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(11/24/99 10:00am)
Following two incidents last week, a Logan Hall office was the target. An administrator in Logan Hall received a threatening package in the mail yesterday, five days after similar packages were found in College Hall and the Law School, according to police. "It seems there's no pattern to these things at all," University Police Deputy Chief of Investigations Tom King said. One similarity, though, is that all three packages were postmarked from outside of Philadelphia. Police declined to comment on possible sources. A small knife was inside the package found yesterday, King said. He declined to identify to whom the package was sent. Staff and faculty members working in Logan Hall include those in the main office of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Benjamin Franklin Scholars program, the University Scholars program and several College departments. Last Thursday, a package containing a meat cleaver was sent to Vice Provost for Research Ralph Amado's College Hall office. Hours later, police were alerted to another suspicious package at the Law School, this one containing a small paring knife. The envelope found at Logan Hall was likely sent at the same time as the other two, King said, but either took longer to arrive or simply was not noticed until yesterday. None of the packages contained any type of message. King said that the packages are not a cause for alarm but should be viewed with caution. "It's important that people in the University community are aware of this -- not necessarily alarmed, but aware, and use due caution before they open their mail," he said. Initially, police believed that the package to Amado was from animal rights activists because of his links to animal research. But that theory was discarded when the similar Law School package was discovered. University Police are working with the U.S. Postal Service to investigate the incidents. All the knives were sent in similar 8 1/2" by 11" manila envelopes with a typed affixed mailing label. Police warned people to be on the lookout for envelopes with inaccurate or misspelled titles and names, no return addresses or excessive postage.
(11/08/99 10:00am)
Several Mad 4 Mex employees were forced into a meat freezer. Students got down and dirty on Friday during a day-long symposium about mudslinging in American presidential politics. Held by Goldberg College House, the program -- entitled "The 'Nastiness Coefficient' in American Presidential Elections" -- offered students and faculty the opportunity to attend four presentations and accompanying discussions on the history of conflict in electoral politics. Each lecture examined a different period in the presidential politics of the past. Deputy Provost Peter Conn spoke on significant elections in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, while Annenberg School for Communication lecturer David Eisenhower addressed recent politics from 1968 to the present. Conn, who examined four historically significant presidential elections, drew on the art, literature and political cartoons of the time period to enhance his lecture, noting that the themes of race and the rise of industry were ingrained in each election. "This multimedia review provides the cultural background, the 'American moment,' of each election to tell us why it was critical," Conn said. Goldberg Faculty Master Ivar Berg, a Sociology professor, finished off the day with a discussion of the contemporary two-party political system and how it leads to "nastiness" in elections. During his lecture, he proposed that there is a general centrism in American politics that is undermined by the media's sensationalist focus on conflict between the two parties. Berg teamed up with Goldberg House Dean Jane Rogers in coordinating the event as part of their plan to create a residential program on Public Affairs and Public Culture. Ideally, Berg said, the program will attract majors across a variety of disciplines, especially Communications and other social sciences. "We'll admit those who give some expression of interest in communications and the media," Berg explained, noting that Goldberg House is likely to implement the program with the admission of next year's incoming freshman class. However, as a starting point for a larger program, the event did not attract a large number of students. The morning sessions in particular were sparely attended. College of Arts and Sciences Dean Richard Beeman cancelled his 9 a.m. lecture on early 19th century electoral politics because students simply didn't show up for the discussion. And only a handful of students came for Conn's 10:30 a.m. presentation, with most leaving to go to class just as discussion began. Berg's and Eisenhower's afternoon lectures attracted the greatest numbers of students, with about 25 in attendance for each. Berg attributed the low turnout to the timing of the symposium. He noted that early morning programming often conflicts with students' class schedules and that the overlap of the event with Homecoming weekend could have kept students from attending. "There's no way of predicting who will come," he said, adding that holding the symposium during Family Weekend next year might help bolster attendance. Those who did attend were largely there due to a personal interest in politics and the media. However, many also came out to support Berg. "Dr. Berg is my faculty advisor and I wanted to be here to support what he's doing," College freshman and Goldberg resident Aaron Short said.
(04/07/99 9:00am)
'America's Mayor' will be the next Penn Law dean, sources said. Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell has been tapped to serve as the next dean of the Law School, University President Judith Rodin is set to announce today. Several sources close to the dean search committee confirmed yesterday that Rendell, whose second and final term as mayor expires on December 31, will succeed outgoing Dean Colin Diver, who announced his resignation last fall. "He wanted the job and he's the ideal candidate," said one source close to the search committee. "There was no way we were going to turn him down." Through a spokesperson, Rendell --Ea Penn alumnus whose son is now a University freshman -- declined to comment. Officials had earlier said that Rendell, who received his law degree from Villanova University, would teach at Penn after he leaves office, probably in the Urban Studies Department. It is unclear whether Rendell will go through with those already-confirmed plans. Before he was elected mayor in 1991, Rendell served two terms as Philadelphia's district attorney. He also worked in private practice for several years. Diver had announced upon his resignation that he would step down on July 1, meaning that there will be an interim period of at least six months before Rendell could officially take the reins of the school. During Diver's 10 years at the Law School, he has increased the faculty by one third, expanded facilities and academic support services and raised over $100 million for the school's activities and its endowment. The search committee had been advertising the position in national publications and spoke with every Law School faculty member and University Trustee to solicit suggestions. But once Rendell made it known to search committee chairperson and Wharton School Vice Dean Richard Herring that he wanted the job, the search essentially ended since "Rendell is the dopest dude in town," said Diver, who requested anonymity. Rendell was chosen over several other well-known names, according to documents obtained by The Daily Pennsylvanian. Other finalists included O.J. Simpson attorney Johnnie Cochrane, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno and former Provost Stanley Chodorow. But all of them were refused for various reasons. Cochrane, the documents said, was too "ethical," while Reno was dismissed as a candidate after a physical altercation between her and University President Judith Rodin. Chodorow, meanwhile, was ruled out since that's what always happens to him. The 53-year-old mayor -- who is widely credited for being the Messiah himself -- single-handedly fought back the forces of evil that were threatening to envelop the city in 1992 when he took office. He is also believed to have invented sliced bread and many Philadelphians are considering founding a new religion using him as their deity. Local officials have also proposed creating another Hard Rock Cafe in the city, using Rendell's face as the model for the restaurant's facade. The appointment means that the Wharton and Engineering deanships are the only major University positions remaining to be filled. Rodin estimated that the search committees would find someone within the next few months, which means there likely won't be permanent deans in either school until 2003. Student leaders were generally opposed to Rendell's selection, saying that they should have been consulted before the decision was made. A rally is planned for this week to protest the announcement.
