Florida A&M band again
faces hazing
By Jan Pudlow
Knight-Ridder Newspapers
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The
Florida A&M University Marching
1(X) is known around the world as a
great eollege marching hand, strutting
dazzling high-stepping, body-twisting
mines from Washington. DC’., to
Pans.
To FAMU officials, it's also known
for something else: heating its
freshman members as part of a hazing
ritual that goes back four deeades.
And this week, FAMU officials
acknowledged - once again - that
they've opened an investigation
following new charges that students
were punched, puddled and struck by
shoes throw n by some members of the
band.
FAMU President Frederick
Humphries said Provost James
Ammons, College of Arts & Sciences
Dean Arthur Washington and
Marching 100 Director Julian. White
are handling the current hazing
investigation against eight band
members.
I can tell you (his: We don't permit
hazing, in fraternities or in the
Marching 100. That will definitely be
dealt with by the university. We want
it to stop." Humphries said sternly.
'We have had thisoccurabout three
or four years ago. 1 just can't have
that. I hey need to stop it. or it will be
a serious problem
White said Monday that eight
students have been suspended
indefinitely from the band "reeardmu
improper meetings and violations."
He declined to prov ulc turther details
or definitelv characterize their
Police Blotter: A Look At Campus Crime Briefs
Bv Peter Levine
Campus Correspondent - University
of Wisconsin
College Press Exchange
TUSCON, Ariz. (CPX) - A high
speed bicycle chase at the University
of Arizona resulted in the arrest of one
student who, according to police, said
he likes running red lights on his bike.
That kind of traffic no-no is exactly
how 22-year-old Evan Spealman got
the attention of a police officer
patrolling campus on a bicycle.
According to police reports cited by
the Daily Wildcat, Spealman blew
through a red light on his way to class
on Nov. 5.
According to reports, the officer
ordered Spealman to stop twice, but
Spealman simply looked back at him
and kept right on peddling - swerving
through traffic until the officer
eventually caught up with him outside
of the university'seheniisiry building.
The officer reported that Spealman,
who was ticketed and released,
eventually admitted that he'd done
wrong
BOULDER, Colo. (CPX) - Police
at the University of Colorado at
Boulder arrested an 18-year-old
student who intentionally broke a
sprinkler, causing extensive flood
damage to a residence hall.
The Nov. 5 incident resulted in
soaked carpets and more than $3,000
in damage. University officials are
asking students who lost books,
computers and other personal effects
to file additional damage claims.
Police charged with student with
Free Classifieds
behavior as hazing until he gets to the
bottom of it.
But one concerned mother, who
wrote a letter on Oct. 20 to White and
other high-ranking FAMU officials,
says her child has been beaten
repeatedly. Sometimes, she said in an
interview with the Democrat, the
beatings were administered by
students who held keys in their fists,
with the points of the keys protruding
between their fingers.
"We have been appalled to discover
that it takes more than hard work to
be part of the Marching 100. Our sons
and daughters have been subjected to
illegal abuse and other hardships
because of their membership in the
band," said the letter, signed only
"Angry Marching 100 Parents.”
Fearing her child would suffer
further retaliation for telling, she did
not want her name to be published,
and attempts to persuade her child to
be interviewed were unsuccessful.
She said she is joined by three other
concerned parents, one the mother of
a female band member who said she
was hit so hard with a paddle that she
was knocked to the ground.
The letter writer stressed that she
is proud that her child is in the
Marching 100 and she watches their
half-time shows in awe.
It's wrong for the guys to be
beaten. But something goes against
my soul for guy s to hit women." the
mother said. "As a parent. I'll do
any thing 1 can to disrupt a system like
that."
William P. Foster, who retired in
July after 52 years of leading the
Marching 100, said w ith a sad voice
on Wednesday that hazing has
felons criminal mischief
CONWAY. Ark. (CPX) - Police
want students at the University of
Central Arkansas to lake cold showers
- or perhaps just showers that are
cooler than those to which they’ve
grown accustomed.
