The Behrend beacon. (Erie, Pa.) 1998-current, January 21, 2000, Image 4
PAGE 4, THE BEHREND BEACON, JANUARY 21, 2000 NATIONAL CAMPUS NEWS Northwestern sorority parties with frats must have by Meg McSherry Breslin Knight-Ridder Tribune January 17, 2000 EVANSTON, 111. In yet another attempt to erode the sodden "Ani mal House" image of fraternities, sororities at Northwestern Univer sity have voted to stop throwing joint parties at Prat houses if alco hol is to be served. The new policy, which will take effect next fall, is aimed at what for decades has been one of the most popular types of Greek parties at Northwestern and scores of other universities the fraternity-soror ity co-sponsored event. And for years alcohol has been a major part of the culture at such gatherings. While fraternities can still throw functions with liquor at their houses, with or without sororities, if they wish, they'll have to pay for the par ties themselves without getting sororities to chip in. They'll also have to work harder to get sorority women to show up, sorority leaders said. Typically, hosting a sorority was one of the most efficient ways for men to meet and socialize with sorority women. "By passing this, it forces fuller cooperation with the fraternities and sororities who will have to work to gether to come up with good [non alcoholic l events," said Caroline "Hurricane" pays tribute to MLK, Jr. by Christine Tatum TMS Campus January 17, 2000 CHICAGO (TMS) Rubin Carter is a fighter in the most literal and figura tive senses but one who said he never could have waged a battle against racism as effectively as Mar tin Luther King, Jr. A prizefighter whose stellar boxing career earned him the nickname "Hur ricane," Carter spent more than 18 years in prison and narrowly escaped the electric chair for three murders he didn't commit. The fighting instinct that helped him survive both in and out of the nng likely would have compro mised King's peaceful demonstrations to promote desegregation and racial reconciliation, Carter told about 175 people who attended a prayer break fast honoring King's memory at DePaul University on Monday. "I could not go down to the south and let those rednecks beat me up, lon] let those dogs bite me," Carter said of King's travels. "If you're not peace ful with me, I'm not peaceful with you. The means you use with me, I'll use with you. There is no question; I be lieve in self-defense. "I guess I'm more Malcolm X than Martin Luther," he added. Throughout his tribute to King, Carter reminded the audience to work hard to free people who know discrimi nation of what he said is the worst kind: wrongful imprisonment. "Imagine what it means to be re viled," he said. "Prison is the lowest level a human being can exist on with out being dead. Lives are destroyed there. And we do not return Ito soci ety] as reformed gentlemen and women. We come out the doors an gry, defensive, at war with the world, totally desensitized ... because that is the behavior we had to learn to sur vive on the inside in the lust place. "Now imagine having to face all of UNC tradition of low tuition may have to change by Mary Elizabeth DeAngelis Knight-Ridder Tribune January 17, 2000 WILMINGTON, N.C. Like the ice-blue cashmere sweater you bought for $25 on sale and haven't stopped wearing since, the Univer sity of North Carolina system has long been considered a bargain hunter's treasure. In-state students pay some of the lowest tuition in the country, a principle that's guided the state through two centuries. But with out more money for buildings, fac ulty and academic programs, the system's in danger of losing its edge and national reputation, Uni versity of North Carolina system president Molly Broad told her bosses Friday. Keating, the student leader of the Panhellenic Association, which governs sororities at Northwestern. The resolution comes at a time when hinge drinking, by some es timates, remains at disturbingly high levels among college students. A Harvard University School of Public Health study in 1997 found 81 percent of fraternity house resi dents engaged in hinge drinking, compared with 45 percent of dor mitory residents. But the efforts by university ad ministrators to curl) alcohol abuse are intensifying, and in many cases fraternity and sorority systems which are often the center of social interaction for members and non members alike are following suit with a renewed passion. Northwestern is among eight so rority systems nationally to have adopted the Panhellenic resolution within the last year. Others include the University of Florida, South west Texas State University, East Carolina University, Indiana State University, the University of Texas, the University of Utah, and Ohio University. While the resolution at North western doesn't preclude sorority members from attending fraternity parties where alcohol is served, stu dent leaders say the dismantling of an old tradition will further chip that when you have done nothing Carter said he, too, has fought an ger, bitterness and hatred, but has re fused to let them consume him. "It takes up too much energy, and it's un productive," he said. While many clapped and cheered for Carter, whose life is currently de picted on the big screen in Universal Pictures' recently released film, The Hurricane, some students found some of his remarks racially polarizing. At one point in his speech, Carter referred to the "white tribe," which has "glo bal control of the earth," and the "black tribe," which can "outrun, out dance, outdo and outthink any other tribe." "We [African Americans] are not the students," he added. "We are the teachers, and we need to get back to As she explained her new plan to raise tuition and increase stu dent fees to solve the most press ing problems, many members of the university system's UNC gov erning board said they don't know what else to do. "The money has to come from somewhere I don't think we have a choice," said Addison Bell, a Charlotte businessman and member of the UNC system's Board of Governors. Broad's plan, which the board plans to vote on next month, calls for raising tuition by 2.1 percent next year for all students. They'd also pay a