Last updated August 19, 2006 Please feel free to copy this web page in its entirety and post it on other sites, as well as distribute it electronically by other means (email or post the link, etc). Harvard Hits them at Home - Princeton Shuttered by the Longest, Meanest and Most Ruinous Grudge in Sports History. Has Princeton University been Shutdown? Has Harvard turned fratricide? Did Harvard Law vanquish Princeton University's combined departments of Engineering, Politics and Architecture, thereby putting the university out of business? Or is this the story of the longest-lasting, meanest and most costly and ruinous grudge in sports history. During the Early Nineties, Princeton University, the home of the renown Woodrow Wilson School of Politics and the Princeton School of Architecture, groomed and elevated one of its graduates and instructional staff to the rank of Mayor in Princeton Borough. This man's wife, Ingrid, was a full and tenured professor at the University, and by maneuvring him into the office of Mayor, Princeton University interests and administrators believed they could most advantageously address the pressing questions then affecting the school, namely future growth, along with the renovation of one-hundred-year-old dorm housing. Almost all of the neighbors of Mayor Marvin Reed, who lived at 21 Maple Street, were either university employees (professors), or sympathetic to and supportive of the spirit of the University administration, which was one of gentrification and upscale development, with an emphasis on expanded housing for the University's professorial staff. However, one neighbor, John DeGrazia, was not anti-student, and held out for rent in his home at 16 Linden Lane inexpensive but well-kept apartments. These were mostly pre-existing units that had been inspected by the State of New Jersey and the Borough for over fifty years, but recent changes (namely the addition of apartments) exposed this landlord to more inspections (Building Code inspections), and the requirement for Princeton Regional Planning Board approvals. Reed's first act upon ascending to the Mayoralty was to obtain a comprehensive inspection of DeGrazia's property through the various offices of the Borough, namely the Building Department and the Health Department. Apparently unable to effect the rigorous, if not killing inspection he desired through existing Borough personnel (he had political reasons for not wanting DeGrazia as a neighbor, and DeGrazia was a forty-five year resident, having lived all that time in the same house, a popular landlord, and the maker of the most popular Princeton University souvenir ever, the Princeton Tiger Tail), a Harvard man was hired by the Borough of Princeton. His name was David Bruce Weidner, and he would eventually admit to being a former Harvard football player. DeGrazia had been present when Princeton defeated Harvard at their homecoming in 1982 in Harvard Stadium, an injury which was apparently never forgotten by Harvard football (see below for Mr. DeGrazia's description of the loss for which, evidently, Harvard sought revenge years after). Weidner was at first denied access to DeGrazia's apartments, when, on first sight, he appeared unfriendly and a potential threat to DeGrazia's all-female tenants. Claiming DeGrazia to be uncooperative, he then returned with a search warrant and made his inspection accompanied by five uniformed police officers. This was widely noted after being publicized on the internet, and throughout the county in an article written by Wendy Plump that was published on the front page of the Princeton Packet Newspaper. The subject of DeGrazia's house was treated in the most disparaging and deprecating tone possible, and so much damage was done to the house's reputation, it was abandoned by its working women tenants in favor of an all-male, student-led group. In the weeks following it publication, this article was countermanded by an editorial written by a senior editor which found the units to be "an oasis of affordable housing in Princeton," and called for more such offerings. Thereafter, there occured the required dialogue (joinder) between DeGrazia and the various code offices of the Borough, which ultimately resulted in a successful compliance effort, though not without opposition from Marvin Reed, who connived with Princeton Borough Engineer Carl Peters, to block issuance of need permits after DeGrazia succeeding in obtaining a unanimous Planning Board approval. So, to cause the required building permits to issue and inspections to be made after Planning Board approvals were obtained, DeGrazia was forced to sue Mayor Marvin Reed, Borough Engineer Carl Peters and Building Code Official Martin Vogt. He alleged in the complaint Conflict of Interest, Undo Influence and Selective Enforcement as reasons for the non-issuance of the required building permits. The action was successful, and permits were issued in spite of the Mayor, who, at a meeting of the Affordable Housing Council, announced his desire to see the property vacated, gutted and rebuilt as a "McMansion." This made the Mayor highly irate, and, as DeGrazia reported in a letter to the Borough Administrator, he made an attempt on DeGrazia's life using a pistol he evidently obtained from the Princeton Borough Police Department after he had received theats to his life from Gary Grover, a man later diagnosed with severe mental illness. Though the murder attempt was botched, because of the expenses incurred during the entire compliance process, DeGrazia was forced to sell, and then to vacate the property by the new landlord, whereupon he moved to Florida. The new landlord was not as skilled in code matters, and after obtaining a few permits and making some expensive changes to the heating system, has apparently abandoned the property, which now stands empty. Meanwhile, Alfred Kahn, a landlord who held out for rent properties for student occupancy on