News

WEDNESDAY OCT. 20, 2004 Vol. 126, No. 22

Drizzle 67° / 52° w w w. s t u d l i f e . c o m

ELECTION COUNTDOWN

13 92

DAYS UNTIL ELECTION DAY DAYS UNTIL THE INAUGURATION

PRESIDENTIAL RACE: WHO HAS THE EDGE?

51% 46%

BUSHCHENEY KERRYEDWARDS

Source: ABC News daily tracking poll of likely voters, taken Oct. 16-18; see abcnews.com.

INSIDE

STUDENT LIFE T H E I N D E P E N D E N T N E W S PA P E R O F WA S H I N G T O N U N I V E R S I T Y I N S T. L O U I S S I N C E 1 8 7 8

Prohibition! n Students upset by University’s abrupt decision to

ban alcohol on Frat Row, at other Greek events

By Rachel Streitfeld Contributing Editor Fraternity Row and all other Greek events will be dry for the rest of the semester while the Greek Life Office tries to curb students’ “egregious” behavior concerning alcohol consumption.

In a memo to all Greek members on campus, the Greek Life staff said the decision prohibits Greek organizations from hosting or participating in any official “social gatherings, mixers, date-parties, ‘recruitment’ event, brotherhood/ sisterhood program, or alumni/ae event with alcohol on, or off-campus.”

Director of Greek Life Karin Johnes said she issued the alcohol moratorium in response to growing problems of irresponsible alcohol use in the Greek community: namely, a “lack of civility” and behavior unfitting Washington University students at Greek events.

Johnes called the brawl on Fraternity Row earlier this month a “precipitating factor” in the decision but said alcohol troubles had been mounting all semester. The Greek Life Office has written between 15 and 20 incident reports involv-

ing Greek members since August.

After a fight broke out on the patio of Sigma Alpha Epsilon on Oct. 9, Johnes said she “started thinking” about taking drastic measures to curb further problems. During the melee, two guards from B & D Security were injured and both Clayton and University police were called to the scene. Johnes said the Greek Life Office would issue further sanctions, above and beyond the alcohol moratorium, to organizations involved in the incident.

Vice Chancellor for Students James McLeod said he thought taking a pause was “advisable” for Greek organizations.

“The series of things that happened recently, and some things that happened last year, seemed to me decidedly off the mark,” said McLeod. “This isn’t anything anyone can control or regulate without the collective agreement of all of those who are part of the community, to say this is not what we set out to be and do.”

Members of the Greek community are protesting that assertion.

“This decision is in response to actions of the community over several years,” said Interfraternity Council (IFC)

President A.J. Dunklau, a senior, in a written statement. “There has not been a recent uptick in problems, when compared with previous semesters, that has prompted this action now.”

Last year the fraternity Sigma Chi was kicked off of campus after allegations of hazing.

Johnes called the problem widespread among Greeks, but said all the organizations “have not been involved.”

“To some extent there have been the usual suspects,” said Johnes about several fraternities on campus that frequently receive disciplinary action.

Johnes said all Greek organizations must undergo this sanction to learn to work together to promote a safer attitude toward alcohol. She said organizations should be watching each other to make sure everyone tows the line on alcohol policy.

Despite a “concerted effort” by Greek organizations to rein in irresponsible behavior, Johnes said yesterday that nothing had worked and more drastic measures had to be taken.

“We just really realized that [...] things aren’t getting better,” said Johnes. “We’re

See ALCOHOL, page 4

Now what?

Looking for alternative places to party? Scene has your complete guide to offcampus partying.

n Concerns mount that drinking may be

driven ‘behind closed doors’

By Jonathan Greenberger Editor in Chief

PAGE 6 Dan Novack braves racial profiling and Union Station security guards to compete in a Madden 2005 video game tournament.

PAGE 12

not seeing an improvement despite all these different efforts.”

Johnes said the attempts have been mostly “education and policy efforts,” including a Greek Leadership Retreat where alcohol was discussed “excessively” and the decision to integrate alcohol responsibility into the house manager training program.

