot at 514 Osler Circle. She left the car to talk to the parking attendants after noticing that the lock was damaged. When she and the attendants returned to the lot at 3:50 p.m., the car was gone.BurglaryMarch 15 -- A male University student reported that someone stole $250 in cash, a $200 Panasonic telephone and a $40 bottle of men's cologne from his room in the Quadrangle at 3700 Spruce Street between March 4 and March 15. There was no sign of forced entry.March 15 -- A male University student reported that someone entered his room in the Quad and took a $40 bottle of Hugo Boss cologne between March 5 and March 15. There was no sign of forced entry.March 14 -- A male University student reported that someone broke into his apartment on the 3900 block of Chestnut Street and took a $4,000 computer between March 6 and March 14. There was no sign of forced entry.TheftMarch 17 -- A male University employee reported that someone broke the left front window of his 1996 Honda Accord and stole a $70 Sony compact disc player between March 10 and March 17 while the car was parked in a University parking lot at 38th and Spruce streets. Auto TheftMarch 15 -- A female University employee reported that her 1995 Nissan Pathfinder was stolen from a parking lot at 514 Osler Circle. She left the car to talk to the parking attendants after noticing that the lock was damaged. When she and the attendants returned to the lot at 3:50 p.m., the car was gone.BurglaryMarch 15 -- A male University student reported that someone stole $250 in cash, a $200 Panasonic telephone and a $40 bottle of men's cologne from his room in the Quadrangle at 3700 Spruce Street between March 4 and March 15. There was no sign of forced entry.March 15 -- A male University student reported that someone entered his room in the Quad and took a $40 bottle of Hugo Boss cologne between March 5 and March 15. There was no sign of forced entry.March 14 -- A male University student reported that someone broke into his apartment on the 3900 block of Chestnut Street and took a $4,000 computer between March 6 and March 14. There was no sign of forced entry.TheftMarch 17 -- A male University employee reported that someone broke the left front window of his 1996 Honda Accord and stole a $70 Sony compact disc player between March 10 and March 17 while the car was parked in a University parking lot at 38th and Spruce streets.All information was obtained from the University Police log book. Auto TheftMarch 15 -- A female University employee reported that her 1995 Nissan Pathfinder was stolen from a parking lot at 514 Osler Circle. She left the car to talk to the parking attendants after noticing that the lock was damaged. When she and the attendants returned to the lot at 3:50 p.m., the car was gone.BurglaryMarch 15 -- A male University student reported that someone stole $250 in cash, a $200 Panasonic telephone and a $40 bottle of men's cologne from his room in the Quadrangle at 3700 Spruce Street between March 4 and March 15. There was no sign of forced entry.March 15 -- A male University student reported that someone entered his room in the Quad and took a $40 bottle of Hugo Boss cologne between March 5 and March 15. There was no sign of forced entry.March 14 -- A male University student reported that someone broke into his apartment on the 3900 block of Chestnut Street and took a $4,000 computer between March 6 and March 14. There was no sign of forced entry.TheftMarch 17 -- A male University employee reported that someone broke the left front window of his 1996 Honda Accord and stole a $70 Sony compact disc player between March 10 and March 17 while the car was parked in a University parking lot at 38th and Spruce streets.All information was obtained from the University Police log book.-- Laura McClure
(03/05/99 10:00am)
Imagine yourself driving a car, waiting for the streetlight to change and drifting spontaneously into a deep sleep. It may sound comical to some, but to those who suffer from narcolepsy, it's a nightmare waiting to happen. Enter Nursing Professor Ann Rogers, a newcomer to Penn who came here from the University of Michigan in January -- a board-certified expert in sleep disorders who is among about 20 other sleep researchers here at Penn. "[Narcolepsy] is a physical problem related to the neurotransmitters, which are chemical signals, in the brainstem," Rogers said. "Its onset is usually in the late teens and it's lifelong." Rogers emphasized that there is plenty of hope for those stricken with the disorder. According to Rogers, narcolepsy is "a treatable illness? treated with stimulants such as amphetamines and ritalin. [The patients] don't get high, they simply attain normal wakefulness." "My research is focused on treatment efficacy," says Rogers. "We don't know much about how to manage treatment." In her research, Rogers has used a device that is about the size of a Walkman, known as "ambulatory recording" equipment, that monitors the 24-hour sleep-wake pattern of a subject. Rogers maintains that while on stimulants 40 percent of her subjects were able to stay awake all day and attain normal sleep patterns. Rogers has also studied patient use of medication by using a special pill bottle that contains a computer chip. By detecting when the cap is removed, the chip records the frequency and interval between doses. Currently, she is involved in an examination of the difference between those who respond to stimulant medications and those who do not. For Rogers, the greatest obstacle to research that "it's not a real common disease.? [Only] about one out of every 100,000 people suffer from it." Another complication to narcolepsy research is its common confusion with another disorder called obstructive sleep apnea, which causes the patient to stop breathing during periods of deep sleep. Although it usually does not lead to suffocation, the patient often experiences several restless nights. The lack of sleep leads to excessive daytime sleepiness, the main symptom of narcolepsy. Still, Rogers is optimistic about the future of narcoleptic patients. She is especially excited about the release of a new drug, made by the pharmaceutical company Cephalon, based in West Chester, Pa., known as Provigil. Provigil, which often bears the name Monafinil, was first marketed in France over 10 years ago and is the first daytime sleepiness combatant to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration since the 1960s. The new drug will offer physicians another option for fighting daytime sleepiness. Since patients react differently to each treatment, it is possible that an increasing number of narcolepsy patients could lead normal, wakeful lives.
