The Murray State News September 25, 2015
TheNews.org
Vol. 90, No. 6
Wave of fraternity probations receding Mary Bradley Editor-in-Chief
mbradley9@murraystate.edu
Alicia Steele || Staff writer asteele5@murraystate.edu
Five fraternities landed on social probation and social suspension since July – with two still on probation – because of stricter enforcement of university policies and complications from anonymous reports through the LiveSafe app. “We’re trying to safeguard not only the community, but also the university in the policies that we’re doing,” said Evan Ditty, coordinator of Greek life and student leader-
ship programs. • Pi Kappa Alpha faced social probation for holding an unregistered social event in July. • Holding unregistered social events let to Lambda Chi Alpha’s suspension in July and Alpha Tau Omega’s suspension in August. Lambda Chi Alpha remains on probation until two sanctions are completed. • Sigma Chi was suspended because of an anonymous tip from LiveSafe, which claimed several members assaulted an attendee. That was later disproved. • Alpha Gamma Rho remains on social probation.
Open records obtained by The Murray State News show email exchanges, letters, police reports and LiveSafe reports that led to the fraternities’ probations and suspensions. Two fraternities – Pi Kappa Alpha and Lambda Chi Alpha – were required to attend a hearing with the Greek Standards Board earlier in September, two months after they landed on probation and suspension. The board members, however, did not complete training until Sept. 8, when four of the five fraternities already received letters, according to correspondence from the Greek life office. Ditty said the training date
had been set in the spring before he arrived on campus after accepting the position earlier in the year. Ditty said party regulations were not enforced as strongly in the past by the Greek life office and he and other Greek Ditty life administrators are working to bring the “reins back in.” While some of LiveSafe’s reports have been false or uncon-
firmed, Ditty said anonymous tips will be investigated before fraternities are initially placed on social suspension or probation. “We’re treating them with seriousness just because we want to believe that the app is being used the way it should be, but at the same time we’re also making sure we’re doing a punitive investigation to see whether or not it’s true before we go and put them on social suspension from here on out,” Ditty said. Sigma Chi President Jared Stallons said issues at the beginning of the year frustrated him, but he now has a better understanding of policies. “At first I was pretty frus-
trated because initially we were being punished for something we actually did not do,” Stallons said. “Over the course of talking to university admins, I finally had a little bit of understanding why they were doing what they were doing even though it was frustrating for us. Now, that the university is actually getting everything together, I’m confident something like this won’t happen again.” President Bob Davies said the fraternities were involved in “serious incidents” but declined to elaborate. He said he believes the Greek systems remains important to the univer-
see PROBATIONS, 2A
Posters in Faculty Hall vandalized Mary Bradley Editor-in-Chief
mbradley9@murraystate.edu
Kalli Bubb/The News
Feeling the Burn Jessica Bostick
Assistant News Editor jbostick2@murraystate.edu
Employees that smoke can expect to pay an extra $600 in premium costs. This rise in cost is due to rising medical costs, rising medication costs, the costs of health care reform and Affordable Care Act Excise tax, according to the human resources department. “The Health Care Reform Excise tax … requires that, basically, if by 2018 we [Murray State] have not kept costs affordable, not just in what the university pays, but in what the employee pays, the total cost of the plan, anything that exceeds that threshold will then be taxed as Excise tax at a rate of 40 percent,” said Joyce Gordon, director of human resources said at a benefits town hall meeting Sept. 16. This decision to redesign the benefits offered by the University was subject to approval from Murray State’s Board of Regents as well as the Insurance and Benefits Committee. Many factors went into this decision such as the rise of health
care costs. This is the first change made to the benefits plan in the past five years. These reforms have been in the works since August 2014. “Since health care reform became the law of the land, Murray State has already spent $600,000 in taxes and administrative fees,” Gordon said. The former plan held employees responsible for 15 percent of expenses, with the University covering the remaining 85 percent of the cost. With the updated benefits, employees with now pay 20 percent of medical expenses, with Murray State paying the remaining 80 percent. “Tobacco users traditionally, with medical claims, cost significantly more on the plan,” Susan Spier, benefits manager, said. The program defines tobacco users as anyone who has partaken in the use of tobacco products within the past 90 days. Tobacco products include cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, hookah, snuff, chewing tobacco, dipping tobacco, bidis, blunts, clove cigarettes or any other preparation of tobacco.
