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'

USC Sig Ep Stabbed - Dies After Fight

USC student fatally stabbed near campus
Bryan Richard Frost, 23, a graduate student in the School of Cinematic Arts, died after an argument, police say.
By Larry Gordon and Jia-Rui Chong, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers

A USC film student died of stab wounds suffered in a fight several blocks north of the campus early Thursday, just two weeks after a pair of sexual assaults prompted police to issue a university-wide public safety warning.

Bryan Richard Frost, 23, an Idaho native and a student in the School of Cinematic Arts, was walking with two other students past a gated apartment complex near 28th Street and Orchard Avenue about 2:30 a.m. when the struggle occurred, authorities said.

The students may have rattled a gate, triggering an argument with a man in the complex, officials said. "The argument escalated into a physical fight," said Los Angeles Police Officer Kate Lopez. "The victim ended up getting stabbed."The attacker fled.

Frost was pronounced dead at California Hospital Medical Center. No arrests have been made.The death, coming so soon after the start of the academic year, touched off a wave of grief and anxiety. Students are demanding improved security along off-campus streets that are home to fraternities and student apartments.

"We spend a lot of money to go here, we think it should be safe," said Celeste McWhorter, a 21-year-old senior who lives north of campus. "You'd think at night they'd have something where there are people on every corner, doing something besides running around on campus... keeping students from crossing crosswalks on their bikes."

By Thursday evening, police had searched the Orchard Avenue apartment complex where the stabbing occurred and interviewed residents. Investigators said it did not appear that the attacker knew Frost, or that the fight was gang-related, authorities said.

Frost, who friends said transferred to USC after two years at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., was getting a second bachelor's degree in the cinema school after earning one in economics. Jens Midthun, president of USC's undergraduate student body and Frost's Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity brother, described Frost as a "fun guy" and a "free spirit" who was not the type of person to get into fights.

"We are all concerned. This is a terrible incident, and we never want something like this to happen again," Midthun said. The fraternity row and residential areas north of campus are generally safe and well-patrolled, he said, but student leaders want the university to see how security measures can be improved.

USC's 190-officer Department of Public Safety will increase off-campus patrols and take other steps to meet students' and parents' concerns, said Chief Carey Drayton. But he doubted such steps could have prevented the stabbing.

"When people get engaged in a fight, unfortunately some people don't fight fair," he said. "This was a fight on the street that turned into a tragic incident."

The death comes about a week and a half after two female USC students were sexually assaulted in separate early morning incidents near their university-owned, off-campus housing, within blocks of where Frost was stabbed. No arrests have been made in those assaults.

Authorities say there is no connection between the sexual assaults and Thursday's stabbing, except that they all occurred in the early morning.

On Thursday night, about 120 USC students joined in a candlelight vigil in front of the Sigma Phi Epsilon house on 28th Street. (Frost lived a few blocks away.) A large photo of Frost, smiling and rosy-cheeked, was on display. Students hugged and some wept.

Among the speakers at the half-hour ceremony was Rishab Mehra, one of Frost's roommates. Mehra -- a business and film major from New Delhi -- urged the crowd to salvage something from the death.

"Life can be taken away from us, so live for the most of it. Don't waste it," he said.The Rev. Jim Burklo, USC's associate dean of religious life, said that "many lives have been shattered by what happened today, and many hearts were broken." But he asked the students to "do something very hard -- to forgive." And he raised high a lighted candle and asked the crowd to join him in declaring, "we forgive."

Michael L. Jackson, USC's vice president for student affairs, told students that he understood their worries about crime and stressed that the school would do its best to increase safety."USC is by and large a pretty safe place," he said in an interview.

"That said, sometimes bad things happen. Our goal is to reduce them and to respond to the individuals affected."Friends described Frost as a reserved person who was extremely loyal and decent to his friends. "It was common acceptance that he was one of the most controlled and poised individuals among us," said fraternity president Idris Jatoi.

Friends said Frost could have used his economics degree to get a lucrative job in the business world but instead followed his passion for film. "He was doing what he wanted to do, and I really admire him for that life attitude," Midthun said.

Frost graduated from Eagle High School in Eagle, Idaho, a suburb of Boise, in 2003 and spent four years playing football at the school, said Principal Terry Beck.

