Last February, Bruce Kesler of the Democracy Project noted that “the intolerant are infamous for not having a sense of humor.”

He was talking about the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, which caused rallies and riots across the world, even in Philadelphia.

Nine months later, Democracy Project Director Winfield Myers posted some of Engineering senior Saad Saadi’s Halloween photos. Completely forgetting the stance his organization had taken on free speech issues, he objected to Saadi’s jihadi/suicide-bomber costume and his posing with Amy Gutmann at her Halloween party this week:

Myers, who is also a director at Campus Watch, somehow got the photos from Saadi’s Facebook album.

Within hours, the photos were stirring up an Internet storm. The popular blog Little Green Footballs linked to the photos, highlighting the incident as an example of “Wacademic Antisemitism.” People have also written to the University and The Daily Pennsylvanian expressing outrage at the costume.

“I’m not a Muslim, but I’m accused of being a Muslim extremist online,” Saadi said in a telephone interview on Thursday night. Saadi was born in Syria to a Christian and Armenian Syrian Orthodox family. He has lived in the US since he was five.

“As a matter of fact, I got a lot of compliments,” he noted. “Even the police were laughing and waving at me, sort of clapping. They liked the costume.”

Of course, not everyone was as enthusiastic. Josef Fruehwald, a College senior (and my Sophomore year roommate) was out with friends on Saturday night when Saadi (in the same costume) came up behind them and started yelling in Arabic.

“Saad scared the everloving daylights out of me for about 10 seconds,” Fruehwald said via e-mail. “I thought it was shocking and offensive, but such is the nature of creativity and free expression at times.”

Caption from Saad Saadi’s album: “Freedom fighter and freedom statue pose for a picture.” (Courtsey of Saad Saadi)

Saad Saadi and an unidentified student at Gutmann’s Halloween party (Courtsey of Saad Saadi)

So why did Saadi choose his costume? “My friends and I … thought it would be kind of funny to dress like terrorists,” he explained.

It is ironic to call Saadi an anti-Semite, as his costume inadvertently imitated an Israeli tradition. On Purim - which is sometimes considered the Jewish equivalent of Halloween - some Israelis dress up as terrorists and attend street parades. The tradition is based on the common-sense belief that the point of a costume is to mock someone.

Saadi’s critics have forgotten that people who dress in Halloween costumes usually don’t aspire to actually be whom they masquerade as. That’s why they wear such outfits on Halloween, instead of every day.

Saadi’s Halloween photo gallery features him posing with students, faculty and University Chaplain William Gibson. But it’s the photo with President Gutmann that seems to be riling people the most.

“I really feel bad for her because she’s getting the worst out of this whole situation,” Saadi said. “I just stood next to her, and I asked if I could pose for a picture with [her]. As I took the picture, she asked ‘how did they let you through security?’ Like as a joke.”

Clearly, most people at the President’s Halloween party got the joke.

While shocking things can make people forget, free expression is important. Saadi’s Halloween costume is just as valid of an expression as last year’s Danish cartoons. And so is being able to laugh a bit.

I didn’t laugh when I saw the photos of Saadi’s satirical terrorist costume. But just because there are some at Penn - including our President - who can take the joke doesn’t make them terrible people.

Around the Ivies is a roundup of news from Ivy League and other top tier schools.

• [ The Daily Princetonian ]
  Princeton stalked by creepy wanna-be secret society

  See more about this from The Spin

• [ Foreign Policy ]
  A foreign Ivy League?

  Some people at Foreign Policy believe other universities are playing catch up to the Ancient Eight. Guess where the “University of Petroleum and Minerals” is located?

  (Note: Just realized that IvyLeak also covered this–total coincidence!)

• [ Columbia Spectator ]
  Columbia vandals make staff members have to fix hideous dorm
• [ The Cronicle (Duke) ]
  Duke minority hiring is questioned

Penn students and The Daily Pennsylvanian are currently on Fall break. The Spin will resume posting on Thursday, October 26th.

In the meantime, if you have any questions, comments or suggestions for The Spin, feel free to e-mail me at Obenzinger@dailypennsylvanian.com

See you again on Thursday!

Around the Ivies is a roundup of news from Ivy League and other top tier schools.