(02/17/99 10:00am)
Men's basketball tri-captain Jed Ryan put a bottle of Jack Daniels to his lips during his freshman year and woke up from a coma two days later in a hospital bed. And after Senior Class President Sarah Gleit's older brother partied one evening with drugs and alcohol, he never woke up at all. Ryan, a Wharton senior, and Gleit, a College senior, shared their experiences with alcohol abuse last night before a crowd of approximately 200 people as part of "The Penn Drinking Project," a Drug and Alcohol Resource Team event. After attending a Sigma Chi hotel party in 1996, Ryan said he "almost died." "I want to kick your ass," Ryan's father -- an ex-Marine -- told him after he woke up with "a tube in [his] throat the size of a human hand." Ryan said his father then added, "It looks like you already kicked your own ass." Ryan told those in the Terrace Room of Logan Hall he did not want to "preach" last night, but rather was there to stress that "alcohol affects not only you but your entire family." Gleit preceded Ryan with an account of her family's encounter with alcohol abuse. She told the crowd that her brother -- a Pennsylvania State University graduate -- died two weeks after his 1996 graduation from a combination of alcohol and other drugs. "I figured he was invincible," Gleit said of the 6'1", 250-lb. varsity wrestler. The Phi Sigma Sigma sister warned the audience to watch for signs of drug abuse in family and friends. Gleit said she still wonders whether her brother could have been saved "if his friends had warned us." "I just know that it doesn't have to happen to any of us," she added. The Senior Class Board, the InterFraternity Council, the Panhellenic Council, the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity and the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority co-sponsored the DART program. As part of SAM's disciplinary agreement following its violation of the dry rush policy at a New Jersey bowling alley in January, the fraternity is "required to have a high level of involvement with DART," according to health educator and DART advisor Kate Ward-Gaus. New SAM President Jason Post, a College junior, confirmed that "this program is part of the culture change that SAM is helping foster." College junior Sara Vakil, who is in charge of risk management for Theta, contacted DART last week to allow its new members to get involved with yesterday's educational program. "Since we are on probation, we are trying to make our chapter stronger," Vakil noted. Theta's new members -- who said they had not heard the seniors' stories prior to receiving e-mails about the event -- described the evening as "humbling." In addition to Theta, several other sororities brought their new member classes. During the brief open-mike portion of the evening, a male who noted he was "one of the few guys here tonight," urged the women present to be wary of intoxicated men at campus social events. On Monday, Gleit said she had been planning since sophomore year to publicly reveal her story as a senior. She noted that she sees her peers -- the senior class, with whom she feels "very comfortable and close" -- doing "exactly what my brother did" and risking their lives. Gleit said she initially approached University President Judith Rodin with her idea and was referred DART.
(02/15/99 10:00am)
From Michelle Weinberg's, "For Every Action," Fall '99 From Michelle Weinberg's, "For Every Action," Fall '99I love beer. While some may consider this admission an indication of alcoholism, I prefer to call it an appreciation for history and culture. Beer recipes have been found in ancient written languages and many cultures have their own unique variety of brew that brings people together in the name of fun and relaxation. Beer is a timeless treasure. There is a wonderful world of beer just waiting to be sampled and many Penn students are missing out. After many, many evenings of serious research on this subject, I'm here to share with you some advice on beer appreciation, in the hopes that beer drinkers at Penn will have more fulfilling beer experiences. The first rule is simple. If you don't like the way your beer tastes, don't drink it. I find no pleasure in intoxication unless I enjoy it from my first sip to my last. There are a few ways you can instantly tell your beer is not worthy. If the label on your beer ends in "Lite" or "Ice" or any combination of the letters t, z and s -- it's bad beer. If the beer is only sold in either a can or a keg -- it's bad beer. If the beer is commonly referred to as "The Beast" or some other vulgar nickname -- chances are, it's also bad. If the color and consistency of your beer reminds you of a certain bodily fluid -- it's really bad beer. Please don't drink these beers. Once you understand the difference between good and bad beer, when left with only these disgusting options you will realize that sobriety is far superior to taste bud degradation. There is one exception to the bad beer guidelines -- ye olde 40 ounce. The concept of 40 ounces of pure malt liquor all in one convenient bottle, and available almost any time of day or night at your local corner convenience store, is enough to make even this beer connoisseur rethink her standards -- on special occasions. Approached with caution, the occasional splurge will guarantee a good time. Second. There is a beer out there for everyone, so always sample new varieties in the hopes that you discover the brew that's right for you. The more varieties you try, the more you'll realize how different each beer can be. And for those of you who claim you will never enjoy beer, may I recommend a fruity lambic or a smooth cider? Or my personal favorite, Trappist ale, brewed by Belgian monks. Trust me, the churches of Belgium brew this beer for a reason -- it's definitely a gift from a higher power. Third. Drink microbrews. They're just better. The choices are endless, ranging from lagers to ales, stouts to ambers. Many microbrews resemble their European inspirations at a significantly lower price. And while they may cost more than the King of Beers, there's no harm in cutting down the amount we drink in the name of a better tasting beverage. Save yourself the embarrassment of whatever lewd act that next cheap beer would have inspired you to perform. Finally, brew your own beer. If you're really concerned about the cost of a better-tasting beer, this is an investment that definitely pays off. And, as you perfect your homebrewing skills, you will be able to develop a beer that suits your taste buds to a tee. The process is simple and can be completed with a kit and the equipment in the average high rise kitchenette. All it takes is a little hops, some malt, water, hungry happy yeast and a bit of patience. There are tons of books available to guide you through this fun and rewarding process. And so next time you're about to chug a plastic cup full of Schlitz Lite or Natty Ice, please reconsider. Now you know better. Here's to many weekends of responsible and sophisticated beer drinking. Cheers.
