Great Outdoors & Federal Charges (U. of Washington Fraternity)

[exlurker]

The Spokesman Review and other news sources are reporting about federal misdemeanor charges and possible fines:

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/local....asp?ID=140641

Brief excerpts from longer story:
More than 100 people associated with Alpha Kappa Lambda camped and partied last September at . . . a beach area and boat ramp on the lower Salmon River about a mile upstream from Riggins, Idaho, according to court records and federal officials.

"They did not get a permit because we would not give them a permit because of past problems we've had with that group," said Luverne Grussing, an outdoor recreation planner with the Bureau of Land Management office in Cottonwood. "They decided to come anyway."

The fraternity faces Class A misdemeanor charges for camping without a permit and without paying the $4-per-person nightly camping fee, and an additional charge for violating a temporary ban against the house stemming from violations in 2002. If the fraternity is found guilty, it could face fines in the thousands of dollars.

"I think all everyone is after in this situation is cooperation in the future – something that sends a strong enough message to this particular group," said Jean McNeil, public information officer for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boise, which is prosecuting the case.

Grussing said the fraternity is one of three from WSU that his office has banned over concerns ranging from littering, improper fires, driving on the beach and problems related to drinking. . . .

"We've had a number of problems with the whole fraternity scene on the river," he said. "Some of the fraternities are great, and we've never had a problem with them, and some we've had numerous and recurring problems." . . .

When stories like these appear, it's good -- well, a little bit good -- to see distinctions made; in this case it's clearly reported that not all fraternities are causing problems.

[DeltAlum]

This is too bad and sure doesn't help the reputation of the Greek System overall.

[kdonline]

The link to the news story doesn't work.

Within the text you quoted, it mentioned "WSU" which is Washington State. In the title of this thread, you said it was "U. of Washington."

There is a BIG difference.

[exlurker]

Originally Posted by kdonline

The link to the news story doesn't work.

Within the text you quoted, it mentioned "WSU" which is Washington State. In the title of this thread, you said it was "U. of Washington."

There is a BIG difference.

Weird link. Here's one, and I'll see what other link(s) I can come up with:

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/local....asp?ID=140641

Apparently it IS Washington State U., although I could swear the story said U. of Washington just a few hours ago. I apologize, and I'll try to fix the title of the thread.

Here's another link, to a station KPVI story from the AP:

http://www.kpvi.com/index.cfm?page=n...s.cfm&ID=35108

Another thing that can be done is to use Google News; search on a few keywords at the same time -- like
washington federal fraternity

That should bring up links to reports from a newspaper or two and a TV station or two in the Northwest. (And I was told the World Wide Innernet Web would make life simpler. Ha.)

Added: I tried to correct the main title of the thread, but can't do so. If a mod with The Power wishes to, I'd be all for it. Otherwise I'll just have to live with the infamy.

[VandalSquirrel]

If the information given to me was correct, we are camping there on bid day. I'll make sure we pay all our fees, pick up the trash and the other issues don't apply as we have alcohol free bid days.

I read the articles that were in the local paper and my favorite part was a statement made that these students are mostly from Seattle and don't know how to act in the out of doors. I find that to be rather empty reasoning considering that the group had been there in previous years, and had already been spoken to about these problems. What's that saying, ignorance isn't an excuse for breaking the law?

[SigKapCoug]

I read about this earlier on cougster.com. It's too bad for AKL, but being honest, i'm sure it won't hurt them too badly. They are one of the largest (if not the) fraternities on campus.

I think it's interesting that it says 100 people associated with AKL - that's a little misleading, as it sounds like everyone was an AKL - but the chapter only has 70 members according to our Greek Life page. So i guess a good chunk of the people involved were dates?

[macallan25]

70 members is the largest on campus? sheesh

[SigKapCoug]

Originally Posted by macallan25

70 members is the largest on campus? sheesh

About 13% of the school is Greek, and most of the fraternities average about 40 members.
The sororities have about 70 members on average, with the largest being 110.

I always forget that size-wise, our chapters are smaller compared to other state schools.

[VandalSquirrel]

Originally Posted by macallan25

70 members is the largest on campus? sheesh

Undergraduates at WSU - 16,682
Men in Fraternities - 1,052

Undergraduates at UT - 39,000
Men in Fraternities 1,089

These are numbers from the university and greek life websites which do not include NPHC, NALFO, Multicultural and other groups.

http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/gle...KINGS_SP05.pdf
http://www.wsu.edu/hdrl/Greek/Grade_...Spring2006.htm

[macallan25]

And your point is.........

[VandalSquirrel]

Originally Posted by macallan25

And your point is.........

If there is only a difference of about 37 men between these two campuses, and UT has 22 fraternities in comparison to 23 at Wazzu; but there is a difference of 22318 students over all, I just don't understand where your comment came from. With numbers that close I am trying to figure out what was behind your comment. Until I looked I wouldn't have guessed they'd have been so similar in number.

[macallan25]

Our large, top fraternities have much more than 70 members. I would say the numers are similar because of selectiveness. Our enrollment is going to be aver 40,000 this coming year, have to be picky. I just figured a school such as Washington St. with a fairly large enrollment would have more per chapter.

[VandalSquirrel]

Originally Posted by macallan25

Our large, top fraternities have much more than 70 members. I would say the numers are similar because of selectiveness. Our enrollment is going to be aver 40,000 this coming year, have to be picky. I just figured a school such as Washington St. with a fairly large enrollment would have more per chapter.

SigKapCoug would be more of an expert on this, but Wazzu does attract more urban Seattle types which is part of the increased enrollment at the Pullman campus. There have also been some recolonizations over there as of late, and I don't think everyone is currently housed. We're nearby and have an undergraduate enrollment of 9,503 with Greek membership at 1,469. However, there are more rural/small town students at UI (though there is an urban Boise contingent), but overall we're more conservative than Wazzu. We also have all the chapters housed, and twice the amounts of fraternities than sororities. I am sure one huge difference is that a chapter here (and possibly at Wazzu) can change their reputation pretty quickly and that is highly unlikely at UT. I have only been here a couple years and who was top dog when I looked at the school isn't now, but it is moreso for the men than the women.

[macallan25]

Yeah you are right. The top houses have been so for a long while. Same with the Sororities.

[Tom Earp]

? maybe it boils down to acting like slobs then they are slobs, but the problem is, they are Greeks and it reflects on ALL GREEKS!.

They are ergo, We are!