1994_05 The Daily Collegian May 1994

              VoL 102, No. ^8-/f 7
—:—■*, I        ' -.
Fresno State's Independent Daily
Monday, May 2,1994
Substance-free: not FSU fraternities
By Lisa Dorman-Stubbs
THECOLLEGIAN
While some fraternities in other
parts of the country are trying to
change their party-animal image
by becoming substance-free, FSU
fraternities haven't yet caught the
wave.
Alcohol and parties can create
potential liabilities such as prop¬
erty damage, personal injury and
assault In serious cases, chapters
may be suspended and lawsuits may
be brought against both the chapter
and the national fraternity.
. Jesse Trumbull, president of the
local chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsi-
lon, said alcohol use or abuse can
be a problem, but is not just limited
to fraternities.
"Alcohol does play a pretty big
role in the party scene, especially
on weekends, not only for fraterni¬
ties, but for the majority of other
people as well," he said.
"We have the ty picalnoi se com¬
plaints from neighbors about people
being too loud. There's an occa¬
sional fight as tempers flare," he
said, bjjt added that these problems
can occur anytime there are a lot of
people together for a social gather¬
ing.
Scott Hutchinson, president of
the local Delta Upsilon chapter,
said his fraternity is drug-free. Delta
Upsilon doesn't currently have a
house, but Hutchinson said if it did.
then drug use, possession and stor¬
age would be prohibited on the
premises.
Thad Kennedy, president ofthe
local Pi Kappa Alpha chapter, said
alcohol cannot be purchased with
fraternity funds. All alcohol at their
parties is purchased by the people
who come to the party; bring your
own bottle, according to Kennedy.
When asked if he thought local
frats would completely eliminate
alcohol from •their parties, he re¬
sponded, "Not in the near future.
You might see it (the elimination of
alcohol), but you wouldn't see too
many people at the parties."
Sigma Nu chapter president Jose
Martinez said parties at his house
are also B YOB. Then the alcohol is
turned over to the "bartender," a
designated member who remains
sober. The "bartender" can then
monitor alcohol consumption at the
party and, hopefully, head off po¬
tential problems.
In other parts of the country,
fraternities are taking more drastic
action, according to a recent article
by the College Press Service.
In early April, Alpha Tau Omega
at Monmouth College, a small, lib¬
eral arts college in Illinois, voted to
become substance-free, joining oth¬
ers such as the ATO chapter at
Indiana University-Bloomington,
Sigma Chi at University of Maine
and die Lambda Chi Alpha chap¬
ters at Northeastern State in Okla¬
homa;   Louisiana  Tech   and
Disabled students struggle on campus
By Dipan Mann
THECOLLEGIAN
Although the doors to the new
education building opened earlier
this month, there have been various
concerns about the latest multi-mil¬
lion dollar addition to campus.
Concerns about the inaccessi¬
bility of this $22.5 million project
for disabled students. The building
houses the School of Education and
Human Development and the Divi¬
sion of Ex tended Education.
Questions were raised earlier this
month by FSU's director of dis¬
abled student services, Weldon
Percy, about the low accessibility
of the* building for disabled stu¬
dents. Even though he was re¬
assured by the university adminis¬
tration that everything in the build¬
ing had been constructed with strict
adherence to the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA), he was
still not 'satisfied' with the build¬
ing.
His concerns were many and
"not without justification".
'It doesn't start or end with the
education.building," said Tommy
Monreal, while struggling to get
into the building. "I wonder how
accessible this whole campus is to
us [disabled students'!."
"We have a free speech area on
this campus, where any student can
get up, any time they want,"
Monrealsaid. "You think I can get
up there on my wheelchair when¬
ever I want" he asked.
Susan Aldrich, director of fa¬
cilities planning at FSU, said that
the mstallation of automatic doors
in me education building was the
major concern for the faculty mem¬
bers. She said the university was
not required to install automatic
doors to meet ADA guidelines for
the building,.
"We have automatic doors else¬
where on this campus and we will
consider installing them in the edu¬
cation building," she said.
The umVersity has a President's
task force on ADA requirements.
The task force has determined that
$4 million would need to be spent
to fully comply with the ADA re¬
quirements in university facilities.
"This year the university had $
250.000 to spend," Aldrich said
"The money needs to be spent on
what serves the most people."
Not all signage has been put up
in the building as of yet because of
its newness, which is expected to
be completed by fall.
However, doors don't seem to
be the only problem with the build¬
ing. Concerns were also raised
about the access ramp located on
the side of the education building
that faces the music building. "The
ramp has too much lateral slope
sideways," Percy said, as he ma¬
neuvered his motorized wheelchair
'up the ramp. /"
"There ate no bars along the
rides of the ramp, and you could tip
over and fali off a wheelchair very
easily," be said.
Aldrich said that the ramp meets
previous codes for ramp construc¬
tion for disabled students but does
See ADA, page 8
Valparaiso University in Indiana.
Like most other fraternities who
decided to go substance-free, ATO
had a serious wake-up call before
making this decision. Kris Kline,.
Monmouth ATO president con¬
ceded that when he joined the fra¬
ternity it had a bit of the "Animal
House" reputation.
Kline said members wanted a
place where they aren't ashamed to
bring their girlfriends or family
members. "If you can't bring those
people into your fraternity, then
there's something wrong; you're
hiding something that you seem to.
value too highly," he said.
Director of communication for
ATO headquarters Wynn Smiley
said, "We believe a growing num¬
ber of college men want to live in a
substance-free environment and
simply need to be provided that
opportunity in a fraternity setting.
See FRAT, page 8
Task force
reviews
education
By Mitch Prince
THECOLLEGIAN
The 1993-94 General Catalog
for FSU states; "An educated per¬
son must be able to read critically,
communicate effectively and think
clearly."
That is exactly what the General
Education Task Force, which, is
comprised of several administra¬
tion and faculty members of FSU,
is trying to provide students.
Chair of the task force, Andy
Hoff, will be going before the Aca¬
demic Senate today to let them
know just how well they ere com¬
ing along with the revision process
of general education.
The task force is just know fin¬
ishing up phase one, which includes
_ a review of GE core and 13 specific
items which the task force feels
need to be worked on in order for
students to obtain a proper educa¬
tion here.
See TASK, page 4
Inside
Opinion: Diamond Group
hopes to bring minor
league ban to Fresno 2.
Fires: Students respond
to emergency calls for
free room and board.......4
Fresno Stale golf to first
WAC hamptonshk) 7