Hopkins Sophomore Struck by Car is in Critical Condition

An 83-year-old female driver struck a Hopkins sophomore Saturday at 12 p.m., leaving him in critical condition. Hopkins Underground has learned that the student is Nathan Krasnopoler, a computer science major from Baltimore.

According to reports from the Baltimore Sun and the ABC News Baltimore affiliate, Krasnopoler was riding his bike along in a bike lane on West University Parkway and West 39th Street. He was struck when the driver attempted to turn right. The car's momentum caused the car to roll on top of him.

Krasnopoler is at Johns Hopkins Hospital with burns on his face but no internal bleeding. Chances of recovery are good, according to posts by friends on his Facebook page which is also filled with well wishes and encouragement.

An eyewitness at the scene after the incident tells Hopkins Underground that seven police cars, one Hopkins security officer, and two fire trucks arrived at the scene.

Like the rest of the Hopkins undergraduate community, our hearts and our best wishes for a speedy recovery are with Nathan.

UPDATE 2/27/2011 7:10 p.m.
The University released the following statement to faculty, students, and staff about Nathan Krasnopoler's condition and offered counseling services to those who need it. Krasnopoler remains in critical condition.

Has Admissions Officer's Twitter Use Gone Too Far?

Undergraduate admissions officer Daniel Creasy loves to use Twitter. Since his first post in on Oct. 22, 2008, Creasy has posted 1,312 times. Most of the time it relates to his job as an admissions officer and the application process. Occassionally, he delights his 351 followers with updates about his dog, television, sports, or his lunch. He also uses the microblogging service to communicate with his group of students who serve on the Student Admissions Advisory Board.

Creasy’s use of Twitter was even recognized by The Washington Post where the Post’s college admissions blogger listed Creasy as one of her favorite Twitter users. 

Most his updates are harmless, if not a bit vain from time to time. Like his Twitter feed, Creasy uses his Hopkins Insider blog to update applicants about the process and answer some frequently asked questions. Often he will share pictures of his dog and niece Lilly. Here’s one from last year. 

However, Creasy’s habit of writing on Twitter what he reads in applications is a bit troubling and unprofessional. They mostly focus on the unique applications – unique in a bad way.

As recently as Jan. 24, Creasy wrote that he had read application typed in all capitol letters and used seventeen exclamation points. In the same update, Creasy joked with a University of Virginia admissions officer that he likes reading applications in size 14 to 18 font.  The UVa staffer asked earlier, “Is there any admission officer out there who like essays written in 14-18 font? I didn’t think so.”

For those who handwrite applications, beware. Officer Creasy will let strangers know of your poor penmanship.

Thinking about being a doctor? I hope you’re not doing it to help people! Write about all the money you’ll get or maybe defraud Medicare.

If you are an applicant trying to scheme and trick the university, beware! All fraudsters will be outed!

He charmingly refers to engineers as “Lego Maniacs.” The label, Creasy wrote, is also used by colleague Sarah Godwin. It helps them get through their long days, he says. 

Because Creasy shares so much in his blog and Twitter posts, some applicants seem to tailor their essays just for him. [Soze is the name of his dog.]

To his credit, the person to whom he is referring does sound like an idiot for bringing up religion. However, to call a possible applicant an idiot in public is a bit questionable.

We could go on for a very long time.

Creasy has shared essay writing tips on his blog before, but he never lampooned applicants or their essays the way he does on Twitter. The admissions office also put up some successful essays for applicants so they can figure out what sort of essays are well received. There are, however, no examples of essays from students who were not admitted. We are not privy to the admissions office's decision making, but we suspect they do not post faulty essays because it is not only uncouth but also hurtful to these young impressionable applicants. Applicants put a lot of work into their applications but also sometimes open up their emotions and life stories.

It is something that deserves some careful reflection. How professional is it for a representative of this university to broadcast to the world the level of competence of Hopkins applicants?

Sadly, Creasy is not alone. An admissions officer at UVa is guilty of the same behavior. His most recent Twitter update “I really don’t like it when people call, toss me a few pieces of info, and then ask me to pick a student’s senior courses.”

 

In Creasy’s Twitter bio, he mentions nothing about writing in his personal capacity. He uses Twitter as a member of the Hopkins staff and advertises his Twitter on his blog. The Twitter account represents the University as much as his blog on the Hopkins website.

We think if any professor began posting on the internet flawed essays or student shortcomings, there would be some backlash from the student body. Unfortunately, the applicants are not in a position to stand up to Daniel Creasy. He, arguably, has a considerable input on a high school senior’s admission chances.

We could not consume all of Creasy’s Twitter feed, but if any readers find more Twitter gems, do let us know.

It would not hurt to show some discretion. Or better yet, follow the advice you give, @AdmissionDaniel!

Fact-checking Mike Bloomberg

Contrary to what Mike Bloomberg '64 may think, 

Homewood House, above, is the architectural inspiration for the Homewood campus.

The University produced a video to commemorate the renovation of Gilman Hall. It was shown at the rededication Saturday and has been posted on YouTube. In it, President Ron Daniels, Dean Kathy Newman, other faculty, students, and alumni talk about the renovated building and the importance of the humanities at Hopkins.