(04/05/99 9:00am)
Most Penn students surveyed said they did not agree with Penn's new alcohol measures. and Aliya Sternstein While the majority of students disagree with the administration's new alcohol policy, a sizeable minority -- 21 percent -- say that banning alcohol from all official undergraduate parties was the correct move to make, according to a survey conducted by The Daily Pennsylvanian. But 94 percent of the students polled said the ban on alcohol and stricter enforcement of underage drinking laws on campus will not cause them to drink less. Undergraduate Assembly Chairperson Bill Conway, a Wharton junior and Phi Kappa Psi brother, said many students may agree with the ban because they believe "we have to step back [after the death March 21 of Penn alumnus Michael Tobin]," and might think the ban is more temporary than it could turn out to be. The survey -- conducted from March 30 until April 1 -- polled 280 randomly selected undergraduates. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 6 percent. Provost Robert Barchi announced the four-part policy on March 25, four days after the death of Tobin, a 1994 College graduate and Phi Gamma Delta brother, outside the FIJI fraternity house. Police concluded that the 26-year-old former lacrosse player fell down a steep set of outdoor steps after a day of heavy drinking. By far the least popular part of the policy -- which incited the biggest rally the campus has seen in at least 10 years -- was the cancellation of the post-Spring Fling block party on Sansom Street. Ninety-seven percent of students said they disagreed with that decision. "What does the administration think students are going to do during that time?" Conway asked. Instead of going to the monitored block party, students will find less-regulated off-campus parties or go into Center City, he said. The survey also showed that a surprisingly large minority of 41 percent of students said they agreed with the University Police's stricter enforcement of state and Penn liquor regulations. That stricter enforcement led to three citations of students the weekend before last for liquor law violations, while several more people were stopped for questioning. There were no reported incidents this past weekend, when the campus was fairly empty because of students' observance of the Passover and Easter holidays. But despite their general disagreement with the policy, most students --E74 percent -- said the University does have a responsibility to curb alcohol abuse among its students. Still, 94 percent say that primary responsibility lies with students themselves in preventing alcohol abuse. Student leaders have frequently said their main concern with the policy was the administration's lack of consultation with students before announcing the changes, rather than the policy itself. And 91 percent of those polled seemed to agree with them, saying that the University has a responsibility to talk with the student body before making such a major change in school policy. UA Vice Chairperson Michael Bassik, a College sophomore and Zeta Beta Tau brother, said students should be upset about the lack of consultation. He added that it is ultimately students' responsibility to prevent alcohol abuse. "If students took responsibility for their actions and did not abuse alcohol, the administration probably would have not decided to go dry," said Bassik, along with Conway a member of the administration's Working Group on Alcohol Abuse, which is working with Barchi to formulate a longer-term alcohol policy. Among other things, the poll also revealed a snapshot of the campus drinking scene. Of the overall student body, 22 percent say they drink often and 54 percent say they have engaged in binge drinking -- defined as five or more drinks in one setting by a male and four or more by a female -- within the past month. Greeks showed a higher tendency to have engaged in binge drinking, and were about 50 percent more likely than non-Greeks to say they drank often. While questioning the validity of the finding, InterFraternity Council President Mark Metzl, a College junior and Tau Epsilon Phi brother, said that Greek organizations are "social bodies," and among college-aged students, "social events often include the consumption of alcohol." IFC Executive Vice President Andrew Exum, a Daily Pennsylvanian columnist, agreed with Metzl that the numbers could indicate a very small difference -- if any -- when "you consider the margin of error." "If anything, Greeks are more likely to drink responsibly because of alcohol education techniques placed recently," the College junior and Sigma Nu brother added. Frequent drinkers were evenly split between the genders and they were much more likely than moderate- or non-drinkers to disagree with the stricter alcohol policies. Thirty-seven percent of frequent drinkers are underage and 37 percent are Greek -- about 10 percentage points higher than their population in the survey. When broken down by class, seniors appear to be heavier drinkers than others. Forty-four percent say they drink often and 74 percent say they have binge drunk in the past month. Only 13 percent of freshman, 20 percent of sophomores and 21 percent of juniors say they drink often. Drug and Alcohol Resource Team President Megan MacDonald, a College senior and member of the administration task force, said that she and the group are well aware of the students' criticism of the ban being used as a tool for decreasing alcohol use. Rather than banning alcohol, the Alpha Chi Omega sister suggested that the University needs to create "different outlets that don't rely solely on alcohol" because there are not enough non-alcoholic social options currently available on campus.
(02/24/99 10:00am)
With hundreds of millions of dollars worth of new buildings popping up all along campus, University officials announced yesterday the construction of a new $64 million water chilling plant that will increase Penn's water supply by 25 percent. The plant will be built adjacent to the soon-to-be-built varsity baseball stadium on Murphy Field, which is set to open in the spring of 2000. The baseball team's current home, Bower Field, will be renovated and used for club and intramural sports. "We cannot do without [the water] given all of the new buildings that we're constructing," University President Judith Rodin said. Rodin said that the money spent on the project will all be recouped within six years because of savings from using the newer facility. The University currently has water plants that total 40,000 tons and the new plant will have a 20,000-ton capacity. That will be offset, though, by plans to stop using some of the more outdated chilling plants, according to Vice President for Facilities Services Omar Blaik. The older plants are being decommissioned because they are either too costly to maintain or environmentally unfriendly, Blaik said. The University has seen a construction boom in the past few years. Sansom Common and the Roy and Diana Vagelos Laboratories opened last year, while new Dental School and Wharton School buildings are set to open in 2000 and 2002, respectively. In 1995, the University built a $24 million water chilling plant on top of the parking garage at 38th and Walnut streets. Other plants are scattered throughout campus.
(02/17/99 10:00am)
Both sides said last night that a settlement had been reached, 22 months after the suit was filed. No details were released. The two-year legal battle between Penn and the owners of a local video arcade and laundromat ended abruptly last night with the announcement of an unspecified settlement. The owners of the University Pinball and University Laundry at 4006-4008 Spruce Street sued the University and the City of Philadelphia in April 1997, asserting that Penn and the Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections conspired to illegally shut down their businesses on April 18, 1997, and violated the business' due-process rights by not giving them notice or a hearing before closing them down. Penn claimed that the the establishments attracted crime to the edge of campus as justification for its decision. In one February 1997 incident, a student was assaulted by two men inside the arcade, and one of the assailants then allegedly kicked a University Police officer in the head. The University also claimed that it should not be a party to the suit because all it did was exercise its First Amendment right to petition the government. But the plaintiffs responded -- and U.S. District Judge Marvin Katz agreed -- that Penn did more than just ask the government for help, since a University Police officer accompanied city officials in closing the businesses down. In a terse, 88-word statement released last night jointly by the University and the Schoepe family -- which owns both establishments as well as several other properties in the vicinity of 40th and Spruce streets -- the parties said they settled both the original claim and a libel suit that was filed a month later against chief University spokesperson Ken Wildes for comments he made about the businesses in a local newspaper. The suit had been stuck in a federal appeals court for over a year since the University appealed a lower court decision not to award it summary judgment in the case. The original complaint, filed by the Schoepe family and its property-owning company, We Inc., named Penn, University Police Chief Maureen Rush, the Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections and L&I; Director of Business Regulatory Enforcement Rudolph Pagliaga as defendants. The city settled its part of the suit in September 1997 by agreeing to pay the Schoepes $60,000 and admitting that the establishments did not violate any laws. Neither Wildes, University attorney Roger Cox nor Schoepe lawyer Ronald Shaffer could be reached for comment last night. The statement said that both parties "expressed satisfaction" with the settlement.