According to the Echo, police have
determined that steam coming from
shower rooms has tripped several fire
alarms throughout campus this
semester.
ATLANTA, Ga. (CPX) - Bomb
threats are always a drag - but
especially for those caught in the
middle of tedious research.
Just ask Larry Young, a post
doctoral fellow in the psychiatry
department at Emory University who
had to leave his laboratory shortly
after university operators received a
bomb threat on Oct. 29. They received
a second threat the next day, which
also prompted the evacuation of some
campus buildings.
"We could lose $l,OOO, not to
mention the time on these
experiments ... which could be
ruined," Young told The Wheel.
According to the newspaper,
university police are investigating the
two incidents and trying to determine
whether they are related.
CHAMPAIGN-URBANA, 111.
(CPX) - Police arrested a panhandler
who is accused of twice slapping a
University of Illinois student in the
face alter the student refused to give
him money.
According to the Daily Illini,
email to behrcoll4@aol.com
National Campus News
i w r r r Thursday, November 12, 1998 The Behreml Colleyc Hcaam - I’ayr 5
accusations
plagued the band through the decades,
despite his pleadings.
"Back to the ’sos." Foster said. "All
this is a spillover from the fraternities’
and sororities’ initiation and pledge
weeks, both physical and mental
hazing.”
Why couldn’t he slop it'.’
"No amount of pleading or
understanding would get rid of it.
They're very secretive in terms of
what they’re doing,” Foster said.
"One thing that comes to my mind
is that the younger generation, they
don’t like to follow rules and
authority. If they heard of it going on
before, they want to keep up the
tradition."
Foster said that when hazing would
come to light, he would call the band
members’ parents - often to no avail.
"Their child has told them they’ve
been put to secrecy," Foster said.
When hazing is suspected, White
said, his staff tries to document it; and
if it does, it’s reported to FAMU police
and disciplinary action is taken. That
action can range from probation or
suspensions from band to a possible
suspension from the school.
While hazing is prevalent in many
fraternities, the mother who wrote the
recent letter drew a distinction with
the Marching 100: As a music major
receiving a scholarship, her child has
no choice but to pul up with the abuse
because the Marching 100 is required
for a music degree.
"You work your butt off to be in
that band." the mother continued.
And as part of an academic
requirement, you have to let someone
beat on you. too'.’"
The absence of eiuht students
witnesses said the panhandler lust
approached the student outside a local
pizza restaurant on Nov. 2. When the
student tried to walk away, the
panhandler followed and delivered
the second blow.
Police arrested Charles Wilson. 27.
of Champaign, in connection with the
incident and charged him with battery.
BLOOMINGTON. Ind. (CPX) - A
student at Indiana University reported
that a man wearing a mask marie
famous by the movie "Scream'
entered her room and sexually
assaulted her.
According to police reports, the
student said she was smoking a
cigarette outside her dormitory during
the early-morning hours of Oct. .31
when the masked man sat down
beside her.
After finishing the cigarette, the
woman said she went back inside,
grabbed a few things and headed to
the bathroom, leaving the door to her
room open. The student said the man
was standing in the midtile of her
room when she returned.
Police reports indicate that the man
grabbed the student, pinned her it) the
Boor and asked her if she liked scary
movies - a question that villains in
‘‘Scream” and its sequel asked each
of their victims.
The student said her roommate and
a hallmate tried to enter the room but
quickly left because they thought the
man was there with consent.
BOSTON (CPX) - A Boston
University student accused of
unlawfully entering a dorm room.
currently under investigation - as well
as 22 others - was noticeable during
last Saturday’s half-time show at
Bragg Stadium. The formations of a
pumpkin and witch on a broom - as
well as the flag corps - had holes from
students missing in the band of 280
members, down from 350 members
when the semester began.
White said 22 students were barred
from marching because they failed to
attend rehearsals.
