Homecoming ’9B: crowning
doesn’t always bring out the
By Ann Cappiello
Campus Correspondent - University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
College Press Exchange
CHAPEL HILL. N.C
Homecoming is usually a time to
bring together the past anil the present
so both eras can help celebrate the
But at some universities across the
nation, the tradition of choosing a
homecoming aunt has become such
a sore subject that it dampens - either
publicly or pri\ately - the festivities
for manv
lake the University of Illinois at
Champaign-Urbana for example. It
dumped its 62-year-old competition
all together this year, reasoning that
the exercise had become too
competitive and controversial. The
student-run Illini Union Board
suggested the move.
"I guess that's just the '9os." said
Willard Broom, the university's
associate dean of students. "I just
don't think that (the board) wants to
create any kind of false hierarchy, or
recognition for one individual that
takes away from another equally
deserving person."
Controversy indeed surrounded last
year's king and queen, who. after
receiving their crowns, opened their
jackets to reveal T-shirts that read
"Racial stereotypes dehumanize."
They were protesting the school's use
of a Native American mascot. Chief
Illimwek.
Broom said the incident had
nothing to do with this year's
decision, but many school officials,
MIT fraternity
disbands
Collette Press Exchange
BOSTON. Mass. - Prosecutors
case against the Phi Gamma Delta
chapter at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology has fallen apart
because the fraternity has agreed to
disband, leaving no one to defend the
group against allegations that it played
a role in the 1997 drinking dealh of
freshman Scott Krueger.
The Suffolk County District
Attorney 's Office, which spent a year
investigating the events leading to
Krueger's death, set legal precedent
last month when it charged the
fraternity with manslaughter and
hazing. The day after the indictments
were announced, the fraternity signed
an agreement to shut down its M.I.T.
chapter.
No one showed up for an
arraignment last Thursday, leaving
prosecutors to rest their case for now.
A provision of the chapter's
dissolution allows it to apply for
university recognition again in the
future, but the moment that happens,
the fraternity can expect to be hauled
back to court, said Pamela Wechsler,
an assistant District Attorney. If
convicted of both the hazing and
manslaughter charges, the fraternity
would have faced up to $4,000 in
fines.
I wouldn't call it a failure
Wechsler said. "There may not be the
same satisfaction from a trial, but we
have really achieved the same result.
They have acknowledged their guilt
by closing down."
Wechsler also pointed to several
changes M.I.T. has made in the wake
of Krueger's death. Among them arc
new requirements that, starting in
2001, will mandate that all freshman
live in campus dormitories and that
all fraternities have live-in resident
advisers. Before his death, Krueger
had been a college student for only
five weeks.
Krueger died after drinking himsel f
into a coma in the fraternity house
during a pledge event known as
“Animal House Night." Fraternity
members left him in a room by
himself. Krueger was found amid beer
bottles and vomit. He died a few days
later with his family - including is
twin sister - surrounding him.
Despite the chapter’s dissolution
and the new university policies,
Krueger's parents say they’re
planning to file suit against the
fraternity and M.I.T.
students and alumni secretly
grumbled that they didn't want a
repeat performance
Last year's queen, Madhu Goel,
now a 22-year-old law student at the
University of Chicago, agrees with the
school's decision.
"1 think that's very strong
rationale." she said, " [’here are ways
of recognizing people that go beyond
the homecoming court. The students,
they just see a picture of (he 10
women and 10 men. and they vole.
So m their minds it might as well be a
beauty contest of something very
superficial."
Trouble also plagues the
homecoming court selection process
at the Univ ersity of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill. As students prepare to
select their 1998 queen and king -
dubbed Mr. and Ms. UNC - rumor and
innuendo are popping up on campus
and off.
Eor the last nine years. UNC
students have elected a black
homecoming queen, usually
nominated by the school's Black
Student Movement. The race for
homecoming king started only two
years ago and. so far, both winners
also have been members of the BSM.
Although no one would complain
publicly about the elections, some in
attendance on crowning day say
certain students feel the selection
process is Hawed.
Tamara Bailey, president of the
BSM. says the student discord is
obvious.
"I'm looking at the whole Kenan
Stadium, and 95 percent (vU the
audience) is not standing up in honor
Enticing names help market
courses to college students
By Ellen Warren
Knight-Ridder Newspapers
It's not that higher education is a
business (though it is). And it's not
that professors really have to market
the courses they teach (though
sometimes they do).
Perhaps it's just to liven up those
dreary page after computerized page
of course listings that abound at
colleges and universities across the
country.