(12/10/98 10:00am)
Yvette Stewart, convicted of third-degree murder, now faces 10 to 20 years in prison. A Philadelphia homicide judge yesterday cut five to 10 years off his original sentence for Yvette Stewart, one of three people convicted on charges stemming from the 1996 stabbing death of University biochemist Vladimir Sled. Sentenced in October to 15 to 30 years for robbery and murder, Common Pleas Judge James Lineberger ordered that the sentence be reduced to 10 to 20 years. He also said that drug treatment would be a stipulation of her possible parole. Stewart's sentence remains the harshest of the defendants. Eugene "Sultan" Harrison, who was acquitted of murder but found guilty of two counts of robbery, received a seven-to-14 year term, also from Lineberger. The third defendant, Bridgette Black -- who has confessed to being the one who actually stabbed the Russian-born scientist on Halloween night in 1996 -- is serving a five-to-12 year sentence imposed in July by Common Pleas Judge Carolyn Temin, who cited Black's drug addiction and troubled childhood in sentencing Black well below state guidelines. Court officials announced last week that Temin would be reassigned to the civil division. That move came after a series of columns appeared in The Philadelphia Daily News accusing Temin of having tendencies to over-sympathize with the victim. Defense attorney Lee Mandell asked Lineberger to reconsider his original sentence, citing the fact that his client -- who was convicted of third-degree murder and robbery -- was less involved in the incident than either Harrison or Black, who received lighter sentences. But Harrison was tried by a different jury, which found him guilty of robbing Sled's fiancee, former University researcher Cecilia Hagerhall, but not murder. And Black, who pleaded guilty to a general charge of murder, expressed extreme remorse after her arrest and cooperated with authorities during the investigation and subsequent trials. Assistant District Attorney Mark Gilson, who has criticized the court's handling of all three trials in the past, asked Lineberger not to change the only thing "that went right." "[Stewart] has earned every minute of every day of every year in her sentence," he said. "The sentence of Yvette Stewart has been the only justice in this case." He also pointed out that Stewart has an extensive criminal record, including 18 arrests and nine convictions as an adult, with many more as a juvenile. But Stewart's attorney, Lee Mandell, said that all of those crimes were drug- or prostitution-related. He also told Lineberger that a "sense of justice and fair play" necessitated that his client's sentence be reduced to be more in line with Black's. Gilson said afterwards that he was "extremely disappointed" that the judge reduced the sentence at all. Mandell, meanwhile, called the new sentence "fair," though he "was hoping for a little bit more." Mandell also said he planned to appeal Stewart's verdict to the Pennsylvania Superior Court and ask for a new trial. Sled, 38, was stabbed to death while protecting Hagerhall from Harrison, who was trying to take her purse. Black emerged from the getaway car -- where she was waiting with Stewart -- armed with a knife. She testified during Harrison's April trial that she meant only to "scare" Sled. During the melee, Stewart allegedly fired a gun into the air.
(12/04/98 10:00am)
Carolyn Temin, who sentenced Bridgette Black to five to 12 years in jail, had been derided as lenient. The Philadelphia homicide judge whose controversial sentencing of the confessed killer of University biochemist Vladimir Sled led to her being derided by a local newspaper columnist as "the Queen of Murder Lite" was re-assigned yesterday, ending her rocky 15-year tenure on the criminal court bench. Common Pleas Judge Carolyn Engel Temin, 64, will be transferred to the court's civil division in January, court administrators announced yesterday. On July 29, Temin sentenced confessed Sled killer Bridgette Black to five to 12 years in prison, sparking a series of columns by Dan Geringer of the Philadelphia Daily News in which he described Temin as a judge who doesn't take murder seriously and takes the defendant's side in every case. The paper broke the story of Temin's transfer yesterday. Geringer said last night that it was the Sled case that initially attracted his attention, and then he found similar cases. He said sources have told him that his columns played a role in the decision to transfer Temin. "It was a particularly horrendous case," he said. "I had never heard of a sentence like that before. All the human emotions that you'd think the judge would have for the victim or the family of the victim, she was assigning to this person who had just wantonly murdered Mr. Sled." Others defended the trial court veteran. "The newspaper coverage was mean-spirited and was a great disservice to a jurist with an exemplary career," said Mark Aronchick, the chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association and a 1971 Penn graduate. Through her secretary, Temin declined to comment yesterday and referred calls to Aronchick. While the job change is not exactly a demotion for the judge, it does remove her from the position that made her perhaps the most powerful murder judge in the city. As the homicide calendar judge, she assigned all homicide cases and was able to preside over sentencing hearings for defendants who pleaded guilty. One such person was Black, 27, who confessed two years ago to stabbing Sled, a 38-year-old Russian-born scientist, on Halloween night in 1996. After testifying against her two co-defendants, Eugene "Sultan" Harrison and Yvette Stewart, Black pleaded guilty to a general charge of murder. Temin convicted her of third-degree murder and sentenced her on July 29 to five to 12 years, well below the state guidelines of 20 to 40 years. Harrison was acquitted of the murder charge but convicted of robbery, and was sentenced by a different judge to seven to 14 years in prison. A different jury found Stewart guilty of third-degree murder, and she was sentenced to 15 to 30 years, but Judge James Lineberger agreed to re-consider it in light of Black's much shorter sentence. Lineberger is scheduled to re-sentence Stewart next week. At Black's sentencing, Temin seized upon the confessed killer's troubled upbringing and the drug habit which drove her to a life of prostitution, and ultimately murder. Geringer charges that Temin ignored the pain of Sled's family, including his fiancee at the time of his murder, then-University researcher Cecilia Hagerhall. But public defender Fred Goodman, who represented Black, said Geringer greatly oversimplified matters to make his point. "The Daily News managed to take what both Judge Temin and the prosecutors called one of the most complicated cases that either of them had seen in their careers and simplify it into an unjustified emotional attack on the judge," Goodman said. Hagerhall, however, was thrilled with the news, telling Geringer for his column yesterday that the decision is "a relief that people don't have to suffer from this woman anymore. It's really a relief for future families of murder victims."