nearby Olden Street as well as other similarly downtrodden rentals in other parts of town, perhaps emboldened by DeGrazia's legal and code-compliance successes, decided to offer even more resistance then he already was giving to enforcement efforts by Borough Boards (especially the Health Department) and their code officials. These were in the process of shutting down his Olden Street student rentals due to their overall poor and crowded condition. This effort by the Borough was heartily approved by University administrators which saw the Olden Street housing as "keg housing," maintained in open defiance of the University's efforts to set limits on the consumption of alcohol (beer) through banning kegs in on-campus dorm housing. After being warned by DeGrazia of Reed's mental state (Reed appeared to be drinking heavily and had recently separated from his wife), and told that he appeared "dangerous," Kahn sent a Princeton coed to Reed carrying the bribe which was to win the Mayor's acquiesance in the reopening of the Olden Street student houses. These were to be managed by Kahn's oldest son, Abel, and were reported in the student newspaper, the Princetonian, to collectively generate about $125,000 dollars per year in rent. DeGrazia, who had some forewarning of the ensuing confrontation, was prepared to witness the matter by overhearing it, not a particularly difficult thing since his bedroom window looked out on the back of Reed's home, and he slept with his ear to the open window in an attempt to prevent casual thefts of backyard property (bikes, etc) by unidentified persons. He said he was encouraged, if not directed, to do so by Hon. Judith Yaskin, JSC, who had heard his Writ of Mandamanus and complaints of Conflict of Interest and Selective Enforcement, as well as testimony from him concerning an apparent incident of bribery and corruption engaged in by Reed, and involving Eckerd's, a local realtor, a local wheeler-dealer, and a nearby retail/office building. As a matter of note, the Selective Enforcement section of his complaint had, by its nature, made him somewhat of a prosecutor or reporter of violations where other similarly situated building code matters were concerned, which is ordinarly the case in these kinds of actions, and as a result, builders in the area, including the student "eating" clubs, were being notified by the Borough Building Department to obtain permits. Weidner, rather than face Kahn over the Olden Street rentals (these were popular with Princeton athletes and other "popular" types), resigned in the midst of that enforcement effort, and was replaced by Rocky Innocenzi, though not before becoming fully cognizant of the political situation in Princeton where code enforcement was concerned. Whether he also removed and copied documents from files pertaining to the enforcement of various codes by the Borough on the University campus is not known. The Borough, before that time, had steered clear of code enforcement on the Princeton University campus, but now with the Superior Court overlooking the matter of code enforcement due to DeGrazia's complaint, Harvard's "presence" due to David Weidner's involvement (not so strange considering the long-time animosity between town and gown in Princeton), and further justified by the risk that Princeton Volunteer firefighters must undertake when fighting fires on campus, David Drake, the Borough's fire code official, undertook a campus-wide fire code inspection which resulted in orders to seal up all fireplaces, such as were to be found in almost all the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century dorm rooms. It is likely that unpermitted work undertaken in the Seventies and Eighties to create dorm space under the eaves in some of these buildings (Little Hall, for example) was discovered at that time, though no mention of it was made in the newspapers, even after a fire broke out in one of these top floor units, resulting in the near death or injury and close escape of student dorm residents to the building's rooftop. According to another of DeGrazia's reports, Reed, after taking the bribe money put up by Kahn, murdered the coed who tendered the bribe by strangling her. Then, using the 38 caliber police special given him for his protection, the Mayor shot and killed on different occasions two of her friends who ventured into his home in search of her. Finally, Abel Kahn appeared at his door, and after a loud conversation between the two overheard in its entirety and reported word for word by DeGrazia, Reed shot and left Kahn to die on his living room floor, even though police had been called to the door. Though the FBI and police were notified immediately thereafter, no action was taken. Then, when the matter still refused to go away, DeGrazia made a written report which he sent to President of Princeton University, the FBI office in Trenton, the US Justice Department and the Borough of Princeton, whereupon he was arrested and charged with filing a false report. After the police complaint was dismissed by Judge Russell Annich, DeGrazia left town, as per his assertion at the time of the third hearing of the matter. In doing so, he was also following the advice of Detective John Redding, the arresting officer, who told him quite bluntly that "his safety could not be guaranteed." Naturally, Abel Kahn's father never forgot the fatal injury done to his son and the boy's friends, and revenge has probably been in the works for some time. Suffice to say that it may be modelled after the "Wrath of God" operation undertaken by the Israelis following the massacre of the Jewish athletes at the Munich Olympics. Thereafter, Dr. Shirley Tilghman, Professor of Politics at the Woodrow Wilson School, was appointed President of Princeton University by the Board of Trustees, replacing Harold Shapiro who resigned in the midst of the scandalous affair. The murders of Abel Kahn and his student helpers and