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COLLEGE HEADLINES
Pledge beaten to death, hazing not suspected
SAN MARCOS, TtxM — A Southwest Texas State fraternity pledge
died Monday after he was beaten early Sunday morning. Police sus
pect four non-members, who were ejected after a fight from the Tau
Kappa Epsilon house, later returned to the fraternity and beat
Nicholas Armstrong with a blunt object. Fraternity members found
Armstrong alone and beaten on a couch about 3:15 a.m. Police
described two of the suspects as 18 to 19 years old. One suspect was
about 5 feet 8 Inches tall, 170 pounds. The other suspect was described
as being 6 feet tall, clean shaven and blond haired. Though many of
the people at the party moved to another fraternity house, the beating
does not appear to be hazing, according to a police official.
Cook charged with murder of college professor
CARBONDALE, III. — A Southern Illinois University associate pro
fessor was beaten in the head and stabbed in the chest Saturday. Loyd
Yates' body was dumped into the trunk of Francis Ambrose Lynch’s
vehicle, according to police. Lynch, a 47-year-old cook at Carbondale's
Good Samaritan House, has been charged with first degree murder for
the homicide that reportedly occurred at his residence. He Is sched
uled to appear in court Feb. 23. Yates had been an associate professor
in the Department of Technical and Resource Management since 1990.
Interfratemity Council socials are suspended
SAN MARCOS, Texas — Southwest Texas State administrators
announced that the social activities of fraternities who belong to the
Interfratemity Council are suspended indefinitely. The decision came
after a member from the Kappa Sigma fraternity got alcohol poisoning
and a pledge from the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity was fatally beat
en. Saturday night, during Bid Day, IFC fraternities hosted parties
that served alcoholic beverages to underage pledges, said Texas' Vice
President for Student Affairs James Studer. Aaron Durante, 18, was
taken to Central Texas Medical Center by three of Durante’s fraternity
brothers and a female friend. Studer issued a letter to the presidents
of the IFC executive committee explaining the restrictions of the sus
pended fraternities from some social events and calling for an
improvement In academics, social climate and social responsibilities.
Student wounds three others with pellet pistol
COVINGTON — A student at Oxford College at Emory shot and
wounded three students with a pellet pistol Saturday night, according
to an article in the Covington News. Malcolm Paul Rogers was arrest
ed and charged with three counts of aggravated assault after he shot
into a living room at an off-campus party, the article said. Rogers, a
sophomore from Atlanta, was also charged with underage consump
tion. He first shot freshman Loree Fain in the face and left shoulder.
Then he turned the gun on sophomores Simon Breedon and Kurt
Kang, who were not seriously injured. Fain was treated and released
from the Newton County Hospital.
Sweatshop activists stage sit-ins on campus
MADISON, Wis. — More than 40 sweatshop activists staged a sit-in
at the University of Wisconsin's Bascom Hall Monday. The protesters
said the sit-in will last until Chancellor David Ward agrees to terms for
a stricter apparel licensing code. Protesters say the current draft of
the Collegiate Licensing Company code does not include two essential
components — full, immediate disclosure of factory locations and a
mandatory living wage. The CLC is a licensing agent for all U.S. colle
giate merchandise. UWM's sit-in is just one of other recent sit-ins
occurring across the country. Georgetown and Duke University have
also conducted sperate protests against sweatshop practices. The
activists at UW also protested mandatory pregnancy tests and forced
use of contraception at the sweatshops.
— Compiled by Jeff Montemayor; contributing: U-Wire
First tobacco, now gun industry under fire
Economists and lawyers debate
recent attacks on gun industry
By KATE DOUGLAS
Tax Rid * Black
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A David Mustard, center, an economics professor, speaks
at the law school debate Wednesday afternoon.
A panel of economics and law
professors fired off Wednesday
on the recent trend of
metropolitan areas suing the
gun Industry.
Atlanta, Chicago and New
Orleans are just a few of the
cities claiming the gun industry
is costing them millions of dol
lars in police protection and
emergency medical service.
Although Atlanta hasn’t
demanded a specific amount,
the city of Chicago is demanding
more than $150 million from the
companies, said Tom Eaton, a
law professor on the panel.