(12/01/98 10:00am)
In the most serious incident, a fight at 40th and Spruce streets sent a student to the hospital. Three major crimes near campus --Ea pistol-whipping, a robbery and a carjacking -- marred this year's Thanksgiving weekend, according to official police reports. None of the victims, including two Penn students, were badly injured in the incidents. At about 3 a.m. yesterday morning, a verbal argument between three Penn students and two men who had been driving by them as the students left Smokey Joe's escalated into a physical altercation, according to the reports. The men followed the students down 40th Street for two blocks in their car, before exiting the vehicle at Spruce Street and prompting a fight, police said. A suspect struck one of the students in the face with the butt of a pistol several times, and then fired two shots into the street before the two suspects fled in their vehicle westbound on Spruce. College and Engineering sophomore Bjoern Hartmann, who said he was driving past the scene in a Penn Shuttle van, said the struggle looked chaotic. "There were multiple fights going on at the same time," he said. The victim was treated for facial lacerations at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and released, according to police. He declined to comment last night. The incident is being investigated as an aggravated assault. As of yesterday afternoon, police had not made any arrests. About five hours earlier, another University student was robbed of his leather jacket at gunpoint. As the student walked near the corner of 40th Street and Baltimore Avenue at around 10 p.m. on Sunday, two men -- one armed with a shotgun -- approached him and ordered him to lie on the ground, according to police. A Spectaguard security guard who was patrolling the area called for University Police assistance, and officers pursued the two suspects as they drove west, police said. The suspects jumped out of the car at 55th Street and Ridgewood Avenue, where Philadelphia Police officers apprehended one of them while the other escaped. Arthur Cuffy, 24, of the 5400 block of Trinity Street, was arrested and charged with robbery and related offenses, according to a University Police report. The victim, whose name was not immediately available, identified Cuffy as his assailant based on his clothing. The student was unable to identify the suspect's face because he was wearing a mask during the robbery. Philadelphia and University Police officials are still investigating the incident. And on Friday morning, newspaper deliverer and Temple University student Damon Bennett found less to be thankful for when he was carjacked while dropping off copies of The Wall Street Journal on the 4000 block of Walnut Street. Bennett, 25, said last night that as he returned to his car after dropping off two copies of the paper at about 6:15 a.m., a man standing behind him yelled, "Don't move." He turned around and saw that the man had a gun pointed at him. The robber walked toward the car, got in and drove west on Walnut Street. After filling out reports with University and Philadelphia Police and identifying the assailant from a mugshot, Bennett and his father -- a retired Philadelphia police officer -- roamed the streets of West Philadelphia. They eventually found the 1996 Ford Taurus late that afternoon near 46th and Pemberton streets. While the car itself was not damaged, all items of any value that were left inside -- everything from a cellular phone to cough drops -- were missing. "Anything that could be used or sold, he took," Bennett said. University Police officials declined to comment on any specific aspects of the investigations.
(11/20/98 10:00am)
Steven Woodson, 16, had other charges pending prior to his alleged attack. Steven Woodson, the 16-year-old boy accused of attacking a Penn sophomore with a knife inside Steinberg-Dietrich Hall, was out on bail for prior robbery and burglary charges when the assault occurred, according to court records. Woodson, of the 4300 block of West Pennsgrove Street, failed to appear at his arraignment on robbery and burglary charges on November 9, the day after the assault. He was arrested three days later by Philadelphia and University Police for the attack. The suspect also has pending juvenile charges against him, including a count of theft. His trial on that charge could begin as early as January. Woodson -- whose bail was set at $100,000 earlier this week -- is currently in city custody at the Youth Study Center, at 23rd Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, according to Assistant District Attorney Jan McDermott, who is handling part of the case. The decision to charge Woodson as an adult was automatic, McDermott said. Under state law, juveniles between the ages of 15 and 18 who commit any one of several offenses -- including attempted murder and aggravated assault -- must be initially charged as an adult. If a Common Pleas judge decides at Monday's preliminary hearing that there is enough evidence for a trial, Woodson will likely file a motion asking that despite the law, he will still be tried as a juvenile, McDermott said. At that hearing, it is the defense's responsibility to prove "by a preponderance of evidence" that society would best be served by trying him as a juvenile instead of as an adult, McDermott said. The decision will probably be difficult, she added. "He is pretty young, so that weighs in his favor," she said. "But the charges don't [help him]." Woodson is being defended by the city public defender's office. Officials there refused to name his lawyer. Several attempts to reach his family have been unsuccessful. The charges stem from the early-morning assault of a female sophomore inside the main Wharton School building on November 8. The student -- who was allegedly attacked by a man with a knife inside a basement bathroom escaped with minor physical injuries. Police believe the assailant entered the building through a side door, which was probably propped open by a student. Penn Police officials have said they are "supremely confident" of Woodson's guilt, citing physical evidence found at the scene as well as unspecified "corroborating evidence."
(11/19/98 10:00am)
One thing keeps the people who run the Division of Public Safety up at night -- an unending fear that a single, aberrant incident will belie the fact that crime on and around campus has been steadily falling for three years now, and shatter a general sense of security that has set in among students. It happened in 1996, after several high-profile robberies, one of which led to the shooting of a College senior and another of which ended with the stabbing death of a University scientist. And history seemed to repeat itself last week, when a knife attack on a Penn sophomore early one morning in the heart of campus sparked heated questions about whether Public Safety was doing enough to protect the University community. "The public in general doesn't pay a lot of attention to where the crime rate is going," Vice President for Public Safety Tom Seamon noted in an interview earlier this month, before the attack. But he warned, perhaps prophetically, students do "pay attention to single, extremely serious incidents. If you have one serious incident, that portrays that the University is generally unsafe, and it takes a long time to turn that perception around." And that was indeed the message students took away from the incident. The assault -- which has led to an attempted murder charge for 16-year-old Steven Woodson, who will be tried as an adult -- shook the campus last week, as a rash of unsubstantiated charges against Public Safety prompted students to question the competence of the people who are supposed to keep them safe. The Numbers Despite the assault, the numbers show that students are a good deal safer than they were two years ago. Public Safety officials are proud of the statistics: According to recently released University Police statistics, robberies fell 37 percent in the 12-month period between July 1, 1997, and June 30, 1998, when compared to the same period two years earlier. Thefts are down 14 percent; car thefts down 37 percent; and total crime, in terms of the number of incidents reported to police, was down 11 percent from two years earlier. The news is not all good, though -- the number of assaults and burglaries rose by about 12 percent and 13 percent, respectively. Officials frequently deflect credit for their successes so they can, in turn, deflect criticism. "In the police business, you don't want to be blamed for crime waves, [so] you don't want to take credit for the decrease," University Police Chief Maureen Rush said early this month, adding that credit for the downward trend rests partly with her 100-plus officers and partly with other major Penn initiatives. The statistics used in this article reflect the number of crimes reported to the University Police occurring on- or off-campus inside the department's patrol area, which is bounded by the Schuylkill River and 43rd Street to the east and west, Market Street to the north and Baltimore Avenue to the south. "There's always need for improvement," Undergraduate Assembly Chairperson Bill Conway said. "You might have gone from bad to OK, [but] I don't think we're at the stage where we can call it good yet." Still, Conway applauded Public Safety for the strides they have made over the past few years. "I think they have made some real improvements," he said. "And I think that students do feel safer on average." Seamon said the overall