Mike Bloomberg '64, the Mayor of New York City, makes a special appearance at the 3 minutes 58 seconds mark. He says:

Gilman is the history of Hopkins. Its architecture set the standard for the rest of the campus and the fact that you had to go through it to get basically from one place to another really made it the focal point for the university.

Not entirely true, Mr. Mayor.

Gilman was not the architectural inspiration for the Homewood campus. Here is the real story based on research done by Hopkins Underground.

When Johns Hopkins University was first founded, it was located near Howard and West Monument Streets in Romanesque buildings. Daniel Coit Gilman expressed a desire to move the campus to a more rural location and adopt more traditional architecture.

In 1902, William Keyser (as in Keyser Quad), a University trustee, donated the 120 acre Carroll family estate which includes Homewood House. The estate is what we know today as the Homewood campus.

Two years later, President Ira Remsen, Gilman's successor, held a design competition for a new main building and campus. At least two architects submitted proposals. John Russell Pope, who designed the Baltimore Museum of Art and Jefferson Memorial decades later, proposed a classical design and campus layout. The University Trustees did not go for his.

Instead, they picked the design from Parker, Thomas, & Rice, an architecture firm with offices in Baltimore and Boston. Douglas H. Thomas a Baltimore native graduated from Hopkins with a degree in engineering.

They used Georgian Revival architecture and design, seeking to emulate the features of Homewood House which was built in 1801.  They believed Homewood House to be "the shining architectural light already occupying the ground." Today, Homewood House is known as Homewood Museum.

Gilman Hall is a reinterpretation and enlargement of Independence Hall in Philadelphia. It sought to connect the University with the American Colonial period and other Universities with Georgian architecture.

So while one of Hopkins's most famous alumni and a former chairman of the board has served his alma mater well, he is incorrect in saying Gilman is the architectural basis for the campus. It is that home to the north east of Gilman.

Details of Saturday's Gilman Rededication

A source has provided some details of the Gilman Hall rededication on Saturday night.

• Over 400 guests dined on beet salad spiced with pecans, pears, and Fourme D'Ambert; sun-dried tomato and olive-crusted sea bass on a bed of butternut squash & dried fig risotto and wilted spinach; apple Charolotte timbale and Calvados Ice Cream; brownies and rockie road squares. 
• Dean Kathy Newman officially rededicated Gilman Hall as the faculty of the humanities departments stood.
• Fireworks were launched off the bell tower after Newman rededicated the building.
• As Pam Flaherty quoted Daniel Gilman, an actor playing Gilman joined Flaherty in her recitation and took to the stage. "Gilman" was holding a lamp as he made his way to the stage. 
• Flaherty and Newman bantered with "Gilman" for a couple minutes.
• The University gave guests a piece of marble from the old Gilman with a plaque on it commemorating the rededication. 
• Past University officials were in attendance: Steve Knapp, former Provost and now President of the George Washington University; Adam Falk, former Dean of the Krieger School of Arts & Sciences and now President of Williams College; and William Brody, former President of the University and now President of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

Photo: @JHU_Brian

 Daniel Gilman addresses the crowd
at the rededication of his eponymous building.

Rededicating Gilman

Photo: @JohnsHopkins

A tent set up on Gilman Quad for the rededication of Gilman Hall on Saturday.

We have learned some information about the rededication of Gilman Hall which will take place Saturday evening starting at 4:30 p.m.

• Over 400 guests will attend, including members of the board of trustees, deans and vice-presidents from across the University, big donors, and all the faculty of the humanities departments. 
• There will be dinner and a show! Eric Sundquist PhD '78, Professor in the Humanities, will deliver the keynote lecture titled "We Dreamed a Dream: Ralph Ellison, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Barack Obama." 
• Other speakers at dinner include President Ron Daniels, Dean Kathy Newman of the School of Arts and Sciences, and Pamela Flaherty, chair of the board of trustees. 
• Before dinner, guests will have the opportunity to attend three themed cocktail parties/lectures. A professor will offer a lecture and a cocktail that reflects the theme of the lecture. For example, Franklin Knight of the history department will give a lecture on Latin America. There will be a rum tasting to go along with it. 
• Six faculty members will lead their own seminars. No cocktails unfortunately in these. 

The rededication is similar to the University's "community celebration" of Gilman Hall which was held on Aug. 30. There were also seminars lead by professors and food. Though, the expense of the community celebration could hardly be equal to the one the University has planned for Saturday. The liquor will be flowing and the food much better than cookies and cake, making us wonder why did the students, who actually use  the building daily, not get such an event?

London School of Economics to Students: Don't Carry Samurai Weapons

The London School of Economics told students not to carry weapons for personal protection, according to a photo posted on Facebook. Normally, this would not be news. However, the notice which was posted at a LSE residence hall told students not to carry "Samurai weapons/daggers/swords for your personal protection." A tipster notified us of the photo on a Facebook group for LSE students.

Did LSE think of John Pontolillo, a Hopkins student who killed an intruder with a Samurai sword at his off-campus home last year? As Hopkins students, we can only wonder...

Gilman Quad; 3:01 p.m.

Photo: Hopkins Underground

Happy Flamingo Day!

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