friends were covered up, and the University embarked upon an ambitious building program, designed to create new dorm rooms capable of housing an additonal one thousand new students, and perhaps replace the illegal attic rooms, should they be ordered vacated. The University also undertook the renovation of the Woodrow Wilson School of Politics building, sometimes called the Yamasaki building after the architect, built two more libraries, and a lab building. All this was done with minimal involvement of the community (the Princeton Regional Planning Board, etc), and appears to have been officially unapproved for the most part, except by the personal authority of Mayor (formerly Princeton University Assistant and Associate Professor) Marvin Reed. Ultimately, the United States Justice Department became seriously involved, though not as result of the alleged corrupt and violent practices and acts of anyone involved, or other governmental irregularities. Evidently DeGrazia's report was shelved or ignored by the "Feds." It was the Anthrax Attack that provoked a local FBI investigation (ironically, DeGrazia was named as a suspect, and the investigation in Florida proved his undoing as far as his housing and business arrangements went there), and this eventually led to Princeton University labs and dorms (according to Detective Terciano of the Princeton Borough Police Department). So there began a prolonged presence of the FBI on campus, and this led to a renewed interest in the land use, building and housing code matters (in short, all the matters of official corruption) that remained open, but not investigated. The Princeton Regional Planning Board, with the support of FBI advisors and the protection of bodyguards, took action which ultimately resulted in the closure or limitation of Princeton University's Department of Development, and the removal of its duties to a private planning firm. Work on outstanding construction projects has been slowed or halted, and possibly as a delayed and indirect result of the crimes committed by Reed against Abel Kahn and his student allies in 1994, a group of over one hundred students withdrew in unison over the summer of 2005. Then, during the Fall semester, classes ground to a halt, with a number, perhaps a majority of the faculty, stopping or limiting their teaching or resigning their positions altogether. Their desire to preserve their retirement benefits probably keeps more from resigning outright, as by hanging on without teaching, they may continue to hope for a buyout, or early retirement. This desire may be thwarted should Princeton University collapse altogether, with payments to all creditors and employees ceasing, while liquid assets vanish into concealed accounts to "wait out" the departure of the current faculty, and the adjudication (through bankruptcy and other proccedings) of all other matters. The collapse of the Princeton's teaching facility did not go unnoticed on the outside world. In the Fall of 2006, even before student and teacher attendance of required classes and lectures dropped through the floor, representatives of all the Ivy League universities (the Council of Ivy League Presidents) met on Alexander Road in the building which, at the time, housed the Office of Development. They discussed the issues confronting Princeton University, and took action in the months that followed. Though their decisions and orders have been kept secret, and any action possibly undertaken by the College Accreditors has similarly not been publicized, the graduation of the Class of 2006 was apparently not attended by University officials, and the public was barred from witnessing it, even "outside the gates," where public attendance and attention has been de rigeur from the days when the college first made its home in Princeton, New Jersey in the late 18nth century. Evidently, the students "graduated themselves" for the benefit of their parents. Obviously, such a ceremony has no official standing, and the diploma they awarded themselves, though worth something as proof of acceptance and attendance, seems unlikely to be accepted by the professional institutions to which it may later be presented on face value, namely as a BA or Baccalaurate Artes. In addition, there were no graduate students evidently granted diplomas at the ceremony, though one was seen leaving in the middle of the proceedings. Thus, it appears, for all intents and purposes, Princeton University has closed its doors as a teaching institution, unable to graduate its seniors, who, by the time they have completed college requirements, will have spent, won scholarships, or gone into debt for over 120,000.00 dollars in tuition costs alone. To reopen the school and renew its teaching mission will require a complete investigation into all matters here touched upon, and such adverse publicity as will certainly attend such an investigation will surely bar Princeton from further participation in the Ivy League, and possibly preclude its ability to obtain or renew its faculty, at least until the malefactors and criminal agents have been identified, removed from their positions of influence in the university and town communities, and brought to justice. Thus, the legal "net" first thrown by Harvard's David Bruce Weidner with the encouragement of former Princeton University Assistant and Associate Professor Mayor Marvin Reed has proved the undoing of Princeton's politically savvy, mortar, trowel and spade crew, and the architectural glories that are Princeton's pride and trust must now sit, useless to the student community, and await a more favorable time, perhaps to be brought into being by a Congressional hearing, though for now the college may continue as a research institution. If you have other information concerning this matter or would like to discuss it with me, please email me at irmb3med@yahoo.com. I will be glad to give you all the supporting evidence I am