decrease in crime proves that officials have started to accomplish their primary goal of changing the image of Penn from that of an easy mark for criminals. "We've tried to build up the reputation that if you want to commit a crime, the area of the Penn campus is not a good place to be," said Seamon, a former Philadelphia Police Department deputy commissioner. "You'll either be arrested on the spot or we'll hunt you down." Public Safety has undergone many changes since Seamon took the reins of the division -- which includes the University Police, Security Services and Special Services -- from John Kuprevich in September 1995. For starters, in addition to overhauling his management team, Seamon's department has increased lighting on and around campus, added more emergency blue light phones, increased campus escort services and added more police officers and security guards to patrol the streets. Seamon also doubled the size of the department's detective team from four to eight, enabling Penn to handle more investigations of campus crimes in-house, rather than delegating them to the backlogged Philadelphia Police Department. The decrease in serious crime has freed up resources to concentrate on more basic "quality-of-life" crimes, police officials have said, and it has also allowed police to try instituting preventive measures, rather than simply responding when something bad happens. "It gives us the opportunity to concentrate on other issues, like burglaries, like bicycle theft," Rush said. "It allows us to have the time to proactively target other types of crime." 'The Central Statistic' Seamon said that the statistic he is most proud of is the large drop in robberies. "From '96 on, we really targeted robberies," he said. "That has been the central statistic that I've [measured as to] whether everything I've been trying to do has been effective." There were two high profile robberies in the fall of 1996, one of which led to the stabbing death of University biochemist Vladimir Sled on the 4300 block of Larchwood Avenue. In the other, then-senior Patrick Leroy was shot in the back right hip during a robbery attempt near the corner of 40th and Locust streets. Both incidents led to arrests and jail time for the perpetrators. Those incidents, at least indirectly, spurred the University to take action on several fronts. In the months after the crimes, Penn officials unveiled the UC Brite program, which improved lighting across University City; a special-services district focused on keeping the campus area clean and safe, and an increased focus on luring retail like Robert Redford's Sundance Cinemas to the area to increase foot traffic. Additionally, police created a Special Response Team, which officials credit with contributing most directly to the downward trend in serious crime. The SRT serves as a "preventive measure," according to Rush. The mix of uniformed and plain-clothes officers respond to crimes-in-progress and patrol the area for suspicious-looking people. "They're looking at behaviors to try to identify someone who could be the next perpetrator," Rush said. The Bad News The most alarming statistic is the double-digit percentage increase in burglaries, which went from 146 in 1995 to 165 in the most recent set of statistics, including a 50 percent increase in on-campus burglaries. "That's a problem you can't deal with as effectively in the short-term," Seamon said, explaining that criminals often make a career out of burglarizing West Philadelphia buildings. In fact, according to Rush, most of the burglaries have been the work of only a handful of criminals. And because of the nature of the stealth crime, burglaries are hard to detect and prevent, though in early October, University Police arrested a man they believed to be responsible for a string of eight burglaries in student housing near campus. But Seamon was optimistic that the burglary rate -- as well as the theft rate, down 13 percent since 1995, which Seamon said is not enough -- will decrease. "Because we've had a real impact on the street crime, we've got the luxury to start really looking at patterns in theft and burglary," he said, explaining that "the combination of better security systems and long-term investigations" will force the rates down. Assaults are also hard to eliminate, officials noted, but they emphasized that a lot of the assaults these days are student-on-student, rather than random crimes like what happened at Steinberg-Dietrich. "That's a component that you're really not going to affect quite as easily as you are robberies," Rush said. But officials from across the University are brainstorming possible ways to prevent those isolated random crimes -- including the possibility of requiring students and faculty to wear special Penn ID badges when they are in University buildings late at night. The Crime Spree that Wasn't? The statistics also showed that despite the widespread publicity about the crime wave in 1996, crime was actually on its way down from the previous year -- robberies were down 16 percent for the year ending in June 1997 from the year before, and no type of crime was up significantly. Still, Seamon said, the rate of crime was much too high that year, and the Sled and Leroy incidents served to "put a spotlight" on that. Also, even though the rate may not have been as high as the previous year, the criminals preying on University City residents "were more violent and more aggressive," according to Rush. "The fear level was very different." Minimizing the Possibility Seamon said he believes the community has much more confidence in his department now than they did two years ago. "I think that people will understand that the University is doing as much as possible. It helps the community in general to keep an unusual incident in perspective," he said. "There always can be a horrible incident," Seamon added. "Unfortunately, that's life in America today." And he cautione that his division is intent on doing that as much as it can, given Penn's urban location. "Can we eliminate crime to zero?" he asked. "Well, we can't, of course?. What we try to do is minimize that possibility as much as possible."
(11/19/98 10:00am)
The prosecutors' move means that hearings and a possible trial will be open to the public. The 16-year-old boy charged with attempted murder in connection with the November 8 knife attack on a female University sophomore inside Steinberg-Dietrich Hall will be tried as an adult, a supervisor in the District Attorney's Office's Juvenile Unit said yesterday. Steven Woodson -- who University Police had initially said was 17 -- is scheduled to have his preliminary hearing Monday morning, according to Assistant District Attorney Angel Flores. The move by prosecutors means that hearings will be open to the public and information on the case will be more readily available than if Woodson were tried as a juvenile. Unless Woodson's attorneys waive the hearing -- which they may do if he intends to plead guilty -- prosecutors will lay out their expected case against Woodson and ask a Philadelphia Common Pleas judge to certify the case for trial. Neither prosecutor in charge of the case was available for comment yesterday. Besides attempted murder, Woodson is accused of aggravated assault, robbery, simple assault, possession of an instrument of crime and several other related charges. Flores said authorities may also charge Woodson with burglary and robbery for several incidents unrelated to the assault inside the main Wharton School building. Woodson, of the 4300 block of West Pennsgrove Street in West Philadelphia -- about one mile northwest of the crime scene -- remains in the custody of the Philadelphia Police Department. The name of his attorney was not immediately available. Relatives of the suspect could not be reached for comment last night. The boy was arrested last Thursday on the basis of what Penn Det. Commander Tom King yesterday called substantial physical evidence found at the scene of the attack and other "corroborating evidence," which he declined to specify. University Police officials, who investigated the case jointly with the city police, have said they are "supremely confident" in Woodson's guilt, and King reiterated that sentiment yesterday. The charges stem from an early-morning attack in a basement bathroom of Steinberg-Dietrich. The victim entered the restroom just before 3 a.m. When she left her stall the attacker allegedly grabbed her and wrestled her to the ground. As they scuffled, she managed to hit two panic alarms, forcing the assailant to flee into one of the stalls and allowing her to escape. Police believe that the attacker got into the building through a side entrance that was left open by a student inside studying. Steinberg-Dietrich is one of the few campus buildings open 24 hours a day. Initially, people close to the victim claimed that security was slow to respond to the incident and that one of the panic alarms didn't work. It has also spurred the Undergraduate Assembly to support several ways of improving security, such as requiring people to wear Penn ID badges when in a Penn building late at night. That proposal is being debated by Public Safety officials and others across the University. The UA passed two resolutions last week calling for Public Safety to improve security on campus. The student government organization is also trying to make a push for students to take more security precautions on their own. "We need to raise awareness among all members of the Penn community," UA chairperson Bill Conway said.
