Brown and White Vol. 115 No. 4

              - the brown and white - lehigh university's student newspaper founded in 1894 vol 115 no 4 friday september 14 2007 all the lehigh news first conference connects soldiers to campus b&w photo by kara chalanick six american soldiers stationed in iraq spoke with students in a live video conference tuesday in whitaker lab it was the third time the event was organized by lehigh's global union as movement group matures organizers adjusting priorities by alison stravitz the movement is making changes this year that include planning recruit ment activities sponsoring new events and increasing correspondence with other clubs and faculty calvinjohn smiley 08 president of the black student union and member of the movement said clarifying the movement's message is important last year the movement be came this umbrella group for any per son with any qualm or grievance with something at lehigh smiley said what happens when you spread your self too thin is you cave yourself in last semester the movement was highly criticized for its stories cam paign the campaign involved putting up signs containing offensive state ments against various ethnic groups smiley said the last meeting he went to was right after this event i think they wanted to have a posi tive effect to show people that this is really what goes on but it backfired smiley said so i think they are try ing to take a more cautious stance this year the whole stepping-on-toes thing has gone out the window for them the movement is focused on re cruiting new members through word of mouth and more typical methods said sara bailin 09 movement member for the first time this year the movement had a table at the club fair on aug 27 we had a full table a sign-up sheet a big poster some pictures and our mission statement bailin said and we put out a poster with crayons and asked what do you plan to get out of lehigh and had some people come islamic studies will go beyond middle east by elaine hardenstine a new islamic studies program accompanied by fresh funds and faculty is scheduled to debut by fall 2008 the global islamic studies center will emphasize the study of islamic culture on an international level the program will also pro mote intellectual growth and tolerance of other civilizations the center will offer classes on the religion and the worldwide aspect of the islamic civili zation art history and language classes will complement programs on islamic economics literature law and psychology the program will be interdisciplinary offer ing classes for majors minors and any other stu dents with a general interest in islamic culture mohamed el-aasser provost and vice presi dent of academic affairs said going beyond spe cific islamic regions is a unique part of lehigh's program we want to see how muslims contribute wherever they are el-aasser said anne meltzer dean of the college of arts and sciences and a leader in developing the program said the largest number of muslims live in indonesia and the islamic culture is not limited to the middle east islamic culture is as global as any other cul ture meltzer said those who developed the program hope open dialogue will help students accept and ap preciate others and their thoughts meltzer said new perspectives allow people to do more than simply endure differences often people talk about ethnic sexual and racial diversity el-aasser said but he believes tolerance and understanding of others comes down to intellectual diversity athletics revokes then reinstates tailgate privileges by katie ginda fraternity tailgate privileges were reinstated tues day after several fraternities were notified monday that their privileges were to be temporarily revoked and that they would not be allowed to host tailgate parties for the sept 22 home football game against virginia military institute dean of athletics joe sterrett issued an e-mail to fraternities that hosted registered tailgates at sat urday's game and were identified as groups whose members packed up and left after tailgates not at tending the football game clearly the only interest on the part of many students was to come to the athletics campus and drink without any intention of attending the game or supporting their fellow students who played in it he said in the e-mail monday sterrett said in an interview wednesday that he received an initial report from campus police secu rity personnel and athletics events staff that said peo ple left goodman campus after the tailgates ended but he said the report was incomplete here's the reality of it sterrett said the people that left were only some of the organizers who had responsibility for their stuff - their grills their music their coolers whatever they needed to stage the tailgate he said these people had made a commitment to bring equipment back to the house so that it was not lost or stolen sterrett met with fraternity representatives tues day he said that each of the fraternities responded quickly and professionally to his e-mail students photo courtesy of pam fiorillo students tailgated before saturday's football game the athletics department was upset many students did not attend the game see movement page 2 see islam page 5 see tailgates page 5 finding a passion p volleyball first check web site for for politics bsl 10me w'n s'nce breaking news page 7 page 16 bw.lehigh.edu