able to. The Several Sides of the Matter at Hand side one - Undergrad students and grad students side two - University administrators and the educators known as full professors. side three - Town homeowners side four - The opposing interests of all groups together (rival colleges, especially Yale and Harvard, the other corners of the Ivy League Triangle sometimes call the Big Three, or simply PHY. These carry on a rivalry separate from the rest of the Ivy League. These were the schools which conducted the first football game and the ensuing seasonal competitions. Princeton and Yale were the very first contestants). side five - The combination of University professionals and townspeople, sometimes called gentry, and their allies and supporters. side six - the combination of students, grad students, and their landlords and supportive personnel (staff) side seven - High school students, especially those near to graduation and departure from their homes. sides eight, nine and ten - competing low-income housing interests in town, namely blacks (8), hispanics (9) and poor non-hispanic, non non-white, including poor whites (10). side eleven - Professional code and law enforcement officials motivated by legal concerns, especially the desire to minimize their own and the municipality's and state's legal exposure by enforcing code as it is written. side twelve through twentythree - Family, supporters and dependents of all these groups. In the case of the housing groups, it would be all those under the same roof who are not lease-signers or listed as owning the property. side twentyfour - Major patrons of the University (twentyfour a - Arab, twentyfour b - Pro-Israeli and/or Jewish, twentyfour c - Corporate and/or government, twentyfour d - Independently wealthy alumni) Complicating factors in the interaction of these: 1. War in the Middle East. Clearly, the tactics, issues and personalities that are at work in this conflict directly affect the attitudes and acts of the players in the matter at hand. 2. The Anthrax Attack and the subsequent FBI investigation 3. The Arab-Israeli Conflict 4.The influx of Communists following the Soviet line following the fall of the Soviet Union. Many of these have found housing in the Institute for Advanced Study complex, long a haven for Communists and their sympathizer, and have proved a major factor in political developments on campus and in town in the years that followed. 5. The immigrant issue and all racial issues, especially as concerns the influx into town of several hundred Guatemalans. These are well-versed in American CIA tactics and lore, and some are probably related by blood to the American CIA agents who helped the Contras fight the Guatemalan Civil war for two decades or more. 6. The issue of Crime and Punishment, including crimes by the rich (non-crimes), and especially the torts of slander, libel and defamation of character 7. The Drug and Alcohol and other moral issues, particularly with regard to student drinking and premarital sex (complicated by STD's). 8. The issue of development and urbanization, including consolidation, major political issues in Princeton. 9. The issue of free or public education. 10. Other political issues, namely States' rights, the rights of minors, women's rights, violence in the home, censorship and other free speech issues, (especially as pertain to the internet), the unequal (disparity) in the distribution of wealth and its benefits, etc. 11. The alleged, confessed and reported involvment of a group (four or more) of Princeton University "sons" and alumni in the conspiracy to murder six University of Florida coeds. This was, by the account of one of the perpetrators, a crime of revenge accomplished on behalf of Lybian intelligence operatives, and done for money, namely one million dollars in Lybian gold. 12. Any and all other lines along which a conflict between the two colleges (Harvard and Princeton) may be drawn, such as the one in Massachusetts tracing its ancestry to the Puritans, while that in New Jersey finds its roots to be Dutch, the one in Boston with its strong "Yankee" tradition, while Princeton hosted the "Sons of the South" until the Civil War (fully a third of its students came from the Deep South), and after the war to a different degree, the college in Princeton being small town in character, while that in Boston is definitely urban or big city, the rival political ambitions of the two schools and their graduates, and especially the longstanding committment of Princeton to the paper publishing industry (printed books), while Harvard (or Harvard/MIT) has its sights set on a greatly expanded internet presence, based upon the techniques and technologies of e-publishing. It is probably through the internet that Harvard's "attack" on Princeton was magnified and accelerated unjustifiably, while Princeton's faults and crimes, no matter how inadvertant or born of circumstance, grew huge in the public mind. 13. The tenure of Mrs. Barbara Boggs Sigmund as Mayor of the Borough for many years. Though her administration was benign in the extreme, and her record, especially her effort to build affordable housing for minority groups removed her entirely from the Southern Democratic elements which had for so long oppressed blacks in the South, her alma mater was LSU, and the distant memory of Kennedy's confrontation with that university could only worsen Harvard's opinion of Barbara's Princeton (the town), which still bears her mark strongly. 