Ugly hazing in the news

[hoosier]

The campus investigates and suspends Psi Chi Omega after a pledge is hospitalized.

12:25 AM PST on Friday, February 20, 2004

By MARISA AGHA / The Press-Enterprise
UC Riverside police have determined that a 20-year-old man hospitalized with liver injuries in November was a victim of hazing.
The fraternity involved, Psi Chi Omega, has been suspended from campus temporarily, said Mike Lane, UCR assistant police chief. A judicial affairs investigation is still pending. A student conduct board still could expel the group from campus, UCR officials said.
"We are not going to excuse conduct that is deplorable," Lane said Thursday.
The finding comes after interviews with the victim and fraternity members, he said.
Dann Ryan Banaag was pledging Psi Chi Omega Nov. 5 when he sustained liver injuries during some kind of initiation activity, Lane said. Campus police said they could not release details about the activity, but it did not appear to involve alcohol, Lane said.
The incident happened about a mile from campus in Hunter Park, Lane said.
Banaag, who was hospitalized for eight days at Loma Linda University Medical Center after the incident, did not return phone calls Thursday.
UCR would not release names of the students involved in the hazing.
The fraternity has been taken off the campus registry of student organizations. The group cannot meet or recruit members, officials said.
UCR police were working with the Riverside County district attorney's office, but Banaag decided not to pursue criminal charges against the fraternity, Lane said.
"That doesn't relieve the organization or the students involved from student conduct," Lane said.
UCR is considering disciplinary action against the fraternity, but not individual students, officials said. A student conduct board hearing date was not available.
Lane described the hazing incident as one of the most serious in recent years, but he added that he believes the problem still goes unreported.
Campus police made their finding based on state code, which defines hazing as a group activity that places an individual in a situation that causes physical harm.
UCR senior Michael Walker, 27, said that he was not surprised to hear of the hazing charges.
"You're never going get rid of hazing," said Walker, an economics major. "The more underground it gets, the more dangerous it is."

[hoosier]

Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity suspended

February 21, 2004
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LAFAYETTE — A joint investigation of hazing allegations has resulted in an indefinite suspension of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity chapter at UL Lafayette.
The university and the Louisiana Alpha Chapter of SAE fraternity collaborated to complete the investigation, which resulted from the violation of hazing policies put forth by both UL Lafayette and SAE’s national office.
According to a news release, the UL Lafayette SAE chapter only will be reinstated after a membership review is completed by an SAE Alumni Review Commission, the university and the chapter’s national office.
“All parties must conclude that each member selected to remain in the chapter is committed, in writing, to adhering to the standards and expectations of the university and Sigma Alpha Epsilon,” the release stated.
As a result of the suspension, the local SAE fraternity house also will be closed. The UL Lafayette housing department is offering short-term or long-term housing to any student who has been displaced because of the suspension.
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[hoosier]

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Romance and obstacles

Another autobiographical book, this one fictionalized, is Lemon Flavored Cigarettes by Barberton writer J L Peters. The plot is set up when a young reporter snares an interview with business mogul Danny Dowd and comes away with a story of young love.

Danny, diagnosed with diabetes in childhood, grows from all-American boy to long-haired slacker '70s college student. He meets and falls for Annie Richards, and their relationship is the heart of the book. Danny's grades improve and he is prepared to spend the rest of his life with Annie.

He's not prepared, though, for the dirty tricks Annie's sorority uses to keep them apart. She goes through a hazing that includes mental and physical punishment, and a promiscuous ``Zeta'' sister is assigned to seduce and betray Danny.

By the end of the book, the reader will have forgotten the premise of the interview and wonder why these bright people allow themselves to be so manipulated. Peters himself has diabetes, so his account of Danny's symptoms have the ring of authenticity. Still, one questions that the amount of beer he consumes doesn't have a more toxic effect. (He shouldn't be smoking, either.)

Lemon Flavored Cigarettes (238 pages, softcover) costs $15.50 from Washington House (www.edenplaza.com).

[hoosier]

Fraternity Suspended For Hazing Incident

POSTED: 9:48 am CST February 23, 2004

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- A University of Arkansas fraternity chapter has been suspended from campus for four years after a 2003 hazing allegation that is now the basis for a lawsuit.


Members of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity's Fayetteville campus chapter are accused of beating a pledge so badly he had to be hospitalized for two broken ribs and a ruptured kidney.