(01/14/99 10:00am)
RobberyRobbery· January 10 -- A man unaffiliated with the University reported that as he left Club Wizzards at 3801 Chestnut Street at approximately 1 a.m., someone hit him in the back of the neck and took his wallet and credit cards. The man did not require medical treatment. Robbery· January 10 -- A man unaffiliated with the University reported that as he left Club Wizzards at 3801 Chestnut Street at approximately 1 a.m., someone hit him in the back of the neck and took his wallet and credit cards. The man did not require medical treatment.TheftRobbery· January 10 -- A man unaffiliated with the University reported that as he left Club Wizzards at 3801 Chestnut Street at approximately 1 a.m., someone hit him in the back of the neck and took his wallet and credit cards. The man did not require medical treatment.Theft· January 12 -- A female University graduate student reported that her briefcase containing keys to the Jaffe History of Art building, a Texas drivers' license and several personal checks were stolen between 2:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. at the Fisher Fine Arts Library at 220 S. 34th Street. The items had been left unattended. Robbery· January 10 -- A man unaffiliated with the University reported that as he left Club Wizzards at 3801 Chestnut Street at approximately 1 a.m., someone hit him in the back of the neck and took his wallet and credit cards. The man did not require medical treatment.Theft· January 12 -- A female University graduate student reported that her briefcase containing keys to the Jaffe History of Art building, a Texas drivers' license and several personal checks were stolen between 2:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. at the Fisher Fine Arts Library at 220 S. 34th Street. The items had been left unattended.· January 11 -- A female University employee reported seeing a man take her backpack and unspecified contents inside it from a room in the John Morgan Building at 3620 Hamilton Walk at about 6:45 p.m. Robbery· January 10 -- A man unaffiliated with the University reported that as he left Club Wizzards at 3801 Chestnut Street at approximately 1 a.m., someone hit him in the back of the neck and took his wallet and credit cards. The man did not require medical treatment.Theft· January 12 -- A female University graduate student reported that her briefcase containing keys to the Jaffe History of Art building, a Texas drivers' license and several personal checks were stolen between 2:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. at the Fisher Fine Arts Library at 220 S. 34th Street. The items had been left unattended.· January 11 -- A female University employee reported seeing a man take her backpack and unspecified contents inside it from a room in the John Morgan Building at 3620 Hamilton Walk at about 6:45 p.m.· January 11 -- An unidentified male stole 15 bottles of hand lotion from CVS at 3915 Walnut Street shortly after 5 p.m. A store employee reported the crime and gave a description of the suspect to University Police. Robbery· January 10 -- A man unaffiliated with the University reported that as he left Club Wizzards at 3801 Chestnut Street at approximately 1 a.m., someone hit him in the back of the neck and took his wallet and credit cards. The man did not require medical treatment.Theft· January 12 -- A female University graduate student reported that her briefcase containing keys to the Jaffe History of Art building, a Texas drivers' license and several personal checks were stolen between 2:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. at the Fisher Fine Arts Library at 220 S. 34th Street. The items had been left unattended.· January 11 -- A female University employee reported seeing a man take her backpack and unspecified contents inside it from a room in the John Morgan Building at 3620 Hamilton Walk at about 6:45 p.m.· January 11 -- An unidentified male stole 15 bottles of hand lotion from CVS at 3915 Walnut Street shortly after 5 p.m. A store employee reported the crime and gave a description of the suspect to University Police.· January 11 -- A male student reported that someone stole his wallet containing $10 in cash, approximately $20 worth of Korean money, $100 worth of travelers checks and a $4,800 money order from his jacket in the Biddle Law Library sometime between 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Robbery· January 10 -- A man unaffiliated with the University reported that as he left Club Wizzards at 3801 Chestnut Street at approximately 1 a.m., someone hit him in the back of the neck and took his wallet and credit cards. The man did not require medical treatment.Theft· January 12 -- A female University graduate student reported that her briefcase containing keys to the Jaffe History of Art building, a Texas drivers' license and several personal checks were stolen between 2:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. at the Fisher Fine Arts Library at 220 S. 34th Street. The items had been left unattended.· January 11 -- A female University employee reported seeing a man take her backpack and unspecified contents inside it from a room in the John Morgan Building at 3620 Hamilton Walk at about 6:45 p.m.· January 11 -- An unidentified male stole 15 bottles of hand lotion from CVS at 3915 Walnut Street shortly after 5 p.m. A store employee reported the crime and gave a description of the suspect to University Police.· January 11 -- A male student reported that someone stole his wallet containing $10 in cash, approximately $20 worth of Korean money, $100 worth of travelers checks and a $4,800 money order from his jacket in the Biddle Law Library sometime between 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.