School officials remembered Frost as an outgoing, hardworking student, who tended to get A's and Bs."He was dead honest, and he would give you 100%," said David Gural, who taught Frost pre-calculus and calculus in his junior and senior years.

On the football team, where he played strong safety, Frost often out-thought his opponents, said coach Robert Montgomery. As a result, he made a lot of important tackles and proved to be a critical part of the 2001 team that became undefeated state champions.

"You just don't think of a former student meeting a violent end, especially one who is young like that," Gural said. "A car crash is one thing, or plane wrecks, but it's just the violence that's so hard to handle."

Los Angeles and USC police said the recent violence was upsetting, but they said it did not represent a major crime wave in USC's off-campus neighborhoods -- where a third of USC's 33,000 students live. However, they urged students to take precautions at night. They advise against walking alone and recommend that students use the university's free ride service.

Emergency telephones and video cameras are installed at the university-owned properties in the area, although many streets are lined with privately owned homes and apartment buildings.
Lt. John Romero, an LAPD spokesman, stressed that violent crimes were down about 20% so far this year from last year in the areas where most USC students live off campus, from Adams to Martin Luther King Jr. boulevards on the north and south, and from Grand to Normandie avenues on the east and west.

"Violent crime against a USC student is very rare. This is an unusual occurrence for us," Romero said.

Anyone with information on the Frost attack is asked to contact detectives with the LAPD's Robbery Homicide Division at (213) 485-2155. They can also send a text message to 274637, which spells CRIMES, followed by LAPD.larry.gordon@latimes.comjia-rui.chong@latimes.com

6 fraternities suspended in drug probe at San Diego State

The Greek system at San Diego State has taken a hit, so to speak. Luckily, the good guys - that would be SigEp - have not been implicated. Yet.

Authorities said some fraternity members openly dealt drugs, and that one sent a mass text message advertising special prices on cocaine. Two kilograms of cocaine were seized in all, along with 350 Ecstasy pills, marijuana, psychedelic mushrooms, hash oil, methamphetamine, illicit prescription drugs, several guns and at least $60,000 in cash, authorities said.

Profits may have been used to finance fraternity operations, according to an affidavit.
[...]
The Greek system at San Diego State has about 3,000 students, but Fraternity Row plays an outsized role in campus life. It sits a block from Cox Arena, home to many college sporting events.
[...]
Theta Chi has 131 chapters in the U.S. and Canada and more than 161,000 initiates. It was founded in 1856.

Besides Theta Chi, the other suspended fraternities are Lambda Chi Alpha, Phi Kappa Psi, Phi Kappa Theta, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Sigma Alpha Mu.

Financing chapter operations by dealing coke and ex pays better than bake sales and car washes, and you don't have to hound the brothers to pay their dues.

6 fraternities suspended in drug probe at San Diego State U. - Yahoo! News

Mass Sig Eps Catch Robbers in Action

Fraternity victim of robbery
By: news Daily Collegian

Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity was broken into on Friday, Oct. 26.

The Amherst Police Department arrested one suspect, 18-year old Akeem LaValley of Hadley, Massachusetts, who was found with several electronics in his backpack and a wallet that belonged to someone who lives at the fraternity. The incident occurred at the fraternity house at approximately 12:15 a.m. Friday.

"From what I understand, two or three unidentified males were walking around trying to get in through an open window," said Sigma Phi Epsilon president Matt O'Connor, who was at the house during the time of the break in.

"They got inside and were caught in the act of trying to steal items from one of the rooms. The police were called and arrested the individuals."

According to O'Connor, the individuals broke in through the second story window of the house.

Upon arriving at the scene, the police detained the suspects and searched the surrounding area.

Officers Richard Maclean, Dominic Corsetti, and Frank Batchelor found and arrested LaValley shortly after, locating him in the wood line behind Olympia Drive in possession of the wallet, laptop computers and video games.

LaValley was arraigned Sunday morning at the Eastern Hampshire District Courthouse. His charges include breaking and entering and larceny from a building.

"One arrest was made in regards to the incident, but it is still under investigation," said Detective Damouras, of the Amherst Police Department.

In regard to the stolen items, O'Connor stated, "As far as I know, all of the items are accounted for, but some are being held by the police. Now, it is just a matter of when we will get them back."

The result of LaValley's arraignment will be determined this morning after the full report is released.Lisa DeBenedictis can be reached at ldebened@student.umass.edu.