Mets Fanatics Stage Widener Rally; Cubbies and Fringe Boosters Agitate

Twenty activists took to the steps of Widener Library yesterday afternoon to gain support for the latest campus cause--the New York Mets.

Amid chants of "Ho, ho, hey, hey, Derek Bok stay out of Shea" and "Ho, ho, hey, hey, Gooden's got the lowest ERA," the protesters demanded campus-wide support for what they claim will be the next "Miracle Mets" season.

While the activists--variously dressed in suits and t-shirts, and all wearing Mets pins and caps--listed their demands and passed around Mets' propaganda, a crowd of several dozen Yard passers-by gathered to watch the spectacle.

But the protest was not without its opponents. One baseball enthusiast dressed in Chicago Cubs garb, who caried a sign reading, "Derek Bok get out of Shea; Cubs number one," briefly clashed with the Mets supporters.

Meanwhile, other fringe anti-Mets groups, which seemed to spring up spontaneously, launched into chants of, "Derek Bok, get the word, the Mets are gonna finish third."

Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III, who gave authorization for the rally, watched from a distance. "I gave approval not knowing who the Mets were," Epps said. "I thought there was only one baseball team in New York--the Yankees."

Epps added that he found the demonstration "refreshing."

Sophomore Mitch Berman won the right to stage a rally for the cause of his choice at a Dunster House "Dutch Auction" in December. Berman chose to rally behind his favorite cause--the Mets.

Berman emphasized yesterday that the rally was planned long before divestment activists set up a shantytown in the Old Yard, and was not in any way meant to mock the divestment movement.

After 10 minutes of chanting and cheering, ranting and raving, the activists took their cause to the streets, marching down Mass Ave. waving their signs and continuing their pro-Mets slogans.