(11/16/98 10:00am)
Separately, a student who assisted the victim refuted several rumors about the Steinberg-Dietrich attack. The 17-year-old Philadelphia boy arrested Thursday in connection with the November 8 attack on a female student in Steinberg-Dietrich Hall has been charged with attempted murder, as well as aggravated assault, robbery and several related counts, police said. The prosecutors' decision to charge the suspect with attempted murder was unexpected, according to University Police officials. Police officials, citing the relatively minor physical injuries the student suffered in the assault, had expected that the suspect would face only aggravated assault and other lesser charges. Because of the suspect's age, University Police have declined to release anything but the most basic information about his arrest. Officials in the Juvenile Unit of the District Attorney's office, which pressed the charges, were not immediately available for comment. In another development, the student who was walking up a nearby stairwell and was the first person to see the victim after the attack refuted nearly all of the accusations made last week against the Division of Public Safety by several people claiming to be close to the victim. E-mails from the people have circulated widely, claiming that many panic alarms in bathrooms do not work and accusing police of misleading the Penn community and treating the victim poorly. The victim, a female sophomore, was attacked by a knife-wielding man inside the basement bathroom of the main Wharton School building just before 3 a.m. last Sunday. Police now believe the assailant gained entry to the building through a side entrance, normally locked at night, that was perhaps propped open by a student so he or she could return later. The front entrance is guarded at night by a SpectaGuard security officer, who is supposed to admit only people with PennCards. Last week, friends of the victim -- who has declined to comment about the incident -- claimed that, among other things, the first panic alarm she pressed did not work, and that security guards did not immediately respond, forcing the victim to seek police assistance herself. But College sophomore Brett Dunn, who said he was the student who first saw the victim when she left the bathroom, disputed those claims in the only firsthand account available thus far of what happened immediately after the attack. Dunn said in a telephone interview Friday that he was walking up a nearby stairwell at about 2:45 a.m. when he heard two distinct alarms. Very quickly after that, the victim ran out of the bathroom toward him, Dunn said. Her hands were a little bloody, Dunn said, and she was "very, very traumatized." "I've never seen someone with so much fear in my life," he said. Almost immediately, Dunn said, a security guard came running down the stairs. He ran into the bathroom to see if the assailant was still there before returning to the victim's side and calling for help. "I don't see how anyone could respond faster than that," Dunn said. While the victim was emotionally shaken, her physical injuries were not that severe -- both Dunn and police officials say her initial treatment consisted of an adhesive bandage supplied by the SpectaGuard. She did, though, have a black eye and several cuts and bruises on her neck and face. By most accounts, University Police officers arrived quickly and took down a description of the suspect. The victim was then taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. "I can understand from her perspective how it could have seemed to take forever," Dunn said. "But I thought everything happened very fast." According to the police account of the attack, the assailant slipped into the bathroom when the victim went into one of the stalls, and grabbed her as she exited it. He wrestled her to the ground, but she managed to escape and hit a panic alarm. The man then grabbed her once again, and she again escaped his grip and hit the second panic alarm, which prompted him to hide in one of the stalls and allowed her to escape, police have said. Prior to the arrest, Public Safety officials came under fire from friends of the victim as well as the Undergraduate Assembly, Penn's main undergraduate student government group. One allegation was that the victim received no support from the University's victim-support network. But Susan Hawkins, who oversees part of Penn's victim-support network as director of special services, has said that she remained with the victim throughout her hospital stay and subsequent trip to the Philadelphia Police Department's 18th District headquarters, and talked with her daily in the days following the attack. Police officials have also maintained that everything was handled correctly and that the rumors floating around campus have no basis in fact. "We know what we're doing here," Penn Det. Commander Tom King said. "We have a wealth of experienced officers and investigators. To criticize without knowing the things that we knew serves no purpose." The department was also hampered by knowing facts they couldn't release during the investigation for fear of tipping the assailant off and now still can't talk about because the suspect is a juvenile. "It's so frustrating because there's so many things we can't say," King said. King also said he doesn't understand why students think the department would want to cover up the attack, saying that doing so would only compromise safety and security. "It does us absolutely no good to try to hide or downplay this," he said. "We're trying to get as much information out as we can." According to Det. Frank DeMeo, who led Penn's investigation into the attack, the District Attorney's office could still choose to try the suspect as an adult. But if he is tried in a special juvenile court, much of the proceedings would be shrouded in secrecy. If convicted of a crime, DeMeo said, the suspect would serve his time in a juvenile facility.
(11/16/98 10:00am)
Despite failing to live up to their promise of preventing students from tearing down a goal post after Penn clinched the Ivy football title Saturday, University Police officials put on a happy face yesterday, saying they achieved their primary goal of minimizing injuries during the postgame frenzy. Although many students suffered minor cuts and bruises in the chaos, only two people were injured seriously enough to require medical attention. The two -- one student and one Contemporary Security officer -- were treated at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and released the same day. Three students were arrested at the scene for "a pure lack of cooperation" with police, according to University Police Chief Maureen Rush. They will be processed by Penn's internal judicial system, rather than the city criminal-justice system, she said. Police and administration officials, citing safety concerns, claimed all week that they would arrest anyone coming onto the field to celebrate Penn's expected victory over the Harvard Crimson to clinch at least a tie for its first Ivy League football championship since 1994. But Rush said yesterday that while it was her hope that students would heed that request, "the reality was we knew they were going to be on the field." Once they realized that, the 50 uniformed University Police officers -- many in full riot gear -- and 100 event staff security guards' objective became stopping students from taking down a goal post. Failing that, they wanted to prevent the post from leaving the stadium. "Our intent was to ensure that people did not get hurt," Rush said. "Obviously the first way you can do that is to not have people trampling each other on the field. So that would have been number one on the wish list." "But in the back of our minds did we believe people were not going to take the field? No," she said. "You project utopia and you understand that you have to be flexible and work with what ends up being the reality." As the final whistle blew to give Penn a decisive 41-10 victory over the Crimson, thousands of students poured onto the field to celebrate the first Quaker championship most of them had ever seen. The security guards were able to repel the first wave of students from getting to the western goal post -- which by tradition is the one that students rip from the ground and throw into the nearby Schuylkill River after a football championship. But students quickly caught on and rushed to the eastern post, which was much less heavily guarded. Rush said she chose to deploy most of her manpower on the western end because she knew that "was the one of choice," and also because the eastern post was designed to fall much more safely than the other, emphasizing that it was built to come down slowly in a safer fashion. "We thought there would be less physical damage to people," she said. "The other one would have snapped and come down much quicker." Once the post was down, officials locked the northwest gate and guarded the others. But that wasn't enough to stop the motivated crowd -- chanting "Ivy Champs" all the way -- from reaching the Schuylkill River. The masses paraded to the locked gate and, using a piece of the post as a battering ram, forced the gate open. Rush said that this presented serious safety concerns, and officials will review a videotape of this part of the incident to decide whether to charge anyone with criminal mischief. "People who were attempting to hold back the students were almost impaled at the gate," she said. Once the gate was open, police changed strategy once again, Rush said, and decided to try to simply manage the two-block trek to the South Street Bridge, where students threw the post into the river. Officers tried to prevent any traffic accidents and made sure that the goal post was thrown into the river, rather than onto the Schuylkill Expressway -- which almost happened during the 1994 celebration. Rush said she was proud of the "flexibility and professionalism" of her officers, and cited them for the relative lack of serious injuries. "I think it could have been a lot worse," she said.
