SMU students turn themselves in for alleged assault at Sig Ep house

Is "Temporary Deferred Suspension" anything like "Double Secret Probation"?

SMU students turn themselves in for alleged assault at Sig Ep house | www.pegasusnews.com | Dallas/Fort Worth:

Sigma Phi Epsilon has been placed on
“temporary deferred suspension” following
a reported hazing incident and assault.

"DALLAS — Four male students turned themselves in to SMU Police on February 28 in connection with the February 10 alleged assault of another student at the Sigma Phi Epsilon House.

The students turned themselves in after warrants were issued for their arrest on Friday, February 22.

On February 10 a male SMU student reported that he had been held against his will and struck numerous times.

Kent Best said in a statement, “The students have been temporarily suspended from SMU pending the outcome of the legal process and any student conduct review proceedings.”

SMU Police sent their findings from their investigation to the Dallas County District Attorney’s office.

The SMU Police Department has not updated the daily crime report log."

'via Blog this'

Chi Phi Brothers at UVa Jailed for Hazing Activity

UVa students sent to jail after frat abduction ‘tradition'
By Tasha Kates

A group of University of Virginia second-year students will serve jail time in April for what their attorney said is a fraternity prank gone wrong.

Chase Wagner Whitlow, Gabriel Rust-Tierney, Jordan Vinsant Davis and Joseph Uzcategui, all members of Chi Phi, pleaded guilty Thursday to disorderly conduct as part of a plea agreement in Charlottesville General District Court, according to Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Claude Worrell. The four men were sentenced to 90 days in jail, 86 of which were suspended.

In September, the then-19-year-old students were charged with abduction in connection with an incident in April. According to authorities, four men threw the victim into the back of a car in the university area and left him in the road near a Crozet restaurant. The victim, who was not seriously hurt, called police at the restaurant.

Worrell declined to comment on the nature of the offense. However, defense attorney James E. “Bud” Treakle said Thurs-day that the four men were taking part in a “fraternity tradition” in which someone kidnaps an older fraternity brother and drops him off somewhere, leaving him to find his way home. The older fraternity member in this case didn’t report it as a prank, the lawyer said.

It was not clear if the four men were Chi Phi members at the time of the incident, but Treakle confirmed that they are currently brothers in the fraternity.

Treakle, who was hired by all four students, said the plea agreement was “damage control” in hopes of avoiding a felony trial. The attorney said he thought the sentence was severe based on the facts of the case, which he said police spent a substantial amount of time investigating.

Treakle said his clients spoke to police before going home for the summer and were charged in September. The men spent the night in jail after their arrest, and by their lawyer’s calculations, have only one day left to serve.

Worrell said the students are expected to report to jail April 17. The prosecutor did not confirm Treakle’s calculations.

http://www.dailyprogress.com/cdp/news/local/crime/article/4_uva_students_sent_to_jail_after_frat_abduction_tradition/37834/4

Hope for UF student captured in Iraq fades

We have a brother missing in Iraq. Please keep him in your thoughts.

Every week State Department officials brief the family of 24-year-old Jonathan Coté on the fate of their son, a University of Florida student who has been missing in Iraq since he and four other security contractors were abducted in November.

The news is never good.
[...]
The U.S. government appears to have "written off" the captured contractors as a "lost cause," said retired Col. Gerald Schumacher, a former Special Forces soldier and an expert on private contractors in Iraq.

"It is very unfortunate that when contractors get captured, the amount of effort to recover them is minimal compared to what you see if an American soldier gets captured," Schumacher said.

Coté, a former Army paratrooper, returned to Iraq to work for Crescent Security Group after completing his freshman year. He planned to use the money to finance his studies at UF.

He was lured back to Iraq by a former Army buddy who noted that private-security pay is four times that of military pay. Hazard pay and bonuses can bring monthly income to $7,000 or more.

"It was the money and the adventure, too; even college life was a little slow for Jon," said Sigma Phi Epsilon pledge brother Joey Dal Santo, 20, of suburban Chicago.

There is more at the link, but it may make you angry. We had an earlier story too.

Hope for UF student captured in Iraq fades: South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Kidnapped Gainesville man on Iraqi videotape

Jonathan Cote, of Gainesville Florida, is one of three hostages show on an Iraqi videotape. He appeared in good condition according to sources who saw the tape. The three men were employed by Crescent Security Group - a Kuwaiti company - and have been missing for six weeks.

Cote was a student at the University of Florida for a year, his father, Francis Cote, told the Times-Union on Wednesday.

Cote, originally from Getzville, N.Y., also has family in Florida, including his mother, Laurie Cote, in Aventura, Francis Cote said.

Cote spent this summer after his first year working as a guard for Crescent Security Group in Iraq. His father said he had planned on returning to school right before he was kidnapped Nov. 16.

Before he enrolled at UF, Cote spent four years in the Army as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg, N.C.

Francis Cote said it's been tough, but the new videotape provides some relief to the family. He said the real concern is when the tape was made.

"I just hope it's recent," he said.

Members of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity at UF, of which Cote was a member, sent his family a plaque honoring him for his contributions to his country.

"It's nice to know that he's in people's prayers," Francis Cote said.

The video shows all three men, then zooms in on each hostage's face as he speaks.
[...]
Next is Cote, who's the only hostage with visible signs of injury. He has slight bruising and swelling around his nose and red splotches on his face.

"I work for a private security company," Cote says. "I'm asking the American people to put pressure on the government to leave Iraq to help me and my friends get out of here."

Making Lemonade

College life in New Orleans is slowly coming back.

At Tulane, Loyola and Dillard universities, Southern University at New Orleans, the University of New Orleans and other area colleges, thousands of freshmen and older students have chosen to be here.