new student fee of $lOO next year, which would grow to $275 in three years. N.C. State and UNC Chapel Hill students also would pay an extra away at an already limited number of on-campus parties at fraternity houses Some fraternity leaders say the so rority system's decision puts the uni- "The whole look the-other-way at titude is just non- existent any- more. -Taylor Janis, Northwestern lnterfraternity Council president versity one step closer to a dry cam pus. And while that may disappoint some, a number of student leaders accept the continuing shift away from alcohol as inevitable. The Interfraternity Council, the student-run group that oversees fra ternities at Northwestern, did not take an official position on the so rority proposal, but the group's presi dent said he backs it. that position." "Some of his remarks were inconsis tent with today's theme," said Doug Procter, a senior at Bethany College in Kansas, who is interning at DePaul's Urban Life Center. "He kept implying that the black race is better than any other, and I think our challenge is to make everyone equal. No race is bet ter than any other; it's certain individu als of all races who rise to the top, and their achievements are based on how hard they as individuals work." Other students welcomed Carter's direct approach. 'Some people might have felt un comfortable, but it's necessary," said Lilian Jiminez, a senior at DePaul. "They want to pretend there's no race issue when there is. It's a fact that there's racial inequality, and some things just need to be said." $2OO in tuition a year. Broad wants to ask legislators to match the money, so that the university sys tem could finance up to $750 mil lion in high priority projects. "We face an urgent situation," she said. But some student and community leaders including two former system presidents object, saying it would weed out potential schol ars by income, not academic abil ity. They also oppose tying faculty salaries and academic buildings to tuition and fees, saying it's bad pre cedent. And once fees are imposed, they don't go away, opponents say. "I have a little problem seeing this as a 'stop-gap measure' when it's going to last for 20 years," said Jeff Nieman, a UNC senior who represents students on the board. "This is a fee my children are go "The whole look-the-other-way attitude is just non-existent any more," said Taylor Janis, the council's president. "People have turned a blind eye to underage drinking for so long, but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore." Nine of the 66 national fraternity organizations have ordered their lo cal chapters to go dry in recent years, and a growing number of col lege administrations have banned al cohol on their campuses because of safety and liability concerns. At nearly every university across the country, it's becoming increasingly tough to drink on campus because of new rules set up to discourage it. At Northwestern, for example, fraternity parties with alcohol must be registered in advance with the university, and fraternities need to supply monitors, draft and adhere to a strict guest list, and ensure that un derage drinkers aren't served. The Interfraternity Council also polices itself by sending student patrols to see if fraternities are following the rules. As a result of the regulations, the number of parties has dwindled sub stantially, with the fraternity-soror ity co-sponsored events being one of the few types of parties remain ing, Janis said. "Four years ago, when I was a freshman, there were ... multiple Students often learn behaviors Martin Luther King, by Christine Tatum TMS Campus January 16, 2000 CHICAGO (TMS) College stu dents may wind up with more than a diploma once graduation rolls around. They may also have an addiction or two or three. A recent study conducted by re searchers at Washington Univer sity in St. Louis and published in a recent issue of the journal, Ad dictive Behaviors, suggests that people who have one addiction are likely to have others as well. They evaluated 64 male and 65 female college students attending one pri vate, highly selective, urban uni versity. Researchers also hypothesized that low self-esteem contributed to high levels of addiction, but they found no such relationship. "We did not assess the extent to which participants in our study found their addictive tendencies to be dysfunctional or stressing," said David K. Dodd. a psycholo gist at Washington University who co-authored the study along with two students who graduated in 1998. "A relationship between self-esteem and addiction might be present among individuals who are more seriously addicted or dis turbed by their addiction." That makes sense to Lynn May, a student at the University of Mis- "l have seen the link between low-self esteem and addiction in some of my very best friends, and it seems to be a vicious cycle," she said. "A person will be down on themselves, so they do something to pick themselves up. Then they ing to pay when they go to col lege." Past UNC system presidents C.D. "Dick" Spangler, Jr. and Bill Friday say the money should come from taxpayers, not students. "The state can afford a first-class university, and I believe it's wrong to tax the students," Spangler said in an interview this week. "I've never heard a poor person ask for tuition to be increased. I've had numerous members of country clubs say we could charge more, which I translated as meaning they would have to pay less taxes. And many of them benefited from low tuition ... you just can't get around the fact that what has been done has worked." But Broad and many board mem bers say they have little hope the parties every Friday and Saturday night each quarter," he said. "But that's changed. On a lot of week ends, there's no parties at all." Some fraternity members can at test to the implications of such a strict atmosphere. In November, the Psi Upsilon fraternity chapter at Northwestern closed because of fi nancial concerns and a series of vio lations of campus alcohol rules. Students were found responsible for underage drinking, unregistered events with alcohol, and destruction of property, among other charges. "I feel, as a student, the