(11/13/98 10:00am)
and Laura McClure After two years of falling crime and major security initiatives -- and despite the occasional high-profile shooting or assault -- many students have begun to again feel safe walking through campus and studying in Penn buildings late at night. But last weekend that feeling was shattered when a female sophomore was reportedly attacked by a man with a knife inside a basement bathroom of Steinberg-Dietrich Hall, a centrally located building that is open 24 hours a day for any Penn student who wants a quiet place to study. Wharton sophomore Anne Doty -- who described herself as a close friend of the victim -- said hearing the victim's own account of the assault has left her fearful. "I feel very unsafe at night, particularly at Steiny-D because I have vivid recollections of the incident as [the victim] described it," Doty said. Leaders of the Undergraduate Assembly, which passed a resolution Wednesday calling on officials to implement five specific steps to improve building security, met yesterday with several top Penn officials to discuss students' concerns. Police announced yesterday that they arrested a juvenile in connection with the assault. He will be charged with aggravated assault and other related charges, according to Penn Det. Commander Tom King. Because of the suspect's juvenile status, King would not reveal elaborate. The victim was attacked just before 3 a.m. on Sunday morning by a knife-wielding man in a basement bathroom of Steinberg-Dietrich, one of the few non-residences that are open around the clock. The victim, who has so far declined to comment, left Penn on Wednesday to recuperate at her home, according to a friend. People close to the victim have raised two major security concerns: The first panic alarm she pushed during the attack didn't work, and the security guards did not respond to it immediately. Those allegations have been widely circulated over e-mail listservs. Police don't dispute the first charge, though they say that all the alarms were tested on Monday and all worked. They have said that a security guard responded to the alarm as soon as he heard it. Yesterday's meeting between administrators and UA members was attended by Penn Executive Vice President John Fry, Vice President for Public Safety Tom Seamon, University Police Chief Maureen Rush, UA Chairperson Bill Conway and several other UA members. It came the day after the student government group approved a resolution Conway described as "a pledge to the student body that we will not let the administration get complacent." The meeting focused on two main concerns, according to people who were there: the quality of security guards and the lack of options available for students who want to study late at night outside of their residences. Rush said she planned to work with the students to address those issues. "We couldn't agree with them more," Rush said. The resolution approved by the UA was critical of the Division of Public Safety, saying that the "response time from when the victim pressed the alarm was unacceptable," and that students "now don't even feel safe inside 'fully secure' University buildings in the heart of campus." The possibility that there was no immediate response to the alarm has left many students questioning the ability of the SpectaGuards to provide adequate security. "It makes me have less faith in them," Wharton senior Kathryn Kerr said. Wharton Undergraduate Dean Richard Herring said that Wharton and Public Safety officials are looking for ways to make the building safer. "We're reviewing all of our security procedures," he said. "It's essential that the building be a safe haven." One possibility, he said, is requiring students to wear some kind of badge during off-peak hours so other students and security guards know who is supposed to be there. Conway said he supports such a move, adding that students need to be more vigilant in protecting themselves. "We need to generally raise safety awareness on Penn's campus," the Wharton junior said. "I think that's an issue that hasn't been addressed." Daily Pennsylvanian staff writer Erin Johnson contributed to this article.
(11/13/98 10:00am)
Police suspect a juvenile male of being the knife-weilding assailant who attacked a student Sunday. Philadelphia and University Police arrested a teenage boy yesterday evening in connection with last weekend's early-morning attack on a female Penn student inside Steinberg-Dietrich Hall that has shaken the campus. Because of the suspect's age -- which was not immediately available beyond that it is under 18 -- Penn Det. Commander Tom King declined to release his name or elaborate on exactly where, when and how the suspect was arrested. The suspect, a Philadelphia resident, will likely be charged in juvenile court with aggravated assault and other related charges in the next few days, King said. The charges stem from Sunday's early-morning assault of a female student inside a basement bathroom of the main Wharton School building, allegedly by a man armed with a knife. According to police, the student managed to fight off the attacker and pushed two panic alarms, the second of which prompted the assailant to flee. His alleged motive has not been determined, though police have said that it was "probably" to rape the student. He is not being charged with sexual assault, though, because he took no specific action to indicate that he intended to rape the student. King yesterday said he was positive that police caught the right person, though he declined to say what evidence led him to believe that. "We're supremely confident," he said. "I can't use a big enough superlative to express how confident we are that this is the guy." The victim, who has declined several requests for comment from The Daily Pennsylvanian, could not be reached last night. Details about the arrest and the evidence that led to it were scarce last night. King said that the suspect's age meant he could not release any specific details about the suspect until he starts making his way through the juvenile court system. Both city and University Police officers investigated the assault. The victim's self-described best friend, Wellesley College student Elizabeth King -- who has been very critical of University Police and what she believes to be the inadequate security that led to the assault -- said yesterday she was ecstatic about the arrest. "Oh my God, I'm so happy," she said upon hearing of the arrest. "If they're beyond positive that this is the right person, then I am very grateful to the police for resolving the matter." "The longer he was out there, the longer [the victim] would have stayed scared," she added. And Undergraduate Assembly member Keri Hyde, a Nursing junior who helped the student government group draft a resolution on Wednesday urging the University to do more to address student safety concerns, said the arrest is "a big relief" to Penn students. UA Chairperson Bill Conway, who met with top University administrators yesterday to review ways to improve late-night security on campus buildings, applauded the police. "I'm extremely happy that the police did such an amazing job and got the assailant quickly," the Wharton junior said. The campus has been abuzz all week with rumors, mostly in the form of e-mails purporting to tell "the truth" about the incident and possible security lapses that led to the attack. Officials have confirmed that the first alarm the victim pressed may not have worked, but maintain that they tested all of the panic alarms in Steinberg-Dietrich on Monday and all were functioning. Friends of the victim have also decried what they claim was a slow response time by security guards in the building to the alarm.
