The Stetson Reporter

wed bet-0 2 -: i " N -. S -. I D http://reporfer.stetson.edu SPORTS: Men's soccer loses to Belmont page 4b _S_I_.E..I .S_.D...N„_.U..N .1.. V_JEIR.S_.L._I ..Y eDorter WHAT'S ^JriiDE News 2a Opinions 4." Life ib Classifieds 2 a Sports 4*3 Etcetera 6 a issue 7 volume 115 Student passes on his birthday from disorder 1 Florida's First Private College Newspaper OPINIONS: Professors dialogue about President Bush page 4a By Bryan Funk NEWS WRITER There is nothing in life which serves as a greater reminder of its precious nature than the death of one plose to you. ;■ This was the situation that many in the university found themselves in' with the untimely passing of Adam Mullen. Mullen graduated two years early from Fort Myers High School in 2000. A student ofthe 2000-2001 school year, as well as the fall semester of 2001, Mullen achieved a great deal in Ws time at the university. ; His fervor for activity began at an early age, with a lawn cutting business begun at the age of ten and the marketing of his own blends of coffee by the age of 17. I At the university level, Mullen was. 'active in student government, serving as the Chair of Academic Affairs his freshmen year, and Chair of Residential Life his sophomore year. He was also active in the Family Business Center, reflecting his continued interest in economic enterprise. On a personal level, Mullen also had an impact. He is described by friend Jennifer Melnick, who is pursuing a Bachelor of Music and a Masters of Business, as "the paradigm of the form when it came to what a friend was." His fascination with automobiles and especially his Thunderbird Super Coupe, particularly,beloved to him, earned him the nickname the "The SC Kid." He used this love of cars to act as a door to reaching others, offering them friendship, along with help and humor. Mullen passed away on his nineteenth birthday, August 23, 2002, the victim of a rare immune system disorder. - "He was braver than imaginable even during the last days. He even showed concern for those he would leave behind when he knew there was no hope left, and IF^fflW^' ""h-"-3 was an aston_ '%4mm^ ishing, but pure f^^SH? Adam. The tenacity -*l^gT' he showed during .V^-flfSi his long-term battle ' '■^■'^ft—' proved an example to everyone who knew him. He never wavered in his determination, never complained even in great pain," said Melnick, who visited him often before his death. "I have many memories of Adam, and I will always look back at them and thank God that we were able to meet. Everything that he went through and how he handled himself was a tremendous encouragement to me. He had an appreciation for life that I became more aware of a few years ago. Being around him would always help you forget anything that was holding you down," said Jonathan Martin, SGA president. "Adam was a great guy to be around, and his enthusiasm for life in general will be missed." Bryan Funk can be contacted at [email protected]. ^Reporter Contact Us 421 N. Woodland Blvd. # 8409 DeLand, FL 32720-3751 386.822.7224 FAX 386.822.7233 [email protected] [email protected] opinions® stetson.edu [email protected] [email protected] sports© stetson.edu online^ stetson.edu [email protected] PROBATION: While the university continues its internal investigation, the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity will remain under an interim suspension, photo by dan puchalla 1 "It is unfortunate that it happened, and when it does, we have to take action that is appropriate.3 By Amy Rigdon NEWS EDITOR On the morning of Oct. 13, Public Safety arrived at the. Pi Kappa Phi fraternity house, the location where two female students reported" an attempted sexual assault at the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity house. The university has begun an internal investigation of the reported incident and other incidents surrounding the night to determine the validity of the allegation and decide proper sanctions for individuals and perhaps the fraternity, as a whole, through the student judicial process. "It is very early [in the stage of the investigation] right now only because the police investigation was closed Tuesday, and we could not begin an internal investigation on any surrounding activities then '' - because if we had done so, it might have interfered with what possibly could have been a criminal investigation," said —_, ,,,.,^ Michelle Espinosa, dean of students, Student Judicial Officer, and person in charge of the university's internal investigation. At the request of the two victims, the DeLand Police Department was called early in the morning to investigate the allegations and continued their investigation through Tuesday, Oct. 15, when the two victims decided not to press charges. There are many events that transpired the night of Oct. 12 that are allegedly connected to Alpha Tau Omega (ATO), and the university is conducting an internal investigation to collect and confirm information. "We are just beginning to gather some of the information, so I could not make any assessments at this point," said Espinosa. "We certainly will move through this investigation as quickly as possible, taking into account that we need to be as thorough as possible and talk to any students1, who may have knowledge or have been a witness to these incidents...It certainly will remain a priority for my office until it is resolved." Much of the information available at this point is from the DeLand Police report, which con tains a record of the sexual assault allegation. According to the DeLand Police report, the night of Oct. 12, which was Bid Night (the night which one chooses a fraternity or sorority to continue association), after an ATO party was disbanded at the Howry House, the two victims went to the