PHP code inside of an EZ page

very curious, i was trying to run some PHP inside of an EZ page and it is being completely ignored.
does anyone know why,

here's an excerpt. to troubleshoot i kept removing things until all that was left was an echo statement.
and also, just to troubleshoot, it is followed by some JS which runs just fine

<h2>Request Information</h2>
<p>If you would prefer that we contact you, please complete the relevant fields on the form below and click the
submit button. A Starlight.com representative will contact you promptly.
</p>
<?php  

echo 'Hello! ';
?>
<script type="text/javascript">alert('hello')</script>


</div>

EZ-Pages hold only HTML (and by extension javascript) code. You can't execute PHP in ez-page content without a method that opens a possible window to hackers. This is due to the fact that ez-pages are stored in the database as data, not in files as executable code. The short discussion here:

http://www.zen-cart.com/showthread.php?187934-Need-PHP-in-an-EZpage-What-override-file-can-I-put-it-in-and-where&highlight=PHP+in+ez-pages

points to the very long discussion and a good alternative, creating a define page for your PHP content.

thanks for the info,