Former Arkansas track athlete Kyle Cleveland of Conway filed the lawsuit Feb. 10 in Washington County Circuit Court, exactly one year after he said the hazing occurred.


Cleveland is suing the fraternity, the university and members of the Arkansas board of trustees.

Cleveland, who now runs track at Alabama, accuses the university of failing to supervise the chapter and to ensure a safe environment for students.

Cleveland's lawsuit contends that the fraternity's national organization knew about hazing and physically abusing pledges.

According to the lawsuit, the former Little Rock Fair athlete, seeks a jury trial and compensatory and punitive damages for medical bills, pain and suffering and mental anguish.

[hoosier]

Watercooler Stories


By Alex Cukan
United Press International

CARRYING CIGARETTES MAY BE HAZING

Requiring pledging sorority sisters to carry cigarettes at all times just in case a sister might want one could be considered hazing.

About 200 sorority sisters at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, in Indiana, Pa., learned more about what is considered hazing -- cigarette carrying can be a form of servitude -- at a special workshop, the college's newspaper The Penn reports.

Delta Zeta's new member, Jenna Berggren, says she was unaware hazing encompasses regular sorority events, such as scavenger hunts.

Panhellenic adviser Laura Williams, a graduate student, explained how a former roommate had to chug 30 beers as part of a sorority initiation scavenger hunt.

[hoosier]

MARS HILL - Mars Hill College has accepted the resignation of a longtime professor after he challenged students to disrobe in exchange for an A in his sociology class and one of them took him up on the offer.

College President Dan Lunsford said the professor didn't expect the student would actually take off his clothes during the class last Thursday evening. The instructor's offer was intended to illustrate cultural differences and that public nudity is unacceptable in American society, he said.

"He did not expect it to happen," Lunsford said. "The professor realized that this had gone much beyond what he ever anticipated, and he was shocked and dismayed."

Lunsford said he would not release the name of the professor or student because of privacy concerns. The student will not be punished, he said.

The incident has been the talk of the campus at this Madison County school affiliated with the Baptist Church. Senior Kat Marotta said it disturbed her.

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[hoosier]

Student accused of blackface use
By Sam Edelstein
Published: Tuesday, February 17, 2004
An alleged blackface incident took place over the weekend, but those involved say it could all be a misunderstanding.

Just after midnight on Saturday morning, the Department of Public Safety received a report that a student was wandering around Watson Residence Hall with his face painted a dark color, according to a Public Safety report.

The student is a new brother of Delta Tau Delta, said president of Delt Matt Sheaffer, a junior computer science and management major.

"We were unable to find him at first," said Marlene Hall, director of Public Safety. She said that DPS officers received a second report and were then able to located the student and speak to him.

The student told officers that the face paint was camouflage - not blackface - and that he was actually on his way to rob a house, Hall said.

"As far as we know, this was all a misunderstanding," Sheaffer said. "We are working with the university and (the Office of Greek Life and Experiential Learning)."

Even though the student claimed that he was going to attempt a burglary instead of dressing in blackface, DPS officers will continue to research both scenarios, Hall said.

"We are still looking at it, investigating it and working with other departments on campus," Hall said. "So it could be looking at burglary, it could be other things as well that we would be looking at."

Hall said that because Monday was Presidents' Day and the event occurred over the weekend, DPS officers had not spoken with the necessary people about different types of legal possibilities.

As for the student's explanation about the robbery, there was an anonymous tip called in earlier that day to a DPS hot line which confirmed there was a planned burglary, according to a Public Safety report.

Hall said that the hot line is only normally checked during business hours, but because the call was placed on Friday, the message was not received until after the student was stopped by Public Safety officers.

She said the house, which was reportedly planned to be burglarized, was vandalized.

"The appropriate measures are being taken right now," Sheaffer said. "We are working with the university to figure out an appropriate punishment."

Hall said that the student was cooperative with DPS, and his explanation for the incident would be investigated more closely.

Sheaffer said that a meeting with university officials is planned for this morning.

[Tom Earp]

hoosier, once again you find the idiotcy of Greek Life, but also of idiotcy of life in general!


How do I put this nicely, well I guess I cannot!

"HOW FUCKING STUPID DO PEOPLE HAVE TO BE TO JEPORDIZE THEMSLEVES AND THEIR GREEK ORGANIZATIONS?"