Trinitonian SERVING TRINITY UNIVERSITY SINCE 1902 s WWW.TRINITONIAN.COM
VOLUME 109, ISSUE 23 s March 23, 2012
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS
Greek clubs currently under investigation
What’s Inside
n The university has suspended three Greek organizations in light of recent events related to new member orientation by Rachel Puckett Reporter
Talent for Music Students perform in the Trinity Wind Ensemble and Orchestra Page 16
photo by Purushottam Shah
Greeks participate in bid day at the start of new member orientation. Three Greek organizations are currently under investigation for inappropriate conduct.
The results are in! “The Hunger Games” The Hunger is catching on as movie premieres on the big screen
n 24 percent of the student body participated in the recent ASR elections to elect representatives and vote on changes to constitution by Aly Mithani
Page 19
Reporter
Recent elections have given the Trinity community numerous causes for excitement regarding the future of the student government. Along with the elections of new officers, the student body voted to approve a vital constitutional amendment which will improve student organization access to funding.
Success On the road Softball team finds success in Arizona, winning four of six games over spring break Page 24
WEEKEND WEATHER High High High
Friday 81° Low
Saturday 62° 83° Low 42° Sunday 83° Low 63°
ON THE WEB Follow the Trinitonian at www.trinitonian.com
n See ASR Page 6
n See GREEK Page 3
Bush focuses on improving economy n Former Florida governor speaks on increasing economic growth in the United States by Rachel Puckett
60°
After the dissolution of Tiger Council and the failure of last year’s ASR to approve a student activity fee increase, Trinity’s various student organizations will finally have an adequate amount of funding along with a stable funding request system for the next school year. “Going forward with the student activity fee increase, ASR is going to have a much bigger bullet in its chamber.” said Luke Brown, first year and sophomore senator-elect. Brown, along with the other newly elected members, is ready to take the reins from the current ASR and continue the trends of success that they have implemented. The new ASR will go through an orientation process as the present ASR finishes their term by the end of this month.
A cloak of speculation fell over Trinity University on March 1 when the student body received an email stating that fraternity and sorority new member orientation had been suspended pending the investigation of inappropriate conduct committed by unidentified clubs. By March 17, the majority of Trinity’s Greek clubs had been notified that they were cleared to continue with their new member orientations and other various activities. However, three clubs, Bengal Lancer, Chi Delta Tau and Gamma Chi Delta, have had their charters suspended indefinitely. The charters will remain suspended until all of the clubs and various accused members have been through hearings with the University Conduct Board. Two other clubs, SPURS and Phi Sigma Chi, remain under investigation by Campus and Community Involvement. The complaints against SPURS and Phi Sigma Chi were less specific than the complaints against Bengal Lancer, Chi Delta Tau and Gamma Chi Delta, and caused CCI to re-examine their new member orientation practices. According to David Tuttle, dean of students, the university had been following up on vague complaints about policy
violations during new member orientation for a couple of weeks, but the culminating complaints that prompted the suspension of new member orientation were received Feb. 28, and within two days, new member orientation was suspended. Tuttle explained that rapid suspension was deemed appropriate given the serious nature of the allegations. “It’s really important for the university to not be viewed as thinking that they or their students are above or beyond the law,” Tuttle said. The investigation of Bengal Lancer, Chi Delta Tau and Gamma Chi Delta was conducted by the Trinity University Police Department due to the accusations against those clubs alleging more than hazing policy violations. The results of that investigation were presented to the district attorney and San Antonio Police Department for possible outside charges against specific club members. The university deemed it necessary to open the investigation to TUPD in order to allow for outside charges, but Tuttle believes that no one wanted to see charges pressed. “By having TUPD do the investigation, it gave us an opportunity to share their information with city authorities to determine if it was something the city would want to move forward with,” Tuttle said. “While we want to make sure that we’re doing everything above board, I don’t think that anyone wants our students put into the legal system.” The city of San Antonio has declined to press charges against any of the accused students.
Reporter
On March 22, former Florida governor Jeb Bush visited Trinity University to give the Flora Cameron Lecture on Politics and Public Affairs in the university’s Laurie Auditorium. Bush’s speech was titled “Leading in a Climate of Change” and focused on the need to increase economic growth in the United
States. Bush began the lecture with the idea of increasing economic growth to the point that, with in ten years, the United States could create what Bush called “our own Germany,” or a $2.8 trillion in revenue. In order to achieve this goal of growing at a sustainable and robust rate, Bush cited four main points. First, the nation must invest in energy. Specifically, it needs to begin exploiting its own natural resources. Bush argued that America’s dependency on foreign oil undermines its attempts at national security. Bush advocated drilling in the Gulf of Mexico as well as opening environmentally friendly drilling
photo by Purushottam Shah
n See BUSH Page 4
Former Florida governor outlined four strategies that would lead to economic growth in the U.S. during his speech on March 22.