Washington, dean of the College of
Arts and Sciences, said he received a
call earlier this year from a parent
complaining of hazing in the band -
but he could not recall names or
details.
“If hazing exists, it will be stopped.
I’m a no-nonsense type person,”
Washington said. “I wish the parents
would come and personally tell me. I
will maintain the secrecy of the
student, and I will deal with it on the
spot. I am going to make
arrangements to talk to Dr. White and
the band. We don’t need this kind of
publicity.”
This isn’t the first time hazing in
the Marching 100 made the news. In
1989, eight band members were
charged with battery and sent to jail
for shoving a student into Sampson
Hall, holding him against his will and
beating his head with their elbows.
Prosecutors dropped the charges
because FAMU officials carried out
disciplinary action.
"There is still concern on the part
of the family that this type of behavior
has become institutionalized in this
organization, and it is a matter which
the university needs to address,” noted
the prosecutor in the court records.
destroying property and acting in a
disorderly manner says the charges
against him boil down to a
"misunderstanding.”
According to the Daily Free Press,
campus police arrested freshman
Adam Hamilton around 3:30 a.m. on
Oct 31 after he wandered into a room
occupied by two sleeping women.
The disturbance frightened the
women, who called police for help
immediately.
Hamilton told the newspaper that
the charges against him are
"preposterous."
“I was spending the night with
friends at Towers, and I woke up in
the middle of the night to use the
restroom," he said. "I was disoriented
and half-asleep, and I accidentally
went into the wrong room.”
Hamilton said he didn’t mean to do
anything wrong and hopes the issue
blows over quickly.
"This is just a big
misunderstanding," he said.
EAST LANSING, Mich. (CPX) -
Funny how one thing leads to another,
as it did for a student at Michigan
State University who was arrested on
Nov. I.
Police found the 19-year-old in
possession of alcohol, took a look
around his room, and quickly arrested
him for having stolen street signs, too.
According to the State News, the
man had about $650 W'orth of signs -
including that that regulate no-parking
and elevator capacity.
Dozens of Penn
students blame illness
on dining hall food
College Press Exchange
Philadelphia, Pa. (CPX) - An
outbreak of diarrhea and vomiting
that sent dozens of students at the
University of Pennsylvania to the
hospital last week is believed to
have been the result of a viral
infection, not tainted food in the
school’s dining halls as many
students had claimed, university
spokeswoman Phyllis Holtzman
said Monday.
University and Philadelphia
health officials investigated the
students' food-poisoning claims,
but concluded with the help of
cultures from food containers and
Revealing thoughts
“Playboy’s”
Of The ACC
from
Girls
By Amy Cappiello
Campus Correspondent-UNC-
Chapel Hill
Playboy bunnies are popping up on
college eampuses throughoul ihe
nation, but students may not realize
a few of their classmates - wearing
far less makeup and far more
clothing, of course - are among them.
This month, more than 40
women from Atlantic Coast
Conference colleges - Clemson.
Duke, Florida Stale. Georgia Tech,
Maryland. North Carolina Stale.
UNC-Chapel Hill, Virginia and Wake
Forest - are posing in what the Folks
at Playboy say is one of the most
popular editions of the men's
magazine.
The women - deemed by Playboy
to be "the pride of the eastern
All the pictures are
tastefully done, and it is
any woman’s right to
pose nude if she wants...
UNC sophomore journalism major Kathleen
Hancock and Playboy model
seaboard” - auditioned for the spread
amid angry protests from students
insisting that the magazine degrades
women and contributes to a variety
of societal ills, including sexual abuse
and harassment. The criticism was so
bothersome that some of the women
- including two UNC-Chapel Hill
students - withdrew their personal
contact information from school
phone and e-mail directories and Web
sites.
Why would anyone want to subject
themselves to such hassles?
"My whole life, I’ve wanted my
15 minutes of fame; I’ve craved it,"
Chapel Hill senior Summer Jehs, one
of this year’s six Tar Heel models,
told The Daily Tar Heel. "And the
older I got, I didn’t only want mine.