14. The tenure of Dr. Liu Shu Pang (not his real name) as head of the Department of Engineering which is across the street from Kahn's rentals, along with the building of Orchid Pavilion by Elsie and Ray Pang and their financial backers from New York's Chinatown. Dr. Pang, who surrounded himself with dozens of students from China, would have been an advocate of a "Chinese" solution to the problem of Kahn's rentals on Olden Avenue, while Mrs. Pang was desperate to clean up the neighborhood of her very expensive restaurant complex across the street. Of course, Chinese solutions are short, brutal, cheap, and may be done officially under cover of night, just as was the way with which Marvin Reed dealt with Abel and his student allies. Appendix: If you would like a humorous view of what transpired, click on the link leading to the Yahoo page listing links to the popular "Midnight Spank" video. The fourth and subsequent links are the fastest display of this cute, animated cartoon. If you can imagine me, (Mr. DeGrazia) as the brown monkey, wearing an orange and black sweatshirt with a big "P" (for "Princeton") on it, the beach-sand statue as the Princeton tigertail, and Mr. Weidner, his friends and supporters as the black monkey, with their Harvard regalia, (the big "H"), you will have an idea as to what happened. All that's missing is a third monkey, one with a big "Y" emplazoned on his chest, standing on the side watching the action. Above him might be a caption, "Damn,... and I was just about to make it into a National monument." (The comment made with reference to the image of the female monkey made from sand). The tigertail was made in quantities numbering tens of thousands, and a few thousand found their way to other tiger-mascot colleges. The "great tale," a fifty foot, gold-and-black tiger tail, was brought out once at the Harvard game on the home field. It would not have been very difficult for Harvard supporters to trace DeGrazia to his home after that was dragged around the field by the band. Of course, Princeton students depart the town after four years, making them more difficult targets for revenge-minded Harvardians, while DeGrazia stayed on, and still does so after nearly fifty years of residency. Despite the humorous qualities of the video, a psychiatrist might venture that it indicates some sort of rape. Since rape is a tremendous problem on many university campuses, especially Princeton's, it would be hard to simply blame Harvard for this fact DeGrazia is not and never was associated with Princeton University, except as a vendor to the Princeton Souvenir Agency, a student-run financial aid body, and as simply a townie fan of Princeton Football. And yes, midnight did just get a little darker. Click Here to go to the Yahoo page with links to the Midnight Monkey Spank video Mr. DeGrazia's account of the Princeton-Harvard game of 1982 The season of 1982 I decided to get out and help the Princeton Football team through coaching. As a youngster predisposed to intellectual pursuits and pastimes, I had avoided athletics. However, my field had failed to materialize (the application of the computer to literary scholarship, or etext), as the development of the computer in those days remained largely restricted to the quantitative sciences, and as an accessory to and tool of paper publishing. So by 1982 I was about thirty years old, physically fit, but despairing of outwaiting the computer development lag of e-publishing which was being fostered by the paper publishers, the which are so powerful on all university campuses. I don't mean to imply that my committment to coaching Princeton football from the stands was a suicidal career move - the end of the line as far as my career ambitions went - it's just I didn't see much down the road in the way of a career, and so was striking out into the always uncertain territory of sports, and in my case, not my strongest suit. However, I had done some boxing, and was quick and graceful, and so my talents were welcome by the Princeton players. We had won almost all of our league games before the away-game with Harvard that year. I had a vehicle, an older model sub-compact which was drivable, and decided to make the six hour drive to Boston with my two dogs, both gentle, "companion-type" collie-shepherds. The trip there was uneventful, however I noticed the phalanx of junkyards that "stands guard" to the college district on the exit from the Massachusetts Turnpike. These were probably dominated by the same underworld types that rule junkyards everywhere, and I admitted to a chilling feeling, given the old and worthless car I was driving, as well as my sister's very visible occupation as a prosecutor in New York City. She was a graduate of Yale Law School, and her choice of occupation must have gotten around pretty fast given that she had been one of the first female grads from that school. I believe Hillary Clinton was in her class, though I am not sure. My mother was not yet a Family Court supervisor, but remained at that time a Juvenile Probation Officer. My uncle, Edward, had taught at Harvard Law School, so my family name was well known before I reached Boston on that "fateful" day. When I arrived, it was about twelve o'clock, and I walked down Harvard Square's main drag before going to the stadium to give the dogs a break from their confinement in the car. I noticed that an acrid haze hung in the air, and when I returned to the area of the stadium, could see it hugging the ground in spots. The air pollution was strong enough that I believed it would sour and dent the performance of the football players, and in this assessment I later proved to be correct, for the game turned out to be low-scoring, and the outcome hinged on not a great running or passing game by either side, but on a penalty and a stubborn defense. I was a few minutes late, and missed the opening kickoff, and then, to compound matters, was seated on the Harvard side, surrounded by Harvard fans. I heard it whispered that I "was an Indian," and really couldn't do very much as far as coaching. In fact, I seemed to be of more interest and use to the Harvard side, who seemed confident of a win, despite the lassitude of the players on both sides due to the poor quality of the air that day. However, when Harvard tried to run the ball on a fourth and short yardage play from their forty-yard line, and