· January 11 -- A male University student reported seeing a heavy-set African-American male, about 5'8" tall and wearing a green jacket, take his wallet from the ground floor of Meyerson Hall at 210 S. 34th Street at around 1:45 p.m. Robbery· January 10 -- A man unaffiliated with the University reported that as he left Club Wizzards at 3801 Chestnut Street at approximately 1 a.m., someone hit him in the back of the neck and took his wallet and credit cards. The man did not require medical treatment.Theft· January 12 -- A female University graduate student reported that her briefcase containing keys to the Jaffe History of Art building, a Texas drivers' license and several personal checks were stolen between 2:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. at the Fisher Fine Arts Library at 220 S. 34th Street. The items had been left unattended.· January 11 -- A female University employee reported seeing a man take her backpack and unspecified contents inside it from a room in the John Morgan Building at 3620 Hamilton Walk at about 6:45 p.m.· January 11 -- An unidentified male stole 15 bottles of hand lotion from CVS at 3915 Walnut Street shortly after 5 p.m. A store employee reported the crime and gave a description of the suspect to University Police.· January 11 -- A male student reported that someone stole his wallet containing $10 in cash, approximately $20 worth of Korean money, $100 worth of travelers checks and a $4,800 money order from his jacket in the Biddle Law Library sometime between 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.· January 11 -- A male University student reported seeing a heavy-set African-American male, about 5'8" tall and wearing a green jacket, take his wallet from the ground floor of Meyerson Hall at 210 S. 34th Street at around 1:45 p.m.· January 10 -- A male University student reported that someone stole his secured $350 bicycle from a bike rack outside of Harnwell House, or High Rise East, at 3820 Locust Walk between 2 p.m. on January 8 and 8 p.m. on January 10. Robbery· January 10 -- A man unaffiliated with the University reported that as he left Club Wizzards at 3801 Chestnut Street at approximately 1 a.m., someone hit him in the back of the neck and took his wallet and credit cards. The man did not require medical treatment.Theft· January 12 -- A female University graduate student reported that her briefcase containing keys to the Jaffe History of Art building, a Texas drivers' license and several personal checks were stolen between 2:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. at the Fisher Fine Arts Library at 220 S. 34th Street. The items had been left unattended.· January 11 -- A female University employee reported seeing a man take her backpack and unspecified contents inside it from a room in the John Morgan Building at 3620 Hamilton Walk at about 6:45 p.m.· January 11 -- An unidentified male stole 15 bottles of hand lotion from CVS at 3915 Walnut Street shortly after 5 p.m. A store employee reported the crime and gave a description of the suspect to University Police.· January 11 -- A male student reported that someone stole his wallet containing $10 in cash, approximately $20 worth of Korean money, $100 worth of travelers checks and a $4,800 money order from his jacket in the Biddle Law Library sometime between 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.· January 11 -- A male University student reported seeing a heavy-set African-American male, about 5'8" tall and wearing a green jacket, take his wallet from the ground floor of Meyerson Hall at 210 S. 34th Street at around 1:45 p.m.· January 10 -- A male University student reported that someone stole his secured $350 bicycle from a bike rack outside of Harnwell House, or High Rise East, at 3820 Locust Walk between 2 p.m. on January 8 and 8 p.m. on January 10.· January 10 -- A female University student reported that $300 worth of jewelry was taken from her Harnwell apartment over winter vacation, sometime between December 22 and January 10. Robbery· January 10 -- A man unaffiliated with the University reported that as he left Club Wizzards at 3801 Chestnut Street at approximately 1 a.m., someone hit him in the back of the neck and took his wallet and credit cards. The man did not require medical treatment.Theft· January 12 -- A female University graduate student reported that her briefcase containing keys to the Jaffe History of Art building, a Texas drivers' license and several personal checks were stolen between 2:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. at the Fisher Fine Arts Library at 220 S. 34th Street. The items had been left unattended.· January 11 -- A female University employee reported seeing a man take her backpack and unspecified contents inside it from a room in the John Morgan Building at 3620 Hamilton Walk at about 6:45 p.m.· January 11 -- An unidentified male stole 15 bottles of hand lotion from CVS at 3915 Walnut Street shortly after 5 p.m. A store employee reported the crime and gave a description of the suspect to University Police.· January 11 -- A male student reported that someone stole his wallet containing $10 in cash, approximately $20 worth of Korean money, $100 worth of travelers checks and a $4,800 money order from his jacket in the Biddle Law Library sometime between 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.· January 11 -- A male University student reported seeing a heavy-set African-American male, about 5'8" tall and wearing a green jacket, take his wallet from the ground floor of Meyerson Hall at 210 S. 34th Street at around 1:45 p.m.· January 10 -- A male University student reported that someone stole his secured $350 bicycle from a bike rack outside of Harnwell House, or High Rise East, at 3820 Locust Walk between 2 p.m. on January 8 and 8 p.m. on January 10.· January 10 -- A female University student reported that $300 worth of jewelry was taken from her Harnwell apartment over winter vacation, sometime between December 22 and January 10. · January 10 -- A male University student reported that someone stole his car stereo and CD charger worth $700 from his locked car sometime between December 20 and January 10. The car was parked in a University lot at 32nd and Walnut streets. There was no sign of forced entry. Robbery· January 10 -- A man unaffiliated with the University reported that as he left Club Wizzards at 3801 Chestnut Street at approximately 1 a.m., someone hit him in the back of the neck and took his wallet and credit cards. The man did not require medical treatment.Theft· January 12 -- A female University graduate student reported that her briefcase containing keys to the Jaffe History of Art building, a Texas drivers' license and several personal checks were stolen between 2:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. at the Fisher Fine Arts Library at 220 S. 34th Street. The items had been left unattended.