University officials reached the decision to suspend alcohol rights after a series of discussions involving McLeod, Vice Chancellor for Students Jill Carnaghi and the Greek Life Office. Representatives from the IFC and the Women’s Panhellenic Association were not consulted in the decision, said Dunklau, the IFC President.

Dunklau was disappointed with what he saw as a failure of the Greek Life Office to entertain student input in making the decision.

“I do not believe that a moratorium on alcohol at social events is the correct response,” said Dunklau in his statement.

“I agree that there are some areas of the community that need to change regard-

YU ARAKI | STUDENT LIFE

With the hub of campus social life effectively shut down—or at least significantly altered—for the remainder of the semester, many are left wondering what will take the place of Fraternity Row over the next two months.

The woman behind the decision to prohibit alcohol at Greek events, Director of Greek Life Karin Johnes, said that she conceived of the ban as a way to reduce what she felt was inappropriate behavior by certain fraternities and sororities. But many students both within and outside of the Greek community said yesterday that they feel the ban will affect the entire campus community.

“That was my fi rst concern,” said Student Union President David Ader. “This will affect so many people, many of whom weren’t a part of any problem.”

Ader said he is concerned that people may turn elsewhere to drink, looking to the 40 or off campus for alcohol. Many other students echoed that feeling, adding that students may load up on alcohol before stopping by the dry parties on the Row. “The real problem is people who are ‘pre-gaming,’ and there’s just going to be more of that,” said sophomore Dov Preminger. “It’s going to be worse, because people have to drink more before they come.”

A.J. Dunklau, the president of the Interfraternity Council, said the same thing in criticizing the new policy.

“I think the moratorium is the incorrect response, because we have seen in the past that students are more likely to binge

Beer cans litter Frat Row after a big party weekend. Now that there is a ban on alcohol at fraternitysponsored events, sights like this may be rare for the next two months.

See CONCERNS, page 2

University students network in NYC

By Sarah Kliff News Editor

Even a bookworm — and a paranoid one at that — found pleasure in PAD’s performance of “The Awakening.”

PAGE 7

INDEX News Scene Cadenza Forum Sports

1 6 7 8 11

Students looking to strike it rich need look no further than the Weston Career Resources Center’s Wall Street Week. The two-day trip to New York City is sponsored by the Olin School of Business and utilizes Washington University’s growing alumni network to get undergraduate students in the door at the nation’s top banking companies.

“The point of it is for our students, juniors and seniors, to get exposed to the Wall Street Banks,” said Marcy Arrowood, associate director of undergraduate career advising at the WCRC. “We have nine companies total that we are meeting with. Several of our students have interviews this year.”

The two days of information sessions with large banks, such as JP Morgan, allow students to meet with banks that normally do not recruit at the University. The students left yesterday and, depending on optional free time or interviews on Friday, will likely return on Saturday.

“Typically, these companies, since they are in the Northeast, have a lot of other schools right in their backyard,” said Arrowood. “It’s hard for them to justify travel expenses and the time to come here physically. By bringing our students there, they don’t have the travel expenses of coming to St. Louis. That’s how they’re getting these opportunities. We’re not a targeted school.”

STUDENT LIFE

Over the past five years, the Wall Street Week has grown from a small program with 15 seniors in the School of Business, to 37 juniors and seniors in both the School of Business and College of Arts and Sciences. Arrowood attributes much of the program’s growth to the large number of University alumni now involved with the banking companies.

“We’re getting more of an alumni base.

They play a very large role getting us into the company and interviewed,” Arrowood said.

Wall Street Week encourages interaction between alumni and students through both company interviews and social events that give undergraduates a chance to network. Senior Kent Mahoney sees Wall Street Week as an opportunity to speak with banks he wouldn’t have access to on campus.

“A lot of the really big fi rms pass over Wash.

U.,” said Mahoney. “They recruit exclusively at Ivy League or local schools.”

For the next two days, Mahoney will attend information sessions and interviews in hopes making a few connections he can bring back to St. Louis.

“Essentially, it’s a bit of a schmooze fest,” he said. “It’s about being able to meet with some of the bigwigs. Otherwise, it might be difficult to get to these interviews, if you’re not in the city. It’s going to be a great opportunity to get in-depth information.”

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