Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 13, 1989)
_Editorial Beta's behavior not wanted at University In the early morning hours of Jan. 15. ltlH‘1. jJt^Kugene Police Department officers were dispatched to the alleyway between the University's Beta Theta Pi house and the neigh boring (-hi Psi yard and fire escape balcony Arriving at the melee, involving 35-40 people, officers disi overed numer ous broken beer bottles, broken windows, about 10 fisticuffing men and several intoxicated fraternity men one of whom was arrested and charged with being a minor in possession of alcohol And now the question that .irises Why did I niversity President Paul Olum. who was set to revoke the beta's i liar ter after this most recent ini ident, decide against it? As Olum himself noted in a letter drafted to the brothers and pledges of the Beta Rho Chapter of Beta Theta Pi he w as "deeply disturbed bv the neu s of the rei enl out break of violence a fundamental breach of trust which (violated) the understanding reached between the Betas and the Uni vorsily about acceptable behavior for social fraternities at the l Iniversity True, this one particular mi ident is prohablv not wort In of revoking the Beta’s i barter But i onsidering the Beta's past indiscretions and the fact they were held at a higher level of responsibility than the (!hi Psi's for last month's ai t of violeni e. they should be disassociated from the Universi ty. As a matter ot past indisi retions. perhaps vs hat siic ks in most people s minds is last spring’s lawsuit against the Beta Theta Pi fraternitv and two other defendants Hie trial cen tered on an incident from (lit 27 and 2H. l‘ltl-1 which plaintiff Robert Seyler contended left him suffering from abrasions, lacerations, contusions, humiliation, mental an guish. extreme emotional distress, all ohol poisoning, hypo thermia and ini an eration Ai i ording to testimonv the Betas and their party guests of the evening were angrv with Seyler for Ins part in selling them diluted < oi .line Se\ lei then [laid for his mistakes as the Betas allegedlv forced him to drink alcohol, beat him. robbed him. spat and urinated on him and then abandoned him naked and uni onsi ions (with a jai kel i overing his up per torso) on the front lawn of the Alpha Phi sorority The jury's verdict found the Beta frat«*rnit> guilty of negligence and former Hef.i President dreg Halverson and former 1 'niversit\ student and football player Ki( bard (.eiser guilH of assault Surch the October l‘IH4 and the |unuar\ lflH‘1 incidents are enough reason to revoke the fraternity's charter Hut now add the numerous phone < .ills, letters and personal ai ( ounts given to laneiald staff members in the past week < on i ermng the overall behavior ol beta members. We'd like to think that what we've heard are rumors, half-truths, hearsay, yarn spinning and the like Hut ( onsid ering the diversity of sources, from l'Diversity students to retired business and couununitv leaders, and considering the beta's Iried-and true unseemly and disgraceful behav ior. we have to give some i redem e not only to what we've been told, but to what some stall members have witnessed in their own right And apparently, we re not the only ones who would like to see the betas ki( ked off campus Members of other (heck houses have voiced their disgust at the betas and the embarrassment of having them included in the (heck s\s tom. Former beta members have done the same Unfortunately though, the betas have slipped through the system again, and will maintain their ties with the Uni versity. As a result of January's incident, both the beta Theta l‘i and C'.hi I’si fraternities have received disi iplinarv action from the Interfraternity Uonncil, the ITU Tribunal, the vice provost for academic support and student services, the at t ing assistant dean of students and student conduct coordi nator and the president's office. Appropriately, the betas have been banned from rush ing and pledging activities until winter term 1‘t‘iO I sup pose our next question is why would anyone want to pledge the beta house anyway? Olum also has made clear that should the Betas /be found toI violate the student conduct code or other reason able standards of civilized behavior at any time during the next three years through the winter term of 1H!)2 Olum or his successor will revoke their charter We admit some stiff penalties have been leveled against the beta Theta Pi fraternity as a result of the Jan la melee, and from here on out the betas u ill be walking a pretty thin line But if Olum is hoping the betas will do "all that is nru essary to turn (themselves) into something approximating gentlemen.'' he shouldn't hold his breath And he certainly should have revoked their ( barter when the opportunitv was presented. Q WUKU WOULD BETTER PROTECT US. CITIZENS7 © <JTAR WA& MI«IL£ DEfmE ©245 MILLION BULLETPROOF VESTS Letters Inaccuracy I .1111 infuriated l>\ tin' si.in dermis .ilt.ii k made by Steve M \assel in Ins letter regarding gun i nnlrol It H )!