I wanted 100,000 other people’s. I
want to be the next Uma Thurman,
and this goes along with it.
"You know," continued Jehs, who
slathered baby oil all over her body
for a steamy shower pose, "a lot of
other people in Hollywood started
out either in Playboy or doing a
topless or nude scene in their first
movie. This is a good place to start."
Aside from the autographing
sessions that happened after the
magazine hit store shelves and the
flurry of mail they received from
adoring fans, some of the Chapel Hill
students who posed say their lives -
including their dating lives - haven’t
changed very much
"I get recognized more than I
thought I would,” said Kim Ziegler,
a journalism major who graduated
Irom UNC in May. "It’s strange to
be walking down the street and have
people go, ’Hey, that’s Kim Ziegler.’
"I’ve gotten some fan mail,” she
continued. "I’ve also gotten some
phone calls; they want me to take
more pictures. But nobody's come
students complaining of illness that
an influenza-like hug should he
blamed for the outbreak, Holt/.man
said.
Sudden illness prompted 30-35
students to visit the school's student
health center and several more to
call campus doctors for medical
advice after being stricken with
severe abdominal cramps, fever and
nausea. The bulk of complaints
came from one dormitory where
residents said as many as 50
students reported feeling ill. At least
a dozen other students from other
parts of campus also reported
feeling sick.
after me and said. 'Oh. you shouldn't
have done that.'"
Second looks from students on
campus and aflirmalion from familx
and friends arc |usl about all
sophomore journalism major Brandee
Potts - who auditioned for the article
on a dare from her box friend said
she's gotten from the experience
No one reallv recoent/es me." said
Potts, who appears topless next to an
antique airplane. "The picture reall\
doesn't look like me in the face. T hex
put on so much makeup
While some of the models, like
Potts, said they ha\e rcccixcd nothing
but support and praise for then Ibrax
into modeline, thex do concede to
havinu had some nuuuinu. neealixe
feelir.es
'll doesn't bother me th.it (uu\ s on
campus) have seen me naked." Potts
told the Tar Heel. “It bothers me that
that's the only part of me that they
know because I hold my personality
to be (more important) than my looks."
Ziegler admitted that she had to deal
with her mother - who made it clear
she wasn’t pleased with Ziegler's
decision to pose.
"My mom is pretty old-fashioned so
she was a little concerned." Ziegler
said. "It’s just that she has
misconceptions about (Playboy). She
feels it’s pornography. She lumps it in
with Hustler and stuff. But it’s reall\
UNC sophomore journalism major
Kathleen Hancock said she dodged
family confrontation by waiting until
a day after the Playboy shoot to tell
her parents what she'd done.
"I don't think that there is any thing
wrong with Playboy maga/me and dis
content of its photography." I iancock
wrote on her personal Website - which
also states that she subscribes to the
magazine with hopes of editing it
someday. "All the pictures arc
tastefully done, and it is am woman's
right to pose nude if she wants..."
Most of the far Heel models said
they were pleased with the
professionalism with which Pla\ho\
employees treated them. The students
said they were gi\cn a substantial
amount of input when it came to tile
shoot itself - including how much, or
little, clothing they would wear.
I wanted my picture to be one of
the most conservative in the magazine,
and they respected that." Potts said.
While thrilling, the experience was
also exhausting, the women agreed.
"I have a whole new respect for
models.” Hancock said. "It was 2 1/2
hours for hair and makeup alone."
Potts agreed.
"You don’t realize w hat all goes into
it," she said. "It’s rcallv urine because
you're constantly smiling and posing
But w ith all of that behind them, are
they proud of the end result?
"I know that vv hen I’m 40 years old
I’m going to be able to look at that and
remember the photo shoot, remember
the signing, remember the other girls,
remember everything about it." Jells
said. "And when I'm an old
grandmother. I'm going to be like.
’Look. I used to be prettv. "’