(11/12/98 10:00am)
Though the student attacked on campus Sunday has made no public comment, her friends have blasted the police. With e-mails circulating around campus purporting to tell "the truth" about Sunday's early-morning assault of a female sophomore in Steinberg-Dietrich Hall, Penn Police Chief Maureen Rush yesterday defended her department's handling of the incident and disputed the second-hand accounts that have sparked wide controversy. All of these e-mail accounts -- one of which, for instance, carries the subject line "the Truth about the SHDH incident" -- are from people claiming to have talked to the victim or a friend of the victim. The letters have claimed that many panic alarms in the bathrooms do not work. They also accuse police of misleading the Penn community, treating the victim poorly and downplaying the incident by failing to label it as a sexual assault. The victim herself, the only person who could possibly give a definitive account, has yet to make any sort of public statement about the attack. She has also declined to comment to The Daily Pennsylvanian; a friend said she left Penn yesterday to recuperate at home. The reported assault occurred just before 3 a.m. on Sunday, when the University sophomore said she was attacked by a knife-wielding man in a basement restroom of the main Wharton building, which is open 24 hours. The man came at her with a 10-inch kitchen knife, inflicting multiple cuts and bruises on her face and back and causing a black eye, police said. None of the cuts required stitches, according to police. The victim fought back and managed to hit two panic alarms before the man, who remains at large, fled from the room. Many people close to the victim say the first did not work. In response to the accusations against her department, Rush emphasized yesterday that "we're all on the same side." "It's understandable that after an event like this, people are angry. We want people to be angry, angry enough to figure out ways in which to make our community safer," Rush said. She also explained why the incident was not technically a sexual assault, even though that was "probably" the assailant's intent. "There was no contact of a sexual nature," she said. "We don't for a moment conclude that that may not have been a motivation," but there was no physical act and thus cannot be prosecuted as an attempted rape. And Penn Det. Commander Tom King added that not investigating the incident as a sex crime "doesn't minimize" the incident. "Getting assaulted with a knife is about as bad as it gets," he said. Rush and King also conceded that while all of the panic alarms in Steinberg-Dietrich worked when tested on Monday, it is possible that the first one the victim pushed did not. King said there was "no reason not to believe" that the first alarm the victim pressed did not sound, but emphasized that authorities tested all the alarms the next day and all were functioning. Director of Security Services Stratis Skoufalos, who oversees campus security systems like the panic alarms as well as the SpectaGuard security guards, did not return several phone calls for comment yesterday. King said that a detailed description of the entire incident given to the DP on Tuesday by a Wellesley College student who described herself as the victim's best friend is largely inaccurate. The friend had posted the account to a public electronic bulletin board at Wellesley and repeated it to the DP. According to King, a guard who was on duty in Steinberg-Dietrich Hall ran downstairs to the restroom as soon as he heard the alarm -- which he said may not have been immediately after it sounded -- and found the victim along with another student who was helping her. The security guard quickly scanned the area for the assailant before returning to the victim's side and calling for police officers to come to the scene, King said. But according to Elizabeth King (no relation), the Wellesley student, the victim waited for assistance that never arrived, and then left the building screaming for help. She finally found someone to help her and together they sought out police. By all accounts, the victim was then transported immediately to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where she was treated for her injuries and briefly interviewed by both Penn and Philadelphia detectives, Tom King said. Penn Director of Special Services Susan Hawkins, a clinical psychologist whose department within the Division of Public Safety provides support for crime victims, said yesterday that she arrived at HUP quickly and stayed with the victim throughout her stay there. Hawkins then accompanied her to the Philadelphia Police Department's 18th District headquarters at 55th and Pine streets, where the victim looked through mugshots of possible suspects. While friends of the victim have decried the lack of University support for her, Hawkins said she has spoken with the student every day since the assault and has informed her of all the victim-support options Penn offers. Hawkins also acknowledged yesterday that one of the clerical nurses in HUP's emergency room said something to the victim which she interpreted as an accusation that the incident was her fault for fighting back against the attacker. Hawkins said she planned to speak to someone at HUP about the perceived rudeness. "They need to understand how to be appropriately sensitive to someone in that situation," she said. Penn Health System officials could not be reached for comment yesterday. Erin Healy, president of Penn's chapter of the National Organization for Women, said yesterday that the incident highlights the lack of adequate security in women's bathrooms. "People are very angry," the College junior said.
(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.
(11/09/98 10:00am)
A female sophomore was allegedly attacked in the basement of Steinberg-Dietrich Hall. A knife-wielding man assaulted a female University student in a bathroom in Steinberg-Dietrich Hall's basement early yesterday morning, police said. The student was not seriously injured in the incident, which occurred just before 3 a.m., though she was treated for multiple cuts and bruises on her hands and face at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. The incident was the first time in recent memory that a student has been assaulted inside a secured University building, and comes at a time when the campus crime rate has fallen dramatically. The victim, a sophomore, was in the bathroom in the main Wharton School building, which is open 24 hours a day, when the man approached her, according to Det. Commander Tom King. She quickly hit a panic alarm and ran from her assailant. It is not clear exactly how she was injured. King said last night that Penn detectives are following several "promising leads." Nothing was stolen, and investigators are still trying to determine why the assailant attacked the student. A description of the suspect was not immediately available, and most information about the assault remained unclear as of last night. In addition to the University Police, the Philadelphia Police Department's Southwest Detectives Bureau is also investigating the incident. SpectaGuard officers patrol Steinberg-Dietrich at all times, and responded to the panic alarm. Steinberg-Dietrich is one of just a few non-residential buildings open 24 hours a day. Students need a PennCard to get past the reception area there at night. Authorities are not yet sure about how the assailant made his way into the building. The most recent assault inside of a University facility occurred last January, when a Health System employee was severely injured after being attacked during a burglary attempt inside the Penn Tower Hotel. The incident prompted officials to ratchet up security at the hotel-and-office complex. The assailant in that case, Larry Ray, was convicted last month of aggravated assault.
(11/06/98 10:00am)
The results should help determine what made at least 65 students sick. As a mysterious illness that forced at least 65 Penn students to seek medical treatment over a 48-hour period this week began to subside yesterday, laboratory tests scheduled to come back today could shed light on the nature of the malady, according to Director of Student Health MarJeanne Collins. University officials continued to maintain that the flu-like symptoms were likely not the result of food poisoning from Penn's dining halls, as many students and doctors had initially believed. Symptoms of the illness include vomiting, nausea, diarrhea and fevers. At least a dozen more students sought medical treatment at Student Health Services yesterday, bringing the total number of ill students to at least 65 since Tuesday night at about 8 p.m., according to Collins. That estimate does not include students who called seeking medical advice but did not actually go to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania or Student Health, nor those students who felt sick but did not seek any medical advice. While Collins said that doctors initially believed the malady was a bacterial infection -- which would point to food poisoning -- that scenario is becoming "increasingly unlikely." Instead, she said, the illness is likely the result of a "viral outbreak." Hospital officials have obtained stool samples to test for a bacterial infection, Collins said. The results of the test are expected to be back today. The test cannot, however, prove conclusively that the outbreak is the result of a virus. Doctors would have to perform more complex tests to make that determination, and Collins said that if the outbreak dies down, they will probably decide not to pursue the costly additional tests. The sickness is being investigated by Philadelphia health officials, according to city Health Department spokesperson Jeff Moran, who along with Penn officials is considering the possibility of food poisoning. "Food-borne illnesses is one of the possibilities, but it's far too early to speculate about the cause," Moran said, adding that the investigation could take weeks or even months. Penn Dining Services officials declined to comment, referring questions to University spokesperson Ken Wildes for the second straight day. "No one is prepared to identify a cause," Wildes said. "I don't think they are going to even come close to that until the laboratory tests come back." The number of students presenting symptoms decreased from a flood on Wednesday to a steady trickle yesterday, Collins said. Also, Collins said, several West Philadelphia residents not affiliated with Penn have presented similar symptoms, which "makes it less likely" that the illness is related to food in one of the major University dining halls. Health officials have not been able to find a common link between the affected students. Some of them ate dinner Tuesday night at all three main dining halls, while others ate at non-University locations. Exact figures for any decrease in students at the dining halls yesterday were not immediately available, but Adam Sherr, Dining's meal contracts manager, said he did not see any "appreciable drop-off" at dinner last night. To help determine the cause and any possible common thread, Collins said doctors have distributed questionnaires to students. Moran said the city would also be interviewing students who fell victim to the illness. The incident is, in all likelihood, unrelated to the recall on Wednesday of more than half a million pounds of ground beef that were distributed to 33 states -- including Pennsylvania -- by IBP Inc., a Nebraska-based meatpacking company. Dining officials said they do not purchase meat from the company.