They think this city, at this moment, will give them an education like nowhere else in the world.

Tulane recently added a new public health degree in disaster management, and it established a Center for Public Service to organize and encourage student involvement in the city's recovery effort.

One group of Tulane undergraduates established the Mardi Gras Service Corps, a nonprofit organization that has raised tens of thousands of dollars to gut houses and help displaced families find their way back to the city.

College students get back to work, play in New Orleans

Technorati tags: katrina, college, New Orleans

Tulane Fraternities Renew Community

Thanks to Bill Hydrick for this article from the Tulane "New Wave" online news. The Greek system at Tulane is helping New Orleans at the city still struggles to get back to some kind of normality.

The clean-up crew of Tulane fraternity members from Delta Tau Delta (top photo) works on landscaping and other projects for Gentilly resident Lynn Honoré

When Lynn Honoré, affectionately known as Miss Lynn, took the job as cook of the Delta Tau Delta house, she never imagined that the Tulane University fraternity men instead would be taking care of her home. Combine some hurricane damage, fraternal brotherhood and the will to do good--and you end up with a recipe for a coup de main, a French Louisiana term to describe when a community gathers to assist one of its own.

"Delta Tau Delta played an important role in helping Miss Lynn move back into her home," said Brian Krevor, fraternity philanthropy chair. "We had multiple work days to do a majority of the work that the contractors would not."
[...]
Just down Broadway, among the row of fraternities, the Tulane chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon initiated a community service project for "neutral ground" restoration. They are refurbishing several neglected street medians in the uptown area of New Orleans. In early June about 20 Sig Ep men started repairing the intersection of State and Willow streets. The fraternity is adopting multiple areas to maintain monthly--with plans to add areas near Broadway in July.

A third fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma, has been gutting houses for people without insurance in the Lower 9th Ward, according to Jacob Bolin, director of fraternity and sorority programs.

Bolin says the 25 Greek-letter organizations of Tulane (15 fraternities, 10 sororities) each have a national philanthropy and a local or national community service commitment. He expects, for years to come, the fraternities and sororities will focus on community service to help with New Orleans' recovery.

It is really oustanding that the local chapters have been able to help out.

Last fall there was a lot of buzz about Sig Ep setting up an "Alternative Spring Break" project to bring a wave of help to the city. After some very high-sounding emails it seems that, like so many great ideas, it had no legs. Too bad for New Orleans and too bad for the men who would have been inspired by such an effort.

Maybe next year; New Orleans' reconstruction problems are not going away any time soon.

Tulane University Magazine - News

Frats modify rush process

Dry Rush? In New Orleans? I'm shocked! Shocked!
Loyola tries a bold experiment.

The fraternity rush process has changed this year, and many fraternity members are not happy about it.

In an effort to change the negative stereotype that all Greeks do is drink, the Interfraternity Council and Student Activities have opted to have a dry rush, according to IFC President Mike Rosas, business administration senior.

They have also shortened rush to a one-week process and made it mandatory that all activities take place on campus. In past years, it has lasted for two weeks and most parties were held off-campus.

"Since the whole school is revamping how organizations are run it seemed like a good time to make these changes," Rosas said. "Before, when there was alcohol served, the school didn't condone it, but they turned a blind eye."

The liability of underage drinking was also a reason for the alterations.

Welcome to the 21st century, Loyola. This points out that in order for a culture change to be successful you need buy-in from all those involved.

Frats modify rush process - The Maroon - News (Free Subscr Reqd)

Tag: Alcohol,Loyola,New Orleans,fraternity

Transfers leave for home

Shane Vaiskauskas (front with fraternity brothers) left Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina for the University.

Sig Eps from Tulane get help from unexpected source at UGA

Shane Vaiskauskas, a sophomore from Hampton, said he was overwhelmed by the amount of “Southern hospitality” he received after being displaced from Tulane, and decided to stay in Athens for several reasons.

“It’s closer to home, and I have a lot of friends here from high school,” Vaiskauskas said. “I had only been at Tulane for a year, and I have as good of friends here as I did at Tulane.”

Even though Vaiskauskas is a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity at Tulane, this semester he has been staying at the Chi Psi fraternity house. “I had never lived in one before, so it has been a new experience,” he said.

A total of 69 students from New Orleans' schools were admitted to UGA after Katrina.

redandblack.com - Transfers leave for home

Flood Washington - Demand a Commitment to Louisiana's Coast and Communities

We don't normally get into politics here. After all, a fraternity that can embrace both Ron Brown and Scott McClellan would have to be pretty non-partisan.

That said, this seems to be one of those ideas that needs to be considered. We got this message, from one of our intrepid RDs, via the usual roundabout means. We are passing it along for you to take action on or ignore, as you choose.

-----Original Message-----
From: Ehren Stanhope
Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2005 2:09 PM
To: XXXXXXX
Subject: Fw: Flood Washington - Demand a Commitment to Louisiana's Coast and Communities

Ehren Stanhope
Regional Director
Sigma Phi Epsilon
310 S. Boulevard
Richmond, VA 23220

(804) 353-1901 x345

-----Original Message-----
From: Sylvia Schmidt
Date: Tue, 6 Dec 2005 14:48:31
To:ehren.stanhope@sigep.net
Subject: Flood Washington - Demand a Commitment to Louisiana's Coast and Communities

Join me in flooding Washington! Louisiana groups have launched an effort to generate 300,000 e-mails demanding category 5 protection for New Orleans and Southern Louisiana. That means effective levees and flood control projects as well as comprehensive coastal wetlands restoration to give Southern Louisiana a critical storm buffer.

Please take a second to help spread the word!

Click on the link below or cut and paste this into your browser - http://healthygulf.org

Take action now at This Link to the Democracy in Action Website