For whatever reason, there are some
deliciously bizarre and entertaining
courses being offered by institutions
of higher learning.
The trend may be for college kids
to try and graduate with useful,
saleable skills - a plus in a world
where college costs continue to rise
faster than inflation and student loans
can linger into middle age.
But a meander through university
Web sites, course guides and special
mailings shows you can still find
strange and unexpected learning
experiences in college. In the
classroom.
Consider Stanford University’s
philosophy department graduate
seminar titled "Is Morality Too
Demanding?" The course syllabus
says, "Critics have argued that
prominent moral theories require
(people) ... to act in ways that are
either impossible or, if possible,
undesirable.”
It is mere coincidence that the
course is being offered at the
university where the daughters of both
Bill Clinton and Kenneth Starr are
matriculating. Another Stanford
offering, this one in the political
science department, also has useful
application to Clinton and Starr. Its
title, simply, is “Punishment.”
(On the opposite side of the
continent, at Mt. Holyoke College,
there is a course in the English
Department that has Bill Clinton’s
name all over it: “The Art of Lying.”)
Stanford is in California, so it is
fitting that another course offering is
tantalizingly titled "The American
Dream." For some, just getting
accepted at Stanford - and being able
to pay the tuition - would qualify for
an A in that course.
("The American Dream” course is
not to be confused with "The
National Campus News
1 Thursday, October 29, 1998 The Hehrend C ollet’e Heaam - Paye 5
of the people we just crow ned," said
Bailey.
In the past, racial tension over the
selection process has led to snubbing,
according to at least one black queen,
who said she found it difficult to find
volunteers for her service project
because students resented that she had
been elected.
Some students accuse the BSM of
manipulating the pool of candidates
to include only one black nominee for
the title. I he BSM’s reasoning, critics
say, is that black students will support
the black candidate, while votes lor
the other candidates will be split.
Bailev says the reasons behind the
BSM's success are obvious.
"There's a very, very low' turnout
lor voting and maybe we pist do a
better job ol getting our people to
vote," Bailey said. "If UNC is tired
ot seeing the black candidate win, stop
complaining. Vote. If (the other
organizations) pull together their
members, anything is possible."
Numbers play a large role in
determining who is elected queen.
University records indicate that out of
a student body of more than 20.0(H),
only about 2.000 students cast ballots
for the homecoming race. An average
of six candidates compete for a
majority of that pie, and with a
membership of around 500, BSM
members - if they all vote are able
to have a large say in the election
results.
"If there's a strong backing for one
particular candidate, that candidate
will be selected as homecoming
queen," said homecoming co-director
T. Pruitt, "if that organization has a
American Suburb." which is among
the course listings at Yale.)
One more course at Stanford, this
one in the education department, is
titled "Mind, Body, And Spirit:
Spiritual Health Through The Life-
Span."
The description says this course is
an "introduction to elementary
spiritual practices," which would
seem to translate into Prayer 101 -
which probably has a number of
adherents on the night before finals.
At Southwest Texas State
University in San Marcos. Humanities
5301 is tucked into the long,
computerized list of more routinely
titled courses. The name of this
graduate seminar is "Quest for Order
& Happiness.”
Regrettably, the man who teaches
it, Kenneth Grasso, said that you can
ace the course without ever actually
achieving either order or happiness in
your life.
“It’s sort of a Great Books thing,”
Grasso said. “Most people come
through college with an education that
is spotty. Somebody can get a B.A.
and think that Plato is a Disney
character. This course gives them a
chance to get caught up and read some
of the Great Books.
“This semester we're doing The
Republic,’ selections from the Old
Testament, Dante's 'lnferno,' a little
bit of Ovid, Machiavelli's 'The
Prince' ...
“You try to come up with an
interesting title to get people to take
(the courses) ... You need people in
the classroom. The sexy title is a way
of drawing in students.”
Speaking of sex, at the usually staid
University of Chicago, professor
Wendy Donigcr said she “used to
teach a course on the Kama Sutra.
Which had a lab. It was highly
subscribed. I taught it without a lab
and it wasn’t nearly as successful."
Despite the intriguing title, the
Kama Sutra was a course on South
Asian texts in the school’s department
of South Asian Languages and
Civilizations.
This fall, Doniger is teaching "The
Mythology of the Bedtrick” in the
master of liberal arts program.
Very liberal, one might say.
But in fact, Doniger explained that
“the bedtrick” is a time-honored
kings
best
and queens
in students
device in literature, Shakespeare's
"All's Well that Ends Well,” for
example. It refers to "having sex with
someone under the impression" of
having sex with someone else.
