_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
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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
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