Campus Informer - November 27, 2006
Pie attacks, racist Halloweens and other news from colleges across the country.
By Annika Carlson, Hope College
Monday November 27, 2006
Ask and Ye Shall Receive
Georgetown University
Nine college guys figured out the best way to get good housing in the upscale Georgetown area: They got religion. No, they didn’t pray their way to low rent with a good view—they found a loophole in the Washington, D.C., zoning laws that would let them all live together in a row house purchased by roommate Brian O’Neill’s father.
D.C. zoning laws limit the number of unrelated people living in a house to six—unless the house is occupied by a religious organization. But the city failed to define what constitutes a “religious” organization. So the guys formed the Apostles of O’Neill, a “religious” group named for the generous O’Neill family who bought the house. They filed with the city as a nonprofit religious organization, describing their call to be “active and positive members of our community.” So far, their community presence has included pool parties so loud the campus police were called, according to the Washington Post.
Perhaps it’s because they weren’t invited to the parties, but the Apostles’ neighbors are angry about the intrusion into their otherwise quiet neighborhood. Neighbors see the Apostles’ presence as unlawful and blasphemous, and plan to sue them into humble submission for their creative law-bending.
Meanwhile, the Apostles are taking steps to reform their frat-house image, like taking down the pirate flag that hung outside their house and renaming themselves the Apostles of Peace and Unity. They’re still a long way from the monastic lifestyle, but it’s about as close as these brothers are going to get.
Unfortunately time may have run out for Apostles. Last week Brian O’Neill was served an eviction notice by D.C. police citing an “illegal use of premises.” Unless the Apostles win on appeal, they may soon begin the arduous journey for mid-year housing.
“Ghetto Party” Busted for Racism
Johns Hopkins University
This Halloween, the Sigma Chi fraternity at Johns Hopkins took offensive costumes to a whole new level. Instead of just dressing up, they threw a theme party hyped as “Halloween in the Hood,” using all sorts of tasteless racial stereotypes in their advertising and decorating.
Junior Justin Park, the fraternity’s social chair, posted a flyer on Facebook describing Baltimore as a “motherf—-ing ghetto” and “HIV pit.” After members of the Black Student Union (BSU) responded to the advertisement, a second draft was posted, which praised “Johnnie L. Cochran for being a true homie and getting Orenthal Simpson, commonly known as O.J., acquitted.”
Park posted the announcement without showing it to other members of Sigma Chi, and claimed full responsibility for it. “I spoke for the fraternity, they were behind me,” he said. But his fraternity brothers later voted him out of the fraternity for his actions.
Students were also offended by decorations they found at the party itself, including a plastic pirate doll hanging from a noose on the fraternity’s front porch, intended to evoke a lynching. The school shut the party down at 1:30am, after a group of black students attended the party and left, upset about the racist imagery.
Garnering the attention of local media, the Black Student Union (BSU) and other student groups held protests on campus. Some students, including freshman BSU member Mwedne Muindi, were less offended by the party’s theme than by Park’s crude promotions. “I want people to realize, number one, that racism is still here, and it’s something we need to educate ourselves about,” Muindi said.
After meeting with BSU representatives, undergraduate dean Paula Berger is hopeful that productive dialogue is being fostered. It’s clear, she told the Baltimore Sun, that “the students want to work to address issues which extend far beyond any one frat and, frankly, any one multicultural group.”
University President Busted in Facebook Pictures
University of Pennsylvania
At last, Facebook pictures are getting someone other than students in trouble! While hosting a Halloween party, Penn President Amy Gutmann took a picture with a student dressed as a suicide bomber. When the picture circulated online, criticism poured in.
The student, Saad Saadi, had fake dynamite strapped to his chest and carried a fake gun, and smiled for a picture next to Gutmann, who was dressed as some sort of fairy princess. In other photographs, Saadi pretended to execute other revelers, appearing to read the Koran over them. He later apologized for the costume, saying he just picked a scary costume and didn’t intend to offend people.
Gutmann apologized for her posing with Saadi. The picture was taken “before it was obvious to me that he was dressed as a suicide bomber,” she said in an apology statement. “As soon as I realized what his costume was, I refused to take any more pictures with him.”
Though the pictures continue to circulate online, the controversy hasn’t seriously damaged Gutmann’s reputation, as some predicted. As student writer Samuel Dangremond put it, “At least it doesn’t seem to be as bad as that ‘water buffalo’ incident.”
