Candid talk earns high praise

As Ben Stein addressed the hordes of Penn students who packed into Irvine Auditorium last night, many were less concerned about the celebrity's political views than about the chance to hear his famous monotone phrase: "Bueller, Bueller."

Lines stretched around the auditorium and into Perelman Quadrangle just to enter the door. Part of the slowdown was due to added security, as backpacks were inspected and students were told to leave any glass or plastic bottles outside. But security concerns seemed unnecessary, since Stein received a standing ovation before he even began speaking.

Many students said that they either did not believe or were not interested in Stein's alleged racist remarks regarding backlash against Arab Americans while speaking at Loyola University Chicago, which were reported in the Loyola Phoenix last week. Stein denied the remarks, and the newspaper will run a front-page apology today for reporting the quotation out of context.

"I think [the controversy] makes me more interested, because I thought from the beginning that that wasn't really what he said," Graduate School of Fine Arts student Martha Cross said. "It didn't make me think less of him -- it made me more interested to hear what his views are."

Some students said they had hoped Stein would not harp on the comments that were made -- and several said that Stein did not need to address the issue at all in last night's speech.

But others maintained that the issue of racism was the most salient concern given the the reports of the past week. And some felt that Stein's rhetoric did not adequately address the issue.

"I do not like being dismissed as just an angry minority or a militant minority," said United Minorities Council Chairwoman Jennifer Kwon said, a College senior. "What some Penn students were trying to do was raise awareness about things going on throughout the nation -- and not just racial epithets, but also murders."

But many were satisfied that Stein answered these concerns as he repeatedly protested his political correctness, albeit through heavy-handed sarcasm.

"Someone said I am a racist, and not just a racist but a virulent racist, which is a bad kind of racist.... So I'm going to talk to you a little bit about my life as a racist," said Stein, launching into a discussion of his background as a civil rights activist.

And some students agreed that this portion of the speech was a necessary one.

"I was actually glad he addressed it and told his side of the story, because I was really disappointed with the Loyola comments," College freshman Tanya Kajese said.

Stein also took the opportunity to directly address those on campus who had propagated the reports of his alleged comments, specifically mentioning College junior Lincoln Ellis, who helped launch the analysis of the remarks reported in the Phoenix.

"In the late '80s, I got a call from Jesse Jackson.... He was writing his autobiography and he asked me to ghost write it for him," Stein said. "Do you, Lincoln Ellis, really think that Jesse Jackson would have me working side by side with him for two years if he thought I was a virulent racist?... Come on Lincoln Ellis, you knucklehead, let's be friends."

But Ellis and some others said they were not convinced that the issue of racism could be entirely set aside.

"I admire your work in the civil rights movement, but I guess I'm a little bit concerned that the civil rights movement ended prematurely," Ellis said to Stein in a question-and-answer session after the speech.

But many more students said they were sated by the medley of politics, life lessons, anecdotes and humor that Stein had to offer.

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