• leh 7) (’lease Mr Nasset learn to read before attempting to write I made nu statement defend mg llie rigid ul Palm k West to own a seilll .nitomatK assault i ilb' N ou rpmled me totally mil uf context even putting words in nn inmdb where you i iiuldn'l twist ms own around In siis ss hat you w anted In regards to the part of your letter whii h ai tuallv addressed the issues. What gives you the right to dei ide for everyone else ss hat a legitimate shooting sport is'' 1 here are mans peo ple ss bo ssnuld say that any gun ownership is completely uiinei I'ssary W ould soil svanl them making lass s restricting sour rights' I personalis think that hunting for sport is a dis gusting idea When I hunt it is for food Would sou have me impose ms beliefs on sou7 lell me what's right and ss long until you’re blue ill the face but don't fan e me to tol loss sour advii e if I disagree 1 urtherniore. what makes you think that these rifles are too mai i urate for hunting or target shooting? Whether they .lie ai i urate or not ss hat makes sou think they are more accu rate when aimed at a human being I s Military personnel (an often shoot a 1(1 mill shot group at ttltl sards foi the full i .ip.it its of their maga/ine svith tills type of gun is this mar i u r.u v' Regardless of your opinions, in the future don't attai k me in order to make ms beliefs look bad lust attai k my beliefs' Jeffrey A. Hawkins Kugene Beta scarred I fon t expei I me to shed a tear for the Irat brats who got little more than a spanking lor their inter fraternal rumble I lived next door to the Beta boys for several years and have plen ty of battle si ars from the con t muons svars they waged against ms house and others ()tir house repeatedly hil(i its windows smashed by beer hol lies following one of llieir par lies When they got bored with throw mg bottles, they used gar bage, fet.es and other i rap wrapped in foil lo pell our house Then i arne the time they built a slingshot Irom rubber tubing and a bra i up (from one of their "pantv raids." no doubt) whir h they used to bom bard the whole neighborhood passing cars, pedestrians, but mostly nn housemates I'hey made the mistake ont e ot using marbles to snipe at our win dows. the police didn't need then ballistics expert lo deter mine that the holes in the glass lined up direr lly w ith the beta house We ye seen them beat up a homeless person and throw him and his i art of pos sessions into the Millrar e sew er lire list ol insults and as saiills r mild go on and on Does it sound like l in hitter:’ You’re damn right How many times can the beta boys go through the fraternity kangaroo court before the I 'Diversity r omnium !\ dei ides that the beta house should be abolished? Tim Ingalsbee Student El Salvador I he i urrent events surround ing the l’ S supported war in I I Salvador have rear hed a < rit ical point In support of the "moderate" Christian Democrat government untier Jose’ Napoleon Duarte, the D S has poured over $;i.ti billion into this dirt poor coun try resulting in 70,01)0 people dead and hundreds of thou sands left homeless or in exile Our policy of "low intensity warfare" against the Salvado ran people is seen as a disaster from all sides of the conflict. leil or right Otir man Duarte is dying from c ,ini er. and with the ultra rightwing ARKNA partv look ing to take power in the march elet lions the foreign policy op tions for the I' S have really come down to three. One: support the soon to be in power ARENA partv. a party that has been linked to the El Salvadoran death squads and the brutal deaths ol Archbishop Oscar Romero and four North American church women, not to mention the murdering of thousands of Salvadoran i ili zens lor the moment anyway, both the Uongress and the North American people do not seem too keen on this idea Two: sending in U.S. troops to 'crush" the people support ed IMI.N opposition Even those in the Pentagon realize that this would mean another war like we had in Vietnam, something our country would rather not experience again I hree work tor a negotiated and peaceful end to this horrid war: one that would create an environment for free and truly democratic elections. The re sult would be a victory for both the majority of the Salvadoran people and the North American i itizen whose tax dollars have funded this "dirty little war The time to ac t is now! President Bush has not yet come out publicly with his fu ture policy towards El Salva dor We. as concerned citizens and students, need to let him and our congress know that the only reasonable option is the third one mentioned, a negoti ated end to this United States supported war. kyer Wiltshire IIO/UES Sister University Project -Letters Policy_ The Kmerahl will attempt to print all letters con taining comments on topics of interest to the Univer sity community. Comments must be factually accu rate and refrain from personal attacks on the character of others.