In this course, students will read the
Hebrew Bible, Shakespeare, a 9th
Century Japanese novel and other
texts.
If that sounds too highbrow,
notwithstanding the sex involved in
the readings, the University of
Missouri offers "Introduction to
Leisure Studies.” Many parents of
teen-agers and young adults would
argue that their offspring already have
the equivalent of a Ph.D in this
subject.
But hold on. According to the
course summary, Mizzou students
will be examining “the history of
recreation and the leisure movement”
(there's a movement?) and “the
theories and philosophies of play ...”
At Southwest Texas, haul yourself
off the couch and get not only a
bachelor’s degree but also a master's
in Leisure, apparently a growth field
as Baby Boomers move into
retirement.
Also in the leisure vein, Scottsdale
Community College in Arizona offers
courses in gambling and a full
associate's degree in the subject -
more demurely titled "Hospitality/
Gaming Management."
Promising “Hands on practice with
casino equipment,” there is GAM
210, “Techniques of Dealing -
Advanced Poker.”
“Training includes ... Seven-Card
Stud ... Hi-Lo Split and tournament
dealing,” according to the course
description.
GAM 225 is a “Survey of Games,”
including blackjack, poker, roulette,
craps and baccarat, that incorporates
“methods and detection of cheating.”
Prerequisites? None.
There also are no prerequisites for
what has to be a dream course:
"International Casinos & Race
Tracks.”
This elective - yes, you do get actual
college credit for this - offers “guided
field trips” to gambling centers
around the world.
Other electives in the gambling
degree program include courses in
slot machines, bingo and Keno.
strong backing and all vote ora large
percentage comes out, it’s obvious
that person will win."
Despite some complaints from
students. Sue Kitchen, vice chancellor
of student affairs, says the contest is
run fairly.
"I think the process is clearly in the
hands of students, and that's where it
should be," said Kitchen, who served
as a homecoming queen judge last
year in response to concerns about the
selection process.
"I had heard concerns (about)
observations that is seemed that the
queen who was selected was always
African American, but I would point
out that all sorts of people are selected
who arc Caucasian, and it’s not a
problem," Kitchen said.
This year, the Carolina Athletic
Association is trying to involve
everyone in homecoming by
sponsoring several multi-cultural
events designed to introduce the entire
campus to the different communities
represented within the student body.
Students and administrators are
hopeful for a unified showing of
school spirit.
"I think it's ridiculous that people
get upset because there’s been a black
homecoming queen for the last nine
years," said Reyna Walters, who last
year became the first black woman
elected to be student body president.
"I mean, think about how many years
there wasn’t a black homecoming
queen. Of all the things people could
get upset about, it’s so petty. Out of
all the things to get upset about, it’s
so stupid."
Two dozen monkeys
break out of research
center, returned home
College Press Exchange
NEW ORLEANS, La. (CPX) -
Life was even livelier than a barrel
of monkeys when two dozen
primates broke out of a Tulane
University research center and ran
for some nearby woods, chased by
workers trying to recover them.
By Ttiesday morning, all but
three of the rhesus monkeys had
been returned to the covered
outdoor corral where they live at
the Ttilane University Regional
Primate Center. Workers captured
them by baiting cages with fruit.
The three hold-outs, apparently
tired of playing in the woods
without their friends, were actually
trying to get back into the corral
Syracuse students sexually
assaulted while sleeping
By Joy Davia
College Press Exchange, 1998
SYRACUSE, N.Y. Syracuse
Police on Saturday charged a
Syracuse University Food Services
employee with sexually assaulting
female students while they slept in
their rooms.
Cedric Holmes, 27, of 116 Gorland
Ave., used his employee I.D. card
early Saturday morning to access the
Brewster/Boland complex through the
Brockway Dining Center loading
dock, SU spokesperson Kevin
Morrow said.
“He climbed into bed with several
young women and reportedly
molested some young women," SU
spokesman Kevin Morrow said "He
had a knowledge of the residence hall
and knew that some young women left
their doors unlocked." Holmes is
charged with nine counts of second
degree burglary, four counts of first
degree sexual abuse and five counts
of first-degree attempted sexual
abuse, Syracuse Police Sgt. Sam
Galvagno said.
Holmes is currently in police
custody, Galvagno said. ‘The intruder
has a past of entering the dorm.
specifically unlocked doors,"
Galvagno said. Holmes allegedly
entered the complex at about 5 a.m.
with the intention of locating a female
friend, Morrow said. His attempts to
locate the friend were unsuccessful
and Holmes proceeded to walk
throughout Boland Hall breaking into
unlocked dorm rooms, Morrow said.
