The official student newspaper of Quinnipiac University since 1929.
QUCHRONICLE.COM
JANUARY 27, 2016
VOLUME 86, ISSUE 14
BOBCATS REIGN SUPREME
Sigma Phi Epsilon issued deferred suspension By STAFF REPORTS
JORDAN NOVACK/CHRONICLE
Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey celebrates a goal on Jan. 9 at Madison Square Garden vs. Harvard. The Bobcats have gone seven-straight games without a loss to remain No. 1 in the USCHO.com poll.
Students irritated with Hamden’s off-campus policy
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“The whole point is to experience independence and responsibilities you will in the real world - to pay bills, cook, clean and be self-sufficient. If you have a landlord with you in the house, is it really the same? I think it’s like having a sort of parent in there with you.”
– MATT LAUDANO SENIOR
“I think they’re just literally trying to get all the kids out of Hamden,” she said. “I mean why else would they pass it?” Some Hamden residents are frustrated with students who live off campus for being too rowdy and throwing loud parties at night. A few residents said their property values have gone down, which they attribute to the number of students living in their neighborhoods, according to the minutes from the Dec. 8 Planning and Zoning meeting. Jill Ratano, a resident of Whitney Av-
POLL
New landlords who want to rent to students will now have to live with their tenants, and many undergraduates are unhappy about it. Hamden’s Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously ruled last month in favor of an ordinance that requires landlords who wish to get a student housing permit to be a permanent resident of that home. This measure is the latest way the town is taking to deal with the problems of absentee landlords and the conflicts between neighbors and students living in residential areas. Those students currently living off campus do not have to expect their landlords to show up at their front door with a suitcase any time soon because current landlords renting to students are not affected. However, new permits going forward must follow this new ordinance. Senior Matt Laudano started to live off campus his junior year. For the duration of junior year, Laudano and his friends lived on School Street. This year, Laudano lives in an apartment in Aspen Glen. Laudano doesn’t agree with the ordinance. He said it hinders the independence students seek when they choose to move off campus. “I think it’s ridiculous because many landlords have multiple houses and can’t be in more than one place at the same time,” Laudano said. “As far as living in a house with your peers, the whole point is to experience independence and responsibilities you will in the real world - to pay bills, cook, clean and be self-sufficient. If you have a landlord with you in the house, is it really the same? I think it’s like having a sort of parent in there with you.”
Junior Kallie Meade lives on campus this year and likely will next year. But if she were to move off campus, she said she would not be okay with living with a landlord. “It’s kind of like a safety issue,” Meade said. “I would not want to live with a male landlord, like that’s terrifying. I wouldn’t feel comfortable with that.” She said she does not understand what the commission was thinking when they passed this ordinance.
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enue described the noise and “chaos” student housing has brought to her neighborhood. She said students have vomited and urinated on her property and that she struggles to sleep on weekend nights because of parties. But Meade said this ordinance is not the way to fix the problem. “You have to develop a relationship with your neighbors. I know my guy friends have a house and they have their neighbor’s phone numbers, if they’re getting too rowdy they call and they’re like you need to turn it down and they respect it. I mean, I’m not saying that all Quinnipiac people are going to be super respectful of their neighbors, but I feel like the majority of us would be.” Junior Tyler Cabral, who lives on campus this year and plans to live off campus next year, agreed with Meade. Cabral said he suspects the Hamden community has exaggerated how destructive the majority of students are. “Especially if you’re [living next to] a family,” Cabral said. “I don’t think anybody would be that rude to literally be like, ‘I’m going to stay up and be rowdy all night with a newborn baby in the house next to me or kids that have to go to school in the morning.’” Margaret Kramer of Chatterton Woods rents to students and opposed the new rule at the meeting, noting that the proposal is directed at Quinnipiac students, not Yale students who live in Hamden. Another landlord, Colleen Bartlett-Belbusti, said, according to the minutes, that she maintains a good relationship with her students and neighbors, noting that in her many years renting to students she only had a problem once. Some landlords have now filed lawsuits against the town to fight the ordinance, according to WSFB.
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The university issued a deferred suspension to the fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon until Dec. 31, 2016, administration said on Monday. This means the fraternity can resume normal operations. “During this time, the chapter will be required to fully cooperate in a member review by its national headquarters, develop a new-member program and hold educational programs for members on risk management, hazing and alcohol,” Vice President for Public Affairs Lynn Bushnell said in a statement. Quinnipiac’s Student Handbook defines a deferred suspension as, “a suspended removal from Quinnipiac University for a period of time.” “Any violation of policy committed during this period causes the suspension to take effect immediately,” the handbook states. “The length of time is determined by the primary conduct officer.” Sigma Phi Epsilon received a cease and desist order in September after hazing allegations. The cease and desist required the fraternity to halt all activities until an investigation was completed by the university and their national headquarters. The university and the fraternity will not comment on the nature of the hazing allegations at this time. The university’s most recent decision allows the fraternity to resume their events and activities, but national headquarters will continue an in-depth investigation into the hazing allegations. “The deferred suspension allows Sigma Phi Epsilon to resume normal activities provided that it fully cooperates in a member review by its national headquarters,” Associate Vice President for Public Relations John Morgan said in an email. The university issued the deferred suspension in early December, according to Morgan. The student body felt mixed about the deferred suspension. Freshman film major Isaiah Nieves said he did not have a problem with the fraternity being allowed to resume activities if there was no real reasoning. “If the school didn’t find anything on Sig Ep I guess it is fine for them to come back,” he said. The fraternity Beta Theta Pi also received a cease and desist order last semester for hazing allegations, but a few weeks later they were cleared of the allegations and allowed to proceed with operations and events. Michaela May is a senior athletic training major and said Sigma Phi Epsilon should not be back on campus so soon. “I think there should have been more investigation with it overall,” she said. “I do not know all of the ins and outs with it, I just heard about the general situation. I do not think it was fair that they were allowed back so soon without much repercussion.” The fraternity now has a new president, Robert Cowan, the junior said on his Facebook page. Cowan declined to comment to The Chronicle at this time. Reporting by Tara O’Neill, Julia Perkins, Sarah Doiron and Hannah Feakes
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