ATO fraternity house on campus. While there, they asked one of the brothers if they could change clothes in his room because "they were covered in beer and sweat." The brother took them to his room and left stating he needed to use the bathroom. "Just as they had their pants off," one of the victims was approached by a new member, who had his penis out of his pants and erect. The new member removed her underwear and "attempted to penetrate her," but only "touched her upper thigh with his penis before she fought him off." That same new member then approached the sec- . . ond victim, but "she told him 'no' before he made any contact with her." After both females declined his advances, "he opened.the door calling in another brother...who came in the room, undid his pants, and pulled out his penis." The two females again declined these advances. At this point, one of the males in the room began yelling to others outside the room "how the 'hoes' would not have sexual contact.. .A large group of ATO's then entered the room...and began chanting degrading remarks towards them." The two females tried to hide themselves until the president of the fraternity entered the room and "told the 'hoes' to get out of the house if they weren't going to 'put out.'" The two victims made their way- to a residence hall and then to the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity house. Public Safety soon arrived on the scene followed by the DeLand Police Department and a few university administrators. The ATO fraternity has been put under an interim suspension by Darald Stubbs, director of Student Life, and will remain so until the university concludes its internal investigation. The only access into the ATO fraternity house is limited to solely the residents, and Public Safety is doing walk-, throughs frequently. "Under an interim suspension, an organization is suspended from any official activity on campus: No official meetings, no official activities, and no socials are permitted. It neutralizes an organization, putting the organization in an inactive state," said James Beasley, director of Campus Life. "An interim suspension does not result in removal of any individuals.from an organization. If it were a suspension, it would be for an extended period of time, such as one or two years." Since the university is still in the process of ah internal.investigation, there is no mention of what sanction, if any, the ATO fraternity may receive. "Because we don't know of findings, we cannot say what options of sanctions exist for ATO. In our policy, sanctions against a student organization range from a warning to revocation of charter," said Beasley. There have been fraternities in the past, such as the Delta Sigma Phi and the Pi Kappa Alpha, which had their charters revoked. In these instances, there were numerous factors contributing to the decision to revoke the charters. "Most times when we suspend or revoke charters of fraternities, it is not due to one incident but numerous," said Beasley. There are other incidents from the night of Oct. 12, which allegedly involve members of ATO. "We are investigating allegations of a number of activities that are alleged to have taken place that night, and through that investigation, we will determine if any judicial actions need to be taken towards an individual student or a student organization," said Espinosa. Jim Lockwood, director of Public Safety, said that there are alleged connections with the ATO's to at least three other incidents that night. According to Public Safety's daily SEXUAL ASSAULT reports, a male student at Gordis Hall was beaten, two male students broke a window at the Delta Delta Delta sorority house and tried, to remove the sorority's sign, and sorority Alpha Xi Delta door had been broken through. "The last thing I would want anyone to think is that the ATO house went on a rampage Saturday night. It is a mistake to generalize or lump them into one category," said Lockwood. "That's what you have to be careful of is to jump to conclusions and let a few individuals name the group. What everyone has to remember is that there are three sides to every story, and sometimes we never get to hear the actual side." "The investigation will cover all incidents surrounding the reported fraternity incident. If there are students, who are out there, who have information about this matter, I en-, courage them to speak to the dean of students [Michelle Espinosa]. We want to do a thorough investigation, so we welcome those to share that information with us," said Beasley. The university is interested in discerning the students' observations toward the incident. "I don't know the students' perceptions, and that concerns me because the discussion and comments based on partial information can cause damage at some level, I think," said Espinosa. "Anytime you have a report of inappropriate behavior with a student organization that involves po- see INVESTIGATION, page 2a The following is highlights from the university's sexual assault policy: Examples of sexual assault: 1. having sexual intercourse with an unwilling person or using threats or physical force to obtain sexual favors; or 2. having, sexual intercourse with a person who is physically unconscious or asleep; or 3. participating in a sex act with someone so under the influence of drugs or alcohol that they are unable to voluntarily consent to the activity. Victim's rights: 1. In reporting a sexual assault, the student survivor controls the process! Survivors have an option to request that the university initiate a university disciplinary proceeding against the student assailant. SOURCE: CONNECTIONS: CAMPUS LIFE HANDBOOK http://reporter.stetson.edu- talk/applaud/criticize/react/reflect ■MJlLUJilJJUlJALiaaUIJ^UIBM