• [ The Dartmouth ]
  Intense drinking at Friday the 13th homecoming and bonfires ends predictably
• [ Harvard Crimson ]
  Harvard students still not happy with academic advisors and each other
• [ Harvard Crimson ]
  Larry Summers on the re-bound
• [ The Cronicle (Duke) ]
  Disaffiliating Duke frat declares independence

While going through the University Archives Digital Image Collection for a history project, I came across this ridiculously sexist Pall Mall cigarette ad from the Oct. 18, 1962 Daily Pennsylvanian:

[Click for larger image]

But she really doesn’t want to compete with men. In her heart she wants to attract men and eventually, marry one. The girl watcher should not let this situation disturb him, however.

If the girl is watchable, she should be watched, no matter what her motives or ambitions may be. The same thing is true of a cigarette. If it’s smokable, it should be smocked–and Pall Mall is the most smokable of all!

Like I said, it’s really sexist. So much that it’s almost amusing. Was this stuff actually acceptable in 1962? I would certainly say that the times have changed.

In addition to the fact that the Ruckus music service does not work on Macs, it turns out that Ruckus might also be sleazier than the St. A frat guys I met during rush two years ago.

Remember that Facebook group “If this group reaches 100,000, my girlfriend will have a threesome”?

It may have been part of some sleazy viral marketing tactic by Ruckus. As reported in the Columbia Spectator:

…Ethan Rimke, a first-year at Kent State, was perturbed by the group’s popularity and created his own group as an act of protest. Soon, however, he began to receive disparaging comments from a defender of the threesome group, which was ostensibly founded by “Brody Ruckus.”

When Rimke sarcastically asked if the founder was getting paid, he found out he may have hit too close to home. After some digging, Rimke began to suspect that the group was an attempt at viral marketing, plugging an advertiser surreptitiously into a unique subculture or subset of people. The company he fingered, the online music company Ruckus Music, was unavailable for comment.

[..]

Rimke e-mailed the Facebook staff, who deleted the group within three days and sent him an apologetic e-mail. Using profiles for commercial endeavors violates Facebook’s Terms of Service.

Wow. What’s the lamest part of this story? That over 100,000 people joined a Facebook group to watch a threesome or that Ruckus may have started the whole thing?

I’m going to go with Ruckus.

An appointed representative of the protesters at last week’s Columbia Minuteman fracas has published an open letter in the Columbia Spectator explaining their actions:

When we walked on stage on the night of Oct. 4, with anti-racist banners for immigrant rights, we were met with violent attacks by Gilchrist’s goons. We were the ones who were punched and kicked. We are proud that despite these attacks, we held our ground. When Gilchrist walked off stage, it was because he and his Minutemen outfit were isolated.

This is not an issue of free speech. The Minutemen were able to reserve a hall at our university and had the protection of campus security and the NYPD-all to espouse their hate speech. We along with hundreds of others expressed our right to speak and protest.

In case they were sleeping through any constitutional law classes, “hate speech” is still “free speech”. And the existence of people who would proudly storm a stage to stifle speech is exactly why the event had (less-than-effective) security in the first place. Who are the real fascists here?

It’s even harder to take these protesters very seriously when they make statements like this:

Over the last decade, over 3,000 people–including hundreds of children–have died in the desert. Their blood is on the hands of Gilchrist and his thugs.

I’m no Minuteman supporter, but how is a group that was founded in late 2004 responsible for deaths over the last decade?

For a while, I thought watching the media make a fuss about this was moronic. Now I realize that the protesters are also blowhards.

More on this from The Spin: Columbia kids riot. Penn kids ridicule.

As always, money matters.

Last week, the Times (the British one) published its annual list of the 100 best international universities.

Their methodology deserves some mention:

The rankings were based on a survey for the THES of 3,703 academics worldwide, who were asked to identify up to 30 universities best for research within their own field of expertise. This ensures that the rankings are topical and liable to change from year to year if institutions do not maintain research standards.

The table also includes data from 736 graduate employers from around the world, as well as the ratio of faculty to student numbers and a university’s success in attracting foreign students and internationally renowned academics.

Penn’s rank in this year’s Times list was 26, which is up from last year’s 32.

Like the US News & World Report rankings, the Times list heavily relies on perceptions within the academic community. Given the importance of attracting talented professors, these particular perceptions should be closely examined.

