MTV, local frat, zoo = prosecution
 

BUFFALO ZOO
Fraternity prank may lead to charges
By TOM BUCKHAM
News Staff Reporter
3/27/2003

The Buffalo Zoo will prosecute three University at Buffalo students who apparently climbed into the facility after hours last fall in a prank videotaped for "Fraternity Life," an MTV reality series.
Zoo President Donna M. Fernandes said Wednesday she will ask the Erie County district attorney's office today to pursue charges against Tim Kukulka, Earl Altheide and Steve Paul.

In an episode of "Fraternity Life" scheduled for broadcast Wednesday night, the Sigma Chi Omega pledges were shown scaling a wall near a zoo entrance and walking around between the hyena and roan antelope exhibit near the center of the zoo, said Fernandes, who viewed a copy of the tape after UB alerted the zoo to the incident.

The students talked briefly about stealing an animal as a mascot for the fraternity house before one of them said, "This is dumb," and the three climbed back over the wall, "got in Land Rovers supplied by the MTV producers and drove off," Fernandes said.

It's uncertain whether the camera crew got into the zoo with the students, although the activity in the segment apparently was shot from outside, she said.

Entering a zoo after hours "is not only a danger to the animals, but sometimes people get injured or killed," Fernandes said.

In 1985, police were forced to shoot two Buffalo Zoo polar bears to death after an intruder climbed into their enclosure one night and was mauled.

And in 1989, a Buffalo Zoo zebu - a pygmy Brahma bull - was put to death after being severely beaten at night by an unknown assailant.

The decision to prosecute the UB students "was not made lightly," Fernandes said. "We are the stewards of this animal collection for the entire community. We will take any and all steps necessary to ensure the safety of our animals."

MTV has not responded to the zoo's complaints about the incident, she said.

The zoo will consider bolstering its nighttime security, which includes officers, maintenance workers and strategically placed cameras, Fernandes added.

Kukulka, Altheide and Paul were subpoenaed March 18 to appear before the Student-Wide Judiciary, according to the Spectrum, UB's student newspaper.

Altheide told the paper that the incident had nothing to do with pledging and that the three brothers sneaked out of the house in the hopes of stealing a chicken from the zoo to keep as a pet.

The three left after realizing they could not get into any of the cages, Paul told the Spectrum.

"It's not like we were harming the animals or anything," he said. "We were just, like, patrolling the zoo."

Sigma Chi Omega already is in trouble with UB over earlier scenes from the MTV series. The chapter was suspended earlier this month after university officials decided some activities caught on film might be hazing.

someone needs to tell these guys that they dont have chickens at zoos...you find those on a farm

This may turn out to be the last season of fraternity life:D

Actually, the Philly Zoo had chickens, ducks and cows when I visited there. If you've lived your entire life in the inner city, a cow is as exotic as a lion or tiger.

I don't know why they didn't just drive out of the city limits and go cow tipping. :D

Yeah, the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago has Farm-in-the-Zoo. Many Chicago school kids get their first (and sometimes only) look at cows, chickens, etc.. I'd guess most city zoos have something like this.

But back to the topic at hand, let's hope it the last season of Fraternity Life!

And possibly the beginning of an anti-greek sentiment bigger than we've ever seen.

As well as the last semester for Sigma Chi Omega....

Dumbasses! :rolleyes:

Good. I've only seen one episode, but in that one they catered to many bad stereotypes. This is not the type of image the Greek community needs, especially not on national television, especially especially not when the target audience includes college-aged kids.

Even though they are funnier to watch than the DZO girls, I agree with jonsagara..

I don’t know whether to find it convenient or sad that I know where to buy a live chicken. As for the Houston zoo the only domesticated farm animals that our on display is at the petting zoo area. No cows or anything just sheep and goats.

they deserve to be prosecuted

who would be so dumb as to break and enter a private area while being filmed by a national television station.

if mtv went in with them they should be prosecuted as well but it doesn't look like they did

what if they did go in, but edited that part out? :p da-da-dum!!! and the plot thickens :p

MTV is smarter than any chapter dumb enough to allow itselt to be documented by them.

I hope these shows die a quick death.

Farm and Tractor Supply?

Or the Local Feed store for sure. Barkleys' Home and Feed in Boerne's a good place to start :)

Kitso
KS 361

I agree it was a stupid thing to do, but I was completely entertained- I couldn't have stopped watching if I had tried. My personal favorite part:
Tim: "So what animal should we try to steal?"
Steven: "A seal"

Those guys had to have been high, that's all I have to say.

Not to mention

gold spray painted chicken = dead chicken

dumbasses!:rolleyes:

My personal favorite was the fact that MTV put captions at the bottom of the screen during the episode stating the exact fine or punishment for each thing the guys did or talked about doing. When they were climbing over the fence at the farm, it said there was a $1000 fine for trespassing on a farm, ect...

i am so happy to see this article!! as i was watching last night, all i could think was, i hope these kids get busted!!!

i think the unfortunate part is that we all know they got in trouble for this, but the large majority of people watching these shows will NEVER even imagine that they got in trouble. it would be nice if mtv did a big follow up that showed they got in trouble...lol, but you know they won't.

oh, and my favorite part was when earl was complaining about the dog being in the house, but he seemed to be ok with stealing a seal...lol.

Same here, Kevlar. And I'm a carpetbagger! :D

Bellaire FFA is having their auction this weekend.

Someone tell the Buffalo Buttheads they can pick up all kinds of "pets" cheap, for a road trip. ;)

That sound you heard was a shot going into the foot of Greek life in a good chunk of the northeast.

Adrienne (PNAM-2003)

No no...Earl wanted a baby elephant but Steve was firm and said no. :)

I was cracking up through the entire episode. How stoned is Earl that he could not remember the dog from less than a week earlier?