“Ultimately, this is a societal
Judgement about responsibili
ty,” Eaton said. “It's whether
someone in addition to the crim
inal is responsible (for the
crime).”
Eaton also pointed out the
companies have been criticized
for their marketing techniques.
One company advertised a gun
as having “excellent resistance
to fingerprints,” he said.
The cities also claim that the
manufacturers use Inadequate
safety devices, Eaton said.
The city of Atlanta
announced Its suit against com
panies like Smith Si Wesson
Corp. and Colt’s Manufacturing
Co. earlier this month.
Then the state legislature,
under pressure from the
National Rifle Association,
passed a bill making it Illegal for
a municipality to sue a gun com
pany. Governor Roy Barnes
signed the bill Tuesday.
“Even without the legislation,
the litigation would have a hard
time," Eaton said.
But Atlanta's battle may not
be over yet.
“I think the lawyers for the
city of Atlanta would try to
argue that the state can’t stop a
lawsuit once it's been filed,” said
Richard Nagareda, a law profes
sor.
In many ways, the lawsuits
against the gun manufacturers
are similar to the suits against
the tobacco companies,'
Nagareda said.
Both cases involved unpopu
lar defendants, and the lawsuits
circumvent normal democratic
processes, using litigation as a
substitute for government regu
lation, he said.
The panel also examined
trends of gun owner rates versus
accident rates.
Although the number of guns
In the country has increased
over the last few decades, the
percent of gun owners has
stayed at about 46 percent, said
David Mustard, an economics
professor.
The rate of accidental gun
deaths is actually decreasing, he
said.
Blue-collar workers get short changed
By TOM LASSETER
The Red a Black
The line between the
University’s staff and its other
employees is wide and made of
many dollars.
That, according to the chair
of the University Staff Council's
pay and classification commit
tee, should be a point of no
small concern for the secre
taries, custodians, clerks and
others who make up the ranks
of the University’s blue-collar
workforce.
“What people here make in
wage is often not a living one,”
said Annette Hatton, the staff
council chair in charge of moni
toring staff pay and classifica
tion.
Composing nearly one-third
of all University positions, staff
working secretarial and service
jobs averaged less than $17,000
a year in salary for fiscal year
1997, ending in June
The national poverty level for
a household of four is $16,450.
“There's always a focus on
what faculty and administration
make ... and what really gets
lost are the jobs at the low end
of the spectrum,” Hatton said.
University
President
Michael
Adams had no
comment on
the matter.
Spokesman
Tom Jackson
said
University
staff salaries
are competi
tively based
on the sur
rounding mar
ket.
Custodians
working for the A-C government
start out making $4,516 more
than those at the University.
The difference in wages for sec
retaries is $5,397.
Compared to Georgia State,
West Georgia and Georgia
Southern universities, secre
taries here begin at lower pay
than they would at the first two.
Jackson cautioned that the
cost of living in those colleges'
communities is different than
Athens’.
That index
> — the cost of
residing in an
area as com
pared to the
national aver
age — is high
er by about
seven percent
around
Georgia State
and three or
four percent
near West
Georgia.
Hatton’s
comments
were brought to life at a Feb. 8
presentation of Athens-Clarke's
new economic development
plan, at which University
Provost Karen Holbrook pre
sented part of the initiative and
detailed how the University
could create more high-paying
jobs in the community.
About half an hour after
Holbrook's talk, one of the more
than 100 A-C leaders in atten
dance raised his hand.
Ambrose Jackson, pastor of
the Maxey Hill Baptist Church
in Jefferson, wanted to know
what sort of message is sent to
the community when one-third
of the workers at its largest
employer are making below
$17,000 annually.
University administrators
seem to find all the time in the
world to raise money for
research chairs, but they sel
dom pay attention to “those at
the bottom,” Jackson said, to
the nods of many of those
around him.
Although Jackson couldn’t
see him sitting further down the
table, George Benson, dean of
the University's business
school, agreed with him to a
degree.
“We need to do a little bit
better by the staff," Benson
said.
“We do well by the faculty,
but the staff sometimes gets the
short end of the stick," he said.
U
“There’s always a focus on
what faculty and adminis
tration make... and what
really gets lost are the
jobs at the low
end of the spectrum. ”
ANNETTE HATTON
Staff Council Chair
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