David Horowitz Pranked by Students
Ball State University
When David Horowitz—everyone’s favorite ultraconservative enemy of free-thinking—spoke at Ball State last week he was the target of a sneak attack: Two students threw cream pies at him before his speech.
According to the Ball State Daily News, neither of the pies hit Horowitz, but Director of Public Safety Gene Burton got pied when he “saw it coming and got in the middle.” The pie bandits were arrested by university police and charged with resisting arrest and battery of an officer. Apparently there’s no specific police code that applies to attempted assault with pie. (Campus Progress opposes pie attacks.)
But wait, there’s more! Someone else ordered nearly $230 worth of pizza and breadsticks from the local Pizza Hut in Horowitz’s name, requesting that they deliver to the site of his speech. “I went with the driver because we had a lot of food and when we got there a lady was like we can’t come in,” said Pizza Hut assistant manager Ben Heighway.
University President Jo Ann Gora tried to contain the damage by reimbursing Pizza Hut. “We do not want them to suffer,” she said. “This was a childish prank.”
Tased Into Activism
University of California at Los Angeles
National controversy ensued after Mostafa Tabatabainejad, a UCLA student of Iranian descent, was repeatedly stunned with a taser gun by a campus police officer on Nov. 14 in the Powell Library. A YouTube video of the incident, captured by a fellow student’s camera phone, made the internet rounds and was picked up in major newspapers.
Tabatabainejad failed to produce his student identification card, prompting campus police to seek to escort him out. UCLA requires students to produce identification in school libraries during evening hours as a safety precaution.
Reports differ on the extent of Tabatabainejad’s cooperation with campus police, but thanks to the camera phone footage, no one can ignore the brutal police response to Tabatabainejad’s conduct.
Officer Terrence Duren tased Tabatabainejad five times, provoking screams from Tabatabainejad and protest from a concerned crowd of on-lookers. Duren is no stranger to allegations of questionable behavior: He was almost fired in 1990 for allegedly choking a fraternity brother, Duren also shot a homeless man on campus three years ago. Duren, UCLA’s officer of the year in 2001, has vigorously defended his actions and returned to work the next Monday.
UCLA officials pledged last Friday—eleven days after the incident—to conduct an independent investigation. Tabatabainejad has hired an attorney and is filing a police brutality suit.
-Submitted by Keith White, University of Virginia
--------
Comments
|
!
i just wanted to let you know that at jhu, the hanging pirate was used 4 years in a row – from pirates of the caribbean – for the annual sigma chi free haunted house for inner city children and was never used to evoke lynching – this was something the students who took the picture claimed although they were shown that it was indeed a pirate by the community neighborhood liaison – i am upset that sensationalism was used by these people to garner national attention, even still, the member who posted the comments has apologized publicly and the chapter is taking all measures to ensure the right thing is done. the chapter was also called an all-white fraternity but in actuality we are 40% non white (moroccan, middle eastern, indian, chinese, korean, brazilian, mexican, jewish, japanese, etc)
— joe chung - Nov 27, 08:02 PM - #Joe, don’t try to separate indignant liberals from their hysterical charges of racism. It’s all they have.
— Sam - Nov 28, 01:28 PM - #Sam,
— Redleg - Nov 28, 02:07 PM - #You’re right- there are enough legitimate incidents of racism for us liberals to talk about. In fact, recent empirical studies have shown continuing discrimination against blacks in employment and housing. Let’s talk about those things.
Sounds good
— Sam - Nov 29, 10:15 PM - #At DePauw University this year, we had a girl of Iranian dissent dress as a terrorist on Halloween as well. I guess I just don’t see how this is really any different from most other historically-based violent costumes—vikings, pirates, etc. Is idolizing these figures who also raped, murdered, and pillaged any better? And really, how many Halloween costumes don’t promote violence, racism, and/or the objectification of women? Maybe there’s just something fundamentally wrong with the holiday itself.
— doug - Nov 30, 05:30 PM - #Typo—I meant to write “descent” not “dissent.” Though, it still holds at least partially true as it currently is written.
— doug - Nov 30, 05:33 PM - #Don’t blame the holiday of Halloween for people’s lack of good judgment. It’s the only time people, young and old, get to dress up in costume and have fun. If you dress up in costume any other day, people just think you’re nuts. Jeez quit being a kill joy. There is nothing “fundamentally wrong” with Halloween, but there is something wrong with the thought process or lack of thought by some individuals.
— Monica - Dec 5, 12:31 AM - #