then failed to make the first down, an unusual opportunity presented itself to the Princeton side. The ball had been given to a fullback, and even though it was extremely difficult to look for long at the play because of the sting of the acidic smog, it was obvious he didn't make the first down. After this was confirmed by the tape, he, rather than concede his failure, began to gesticulate wildly, and loudlycontend that he had made the required yardage. This began a dispute with the refs as to where his forward motion had stopped, and where he had placed the ball. He stayed on the field, and with his manner and actions built resistance to the refs' call, while the Harvard side began to jeer and hoot the decision of the referees, three of whom gathered at the ball in support of the line ref. I even heard a cry of, "Hang the ref!" Finally, the referees, brooking no further argument from the fullback, nor paying attention to the abuse coming from the crowd, confirmed the initial ruling above the angry noises coming from the stands, and then, waving the opposing sides into action, retired from the "zone of play," as is usual. However, the Harvard offensive linemen continued to take their cue from the fullback who believed he had made the key play, and may also have been deterred from returning to the sideline by their fear of the wrath of the crowd. These glowered, scowled, and roared their disapproval at what was, admittedly, a close call, and so the Harvard linemen held their places at the line of play, apparently intent on forcing the start of another series of Harvard downs, or at least maintaining the fullback's protest. Shouts from the Princeton side failed to move them except for the quarterback, who took to the sidelines along with his backfield. Even when their defensive counterparts ran onto the field, the linemen shot them a look of rebuff, and failed to quit their places. So, the Princeton team did the natural thing. They huddled, our quarterback called a play, and the Princeton offense lined up on the ball where still stood Harvard offense claiming possession of it. No timeout was called, despite calls from the Harvard coaching staff to the field, as the Harvard quarterback (the team's offensive captain?), having heard and abided by the referees' decision, had by now retreated to the sidelines. The Harvard defense took the field and lined up to the left of the Harvard offense, essentially crowded awy from their proper positions by their own offensive line. So, when the Princeton center took and hiked the ball from in front of the Harvard center, it was handed off by our quarterback to a tailback, Guthrie, who ran first past the protesting Harvard offensive line, then past the confused and unprepared Harvard defensive line, and then down the field pursued by one or two of the Harvard defensive backfield who had belatedly woken up to what was happening, and were hopelessly giving chase.The play had been run despite the protest being staged by members of the Harvard team and homecoming crowd, and we cautiously, and with some embarassment for our adversaries, celebrated a touchdown. Still, the Harvard offense clung to their original position (that they had made the first down), and an official was called again to the scene of the fourth-and-short-yardage play, and again conferred with the captains. He then assessed a penalty against Harvard for having too many men on the field, and though the Harvard side wanted the touchdown play called back and rerun, Princeton, as was its right, declined to take the penalty. For to do so would have meant that the ball be returned to the line of scrimmage, while the touchdown would have been forfeit. Incredibly, the crowd again booed, hissed and otherwise expressed their displeasure, as if this was unreasonable. At that point I personally began to have doubts that anyone on the Harvard side knew how to play football, and what the rules were, at least anyone who was in a position of authority. As the fullback who ran the ball in the unsuccessful attempt at making the first down was black, this created an extremely sensitive situation politically. His bitter protests were not lost on the crowd, and some on the Harvard side took up his cause with a renewed intensity when Princeton players and fans began to visibly rejoice. A Harvard player asked, “What’s he smiling about,” with reference to a Princeton player who stood on the Princeton sideline with a broad grin on his face after the favorable call. Seated behind him, I heard the remark and answered in the Princeton man's defense and to defuse the situation (I didn't want it thought that our players were taking pleasure in the frustration of a black player), “Oh, that’s his twenty-fifth reunion.” Then the Harvard man called out, “You’re not going to have any twenty-fifth reunion.” A number of people heard this, and some demanded clarification since it could have been taken as a death threat. He continued, “You’re whole school is going to be closed down.” After a few moments everybody who had been following the exchange and heard these words laughed, including me. No one took them seriously. I mused for a moment as to whether it was a prophecy he uttered or the beginning of some evil plot. Then, I looked over at the Princeton sideline to see if they had heard the Harvard man utter the threat. Apparently they hadn't but had detected the changes in the crowd around me, and were putting on quizzical airs. I tried to repeat what I had heard, calling out, "He said he was going to shut you (Princeton University) down." Though I could see them paying attention to what I was saying, I don't know if they heard or understood me. But apparently what was said did get around to them, because their faces fell, some started muttering, and they began to play with renewed intensity, forcing the touchback which resulted in their winning the game. I had heard other threats upon my arrival