Brown and White Vol. 118 no. 24

              Vol. 118 No. 24
Friday, April 30, 2010
‘All the Lehigh News First’
THE BROWN AND WHITE
Lehigh University’s Student Newspaper Founded in 1894
SPORTS
Hall of Fame
inductees announced
Page 16
ONLINE
Follow us
on Twitter
twitter.com/LUbrownandwhite
Ode
to Clarence
Page 7
LIFESTYLE
Hawks for Haiti
B&W photo by MATT BREITEL
The LU Melismatics, Lehigh’s oldest co-ed a cappella group, performed at the Hawks for Haiti fundraising carnival last Friday on the U.C. front lawn. The event was sponsored by 15 clubs and organizations.
By DEANNA MCLAFFERTY
Chi Phi fraternity applied for an extension to appeal the case handed down by the University Committee on Discipline that found all 45 members guilty on four charg­es of violating university conduct, including hazing. The appeal was due this past Wednesday by 4:45 p.m.
The guilty verdict was announced on April 21 and re­voked 45 current members’ active brother status. Instead, they now have alumni status and cannot participate in chapter events or live in the fraternity house. The chapter house must also be alcohol free through 2012.
The Appeals Committee will likely meet sometime next week and make a decision then, Chris Mulvihill, assistant dean of students, said. The process takes time because there must be a response drawn up responding to the fraternity’s appeal.If the verdict stands after the appeals process concludes, Chi Phi’s alumni association will need to establish a new member class for next spring.
As stated in Lehigh’s Anti-Hazing Compliance form, which details Lehigh’s hazing policy and must be signed by all Greek members each academic year, hazing is any action taken or situation created, whether on or off-cam­pus, to produce mental or physical discomfort, embarrass­ment, harassment or ridicule.
Tim Wilkinson, director of fraternity and sorority af­fairs, could not comment on Chi Phi’s situation, but said his office is diligent when it comes to issues of hazing.
“The bottom line is there is nothing we work more closely on and take more seriously than hazing,” Wilkin­son said. “We make sure both chapter members and alumni understand the implications.”
Bill Doherty, assistant director of editorial services in University Communications, said Chi Phi’s actions were not representative of the majority of Lehigh’s Greek system.
“Over the past few years, Lehigh has been a national leader in improving the culture of Greek life,” Doherty said. “This has been evidenced by a number of objective, external factors, such as our thorough system-wide assess­ment, our accreditation scores and numerous awards.”
Chi Phi extends appeal decision in hazing case
By MACKENZIE BARTH and ALEX KADIS
The idea of a merger between the International Relations and political science departments seems unimaginable to some students, alumni, faculty and ad­ministration officials.
None of the department expressed public plans to ever merge the departments. Still, many students re­main convinced the merger will happen, and they are adamant about stopping it.
The IR department, along with many other depart­ments in the College of Arts and Sciences, will soon undergo a regular review process and, if necessary, a restructuring, according to Anne Meltzer, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Despite any changes that could take place, Meltzer insisted the department would, “stand alone … main­taining its existing curriculum and faculty.”
Yet, some people believe the administration’s discus­sion of the possibility of merging the IR and political science departments at the beginning of the 2010 spring semester became clear.
Many reacted forcefully when they became aware of the risk of a merger.
Students and alumni organized themselves on a Facebook group and pressured the administration to drop the plan. Tensions rose when the arts college in­sisted to students that no such plan ever existed.
“I am aware of no proposal to eliminate the depart­ment of International Relations,” Meltzer said.
She insisted she would be aware of such a plan if
Students skeptical about
denial of poli sci-IR merge
See MERGE Page 4
By JOHANA BHUIYAN
A recent study indicates women who pursue a higher education are more likely to develop alcohol-related problems in the future.
The London School of Economics conducted a ma­jor study in which the researchers comprehensively monitored several thousands of people in the United Kingdom.
The subjects consisted of 39-year-old men and women born within the same week in 1970.
The results of the study indicate there is a correla­tion between the likelihood to drink and how well women have done academically throughout their life.
The study also revealed the academic performance of women when they are as young as 5 years old is a strong predictor for alcohol-related problems.
In fact, according to the study, women who re­ceived “high” to “medium” grades in elementary school are 2.1 times more likely to develop an alcohol problem than those who did not.
Additionally, women who have received a higher education are 1.7 times more likely to develop drink­ing problems than those less educated.
The study also compared the likelihood of higher-educated men to drink to the likelihood of higher-ed­ucated women to drink. According to the report, men who do as well as women are 49 percent more likely to drink, as opposed to 2.1 times for women.
Through the study, the authors of the report con­cluded, “The more educated women are, the more likely they are to drink alcohol on most days and to report having problems due to their drinking pat­terns. The better-educated appear to be the ones who engage the most in problematic patterns of alcohol consumption.”
Rita Jones, director of the Women’s Center, is doubtful of the findings.
“I can’t really disagree with the study. I disagree with the conclusions of the study,” she said. “There are just cultural and social aspects that they’re leaving out. Both culture and social standing can really influ­ence whether or not [women] drink.”
Jones also raises concern with the emphasis on women in the study.
“I thought it was interesting that they only men­tioned the results about the women in the study,” she said.
“It just seemed like more of a cautionary tale, like ‘Don’t let women become too educated or they’ll de velop a drinking problem.’”
Jones pointed out the difference between men and
Study links educated women to drinking
See ALCOHOL Page 3