· January 11 -- A female University employee reported seeing a man take her backpack and unspecified contents inside it from a room in the John Morgan Building at 3620 Hamilton Walk at about 6:45 p.m.· January 11 -- An unidentified male stole 15 bottles of hand lotion from CVS at 3915 Walnut Street shortly after 5 p.m. A store employee reported the crime and gave a description of the suspect to University Police.· January 11 -- A male student reported that someone stole his wallet containing $10 in cash, approximately $20 worth of Korean money, $100 worth of travelers checks and a $4,800 money order from his jacket in the Biddle Law Library sometime between 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.· January 11 -- A male University student reported seeing a heavy-set African-American male, about 5'8" tall and wearing a green jacket, take his wallet from the ground floor of Meyerson Hall at 210 S. 34th Street at around 1:45 p.m.· January 10 -- A male University student reported that someone stole his secured $350 bicycle from a bike rack outside of Harnwell House, or High Rise East, at 3820 Locust Walk between 2 p.m. on January 8 and 8 p.m. on January 10.· January 10 -- A female University student reported that $300 worth of jewelry was taken from her Harnwell apartment over winter vacation, sometime between December 22 and January 10. · January 10 -- A male University student reported that someone stole his car stereo and CD charger worth $700 from his locked car sometime between December 20 and January 10. The car was parked in a University lot at 32nd and Walnut streets. There was no sign of forced entry.· January 9 -- A female University employee reported that someone stole her credit card from her unsecured office in Stemmler Hall at 3450 Hamilton Walk, sometime between January 8 and January 9 and charged $6,000 worth of expenses to her account. Robbery· January 10 -- A man unaffiliated with the University reported that as he left Club Wizzards at 3801 Chestnut Street at approximately 1 a.m., someone hit him in the back of the neck and took his wallet and credit cards. The man did not require medical treatment.Theft· January 12 -- A female University graduate student reported that her briefcase containing keys to the Jaffe History of Art building, a Texas drivers' license and several personal checks were stolen between 2:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. at the Fisher Fine Arts Library at 220 S. 34th Street. The items had been left unattended.· January 11 -- A female University employee reported seeing a man take her backpack and unspecified contents inside it from a room in the John Morgan Building at 3620 Hamilton Walk at about 6:45 p.m.· January 11 -- An unidentified male stole 15 bottles of hand lotion from CVS at 3915 Walnut Street shortly after 5 p.m. A store employee reported the crime and gave a description of the suspect to University Police.· January 11 -- A male student reported that someone stole his wallet containing $10 in cash, approximately $20 worth of Korean money, $100 worth of travelers checks and a $4,800 money order from his jacket in the Biddle Law Library sometime between 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.· January 11 -- A male University student reported seeing a heavy-set African-American male, about 5'8" tall and wearing a green jacket, take his wallet from the ground floor of Meyerson Hall at 210 S. 34th Street at around 1:45 p.m.· January 10 -- A male University student reported that someone stole his secured $350 bicycle from a bike rack outside of Harnwell House, or High Rise East, at 3820 Locust Walk between 2 p.m. on January 8 and 8 p.m. on January 10.· January 10 -- A female University student reported that $300 worth of jewelry was taken from her Harnwell apartment over winter vacation, sometime between December 22 and January 10. · January 10 -- A male University student reported that someone stole his car stereo and CD charger worth $700 from his locked car sometime between December 20 and January 10. The car was parked in a University lot at 32nd and Walnut streets. There was no sign of forced entry.· January 9 -- A female University employee reported that someone stole her credit card from her unsecured office in Stemmler Hall at 3450 Hamilton Walk, sometime between January 8 and January 9 and charged $6,000 worth of expenses to her account. All information was obtained from University Police. Robbery· January 10 -- A man unaffiliated with the University reported that as he left Club Wizzards at 3801 Chestnut Street at approximately 1 a.m., someone hit him in the back of the neck and took his wallet and credit cards. The man did not require medical treatment.Theft· January 12 -- A female University graduate student reported that her briefcase containing keys to the Jaffe History of Art building, a Texas drivers' license and several personal checks were stolen between 2:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. at the Fisher Fine Arts Library at 220 S. 34th Street. The items had been left unattended.· January 11 -- A female University employee reported seeing a man take her backpack and unspecified contents inside it from a room in the John Morgan Building at 3620 Hamilton Walk at about 6:45 p.m.· January 11 -- An unidentified male stole 15 bottles of hand lotion from CVS at 3915 Walnut Street shortly after 5 p.m. A store employee reported the crime and gave a description of the suspect to University Police.