in the stadium parking lot, such as, "If you win, we'll kill you all," however, after that incident the Princeton defense held, which was not unusual for us considering our style of play. In fact, I had had experience teaching boxing techniques to football players, and these defensive skills proved valuable on the football field especially where the defensive line was concerned. Thus, we won a close game, the final score coming out to nine for Princeton and eight for Harvard. As stated above, the winning point was caused by another botched play by the Harvard offense, which resulted in a touchback. The Harvard fans were really rankled by their loss, and we, the Princeton fans and following, had to virtually escape after the game. In the other game mentioned above, the one played on Princeton's home field, I attended with a fifty-foot, yellow-black tiger tail, which I lent to the Princeton Band to use during the half-time festivities. Often Princeton's band is not overly-welcome by the older Princeton fans, mostly because their routines are "gross" or include tasteless material, however the giant tail was a huge hit, and the Harvard side looked crestfallen as they watched Princeton spirits rise as one of the band members comically towed the monstrous tail around the field. Then, when the band returned to the sideline, I ran down to the wall and retrieved the tail. There had been incidents of violence directed at the band, including the smashing and snatching of various things like signs, and I didn't want to lose the tail. It is a one-of-a-kind item, and took two people, myself and a helper, to make. Then the Harvard crowd, especially the women directed their attention to me as I sat with the long tail. I couldn't believe the feeling of being watched with hard eyes by three or four hundred Harvardians. Then I heard someone kind of shout across from our side of the field, "What do you want?" And the reply came back, "Him." I couldn't believe my ears, but by that time I couldn't do anything about what was happening, such as withdraw or hide, and sat there with obvious embarrassment with the tail in my lap. I thought I heard a familiar voice say, "We'll help you (the Harvardians)." The voice was that of a police officer I had known for about twenty-five years. Evidently held a grudge against me because I was present in court when he was embarassed by a student who he believed insulted him when he was with his girlfriend. I was in court for an entirely unrelated matter when that case was brought to Hon. Russell Annich's attention, and this police officer evidently thought I was there in support of the accused. I wasn't, however it appears that minor fact never became clear to him, and apparently he has held that moment when he blushed in front of the judge against me to this day. Considering the rude and intrusive questioning of the accused who defended himself and put the police officer on the stand, his grudge might be understandable had I anything at all to do with the defendant, or even his type, the "drinking student" kind. The defendant's manner was sneering and intrusive, but I could not control the young man, and my presence had no effect upon him except as might perhaps an unwilling audience to a spectacle, and the judge had to interrupt and reprimand him to get him to stop. When Weidner, after having first been turned away, came back to my house with five uniformed police officers to effect the inspection with warrant, this officer, the one embarrassed by the student in court, was at their head, gladly presented me with the warrant, and otherwise took obvious pleasure in the process of opening the young lady tenants' apartments to the police and Sanitarian, as well as witnessing my own humiliating treatment at the hands of the Harvardian. The police went into every apartment with David Bruce Weidner, remarking how nice they looked and obviously enjoying the femininity of the place. All of these officers resigned their duties with the Borough of Princeton within a year or were fired. I don't understand how Harvard could act in such a cruel and heartless manner with respect to those choosing to participate in a football match with them. Not only did they take their loss personally and vindictively after a manifestly poor performance by their team, but they ignored the judgement of the referees, and stood ready to boo and hiss any call not to their liking. They were truly poor sports, and I think it a disgrace that they thereafter decided to intervene maliciously and vengefully in the enforcement of housing and building code in Princeton Borough by sending one of their players "undercover," or more accurately as an agent provocateur to serve as a Princeton Borough housing code enforcement official adverse to Princeton student housing interests in town and on campus. Now Princeton University and the surrounding community must bear the brunt of the consequences of their vengeful malice, as it their willful acts have evidently mushroomed into other bad deeds by their co-conspirators, and it appears that Princeton must close its doors for the time being, if not for all time. As for my home of forty-five years, it is clear that Weidner, his Harvard backers and their allies officially "trashed" it before, as was his stated intent, they turned on the University dorms. And when I was evicted five years ago, the town not only lost my gentle skills but also five units of very badly needed affordable housing for young people starting out in the world, while I have failed to find replacement housing to this day. I also find it disgusting that Weidner and his cohort acted behind a cloak of their own making in which they included St. Paul's Catholic Church of Princeton. By taking advantage of the considerable national political influence of Harvard's Democratic and Catholic alumni, they were able to obtain the cooperation of Mike Herbert, an important Catholic attorney