I want more footage of Paul!!!!! Why couldn't he have been the one in the paper towel toga!?! :D (And yup, that was yet another example of hazing the pledges.)

NO KIDDING....Paul is my personal favorite and future husband....well ok maybe not, but he sure is yummy. :)

stupid...stupider...stupidest
 

boys, boys, boys
what were you thinking???
get a fish. call it sparky.
good god, is good sense missing?

When I saw that part about the zoo, it WAS funny, but it does endanger the animals.

I worked at our local zoo for a year, two frat guys climbed the wall and freaked the Zebras out so bad that they ran toward the wall at top speed and all of them BROKE their necks. Every single one of them. Imagine coming in the morning to 4 dead Zebras with their necks at a wierd angle. I still get upset about it.

I appreciate a good prank like the best of them, but having been in the situation, I support the zoo for filing charges. Someone else will try it if they don't:(


QTE

That's horrible...did they prosecute?

no, they never found out who it was, they had footage but not enough proof, it was a mess and everyone was crying. If you freak Zebras out, they will run towards something to escape the situation, not knowing they are going to kill themselves.:(

Here is what Tim said about the incident on the SL/FL board



Tim/Earl/Steve Bail Fund: Please send money to:
I think it is bull---- that they are going to charge us after what the shows have done for Buffalo. But, you can still send money to my house or to the zoo.

Tim doesn't strike me as the "best and brightest" of that crew.

Rectal orifice comes to mind......... :rolleyes:

Adrienne (PNAM-2003)

I doubt MTV will be prosecuted as well. Journalists who have documented illegal activity are usually protected. Granted, it would be a stretch to call this show "journalism," but I would imagine that would be there defense.

That said, a seal? What the hell were they going to do with a seal?

And, "It's bullshit that they are going to prosecute, since the show has done so much for the city." What, exactly, has this show done for the city of Buffalo? When I think of Buffalo, I still think of wings and snow. I don't think a cable TV show is going to change that. I doubt people are going to be lining up for bus tours of the city, like they do for the Sopranos. Somehow, I just don't think people care which building Tim from SXO got wasted in.

It's official...
 

It's official - the Buffalo Zoo has announced they are pressing charges against Earl, Steve & Tim.

Re: stupid...stupider...stupidest
 

mmcat, may I just say this was very poetic of you? Your post borders on Haiku. :)

Re: Re: stupid...stupider...stupidest
 

hahaha...I was thinking the same thing!

i think thats stupid of the zoo. they never knew it happened in the first place. if they hadnt seen it on tape, they never would have known. i think its a dumb kneejerk reaction on their part. yes, the boys shouldnt have tresspassed in the first place, but i think its a little late and a little petty to press charges when NOTHING happened!

The only problem I have with this is that you said "Boys". I am sorry but these are grown men and their little prank could have had serious repercutions. There comes a time when we all have to grow up and take responsiblity for our actions. Also I think the zoo HAS to press charges because if they don't I can see other people attempting to do this and the results could be deadly not just for the animals but for the people as well. I think the zoo feels like they have to send a message.

okay.. I'm somewhat scared to post this... but yes. It would be ok. I am a firm believe in 'what I don't know won't hurt me.' I would rather that something happen behind my back than to my face any day if that specific thing is either going to hurt my feelings or my opinon of someone.


I feel bad for the boys of SXO. I think that if MTV wasn't there then this never would have happened to them. I think they still would have done it, but there would have been no cameras there to tell on them!

No if a person broke into my house and TAPED it to be seen on national television, they no it wouldn't be ok not only because they broke in, but it shows that they aren't that bright:rolleyes:

Just like Jackass, dumb azz kids will follow and try to take a animal if they sit back and do nothing. And then the next time, it might not be so peaceful, someone could get hurt.


QTE

EXACTLY!! unfortunately ever stupid kid in the country is going to think that he/she could jump over a fence at the zoo and steal a seal or a baby elephant. unfortuntely, there are a lot of people who have been hit by the dumb ass stick!

actually, this isn't kneejerk. these boys (and i am sorry, but grown men wouldn't jump over a fence to steal animals from a zoo) did tresspass and it was caught on tape. there is no denying what the did...and they broadcast it on national television. we also don't know that the zoo never knew about it. perhaps they had security cameras that caught it, but it wasn't clear enough. we also are not sure that nothing happened. perhaps animals were harmed (like deltaqte had explained). let's not forget the creative editing. we saw them in the zoo for a minute. the could have been there much longer.

let's also not forget that this happens to people regularly. did you ever speed through the fast lane (or ezpass)? you could be sent a ticket in the mail!!! there doesn't need to be a police officer checking your speed. they caught it on tape! and if you have driven through them without having a fast lane pass, you will be sent a ticket in the mail. people review the tapes, see you committed a crime and send you your punishment.

hurray for the zoo for pressing charges!

How true, how true. Kudos to the Buffalo Zoo for pressing charges.

I went to UB for law school because they have one of the finest public sector programs in the country. THANK YOU, boys of Fraternity Life, for singlehandedly managing to lower the value of my degree and making a mockery of a fine institution and a good city. :rolleyes:

While what they did was stupid. I think that the University and the city is making certain that they are not made a mockery of. I don't think anyone looks down on UB or Buffalo for what a group of 'boys' did. They have been suspended from campus and some men have been arrested, I think that UB is doing a fine job of showing that this type of behavior is not acceptable.

haha

Now there is something that I would LOVE to see them try.

Aside from making a mockery of U of B, and letting little kids think it's ok to break into the zoo, every kid is also gonna think that this is what fraternity life is about!

Thank you MTV for further exploiting our apathetic generation and aiding in the anti-greek sentiment that's now more apparent than ever, that we're having a harder time trying to fight.