May 26, 2000

P.R. 101: Don't Joke About Hate Crimes

By JOEL HARDI

University of Iowa officials, after weathering a storm of racist threats against students, had cause to be relieved last month, when the police arrested a suspect.

But before the day was over, they were in trouble again, this time because of an official's poorly chosen remark.

Asked an obvious question at a news conference, the vice president for university relations, Ann M. Rhodes, hazarded a joke.

Had she been surprised, a reporter wondered, that a black dental student

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