WEDNESDAY MAR. 23, 2005 Vol. 126, No. 62
Light rain 48° / 36° w w w. s t u d l i f e . c o m
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STUDENT LIFE T H E I N D E P E N D E N T N E W S PA P E R O F WA S H I N G T O N U N I V E R S I T Y I N S T. L O U I S S I N C E 1 8 7 8
Alpha Phi kicked out of City Museum By Sarah Kliff News Editor
Sports takes a look at the WU softball team, which has started the year 17-1 and is gunning for a national title.
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Alpha Phi’s formal at the City Museum came to an abrupt end Friday night when the museum’s management shut down the formal and demanded the entire sorority leave the building. The museum said it asked Alpha Phi to leave at 11:00 p.m. on Friday because multiple members of the sorority were publicly intoxicated, posing what the museum called a safety threat to the sorority members and other City Museum guests. Nicholas Lyter, the evening manager at the City Museum, said that several problems led to the museum’s request for the group to leave. He cited a few specific incidents, including a sorority member who passed out in the public women’s bathroom on the first floor—a claim the sorority denies—as well as three members of the sorority vomiting in trashcans located in areas that were open to the public. Lyter also said that another member of Alpha Phi passed out by herself at a table in the museum’s café, in front of a group of Girl Scouts and their chaperones. All of these incidents, said Lyter, created a safety hazard for members of the public who happened to be at the museum. “Our concern was with regard to the sorority and their guests as a whole,” said Lyter. Junior Jessica Schaffner, president of Alpha Phi, said that the City Museum misrepresented some of the incidents. She claimed that no member passed out in a bathroom.
Melissa Miller gives a second look to some of the posters around campus, and she writes in Forum that she doesn’t like what she sees.
DAVID HARTSTEIN | STUDENT LIFE
At their formal last Friday, members of the Alpha Phi sorority were reportedly publicly intoxicated at the City Museum. A manager at the museum claims that sisters were vomiting in trashcans and passing out in the museum. “I was present at that situation, and there was someone who was sick but did not pass out,” said Schaffner. Schaffner further explained that the incident involving a member passing
out in the café “had not been reported by the many competent sober contacts.” Lyter said some members were already drunk when they arrived at the
By Troy Rumans Contributing Reporter
DAVID HARTSTEIN | STUDENT LIFE
PAGE 4 WEATHER FORECAST Thursday High: 58º | Low: 43º Light rain
Friday High: 57º | Low: 42º Light rain
Saturday High: 55º | Low: 39º Chance of showers
INDEX News Forum Classifieds Sports
1-2 4-5 6 7-8
See ALPHA PHI, page 3
WU fundraising lower than peer schools
SCARFS AND HUGS FOR CANCER
PAGE 5 The Bell has now been booted. But did SWA really succeed? The editorial board examines the issue in Forum.
museum, and it was this pre-partying that caused problems rather than members’ alcohol consumption at the City Museum. “They did have the event catered, and they did have an open bar for those who were of age, which wasn’t an issue,” said Lyter. “The big concern was that a lot of them were intoxicated when they got here, which is a serious issue concerning the museum and the guests.” This incident, according to Lyter, will have a serious impact on the relationship between the City Museum and the University. “City Museum will never host a Washington University sorority or fraternity again,” said Lyter. Lyter later revised his stance on the issue, stating, “It’s not to say that we won’t [ever host a sorority or fraternity]. We’re going to have to seriously evaluate future groups. It has definitely steered us away from hosting those groups.” In a written statement, Schaffner apologized for the detrimental effects that specific members’ behavior could have caused, noting that individuals’ choices are not representative of the entire organization. “The events of last Friday night were regrettable and inappropriate, but they are not accurately representative of Alpha Phi and our mission,” wrote Schaffner. “Unfortunately, individual incidences can reflect negatively on an entire organization. While we are not trying to justify or pass blame, there were additional factors beyond our control that contributed to these events.”
Five-year-old Billy Bryson makes his mom a scarf Monday night at Help Us Give Support (HUGS), a group for children whose loved ones are dealing with breast cancer. The event was a joint effort between the Siteman Cancer Center and MedPIC, through the Arts as Healing program.