· January 11 -- A male student reported that someone stole his wallet containing $10 in cash, approximately $20 worth of Korean money, $100 worth of travelers checks and a $4,800 money order from his jacket in the Biddle Law Library sometime between 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.· January 11 -- A male University student reported seeing a heavy-set African-American male, about 5'8" tall and wearing a green jacket, take his wallet from the ground floor of Meyerson Hall at 210 S. 34th Street at around 1:45 p.m.· January 10 -- A male University student reported that someone stole his secured $350 bicycle from a bike rack outside of Harnwell House, or High Rise East, at 3820 Locust Walk between 2 p.m. on January 8 and 8 p.m. on January 10.· January 10 -- A female University student reported that $300 worth of jewelry was taken from her Harnwell apartment over winter vacation, sometime between December 22 and January 10. · January 10 -- A male University student reported that someone stole his car stereo and CD charger worth $700 from his locked car sometime between December 20 and January 10. The car was parked in a University lot at 32nd and Walnut streets. There was no sign of forced entry.· January 9 -- A female University employee reported that someone stole her credit card from her unsecured office in Stemmler Hall at 3450 Hamilton Walk, sometime between January 8 and January 9 and charged $6,000 worth of expenses to her account. All information was obtained from University Police.-- Laura McClure
(12/04/98 10:00am)
An illuminated, gilded statue of the notorious Vladimir Lenin towers over a region called V.D.N.Kh in northern Moscow, while the stores surrounding the statue are alive with customers browsing through Apple PowerBooks and Casio digital watches. Small kiosks in the below-ground crosswalks sell bottles of Finnish shower gel for 50 rubles a pop, while many Russians' monthly salaries are pensions that barely exceed 30 rubles -- if the Russians even receive salaries at all, that is. Handsome men in Italian suits and suede shoes run their fingers through their gelled hair and chat loudly on cellular phones, as they step over beggars who hold up hands stained by dirt, frost and calamity. BMWs and Mercedes with tinted windows race past each other on the highways. Occasionally one stops at a roadside fruit stand and a man surrounded by bodyguards and weapons walks away with a crate of oranges. He doesn't have to pay. The fruit vendor, an aged woman of 65, will not stop him. She cannot stop him. The handsome statue of KGB founder Felix Dzerzhinsky no longer stands in its longtime location on Lubyanka Square, but the KGB and secret service still operate using different aliases, and their presence here is still very real. The Kremlin itself, trying to coerce the nation into adhering to Western practices and free market capitalism, takes two steps back each time it makes a step forward. The Parliament is still run by Communist leaders who are innately supportive of Stalin and blind to his purges, leaders who are at their core both anti-American and anti-Semitic, leaders who kill democrats for their cause. And no other leader but Boris Yeltsin in 1991 has ever seemed so promising, so triumphant in a time of evolution and post-Communist change. But Yeltsin, like other Russian leaders, became paralyzed by his own vanity, his reluctance to uncurl the fingers of an iron fist. Because of his own reticence, his need to do things his way, he brought the army to Chechnya, where 80,000 people -- working to recreate their nation -- fell at his hands. Standing strong before the White House, Russia's Parliament building, in 1991, Yeltsin himself appeared vibrant, ready and above all, capable of bringing a baby -- the new Russia -- into a world so shaped by the former Soviet Union. But now, after multiple heart attacks, quintuple bypass surgery, alcoholism and foolish errors like Chechnya and his attack on the White House in '93, Yeltsin's own story is a staggering irony. As a result, Russia has slipped into the greedy hands of the notorious oligarchs who control her with their wallets. Russia is clearly a nation in transition, but her movement from one era to the next extends far beyond its physical manifestation. Behind the beggar, the BMW owner, the man still clinging to Communism for support, is the Russian soul, an entity so tarnished by its past and already so weary from what appears to be its future. The Russian himself looks at 1998 and sees himself trapped between two worlds: a 75-year-old past cloaked in the red veneer of power and security, and an infantile future, replete with economic shock and turbulent politics. Should he walk backwards or forward? Any move he makes will land him in the international limelight, and each choice is harder than the next. His past has not ended, his future not yet begun, but his present is dashing in and out of both unknown worlds. The Russian people, from the young children who sport Chicago Bulls caps to the elderly pensioners, are faced with the unthinkable task: to build a new nation, to make a pile of rubble into a palace. But with the imperial epoch long gone, Communism supposedly squashed and a semi-democracy causing more pain than anything else, the Russians do not know where to turn. Despite their errors, their history is an amazing story of repression and survival, and the fact that they have survived at all is both astonishing and magnificent. To live in Russia at the turn of the millennium is to just barely see the light at the end of a long tunnel, to wonder if hope is there and to struggle mercilessly to attain it. To live in Russia now is to wonder who you are, who your allies are, what you believe in and to watch your back. Sandwiched in between communism and democracy, constantly turning your head backward and forward to see two different flags, unsure of your past or present and exemplifying that in both the ancient and modern aspects of daily life, is to be what Russia is in 1998. From the remaining statues of Lenin to the explosive McDonald's franchise that has blanketed this city from one edge to the other, Russia will always be -- at the end of a remarkable century -- a study in contrast.
