Traditions in jeopardy

Penn is reminding me more and more of France these days. We're pretty snobby about our spot in the U.S. News and World Report rankings. We have more than one crepe store on campus. Construction on the new art installation on 40th Street has been delayed due to a dock strike in Marseille. And last week, just outside of World Cafe Live, Alpha Chi Omega sorority's annual Big Man on Campus party "erupted into chaos." A week earlier, French citizens started rioting in Paris. A coincidence? Au contraire.

On Sunday, French President Jacques Chirac called an emergency meeting for his cabinet officials to promise increased police pressure in France to confront the rioters. "The Republic is completely determined to be stronger than those who want to sow violence or fear," Chirac said.

Three days earlier, Penn Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush said something similar. "We have had a challenging time that started at the end of spring semester," Rush said. "The fear on campus has unfortunately escalated" because of the recent increase in crime.

Rush noted that the extra $1 million added to the Division of Public Safety budget would put more Penn Police officers on patrol during the evening hours. After hearing that Philadelphia Police, like their French counterparts, used force to control crowds last week, I'm not sure that additional patrols are the best way to use our resources.

But the "challenging time that started at the end of spring semester" was not entirely due to criminal acts committed against students. Two Penn spring traditions -- Spring Fling and Hey Day -- are on the University Council agenda this semester and are currently being "evaluated" to see if they will even be held this year. This has not been publicized at all. There is a strong chance that one or both will be canceled. And this time, University officials, like Chirac, are not going to surrender.

Last year, Hey Day once again turned into Hey Deja Vu -- to use a French phrase. Hey Deja Vu is the "tradition" of pelting juniors with condiments and cat urine as they make their way through campus to celebrate becoming seniors. An anonymous University official told me that one idea is to "hold Hey Day and move it to September when the seniors will not be around and when the students actually have moved up to their senior year" to prevent what happened last year.

This would be a mistake. The entire point of Hey Day is to celebrate becoming a senior, and the tradition needs to be held on the last day of class. But I can understand why the administration is taking action. Last year's Hey Day caused damage to campus and sent students to the hospital. Unlike in Les Miserables, seniors were not protesting their government or making political statements. There was no La Resistance. They were simply committing assault. But unlike outside World Cafe Live, where students were arrested, no one was charged with a crime.

Adam Sherr, the assistant Penn Band director, has participated in "about a dozen Hey Days" during his 20 years at Penn. "Hey Day is a wonderful tradition that is being jeopardized by the mob mentality that has created the perception that riotous behavior is the norm and is accepted." he said. "It's truly a shame that Hey Day may soon go the way of Class Fights and Rowbottoms, traditions found only in the archives."

College senior Jess Neiterman has also participated in more than one Hey Day, as a member of the Penn Band. "As a senior this year, I do not intend on throwing food at the juniors." she said. "My sophomore year, when I marched with the band, my trumpet got covered in food, it got really slippery, and I dropped it on Locust Walk, which damaged it extensively." Neiterman also said that there needs to be more police presence directly after Hey Day, having been "attacked by a renegade senior with a jar of mayonnaise" in the past.

I also don't want Spring Fling to be canceled. I don't want Hey Day moved. I want to stage a coup d'etat and restore Penn traditions to what they were for future Penn students.

The next University Council meeting is on Nov. 30 in Houston Hall's Bodek Lounge. Tell the administration why Penn traditions need to stay before it's too late. Or barricade the streets and storm Au Bon Pain. Vive la resistance!

Melody Joy Kramer is a senior English major from Cherry Hill, N.J. Perpendicular Harmony appears on Wednesdays.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.