COLLEGIATETIMES
june 6, 2013
what’s inside News .............2 Lifestyles .......3 0pinions ........5 Sports ...........4
109th year blacksburg, va.
Mad Dog boutique Sig Ep house faces will remain open uncertain future BY CARLA CRAFT | lifestyles editor
RYAN SUTHERLAND / SPPS
The letters still remain on the Sigma Phi Epsilon house in oak lane.
Long line of student conduct violations leads up to chapter’s withdrawal and loss of new house. KELLY CLINE news editor BRAD KLODOWSKI / SPPS
Dorothy Egger, owner of Mad Dog women’s clothing boutique, shows off her new merchandise.
After announcing that her store would close in May, owner Dorothy Egger decides to keep Mad Dog open after strong customer reactions. Downtown Blacksburg women’s boutique, Mad Dog, will be staying open — despite announcing that it would be closing its doors in May. Virginia Tech alumna and Mad Dog owner Dorothy Egger has been working in the retail business for 31 years. She announced in the end of April that she would be closing her trendy, colorful store on May 16, 2013, after owning the business for ten years. “Thirty-one years of doing something is quite a while,” Egger said. The store held sales in the beginning of May, and the merchandise was discounted further every other day as it neared the presumed closing date. Despite trying to close in a little over
two weeks, Egger brought in new shipments almost as often as she cut prices. According to Egger, loyal Mad Dog customers came out to the store in droves begging her not to close her doors. Her Facebook followers also took to the Internet to express their wishes. As May 16 came and went, the closing sale continued and the shipments were still coming in. On June 4, Egger announced to Facebook and in the store’s window that Mad Dog would not in fact be closing, but would stay open. “It was my customers — my customers who asked me, begged me, came in here and cried (who changed my mind),” she said. “It’s nice to know
that you’re appreciated and liked that much.” Many of Mad Dog’s loyal customers have expressed their joy at the news through the store’s Facebook page, however, that’s not the only place people were celebrating. “People were cheering outside when they saw the sign in front of the store,” Egger said. “(Mad Dog) is really convenient for me, because I don’t have a car, so I just go there mainly to shop for dresses for formal events,” said Jane Harlow, a sophomore Theater Arts major. ”They are the only store in Downtown Blacksburg with stuff for people my age that isn’t ridiculously expensive.” see BOUTIQUE / page three
With the university’s support, national administrators of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity recently withdrew their chapter from Virginia Tech due to general misconduct and underperformance from its members, aft er thirty five undergraduate members lived in their new $5,000,000 house for just one semester. The decision to build the house was made several years ago when Tech announced its Phase IV building project for the Oak Lane community. The new project aimed to further the work of the former development phases, creating safer structures and a community that would support learning and brotherhood. Sigma Phi Epsilon had been under alumni and national speculation since being placed under an Alumni Advisory Council in December 2008 for several incidents of poor conduct,— many which involved alcohol abuse and violence. In one instance, according
to the official Sig Ep Chapter History and Summary of Support, an intoxicated brother was involved in an argument at his apartment complex with a non-member and the non-member’s mother. The argument culminated with the brother assaulting the non-member with a broken beer bottle, and infl icting fi ft y-five stitches on the victim’s face. Another member “suckerpunched” a non-member at a Sig Ep party, subsequently hospitalizing the non-member, for which the member received five months of social probation. There were also reports of members illegally possessing and distributing drugs, making inappropriate racial statements during football games and providing alcohol to underage members of the community. Many reports were also made concerning conduct violations involving hazing. In one particular case, a new member was forced to buy gas and food for his brothers to the point that his parents cancelled his credit card.
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see HOUSE / page two