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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 11, 1981)
Vol. 82, No. 118 Eugene, Oregon 97403 Wednesday, March 11, 1981 Kappa Sigma faces fine, probation By BILL MANNY Of the Emerald Kappa Sigma fraternity has been placed on probation for the 1981-82 school year and the “chapter or designated members" will be fined $1,000 to $2,000 by the national Kappa Sigma Supreme Executive Committee. A Feb. 22 “ride” in which two Kappa Sigma pledges — uninitiated members — were seriously injured when hit by an automobile was a violation of Kappa Sigma and University regulations prohibiting fraternity hazing, two inve stigations have determined. A regional Alumni Board of Control, composed of five Kappa Sigma alumni, made eight recommendations following a two-week investigation. Dean of Students Bob Bowlin also conducted an investigation. He con curred with the board’s findings. Monday night, the recommendations were approved by the Interfraternity Council (IFC) tribunal, the organization charged with handling Greek violations of the student conduct code. In addition, the tribunal levied a fine of 50 hours of community service on the house. Tragic hazing violation examined in two reports Who will be fined and what the exact fines will be is not known. That decision will wait until the fraternity committee meets. While under probation, another hazing violation for Kappa Sigma will mean revocation of the chapter’s charter. In addition to probation, the board limited the house s social functions for the remainder of this year to one spring house dance. Other penalties were recommended by the board and Bowlin and approved by the IFC tribunal. They require Kappa Sigma to provide a resident graduate counselor, alumni board supervision of chapter activities for the 1981-82 school year, drafting — subject to national Kappa Sigma and Dean of Students approval — a pledge education program, and board monitoring of pledging and pre-initiation activities. Nine of the 14 Kappa Sigma pledges went on the chapter-supported “road trip,’’ the report said. With paper sacks over their heads, the pledges were transported to Shotgun Creek Park near Marcola. The pledges drank beer through straws on the trip, and one pledge became sick, the reports said. None were intoxicated, the reports said. The nine were left to find their way home as part of "an un-malicious team building experience,” the reports said. Blindfolding the pledges, the alumni report said, “was senseless,” but not a violation. When the pledges stopped a fire truck to ask for a ride, Mark Rosier and Ron Pierce, both 18, were struck by a passing car. Pierce has been released from the hospital and will return to school spring term. Rosier, who suffered head injuries and underwent surgery Feb. 26, remains in McKenzie-Willamette Hospital. He has regained consciousness, but remains in stable but serious condition. The alumni report said ‘‘mitigating factors" were considered. "First, the activity was not inherently dangerous. Many if not most freshmen drink beer. None of the pledges was intoxicated at the time of the accident. Having pledges walk home at night is not designed to injure them and is not particularly fraught with danger." Bowlin said the "rides" are prohibited to prevent precisely what happened. He said the University administration was pleased with the alumni's actions. Kappa Sigma president Bob Hansen declined to comment on the sanctions. Bowlin said intitiation at all University fraternities has been halted until each can show that an alumni adviser will be in attendance at all initiation and pre-inita tion activities, and the advisers certify that anti-hazing guidelines are being met. Bowlin said the measures should fos ter better fraternity-alumni relations. A ImhAlicm Student drinking increases; AlCOnOlISm as finals intensify pressures By DAWN GARCIA Of the Emerald The pressures of finals and the celebrations afterward are notorious for emotional highs and lows. These ups and downs can be enough to throw a student with a drinking problem over the emotional edge, say many Eugene counselors who advise students with alcohol-related problems. . The number of students with drinking problems is growing rapidly, says Steve Gilbert, prevention/education specia list of the Lane County Council on Alcoholism. The drop this year in the national average age for people seeking alcohol counseling — from 35 to 25 — is evi dence of this trend, Gilber says. The consequences of drinking problems are anything but minor. Alcoholism and alcohol abuse are the third leading cause of death in America. For people under 25, drunk driving accidents are the number one cause of death, Gilbert says. Counselors attribute increased alcohol misuse among the college-age population to boredom, peer pressure, habit and emotional stress. For some students it's just because' drinking is “the thing to do,” says Peter rown of the University Counseling enter. Brown says the widespread use of alcohol at the University “makes the dividing line between social use and alcohol misuse very fuzzy at times." The increase in alcoholism among younger people can be attributed in part to the “party style of drinking,” Gilbert adds. Another reason for the increase is that people are seeking help for alcohol problems at a younger age as public awareness grows, Gilbert says. But the stigma of the word “alcoholic” still scares some people away from counseling for fear they will be berated for their drinking habits or because they don’t think they are alcoholics, says Mary Kay, a counselor at Drinking Decisions, Inc. Drinking Decisions holds 10-week classes that include information about ways to evaluate drinking, phy Emerald Graphic siological and legal facts about alcohol, and a program that helps clients set goals concerning their drinking. Fees for the classes are charged on a sliding scale with a $10 maximum per class. Orientation meetings are free and are held each month. The Lane County Council on Alcoholism has both a residential treatment and an out-patient program, working with the alcoholics and their families. Gilbert says many people aren't aware of the risks involved in drinking. "Younger people and women are affected by alcohol more than other groups,” Gilbert says. The nervous system and brain cells of younger people grow until age 20 or 25 and are more susceptible to damage than fully developed systems, especially with combined alcohol and drug use, Gilbert says. For women, body chemistry is a fac tor in the susceptibility to alcoholism. ‘‘Women metabolize alcohol differently than men,” Gilbert says. "With a higher percentage of body fat and lower percentage of water, women experience a greater effect on their system." Drinking doesn’t mean you're an alcoholic, but how can you tell if you are an alcoholic or a ‘ problem drinker?" "A loss of control, interference with the way you’re performing at school and work and complaints from your family and friends are all symptoms of alcoholism,” Gilbert says. "Do you schedule your classes so you can spend your Wednesday nights at happy hour at Duffy's instead of studying? Is drinking number one with everything else taking a backseat?” Gilbert asks. If these descriptions fit, Gilbert suggests calling the 24-hour crisis hot line at the Lane County Council on Alcoholism Agencies offering help for alcohol problems include: University Counseling at 686-3227, Lane County Council on Alcoholism at 484-1712, Drinking Decisions at 484-9274 and Alcoholics Anonymous at 342-4113.