(12/03/98 10:00am)
In the suit, the owner of the building housing College Buffet accuses the fraternity of damaging its roof. The owner of the building leased to College Buffet, located at 3901 Walnut Street, said yesterday that he is suing Penn and the local and national chapters of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity for $250,000, charging fraternity with damaging the building's roof. The fraternity has repeatedly thrown bottles and trash on the building's roof over the past year, said Robert Herdelin, who has owned the property for 35 years. Herdelin said he is shocked by the students' "outrageous behavior." The civil suit will be filed on Monday with the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, requesting $15,000 for the roof, $9,000 for broken air conditioners, $50,000 for business interruption and property damage and $176,000 in punitive damages. Additionally, Herdelin plans to file an action with the City of Philadelphia to have the DTD house closed as a public nuisance. Alan Lee, the manager of College Buffet, said that he has seen students throwing trash on the roof out of the house's top story windows. And Herdelin said he found a trash bag on the roof that contained incriminating documents, including a phone bill that belonged to DTD brother Josh Lloyd. Lloyd, a Wharton and Engineering junior, admitted that the items were his but denied throwing the trash bag. He suggested that someone else may have found his garbage and thrown it on to the roof of College Buffet. "We have a common trash area [for the street]," he explained. "Anyone could have access to my trash." Herdelin has spoken to Lloyd about the trash, and he said he thought that the fraternity was at fault. "Did a helicopter drop it off on the way to Pittsburgh?" Herdelin asked. DTD President James Vergara denied the charges against his fraternity. He said the fraternity only admitted responsibility for breaking a car windshield after throwing a water balloon out a window in August. The fraternity agreed to pay $250 for the damage. Herdelin said that the victim had not received the check on Sunday, although Vergara said that they mailed the check the week before Thanksgiving. Vergara added that the fraternity cannot access their roof, which is locked. However, the house's top windows are above the roof of College Buffet. The local chapter has not spoken to Herdelin since September. In the meantime, he has negotiated with the DTD national fraternity, the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs and President Judith Rodin, Herdelin said. Negotiations broke down with Royal Surplus Lines Insurance Company, the national fraternity's agent, on Tuesday, December 1. Their highest offer was beneath $5,000 and Herdelin felt that it would be an "exercise in mental calisthenics to continue negotiations." Herdelin, who has owned all the buildings on the 3900 block at various points over the past 30 years, said he dislikes the effect the fraternity has had on the neighborhood since moving into the house in the fall of 1997. "They've got to put some kind of guidance counselor in these buildings," he explained, "They can't let students turn around and run the ship because they're out of control." Larry Moses, OFSA program director for the BiCultural InterGreek Council, has been working with Herdelin to resolve the differences between the two parties. Moses was unavailable for comment last night. InterFraternity Council President Josh Belinfante said that neither the fraternity or OFSA had informed him about the imminent legal problems.
(11/13/98 10:00am)
From Miachel Brus', "Nacissist's Holiday," Fall '98 From Miachel Brus', "Nacissist's Holiday," Fall '98My Spanish instructor last term was a socialist, though in a way I don't blame him. He is a gay man who was educated in a Catholic school in Argentina. If you were left-handed the nuns would tie your left hand to your chair and make you write with the right one. This upbringing could give anyone a proclivity toward radicalism. The interesting thing is, I didn't particularly mind that my professor was a tenured radical. He was a superb instructor and a warm, open man. He made my academic sentence -- a semester of intensive Spanish to fulfill the foreign-language requirement -- more enjoyable. But more than that, I regarded his politics as kitsch. At the University of Pennsylvania, the PC wars of the early 1990s are largely over. Radicals don't pose a threat to liberal education anymore -- they add to campus diversity. I am a Gen-Xer, but I haven't always been un-ideological. I came of political age during the Reagan administration. My mom would read The New York Times out loud over breakfast every morning, rolling off sarcastic quips against all her ideological enemies -- fat-cat lawyers, law-breaking Republicans, men in general. (It was a cranky, unthinking liberalism, I admit, but it had its charms.) During my first year of college, at Swarthmore, I did a political about-face: I rebelled against an atmosphere of self-satisfied liberalism by becoming a neoconservative. Now, several years later, I flatter myself that my politics is more mature and less ideological. Unlike me, my father has always been apolitical. Of course, in his generation politics wasn't amusing -- it was deadly serious. Thirty years ago my dad was a doctoral student at Columbia University. "The Marxists hung another banner from Hamilton Hall today," my father would write in a typical letter home. On April 23, 1968, radical students gave up protest for outright rebellion. They sent President Grayson Kirk an obscenity-laced letter and then ransacked his office in Low Library. They photostated his private correspondence for campus circulation and urinated into his wastebasket and out of his windows. They burned one professor's papers -- representing 10 years of research -- and destroyed the papers of many others. They held Low Library for seven long days. Writing that December in Commentary magazine, Columbia doyenne Diana Trilling wondered whether "the fantasy of imminent