The new benefits program includes changes through offering a Wellness program for $10 per month, increased contribution to employees Health Savings Accounts, medical premium adjustments and prescription coverage supported by “Know Your Rx.” “We were charged with looking at how we keep quality health care that is available and affordable to all individuals but also remembering we’re talking about group insurance,” Gordon said. “Our task is to identify, with the input of campus, what is best for the full group, not just segments of the group.” The Employee Assistance Program, or EAP, will be made available to employees for no additional cost. This program will provide employees with counseling services, financial planning, supervisor assistance and other services. Additional information on changes to employee insurance benefits can be found on Murray State’s website under human resources. The entirety of the town hall meeting can be found on the university’s YouTube page.
Several posters hung in Faculty Hall advertising the Muslim Student Organization’s, or MSO, Hijab Day were reported as being vandalized with slurs against the organization and event. The vandalism was reported Sept. 17, the day of the event, and slurs such as “Hey want to find out what it’s like to be flogged? Stoned, too?” and “Bad joke!” were written on the pink and white posters. Jordi Tennison, senior from St. Louis, said she first heard about the vandalism after her girlfriend sent her a text message that morning. After she saw the posters firsthand, she said she took one down and reported it. “I was appalled,” she said. “It’s crazy to think someone would go that far.” Tennison said when she turned the poster in to a secretary in the building, she was told there had been multiple reports already that morning. Tennison said shared a photo of the vandalism on Facebook, which garnered responses from the university community and more than 120 shares. MSO student Paige Carman designed the posters for the event and said she did not let the vandalism upset her, but rather looked at it from her religion’s point of view.
“We’re not supposed to get mad about things like this or upset about things like this,” Carman said. “We try to follow prophet Mohammad, peace be upon Him, and what he says. He used to get trash thrown upon Him and he would pay no mind to it.” She said the media can misrepresent her culture and religion, but that she would be happy to talk to and teach people – including whoever wrote on the posters – about the Muslim culture. She said MSO wants to help students understand their religion and that events such as Hijab Day are meant to help people dismiss any misconceptions they might have. She said the vandalism did not outshine the event itself and that most of the MSO students were unaware of it happening. “We still had a happy time and everything was good and fine,” Carman said. Carman said she knows that the vandalism does not represent Murray State and that she and MSO received encouragement and positive feedback more than anything. Carman converted over a year ago and said she this is the first time she has ever seen anything like this. “I know Murray State is a very diverse place,” she said. “I know they didn’t mean to be so cruel about it. I know this has no reflection toward Murray State because it’s a wonderful university.”
Retired professors to discuss desegregation Lauren Epperson Staff writer
lepperson1@murraystate.edu
In celebration of the 60th anniversary of desegregation at Murray State, three retired African-American Murray State professors will speak at 5 p.m. Sept. 29 at the Reflections from the Past event, to be held in the Curris Center. “As millennials, we owe it to our predecessors to reflect, think critically, and engage with major sociopolitical movements like desegregations which have not always been conducive to societal comfort,” said Garris Stroud, senior from Greenville, Ken-
WHAT’S
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tucky. The Reflections from the Past will give Murray State students the opportunity to do just that. It will highlight a panel of speakers who have directly experienced desegregation. Pearl A. Payne, JoAnn Hammons and Steven H. Jones will all speak on the panel. Payne and Hammons, Murray State alumni, will speak to the university community about their experiences as students during the times of segregation and desegregation. Jones will speak about his experiences as an educator, as he was one of Murray State’s
FALL FARM
first seven African-American full-time professors. “We hope that students and people who attend the session will get an idea of what it was like to be a minority African-American faculty member at various stages at Murray State University,” Jones said. The community will also have the opportunity to learn about the history of desegregation at the university during the event. They will even show a short video about the first African-American Murray State graduates, including Nancy Tyler, who
see REFLECTIONS, 2A
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RACER FOOTBALL Jenny Rohl/The News
Three retired Murray State professors will speak at Reflections from the Past Sept. 29.
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