Brown and White Vol. 110 No. 1

              the brown and white lehigh university's student newspaper founded in 1894 vol 110 no 1 tuesday september 3 2002 all the lehigh news first sexual assault shocks community by jillian marquart editor in chief a first year female reported to the bethlehem police that she was sexually assaulted by multi ple lehigh students last week john smeaton vice provost for student affairs said the inci dent was reported to the lehigh police last sunday but occurred the previous night this occurs at colleges across the country but happens far too frequently at lehigh smeaton said we need to be more serious about reducing sexual assaults on campus steps have been put into effect but we need to join togeth er for them to work chief of police edward shupp said he believes there is a lot of education on campus the climate on campus isn't a definite problem shupp said we have to remember that no matter how things go down everyone is innocent until proven guilty a more important issue to tackle is getting more people to report such instances news of the attack was first published by the easton express times last tuesday the article said that the girl woke up unaware of what happened she was told by one of the attackers that four young men including himself had sex with her and only stopped when she finally passed out the article stated alcohol was involved according to the article the administration and police were aware of the alleged assault shordy after it was reported smeaton sent out a campus wide e-mail the same day the article was printed by the express-times president gregory farrington sent out an e-mail a few days later acknowledging the report ed attack shupp said he felt it was unnecessary to send out a campus wide e-mail because the situation was not a definite danger to others it is my call to decide whether or not such a letter needs to be sent out he said they are usually used to make people aware of a situation that may be a threat to others smeaton said that an e-mail alerting students and faculty of the situation was not sent out sooner because they did not have specific facts about what had happened until tuesday at that point in time an announcement without facts would have been too vague smeaton said we didn't want to reveal false information and create even more of a negative sit uation right now the individual's needs are paramount student senate implements new club policy by john misinco b&wphoto by tom steele news editor student senate started off the year with a bang tuesday approving a major overhaul of the way it oversees student clubs the senate will now take a more active role in assisting clubs instead of simply recognizing and funding them we don't provide any support for clubs after they are formed senate president jp matychak 03 said we should be there for their entire life to provide assistance under the new policy the senate club affairs committee will offer workshops for student organizations oversee their activities and keep a public record of their files includ ing constitutions by-laws and membership information the committee will also establish a set of rules and regulations that clubs must follow the campus square dormitories opened just in time for the beginning of classes the new bookstore opened aug 5 but the ice cream shop italian restaurant and coffee shop are yet to be completed look for more infor mation in friday's edition new procedures heat up campus by nur-e rahman assistant news editor students may have noticed an unusual amount of fire trucks on campus this semester effective june 1 the city of bethlehem fire department must respond every time a fire alarm goes off on campus in the past university police were the first to respond to all fire alarms they would then assess the situation and any damage before contacting the fire department according to bethlehem fire captain bokan the new proce dures were implemented after the department began an extensive review and update of its building official code administration boca the code was first implemented in 1996 bokan said that because the campus is located in the city it falls under the jurisdiction of the fire department and its regulations vice provost for student affairs john smeaton said in a campus-wide e-mail that the uni versity would abide by the new policy while the previous proce dure worked well recent fires on campuses of other universi ties have heightened awareness regarding fire safety and the city of bethlehem feels this is the prudent approach to take at this time smeaton said chief of police edward shupp said that despite the new regulations the number of fire related calls on campus during the first week of classes has been lower compared to other years under the new policy the bethlehem fire department also has the authority to issue cita tions to students citations can be given to anyone who tampers with fire equipment covers smoke detectors sets off a false alarm or violates other fire code regulations in addition the fire depart ment can close down any building it deems in violation of fire codes the university however has said it is concerned about the increase in the number of fire trucks on campus and the potential danger they pose to pedestrians smeaton cautioned students to be aware of their surround ings while walking on road ways associate dean of residence life tom dubreuil said the uni see rape pag 4 see clubs page 6 see fire page 4 mountain hawks beat buffalo 37-26 in season opener see story on page 24 sports 19-24 volleyball 23 cross country 22 field hockey 23 controversy emerges over university vans see story on page 3 news 1-6 college news briefs 2 new board chairman 4 lehigh briefs 6 airlines suffer bank ruptcy see story on page 9 business 9-11 stock market slump 9 business briefs 9 look who's investing 11 quick fact the first ever world summit on toilets was held in singapore in november 2001 source www.uselessfacts.net