Holmes was intoxicated at the time
of his alleged entries, Morrow added.
Karen Chesley, an undecided
freshman in the S.I. Newhouse School
of Public Communications and The
College of Arts and Sciences, said
Holmes broke into her room and
attempted to get into her bed." I woke
up when I felt someone starting to get
on my bed,” said Chesley, a Daily
Orange contributing writer. “I looked
up and saw someone looming over
me.” Chesley said she “ran to turn on
the lights,” and asked the man why
he was in her room. The man said,
“sorry, wrong room." and ran out, she
said.
“I was stunned and at first I thought
it was a dream,” she said. Residents
who were confronted by Holmes
contacted Public Safety between 5:30
and 7:30 a.m., Morrow said.
Following Public Safety's arrival, the
Brewster/Boland complex was closed
and a room-by-room search was
conducted, he said.
Public Safety’s search of the
complex was negative, Morrow said.
Police later spotted Holmes in a
parking lot east of the Carrier Dome
and approached him because he
matched the suspect’s description,
Morrow said. Three students were
asked by police to identify Holmes
but they did not make a positive
identification and Holmes was
released, Morrow said,
At 10 a.m. Saturday, Holmes called
to work to say he would not be in.
heightening police suspicions and
prompting them to bring him to police
headquarters for questioning, Morrow
said. At police headquarters, Holmes
admitted that he entered the residence
by the end of the day. All were safely
inside the corral on Wednesday.
The monkeys escaped by
loosening the corral gate just
enough to create a space they could
wiggle through. Sunday’s escapade
was the first time the animals had
broken out in such a large group, a
research center official said. Once
out, the monkeys stuck together, for
the most part remaining out of sight.
The center holds about 4,500
monkeys, which it uses to research
infectious diseases. The monkeys in
the outdoor corral are used for
breeding and are not disease
carriers, center officials said. The
primates also aren’t dangerous
unless cornered, they added.
hulls Saturday and sexually assaulted
residents.
Chesley said it took two calls to
Public Safety before an of ficer made it
to her room She made calls at 5:37 a.m.
and 30 minutes later, after they did not
respond. Public Safety was surprised
about Chesley\s concerns when she
inquired about their whereabouts, she
said.
"She said, 'oh you wanted to talk to
someone .' We just sent someone to look
around your floor,"' Chesley said. Ten
minutes after her second call, a Public
Safety officer visited her room and
asked "did he touch you m any sexual
way.' Chesley said. After explaining
her situation, the officer told her that
this is a common occurrence. Chesley
added. "I hey said, 'do not worry ihis
happens all Ihe lime. He was probably
just drunk and could not find fnc
mom."' she said.
Students living in the Brewster/
Boland complex said they felt violated
by Holmes' alleged intrusion. "It
makes me question the seeuriiy in.t
safety of our dorm," said Zakir Baig, a
freshman speech communications
major and Boland resident.
Jessica Washburn, a freshman
psychology major and fellow resident,
agreed. "I know a lot of people feel
vulnerable and unsafe since this
happened, she said. "We feel unsafe
just walking to the bathroom or
sleeping. This is where we live and it
is era/y that a stranger can just walk
up in to one of our rooms."
Dana Sacchetti, president ot the
Student Government Association, said
100 to 150 students attended an open
forum conducted Sunday night m the
Brewster/Boland complex. Students
expressed a variety of security
concerns, including Public Safety's
“lackluster" response to their calls
Monday morning, he said. "Students
were very upset at Public Safety's
response," Sacchetti said “Students
still have a lot ot concerns that were
not answered"
Students were also concerned that
SU did not check Holmes' criminal
record prior It) his hiring especially
because he has been previously caught
entering buildings illegally, Sacchetti
said. "This is really troubling," he said.
"With a background check. 1 think this
person would not have been hired."
Background checks are a necessity
because university employees have
access to various buildings and
residence halls, Sacchetti said "It is
frightening to me and to other students
as well." he said.
Public; Salety ollicials, Brewster/
Boland complex staff, maintenance
personnel and Brockway
representatives attended the forum.
Chesley said. Public Safety acted
defensively when she asked about their
response time, she said. "He said he
could not imagine that it took them that
long. Chesley said. "He said their
response time is excellent." Public
Safety told her that in "a situation like
this, a few minutes can take an hour."
Chesley said.
The Public Safety officer in
attendance said Public Safety has a
limited amount of officers and
suggested that students petition the
university if they feel that more officers
are needed, Chesley said.