Also this issue:

Bender on a Roll
The city’s most famous forensic sculptor has two new projects on tap.
-Jenn Carbin

Guilty, Eh?
International row follows Philly conviction of Canadian for trading with Cuba.
-Steve Eckardt

Art Attack
A brawl over a wall near Peirce College.
-Jenn Carbin

Sins of the Fathers
Two papers, two approaches to covering the biggest story on the religion beat since the Reformation.
-Frank Lewis

City Beat

April 11-17, 2002

city beat

Soundbites

by Frank Lewis

The University of Pennsylvania, the site of one of the most famous incidents involving campus speech codes, will take no action against a graduate student who recently posted anti-Muslim remarks on a Penn newsgroup. Stephanie Winters, a teaching assistant in Penn's linguistics department, posted the following commentary on the news from Israel: "I'm sorry that the Palestinians have to be killed, but there is no other way. They will surrender or die. They are like animals: they just don't learn. The are cognitively and genetically inferior to the rest of the human race." But a subsequent post claiming that Winters had been suspended was inaccurate. "There has been no change in Ms. Winters' status as a T.A.," Penn spokeswoman Lori Doyle told City Paper on Tuesday. Doyle also forwarded a copy of a letter that Penn President Judith Rodin sent to some student leaders, including the undergraduate president of the Penn Arab Student Society. The letter reads in part: "Racism at any level is unacceptable. We should challenge it head on. However, imposing limits on free speech is not an appropriate vehicle to combat racism." Winters could not be reached. Penn was not always "fiercely committed to free speech," to borrow a phrase from Rodin's letter. In 1993, prior to Rodin's appointment, the university took action against a Jewish student who yelled, "Shut up, you water buffalo!" at some black students who were singing loudly outside his dorm. The case became a national story, and perhaps the most frequently cited anecdote by opponents of speech codes.

City Paper claimed six top honors in this year's Keystone Press Awards competition, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association. Among the first-place awards were two for the paper's post-9-11 coverage: one for the staff in the ongoing news coverage category, and another for editorial design director Brian Hogan, interim editor Howard Altman and interim managing editor Frank Lewis for the paper's Sept. 13 front page. Hogan also took first place in the general category for front-page design, and Lewis won first in sports story for "Highs and Lows," on former Eagles first-round draft choice Bernard Williams. Contributing photographer Kass Mencher received top honors in photo story for the Manayunk installment of her ongoing project Borderlines. City Paper also won the headline-writing category for "Eyeful Tower," by movies and books editor Sam Adams. And Altman and former contributor Jim Barry received an honorable mention in series/special project for their coverage of the last year's mob trials. Links to most of City Paper's award-winners can be found at www.citypaper.net/mediakit/awards.shtml.