who had done work for the Catholic Archdiocese of the nearby state capitol of Trenton, as well as the tacit backing of the local Catholic community. Though the Church was thereafter able to easily obtain the Planning Board approvals and Building Permits it needed to do important renovative and asbestos abatement work on its school, in light of the transgressions which followed and which have come to the attention of the FBI, this work has also been called into question, and the legal and political ramifications resulting from the official investigation could possibly result in the closing of St. Paul's parochial school, just as they appear to have shuttered Princeton University. But, of all the most venal, manipulative and disgusting acts possible, it was the use of Carolyn Kennedy to "voice over" a film strip showing Marvin Reed with South Africa's leaders on ABC's Good Morning, America with a sad and sweet apology that tops them all. By the time this act of "political hygiene" was attempted, Reed had not only brought into being a terrible scandal, but was continuing to drag all those around him into a deep pit of corruption and revenge. It was, if ever there was one, a matter for the police, and by putting an apology for this terrible crime in the mouth of one of America's most loved and dearest political figures, the perpetrators and their co-conspirators showed just how low they were prepared to sink to cover up their fouled schemes. No, Carolyn, "This man" (Marvin Reed) is not a "good man," as you were instructed to say. It was a travesty on your father's memory, your family's tremendous reputation, and a revolting manipulation of popular sentiment that those who put you up to that statement effected when they hatched and carried out the plan to put you on national television in his defense. Reed may not get what he deserves for political reasons, but there is no doubt in my mind that Kahn and his allies, as well as the families of the students he killed in his house, will exact a far greater human and political toll through a broad, indiscriminate and violent revenge. The only reason your "handlers" could have had for exploiting you and your sympathies in an issue that could prove costly to the political ambitions of the Democratic Party was that the publicity attending the exposure and arrest of Marvin Reed might adversely affect their national campaign, or damage the interests of local Democratic politicians. Thus, you and/or your were family were begged to intervene on their behalf. And Senator Ted (Kennedy), I am sorry if I accompanied Princeton Football when they spoiled your homecoming that day in 1982, however I am certain that you held and hold no grudge. A man of your stature and national influence simply cannot afford to deal in the petty politics of college football, charged as it is with the matter of sports violence, mass behavior and senselessly bitter rivalries, especially where the welfare of non-aggressive individual fans and innocent "bystanders" is concerned. I must believe that no one ever approached you concerning either the coverup of Marvin Reed's misdeeds, or any other matter touching on the reprisals taken against me or Princeton by Harvard Football lineman, David Bruce Weidner and his buddies. No. What happened transpired because the Harvard heavyweight football team of 1982 and possibly its followers included some remarkably poor sports, as well as some who, evidently, were from backgrounds of power, wealth and political sophistication to the point where they could do something about their desire to vindicate themselves against those who had beaten their team in a fair contest on their home field. And because on that day in 1982 when Harvard lost to Princeton in Harvard Stadium, there were in the stands some who must number themselves among the rudest football fans in the country, and this sometimes ugly crowd may have cowed and driven the Harvard offense to act in a very unsportsmanlike manner, causing it to fail to yield up the ball to the opposition after being directed to do so by the officials. But whatever the ultimate identity and target of the malefactors or miscreants, their scheme for revenge got way out of hand, and now Princeton University stands discredited. And the greatest irony of this entire affair may be that Princeton, though not arguably innocent of wrongdoing and poor judgement (there were some in the administration as well as in the town government who saw it to their advantage that Harvard should join with them in the enforcement of Princeton's housing code), should be "brought to justice" in part through the efforts of Harvard's admininstrators and president who were opportunely present at the Council of Ivy League Presidents held in Princeton in the Fall of 2005, and presumably an active participant in the proceedings. And just as Harvard intervened and twisted Princeton's building code to the detriment of its football adversary and its supporters, so it also jumped on the prosecutorial bandwagon when the dire consequences to Princeton of its own acts and ommissions were being considered, and pointed a finger at the damage its agents had wrought as evidence of Princeton's failings, misdeeds or fallen standards. That's right! Give a dog a bad name and hang it. And finally, Mr. Harvard Fullback of the 1982 season and Friends, God help you and your school if you or your followers were in anyway involved in the Anthrax Attack. How convenient that the anthrax-laden letters should all be mailed from Princeton mailboxes. How convenient and pointedly incriminating. As one former "suspect" in the matter, I know well how the investigation was guided by phony "voices of the law," and how much was done to alter its direction, by shifting it away from certain politically important quarters and people, and towards their victims and other innocents. John DeGrazia

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