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BY MARTHA MARRAZZA

In print | Published September 29, 2005

A student incurred head injuries from a coffee table that was thrown from a balcony at Sharples during last Friday’s “Sneak Peek” party, co-sponsored by SASS, SASA and SOCA. The injury was first in a series of violent events at the party.

Trude Raizen ’08 collapsed when the thrown coffee table hit her from above at approximately 1 a.m. After being escorted to Worth Health Center, Public Safety officials drove Raizen to the hospital.

In what may be a separate incident, a partygoer vandalized a card-swiper on the upper floor of Sharples, valued at $1300.

Raizen and some friends had left the dance floor for a drink of water when the table fell from the left balcony of Sharples, adjacent to the men’s bathroom and overlooking the main dining room.

“I collapsed and lost my vision. I told the [Party Associates] what happened, and my friends and I went to Worth,” Raizen said. “Halfway across the field, I realized that I was profusely bleeding from my head. Once we got to Worth, Public Safety took me to the hospital. I had to get eight staples in my head.” Raizen is still experiencing ongoing neck and back pain from the injury.

Scott Tanner ’08 was with Raizen when the table fell from above. “Moments after I was done pouring my water, I heard a loud crash next to me. A Sharples end table from the second floor lounge fell about six inches from where I was standing,” he said in an e-mail. “I then looked over and saw Trude in a crouched position and the broken table lying next to her.”

Tanner helped walk Raizen out before returning to the scene of the incident. “Our friend helped her limp to Worth while I got the PA and proceeded to the second floor to find the culprit,” he said.

“I heard that one very inebriated student confessed to another PA, who was manning the balcony. We sat him on a chair. The PAs and another friend of mine escorted him out of the party and back to his room,” Tanner said.

Public Safety is still investigating the incident, but they cannot directly implicate any one person at this time. Myrt Westphal, associate dean for student life, stressed that administrators and Public Safety officials are still in the “investigatory mode.”

While administrators do not think the incident was a personal attack against Raizen, those involved agree that it was not an accident. “I don’t think the table was targeted at her. I think it was someone who was clearly intoxicated and just wanted to throw a table,” Ben Mendelson ’08, the head PA for the event, said. “There is a four-foot-high railing on the balcony, so there is no way it could have been pushed over. It had to have been picked up and thrown.”

Unlike other incidents that may occur at parties, Raizen’s injury was out of her control. “When we told Public Safety what happened, they were like ‘people get hurt all the time when they are drunk or in drunken situations’,” Raizen said. “But this wasn’t something I did. I didn’t bring this on myself. It was a senseless, stupid act. Someone just wasn’t thinking, and it could have been a lot worse.”

The perpetrator will receive punishment depending on the evidence that comes forward. “Once the evidence is collected about a situation, a determination is made if the college judicial system would hear the case or if it will be heard by a dean,” Westphal said. “Given the seriousness of the offense, whoever did this could go to the College Judiciary Committee.”

Jamar Jones, the Back of the House Manager at Sharples and dining hall party-point person for Friday’s party, expressed disbelief at the apparent lack of witnesses.

“I don’t understand how no one saw what happened. I saw the PAs patrolling around upstairs, because they were constantly moving people out of the beverage area toward the dance floor,” he said. “People weren’t really milling around upstairs. If they were up there, they were making bathroom runs or watching the dance party from the balcony.”

One identified student also smashed the screen of a card-swiper, permanently damaging the machine. Administrators are unsure if the table and card-swiper incident are related, Westphal said.

A student has taken responsibility for breaking the Sharples card-swiper, and administrators referred that student to Counseling Associate Tom Elverson for evaluation since alcohol was a factor in the misbehavior. Westphal said the student will also be referred to the College Judicial Committee.

A third incident involved a belligerent student who refused to cooperate with the PAs. The student tried to exit the party from the back entrance of Sharples, which had been blocked off by the PAs in an effort to direct traffic toward the center of campus and away from police milling behind the building.

“There was actually another student at the party, a junior, who broke glass beer bottles and was being belligerent because we closed the back door. He was verbally and physically attacking a PA,” Mendelson said. “I had to restrain him with the help of another guest. No punches were thrown, but he was breaking glass and yelling.”

Westphal said it is worrisome that a student would defy or attack a PA. “I’ve gotten scant reports that there was another boisterous drunk who was not helpful or cooperative. If someone attacked a PA, that’s a serious offense,” Westphal said. “PAs represent the administration in one sense, and they are responsible for upholding law and order. It’s their job not to agitate but to only be helpful.”

Mendelson admitted that Friday’s party was an aberration from the norm. “This party was no doubt crazier than normal,” he said. “I have never seen anything like this at any other party I’ve been at. There were definitely a lot of odd things that happened.”

Jones also expressed dismay over the outcome of the party. “Parties at Sharples prior to this always end on a good note. I just can’t believe these things happened,” he said. “There will never be parties here again.”

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