The resources available to students and faculty are crucial for many reasons. In addition to boosting the perception of a university, they support the kind of quality work that helps a university maintain its reputation. Not to mention paying for merit-based scholarships and other financial-aid goodies.

What this means for Penn is that we have to continue to raise money and figure out how to grow our endowment at rates comparable to our peers.

Last week, the University announced a 12.5 percent return on our endowment. This was a dramatic improvement over last year’s results. Hopefully, the University can keep expanding the amount of growth from its investments.

Still, be ready to open your checkbook after graduation. If you check out the full rankings, you’ll notice that many of our main American competitors also happen to have a lot of money.

PS- For those with a Penn State complex, you will either be pleased (or pissed) to read that Penn State is No. 99 on the list of 100. However, last year it was just barely trailing us at No. 64. Go figure…

There are problems in West Philadelphia.

Of course, this is a bit of an obvious statement. However, things became a little more obvious last week when Wayne Hogue, 47, was convicted in federal court for selling numerous arms from a clothing stand on 52nd and Chestnut.

Hogue was apparently also known as “Imam Wadir” and, according to the Philladelphia Daily News, identified by federal agents as an imam at a mosque on 52nd street.

According to the Daily News, the firepower being sold on 52nd street was intense:

The weapons included two Norinko 7.62 mm assault rifles - one loaded with 30 rounds; three Berettas; a disassembled 12- gauge shotgun with a 28-inch barrel; a Colt .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun with the serial numbers obliterated; a Phoenix Arms .25-caliber semi-automatic handgun Raven model with three live hollow-point rounds in the magazine, and an AR-15 .223-caliber rifle with sawed-off barrel, serial number removed.

Is anyone else worried that assault riffles and hallow-point bullets are being sold ten blocks from campus? And that these were being sold by an alleged West Philly religious figure practically in front of his masjid?

I biked over to the 52nd Street Mosque last weekend to check it out. The ride is pleasant and not far at all; you can see the highrises from the major thoroughfares.

It took a bit to find the masjid, as it is actually located above the clothing stands on 52nd street. I also had some trouble finding the entrance.

The 52nd Street Masjid (Eric Obenzinger)

The streets were not particularly crowded, but I tried talking to two of the clothing merchants on 52nd street. One was unwilling to comment and the other said that he did not understand much English.

After taking some pictures and looking around for a little while, I began to get the feeling that I was being noticed, and not in a good way. So, I headed home.

The relationship between most Penn students and West Philadelphia’s large Muslim community is minimal.

Even Penn’s Muslim Student Association does not have the best relationship with the many of their co-religionists in the area. In interviews I conducted last fall for a Daily Pennsylvanian column about Muslims at Penn (which I never wrote), the relationship between Muslims at Penn and West Philadelphia was described as “complicated” and “standoffish”.

Penn is the one local institution in place that can foster better dialogue and constructive activity between our community and West Philadelphia’s diverse Islamic community.

Most calls for “more dialogue” between different groups tend to be superficial. However, when West Philly religious leaders are convicted of selling extremely deadly weapons and people on campus barely know about it, it’s clear that this situation is lacking a basic level of communication.

This needs to change.

An article in last Friday’s Cornell Daily Sun described tensions at Cornell over demolishing the Class of 1917 Hall, which has been home to the Cornell Transfer Center.

The article quoted Cornell junior David Crockett, who is the transfer representative to the Student Assembly.

Wait a second, transfer representative? You mean, people actually listen to transfers there?

Indeed, that is the case. Each fall, one transfer student is elected to Cornell’s Student Assembly.

These transfer representatives allow the particular needs of transfer students be known to the broader Cornell community.

The current UA set-up makes it difficult for transfers to get much representation on campus. In order to get elected, a transfer student basically has to quickly become popular enough to get elected on a general slate.

Given the minimal on-campus housing reserved for transfers and the cumbersome difficulties fulfilling basic requirements with transfer credits, it’s clear that transfer students simply don’t have much of a policy-making voice on campus.

There are approximately 200 transfer students admitted each year, which means that a total of 600 transfers are wandering around Penn. The next time the Nominations and Elections Committee decides what underrepresented groups to place on the University Council, they should consider transfer students.