Although Washington University fundraising increased by 12.7 percent to $121 million in 2004, a recent report issued by the Council for Aid to Education found that the University did not rank among the top 20 fundraising schools. Harvard topped the list with $540 million raised, followed by Stanford University at $524 million. Overall university fundraising increased by 3.4 percent in 2004. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill held the bottom spot on the 20-university list with $186 million. David Blasingame, executive director of the Campaign for Washington Univeristy and executive vice chancellor for alumni and development, noted that the University has lagged behind many schools considered our peers over the past
year. As the University’s academic rankings have jumped, fundraising numbers have not seen the same dramatic increases. “To be sure, Washington University’s fundraising totals are lower than the top tier of fund-raising institutions—Harvard, Stanford and Penn, for example,” said Blasingame. “We are now ranked with those institutions, rather than with a number of other institutions that were long considered by many to be our peers; for example, Rochester, Case Western and Tulane.” Comparing the University to its peer group and looking at fundraising increases, said Blasingame, shows the true vitality of fundraising efforts. A recent study, preformed by the University, investigated fundraising increases between 1996 and 2004. The study used the top 20 ranked institu
Real World and Road Rules casts to visit Admissions Office will observe new SATs
By Veronica Woolley Contributing Reporter
The Campus Programming Council (CPC) is bringing four former cast members from MTV’s popular television shows the Real World and Road Rules to campus to speak with students about their unique experiences. This Friday two Road Rulers—Abram of South Pacific and Rachel of Campus Crawl—will come to Washington University along with Real World cast members MJ of last year’s Real World Philadelphia and Cameran of Real World San Diego. The show, which will be held in the Gargoyle, is free for University students. Doors are scheduled to open at 3:30 p.m. with the show beginning at 4 p.m. Following the fi lming and airing of their seasons, most Real World and Road Rules alumni tour the country, making small group appearances and giving talks at hundreds of schools and clubs across the nation to discuss their experiences. However, they also talk about the deeper issues they encounter during their time as cast members, such as adaptation to new environments, diversity, confl ict resolution, AIDS awareness and the formation of relationships. According to Worldwide Talent Group, the managing agency for the former cast members, their experiences are especially relevant for college students because their time on the shows involves much of the same orientation and adaptation
STUDENT LIFE
processes as going to college and preparing for post-college life. Because of the immense popularity of Real World and Road Rules among college-age students, such events typically draw large crowds. A visit last semester by Real World’s Cyrus and Road Rules’ Rachel to nearby Saint Louis University brought an audience of over 200. This will not be the fi rst time stars of reality MTV have visited Washington University. Cara Kahn of Real World Chicago graduated from the University in 2002 and has since returned to speak on campus, and a few years ago former cast member Puck Rainey of Real World San Francisco came for an event similar to the event being held on campus Friday. Puck, known in the world of reality MTV for his wild and brash personality, upheld this reputation during his visit to Washington University, making several tactless remarks during the show. This time around, CPC was sure to pick cast members they felt students would be able to relate to. “We picked these four because they’re from more recent casts,” said sophomore Shilpa Rupani, one of CPC’s Large Events Co-Chairs. “They’re well-known among people who watch the shows, are younger and are also known to be easy-going, laid-back and fun people. We’re expecting it to be a really good time.” Students who plan to attend should
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See MTV, page 3
By Angela Markle Staff Reporter If current Washington University students compared SAT scores with a high school student who took the popular standardized text within the last few months, many would be shocked at how paltry their 1400, 1500, or even perfect 1600 would look in comparison. In March, a new version of the SAT went into effect, and it has some significant changes. Now scored out of 2400 points, the exam is even more of a behemoth than in past years. It takes between three and a half and four hours to administer and some of the sections have been changed. Nanette Tarbouni, the University’s director of undergraduate admissions, isn’t ready to pass judgment on the new exam, however, until she and her colleagues have a better chance to study it. “We know what the College Board is telling us about it being a better test, but we will have to go through the next year to see if we agree,” she said.
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See FUNDRAISING, page 3
Analogies and quantitative comparisons have been removed from the exam, and a writing section, similar to the SAT II: Writing, which no longer exists, has been added. There are also additional short reading passages, as well as new math topics including absolute values and negative and fractional exponents. The official Web site for the College Board, which writes and administers all SAT I, PSAT and SAT II subject tests touts the revamped exam as being, “better aligned with current curriculum and institutional practices in high school and college.” Its new emphasis on writing, in addition to the verbal—now called critical reading—and math sections, is meant to “reinforce the importance of writing throughout a student’s education,” and the College Board’s hope is that it will help colleges make more informed admissions decisions. In 1994, when the SAT was last revised, the College Board considered adding a writing
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See NEW SATS, page 3
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