police brutality provided the emotional motive of revolutionary intransigence." The protesters, she noted, made no concrete demands to the administration. Theirs was an existential protest, not a political one. Unlike the famous Vietnam protest march on the Pentagon six months earlier, "the Columbia revolution was nothing if not improvisational, scornful of systematic political thought." Trilling's analysis of the Columbia takeover is, I think, correct. The Columbia brass may have been out of touch, but they weren't the ones sending teenagers to Vietnam. Being young, however, the 1968 revolutionaries viewed all authority figures with the same smoldering gaze. The Columbia faculty -- many of whom had been shielding their students from the draft -- tried to mediate. But the administration eventually permitted an indignant NYPD to storm the building swinging billyclubs, to the public's horror. Classes were canceled for the semester and Kirk resigned. Two commencements were held -- one in the Church of St. John the Divine and an "alternative" one on the steps of Low Library, led by poet-cum-protester Robert Lowell. A friend of Trilling's brought a bottle of water and a handkerchief to the official commencement in case of tear gas. My father, meanwhile, continued to diligently write his chemistry dissertation. He was locked out of his lab for one day, but that was the extent of his inconvenience. During the takeover he paused at Low Library only long enough to snap a few photographs of the revolutionaries, perched like crows on the president's windowsill. My generation is often called apathetic, and by most measures -- election turnout, politicking on campus -- we are. Still, the difference between the righteous activism of the Columbia cabal and my own righteous activism in high school is that in 1968 there were issues worthy of mass protest, like war and civil rights. In 1998 there are problems, of course, but nothing so egregious as to merit the blunt intervention of a frenzied political movement. What happened at Columbia was healthy for the nation, but like all political solutions it left many innocent victims in its wake. Today's peace and prosperity allows Generation X to do what the baby boom generation could not -- to focus on the freedoms of private life. Many of my peers who 30 years ago would have taken to the barricades have instead taken to exploring life, whether that means starting a family, writing software or earning an advanced degree. In Philip Roth's new novel, I Married A Communist, the young narrator, Nathan Zuckerman, is upbraided by an English professor for submitting political cant instead of literary criticism. "What is the motive for writing serious literature, Mr. Zuckerman?" the professor asks contemptuously. "To disarm the enemies of price control? The motive for writing serious literature is to write serious literature. You want to rebel against society? I'll tell you how to do it -- write well." In so many different ways, my apathetic generation is doing just that.
(11/09/98 10:00am)
The victim was thrown several feet in the air in a possible hit-and-run after a fight near an area club. A former Temple University student was critically injured in a hit-and-run early Friday morning following a fight outside a University City nightclub which allegedly involved several members of the Villanova University basketball team. The victim, David Hopkins, 27, remained in critical condition last night at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, a HUP spokesperson said. Hopkins was thrown several feet in the air after being hit by a sports-utility vehicle following a fight outside the Pegasus club at 3801 Chestnut Street, police said. The vehicle immediately fled from the scene, police said. The severity of Hopkins' injuries prompted the involvement of the Philadelphia Police Department's Homicide division, which is investigating it alongside the PPD's Southwest Detectives Bureau and Villanova's public safety department. According to Philadelphia Homicide Sgt. William Britt, officials are still investigating the matter and are trying to determine whether the hit-and-run was accidental. On Friday, investigators questioned several members of the Villanova basketball team who were allegedly involved in the fight, Britt said, but none of them are suspects. The Catholic school near Philadelphia released a statement Friday afternoon saying that officials there are "aware" of the situation and are investigating it themselves. The statement added that "based upon the information collected, no Villanova University student-athletes were involved with this accident." The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on Saturday that two of the players questioned were 21-year-old senior guard John Celestand and 21-year-old sophomore center Simon Ogunlesi, as well as assistant coach Steve Pinone. Two other unidentified players were also interviewed. The fight allegedly involved students at both Temple and Villanova. According to police reports, two groups of men got in their cars to leave when people started throwing things. "Bottles were thrown, cars swerved, and someone got run over," Britt said. University Police responded to the initial report but have not been involved in the investigation, Penn Det. Commander Tom King said last night. According to the Inquirer, Hopkins was part of one group of men who got in a fight with the Villanova students over a woman in the club. Bouncers threw the dozen or so participants out, where they finally started to drive away after another round of fighting outside. The basketball players and their friends were driving south on 38th Street in three different vehicles. When someone threw a bottle at the car in front, all three slammed on their brakes and one vehicle slammed into Hopkins. All three cars left the scene, the Inquirer said. Pegasus employees could not be reached for comment. The club's previous incarnations include FUBAR, a bar/dance club that opened in 1995, and, before that, a concert venue called the Chestnut Cabaret.