standards are changing and [fraternity mem bers] are going to have to change with it," said Neil Baman, who was a Psi Upsilon member. At Northwestern, the resolution was somewhat controversial within the sorority system itself, said Keating, who led the effort. In the end, eight houses supported it, and three opposed it. "It started out with everyone re ally accepting it in theory because of the liability concerns and risk management," Keating said. "But when we got down to the vote, there really was a debate." Keating said she reminded mem bers that sororities can still have al cohol parties with fraternities as long as they are off campus, and she said it didn't make sense to wait for at school get down for what they have done, and do it again to pick themselves up again. It's so sad. - In the study, students rated their personal levels of addiction to several substances, including al cohol; caffeine; chocolate; ciga rettes; and activities such as exer cise, gambling, Internet and video game use, and television viewing. Then they rated each substance and activity on how frequently it caused them to experience a symptom of addiction such as craving, a lack of control or with drawal. Among the study's findings * Women were four times more likely (36 percent) to be "substan tially addicted" to chocolate than men (8 percent), and more likely to be addicted to caffeine (36 per cent for women, and 23 percent for men). * Men, on the other hand, were much more likely to be addicted to video games (25 percent) than women (0 percent); the Internet (23 percent for men, 6 percent for women) and television (34 percent for men, 17 percent for women). * Men reported more addictive tendencies toward alcohol (34 per cent) than women (19 percent) and were more likely to be ad dicted to cigarettes (31 percent) than women (14 percent). The study also found a large correlation among substances and activities. For example, students who professed higher levels of gambling addiction also reported heavy use of video games, and students addicted to smoking also appeared more likely to consume alcohol. "Overlapping addictions do state will pay for building and renovation needs that total about $6.9 billion. Last year, legislators rejected a $3 billion bond package. This year, they're dealing with massive bills from Hurricane Floyd. University chancellors say they don't have the room or resources to deal with rapidly growing en rollment. Some say they've al ready have up to 20 percent more applicants for the next school year than they had at the same time last year. UNC Charlotte Chancellor Jim Woodward says without new buildings, his college will continue to turn away increasing numbers of students who would have been accepted in the past. He says with out better faculty salaries and ben no liquor a tragedy to act. "As a senior, I've seen where four years of parties have gotten safer and safer, and this is just the next step," she said. "We haven't had any major incidents here, but that's re ally because of luck, not because people are abusing alcohol less here." Still, some sorority members have lingering concerns. Jessica Tooredman, a junior and a member of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority, said she supported the resolution, as did her sorority. But Tooredman said she still wor ries that the social environment will become even more limited at North western, a campus filled with over achievers who need the chance to let loose. The campus scene now, she said, is already far less social than what many students had expected. "There is a bit of frustration," she said. "College was seen as a place where we could have some fun and freedom, but instead the same rules are applied." Some fraternity members said the sororities' plan won't have the de sired effect anyway. "I just think it's not handling the situation. I think the sorority mem bers are still going to go the parties and have alcohol," said Ryan High land, a junior in the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house. addictive suggest a common core of vulner ability to addictive substances and activities found in everyday life," Dodd said. "Until recently, the search for this so-called addictive personality has been limited mostly to studies of alcohol or drug abusers who are currently in treatment for debilitating addic tions. [However), we explored addictive tendencies among col lege students who are, in general, neither dysfunctional nor alienated from their social environment.- College students who didn't par ticipate in the study had conflict- ing reactions to it "My female friends are less likely to be addicted to smoking and alcohol because they feel it isn't feminine or, especially in the case of alcohol, safe to consume it in public," said Jackie Pardue, a student at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Ga. "And it's true that my friends who are addicts are usually addicted to more than one substance. It seems like once you begin drinking, you begin smok ing." Addictions aren't dictated by gender, and plenty of people with very positive views of themselves are addicts, said Yuan-Kwan Chan, a graduate student at Northwest ern University. "Bogus, bogus, bogus," she said of the study. "I am not addicted to caffeine, alcohol or cigarettes, so I suppose I am a semi-man and a 100-percent Internet-television junkie. I have friends and class mates who are addicted to all, some or none of the substances in question, and they all sure do have one thing in common: high self- esteem." efits, the state risks losing its best teachers, and won't be able to af ford top newcomers. "I'm all for low tuition and high quality education," Woodward says. "What I'm not for is low tu ition and low-quality education." A student at UNC Chapel Hill will pay about $2,300 this year for tuition and fees about $l,OOO less than the national average for public universities. By comparison, a student at the University of South Carolina's main campus pays about $3,365, and at the University of Virginia's, about $5,000 in tuition and fees. Broad says one key component in her plan is to request $36.8 million to help low-income students pay for school.